Kev

Carlton are marking well. They are up, looking confident and playing with spirit. Dogs are still hanging in there and will come at them.

Dogs look good when they have the ball. Ordinary when they don't.

We also get an extra day preparation, and to analyse them at the game. You would imagine, some of our coaches are there.

Without post game watching of the matches, these are my thoughts. We focus on pushing the opponents around with shoulder to shoulder contact hoping for a front position prior to the bounce. At the bounce we separate and hope for a look at the ball. If an opponent is being tagged, we stay with them. The straggling that occurs, limits our ability to run onto the ball, from the taps. If we could find separation and watch the bounce and not the opposition, we could get to the ball quicker. Eye on the ball, back to basics. We started reorganising the centre when the other teams were getting Max's taps. They don't get the taps now, but the opponents are winning the ground balls. The pushing gets us out of position and the opponents take advantage. Would like to see us go back to running with various angles through the bounce area. Hitting it with pace means they have to have less wrestling and more push off's, in order to take advantage of our tap wins.

We stopped Cunnington after half time. Kennedy, Florent and Parker were not too influential. In the past, can be game winners. Hickey played well.

They missed Heeney.

Seems to regularly pop out on the good side of the contest, with the ball to be delivered. Oops I thought JJ was Jackson.

Oliver, Spargo, Jordon in the last, effort and skills. Backline absorbed everything We can scrap. Petty stopped his opponent who was good last week. Passengers again. Tried to be cute with handballs in the wet TMac, well done. Good coaching, our structures make us difficult to play well against. The opposition think they can have cheap shots at us, we used to take it and wilt. Now we fight back and laugh at them. Good hard fought win.

Not saying that he was bad. Thought he came out harder after the head hit. Like what Williams does to get them up.

Saw Williams pushing a few before the bounce, perhaps he could snap Harmes on the back of the head to get him going.

I am the same. A soft or sensible, looking for comfort, Victorian.

Melbourne won't be flat today. They had their bad one against the Kangas. Sydney have had a disrupted week, with covid scare. Coaches missing and anxiety states will have its mental effect, hopefully in a negative way. There will be less time to review and work on the lessons from the game against the Cats. Tracc to show why his big contract was appropriate, with other new contracted players standing up together, Oliver and Salem. It will be a sign of our stability. Need more selfless acts, so it is action and not a thought bubble. Angry Dees, time to belt this lot and continue to change the dialogue of, "no fight". We are hard to beat, as we play for the 120 minutes. Sydney will have to be on to keep up with us. BBB to do more after he got the "rust" out of his system. Backline to keep on keeping on. I want to see a more active midfield at the stoppages. Our runners and link players have been breaking lines and assume this will happen again. Sydney could work hard to block, nulify and disturb our flow. I expect a dour game from them as they try and stem the flow of goals. If they try to play in our forward area and counter, they will be smashed because our conversion of inside 50 is much better than in the past and our backs are smart and have a great structure. Our ball movement, execution and decisions, and the pressure we bring to the game has been outstanding. Training with a smile, then with the seriousness of the knowledge that we are hunted. We will turn that round and hunt those underfed Swans. We are confident, with plenty of buy in and a good system. Challenging games will get us up and going. Do the basics well, and trust in our way. Own the G, Go Dees.

Richmond had fumbles, couldn't hold a forward area mark, couldn't score on Geelongs turnovers and had passengers. Geelong forced errors onto the tiges and wanted it more. No roar from the tiges in the third, they got rolled. Counter attack footy doesn't work. Possession of the football in the forward area takes pressure of the backline. Ruck craft killed the undersized man.

Two changes to their four, they will have a disrupted forward and back-line. Our depth is looking good. Will they train, and play (VFL) Majak as a back? Hope Petty does enough, should get a good run at it, at least 3, 4 games. I expect him to slide smoothly into a successful and well established system down back. Lever will set the orders, as he wouldn't want his 100th game spoilt, starve Franklin. It will be a good midfield battle. Jones as medical sub, 302. Go Dees.

C'mon Dees, take that "anger" out on the Swan. Pluck the feathers and give them a roasting. Effort is needed, run, get the ball before them and use it. If they have it, bring the heat, don't allow them time or space. Simple, basic, we will have the pill, more often and longer then them. Media have high hopes for the Swans and those expectations will exhaust them, they have won before a ball is bounced. No saviours, Buddy is in decline, as is Parker, Hickey and Kennedy. Blakey, Heeney and Reid are good players though inconsistent. It will be left up to the younger players who are guzzling the bathwater, the bubbles and the empsom salts, and can't carry the weight of the game. Big win for the Dees.

Pushed at the boundaries, and went well over. Don't like that innuendo. Can you ask the mods to delete it please.

Have they acted, or just acknowledged? The article says, "an announcement is expected in coming weeks". https://www.afl.com.au/news/607851/push-for-thursday-night-teams-reveal-gathering-ceo-steam

Would like to see all teams posted 2 days before games. Being a team that usually gets the Sunday slots, we are most of the time, waiting on the eve of the game to know the selections. This leaves hardly any time to discuss, analyse and criticise. Instead, we spend too much time hypothesising. Thursday games post Tuesday 6.30 pm, Friday games could post Wednesday 6.30pm, may be problematic, though the Sunday team would know who it is selecting on the Friday night. I hope they make logical decisions about team postings and adjust with more than the Thursday night announcements. Addit, they propose that Sunday teams be announced on Friday, Thursday would be squad posts. Would love, more time to hear the social network brain trust's thoughts on match ups, wrong selections, possible rearrangements, the game plan, and the general expectations of the team.

I feel the same way. What a relief, as not as much disruption to our game, thanks MFC for appealing.

Enjoy being top, we are not the bottom, nor wearing uncomfortable type footwear.

My guess, if top of ladder, we are not acting like it is the bottom.

A bit of sarcasm puts strains on my enthusiasm.

Starting a conspiracy thought bubble there Doug.

Beaten by the dogs in the first two quarters. The dogs drank from the bath and Richmond played a good 3rd quarter. One, maybe two quarters is not really drum beating. Maybe when they are at full strength, their mojo may come back. At the moment they are middle of the road and have to fight hard for wins.The Dogs got found out. Mental weakness, which we aren't showing this year. We are playing for the 120 minutes (North aberration), unlike other years, when we relied on a couple of good spurts. Hope that they are perceived as the team to emulate and beat. We can fly under the radar. Though they would all love us to drop a game and then falter. I can't see us doing a mid-season collapse We are looking good. Doing well, converting the inside 50's to scores and with the stats that are important this season. We are hard to beat. Keep rolling along Dees.

Agree, especially Heeney, he is having a huge impact. Need someone to stop him having a clear run up at the ball when in the marking contest.