Gawndy the Great

Butters has to go for that hit. Minimum 1 week like Kozzy. Let’s if the media carry on for a full week about it. This will be a test of whether the AFL has favourites or not.

Throw of the year.

Do we want Freo or Port to win? I think either case we go out of the top 4?

Do they miss our game if minimum 3 weeks?

Something to feel good about this week.

Umps putting whistle away in favour of Carlton. Watch em call a BS free now to them.

Im afraid you don’t win a flag with 23 players - it takes a squad of at least 30 serviceable AFL players throughout the season. I do agree you can get injuries at the wrong time of the header ie 2022 finals.

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Doggies need picks to rejuvenate their list. They need defenders and Naughton ain’t going. Darcy will play Forward and they’ll sign English.

Sign a blank check and give it to him and send Petty to the Crows for their first pick and hand it over to the Doggies with one of our 2nds. Develop Jeffo as a CHB / FB.

As hopeless as Bombers are they have some forward craft and kick to a leading player. Create space in their forward 50 and can mark. It ain’t that bloody hard.

Hunter for Billings Kozzy for Tholstrup Hore for Salem

So usually coming inside 50 after stagnant ball movement there is a defender sitting infront of the goal square ~15-20m out. Our forwards usually 2 or 3 of em in the goal square with the opponents. Why wouldn't you lead into both pockets and the 3rd forward come straight at the defender. Lead hard and make the defender sweat once you place the ball there. Doing so would draw more free kicks then not (from holding, blocks, chopping etc), your likely to create some panic in defenders. That's one thing, there are so many plays, patterns you could do. Why don't we do this? it is U12 forward craft. We take 1-2 contested marks every 3-4 games with the current method of long bomb and hope. It just doesn't work and yet 4 years we persist with this [censored]. Drives me insane. People wonder why some go after Goody and the coaching staff. its for these reasons. These are the cracks that get covered with wins. We don't need a generational forward to change this - it is just basic tactics.

So we know this was a hallmark of Richmond's game intended or not. They would often lose the clearances but still manage to force turnover. We know how effective they were from scoring from turnover. It is the best way to win. So how do they do it? It was outnumbering the stoppage. We condeded a fair bit of goal from stoppages last night, it would have been much higher than usual. From memory, Lions first 5 or 6 goals came from stoppage. We setup stoppages to win, whereas Richmond used to setup to neutralise and force turnover. What does my head in, is that we are often -1 or even -2 at stoppage in terms of matchups. I think we have to scrap this idea of having the +1 in defence to allow Lever to intercept. My 3 year old nephew even knows now that you need to put work into Level and not let him be unmanned. Neutralise stoppage at the source, if reduces our dependance on winning clearances, it may mean we become a bit easier to score against, but for crying out loud we are getting mauled this year in the middle and will continue to do so until our trio of Trac, Viney and Oliver are in better form.

Perceived pressure and lack of game awareness. Both aspects that are probably linked to confidence. We keep getting beaten the same way and Lions didn't do anything different last night to overcome this. Why? How does Goodwin escape scrutiny here? He cannot put it down to effort and the playing group and has to take some accountability. Given our midfield performance of late, one has to ask the question as to whether we did the right thing in hiring Mini as well - he has not started well. With a mere 12 hours of reflection, there are a few thoughts crossing my mind atm. 1. The 4-1 start was a bit of a statistical anomaly. We were lucky to beat Port and boy did we look ordinary against Adelaide. Hawks and Doggies were the only games were we looked like a good team. Perhaps this game was a bit of reality check and we really are 6-12 team. Carlton and Geelong games will give us enough data to put this to bed, but right now the win/loss is flattering and our numbers tell a different story that will not be sustainable. 2. Did the off-field drama and desire to prove a point mean we gave it our all in the first 5 rounds, leaving the team spent and helpless against Lions? 3. Have we really adjusted our game plan? Our corridor usage (which we didnt see a lot of last night) was poor and easily shut down by Lions, who gave us the wings that lead us to boring predictable Melbourne. 4. Where was our pressure? Lions are dismantled with intense pressure - cannot let them have their uncontested game. If me, a mere amateur at best in footy tactics can see this, how on earth does a professional outfit not see this and execute? Like most, i'm a bit lost on Melbourne. I didn't have much hope coming into the season, got sucked in by 4 straight wins and again after last nights game am confused as to what awaits us for the remainder of the season. You can lose and still have hope, but that game was confidence shattering - still makes me feel sick to the stomach.

He is offensive. We already have Trac in that space who is a bit more rounded. Trac when isolated is an absolute jet, rarely loses. I wonder how we can do this more often. Would need Oliver to be back to his best though. Perhaps this is something to consider for Trac in his twilight.

Its infuriating to watch as we appeared helpless, chasing tails. The lesson for Brisbane is clear, you need to keep the ball in motion, both with ball in hand and defensively. If you give them the uncontested game, they are unstoppable. Its how Pies beat them this year and in the GF. They are also really good with ball in motion, but it can be defeated by intense pressure on the ball. I dont know if anybody has access to the pressure index, but i'd be surprised if we were anything over 170. Whereas the Lions were probably 190-200+ for most of the game.

He won’t play more than 5 games.

That’s BS and you know it. They have had one extra day rest, so our conditioning is not the reason we lost. It was tactical, effort and skill. All 3 combined. The only thing we can realistically improve is effort.

Do we know when Oliver hurt his hand, what’s he done and how long to recovery? Was that his only ailement? Or his struggling to cover the ground? He is nowhere near his best this year - hasn’t had a dominant game yet. I know he is carrying a bit of baggage. Maybe this is all we can expect from now on.

He gets shanked too easily. Whether that’s on him or the mids I don’t know. But he has to hit the ball to advantage. Too many times our players are wrong footed.

Coz lions took foot off the pedal. The game was done.

And that makes the loss more acceptable? That gives you hope that we are a shot? We got categorically pantsed. Once upon a time we lived free in their heads. That lasted for 1 year, the adapted and evolved. For the other 5/6 years they have been a level above. If we cannot beat this team on our home deck, then we have no shot. Not in the way we lost today.

It’s overcome with pressure. That’s why it doesn’t stand up in finals.

The players willed the results of the first 4 wins. Tonight was our audit and we massively failed. Massively. No excuses. We were smashed in the middle, you could see how easily Lions players would exit stoppage and score. We were denied the ball when the game mattered and were shafted hard when we had the ball. Our pressure and intensity was way off. Way off. A contender doesn’t lose a game like that this early in the season. Pretender is more prudent a description. The stats were telling for the last couple of weeks and tonight we saw what has been brewing. Billing’s needs to be dropped. He is just way off the pace. Bring in Hunter. Woey is a VFL player, maybe next year. Kolt is a pup, needs 12 months in the VFL. Petty lowered his value, but is seemingly not the answer to our forward line woes. Kozzys suspension hurt a little but wouldn’t have changed the result. I’d say come out breathing fire in 2 weeks, but maybe not. Gawn again can hold his head high. McVee beaten. Howes needs more games. Umpired Can GAGF, we have to ask the AFL to review the last few weeks. I need a bye round.