Jjrogan

It's not the worst idea but too late in the season now. Also Curnow is a gun and you can't risk him getting off the leash even for a quarter. It really is quite frustrating that we have 4 forwards unavailable for this game from our list.

Couldn't agree more. The most important thing this week is the mental resilience of the players and belief we can still climb the mountain. Our midfield is thin against a fully fit contested team (eeek). Our tall forwards are well below AFL average. But we've shown great resilience now for almost 3 years so it's in the culture. I'd love for guys like Chandler, Pickett, Langdon, TMac, Hunter to play match winning games and take the pressure of our elite who honestly stand up every week.

We confident that even if our midfield saw these leading targets (which I agree doesn't happen enough) they would be able to hit them consistently? ANB yes, Spargo yes and.... yup the list stops there. Every single one of them are below average kicks. Hopefully they all have above average days for the next 3 weeks.

Big yes. If we aren't going to change our game style or get more efficient users in the midfield, it stands to reason we need more players that can create something from nothing up forward. Big kpf take several years to develop. This kid could help us snag a few wins in 2024 and keep us right in the mix.

My worry is that our midfield dominance, particularly in second halves, is unsustainable. We can't be relying on sheer number of i50s game after game. One of these weeks we are going to be well beaten around the ball, and with our forward efficiency it might get ugly. If Trac has to play forward more, our midfield depth is very vulnerable this week against Walsh, Cerra etc. I'd def play Grundy this week, we need to be as fresh and big bodied around the ball as possible. Thanks to the maker that McKay and Martin are out this week for them.

If he jumps up like that at pies training to smother, there is no fricken chance he collects the player like that. Players don't take out teammates at training cause they respect their duty of care with respect to their teammates . They go harder in games as the duty of care is lowered. He went too far in his attempt to be at game day intensity. Spare me the he had no other option. It was a split second act but a conscious one.

Thanks for all this. Validates the eye test. By and large, the game was played close to expectations. Both teams got the style they play but the difference in the end was our last kick either into 50 or for goal, which is always the deciding factor for mfc games. The goal kicking is an 'easier' fix as it's a bit of mean reversion. The entry is the more significant 'problem'. It all starts from how we generate scores which are from turnovers and specifically from the wing. We rarely go back through the corridor so the entries are boundary line and easier to defend. Of course, the coaches know all this and they'll say the plan is working and it's giving us the best shot to contend. Struggling to see how any of this changes.

Sydney for sure. We would start favourites v Sydney and probably outsiders v Carlton. Carlton have the midfield and forward cattle to match us and beat us, Sydney don't. They snuck into finals and it would be a godsend if they pinched it tonight . We smashed them at the g earlier this year.

I'd love to know what KMs Trac did last night and how much different it was compared to previous weeks when he was more forward. He has been absolutely flying in the last halves of games for 2 months now as he's been so fresh. I'm extremely worried about next week. That game took a lot out of him. One of these weeks we are going to get slaughtered around the ball and have a 8 goal loss. Viney has been massive all year but how much more can he lift. Can JJ lift to finals intensity for 4 quarters? Clarrie can get his usual 30 touches, his scoreboard impact is below average. Through bad timing, injuries and awful kicking, we are sitting ducks right now. The one thing we have going is culture and incredible mental resilience. On paper we are in trouble.

you might want to check Goodwin's presser. He seemed pretty chuffed winning three quarters of territory. Nothing will change in terms of game style.

Contact was unavoidable. That much is clear. He could have used his arms outstretched to brace. If I pushed you over from behind. In that split second you fall to the floor your mind can make up whether you're going to tuck in your arms and lead with your shoulder into the deck. Or outstretch your arms. I get it's a contact sport and split second but for sure he can handle that differently

If that was a pies training and he launched himself in the air to smother, would you expect he would have no other option than what he did? Obviously he is going at match intensity but choosing to bump is not a match intensity issue. His other option was to brace with his hands for sure. It was a final. He was fired up. He chose to bump.

I agree with the first half of your post. You are right in saying that Maynard couldn't avoid contact, but isn't that true in countless cases so surely that can't be test right. The fact is he chose to turn and bump. Now yes you could say that was to protect himself, but again, you can say that about every ground ball collision also ( Hunters this year.) His other option was to show duty of care and try and tackle, brace with his arms out etc yes that is split second, but again that is what every case deals with. He had other options. He has a duty of care to not shirt front an opposing player. He should get 3 weeks. And I'm not biased jvr should get 2 also, that was amateur stuff.

My favourite is when he actually has time and doesn't even bother to look down the field when he kicks it. I'd love to be a forward to that.

We have the worst kicking efficiency in the competition into 50. Dead last. That's the only thing we are even bottom 8 in. Put whomever you want up there, it's the players kicking it in there, their vision and how they are instructed to kick it in there that has to change. Was hoping Hunter would make a difference but he quite often he doesn't kick to the right spots either. It makes the forward's life very difficult. Until we move on from Trac, Oliver and Viney, my opinion is it won't change. McVee should have been given some midfield time this year. It doesn't kill to try such things. 10 minutes on the ball won't see our entire game plan fall apart. Too late in the season now. We can still kick well for the next month and win it. That's what separates us winning and losing. Our contest and defense are there every week, our kicking skills are not.

They say this every year. 2021 11 new players 2022 12 new players 2023 12 new players. Half the team are truly elite. The other half just interchange.

This would be a stunning trade if you're right. At face value, pick 2 and 3 is equal to pick 1 and 6. Even if you adjust for the belief Reid is better than your average no. 1 draft pick, North would be expecting at least a 1st rounder back. But even more stunning if Clarkson would be on board. He's already mentioned during the weekend only 3 number 1 picks have played in premierships. During his time at Hawthorn he was a big believer of older seasoned players over draft capital. (Having said that he had Hodge, Lewis , Franklin, Roughhead in the sheds already). Sure, it's slightly different here at North, but I just don't think he's into shiny new toys at that price. Also, they really need some older players in since Cunnington, McKay, Ziebel all are gone.

This is illustrated by Petracca's final quarters the last 2 months. Maybe its the extra time spent up forward but watch him fly from contest to contest at the end of games. He is absolutely in peak condition. I've said it before, we are a great team but we simply go to another level of dominance if he kicks well. When he finds targets inside 50 or the goals that's 4-8 half chances other players don't and cant create. Unfortunately it's pretty random right now.

Has a list manager ever been sacked at half time?

Dean Margetts retired in 2021. WA based umpire. The ratio of Eagles games he umpired in where Eagles had more or equal free kicks was roughly 4 to 1.

Weird that that they would rank our midfield so low given they ranked Gawn, Oliver and Trac as elite at the start of the 21 season. Not like they would have marked Viney and Brayshaw as mugs either. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2021-elite-players-at-every-club-champion-data-patrick-cripps/news-story/40f359e3f8104d1262e8b2ea980683ea of course, this is the year they ranked Mason Cox as elite, so I'm thinking there was a bug in their spreadsheet and nobody fixed it.

Yes. He is. He consistently takes 4 to 5 marks per game, the absolute benchmark that separates good key forwards from ones that don't make it. A nice mix on contested and uncontested. Kicks straight and critically, he makes a couple of tackles a game. The way we structure our forward line, I'd argue we don't want the 200cm. I can read the rants now about forward pressure neglect if we had King etc. (Both average less than a tackle a game). Statistically, until now he has produced a very similar output to Oscar Allen. Would you take Oscar Allen for a third rounder? Caveat of course post ACL recovery. Loved the Grundy experiment but losing a 28yr old ruck for a 22yr key forward would balance our list nicely.

Ask him if wants to be a forward coach for mfc after he retires. He just understands the game so well. The interview after the game his comment about Sicily following the contest line and how he planned to play him was great.

They can just be 4 emergencies and we should rest anyone with a niggle. The bookies have this game as 50/50, which is a reflection they think we don't play our best 22 in what might be a dead rubber. We were stronger favourites before this weekend I believe.

Tomlinson allows Lever to take the 3rd tall intercepting and Lever is incredible every time he is allowed to play that role. The results speak for themselves. May Lever Tommo - undefeated in 18 games?? There is no way you can drop Tommo.