Go Lordie

We should put Petracca down there in the F50 and clear out Gawndy, BBB, Kozzie, Chandler, Spargo. Create Goodwin's paddock. Put our best asset to best use. Oh, wait, he has to learn to kick straight first.

Hard to pick against St Kilda next week. They kicked 12.13 this week : that's a goal ratio of almost 50pc! We kicked 5.15 - a goal ratio of 25 pc. Twice as good good as us. Hard to ignore.

I know the ball is wet, but has Tracc hit a single target today? And Harmesey. Fair dinkum. In the clear on the wing late in Q2, signals to the intended target and then kicks it out of bounds. We don't deserve to be in the eight.

The fact that we are resting our ruckmen in the F50 shows the coach doesn't believe our forwards have the necessary ability to take a mark. What puzzles me is they almost never make a lead for a kicker to aim at. They just wait, with the opposition and all our other forwards for the kicker to dump it on their heads.

He will come good, but I have to say his turnovers are killing me.

I want to know why our big forwards, and our small forwards never make a lead. They all wait in a 12-man pack for someone to bomb it in. I saw Hawkins ( was it Rohan?) take a mark on a lead that must have started before the kicker even had possession. Not even Max can reliably take marks down forward when he's in a 12-man pack. We need more movement in the F50 when we have the ball.

Hi Andy, I apologise, but 50 years of journalism has made me something of a pedant. There is no such road as the Princess Freeway. The road between Melbourne and Geelong (indeed, between Sydney and Adelaide, of which Melbourne to Geelong is but a portion) was, when the various existing roads were linked up in 1920, originally named the Prince's Highway in honor of the visit of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII the Abdicator). Subsequently the name was bastardised by the bureaucracy (NSW 1993, Vic 2010) to the Princes Highway (as if there were more than one prince involved) and, more recently, following upgrades, the Princes Freeway. Not a girlie in sight, I'm afraid. I see this as another slight on the important but humble apostrophe, which is succumbing to the old Death by 1000 Cuts. Hardly anyone knows how to use the apostrophe these days, which can't help when people are trying to make themselves understood in posts on Demonland. Wouldn't you agree? GoDees!

Did you even watch the game???????

Sorry I'm so pedantic DWA. 50 years of journalism will do that.

I really feel for Milkshake. In the finals last year he was essentially our main man down forward and his main strength - excellent kicking - just disappeared. He could have been the key.

"Milkshake stared..." ? WTF? He won the game by keeping his eyes wide open? Give me a break!

The number of times we bombed it in to a 5 or 6-person pack was depressing. We couldn't take the mark and we couldn't win the crumb. Why do TMac, Roo and Gawn/Grundie all have to contest the same ball? Why isn't one leading to the right pocket, one to the left and one up the centre? FFS

I'm sorry, DNIMD, but can we please stop rubbishing out two excellent forward flankers/pockets? Judging them on how many goals they kick is just old fashioned (although it's great when they do score majors). Nibbler, in particular, and Spargs cover almost as much ground as Lingers and the new winger. They are always helping out down back. If you are looking for a marginal forward to drop, cast your gaze to Melky. 34pc ToG but not a single tackle and 1 goal (after it was all over). Spargs 63pc ToG, 2 goals, 2 tackles. Nibbler, 73pc ToG, 2 tackles, 1 goal (and 308 metres gained!). There are other factors that I can't easily find (pressure acts, metres covered) or cannot be readily put into statistics, but the small forwards are there to pressure the opposition as well as score goals. I don't know how Nibbler became a whipping boy, but I wish it would stop. Besides, won't Kozzie come in more as a mid-fielder, pointing the dropping stick more at JJ?

Clarry's goal kicking has moved up a notch or two. My throat went dry in the first quarter when I realised it was Clarry who received the handpass and was running straight at the goals through the 50 metre arc. But he nailed it.

Did anyone notice that one of the Twitter trolls who fat-shamed Magda Szubanski on the New Daily website today signed in as gtmelb with an MFC logo as their icon? I think this is disgraceful and brings the club into disrepute. Does anyone know someone who twitters as " gtmelb "? I realise these gutless trolls hide behind their web anonymity. I am posting this in the faint hope this person can be identified. If that can be done, should any action be taken?

Not necessarily dysfunctional. Just didn't kick straight.

You can only play on if there is a fast-moving team mate nearby who won't be tackled as soon as he receives the ball. That's if the ball doesn't land at his feet or go over his head....

Is anyone concerned about The Ooze moving to GWS?

Fantastic conversion rate. One goal from one kick. If only he could get more kicks.....

Retaining Gus was very important because he is a major driver of MFC culture. He's excellent at inclusion and team building. Max is a great leader - always says the right thing - but Gus is intelligent and has miles of EQ. He has single-handedly made Lingers a hero and raised the role of wingers out of the "utility" category and into an art form now recognised by all TV footy commentators. That's what I see from outside. There must be heaps more we can't see.

What excellent news! But I am curious about how these contracts work. How can the club know what Clarry will be worth in seven years? He can't remain as powerful as he is now, can he? There must be some adjustment mechanism to take account of variation in his performance. Clarry and CP5 and Gawny and Gus and May and Lever and Jacko and Vines and Salo can't all be on $1.5m a year, can they? Just curious about how it all works.

Stuart Dew at Hawthorn? Look it up.

Fair dinkum guys. All this talk of Bowey to the wing and Salem to HF is nonsense. It's like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. We have a young team. Some are having second year blues (Rivers dropped), some (like Tracc and Hunt)) are hopelessly out of form and, with injuries and suspensions, we have not been able to create the stability in the structure we had last year. The good part is we only need to win two more games to get into the finals, although even that will be a challenge ( two X Lions, Cats, PAd, Dockers, Collingwood and Carlton.) We might beat Adelaide, and maybe the Dogs. Let's aim for 2023.

Fair dinkum chaps. Why don't you try calling a game at home and then measuring yourself against Kelli Underwood's performance. What intrigued me was the question of where she was calling the game from. She presented Offsiders on the ABC in the morning - including a live cross to Ange Postecoglou in Scotland - and five hours later she's calling the game. So, if she was calling the game off the TV in Melbourne, where was Matthew Pavlich during the game? Just curious.

I agree. McGovern should be rubbed out for two weeks at least. That was a mongrel act. Unfortunately - and you can't blame him - Jack - had to defend himself with a couple of well-aimed punches. No doubt the MRO will see those and not the McGovern act.