titan_uranus

All fair points here. It’s almost impossible for Fullarton to offer any less than Schache and Pickett is an infinite upgrade on Laurie/Spargo so our Round 1 forward line is going to be better even before any weather condition changes. Whatever we do to replace Bowey, we have to prioritise Salem being a mid.

What do you mean the only difference? They have a midfield that is as good as ours if not better (with Walsh to come back), a forward line with a generational FF, a powerful CHF and proper small forwards, and a defence which has Weitering to come back. They have forward half talent we’d kill for and they maximise that talent.

Maybe you’ve answered your own question here…

I don’t think you understood a single thing about my post.

Pickett changes us enormously. He can make things happen with forward 50 ground balls that no one else can (and particularly not Laurie or Spargo). Petty, Fullarton or B Brown are going to be more competitive in the air than Schache. Those two key changes, plus less humidity, should hopefully be enough to make the forward line good enough.

I can't believe this needs to be done, but anyway: Here's the BOM data for Sydney during game time: 84% humidity during the game. The dew point is also a measure of moisture - it is the temperature to which air has to be cooled in order to produce condensation. The higher it is, the the more moisture in the air. The BOM says that a dew point of 21 means the weather is "muggy, quite uncomfortable" (5-10 is "dry", 10-15 is "comfortable"). I get that you have the word "Cranky" in your username, but seriously.

I'm pretty stunned by that, but I did only see one replay at the ground (which I thought supported my initial view live that it was one of those clumsy strikes that gets a week).

Fully agree that we have to keep Salem in the middle. Bowey's injury hurts on so many levels. Robs us of his kicking, pressures us to push Salem back and prevents us pushing Rivers up more. I'd prefer to go with Woewodin's run. Given their pre-seasons Billings deserves a full game over Spargo. Should never have been the sub last night and should start next week.

Indeed, Grundy led all players from both sides with 9 clangers. He was good, don't get me wrong, but he was nowhere near as good as most are saying.

Agree with these two points in particular. Spargo and Laurie are not going to get it done for us this year. They are too slow for their height, they don't cover the ground well enough, they don't tackle well enough and they don't reliably kick goals. Chandler, for all his problems, is much quicker and has goal nous when he's inside 50. I don't agree with everything in your post but this bit was something I wasn't happy with last night, particularly because it's supposed to have been a focus of ours this year (per Petracca in the Dyl & Friends podcast). There is so much disrespect of Gawn in this thread, it's embarrassing, but the one criticism I will put against him is that he too often goes into "I'll do it" mode, and it doesn't help us.

It looked to me as though he spent more time in the back half to cover for the absence of Bowey.

I don't understand what your complaint is. Bombing it wasn't the problem last night.

Salem “disappeared” after Bowey’s injury. Nevertheless, yes, we have a problem if we can’t win CPs or clearances against a second-string midfield.

I don’t think you have a great memory. In 2018 we lost to Hawthorn by 67, Richmond by 46 and Collingwood by 42. The bar we set in 2021 is too high for comparison but even then, go back and look at this board’s reaction to our 20 point loss to the Dogs in Round 19.

The 50 he gave away, he struck a player in the head. It might have been an accident but at the ground it didn’t look great.

Tom McCartin's a really good defender and didn't have to worry about anyone else in the air in our forward line, so he was able to cover JVR pretty well. JVR wasn't amazing but he's nowhere near the top of the list of concerns.

The absent players are an important factor, but Sydney didn't have Mills, Adams or Parker and still beat us in the middle, so we can't lean on it tonight. Still, Petty, Pickett and Melksham gives us a much nicer look up forward than Schache, Spargo and Laurie.

It's somehow the worst hot take in a thread full of them. I'm here. It's [censored] humid.

Were you sitting in a corporate box or something? It's been 86-91% relative humidity all night. All 46 players were glistening with sweat in the warm-up. All 46 players were fumbly for most parts of the game, us just more so.

My initial early thoughts are: In: Pickett, Fullarton/Brown, Woewodin Out: Bowey (inj), Spargo (suspended, if not then dropped), Schache

6 - Viney 5 - May 4 - Fritsch 3 - McVee 2 - Salem 1 - Petracca

There are some truly garbage hot takes in this thread, but equally there was some ridiculous overconfidence after beating Carlton in a practice match (say it with me one more time - it was a [censored] practice match). I was there. The humidity was telling. We simply didn't cope. That's understandable, but disappointing. Grundy was good but the key difference was he wasn't being blocked, checked, hit and kneed at every contest. Gawn was. We know this happens when we go in without proper ruck support. This has been happening for 8 years. We were also visibly cooked about 5 minutes into the last. That will partly be because we were a player down plus May appeared to be hobbling, and partly because we struggled with the humidity. But it's also concerning. We pride ourselves on our fitness and specifically running out fourth quarters, but we were gassed too early. Having said all that, three things really stand out to me as areas of significant concern: I never, ever, want to see Spargo, Chandler and Laurie in the same side again. On the understanding that ANB is a walk-up best 22 player, there will never be a situation in which we need all three of these players alongside ANB. Sadly, I do not see anything in Laurie to suggest he's good enough, but IMO Spargo was atrocious tonight - I watched him and he appeared lazy, pointing without manning up and waltzing between contests. I didn't like that we picked him off no practice matches and I think it was a massive mistake. I think we conceded that we stuffed this up by subbing so early in the third, which we don't normally do. The worst bit was that this robbed us of a rotation when Bowey went down. Spargo will probably be suspended but I'd be happy to drop him for Kozzie next week We can't play Schache again. Not after that. That was so, so weak. They ignored him most of the night, allowing McCartin to blanket JVR. Fullarton or Brown have to replace Schache next week. We lost CPs and clearances to a side missing three first-choice midfielders. That is enormously concerning. We do not have a good enough forward line or forward half game to be that bad in the middle, and if a side missing that much midfield power can beat us in the middle, then we are in for a tough time. I loved Howes and Windsor, Viney was incredible, and Oliver was so good for someone with the summer he's had. May was dominant in the air and Salem in the midfield clearly works. I won't write us off after one summer's game in Darwin-like conditions, but enough went wrong tonight to give me a lot more doubt than I want.

Anyone else see that David King now has us in his predicted top 8?

Spargo after no practice matches? Surprised. Means Laurie or Chandler for sub, you’d think.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1500199/injury-report-a-duo-of-demons-available?fbclid=PAAaYAD2Gy7nUtJs0XD06VuXYe5vyn7exEWGLw7kz5o99SX4ahPr6pvl24Ekc_aem_AYmURj24KYArGJyQAQvgFnrL0gS94af2KjW5y6m3uVttCivWIKdlQ8r8mAfX9M-xi5Q Brown and Spargo available. Petty 2 weeks. Hunter 3-4 weeks. McAdam TBC (hamstring, not calf).