Demons1858

Viney is clearly getting jabbed to the max to play. Saw him running after his man late in the last quarter and was hobbling really badly and struggled to keep up. With a full complement of mids to choose from he needs to get himself fixed and others need to stand up. Petracca looks as though he needs a rest. No VFL or AFL. No coincidence Hannan improved in the last quarter as others tired coming off a weeks rest

I'd take that

Hopefully others (Brayshaw, Weid, Hannan etc) play well and we no longer have an unhealthy and risky dependence on a player that doesn't always turn up ready to play

Read your original post again and understand where you are coming from. We are on the same page

Fake news

He also said he wasn't injured and he declared himself fit to play. So no excuses

Sorry Binman that's a technicality. If he crosses the white line he is fit enough to contribute. Literally all players have a niggle of some sort we can't declare they are all injured. Its just the degrees of discomfort but once you cross the white line and declare yourself fit there are no more excuses. Especially 3 weeks in a row

You are correct. Was actually dropped him twice in 2015 as it turns out. Was better last year when his contract was up for renewal. For those claiming his treatment is unfair, get your heads out of the sand and actually check his stats and even his Supercoach scores. Leave the emotion out of it. He's been down the bottom end in stats for the last 3 weeks straight not just 1 week. Yes there are others there (like Frost), but he's the only one with years of experience. On top of his stats, his intensity isn't there so that's why he cops heat from the forums. No regular / senior player in the competition play with such low intensity levels so often.

He has been dropped 3 times in roughly the last 12 months, twice now arould the time we are fighting for a finals berth. Droping him last year was a warning. Don't expect he'll get any more warnings and he will be well and truely on the trade table

Brown for the saints in defence will struggle for a match up with our small to medium forwards, given Carlisle will have his work cut out with TMac. And with Reiwoldt out we shouldn't get exposed down back. Can't remember Reiwoldt ever having a bad game against us. Massive out

Performance based. Hasn't had a kick in weeks, been exposed by opp bigs and lost his rebounding out of defence. Only saved (like watts up until now by lack of second string bigs in form). Pedo gets a chance to show what he can do in defence now, that's how bad he was playing

Hey mono, l clarified that in a follow up post but thats ok The point was that l would have preferred he give the year up after his last head knock. Too much to lose

Point is that I would have preferred he took the year off after his last head knock despite desperately wanting his competitiveness on the field. There are still many unknown unknowns regarding the research on head knocks so best to play it safe. Too much to loss with another head knock

This can go either way if he plays. Pros: Gets a sniff at a finals campaign (if we make it) unlikely to progress to far even if we do Cons: One more head knock this year and it puts his career in real jeopardy. chance to get certainty that the concussion issue is settled by coming back next season. If he gets another knock next year his career isn't over given time elapsed since last one Logic says he should wait. Passion to play is hard to ignore however.

No!

One of the accepted lies in footy. That's what they say so that a player who is put up for trade can come back into the fold if it falls through without feeling persecuted. Reality is that there is a smaller batch of players you just can't trade

Got it ... lost it for a moment ... or more. Yes we are unclicking at the moment as a team. But the ingredients are different these last 3 weeks. Easier draw, injured players are back having had a run, 8 day break, not travelling, and playing back at the home of footy. All pretty important drivers of success. So its time to start clicking. We have no excuses and need to put our best foot forward.

Hmmm ... assume that means we aren't agreeing? I think we have from time to time in the past though

That's a much more balanced post. Agree all leaders need to stand up especially the captains in key moments in games in the next 3 weeks. Don't forget Jones played almost a year with a badly damaged neck without complaining. And not Jones' fault the management of the club has been appalling. Just rapt he didn't leaving like Frawley, Rivers, Skully and others No decent coach, no decent recruiting or player development. At least Flower had those going for him during his time at the club

Our position on ladder in the past is irrelevant, its the teams you come up against you should be analysing. Losing to Adel, Sydney, and GWS is expected. Losing to North wasn't and nor was winning against West Coast away and Port. Young teams have unexpected wins and loses it and it shouldn't surprise anyone if you analyse it in a rational way. Net result is we are where we would have expected to be given the harder recent games. Not to mention key injuries and returning players coming back underdone. The last 3 weeks were always going to be crucial to making the finals. As Mike Malthouse said recently (I hear he has played and coached a few finals) its more about the team that clicks leading into finals that counts and consistency throughout the year is a little overrated. We need to be the team that clicks more so than Esse, West Coast, St.Ki and the Bullogs! With returning players having had games under their belt and coming back at the G starting with an 8 day break we get on a roll again like earlier in the year. Go Dees!!!

Yes, and? Your stating the obvious and not making sense. Is Jones a lesser player because he has played in perennial 'loser 'sides or is it because he isn't as talented as one of the best players to ever put on a MFC jumper? If your going to be so hard on someone it would be good to provide some constructive criticism to support it. Can't for the life of me understand how any true MFC supporters can be so critical of Jones. What a joke. All credibility lost pushing that line IMO

I guess with that rationale Robbie Flower must have been a perennial loser also. Not!

Jones absolutely has multiple credits in the bank. I think the point is more (as you touched on briefly) that the reputation of the all our experienced players and leaders at the club will be affected positively or negatively by the way they perform in these key games. If Watts continues his poor form in such an important time for the club can we ever rely on him in finals? If Vince / Lewis get reported again this season, how will their legacy at the MFC be looked upon? Will Gawn get back to something like his best after returning too early underdone? Can Jones / Viney drive and influence our team at important moments in games as co-captains or has Goody stuffed things up? Can James Harmes do something about his hair leading into finals?

Our player development does show more positives than negatives. So why aren't we better positioned leading into round 21? I have come up with some reasons: 1) Fixture: Its more difficult in the back half before improving in the last 3 games. We have lost to Adelaide, GWS,, Sydney in the recent past which shouldn't surprise. We lost to North but weren't favorites in our wins against Port and West Coast away either. So we are were we should expect to be with 3 easier games coming up (vs St.Ki, Bris and Coll). AFL has had upsets each week and we are no different 2) Injuries and suspension: We have had important players missing i.e. Hogan, Gawn, Viney, Vince, Lewis, Watts, Tyson 3) Returning players: The right intention has been there but players have returned underdone from injury upsetting the balance and game style of the team by not being able to uphold their key roles to a high enough level e.g.Watts, Gawn, and to a lesser extent Viney. Our high performing fitness team might not be that high performing or players are being selected before they are ready by match committee. Take your pick The positive: we are were I would have expected to be after round 20 given the fixture and a young exciting but inconsistent side having had some unexpected wins and losses along the way. Our big test was always going to be the last few rounds. Nothing has changes!!! As Goody has said "its your position after round 23 that counts".

Way too early to call. Has gone from playing small forward to a midfielder and excelled at VFL level. A big step. Lets give him a little more time for the core of his body to mature and not get bumped off the ball so easily at AFL level