tiers

Received text message on 19/12 that packs were with AusPost. Still not received today 2/1, two weeks later. I know about delays over the holiday period but on the same day that I received the text I ordered items from a Sydney store and received them via AusPost on 24/12. If they can do it, for them why can't AusPost deliver for MFC?

When two bodies collide at high intensity it is not always certain who will come off best. Stick to watching the ball.

What if Bruiser turns out to be a player, not a thug. We should not expect him to be the "pack crasher" just because he is bigger than most. My memory of the 50s and 60s is of a skillful, talented team and we won games for that reason and no other. I would prefer him to take marks or create crumbing opportunities and forget about all these other issues.

Certainly beautiful for the sponsors of the ball. Not too high start point and control with the right hand onto the foot. Left hand extended for good balance. His goal kicking action reminds me of Billy Bennett - straight, smooth ball drop and high follow through. Like the tongue - maintains focus.

Re Bruiser. From the one bit of vision, he can tap, mark, kick goals and make second efforts. And that is when he is standing still. Gets to lots of contests on the run and seems to have footy smarts. You don't kick goals from forward ruck contests or from 60+m out without some ability. Speed is not the only valuable attribute. The ability to read the play so as to get to contests and to favourable positions are just as valuable, especially for a 206 ruckman. Admittedly it is only one set of highlights but I say give him a go.

I like "Bruiser" as a nickname for Preuss so I will use it. Game plans for forward lines are often based on trying to create "imbalances" between direct opponents to obtain clear positional or team advantage for one team, even if only for short periods until the opposition responds. 206 cm tall Bruiser playing on anyone is going to be an imbalance. Will he demand the attention of the biggest/strongest defender thus relieving pressure on TMac and Weid or will he be manned by the second/third defender in the hope that he does not create havoc by his size and strength? Will he act as a decoy for TMac and Weid or will he play as a backstop in the goal square where his height and strength could be decisive in marking contests? How does the coach prevent all three contesting and spoiling each other? Given that he would ordinarily be one of three talls all requiring attention, it would be hard for defences to multi team him, or his teammates, in contests as used to happen to Jesse when he was one out. And from all accounts, he is a genuine ruckman/follower who might allow Maxie the time and space to be even more influential. Nice problem to have for us.

To rjay. That they haven't locked down a senior spot says more about our depth than their individual abilities. At times they have each shown serious potential. To FlashInThePan. I have been signing off many of my posts with '2020' for some time now. The derivation has three parts: 1. Brendan MaCartney once told me that it takes 5 years to train and develop a league footballer. 2020 will the year when many of our developing core players reach the 5 year milestone more or less ie Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, Harmes, Salem, Weideman, OMac, Nibbler, AVB 2. The late Dean Bailey used to say that it takes about 70 games played together as a group to develop the sense and instinctive understanding required to be a cohesive group. 2020 will also be the year when many of our players reach the 70 gamer milestone playing together as a group ie to the list above add Gawn, TMac,Jetta, Jones, 3. Our last flag was in 1964. 1+9+6+4 = 20. Could 2020 be an omen prediction. 2020 Go dees.

Ronny Lerner's best 22 plus 4 emergencies totals 26, any one of whom could competently fill a spot in the 22 and the team would lose little. In addition there is Stretch, Kennedy-Harris, Hunt and J Wagner who have shown that they can perform well at senior level. Plus there is hope for Preuss in a new team and game plan. All together a total of 30 who have performed at senior level. And that excludes any draftees and rookies who could develop. To say that the list thins out after the 24th player is itself a bit thin. Barring a catastrophic run of injuries to our key players, a team comprised of any combination of the 30 players would be competitive. We have competition and multiple options for most positions and no apparent serious deficiencies in any position. The perfect basis for major development. 2020 Go dees.

The Jones sealer. Thanks for posting the vision. Who needs to run when you can steal the ball, duck and weave in the middle of a pack, spot a loose man in the best position and deliver by hand perfectly. That is the magic of Tracca. Get to where the ball is, win the contest, make good decisions and deliver.

I watch my footy from the top deck of the stands at the 'G. Love getting the overall look and watching plays evolve and play out. So when I attend training it is mostly a blur from the boundary with too many concurrent activities for my old eyes and brain to resolve (I am a survivor from '64). I am therefore hugely impressed with and grateful for the training reports from close to the action. Thanks to all the posters who stick to recording observations and facts and eschew speculation and gratuitous comments about our team. The reports make it clear that all the players are pushing themselves as hard as they can depending on their individual circumstances, their needs and the training programme set for each of them. Of course it's all through rose coloured glasses. But if we can't praise our players and show confidence now we never will. It's the fix I need to make it through the summer months.

The Jones sealer. Perfect vision, decision and handpass from a pack by Tracca to an open Jones. Perfect kick for goal as he used to do. The celebration by Jones was the release of 12 years of frustration and misery not only for him but for all of us. 2020 Go dees.

Frosty can be a weapon. The classic 80-100m players who can run away from any opposition and drive the ball long into the forward line. It doesn't have to be "lace out" just so long as the opposition are put under pressure and forced to defend in our forward line. Can't kick goals from anywhere else. If used tactically and strategically at the right times will make a huge difference to the game plan.

Training hard in hot weather leading to involuntary ejaculations of the contents of the stomach through the mouth was a old timers standard measure of effort and determination. Think RDB at kangas in the 70s. In reality, it was a sign of ignorance about the need for constant hydration during exercise. All those "drink carriers" during the match are a response to modern understanding of hydration. Even cricket has adopted this regime with drink eskis strategically placed around the boundaries to hydrate fast bowlers. That Spargo went too far is a fault of the club for not monitoring his efforts. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

Depends on whether the game is played in the air or on the ground. Until weagles won, I cannot recall the last time a strong marking team full of talls won the GF. Given that we do not have a phalanx of marking talls, then we should play play a ground game that matches our strengths and has been shown to be successful. Maxie and Brayden are big enough to scare most teams even those with lots of 200+ strugglers. 2020 Go dees.

If Jeffy is playing a 40+ goal per season game next year, he will be in and Goody will find a way to cover for him if necessary. A firing Jeffy will take away a first or second ranked defender from many contests lest he sneak away and find a path to scoring. A Jeffy who can't find the ball will release a first or second ranked defender to place pressure on other forwards. Spargs and nibbles contribute in other ways beyond scoring as defensive forwards and creating linking plays. With Jeffy it is all or nothing. A simple equation - score and you're in, fail to score and you're out. We should know early in the season.

" can predict 60% of non contact injuries ". Do they have any contact injuries? As for the data it seems that, over the long term, the unbiased analysis of basic empirical data could be expected to produce patterns that would assist in preparing game plans and even selections against opposing teams to maximise chances. Are the data available for each team only or are they more broadly distributed to all teams against all opponents? If more broadly distributed then I can envisage a time where real time data analysis would supplant coaches' decision making. Please don't let that happen.

To Watson 11 re one on one stats. Using Rance a a model for a highly rated defender, it seems that the lower the % the better over a career. But is Taylor better than Rance (questionable based on AA selection) or is it really only a measure of game plan and game style for each player n a team? Is it better to never be outmarked or to prevail in ground contests? It would be interesting to see Neville's stats as he is rarely beaten one on one and also my perception is that Lynden Dunn was also very solid in one on one but only at ground level.

To Watson 11. Your description of the process ie working backwards after the fact to find a combination that matches the outcome, would imply that the calculation could produce a different result for each player and each team after each game. A post facto reality check that in 2017 we had a good list. Unless the results were either aggregated or otherwise moderated over a series of games, how would that assist in predicting outcomes of future games or is that not the intention of the algorithm?

It seems to me that the one stat that is missing is "value per possession". Of course this is so subjective to be impossible to measure but given that weagles stats in 2018 were not elite then perhaps there is something else out there. When I see Tracca receive the ball in a pack and in the mayhem turn around and off one step kick a goal tells me that possessions and score involvements are not enough. Or when I see Tracca receive in midfield, spot and deliver perfectly to Spargo who in a blink handballs to TMac for an easy goal, raw stats and algorithms become meaningless. It's all about that immeasurable quality - footy smarts. And we are starting to accumulate it is spades. 2020 Go dees.

The top eight teams for games played are the teams who have been regulars in the finals in recent years including 6 out of the last 7 flags (Footscray the exception at 11). Experience as measured by games played as a group matters. We are 13. One more year together will see us near the top. Then we pounce. 2020. Go dees.

In our backline we will have May and Lever, who were standout key defenders in their former teams, Hibbert is an All Aus, Nev who should be All Aus, OMac, Salem, Frost, Lewis, J Wagner, Fritsch, Smith, Kolo and others who can fill in. In our midfield we will have a rotating mix of Clarrie, Viney, Jones, Harmes, Brayshaw, Nibbles, Hunt, AVB, Stretcher and others who can fill in. All serviced by All Aus Maxie and perhaps Preuss. In our forward line we will have TMac, Weideman, Tracca, Melksham, Hannan, Garlett(?), Spargo and rotating midfielders and ruckmen who can kick goals. The key element is depth. And no one knows who might step up from the draftees and rookies. Give them time to play together as a unit to develop the innate and intuitive understanding that top teams show and I am confident that we can be successful. 2020. Go dees.

The Weid moves like a natural footballer but will take time to fully blossom. He can mark, kick, chase, tackle and run as well as, if not better than, others at his age and stage of development and has footy smarts. I think of his set shot goal from near the boundary after running backwards to take the mark and also his mark and goal from the square during the finals. Only good footballers can do this. Give him time. 2020 Go dees.

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The 50m arc was introduced in the late 1980s to help the players and commentators judge distances and for all these years was not a part of the rules of the game. Now it is to become part of the rules like crappy sports like netball and hockey where whistle blowing is an essential element of the entertainment. In our great game, free kicks were meant to be earned at the contest, not from silly little technical infractions like this. It was bad enough when the centre square was introduced in the 70s (although the logic for that was at least arguable), but recent rule changes like 50m for having a little toenail one grass blade over an imaginary line, interchange miscounts and this latest abomination, are destroying the beauty of our great game. I can see 12 players in a Walls/Fitzroy style huddle at the line before a bounce ready to block for one player to escape and run or 12 players strung out like a moving fantasy of beads on the 50m arc or other schemes that I will divulge only to Goody. It makes a mockery of our great game but will look like dynamic art when viewed from a drone camera perched above the ground. But it's not footy. 2020 Go dees

The 6-6-6 rule is a sacrilege and a violation against the beauty and spirit of our great game. Those who introduced this rule deserve to be castigated to the fullest extent by all believers in footy. A pox and a curse on the afl who are seemingly trying to take our game away from us. That coaches and teams will game the rule and find numerous unpredictable or unconsidered methods of manipulation is a given. Imagine what Sheeds, Clarko, Barrasi or any former cunning backpockets would do. Leave our great game alone. Been watching fox sports afl old games from before the intense involvement of the rules people and the game in the past was a thing of beauty and still watchable and enjoyable today.