Engorged Onion

Geelong did an us last week - an us of 2019 that is. Inside 50's through the roof - but failed to capitalise. Geelong lost it, Sydney did not win it..but got the points....ahhh you get my drift. The concerns for me are like everyone. How does Petty go second time around? Great that it's a forced change as he will get a run in the team for continuities sake. With Viney a confirmed out, does the in - Sparrow? Harmes? operate in a Viney-esque way - even at 70% Viney, and is that sufficient as a defensive midfielder. I'm excited to see Ben Brown second time up - I look forward to him kicking 6 goals, 4 of them free kicks for chopping of the arms :) I wonder about Gawn being down, as to what drove that... is he slightly ill/injured? Hickey will throw his weight around. Finally, Fritsch is a huge loss - I feel he is underrated on here. But... we have the luxury of being about to lose a match (and perhaps one more) without falling back to the pack so to speak. So there is time to build synergy again with the newbies coming into the squad for a lengthy period of time. Prediction: Melbourne by 11 points, running over the top after trailing by 7 at 3/4 time.

Holy Moses @dieter!! Happy to chat about it if you want to PM me, I’m all for a classless society and debating nuances - but can we leave the Kozzie Pickett thread for views on Kozzie Pickett??

I'm not going to 'pile' on you Dr.D - but your comment re: Petty - is this true, that he is a superior forward? In the games that he played in 2019 I thought that to be the case, strong in the contest, could kick a goal. So for me, I guess I bow down to the FD who are with him daily at training etc, have a range of metics, and in the end ascertain that they think he suits the side best in the backline. How do you come to a different conclusion?

Mate I reckon @Elegt is long gone... you're shouting into the wind.

Petty is yer man @Cards13

Not about you @Nasher How the [censored] can we all be following the game for 20, 30, 40,50, 60 and 70 years, and still not understand how % works... ? postscript On reflection, it's because we've always being concerned about merely wins and losses over 56 years, not the nuances of %, because the % has never mattered!! (except in the final game in 2017...WTF)

Agreed @grazman, he's clearly a very good player, do you move him on because of injury issues? Nope. It's a maintenance project - always has been, and always will be. Jack himself, and the FD will be well aware of this, and whilst always optimistic - take a risk management approach.

Rab - this is what good teams do... play like $hite and then go on to win... it's a [censored] weird feeling eh.

To be fair, I rode my bike home from the local watering hole along the beach at half time, so my optics may not be bang on. But how things have changed that it's not the old stagers dragging us over the line. Jackson, Pickett, Rivers, ---> bloody fantastic to get things going for the team.

Seriously... do some people expect fairness and equity in free kicks? It's not a conspiracy.

Cool (I don't really care, about people I don't know) - but was GH more supportive of The Dees or was AH salty re: Geelong's loss?

What's going on there @ProperDee, got any scuttlebut?

What is with the language of 'dragging us down'? To anyone who says it, not just you @Mazer Rackham In the EPL - 15 years ago it was Jose Morinhuo 'parking the bus' as a way to diminish an opponents skill sets. NMFC exploited our weaknesses... bloody good on them, they should be commended for it. Cunnington is a rock... I would have had him on our team many years ago. Each match is a process of refinement anyway, not game after game throughout the season, but against the same team 1, maybe 2, perhaps 3 times a year. Good on NM.

100% !!! MFCSS is like the [censored] poltergeist. There is no one on this forum that wasn't abusive to the team, to the umpires, to Tasmania, to whatever, in their head at half time.

@Better days ahead, sorry for being preachy, and I'll be preachy. Don't let your own personal expectations of things that haven't even occurred yet (the game) - get in the way of your version of 'deservedness or not'. We won and we deserved to win. There was a truckload of adversity... and a truism in football is that, if you are a very good team (or above) and you can grind out a win, then that is a great win. We just did that. Viney out Tomlinson out within the game Ben Brown's first game (synergy as a forward line, taking time to adapt). Baker in... A range of things showed up for adversity... we did bloody well.

Mmmm, our defensive wall is a brick short. Bloody feel for Tomlinson.

I don't normally quote myself -but when I do, I do it with smugness... ....and relief.

Personally I think it is useful to temper expectations. We’ve won our games by an average of circa 5 goals. Irrespective of today’s opposition, if we win by a similar margin - or even 2 goals, I’d be satisfied. If someone has said to me ‘before the first round - you can win your first 7 matches by an average of 5 goals’ I’d be taking it.

Hail to the chief analyst - well well well done. Brilliant insight @Axis of Bob.

Nice to hear. Was there a distinction made between his technique and tactical awareness on his attacks vs his desire for body contact (or lack thereof), which is more of a default setting....

Yes........and then after a lot of consideration a solid 'no' as well. We brought Ben Brown in for a purpose. The players know this also. If he wasn't injured round 1 - he would have been in as a default. Time to develop synergy as a team with Ben in it....(and personally Sam at some stage also.) I'm hoping Ben has been drinking this stuff

Not as well as Clayton does 'week in- week out' mate...bloody marvel.

No different to us as Oliver, Petracca, Viney et al matured... but I guess the concern would be they are only 23-25 - not a further 2-4 years further along a career path. To me it speaks of a lack of trust - trust in the game plan as well as trust in other players to commit to their own roles, which then lends itself to self-preservation and behaviours which are not beneficial to the team (fight, flight or freeze)... (move towards ball, not running defensively, ball watching) respectively. Ultimately - not playing their role.

Is it a stretch to say if Sam is not included in next week, it would be prudent for him to be looking elsewhere, as he is not valued enough? (perhaps this is a rhetorical question?) (perhaps that is a rhetorical question also?) I think Sam is all class when he gets the ball in hand... I look at him and wonder about his urgency at the same time though. If he is not a pressure forward, then what would be the metrics he needs to be hitting? So many questions about Sam...

I'm still uncertain about Oliver, he just does these dinky little handballs, a la, cheap stats like Tom Mitchell.