Gawndy the Great

Weather is wet and windy, the nemesis of a tall forward line... bad call by Bevo i reckon unless he thinks we are playing under the closed roof of Marvel Stadium.

Are we talking about footy? When reading this post my eyes were drwan towards "aroused ' and my ability to focus similarly dropped off ?

Two losses this year have come from oppo goals in the last 1-2 minutes of game time. How do you fix it...dont put yourself in that situation. We had countless opps to shut the game down make it a scrap / contest game - get numbers behind the ball etc etc. And yet as many have highlighted we have made some poor decisions and dont seem to have a plan B. Our game style is largely defensive in nature.. setup structurally to force the dumb kick and burn teams on turnover. However when teams like the ones we have lost to make our defenders accountable and apply a bit of heat at the contest, we look ordinary. One can only hope that we do have a plan B but have it tucked away for finals because i will tell you that every team we play from now on will be stupid not to adopt a similar approach.

Just a stinger - he’ll play this weekend. He better as I’m out of SuperCoach trades ?

I think any team under pressure of 180+ will struggle as we clearly did against the Hawks. In the end it will be boil down to desire and who is hungrier. I'm not buying into the attitude aspects just yet - yes there were some indications against the Hawks that some players were trying to do too much - i think that is a great mind set, it just needs to be fine tuned to ensure that energy and desire is better placed.

BDA i wish i could have your optimism but our footy - or consistency to be more accurate - doesn't inspire much confidence in our ability to win. We are still a week-to-week proposition and don't know which Melbourne team will turn up. Im less concerned with things being attitudinal but if a team placed 17th can dismantle our gameplan then I think a mature, hard working and highly skillful team like the doggies will go to school and give us a good old reality check.

The good record against top sides i think is going to come to an end this week. Unfortunately. The Dogs are the goods this year and we will probably be our biggest rival in the years to come. Yes i am writing us off and hope i get to eat my words, but this mental fragility was behind our fade-out in 2018 and will probably feature again in the remaining games. Interestingly Gary Lyon gave a good synopsis of how we got beat by team placed 17th on the ladder. That was keep May and Lever occupied and put some work into Salem.

Our case numbers have peaked (i think). What we are seeing is the variation in the incubation times of those infected in the original cluster. I think we will start to see a fall in the next few days with < 5 new cases per day by next week - if not zero. I would expect no crowds in VIC for the next 2-3 rounds as we get some control back and consecutive donut days. I would then expect an increase of crowds to about 50% by finals time. That is probably the best we can hope for. Obviously we could push for higher attendance but 50K at the G is still a decent size crowd and will be similar if not better atmosphere than what OO, AO or GABBA. I still think that all other teams outside of SA and WA should hub in the southern states.

I would be genuinely surprised if we beat them. They will tackle and hunt us like no tomorrow.

The selfishness is starting to eek back into the team. Not the hero I’m so important type of selfishness but the one where we try and do too much. I recall Oliver having a number of collisions with other MFC players trying to get the ball - doesn’t look great.

We would surely have to put in a phone call to the AFL this week you would think. It wasn’t marginal when there 2-3 goals from very questionable frees and non frees to MFC. I remember thinking up until half time that the umpiring wasn’t too bad.

Make no mistake about it. The Hawks deserved that game. The umpiring was truly putrid. Our goal kicking was akin to u12s. If it wasn’t for Frost they would have won it. Our form needs to improve drastically and I truly cannot see that happening. If we manage top 4 (and that is a big if) we will go out in straight sets.

Absolutely pathetic. Umpires disgraceful. MFC disgraceful. Goal kicking putrid.

Free kick hawthorn making a come back. Don’t care if we win this tonight …. We cannot be serious about winning many finals this year. We crack under any sign of pressure on the ball. Every team can see this clear as day.

Opposition teams clearly know that they just have to try against us and it’s a contest. Clearly still have a softness or cockiness in our attitude. having said that Hawks are playing out of their skins. Is it coincidence or do we always bring out the best in teams.

I knew we would take the foot off.. surprise surprise the Hawks are within 2 goals.

We played ok but Hawks are on too. Need to put that fire out to enjoy a comfortable win here. We take our foot off and the Hawks will come.

quit my job and join the removalist industry.

Oliver to be where he is when Gawn, Trac and May are stealing votes off him is awesome...Imagine if he could kick set shots... 3 in the top 20 is such an achievement for the Dees. These three guys are definitely a lock for AA at this stage. I also think May, Salem, Lever, Lingers and TMac should all make the 40 man AA squad, cant see more than 1 (probably May) getting through to final squad though.

Where was the question? You seem to make up the odds to suit your hypothesis which i find amusing. I think i am 100% right that you dont know whats going to happen. Who would have thought that the Doggies wouldnt give up a yelp in being dismantled by a young and hungrier Swans. [censored] happens in this business and the Suns are much more than a 5% chance against a mediocre Dogs backline.

Who says its 0.009%? The odds are often misleading. We all expect the Doggies to win this week. But away to an inform GCS is definitely a danger game and you'd be mad to say that the Suns are not a decent chance.

I think we will either see a massive reduction in interchanges allowed before quarters are shortened. There is clearly a desire to reduce congestion and the league seems to think fatigue is a good way to combat that. Unfortunately with fatigue, i think we will see more injuries as teams will try to maintain the current style of football with less rotations. Reducing quarter lengths will only make congestion worse so cannot see this happening at all. I don't know how you can remove congestion entirely from the game without introducing some form of permanent zoning rules i.e. having at least 1 player in f50 arc at all times.

The Top 6 is set i reckon. Melbourne & Doggies will secure top 2. i think the other 2 top 4 positions are up for grabs. Geelong and Brisbane are most likely. Port & Sydney will finish 5,6. Outside of that you have Freo, WCE, Richmond, Saints, Essendon & GWS will be fighting for 5,6. I reckon the Tigers and WCE will find a way. Good game between Doggies G.C up coming this week. I can sniff another upset looming here.

That was such a shocking umpiring decision.

Questions have to be asked about the Doggies now 50% against Top 8 sides - assuming the swans hold their 20pt lead. I doubt their they would hold up under finals intensity and pressure.