Jjrogan

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.

Game in Adelaide where the Crows got 4 free kicks in the last 2 minutes, including the winning kick and stole the game from the Roy boys. Memorable for Peter McKenna's commentary as much as anything else. This is Murder! Absolute Murder!

Fitzroy says hi. Loving it.

Assuming we know if that last game is a dead rubber, is there anything in the rules that would stop us playing all four emergencies and simply resting Gawn, May, Viney for example.

If we can't beat the Hawks without Lewis it will say a lot about our inability to fix our offensive problems. Our defenders should have a field day one on one so it's be very surprising to lose a high scoring game. Mitchell would know his and will try and deny us the ball, but it's up to the match committee to make sure we are generating 25 to 30 scoring shots this week and kickng 15 to 20 goals.

Agreed. Incredibly, they had the most AA players on their list at the start of the year, but a lot of these senior players simply gave up sometime during or as covid ended. They never bothered putting in the hard yards getting their bodies and minds right for AFL from the start of last year. And until recently, they didn't have top 10 draft picks. So both the talent and hunger isn't there. Their reserves get flogged in the wafl. Remember watching them in the 90s and wondering if we ever would see them win a wooden spoon or being awful, especially with the + 3 they played with every week at home for a decade. We live in good times.

Call me crazy but I see a forward playing as backman in those Curtin highlights. Got some toe and lateral swagger.

Bigger picture, I hope we can snag a flag this year, cause Carlscum are going to be right in it for a few years now they have discovered contest and defence and system. It was like watching the Dees in a mirror. Not happy Jan!

Petracca chasing the ball manically, gathering off the deck in traffic, standing up in and then shrugging the tackle and then forward handball to a teammate who just knows he's going to win it and fast break is my favourite moment each week.

Yup, they've got some good talent back there and their system has been excellent recently. Would like to take some contested marks/win contested ground ball inside 50 early to unsettle them. Similar to how our defenders are put under pressure at times. Would be shocked if it's a shoot out.

Hope Grundy separates away from Gawn as much as possible this weekend. Eg When Gawn and Grundy both fly for May's kick outs a huge pack typically develops and it completely negates the advantage that Gawn has for 1 on 1 or even 2 on 2. It's been very noticeable that Gawn has been a much better target without Grundy (and Grundy's man).

It's interesting that after a mid season loss, Voss basically turned into Goody during a press conference. "We have to change. I don't care about the forwards anymore don't ask me about that, it's all about defence and contest from here". Since then, their form has been excellent. If they win and he mentions "it looked like a Carlton game" and "by no means are we the finished product" I think I'll tip my cap off to them. And then spew in it. Anyway, they are decent side. Seemingly modelled on us but the difference in this game will be our number 11. They don't have him.

Collingwood are still favourites for the flag at most venues, so one could also contend he is following the pack tho. His concerns are no more than what's written here on these pages daily.

What makes a natural key forward is the ability to take marks. He had that even in 2019. Petty should never play back again imo. He's 1 quarter away from pulling down 3 marks and turning a game. Neitz. G train etc. There is precedent here.

This is an odd conclusion, pardon the pun. The odds, given our draw suggest we win 3 to 3.25 games of 4. To think we win only 2, the burden of evidence is actually against you. It's a nice narrative to think that Cerra being injured or Franklin being out actually moves odds. Its a nice fan story but for player like these, it simply doesn't move the needle that much. (Same for Oliver actually). If anything not having Franklin out there as a witches hat improves the Swans odds. There are things to work on but we are well placed, it's all going to come down to how we convert our midfield and territory dominance. We almost never get beaten behind the ball. Having said that, if we dont make a preliminary from here our game plan will need a shake up no question.

For all the talk of "resting", AFL players rarely get rested unless they have niggles or specific set of circumstances (lynch rarely flew to perth iirc, Geelong's geriatrics). Maybe I'm naive or not paying enough attention but they almost never get rested because they are young or for cotton wool purposes. They typically get 'rested' thorough managed game time. Goody also mentioned Gawn is fresher this year in his presser. Be shocked if the captain didn't play.

All going well he plays his 200th against the Hawks in Round 22. All going really well he plays until he's 36 and retires with 300 games and 4 premierships. A guy can dream.

It was. He had the briefest of looks and you can see he calculates it's risky and he needs to put a bit of extra mustard on it to give Hunter the advantage. You can't teach that. Quite often we have players in space/in front and the kick doesn't hit them on the full. He always does. Also, the kid is pretty much last for clangers per disposals in the entire competition, regardless of position. Been on his bandwagon since Round 1 to play him thru the middle a bit, but honestly he's going so well just leave him at this point. But imagine 2 more preseasons and weights programs. Crazy to think that he is still a teenager.

Dursma is this guy . Reid's highlight packages essentially consist of fend offs. He's not racking up huge numbers like Ashcroft or Daicos did (tho I believe he's been asked to play up forward/different spots). He's a burst player from stoppages. I reckon he'll be the type of player that will win you a GF but won't necessarily get you there. So in some ways he's more suited to our list than a west coast or north I guess.

You can line up all the successful Kpf of the past 20 years and the ones that didn't quite make it and marks per game will pretty much separate the two. Around 4 is the line, 1 mark a quarter. (Yes, there are exceptions that prove the rule). Grundy needs to work out how he consistently gomna takes marks in the forward half. He doesn't have a leap and he's not quick. Tough gig.

To be honest I'm not even sure of the point I was trying to make. And regrettably opened a bit of a can of worms. He played a good game with flaws like you said. I like ANB, he brings 4 quarters of elite running and pressure every single week, regardless of score or conditions. Having said that, I definitely think he's trying to take on opponents this year and create a bit too much when he has the ball (when that doesn't appear to be his strength) but maybe that's the coaching directive.