Swooper1987

A superstar.  The best ruck of his generation with a record comparable to the greatest of all time.  The most influential Demon of my time supporting this club.

Listening to the First Crack crew it's all down to Gawn.  A crazy stat relating to his rating points.  Above 13.7 and basically we don't lose.  Less than that and we are basically 50/50.  Another stat relating to his score involvements.  If he has 5 or more a game we basically don't lose.  Only once this year he had less than 5 and we won - that was against Collingwood.

Hope whatever it is doesn't keep him out.  Game 200 against the Hawks for the champ.

Was a hard watch.  Based on that Spargo maybe and Tomlinson if we want the extra tall back were the only listed Demons worthy of consideration.  I think we need more run against Hawthorn.

Just need to get it done against the Hawks then we can do whatever we need to against the Swans to get the final match up we want.  The exact reason why all last round games should be played at the same time.

We can't let Newcombe  do as he pleases.  The guy is an absolute gun.  

Hawthorn playing great footy.  We need to be on right from the start next week.

6 minutes ago, dee-tox said:

The Melk can't cover the necessary ground for an AFL player. That was obvious last night.

Can't agree with that.  He, along with nearly every other forward on the ground was ordinary last night.  He was stiff against North - should've had about three frees that weren't paid and before that has been very good.  He is very good in a defensive forward role.  As I said, the logical match up for Sicily.

Melksham must stay in next week.  He's the logical match up for Sicily.  If we shut him down, we win.  Need to keep his intercept game under control.  Gawn to ruck solo.  The Hawks run well and are surprisingly, for a young team, running out the season very well.  Schache is not the answer forward.  We need competitors and he is not one.  We have a days extra break on them but this is now must win to lock up top 4.  Can't see Carlton losing either of their last two.  A win this week for us locks up top 4 and then we get to choose how we go against the Swans depending on the finals possibilities.

A great game of footy. We put ourselves in a losing position early in the last with some terrible centre clearance work.  And that was a collective poor effort from Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver and Viney in that period.  We steadied eventually and proved that we were as good as them at our best and time ran out.  The Grundy experiment - I like him but he doesn't add what we need.  No goals and no idea of forward craft really.  Hard to judge entirely on last night - it wasn't a game for big forwards.  Our best hope is Fritsch and TMac get back quick.  When last we saw him, Tom looked cooked, hopefully he has one shot left in the locker.  Leading and contesting is what we desperately need.  Looking at what's left of the available options you can put a line through Brown on that front.

We have won 5 in a row and could mount a case that we were a bit unlucky not to be celebrating our 6th in a row yet there is still so much room for improvement.  Unfortunately, the Hawks next week is now must win.  Carlton should win their last two and if we drop both we finish 5th and from there it can all be over very quickly.

Also doesn't mention the impact of Gawn as the sole ruck.  That has made a significant difference in the last month.

Tracc has to play key forward now.  Oliver, Brayshaw and Viney supported by Sparrow, Jordon and the occasional Pickett foray should be capable enough.  We've seen enough of what the others have to offer. A forward line of JVR, Tracc, Melksham, Fritsch, Pickett, Chandler and ANB should be capable enough.  Maybe Smith steps in for Fritsch in the interim.

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

1 hour ago, Whispering_Jack said:

In 1987, Melbourne had a 6 - 10 record after 16 matches and were considered as having no hope of making the finals.

We then won the next six matches to fall into the final five by half a game ahead of Geelong and Footscray. That was the year that we beat the Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval and the Hawks beat the Cats in Round 22 which enabled us to compete in the finals for the first time since 1964. 

Our run continued into the finals with a 118-point win over North Melbourne in the Elimination Final (hoping for an encore today) and a 76 point win over Sydney in the Semi Final. It took Gary Buckenara’s goal after the siren (courtesy of that controversial 15m penalty against Jimmy) to end our run in the Preliminary Final. 

I think our form swing in 1987 was equivalent to Carlton’s this year.

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.  

26 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I reckon the Tigers played out of their skins today. Martin was the best he’s looked for years. Shai is a gun and his speed from contest killed us.

I’d be ok with that I saw from them today as a supporter. They tried to win. I like that attitude.

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.