roy11

I can sort of see the rationale in picking Schache. We went a bit smaller against Carlton so the height as the sub made sense. You'd have to assume internally they rate Josh as the better forward. Is he more mobile? They've seemingly drawn a line through either Max and/or Grundy as a forward for anything more than a slight rest. To me the confusing part was not activating the sub when there were candidates and opportunity for the change. Know it's not really the thread for it, but the sub in the first final was ineffective and the sub in the second final wasn't used. Seems we haven't mastered this fully.

Miers also also kicking it to more consistent forwards. Wonder what Spargo stats would have been like if we had a well oiled forward line.

Is 'worst kick' based on accuracy to teammate and not clangers etc? At the same time the game plan of lumping it into the f50 won't do much to improve their ratings.

Reminds me of a chat I was having with a friend on the weekend, with the way the competition is at present, will we see dynasties of teams winning multiple flags or will it be a bit more of an 'even spread' going forward?

Correct call, Some curious selection issues this year but still played 9 and allows us to be flexible with Petty/Smith. also gives Turner/Adams time to keep honing their craft

Agreed 'Gun forwards hard to draft' , in terms of out of contract on the horizon at this stage Logan McDonald, Ben King, Naughton, Ugle-Hagan are out of contract end of 2024. Not saying any of them will go to Melbourne, but no doubt Geelong will pick one of them up for a bag of dirt and a pair of socks after one last year of Tom Hawkins. But Re: Point 1 - with some luck with fitness and maybe addition of McAdam I think our forward line will be fine for 2024. Especially if they find a suitable forward/ruck option. But sort of in line with @The heart beats true with some concerns re: Petty - Lisfranc recovery timelines not always great. Wonder what the timeframe will be for H

Thread had me reviewing all our losses, our biggest loss was against Essendon. Need to absolutely pulverize them next year

It happened it front of me and the Carlton players signaled touch to the umpire immediately on the night and seemed relatively confident they touched it. So my celebration was short-lived. Just life is cruel giving us two incredibly close calls against Carlton with huge ramifications - 2nd spot and place in a prelim.

Similar thread to last year, try keep the doom and gloom to the sad threads! 2023 didn't play out how we would have liked but there have been some positives to build on for 2024 - to list a few. Rivers had a tremendous year after a bit of an inconsistent 2022. What the future holds for him positionally will be an interesting one. Some people were critical of the Petty forward experiment and questioned whether it would work. Despite his wretched run of injuries, i think we can all agree the experiment works! Unfortunate to go off injured in games against the Hawks/North when performing well but that 6.0 performance against Richmond was a clinic. Hopefully he can get his foot right for 2024. Speaking of forwards, we finally saw van Rooyen and whilst still a little hot and cold a good development year for him. Plenty to learn and build on, hopefully another AFL pre-season in him has him firing in 2024. Finally speaking of Pre-Seasons, the work McVee must have put in last pre-season. He took a lot of us by surprise, there were calls for him to be rested, but he kept his spot in the team and didn't miss a game. Got that rising star nomination for a period of good work. Hoping for an even bigger and brighter 2024. Petracca a solid chance at the Brownlow. That win against Brisbane was one of the most enjoyable Melbourne wins I've seen in person. And if we look broader picture, signed some key contract extensions (May, Pickett, Lever) and got hit that 70,000 membership mark.

Went for a 3 hour walk this morning to try relax after last night. We've been unlucky this year with injuries, especially weighted towards the forward line. I know Clarry was injured but we covered that pretty well i reckon. But despite our injuries, we've consistently been our own worst enemy with accuracy - and that's the frustrating part with a lot of our losses this year. 2023 was a golden opportunity, it feels more thrown away than 2022.

May was elite last night, a real privilege and joy having him in our team. Hopefully all the young defenders are taking notes from him. And Hopefully Mayzie has a nice rest and incident free off-season! aha

Onya @layzie. Legends behind and on this site. I only really have one pal who goes for Melbourne so enjoy reading/interacting on here.

23 minutes before I Log of, these people with their head start!

So it's all Gus' fault now? Think Maynard owes even more flowers and wine after the tribunal.

Checked old mate Dr Google which said In light of new and improved research, we now recommend light exercise as early as within 3-5 days post-injury.

I was a MCC reserved seat against Collingwood up in level 4, there were 6 empty seats next to me the entire game and I was about 1/3rd of the way up. Surprised no one claimed them instead of trekking to the top every time they went to get a drink.

Still annoyed I spent 40 minutes in the "waiting zone", how can I sit tight at a time like this. Was only after 1 ticket and no luck. Will be a MCC walk up on Friday. Still can't believe how many ppl were there early last week from like 2:45pm.

Well the computer has randomly decided it hates me then!

Then it crashed on me, now back in the queue probably with all the 10am members. Fun way to start the week

Been sitting tight for about 40 minutes now.

it's my opinion that he had another option but others may vary, personally I think he deserves a suspension but at the end of the day I don't have a lot of faith in the system.

This is how I see it, Arms out, softens the blow, would lessen the blow whilst still offering an element of protecting for both players. Turns the shoulder, endangers the opposition player, only one outcome given the momentum Still see him avoiding a ban though

Don't like to be too negative about MFC players, but Laurie seemingly overwhelmed and didn't really impact the game. Nor did his inclusion allow us to rotate Petracca forward more often. I think this is vital given our forward issues, so assuming JJ comes in for Gus, then Harmes should be the sub over the likes of Spargo. If the forward line was fit and firing i'd have different views on the matter.

Shambolic forward entries seemingly the plan, we had the inside 50s and scoring shots to win it last night but couldnt clunk em or kick em. Inaccuracy was a killer, as you said we seem to oscillate in effectiveness with this tactic. We've had a bit of a cursed year for forwards which hasnt helped. Only managed 6 games this season with Petty/JvR/Fritsch in the same team. Melk ACL when hitting form, BBB/TMac only playing 7 each etc. I doubt the plan will change even with different personnel but some new heads are needed in the forwardline.

Would hate to see my stats for today for ToD (Time On Demonland) and efficiency at work