Lefty

It was a low scoring game on a perfect night for footy. Any concerns that our 3 key forwards, Rooey, Petts and Disco failed to hit the scoreboard? I was happy that Petty and Turner were able to clunk marks up the ground but I have grave concerns over both of them being able to take marks, providing a leading option and score goals regularly inside 50? Now that we have had almost a whole season of these guys playing out of their natural positions as defenders how have you rated their performances as forwards and are you hopeful that they can play and contribute as forwards in 2025 and beyond and help us reclaim a finals berth?

I would complain about the terrible umpiring but we have much bigger problems than that.

Our disposal efficiency in this game was just putrid. Our handling of the ball, possibly due to the conditions, was also subpar. After the first quarter I thought the Giants adjusted to the conditions much better than we did. They handled the ball better, knocked it better and used it quickly and efficiently. We just could not handle the ball well and when we did we could not move it on quickly and slow played and either kicked to a contest or directly to an opposition player. Whenever we tried to move quickly it was if the ball was made of soap or we simply made terrible decisions. It's very frustrating.

What did you think of Andy Moniz-Wakefield's debut game? I thought he did some really nice things, seem composed and didn't panic. Has a nice bit of pace. I think we might have found another diamond in the rough.

Kudos to Kynan Doggy Brown for that run down tackle. Love the show of desperation from a first gamer showing the rest of the boys how it’s done.

Kudos to you guys being able to front up an do a podcast tonight given that insipid performance. Saw a post on Twitter by a guy who calls himself Footy Degenerate. His post is a pretty good summation. "The Malice Springs Disaster First of all, hats off to Fremantle. Played the game right. Too quick, too skilful and too efficient, well done. Now.. The Dees. Aboration? Mulligan? No. Every loss has been a thumping and concern in one way or another. There’s a pattern. We haven’t had a 4 qtr performance all year. Today was the first time a team punished us rightfully on the scoreboard for 4 Qtrs. Our new Gameplan doesn’t suit our squad. We don’t have the skills to play it, the boys haven’t bought into it, we are turning it over in defence and centre square and our defence has been under siege as a result. I’ve said all year McQualter has offered nothing. I’m not seeing any “Richmond chaos ball”. Stafford hasn’t improved our fwd line ( cohesively or individually ). Both have ALOT of work to do. Our wins haven’t been convincing. Bulldogs ( they had their chances ), Hawks ( they were awful ), Port ( they should have won ), Crows ( didn’t take their chances ), Tigers ( we were awful ), Cats ( played one very good quarter ) and Saints ( they were gross ). None of the boys have improved on 2023 form. None. And with 16+ players Under 30, that’s a concern. Actually T-Mac has, but it’s his last or 2nd last year. Without Max, Lever, May and Trac, we’d be in an awful spot. How we took a Gameplan that worked and could easily have gotten us to a Prelim in ‘23 bar awful finishing, and turn it into this inept Gameplan is beyond me. There were ZERO red flags on our Gameplan, just on our fwd line setup and goalkicking accuracy. Absolute overreaction from our coaches. Yet here we are. Easy to play against. No mongrel. No confidence in what they are doing. Little belief. And stuff all depth. Media cos ya to ask oppo coaches “how you guys gonna go against Trac, Viney and Clarry?” Inside they are loving it. Cos they aren’t the 2021-2023 versions of themselves. It’s a broken system, with broken confidence and morale. ( on the field and in the stands ). Richmond got spanked in 2017 by St Kilda in a similar fashion and went on to win the flag. They ensured it “made them” and didn’t break them. Can the Dees do something similar? Only time will tell. They’ve got the Cattle, but the Farmer has to make some changes, otherwise their season will be Roast Beef in a few weeks time. PS I obviously don’t “Hate” the MFC, but I do hate what those in charge are doing to it on the field."

6. Gawn 5. Neal-Bullen 4. Viney 3. McDonald 2. Tomlinson 1. Salem

Expected Score Chat Trigger Alert: I was frustrated, were most fans, that we didn't take our chances in the first half and put the game to bed early as a result of our inaccuracy in front of goal. Looking back though we had a lot of difficult shots at goal and if you look at the Expect Scores we only beat the Saints by 16 points even though it felt like we should have won by 10 goals.

After 10 matches I've come to the conclusion that the trading in of Jack Billings has been a bust. He was billed as being a good user of the ball and I have not yet seen that on a consistent basis. I get that he is not a high possession player but that means that he needs to deliver on the meager possessions that he accumulates. He lacks penetration in his kicking and he is just not taking his chances in front of goal to be a worthy addition to the team. I would rather blood some young and hungry talent like Kolt or Doggy Brown Jnr.

That’s 3 games in a row against the Blues that insufficient goal review technology has cost us the match. One day a team will lose a Grand Final as a result of Soviet era tech.

I’ll echo the sentiments of Jaded and add that no one should be complaining about the lack of training reports. No one who provides these reports gets paid or owes anybody anything. in any event this is a captains run which is a glorified kick to kick session. All we really need to know is who is out on the field or if it’s easier who is not.

Petty the Centre Half Forward finally arrived. Those marks down the line were huge. 8 marks for the match. More of this please Harrison.

By all reports Melksham should be back by Kings Birthday. McAdam would want to get a good block of games in before then. I imagine that these two will be competing for the same spot or do you think they can play in the same team?

How good is watching footy at the G in shorts on a warm sunny day? Any reason why the lights were switch on at 1:30pm on a bright sunny day? No wonder food and drink prices are so high these days. We're paying for their electricity bills.

Thought our forward connection was excellent and only let down by set shot kicking for goal. How do you think our key forwards fared? Schache? Roo?

Perhaps these are super secret tactical sessions. I doubt there is anything nefarious going on. With that being said a couple of photos wouldn't give away anything.

Isn't this what umpires do when they award votes?

I know it's only a practice match but I was disappointed with our efforts and execution and even in a praccy match 10 unanswered goals from a supposed premiership contender is inexcusable. We might have had more injuries going into the game but Richmond had their best 4 or 5 players missing including most of their engine room and their key forward and back. We'll get rolled by the Blues next week and I'm not confident in our chances in Sydney. Early days but could be in for a long year.

Welcome back. It's been a long few months but Footy IS Back!! Interested to get your thoughts on all the Demon Debutantes. Billings, Windsor, K Brown & even Howes (and Laurie).

Thanks for these reports. Wasn’t expecting them so it’s a nice surprise. Bring on the scratchie.

Can’t wait for the footy. Just no injuries please. This preseason has been challenging. We don’t need more angst with just over 2 weeks to go.

You gotta feel for this kid. Just can never get a clean run at it. I get the feeling he’s going to be just another one of a long line of talented players we’ve had that just can’t seem to make it on the park for stretches at a time. Fingers crossed.

We are in desperate need of a ruckman that can take over from Max but our first major operation needs to be a key forward. BBB and TMac are in their twilights. Petty looks certain to head back to Adelaide at season's end if the 2023 trade week whispers are true and the jury is out on Jefferson. JVR can't do it alone and if he gets a whiff of home sickness in the coming years we are toast. The window is slowly shutting if we can't replenish our forward and ruck stocks.

Or you could select a player as the sub and not use him. Stranger things have happened.

Just wanted to thank you guys for another stellar season of podcasting. You took the show to another level and I really love that you open the discussion up to the audience via the questions and comments and I'm happy to have contributed to the conversation over the year. It's great to have you back even if it's just a little taste before the new season. What did you guys make of our acquisitions over the trade period in terms of personnel. All seem to fill a certain role. Do you think any or all are a lock to play Round 1 or be a regular fixture in the side? Are we still a destination club?