Swooper1987

Good result. Will know exactly what we need to do to maximise our chances.

Probably need to go a little smaller in the back line against Carlton. Ground ball in defence will be crucial. Their small forwards have been pretty prolific. Martin, Motlop and Owies all hit the scoreboard again today.

6. Tracc 5. Gawn 4. Hunter 3. Nibbler 2. Gus 1. Viney

Indeed. By a fixturing quirk our last 4 games this year are against the same clubs who made up the 1987 final 5 along with us. Perhaps the greatest final round in the history of the game was 1987.

5 day breaks anytime are hard enough but towards the end of a long season they are just about insurmountable. Hoping the Tigers can rally. The fixture inequity is bad enough in terms of double ups but surely they could manage equity in breaks between games.

Goodwin is not into resting players. He respects every opponent and there is no doubt that North at Blundstone are not easy beats. Gawn will play.

And as I posted in another thread, Max now the highest polling ruck of the season. 7 votes ahead of English.

Just picked up another 10 coaches votes as well. That makes him the highest polling ruck so far this year - now 7 ahead of English!

I've never seen a more influential player since I've been following the Demons (and that's since 1980). His ability to change the course of games is second to none. AFLCA Champion Player in 2018, two time B&F, Premiership Captain and the best ruckman of his generation. No matter what name the AA selectors come up with this year for the ruck position, Gawn is the dominant player in that position and everyone knows it.

I was sitting in the AFL members yesterday as it was an away game. I was surrounded by Richmond fans and they were all pretty good. They were supporting their team but their behaviour was fine. I don't find them anywhere as nauseating as Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon fans. I also noticed lots of 'mixed' families yesterday - plenty of kids supporting the opposite team to their parents, partners following either of the teams. It was actually the first time I've really noticed that.

Agree entirely. It was a great game to see live.

Just got home. What an epic game of footy. Well done to both teams. Max Gawn played perhaps the best second half I've ever seen today. He imposed himself on the game in a way that only he can do. 6. Gawn 5. Viney. 4. Petty 3. Petracca 2. Melksham 1. Pickett JVR is going to be a very good footballer, which we all already knew. He loves body contact - the hallmark of most of the better big forwards.

I don't mind the Tiger fans to be honest. They have a much greater humility than Collingwood and Essendon fans - 37 years of misery taught them to be humble, I guess. Sharing the ANZAC eve game with them has been an eye opener. They are very respectful and I can't really recall any outrageous behaviour from them at all. I admire their passion for their team and love the atmosphere. Almost always a good contest against them.

I gave him top votes in the Demonland Player of the Year but both coaches obviously didn't rate him that highly. He had a very quiet third quarter - 3 disposals. Maybe that factored into it. A strange one.

Not sure. I just checked English's total as a matter of interest.

Not for one minute suggesting Maxy has had an AA year, but the bloke almost universally tipped to take his spot, Tim English is only 3 coaches votes ahead him, after Maxy missed three games, was off in the first minute of another one and has spent most of the season sharing ruck duties.

Since Simon Goodwin became coach in 2017, he has only had one season with a win rate less than 50%. 2019 was that season. Yesterday saw him record another "winning" season. That's 6 from 7. One better than the previous best Melbourne Coach in my life time, Swooper Northey, who went 5 from 7. Neale Daniher had 6 from 10, although his last season ended after 13 games. Norm Smith coached for 16 seasons and had three less than 50% (including his last 2). Congratulations Goody. Only one team can win the flag each year but you have coached a team that has been super competitive over a long period of time.

Pretty good Joe, I thought Gawn was a tower of strength all day. 8 marks is a big return.

6 Viney 5 Kozzy 4 Gawn 3 Brayshaw 2 Chandler 1 Rivers

Top 4 are all split 2-2 now. Collingwood has beaten Port twice and lost to Lions and Melbourne; Port lost to Collingwood x 2, beats Melbourne and Lions; Melbourne beats Collingwood and Lions loses to Port and Brisbane; Brisbane loses to Melbourne and Port and beats Collingwood and Melbourne. Pretty close between them all too. Most of the games have been within a kick or two.

One of the easier BOG's of all time I would've thought. 6 Gawn 5 Petracca - he was excellent and the the third best man on the ground behind Max and Daniher who was very nearly a matchwinner for the Lions. 4. Melksham - such a clever player, sometimes too cute but did a good job on Andrews and then proved to be the matchwinner. 3. Viney - an amazing defensive and offensive game, again! 2.Brayshaw - Gus doing the team things again 1. Pickett - Koz was back to somewhere near his best. I really liked Rivers, Bowey and McVee. I thought they displayed great poise and footy IQ. All three of them could easily feature.

Here's the thing with the rising star award. Neither Dane Swan, Gary Ablett Jnr or Jonathon Brown ever received a nomination. That tells me all I need to know about it, and the people who judge it.

A good victory against a team who are incredibly difficult to play against most weeks. Think what you like about Ross Lyon, but he is an outstanding coach and his teams are very difficult to beat. St Kilda did a lot right tonight but so did we. It was a game between 4th and 5th and that's what it looked like to me. That quarter and half in the 2021 GF that everyone seems to judge our performances by is an unfair benchmark. Reality is imperfect games like tonight. Arm wrestles that if you do enough right at the right times sees you take a hard fought victory. That's footy. And the criticism of Gawn and Grundy is out of line, Marshall played a wonderful game - he is an excellent player. Gawn and Grundy both played important roles tonight. Grundy won a lot of clearance and Gawn took 6 marks including three contested and together they matched Marshall's disposal numbers and beat him in hitouts. Gawn won't be the player he was because the team doesn't require that now according to the coach. He believes our best chance of winning a flag is two dominant rucks and I think if we are to go deep into September they will prove our biggest point of difference.

I'd much rather he take as long as he needs than rush him back. In all honesty, him missing is far from the reason we've not been winning much. The mids have done a great job in his absence, Viney has really taken the bull by the horns, Sparrow has stepped up, Tracc is having a great season all bar his kicking for goal, Brayshaw has played some good footy through the middle. Together with our remarkable defence, they've been the reason we've been in a winning position in every game since he went out. Now if we can just hit the scoreboard!

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