Rodney (Balls) Grinter

One of the other stats that were pretty high up (or at least we'e a few weeks ago) is runs of unaswered goals kicked against us. I think that stat combined with the quarters won stat explains our ladder position.

The ladder on the AFL we site now shows this, which I think is kind of handy.

No problems with either of this. I think that it's great that we presently have some what of an abundance of quality small forwards/goal sneaks (Freitch, Hannan, Spargo, Kent, Gartlet) that we can play those in form and send those not in such great form/output back down to the twos for a few weeks to get them selves right. Jeff has kicked 40 goals in a season multiple times as a player both for as and Carlton, and his forward half pressure/run down tackles are pretty dam good, so there's no doubt he has a place in the side when he's right. But he does have the tendency aluded to by Cook man of going missing for blocks of games during the season. It probably better that he goes back to the VFL to find some confidence and hunger during these periods, as I'd recon playing poorly at senior level for several weeks would be as confidence sapping for Jeffy as it is damaging for the team missing the output from a player of his capability and tallents, though it's probably also true that even when his output is down, he is probably still drawing one of the opposition's best small defenders (so long as they are not hurting us the other way).

It ant rocket science (I'm just a poor old ex-garbo). They (footballers) might talk up all this "one club player" stuff, but at the end of the day, they (probably at the urging of their managers) think with their head not their heart when deciding to accept a deal and stay or chase a better deal and leave.

...many footballers like the romantics of being a one club player and I believe a reasonable level of genuineness in this assertion from most, but at the end of the day, I believe that almost all would be making their contract decisions on an dispassionate, pragmatic basis, so on its own, the stated notion of being a one club player is almost irrelevant.

Puss off BT for starters. Wheatley is a moron - he has nothing on BT.

I know what you are saying, but: a) I really don't mind if the media and rest of the footy world underrates us, so long as we keep improving and winning (when they will inevitably and regrettably jump on the band wagon); b) Some of our lapses within games still righty cause the objective observer to question the MFC's present capability to be a finals side. Until we consistently put together convincing four quarter efforts against all commers, I think many will have trouble having any confidence in us - refer point a).

Yes, the over [censored] zealous auto censor.

Watching at the ground, I thought Hannan contributed very little last week, but upon watching the replay, I noticed he did do a few things, but wasn't great. Has the potential to stand up and be a real match winner on his good outings though and made a pretty handy contribution Vs the Bombers, so worth persisting with. He seemed hopelessly out of position (too far behind to impact) when playing deep forward last week, but did do some reasonable link up stuff further up the ground.

No life? ( ...yes, I know, I'm on here too. Pot meet kettle).

+ ANB isn't playing to his attacking potential at the moment either. If he can find a way to win more ball and use it better (like he was last year) within/in-addition to his present role, then watch out opposition, because ANB could do some serious damage also.

Agreed. After being a bit of a critic of his selection at times, I think Weid is starting to show a bit more competence and confidence at the top level, which is encouraging. No doubt having T Mac back helps too, as Weid would now be getting more of the 3rd best tall defender and/or a shorter opponent to match up against.

We are actually the No.1 team for contested possessions over the first 7 Rds from what I understand, so I don't think our poorer performances have been so much about lack of intensity or desire as they have been about defensive positioning, system and ball movement. At times (Richmond and Hawks in particular) we've actually had too many trying to apply the defensive/pressure acts and not enough clear of the contest to make use of or defend the ball movement clear of the congestion.

Until it's a done deal it's not and then these days, it's still not completely binding if one of the parties looses faith or goes shopping, i.e. Jack Watts, Tom Boyd. Right now he's with us and playing good footy and the team is starting to win and perform, so let's see where that takes us.

What player would be?

We are presently playing far below our best, but starting to find some form again after loosing our way against the Hawks and Tigers. I recon Viney back will be huge tipping point once he's up and back in full flight. If we can't beat most of the sides presently above us in the remainder of the home and away, I don't want to make finals.

Haven't seen the Hun article, but I suspect the content in the below is either the same or makes similar point. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-tipping-experts-round-7-afl-teams-fox-footy-commentators-blowtorch-questions/news-story/07763614389e8928927a90aef92ce9de This is what I've been saying for weeks. Despite a crap game against the Hawks and average-poor game Vs the Tigers, that we are playing far below our best, but still getting the job done and racking up the four points (be it mostly against poor teams) is a good sign for when we start playing well. Though I don't take too much away from wins against teams like the Bombers and the Saints, at least we are getting the four points, which we might not have in seasons past and they all count the same at the end of the season. I also think based on the form of the respective teams the wins against North and the Lions now look much better than they did at the time.

Lol, an oversight/mistake surely. I recon Tom makes the starting 22 of any team in the comp.

Agreed. And I think this is where Viney is comming from. I dare say I don't think there is a side in the comp that has a 'best 22', such is the nature of things. Would probably be better to talk about which players are a lock in the side and then the present next most likely to fill the remaining spots. Amongst the later group you could probably categorise as fringe battlers, vets hanging on and developing players on the up. In reality, I think any side needs a mix of all three groups and I've got no problems with us having a few fringe players that help get us across the line... so long as the mix is right.

My take is more that our team was crap and Howe was too good a talent to waste being starved of supply and that he was moved back by Collingwood for similar reasons. With our present back six and lack of forward marking power and conversion, I'd be playing Howe as a forward in our team any day of the week.Could take a mark out of nowhere and his set shot conversation rate for shots on goal and feild kicking in general is elite. Still rate Howe as the best player we lost through free agency and received next to nothing for in return.

Agree with what you are saying here. AFL/VFL is littered with players who had a few break out games but couldn't maintain it over the long run. Only time will really tell, but I think the fundamentals of Bailey are pretty good in terms of his attack on the ball and skill using it by foot that I think he will stand up to the test, but only time will really tell. He also needs to remain injury free unlike the other recient mature age player with real potenial we have on our list that has fallen by the wayside in Vandenberg.

Though I didn't see the Collingwood Richmond game, to me, I think it's more about how compeditive Collingwood were perveived for the first three quarters compared to us. Vs Richmond we played with great intent and ferocity at the man and ball for the first quarter, but failed to convert and capitalise up forward. Second quarter we were incipid totally lacking in confidence and dare with our ball movement and we somewhat lucky to be in the game at half time. We clawed things back a little after half time in the third quarter, but again were less than convincing, playing without great system and confidence in a period when I think they had Cotchin off the ground and Martin somewhat hobbling around. Our fourth quarter needs no further mention. Conversely, I get the impression that Collingwood played with better system and confidence intensity over the whole first three quarters. None of this negative comparison bothers me overly to be honest. The premiship isn't won in April. That we are still managing to be generally compeditive and put a few wins on the board when we are down on form and several of our best players I think bodes well for when we get Viney back and start playing with better system, confidence and conviction over a full 4 quarters on a consistent basis. Despite the retortric, I think the presence or absence of your best players still makes a huge difference, particularly to lesser and experienced sides like Melbourne and I would even say Richmond. Richmond have had a dream run with injuries and if you were to take say Cotchin and Reiwolt or Martin out of their side, I think they would struggle. I also don't buy too much into the shorter break side of things either. Whilst I don't know the exact physiology of how significant it might be for recovery, both Richmond and Melbourne only had about 18 hrs more rest than Essendon and Collingwood respectively and so I think it's about as good as they can fixture it, if they are going to have these ANZAC Rd clashes between the respective clubs.

On a bit of a tangent, but related note - you know, for all the money that gets put into regurgitated crap footy shows these days, you would think that a half decient rap-up and analysis of what's going on at state league level would make for good viewing wouldn't you. I use to love watching the seconds before the main game, to have a better look at who was comming through, but don't really get that chance much these days.

Got to give some credit to you Drunken and the other punters on this forum who were singing the praises for this guy from early in the piece. Now that we've all had a chance to see what he can do for real, it's not hard to see where that confidence in him came from. Super impressive how well he has taken the step up to senior AFL level at this stage. He just has such great 'natural footballer attributes' about him, it's a thing of true beauty. Will be interesting to see if he can maintain his presence and good form as no doubt he will be targeted and start attracting even more close checking attention from the opposition with how well he is playing and what he is doing for the side.

Sorry, I am going to sick my neck out a bit and compare him a bit with the asertion that at this point I think he uses the ball better for is than Lever does. It's actually a bit more of a statement of non confidence in Lever at presemt as much as anything. Where I think Oscar makes sound, safe decisions and generally passes within his capability with good execution, I think Lever is the complete opposite and I would go as far as to say that I think Lever is the worst ball user in our backline right now. Whether it's because he is uncertain of our system of ball movement and his teammates positioning and that he will get rapidly better once he finds his feet more, I couldn't say, because I didn't take much notice of him at Adelaide, but right now, I recon his ball use for us is rubbish.