Brisbanedemonfan

Hold up, I missed the memo that Pederson was a defender now?

AFL article today talking about the Dees who can't get a game. States Oscar Baker is our second fastest player (after Hunt obviously). Could he be the extra run we need? Strong VFL form at the moment, could he come into the side for Smith as a defensive Mid?

Looking at some stats on the AFL website, and noticed something positive about Melbourne. In recent years one of the criticisms labelled at Melbourne is fade-outs across a game. A strong first half followed by a poor second, or a strong first quarter followed by a shocking second, and so on. Well this year we seem to have improved markedly in this respect. So far this season we have been consistent across all four quarters, winning 9, 9, 11, 11 across the four. This places us equal 3rd for total quarters won, tied on 40 with Richmond and West Coast. We're equal 4th with Geelong for first half performance, but the second half as you can see is where we really shine. We've won 22 second half quarters, to be ranked 1 in the competition! Just something little that's positive we can take away from the year so far. Full rankings: First quarter wins 1st - Richmond & West Coast 11 2nd - Melbourne, Geelong, Swans 9 3rd - Filth* 8 4th - Port & Hawks 7 Second Quarter wins 1st - Richmond 11 2nd - Swans & West Coast 10 3rd - Melbourne, Geelong, Filth* 9 4th - Port & Hawks 8 3rd Quarter Wins 1st - Melbourne and Filth* 11 2nd - Port, Swans, Hawks 10 3rd - Geelong 9 4th - West Coast 8 5th - Richmond 6 4th Quarter Wins 1st - Richmond 12 2nd - Melbourne & West Coast 11 3rd - Port & Geelong 9 4th - Filth* 8 5th - Swans & Hawks 7

Roos was quite harsh on Jones in his book. Before Roos and for a long whilst under Roos, Jones had the impression that he almost single handedly had to carry the team. The more contests he went for, the more stats he accrued, would somehow translate into a win. He would fight Roos over this. I feel he's gone back again and is returning to this mindset/ignoring the coaches and playing how he thinks he should play. Maybe he's still upset with Viney being named as co-captain?

1: Exactly! Hogan should also stop trying to crash everyone else packs - so many times last two rounds he'd go up as the third man up to spoil our own players marking chances! Needs to let his ego go and be the team player again - something Roosy spoke about in his book too, playing for the team rather than individual accolades. Petracca needs to be plonked as a HFF with Melksham to shoot darts at goal on the run from on the 50m which they do really well. 2: I think Salem was tagged/had an off night, no influence and low on disposals to usual. Sweeping off the back of the square to collect and fire one of his darts to an attacking wing. 3: Read an article recently that said one of Lewis or Vince's time is up at the club - too old/too slow now and couldn't agree more. I'd Say Lewis to go first, followed by Vince (who could be a tempting lure for snatching Sloane in the off season). They've contributed mightily to the club, particularly Vince. He was bought in to show the other players (along with Daniel Cross surprisingly) how to be superior athletes (Roosy own words), what elite AFL level effort was, and how to train better. 4: Garlett will be back in the side soon, being managed for now. Roosy and Goodwin don't believe in dropping players for 'poor' performances. Yes it factors in probably a little, but its more to do with player management - resting players at the right time, developing players in the VFL to be able to excel at AFL level. Fritsch, Melksham, Hannan are our current full time small/medium forwards. Goody is developing them at the elite level whilst resting/developing our other small/medium forwards: Kent, Garlett, Bugg (Kent was injured as well?). If over the last few weeks Fritsch, Melksham or Hannan had been injured, one of the other three would've swapped straight in. We play ANB, Harmes, Spargo as forwards too but they're listed as Mids on AFL stats pro. 5: Swore like a trooper when I heard Hunt was injured straight after Lever went down - really hope he does too. Everyone here calling for Petty to come into the side need to be more patient. He's 19, if we hype him up too much and he underperforms, then what? Trust in the coaches, they will know when the time is right to play him. We're better off bring Frost back into the side, he's at least played AFL level footy before. Sure he's not great - but we don't know Petty will be either... My ideal team for next week would be: Salem, Frost, Jetta Smith, Hibberd, Brayshaw Lewis, Viney, Jones Fritsch, Hogan, Melksham Hannan, Pedersen/Weidemen (Obviously TMac But I have strong doubts he'll play), Garlett Gawn, Oliver, ANB Tyson, Spargo, OMac, TSmith. Why Frost I hear you all say? Well, Frost is taller and heavier than Membrey, and both have similar experience levels. He's also another back up ruckman so Gawn can be utilised all over the field cause any of Frost, TSmith, Pedersen/Weideman can fill in. He also has good run and carry off halfback. He also has decent intercept possession numbers. Also, others have said this but I'll say it again - players need to stop bombing it in. Watching the win over Adelaide in particular - we'd go for players on the wing, or at the top of the goal square, but rarely lobbed it in. Players would lead out into space for a one on one contest which they'd win. Last two rounds we've been lobbing it in to packs where 3 Dees and god knows how many defenders all fly for it resulting in either a spoil, opposition mark or very rarely a TMac grab. I've always thought we were a poor contest marking side - our stats don't always reflect this but in our losses its really shown up.

Cameron gone for the rest of the year?

We have to stop this mindset of oh we have these high draft picks or exciting players in the VFL who need to come into the side because X y and z player is doing badly. Roos and Goodwin have the mindset that a player should never be played in til their ready, until they can handle it. Grimes, Trengove and Watts were ruined by being thrust forward to young as saviours of the club. 1 players doesn't make a better team. Goodwin is managing our players, it may seem frustrating when our favourites are in the VFL, but they are there for a reason, they will get games in when the time is right. [censored] teams play high draft pick high talent players too early, good team develop them until they're ready for Afl level footy. Alot of the vfl draft talent are sheltered and play in an environment completely different to AFL and when played too early they can't handle it. I would highly suggest more posters read Paul Roos' book Here it is. Would give Alot of us a massive eye opening and make us all a bit more patient.

Umpires won that game - Port playing for frees too. We shouldve won that. Hogan needs to stop crashing packs to get goals though it's not working. Easily win 5 of our next 9 games to still play finals. Could go 6 wins if GWS play [censored] with injuries, 7 if West coast are without Darling and Kennedy again. It's like the first few weeks when Lever wasn't gelling, we still haven't worked out a way to replace him.

Another thought that occurred to me overnight was that Buckley has essentially double the experience as a coach to Goodwin. Just as much as any new player, stepping into the role as a head coach requires learning on the job. So yes Goodwin was outcoached, he'll learn from it just the same as the players will. He made poor team selections, put players in roles they aren't suited too, and he didn't change the game plan when things went wrong quick enough or well enough. He'll learn, he'll add it to his memory bank, he will learn and get better just like any other new player.

The only real losses I can see coming are: Cats, Eagles, Swans. Port can go either way - Port can play good football, but they can also play atrocious footy - much like us. Saints, Freo, Dogs after the Port game - pretty confident we'll win all three of those - Dockers would be a loss if it was in Perth but its TIO and they're up and down - beat a tired undermanned Adelaide (like we did) - not convinced they're better than we are. Cats at Cattery I'm not looking forward too - yes we only went down by 3 points, but home deck, with a set up with Gaz that looks like its working. Will depend on injuries for both teams by this stage - and whether we have our confidence back or not. Adelaide at Adelaide Oval - 50/50 - thumped them undermanned in Alice - will depend on whose back from injuries really. Suns at MCG - Easy win potentially - they've proven tough adversaries at times at the MCG but I think we're a class above by a long shot. Eagles at Optus - beat them last year, just, but they're probably the best team in the comp so another loss here. Giants at MCG - depending on injuries, I think we could grind out a good win here. That leaves us: 15:7 if we play our best footy, which we can do. Don't forget, we won 6 games in a row for the first time in 12 years. Some more team changes along the way means we shouldn't repeat yesterday. I think we got ahead of ourselves, became complacent after winning so many games so easily, and alot of players looked tired. Spargo, Fritsch, Lewis in particular probably should have been rested a few weeks ago. Melksham too probably with his foot injury.

I also have been waiting the last month or so for Hannan, Spargo and Fritsch to be dropped for a rest. Hannan probably has the best tank of the trio as he's already played a season of senior footy, but I was expecting the other two to be fatigued by now and yesterday showed it. Bugg, Kent, Jeffy into the side for the Port game?

Definitely old habits coming to the fore again. Long high balls into forward 50 to packs where Dunn and Howe had a field day. Long bombs down the wing as well, back to our hold habits. Over the last 6 weeks we'd stopped doing that - guess when [censored] hits the fan we revert back to our old habits? Also seemed to have forgotten to put someone in the goal square, noticed it in a few of our wins lately where Hibberd would wait in the goal square whenever it looked like the opposition were having a shot at goal - saved a number of dribble goals the last few weeks. Hibberd in the square would've stopped a number of goals that went through cause we had no one there. Good passage of play was when I think it was Gus had a shot at goal 30m or so out but on an acute angle - sideways kicked it to square it up and we got the goal. What Hogan should've done with his one shot on goal. But that's how we played in our wins - kicked it to someone on the outside of the 50m arc, who when the opposition expected us to go for a shot at goal we centred it with a short, low pass to someone with a better angle. I think Pedersen back would still work better than Weideman back. Weideman has height but lacks the body strength to out compete key forwards which Pedersens 95kg's and 193cm height can do as we saw with some of his strong contested marking.

I don't think we should have played 3 tall forwards with Pedersen, 2 talls 4 small forwards worked well for us the past 6 weeks. As a utility, could Pedersen be reinvented as a defender? He can take a strong mark and has the size to outwork opposition defenders, so why not make the opposite switch of TMac? Melksham didn't look his best - injury from last week niggling him? Lewis had no run and didn't lay a single tackle. Oscars game today reminded me of the Oscar of previous years. As we all know we got smashed in the middle. Whenever Gawn tapped the ball down, we'd pick it up only to be tackled, or to handball it out to a waiting Collingwood player. We needed to spread more and Gawn needed to thump the ball out of the middle more as I've seen him do before - the straight down the throat tap worked to Collingwoods advantage almost every time. Thing that killed us most was speed. We'd get the ball, shank a kick, and it would be inside 50 before you could blink. I think OMac, Lewis, Melksham dropped, with Peders for Oscar, Hunt for Lewis and Garlett for Melksham. Room should be made for Tyson to come back into the side, maybe Petracca? If a Pedersen move to defence won't work maybe blooding Petty instead.

Noob question I know but only the second time I'm buying tickets for a game.... my first experience didn't go well (ended up being in amongst the Essendon fans at the round 15 game of the 2015 season), so I was wondering which area of the Gabba is for the away teams supporters? I have a hunch where but want someone to confirm before I buy tickets.

My 2 cents in reverse order of disposal count: Jake Melksham: I was pretty underwhelmed by Melksham's performance yesterday, especially in the final quarter. Looked cooked - no run, no dash, couldn't deliver any of his outside 50 on the run darts I've come to expect from him last year. Looks like he needs to hit the track again. OUT. Jeff Garlett: Had a bad game, being our leading goal kicker last year, my vote is keep him. Especially up against a Brisbane side full of young defenders with small bodies that he can out manoeuvre and out contest. Zach Tuohy and Harry Taylor are elite, big bodied backmen. IN. Mitch Hannan: 1 Goal 1 Behind, 9 disposals. A solid warning here, not his best game but still young, has the potential to perform well against a Lions side of youngsters like himself. IN. Jake Lever: Just a case of noobishness for him - first game with a new team who play completely different to Adelaide. Will find his form again, maybe played off HB where he started last year with Adelaide? IN. Bayley Fritsch: Performed exactly how I'd expected him to perform. Young, I think we should rest him this week though, so we don't cook him for round 3. OUT. Neville Jetta: Out marked just about every time in the second half. Looks like he's lost his leap and spoiling ability that showed so strong last year. Could just be a poor game for him, stellar performer in just about every game last year, performs are vital role and can lock down some of the best forwards in the game. IN. 1st Warning. Oscar McDonald: A lot has been said about O Mac, so I'll say this: Still obviously a young player, showed some strong form and looked improved over last year at times, only to disappoint again when its counted. Could excel against a young Lions side, IN for now. Christian Salem: Laid some solid tackles, but as some others have said, 12 disposals isn't enough footy for a Mid. He can play some beautiful footy, and has a beautiful kick. Needs to start on the bench rather than as a dedicated Centre. Can rotate him out of the Mid and HB. Unlucky OUT. Cameron Pederson: Suffered from a case of over utilisation I think. Up forward, down back, at the contest as a Ruck, as a Mid. I know he's a designated utility but when we played him forward last year for a spell I feel like the position clicked for him. A Ruck/HF mix for Cam I think will see him return to form. IN. Alex Neal-Bullen: 2.0 at games end with 15 disposals. A decent day for a youngster of 35 games against an experienced and bigger side. Whether I'd keep him at HF is another thing though. Like Salem, should start on the bench for depth and rotations until he's more experienced. IN, with a Warning. Josh Wagner: So much improvement in this guy - some less than stellar moments but I stopped cringing by the 4th quarter whenever he went near the ball, cause it wasn't the instant turnover I'd come to expect - close to a 60/40 split effective use/turnover ratio which is big for Wagner. Laid some outstanding tackles, and generally used his body well. That being said, playing him in the Mid was a mistake, needs to go down back again. IN, with a warning. Corey Maynard: Dig a good job for a quarter on Gaz - not bad for a kid in his second game. Ran out of legs in the end I think, but to lay 7 tackles for a game is a solid effort. Should be rested this week though, no need to over-cook him, we have the depth. OUT. Jesse Hogan: Was it just me or did Jesse appear down back way too often yesterday? Took him away from where he plays best for too long, Jesse was nowhere near goal too many times - he has the body, with the endurance now, to play as a mid/rover but still excels as a Full Forward. Play him as that or don't play him at all. Let's hope he can kick a bag against Brisbane again. IN. Bernie Vince: STARTING HIM ON THE BENCH!? Anyone else think that was ludicrous? He is a starting C/F if he's playing, end of story. Didn't have the influence on the game as we'd come to expect - may have done a better job as a tagger from the outset - definitely if played as a defender on their talls. Poor game from a solid contributor, we still need his experience. IN. Jayden Hunt: Had some good run and carries but looked like Geelong were counting on us using that as part of our game plan and planned to limit it accordingly. Just a poor game from a solid contributor. Tough game took it out of him at the end, as we saw last year could've made the torp from outside 50 but tiredness, pressure and being rushed made him fall short. IN. James Harmes: Poor game from a solid tough nut, who can lob darts at goal most games. Unlucky to be 0.2 at the end of the day - as with the whole team, needs to be able to handle expectation and pressure. IN. Max Gawn: Seriously unlucky to miss that goal - but as an article I read today pointed out - Gawn regularly misses shots from that exact position, so he was just true to his form (laughs). Will bounce back, and an obvious IN. Michael Hibberd: Below par game for him, had some stellar moments especially at the end but I feel like our back line just haven't gelled with Lever yet, but it will come. IN. Jordan Lewis: Undisciplined at times, which was poor. Could see him attempting to marshall the defence in the second half but maybe players didn't hear him? IN for now until he cops a suspension, then drop him a few games after the suspension to cool his jets. Christian Petracca: Missed some crucial goals, but can't really say anything else, obvious IN. Clayton Oliver: Match high of ten tackles, plus a goal, plus being our second best ball getter. Enough said, IN. Nathan Jones: I was worried about Jones after watching the JLT series. He looked cooked at the end of both JLT games and I'm aware he was having back spasms during the pre-season. Combine the two and I was worried he was not going to be up to standard - but this is why he is our Captain. Didn't deliver any seriously uplifting plays like he's capable of (back soreness still maybe?) but a solid contributor with no question of retention. IN. So where does this leave me? Well, this is what my 2 cents worth thinks we should take on Saturday: B: Hibberd, O-Mac, Lever HB: Hunt, Wagner, Jetta C: Jones, Lewis, Tyson HF: Petracca, Pederson, Hannan, F: Garlett, Hogan, Bugg/Kent I can't decide who should be given a chance here. zzzzz FOL: Gawn, Oliver, Vince I/C: Harmes, Frost, ANB.