Swooper1987

Good summary, but Trac has trailed off a bit I think. I'm not sure if it's the return of Viney unbalancing things a bit, but other than his Port game, he's been only average in the last few games. We need more from him. He needs to spend more time forward and Gawn more time in that centre back role he plays so well. Oliver is having a great season and at the moment probably only he and Lever are operating at optimum level.

From Peter Ryan's 4 Points in today's Age. GOING NOT GAWN Melbourne’s Max Gawn remains in form but with Luke Jackson battling and the midfield disconnected from their bearded skipper the area needs a freshen up. Between rounds 1-12 Melbourne were ranked eighth in clearance differential and sixth in the scores from stoppages differential. Since round 13 they are 15th for clearance differential and 13th in the scores from stoppages differential. They can’t ignore the issue.

Too much common sense here Titan. We've also not lost any match by more than 20 points for the season and in all bar the Collingwood game we've had more or the same scoring shots than the opposition. I'm still a believer.

I think we'll do ok. 3 out of the last 4 is definitely achievable but even if it isn't to be others still need to pass us so there is a lot to play out. Ignore the media analysis - it changes nearly by the minute. Just take it game by game and trust in the method that has us in such a good position this late in the season. We haven't been beaten by more than 20 points in any game this season and we have had more or at least the same scoring shots in every game bar one (Collingwood). We are right in this. This is a different Melbourne team to those we've seen before. Is there room to improve? Absolutely. I'm confident we will.

I think Gawn's efficiency last night was impacted by the way he got his possessions. Lot's of kicks out of the ruck. He barely handballed (2 for the game). It's much easier to have a higher efficiency when you handball more, even though it often puts team mates under pressure. His DE has been pretty good most of the year.

Great perspective Dr. G. It was a decent game where we fell short. The reasons were obvious and Bontempelli is a star. When we meet them again we need to put more work into curbing him.

My advice - steer clear of ladder predictors! Forecasting results in this competition, at this time of year, up to 4 weeks ahead is impossible. Injuries, suspension, covid complications. Just take it one week at a time. We control our own destiny. After this round at worst we are third (hopefully the Tigers can get up today). If we win next week we won't be below third.

First I heard about loads was back in the late 90's when Neil Craig was the fitness guy for Malcolm Blight at the Crows. It seemed to work for them. They'd have an average finish to the season and then blitz finals.

Jackson for Weid is a no brainer, especially if the fixture doesn't change. I think we need Melksham and I reckon Jones might get another go. Probably Harmes and maybe a rest for Jordon.

Thought we were pretty good tonight. They were just a little better and they had Bontempelli who made our mids look silly in the last quarter. The umpiring - meh . Our inability to convert pretty straightforward opportunities was more of an issue. Well done to Oliver and Gawn who had good connection tonight. Lever was really solid. If we can make top 4 we are still a real shot. Our challenge is to win three out of the last four to make sure of it.

Ditto. If Brown could kick straight he might've got in.

John Northey got everything out of that group. They had a great record against Hawthorn - better than any other side over that period 87-91, when the Hawks won three flags and were runner up in another play off. Putting them out of the finals in 1990 was probably my second greatest footy memory, after round 22 1987.

You'd hope that next season the mathematical genius who develops the AFL Fixture might let each team play each other once before any repeat games are scheduled. That way, if the season needs to be shortened it can be done fairly. I've never understood why we play some sides twice before we complete a match against all sides.

From what Damian Barrett said this morning it's likely we are. Perhaps Gus was aware of that last night. Looking at the GC v Brisbane game scheduled for Round 20 being flipped to next week which would mean we get the doggies.

Residual effects from his concussion perhaps. I agree, he's struggling at the moment.

Disagree on Gawn. He tried very hard. That chase in the third was immense. My Hawthorn supporting mates said they win by 4 goals if Gawn wasn't playing.

It's not a disaster in the context of the season but the signs aren't good really since the Collingwood game. We've gone loss, bye, narrow win, loss, solid win v PA then draw where we probably deserved to lose. I was really disappointed when a few blokes stopped and watched Gawn chase whoever it was in the third running into the punt road goals. Gawny was stuffed but the bloke eventually fumbled and there was nobody to assist. They eventually got a goal out of that forward thrust. Shameful that the biggest and hardest working player in the team was the one doing the chasing while the Hollywood mids and others stopped to watch. It's very disappointing but hopefully they get to play next week and redeem themselves. And Sparrow should've played ahead of Vandenberg. I can only think they were expecting conditions to be worse than they were.

Agree. Only chance of a Kardinia Park final is if Geelong play a non-Vic team as the top ranked side. They won't send another Victorian team down there. Even crowd capacity is only 50-75%.

Coaches got it right. They were the 7 most influential players on the ground. I did like Petty's game too.

It's a decent side they've put together.

True, but the other thing that's been a little different with our losses is we could've actually won all of them. We were in them all right up until the last seconds. Even at our worst we are still competitive.

True but there are a couple of decent games in round 20 that would be Friday night worthy - Essendon v Sydney; Giants v Port both have big ramifications for the 8 (at this stage anyway!). I think we would've agreed to the game in Darwin with conditions.

Other than not being a great spectacle it shouldn't bother us too much. Most of our list know the conditions pretty well, we've had some good wins up there in the past and if anything we would have more of home ground advantage than GC. It's very unlikely we'll be asked to play on the Friday night following against the Dogs. More likely a 7 day break I'd expect.

It does seem a massive over correction by the AFL. I presume Andrew has been a part of the NGA for a few years. We would have invested some time into him, and then the rules change for this season. Seems to defeat the purpose of having clubs invest in the whole academy system. A better rule might have been that clubs get one free hit on the NGA every three seasons. That way the investment becomes substantially more worthwhile but means you can't just harvest the academy zone each year. Anyway, good luck to the young fella. The more representative the AFL is of Australian society the better.

Leppa is outstanding. A great footy brain. A shame he'll be back on a coaching panel soon