Ollie fan

Unwillingness to play BBB/persistence with highly limited role players? BBB is the most limited role player in our group. I don’t want to bag him; he was a key in 2021 and he is obviously a wonderful person. But as a player: yes, he kicked 4 goals against Brisbane but Andrew’s murdered him and was BOG, setting up attack after attack - because BBB is too slow and awkward as soon as he doesn’t mark it. Lack of creativity in midfield rotations? We have been mixing it up time and again, to make sure Clarry and Tracc aren’t worn out by the end of the season. Draft outside mids? Didn’t we recruit Hunter?

Once again, the doomsayers and anti-Goodwiners return. Sure, we have some problems. I agree we need a third tall defender, but the Petty experiment up forward had us as the highest scoring team in the league. Much as he is not in the top rank, it seems to me Tomlinson has to come in next week so that Lever can go back to his floating role. Pickett into the midfield simply didn’t work; the stats established that. If anything, our loss of clearance work is probably because we are mixing up our centre bounce combination very regularly. A couple of tweaks and I am sure this team can return to its glory. I do think Joel Smith in the forward line might be an idea as an experiment, just for a bit of a change.

Almost every time, Gus got the ball, he handballled backwards to a player in trouble. And then he missed that critical shot at the end. Sorry, no.

TBH, it wouldn’t have been a 15m kick or anything like

That’s right, isnt it?! Viney steps up when required -a champion.

Another way of looking at it is that we made them look second-rate. As with Sydney: they were going well at the time but we broke their spirit and since then injuries have also killed them.

Now I get it! Sorry - dumb post by me earlier. im amazed that there wasn’t a kill last weekend in Tasmania…

Wasn’t Neil Balme sacked by Joe Gutnick?

I think his dad didn’t have any particular skills, but recognised that and trained and worked to make the absolute best of what he had. It sounds like his son is the same.

Reading this thread, we lost by ten goals with no winners and no positives. In the game I watched, we lost by four points. We were slow to begin and we don’t play as well in the wet, but against a quality team playing at their peak in front of a rabid hometown crowd we managed to have a SEVEN GOAL quarter and end up losing by a tiny margin. That’s what I saw……

Yesterday I thought we were getting good tap outs but just not connecting with the mids -which can surely be worked on

If Tommo were given a few weeks in a row in the seniors you might find that he went back to his early 2021 form - and that would provide us with a good solid third tall defender

I don’t have a Ferrari or a Rolex, so I wouldn’t know…..

I feel for him. This investigation was supposed to be completed by December – it is ridiculous. It has dragged on this long, and of course he has been under pressure, no matter what the truth of the matters alleged may be. I feel for him. It can’t be easy to take the step that he has just taken.

I still think that if he is not best 22, he is close to it and the moment we have an injury, he will be required. I would hate to see him go. I expect JJ will go and I for one can live with that.

Smith has nowhere near the strength to replace Petty - he is not a key position player IMO. It has to be TMac.

How frustrating! – for supporters, for the club, and most of all for poor Harry Petty. The half he played on Saturday was the best footy he has played as a forward and would have cemented him as CHF for the season at least.

So do I. That smother on a free kick was just superb hard work.

Because he is much quicker-thinking and creative. I think Hunter has been fantastic. Currently the Mongrel Punt has him no 5 on the wingmen list, ahead of Langers who is no 10.

To me, the starting point is that we are the second highest scoring team in the league – by four points, to Geelong, who have such advantages. Our attack is doing pretty well!! I have said all season that the problem with BBB is that when the ball goes to ground, he is lost. He is too slow, he cannot defend, and his opponent is often a very powerful attacking force against us. Witness Harris Andrews when we played Brisbane, even though BBB kicked four goals. Witness Harris Andrews when we played Brisbane, even though BBB kicked four goals. Is Petty not being down back the reason that we are not defending as well? Maybe. Or perhaps teams have learned that the only way to score against us is to move the ball in hard, low and fast, and they are doing that to some effect. I think JVR has to be given a rest because he is young , but I think TMac gives us more just with his preparedness to run all day. But I think the current tactic of shifting our team every week has real benefits in creating unpredictability. Let’s face it, Max as a key forward has quite a lot to offer. Finally, I agree that Turner should have stayed on - after being completely thrashed early, he was really starting to show a little bit.

Of course this thread will get stuck into Goodwin. I thought his decision to put Vinny on Royal was critical. Rachel is absolutely killing us. AllI thought his decision to put Viney on Rowell was critical. Rowell was absolutely killing us. Also, a lot of criticism of Oliver in this thread. I thought he was by miles our best player with his effort and reliability under pressure.

Never in doubt…

I read on another thread about New Balance logos coming off the guernseys. This has passed me by. Can someone fill me in?

I’ve heard those top three a bit recently. Funny, I remember in a particular game at the end of 2021 when halfway through the third quarter, the commentators were raving about Bontempelli. Oliver went on to him, Bontempelli was hardly seen again, and Melbourne dominated. Doesn’t that say something about the respective quality of the two players? It was, after all, a reasonably important game.

Because it is a modern medical miracle!! Seriously, how do you “accidentally” break someone’s jaw with your motionless hand when handballing?