titan_uranus

Absolutely brilliant win. When they got to 16 points up in the third it felt like we were hanging on by fingernails, with the time they had in their forward half, but we defended so well and when the tide turned we took full toll. -2 CPs, -15 clearancss, -10 tackles despite being -36 disposals and -21 inside 50s. 99.9% chance if Port does that again this year at home they beat whoever they’re playing. For us to win despite that is a testament to the way we’ve changed how we set up and move the ball. On TV it felt like we retained forwards deeper to ensure we had options; it also felt like when we were at our worst we lost that shape forward of the ball. ANB humungous, Brown’s leading and aerial contest work was critical, Viney massive all night and Clarry’s final quarter was stunning. TMac was surprisingly good on Dixon, so much so that we felt comfortable swinging Petty forward. Lever’s intercept game was phenomenal but he and Rivers have to improve their kicking, they both made critical errors. Despite all those shout outs, this was a win that didn’t have Trac, Oliver or Gawn dominating for four quarters. That of itself is massive. (Edit: the stats suggest Gawn was more dominant than I felt while watching. I thought Soldo troubled him at times. But clearly Gawn was good). These sorts of wins, on the road to boot, can really make something of a season.

Is it fair to say the disparity between their players with AFL experience and ours means this has been a promising performance so far?

So Adelaide are 0-3 and have us (home) and Carlton (away) as their next two. 0-5 is not exactly far-fetched. They just re-signed Nicks, too. We'll see if Fremantle are truly the real deal in the next fortnight, with Carlton and then Port (away).

Your constant conspiracy theorising is tiresome. Also, probably not accurate here. How much media was generated by their 0-3 start? It was all over every paper and website. The more they lose, the more attention they get.

It will most likely be a fine. Intentional, body contact and low impact is a fine. Has to be graded medium or above to get a week. For that, either the MRO decides it was genuinely medium force or applies the "potential to cause injury". I'd love it if the MRO did actually grade it medium but I doubt it. Edit: a reminder that the system is broken. Any intentional strike should be a minimum week. If it's enough force to be reportable, then it's a week. It's [censored] moronic that we still have fines for intentional strikes.

If he stays next year then walks as a free agent, and if we get band 1 compensation, then we get the first pick after our own. Which, if we are any good next year, will be mid-teens. North Melbourne got pick 3 because their first pick in the draft was pick 2.

I'll reserve judgment on whether Collingwood are "back" until I see them play someone else. Brisbane right now are no good. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say the wheels could fall right off. If they're this lethargic against North...well...probably not. But then they play us, Geelong, GWS, GC and Adelaide. It's a tough run and on current form they may well be 2-7 at the end of it.

As a general rule I'm not against re-signing players at early opportunities. It's good for player morale (theirs and the wider list) and shows we're a fair and reasonable club to those who we may want to attract in future years. Having said all that, I am personally very much a Laurie sceptic. I do not see enough promise in him to think he has what it takes to be a successful AFL player. I would love to be proven wrong but I wouldn't have thought Laurie is a priority for our list at this point in time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lever is either out, or named but a late out. Tomlinson and Petty to cover him and May.

Not quite. He said we're confident in Lever playing. He will train today but I wouldn't be surprised if the position is "he has to get through training". May is doing some running today which is probably a good sign.

Well to be fair, he does have a midfield featuring Butters, Rozee, JHF, Wines, Drew and Boak, and a forward line featuring Dixon, Marshall, Finlayson, Rioli and SPP. If he’s backing those two areas of the ground to be as dominant as they ought to be, and Ratugolea and BZT to help in defence, perhaps it’s not all that bad for him to still want a high press?

What’s straightforward about Brisbane- Collingwood or our game?

I suspect so. With time he’ll get stronger and more of his tackles will stick. His willingness to two-way run is fantastic though.

They’ve got Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher as their new key defenders. I don’t rate ZT but he beat Tom Lynch on the weekend. They free Aliir to be like Lever. That might be a reason the FD pick Tomlinson and, if Lever plays, put Petty forward. Make Aliir a bit more honest.

This is a ridiculous take. Even if you have high expectations, being this critical of an 18 year old after his first VFL match ever is completely insane.

I suspect (with no medical knowledge) May misses the next three games pre-bye at a minimum. Tough slate of opponents to have in that stretch - Port, Adelaide and Brisbane are all pretty well stocked with tall forwards.

Chapman and Cox are defenders, Cox was in the AA squad in 2022. They are both better than Pearce, as is Luke Ryan. At full strength they are a strong defence and one which I think most people don’t appreciate.

Not sure about Fremantle's depth. Yesterday was only North but they were missing Chapman, Cox, Darcy, O'Driscoll and O'Meara, plus OMac and Worner who played last week, plus a few others (e.g. Corey Wagner and Ethan Stanley). Perhaps against a better side they wouldn't have won but they're 2-0 with quite a lot of talent to come back. And I wholly disagree that they "need" key defenders. Their best 22 defence is top 4 quality.

A consequence of the injuries being to talls and the lack of a rotation was that TMac played 100% TOG and Brown 96%. I'm fairly confident that wouldn't have been our plan going into the game and so it may result in either/both of them pulling up sorer than we'd have wanted. They may get up for the Port game but may not be able to do that and then do a 5-day break into the Adelaide game.

There have been a few posters on here who have felt we're showing some signs of the selflessness that many saw in 2021 and felt they didn't see enough of in 2022-23. One effort doesn't define culture or attitude but the Trac defensive goal-line effort yesterday IMO shows more than just Trac's own mindset. They showed the behind the goals footage of it on the afl.com.au The Round So Far last night. Petty, Rivers, Windsor and TMac can all be seen instantly and instinctively raising their hands in celebration of Trac's effort, and we know Gawn gets straight to him as well. That acknowledgement from his team-mates is equally as important as Trac's effort in the first place. It certainly supports the proposition that there's something a bit different about us this year, in a good way.

Some MFC supporters started getting frustrated at our kick-mark play in the fourth. I thought it was smart - we were down one on the bench and hadn't been able to give Brown or TMac any rest. Keeping the play a bit slower for a period made sense to me.

Looks like we will need two of Hore, Petty and Tomlinson in the starting 22 to cover for May and Lever. The Petty decision presumably comes down to how badly the FD want him in the forward line. Personally I think we will be OK with Brown and JVR forward as we were in the second half today, and therefore I'd go with Petty back. That also perhaps avoids the need to bring Tomlinson back if we think Hore can do the job.

6 - Petracca 5 - Fritsch 4 - Gawn 3 - ANB 2 - Langdon 1 - Howes

Yes, Hawthorn were bad. Really, really bad. But we just adapted so brilliantly to losing two of our most structurally critical players. It wasn't just Petty moving back. TMac was good too (and played 100% TOG!), Hore played his role and I cannot get enough of Howes and McVee. And it goes beyond that. To compensate for the lack of rotations and to ensure we still had the ability to get Petty onto the bench in the fourth, Brown played 96% TOG. 96%! He wasn't amazing today but his leading and presenting at the ball carrier sparked us in the third and remains vitally important. Trac's game was incredible, but the sign that this was a good day for us was that after him, it isn't all that clear who our next best handful were. He was so far in front of everyone else (give him all 6 Brownlow votes) but we had so many players play well. Bear in mind Oliver was down on the previous two weeks too (side bar - Finn Maginness can GAGF). Langdon and Chandler hit some form, Windsor's running is a beautiful thing to see live, Pickett is a weapon, and JVR improved as the game went on (I like him rucking, I think it helps him get into the game when he's otherwise quiet). The second quarter could have been better but the way we professional dismantled them in the second half despite May and Lever being injured was precisely what a good side should have done.

Collingwood are so far off it that I’m not sure beating them right now is necessarily a sign that St Kilda are any good.