Engorged Onion

Good points. It's an interesting one, unlike the article, I don't subscribe to the belief that we (or any team) need to provide evidence to anyone currently that we need to be in 'winning form' or to get on a streak, or to win by a certain amount. Are Collingwood clear favourites now due to last nights win? Personally I am neither here nor their on them having stronger credentials than the other top 3. It's going to be a role of the dice to some degree, luck, personell on the park, 'moments' in games that win it. We (pundits, supporters) retrospectively look for patterns to make sense of things, and then contort them to a way that then fits a narrative. Port were due for a loss.... last year Geelong managed their aging stars well... So between now and the first finals weekend, I am not the fussed... I'm happy to see what the Dees do come the first match of the 'post-season'. We're well drilled for it, that's been part of our DNA since Goodwin came along.... the other 21 rounds is the refinement process...

Sprint finish: Time for Max’s Melbourne to make their mark

Longmuir 😵 cards, marked?

Skill levels of both teams, both media darlings… can’t just be the evening dew? They all look out on their feet half way through the second …😉

Tell them in a de-identified way 🙌🏼🤩

5? 4? years of specific style of training under Burgess and Griffiths. 5 years of not just being fit at the start of the season but refining and exposing each athlete throughout each subsequent season to be able to perform under fatigue during the season, both from a physiological and a psychological perspective. Stress Innoculation. It's done this way, because the evidence is the list is Top 4 worthy. So the 'poor form', the 'we're not contenders' narrative from those that need the immediate gratification of a win to not question a teams credentials, ultimately misses the point. When the plateau in training load comes... the ability to execute physiologically and consequently psychologically without the burden of the physiological stress, becomes far easier. 5 years of building on the base pre-season, and mid season, year after year after year and for some of those athletes in the 23-27 year old range, the will reap the rewards. It'd be different if we ranked the list at 18-11, we'd be operating the fitness cycle quite differently. The incremental and cumulative affects should have been seen 2022 where many players were crocked. I whole heartedly expect to see the rewards of this in the 2023 finals campaign.

If you're the sort of player to need this sort of impetus to a) commit to actions and b) have your skills magically refined compared to all the rest of your matches, then you're in all sorts 👌

Ahhhh, Collective Minds and their interpretation of psychology.

Yeah but 6,66 is good for us 😈

Curious, why do you say that? From my perspective, those 7 players all get a week to rest, recuperate, and get some time off, to avoid knocks (and then ON) in to the legs... They had to fit it in somewhere once Top 2 was 'sewn' up, at least hopefully from their perspective. Another 5-7 will come back (and out) this week and freshen up some others without losing continuity. We'll still beat them though :)

port didnt give a rats about todays match, thats why they rested them 👌

@WheeloRatings @binman - what’s your analysis of the ‘pressure ratings’ - from the naked eye, they don’t really marry up. neither team operating at AFL standard level in the 1st? Brisbanes pressure rating higher in the 4th?

Got a "100%" emoticon to add to the suite you already have @Demonland?

Look at how people respond on here, when someone takes a risk and it doesnt come off. People don't realise that taking risks irrespective of outcomes, helps fosters decision making in high stress moments (finals). BUT to then get severely criticised and have the 'shame' experience for chosing the right option (never the wrong option) and it not coming off, is what causes athletes to go into their shell. Supporters can't have it both ways (but they do...)

Us, last year - v The Dogs

Fascinating - deliberately having a higher handball to kick ratio than any other game since round 8… foxing?

No doubt the FD failed to look at the VFL draw on the fridge in the staff kitchen before making the decision?

My point is - he is playing forward now more often - why has this changed? When it seemed so useful in the premiership year.

I may have missed some good conversation on this, and it's not specifically relevant to this game. I do wonder why we see less of Max dropping back in defence anymore. As strong as our defence is, I still think it's his best role. Does him doing that negate the effectiveness of our defence? Does anyone (everyone) who is smarter than me, have some thoughts, on why there appears to be a shift away from this?

Thank you for providing your detailed quantitative analysis @Deelightful Dee. 100% username and content delivery accuracy.

Stu, do you mean that literally, or do you really mean 'a win'?

So many posters on here suggesting they'd die happy after winning a premiership and proving otherwise ...😆😇

Collingwood?... Oh! I see what you did there! 🙌