Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Having heard/read a rumor that Lever may (pardon the pun) not be quite right, I'd be seriously looking at throwing Petty back and BBB as the third/second rotating key forward. A few reasons for this: T Mac is back to decient form and providing a the big mussel / contested marking forward up there again now and draws the more established KPB away from JVR. Lessens the need for Petty up there. I didn't think Petty made as bigger impact up forward as I'd expected. He looks a bit lost and out of position at times and if he misses the mark, I think guys like T Mac and BBB actually have a more established sense of how to stay involved and or kick opportunist goals once the ball hits the deck. Petty playing back is such a valuable asset to us. His ability to take big contested intercept marks down back and lock down an opponent is really important IMHO, particularly since we don't really have Gawn floating back down there at the moment. It's not that I think it was a huge mistake to throw Petty forward and give him a go down there, but for me it's run it's course for now and, so I think we should just park it unless the need really arises again. I actually think Petty would be better used up forward sporadically within games when we might be struggling to take grabs up forward, just to create a mismatch, throw the break things open a bit for the odd goal here or there if the game is in a bit of a stalemate or we badly need to get our selves back into a game. Using Steven May in this way would also be worthy of consideration here and there as well.

I'd suspect that's exactly why they've timed it as they have many people take the 4 days off this week as well and, so then it's about attracting some of those people to Adelaide for more than just the weekend, to stay longer and spend more tourist dollars.

May not have been the main topic of this comment, but we were pretty good at winning in empty or near empty stadiums in 2021. Plus whatever 'neutral' Adelaide supporters are there, would they rather support us or Essendon? I think with the exciting brand of footy we are playing at the moment, I'd rather watch that as a neutral supporter than the messy slops Essendon were dishing up last week.

Agree with you here Gawn dog. I think right now, we are in the enviable position where we are recruiting for sustained sucess to replace the likes of May, Gawn, (Grundy perhaps) T Mac, BBB and Viney in a few years, while the likes of Trac, Clarry & Co still have some years in them. We have this great second wave including Sparrow, Rivers, Chandler, Bowey, Petty, JJ, Disco, McVee, JVR etc all coming through right now to rejuvenate the team (Kossie if we can keep him). An interesting one for me will be if, when and how we can recruit a future Trac and Oliver. I suspect we may try to target that kind of elite midfielder with the compensation picks from Jackson. KPPs take a while to mature and impact games, but I think quality mids (with the exception of freaks like Dacos and Oliver) also take a while to really mature as well. Took Trac and Clarry a few years to really reach the level they are at now, where they are amoung the competition elite. At the moment, overall, I think we are trying to avoid the Hawthorn syndrome where we trade out top draft picks for aging ready made players and are trying to keep our list replenished by going back to the draft ever year or couple of years with the highest draft picks we can conjure together. While I think we'll continue to look for ready made bargains like Hunter, BBB and Grundy, I don't see us trading valuable players (unless our hand is forced by go home etc) or high draft picks for established needs players at the end of their careers, just to keep us up. Perhaps if there was a generational type player like Lever or May, where we had a huge need that we could trade for, but like you, I don't really see us with any huge needs right now that would justify that.

Yeah, agree. Bell is doing a great job at Freo, but surely his tallents could also take him other places? Was a great player at North and I think Clarko would love to have him at North in a few years, when they are starting to rise back up the ladder.

If we are serious about another flag this year, this is a game we simply have to nail. Get the job done. GO THE MIGHTY DEMONS!!

I've got nothing too much for or against the game day thread or it's posters. Use to play around in there a bit when I was interstate And watching the game by myself on the couch. The biggest thing I have against it that I did then, even as I do now, is that I find it too distracting from the game to post and watch at the same time, which somewhat takes the enjoyment out of both. Particularly now we win so often, I find the game pretty much speaks for its self.

He's a decient 50+ kick for goal off one step too - as in bang No.2 in the Bang Ban Bang. Immortal moment. Love the Tommy Sparrow.

So @DeeSpencer, Kade just scored an AFLCA vote for his performance, in the resounding win against a rated opposition in the Swans: 9 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 7 Christian Petracca (MELB) 6 Ed Langdon (MELB) 6 Brodie Grundy (MELB) 1 Lachie Hunter (MELB) 1 Kade Chandler (MELB) Surely his value is up above the $2.00 Mark now?

Sparrow/Spaz is kinda frenetic, so make sense to me. I played footy with a bloke called Barry who's nick name was Spaz which wasn't so frenetic and rather unkind in alot of respects really. Both have in common that they were absolute club legends, respected by all for the people they are and real heart and soul type of players that would put their body on the line and give every ounce of energy to the team and I think that's the part that matters most.

Yeah, I've given up on my work tipping comp after Rd 2.

Would have almost garrenteed you a tip a week for the past few years @WERRIDEE

ROOOOOOOOO Sorry, just had to do it. And all good MFC supporters need to be taking vocal training to project this into the stratoshpere as loud as possible for every game from now on.

There's usually a few master givers of nicknames at footy clubs and nicknames can be derived from the most randomness of 'stuff'. As an asides, I've actually been woundering where 'Chin' came from?

Come on Buck - this is a PG channel we're broadcasting here 🤣

Yeah, but his great grandma's aunt was a South Australian 🤪😜🤣 ...I thunk the point @radar was making is that like Lingers and Lever, he's one we got back in the credits column of come homes! P.S. at this point he had a much more accomplished individual career than the Dogga, but never had a premership medallion to show for his brilliance and character - like so many other great MFC players 1964 - 2020.

The same logic could be applied in reverse. I'm guessing the standard recruiters lines would go something like: "Picking the best available at that pick" "We really rated such and such, so that's why we selected them at that pick" I think it somewhat is a credit to Taylor and Co's credit that we are able to select these diamonds in the rough with late picks and then our development guys and team culture to turn them into solid players. I'm guessing that if the selectors thought it was a really line ball decision or a player had a really strong go home factor about them (Nick Nat / Watts), them maybe that might sway them to pick the home grown tallent. Otherwise, I think Jason Taylor did sum it up recently in a Demonland interview that for every player that does go home, a bunch stay and you can't generally let it influence the player selection. We've also been on the receiving end of a couple of super star come home to Vic's in Linngers and Lever, so I think it's swings and round abouts to a fair extent.

So who's the No.1 draft pick that next week's grudge match with Hawthorn will battled out for bottom spot? It would be like 2008 in reverse. Hawthorn feeling Geelong taking something from the before their time is due.

OMG, that's embarrassing. On another note, perhaps it could be thay those mad Monday antics of Dangerfield, Hawkins, Selwood and Co are pretty close to reality. Just for Catman's information, I think the rest of the comp thinks the real conspiracy was that Geelong even won it last year in the first place.

Great moment for Chandler. He missed an absolute giveme against the dogs when we were already well in control, but I felt for him a bit, because of the pressure he would be under to make an impact and numbers against the goals column in his position count. But today he kicked at least a couple of really good goals from set shots and snaps when the team really needed to kick goals to get, the keep the game on our terms. That on top of his great tackle pressure, hard running, creativity and involvement in other chains that resulted in MFC goals. Also find him really selfless in the way I've seen him repeatedly dish off to others in better positions when he could have taken a shot himself. Everything that's valued by our team. Really important game today for Chandler, when he really established his credentials. He's been building, but I thought today he was huge. So happy for the guy.

He's a very important cog in our machine. Is also a tough nut, so good at applying pressure and helping retain the ball in our forward 50.

I think Nibbler is having a good year so far. No doubt he's playing his role defensively getting up and down the ground with his elite endurance, but I actually think his offensive game is better this year than last too. I think he's getting involved in more goal scoring plays and kicking the odd one himself too, by pushing forward into space and really following the ball forward and crumbling. In 2021, I thought Nibbler had a pretty good year, so hopefully it's something of an omen.

Sorry Frankie, I don't think you've watch Petty play that much lately. I've noticed that angry man that won't take a backwards step in him for a while now, probably ever since he really stepped up and cemented his spot in 2021. Playing with the likes of Steve May around would help that I think. Liked his work as a forward today and while I think it's great to have some flexibility to throw him forward, I think his best and ultimate position is as a successor to Steve May. I also think it is great that the team and our players are now reaching a point of maturity where Goodwin and Co have the confidence in them to play them in other positions and make more changes to the team, rather than stringenty stick with the stability and system is king thing like we did in 2021 and much of 2022. In the same sense, I'd also love to Steve May go forward every now and then, because he can be a real weapon up there on his day.

And a reliable kick that can repeatedly execute and hit his mark with precision right where they need the ball to be kicked.

Thought Grundies work with the ball inside 50 today was excellent. He does some really clever stuff.