Swooper1987

Great analysis and exactly what happened. Jackson is not a ruckman at this stage. He plays the role of nuisance value at the ball up then acts as an extra mid. His follow up work is very good, but for us to win the flag we need much better connection between the premier ruck in the game and the midfield at centre bounce. Viney will make some difference to this. Love your work, Nasher.

This is a great discussion. I've read how we look better with Jackson in there. Jackson barely wins a hit out. What he can do is play as a an extra on baller and will sometimes clean up the opposing rucks hitout. It is an ok occasional strategy if he can clear it and move it forward. The problem is that Gawn and most of our midfield work better in real congestion, hence why we almost always win clearance around the ground. We will get the centre work right and when it does happen we will really mess some teams up. Those advocating Jackson spend more time in the ruck however are not seeing what's actually happening.

Me too!

Finishing top is overrated. Last side to win the flag finishing first after the H&A was Hawthorn in 2013. The next two were from 2nd and 3rd, the Bulldogs in 2016 were 7th after H&A; the only year the Tigers were first was 2018 when they dropped the prelim. The great Brisbane side never finished on top either. I'll happily take 2nd, 3rd or 4th after round 23.

Yeah, not sure about that. Last game in 2019 Gawn absolutely pantsed Goldy - 3 goals and 3 Brownlow votes. They didn't play each other last year. I think it was 2016 when Gawn polled 2 Brownlow votes and had 60+ hitouts against Goldy. Goldy did kick 5 that day and got the 3 but it was an epic duel. I reckon Max was just off today. Goldy hardly had a stellar impact on the game, with a 19 year old kid jumping all over him.

Good work, joeboy!

Yep, it wasn't his best game but to say Goldy slaughtered him by having less hitouts, marks or disposals is a big stretch. Jackson was close enough to best on so I'd reckon it might count as one of Goldy's poorer games too.

Agree. Petracca and Gawn both.

Using what metric? Gawn had more hitouts, disposals, marks and less time on the ball.

Good sides grind out those games. North played good footy in the first half. Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and nearly everyone else was well below their best. Jackson, Pickett, Jordon, Langdon and Salem got us back int the game and Fritsch was outstanding as a target. Him kicking straight today made a huge difference.

6. Fritsch 5. Pickett 4. Jackson 3. Langdon 2. Salem 1. May Oliver played a nice last quarter but was nowhere to be seen in the first half. Petracca was serviceable at best, Gawn wasn't beaten by Goldstein but was largely irrelevant today due to Jackson's influence.

Round 1. May 10, Oliver and Lever 7, McDonald 4 and Fremantle's Brayshaw picked up 2.

11 players have recorded coaches votes in the first 6 games. No player has polled in all 6, but Gawn, Oliver, Lever and Petracca have polled in 5. McDonald has polled in 4 games, as has Salem. Pickett has polled in 3 games, Langdon in 2 and May, Viney and Tomlinson once each. Gawn 34 Salem 28 Oliver 26 Petracca 25 Lever 18 McDonald 11 May 10 Pickett 7 Langdon 4 Viney 3 Tomlinson 1

The coaches gave Salem the 10 on Saturday. 7 to Tracc, 6 to Lever, 3 to Oliver and 2 each to Gawn and McDonald. Despite Gawn polling, he has lost the lead to Mundy but holds second. Salem now up to 5th and ahead of Oliver and Tracc. Lever also in the top 20.

Round 6 Coaches votes: 10 Salem (2 x 5) 7 Petracca (3 + 4) 6 Lever (4+ 2) 3 Oliver (1x 3) 2 Gawn ( 2 or 1+1) 2 McDonald (2 or 1+1) A just outcome for Salem who was outstanding on Saturday night.

The Herald Sun 3. Petracca 2. Salem 1. Lever The Age Petracca 8 Salem 8 Gawn 7 Oliver 7 Hibberd 7 Max is now outright leader in the Age Footballer of the Year on 37 votes; Clarry in second place on 36; Tracc equal 8th on 30 votes.

I really enjoyed Gawn's game last night. He had 30 hitouts of which 16 were to advantage. That's an unbelievably high hit rate. He also had 22 disposals at 82% DE (Team went at 70%, Salem who I thought was BOG, went at 79%). He also took another 6 marks (4 contested) in conditions that don't normally suit big men. And against a three time premiership ruckman who is a very good opponent. He really is the ruckman of his generation. Jackson's development couldn't be in better hands.

He won't be a better ruckman than Max, but he is a very talented player, and may well have a career that bests Max overall. For those old enough to remember Peter Moore, that's the type of ruckman Jackson looks like becoming. Great mobility, good pace for a big man, competitive in the air. Moore was a great player, but not a great ruckman. Gawn is the best ruckman of his generation, in an era of outstanding ruckman (Grundy, Naitanui, Goldstein and Ryder are all AA players). Last night, against a very good opponent, Gawn had 16 hitouts (out of 30) to advantage. That means that more than 50% of the time he won the hitout he put our midfield in an advantageous position. Gawn is a superstar. Jackson is doing a tremendous job giving a chop out to Max and he is competitive. Another interesting stat from last night was that Jackson and Gawn combined for 40 disposals and 11 marks. Gawn went at 82% DE and Jackson 100% DE. This was on a night that traditionally wouldn't be considered a great night for big men. Team DE was 70% on the night. By comparison, Salem went at 79%.

6. Salem 5. Tracc 4. Langdon 3. Gawn 2. Oliver 1. Jackson

Agree. Gawn is our biggest point of difference - an outstanding tap ruck who can actually take contested marks regularly in all areas of the ground.

It's unlikely that Jones would be the reason we win or lose against Richmond. His replacement would be the 22nd player and it's unlikely they'd make the difference either. It's also unlikely they would have the same emotional impact as Jones in his 300th game. Jones has earned the right to play a milestone game on a big stage and other than the GF this is about as big as it gets for us. I'm sure he won't let himself or his team down.

The Age M. Gawn (Melbourne) 8 J. Lever (Melbourne) 8 E. Langdon (Melbourne) 7 M. Hibberd (Melbourne) 7 C. Oliver (Melbourne) 6 The Herald Sun 3. M.Gawn 2. C.Oliver 1. C. Salem

6. Gawn 5. Lever 4. Salem 3. T Mac 2. Langdon 1. Oliver

Dom Tyson played a blinder from memory. That was the beginning of the end of the quest for 4 in a row.

I love both. My very first demon jumper was the royal blue of the late 70's with number 2 on the back. I was about 8 or 9 and I loved it. I loved it when in 1987 we returned to the navy and made finals straight away after 24 years - the first Melbourne finals series of my lifetime to that point. My fondest memories of the finest Melbourne player I have seen are with the royal blue but equally, I love the navy as well. As a club there have been more lows than highs, but those jumpers are our past, present and future and they both represent Melbourne.