Ollie fan

A lot of posters, in 2021, said we couldn’t afford losses to teams like Adelaide and Collingwood. Obviously, we could. We lost to them, we finished the top of the ladder, we won the premiership. Losing to low teams is not a problem, so long as you win against the top teams. If you win against the top teams, and GENERALLY win against middle and lower teams, you will get enough points to be top four. The real problem is if you consistently lose to one of your genuine competitors – which suggests that they are better than you are. In 2021, we beat everything in the top eight. in 1963, Geelong won the premiership. Fitzroy won one game only – against Geelong. Top teams do occasionally let their guard down against lower teams; it is inevitable. But if they mostly play to their ability, it is not fatal to lose one of those matches

Like everyone else on this site, I’m thrilled with our team and with the way we performed last year. If we can replicate those periods of glorious attack, we deserve to be favourites. But….. we should not forget that in round 23, Geelong kicked eight goals straight against us. In the grand final, the dogs went from 2 goals down to 3 goals up. During the season, there were many games where teams got a short run-on against us. The commentators generally thought we were vulnerable against a ground ball attack. There is no doubt that opposition coaches will be studying those passages in games intently, trying to find out how we were vulnerable, and to replicate and intensify it. We need to work out what went wrong, and remedy it. Then we can go back to back and more.

I went to all these grounds. I remember seeing Hassa Mann‘s goal in 1964 at Glenferrie; I certainly remember the final round in 1987 at Western Oval. But strangely, one golden day was at Arden Street, the last round in one of the late 70s, we were getting thrashed and were expected to, and a North player attempted a dropkick. He flubbed it but it was still interesting. The weather was perfect, very early spring, and the day was just golden despite the result. I loved the old football. At 2.10 on a Saturday afternoon something like 10% of Melbourne’s population would go to the footy, which I think is extraordinary.

I am with those who say Roos was essential to the development of our club. He and Jackson inherited a shambles and turned it into a professional, focused organisation. The Club is forever in his debt.

As for Hunt v Bowey, we all got carried away with Bowey’s fantastic performances when he was selected, but I think Hunt is more mature and is stronger one on one. Regrettably, one has to expect that injuries/Covid will answer a lot of these selection dilemmas.

When Tomlinson got injured, he was replaced by Harry Petty. There is no way that Petty will get dropped now that Tomlinson is on his way back, but I see Hibbard as being extremely vulnerable; in fact, I think that Tomlinson is the better man for that position.

Sorry - I should know who that is but I don’t.

Thanks to all for the help

You sound much more technically aware than I am. But I have an iPhone.

Is it just me and my phone, or do other people find that Kayo just stops operating randomly and incredibly annoyingly? As in, watching a replay, it just freezes and will not move. Is there any way to prevent this?

100% correct.

Watching that collection of goals, a few things really stand out. He is certainly able to find space very quickly, when there is not much space to be found. His kicking for goal is really good. His football nous is outstanding. And very importantly, I noticed that a lot of his goals were kicked when we were either behind or when the scores were close – in other words, he is very much NOT a downhill skier.

I think it is neck and neck between Hunt and Bowey for the HBF. Hunt is more experienced and so exciting when he gets running and breaking the lines, particularly in combination with Langers, but Bowey is so cool and so precise and his delivery. If Hunt works with Choco over the preseason and improves his disposal, he would get the nod from me.

I was there that day. I’ll never forget that piece of play. If you notice, the ball is exactly between him and the Collingwood player and Robbie runs to the side of it, which enables him to pluck it from out of the path of the Collingwood player. How his summed it all up so quickly is beyond me. as for the comparisons with some of our present greats – almost impossible, and I say that as a huge fan of Oliver. Do we really have to choose between them?

Absolutely it is Doug Wade. Staging like John Peck used to, and also our own Big Bob Johnson

Very interesting. 24 players but 27 officials – a sign of things to come? The mentality of our administration just got worse and worse - most obviously with the infamous Norm Smith sacking. Thank heavens we are now have an administration which seems quite prepared to administer efficiently and quietly!

Good on them! Being sensible and trusting players is how you obtain loyalty, and this will certainly pay off in the long run – plus, it’s the right thing to do.

In his first year with us, I thought he looked like a really good player who could ultimately replace Neville Jetta. I wish him all the best at North.

That is pretty much what was in the interview on the MFC website. I suspect there is a bit of tactics in it – Taylor is warning other clubs that if they bid on him early, to try and provoke a matching bid from us, they might end up being stuck with him for an earlier draft pick than they would like.

Now we need to sign him up for 7 years like Trac. Imagine what clubs like Carlton will offer him in a year or so!

Watching the highlights reel, this was exactly what I thought. If he could work with Choco over summer on kicking the ball accurately at pace, he would become a true champion of the competition.

Totally agree

I thought he was a real dud, particularly in that game where he kicked into the man on the mark, and handballed into the man on the mark, in separate incidents. He proved me completely wrong in the grand final! I love his build (an absolute brick …house), a fantastic long kick, and a good mark. I think he might have real potential.

So Daisy has been accepted into the Women’s Coaching Academy - The only one of the seven selected who is an active player and not a current coach or assistant coach. I am a total fan of her as a commentator; I think she is by far the best analyst of them all. Let’s hope she can end up as a coach, perhaps even the senior coach of our men’s team in due course? Or at the very least, as a strategist/analyst.

In a team which has a number of X factor players, he is an X factor player! There are some games where he can’t find the ball but to my eyes, he is always trying. And when he is in form, how can another team match up on him? Fantastic in the air, clean on the ground, a beautiful kick, fast and agile. An excellent player.