BW511

Is his ground work enough to warrant $800k+ a year for the next 5 years? His rucking & forward craft are not (yet)

Our current second ruckman could net 2, so buying a better ruckman for half that price seems pretty reasonable. Having said that, there is no reason this deal would warrant a first rounder if Collingwood are actually dumping his salary

Fair call. In simpler terms, Grundy is a little more useful than just a ruckman and we would hope that for Jackson. Jackson gets manhandled in the ruck, Grundy doesn't. It's a net positive for me.

I think when we drafted Jackson, Grundy would have been the prototype for what we hoped. Grundy was doing it to an AA level over multiple years and Jackson has had one good burst in a GF. If I was an opposition coach, Grundy as a 2nd ruck would be terrifying.

Agree. Jacko may become a star but for now, Grundy would contribute much more - on the proviso his body is right to go in 2023. I’d much rather 3 years solid service from him than 2 more years of patchy cameos from Jackson before he leaves anyway (would also be happy to see Jacko flourish at my expense)

I had a look through the other contenders and where their goals were coming from. Interestingly, Geelong & Brisbane were running with 2+ Big forwards and we have Fritta (45) Kozzie (32) & Brown (25) while Collingwood have Mihocek, Elliot, Ginnivan and Henry all over 20. Carlton have 100 goals between Curnow & McKay but I left them off as they are not contenders (this year) We do not have dependable goal kickers and I think that’s our true issue. Ideally for me, Fritta is our 3rd forward, rather than our only reliable forward (45)

I’m sure we do but I think it’s probably based more on the people delivering the ball.

The dogs with Darcy, Lobb and JUH another year older would be as close as us for 2023

Of all the clubs a key forward would want to get to, you’d have to think our style would have us at the bottom of the list. Not many would want to go somewhere and be expected to get smashed by 2-3 defenders every contest and have all their shots from deep in the pockets.

The entire Melbourne supporter base would be lining up to drive Jacko across the Nullarbor

Fair bit more talent though, so you’d hope so

It’s interesting that so many people can’t comprehend loading (fatigue) effecting performance but also think us not being fit enough (fatigue) is why we lost.

Collingwood crowd is worth an extra bloke on the ground.

Degoey and Elliot have almost beaten us on their own, just a hell of a lot more desire

No plan B No grunt in the forward half Horrific skills by foot

Is there a stat for being tackled? Nibbler would be setting records tonight

Definitely not being assessed on merit, if it was, he’d be in the first three blokes picked. With Fyfe playing minimal games they would be shooting themselves in the foot to get rid of him

I am very confident this would describe over 80% of the players - likely more

I remember hearing last year that Burgo was happy with the boys doing some big running weeks during pre-season that were topping out at 37km a week. I know a chunk of that is at intensity but it's so low compared to actual runners. Elite runners and cyclists are incorporating a lot more gym work into their programs so that excuse is gone too. Marathon runners can do 250km a week leading into events (For a 2 hour event) Cyclists would be riding 25+ hours a week (750km+ a week) - Richie Porte, as a known example, would regularly do 1000-1300km weeks leading into TDU (Admittedly these races are much longer each day)

I think you are arguing for the sake of arguing. You agree with the loading ideology but want everyone to know there are other factors at play because you assume no one else can see that. I’m positive the ruthless message was a key focus and I’m also positive that it has only come out because there was a lot of data to suggest we were ready to deliver on that promise. I will reiterate, loading is not the only factor in our poor form but if you asked me the simplest way to negatively impact performance, fatigue is it.

Could the talk of ‘ruthlessness’ be a little bit of code for being fresh. If we come out firing tonight, it looks to most like an attitude issue that we adjusted, when in reality it was just getting to the end of the loading period and we can actually cover the ground required to be ruthless.

I agree wholeheartedly, without having seen the segment or much of the media attention. Science is an enormous part of our game and the general punter can’t/won’t allow themselves to see it. One thing I mentioned a few weeks back was the way Motorsport is covered and in particular, their willingness to get technical beyond what you would think a casual fan could understand. The AFL has long treated the supporter base like fools and I think the supporter base are fools for allowing it. Let’s hope the tables turn tonight and we can tip our hat in appreciation of the exercise science crowd who have transformed our squad

His fall from grace has been quite stark

Surely no one is taking Harmes?

I am sure the club would have this front and centre in their mind. It would be frustrating to lose two established players but from a business perspective, they have the currency to transform into 3-4 very good players who would keep us in the upper echelon well beyond the careers of Gawn, May, Lever etc