Gawndy the Great

Simple. It was an absolute statistical anomaly largely influenced by SA umpiring. They were playing out of their skins something chronic.

4.10 in the 2nd half. Had we capitalised on our setshots in the 3Q, the game would have been over and the 4th quarter would have allowed us to stretch it out the margin closer to 60 points. The issue is that with most of our wins the opposition still have had a sniff at 3Q time.

BBB did better than i thought in contested marking. But he was one-on-one in most of the situations i can recall- a few of them were lead up contested marks. THe major diff last night was our quicker and more precise ball movement and connection in forward 50. We still did the odd bomb here and there (Oliver, Viney) and that does nobody any favours. There was one play where we want the centre clearance and kicked to a leading TMac -> Goal. That inside 50 delivery was much much better. Our best ball users rarely find that much time and space forward of centre - maybe something else that needs a bit of thinking from the coaches as the Doggies seem to do this with ease.

Yes they are certainly frustrating in particular when they are commentating on MFC games. I dont notice them as much when its a non-MFC game - BT is a bit hit and miss but most of the time the artificial adulation that spews out of his mouth can be off putting. I like Leppa, Bartel & Pearce as they seem to be the most balanced and have a good understanding of the game. It is their insight that is able to highlight patterns and trends that may not immediately be obvious to average viewer.

How was his goal off one step from 50 yet his set shot fails to fly 40m!

Apparently Bradtke is being groomed as a key back in the magoos

They will be hunted. Dogs without forward 50 KPs. I’m expecting an upset and some question marks from the media.

This makes a difference too.

Yep it frees up Tmac and Fritsch. But it only works when our smalls apply pressure.

We are done. Switched off at half time.

Should have been below the knee if anything.

Funny not one commentator has said anything yet the game against the Dons which was nowhere near as lobsided got a lot discussion.

He threw it twice for good measure

Umps already torching us.

Win this and the media will say Port aren't that much of a threat/scalp and they are unsure about MFC's credential. Lose it and Port are the real deal whilst we are the pretenders. Don't you just love the media bias. I really don't know what to expect tonight, but agree with others that we will know within the first 5 minutes whether we take the threat seriously and whether we are a shot of winning the game.... i have this recurring thought of Round 1 2019....

Problem with this is that neither Weid or Brown are renowned for their body work and contested marking. In fact i would go as far and say that is a major flaw in their game. If we do play them deep and stretch the oppositions defensive structure we inevitably create space in the forward line for our forwards to run and lead into - this a strength of both Brown & Weid. If we chip kick and move the ball slow, the defense floods back and we are often bombing into an outnumbered contest. We are also turnover kings when we try to put speed on the ball. It ultimately boils down to knowing when to go full pelt vs slow and deliberate and having the forward connection in the sense that the forwards are on the same page as the midfield so that they can adjust positioning and leading patterns. When we get it right, it looks beautiful and we have that seamless transition.

Yze could only leave if it was a senior coaching position - that is usually the gentleman's agreement with club and coaching staff. WHy would Choco go to the same position at another club? A left field scenario could be to reunite Clarko, Yze and Williams and let Goodwin goto the Pies in exchange for Maynard. *sarcasm*

Is this so Geelong's ageing list can keep up with the competition? Hate to say but Geelong between the start of the season and now have gone from missing the 8 to a top 4 contender. I love a good conspiracy!

I agree. To me centre clearance work is all about tactics. They are set plays similar to those found in basketball and American Football. We need to have a toolkit that can be trained and drilled into the extended centre clearance team. We have possibly the best trio combination in Gawn, Oliver and Trac in the comp and we are not exploiting this advantage nowhere near enough. Watching a number of games yesterday - in particular North vs Doggies and the centre clearance dominance that North had against the Doggies was astounding. They had very clean exits with Cunnington and Goldstein and others - at one stage they had 4 goals to 1 from centre clerances. It seems that when we win the centre clearance its mostly under pressure resulting in a bomb kick into the fwd 50. In the odd chance we win with a clean exit it very rarely results in a kick into space onto a leading forward. This is not about skills and talent - you cold draft and trade all the talent in the world and it would not matter. Its about coaching, discipline and strategy - something i thought Yze would be on top of. Maybe he needs more time to adjust to our gameplan and implementing centre clearance tactics mid-season may not be easy given all of the other instructions that the players are getting regarding defensive structure, ball use etc. Our foundations in defensive structure is set. We need to sort out and exploit our centre clearance potential and forward 50 connection. Until then, i think it will be difficult to contend in the finals. Im still half glass full and have to remind myself 12-3 is nowhere near where i had us during pre-season.

Our losses certainly have anomalous factors associated with it as you have outlined. But the counter to it is that there should be some maturity in the group to sustain that positional dominance. I don't think we have that just yet. We talk the talk about embracing the predatorial aspects of becoming 'the hunted' but we do not transfer that desired 'dominance' and maturity into gameday. Our starts to games is an example of this. We look complacent and passive (a useful analogy is Rocky in Rocky IV against the infamous Ivan Drago) as we seem to setup for the counter rather than being proactive. Our run home is Port, Hawks, Suns, Dogs, Eagles, Crows, Cats. There are no easy games here. The teams in the top 8 will all be playing for ladder position. Eagles in particular will be fighting for a position in the top 8. Hawks and Suns will be looking to take a scalp and build for next year - the only upside here is that they are a young sides and will probably have tired somewhat as we play them. Crows will be trying to repeat their success earlier in the year. Games against Port (this week), Cats and Dogs are all Top 4 clashes - it is the hardest run home of any team. With our form line, 0-3 is likely, 1-2 would be a fair outcome, 2-1 and 3-0 seem unachievable. Now that we have relinquished top position, the media will have proved their assumptions right and the narrative around 'imposters' will start to grow. Lose this week and that will grow exponentially. Its funny how quickly the landscape changes - this will be a true test of grit and resolve of this playing group.

We definitely need the form and a 4 quarter solid effort. Chase hard and set up for a win.

I just looked it up and it does say 10 I always thought it was from one side to the other but it appears to 10m radius. if that’s the case then that is absolutely diabolical because it was nowhere near 10m. Away from the kicker.

A well drilled and coached outfit. Individually though they are not any better so I have some hope that we can build to that but agree they are the best in the comp.

No not yet. Will be after Thursday night though.

Seriously the Doggies are a good outfit. Their forward connection and ball use is just something to marvel at. And they have forwards that can actually kick straight.