Gawndy the Great

Ouch that sucks. Were they all the same variant?

Imgur is a popular one

But our game plan is designed to burn these types of strategies by turn over. For the Hawks and any team for that matter that has an attacking style gamble plan needs an extremely high level of effective disposal for it to penetrate our defensive system. It forces the other team to take a high risk high reward approach in order to beat us. It is usually not sustainable for long periods -think Adelaide last year and their aggressive positioning and break neck speed ball movement. Doggies 2Q in the GF etc. My opinion is that we want teams to play like this knowing that we can sustain the pressure when it comes and prey on their mistakes as they will most definitely make them.

Or you may have found the source?

Unlikely to be that high given a majority of the team have already had it earlier in the year. I know it doesn’t stop you from getting again but the risk is considerably less. It’s not the same as what has happened to WC.

Geez it didnt take long for Sammy Edmund to buckle on reporting on the names. All 3 reasonably coverable. Is Dunstan out given the head knock? I think ins are: Lever, TMac (LJ), Bedford (Kozzy) & Viney (Sparrow). Melksham sub.

My thoughts exactly. Fingers crossed that it was just routine and part of the management plan.

Which begs the question what was he doing at AAMI when everyone else was at Casey Fields?

Both of these guys were away from Melbourne when the main outbreak occurred during xmas and NY. So it kind of makes sense that they are one of few left unscathed.

i think that settles the 3 for now. Kozzy & LJ and the 3rd probably at Casey.

its possible, but we will know most of it by now anyway, with Omicron typically taking 3 days to cause symptoms. PCR test will probably pick it up as early as day 2 following exposure. So we may get another few tomorrow given LJ was at the light-run yesterday if the reports are true.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/albums/1112799/training-gallery-april-27?modal=true&type=gallery&playlistId=1112799&playlistSize=22 pick 5 - back is turned. scratch that, that is JVR. looks small.

Just looking at the training gallery from today. Assuming that the infected players wont be at training today. And so here is what i was able to see (or not see): no LJ no Trac no Sparrow no JJ no Viney no Kozzy no BBB no Brayshaw no Petty But there were pics of May, Lever, Hunt, Rivers, Smith, Bowey, Hibberd, Gawn, Clarry, Dunstan, Lingers, Baker, Fritch, Weid, Tmac, ANB, Milkshake, Bedford, Mitch Brown & Majak

I think TMac will come in for LJ and we may possibly use one of the 3 forwards to rotate through the ruck as they all have a level of experience.

I recall Clarry saying he already had COVID back during Xmas & NY in Melbourne. LJ is probably one of the few left in the team uninfected given he spent most of the year and pre-season in WA which as we know is just approaching peak right now. Clarry is pushing the limits of his natural immunity post infection, but hopefully it holds at the 16-20 week mark and he isn't one of the cases. Lets face it, it was the only way we were potentially going to lose a game. Just sucks that it had to be easy-kill Hawthorn. The other plus, is that it was early enough that hopefully they fully recover and are ready to go against the Saints.

i reckon choco or richo will take over boundary line responsibilities. Yze will stay in the box as the tactical master mind. We even have quality depth in the coaching ranks... how good is this.

Seems like COVID is making the rounds within the club.

Spot on. For an inside midfielder that racks up possessions, to be set apart, you need to have much more in your kit than handball to the outside. Otherwise you just end up like Macrae, Libba, Steele, Shuey etc. All very good players, but every team in every generation will have one.

Its not the role of inside contested players to get huge metres gained or i50's. Generally if they are 50/50 handball to kick then they are doing wonderful things. This is why Clarry's games on the weekend was so phenomenal. 41 touches, 22 contested and 600 odd metres gained with a half or so dozen of i50's. This is definitely what you want but is not the norm. I would look at this performance and say Clarry has exceeded expectations of his role on Sun night. Parish's game with 44 touches tells you he made it to lots of contests, probably had a high hb:kick ratio and probably contributed to his teams high CP numbers. Yes he did have a few cheap non-influential possessions but his objective is to get the ball into space for his team mates to have time to deliver an effective disposal. To me he did what he was asked to do to a very high level. Was it Clarryesque, probably not, but it was still a great performance.

He has got to be standing on a stack of yellowpages there.

I'm amazed that Cripps got the 10 votes in a losing team. it didn't feel like he was that much of a standout ... Great to see us balanced in the top 20... Early days but i reckon Trac will put in a solid block of in the next month that will get him back on top.

I really really despise of the Hawks. During their dynasty, they often gave us a spanking (a lot of teams did - but the Cats and Hawks were without mercy) i want us to register a 10 goal+ win.

I was anxious to check the count because it genuinely felt like a 5-35 free kick count given that the avg game has us 10-15 lower than our opponents.

Nothing official but I listened to the DeeBrief podcast with Harmes as a guest and it sounded like it was.

Agreed. Hopefully they pull through COVID quickly and without issue.