roy11

1 hour ago, Deemac said:

I think a lot of people are putting too much expectation on Petty his only played 1 good game as a forward he played a few stinkers down there this year that no one seems to be talking about. I don’t know if there’s any chance of getting him but I think I’d rather try get Naughton the Jamara and Lynch 

Was playing well v Hawks and North in games he was injured in. Provided his foot heals well/promptly, expect him to do a good job next year.

54 minutes ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Smith kicked 3 goals straight and had one taken away from him from Kozzie's stupidity.

What do you mean he doesn't have the smarts?

He's locked into our 22 if he continues this form and applies tackling pressure.

 

Our Key forwards were generally pretty accurate this year, just a shame everyone took it turns being injured (or suspended in JVRs case)

Still plenty to build on from this  - Smith 11.4, BBB 11.4, JvR 28.9, Petty 12.1

Back to Back VFL team of the year and won a flag with Casey. Unlucky a little bit with selection and sad to go out with an injury. 

Luke ended up making the side as did ex-Dees OMac and Marty Hore. 

8 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

In one respect  a 'problem" with the forward line stocks is even with the likes of Milky (retained ) Roo and Petty ( if he is indeed to live forward permanently )  is we're ...imho...still one decent sized KPF short.   Whereby we had the likes of Big Benny and Tommy  alas I would think those halcyon days are passed.  Had we a more mature and experienced Forward I doubt that Roo would have been chucked in the deep end as he was.

Other than Fritta we dont have too many who live and breathe forward craft.  Smith isnt too bad.. but not what I think we're looking at as being the KEY forward. Petty might get there...but he's still learning imo.

It is someone like Hogan (oh the irony ) that we need... Not the Lynchs or the like...just a good solid meat and 3 veg realiable PROPER forward.. Will only likely need for 3-4 years.

We dont need a silver bullet...just add to the silver already on hand

Tom Lynch is turning 31 in October. basically same age as Tmac and BBB - but yes body in a better condition.

Wonder how many years he'd have left.

6 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

There’s got to be more to the story…no one in their right mind picks Schache ahead of Grundy. For mine we should have used Gawn forward  and doing all the forward ruckwork with Grundy rucking around the ground. Then sub Grundy off for some run in the third and let Max roam. Surely that’s how we should have played it? We would have won both those games. 

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.

36 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

Spargo a better user, but Miers had more score assists (best ever in fact) and score involvements. 

 

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.

13 hours ago, BW511 said:

For all those wondering why we constantly bomb the ball in long, the coaches know about the above and direct accordingly.

It’s staggering that we manage to have 3 of the worst 7 disposers of the ball in our starting midfield for majority of games. 
 

Viney’s 20m kick to kill us on Friday was simply inexcusable.

One elite kicking mid could transform our game. Errol Gulden, Josh Kelly, Jordan Dawson. If only they grew on trees.

 

 

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. 

6 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Many seem to forget that we were just a few straighter kicks (and two score reviews) from playing this weekend. It is a tough competition with very little separating the top teams.  Luck, and injury ( and the timing of injuries) is crucial to the ultimate 🏆.  Luck and injuries were on our side in 2021 (and 1964 🙄). 

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

2 minutes ago, layzie said:

I'd also be doing exactly what Marchbank did in Rd 22 and plead with the goal umpire the second you whiff it and put the seed of doubt in his/her head too. You won't be branded too much of a cheat because no-one can really tell anyway.

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.

15 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

On my way on the train  in to join the mcc queue.  A lovely afternoon and hopefully an even better night 

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. 

10 minutes ago, Demonland said:

So good to see Gus back on the track. Wouldn't have thought he would be allowed to be running. But so great to see him back on the track.

 

 

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. 

5 minutes ago, Ben said:

I know they have a system to prevent double dipping for the grand final, where if you don’t turn up to your balloted reserved seat you’re ineligible the following year to enter the GF ballot. I wish they could implement similar for all finals. Or change the seats that are available to reserve. Why do they put all of Q up for reserved seating? If you’re early enough of course you’ll find a spot in walk up instead of your nose bleed reserved seats.

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. 

Just now, Lucifers Hero said:

There isn't really a queue - its random selection.

Well the computer has randomly decided it hates me then!

20 minutes ago, roy11 said:

Been sitting tight for about 40 minutes now.

Then it crashed on me, now back in the queue probably with all the 10am members. 

Fun way to start the week

23 minutes ago, Monocology said:

'Sit tight' 🙄

Been sitting tight for about 40 minutes now.