Jjrogan

Our ability to 'connect' was decent last week and if not for errant kicking in the last quarter we'd have won by 6-7 goals. Glass half full for now. With Viney back the midfield will bounce, we play the ground well, handled their small brigade last time and our stars edges theirs. Demons by 5 goals and stay in the top 4.

MFC average pull from a Freo home match in recent years is around 23k. The 'excitement' of first game of year and 'footy is back' clearly offset by interstate supporters couldn't travel. Others definitely chose to stay away from crowds. Fair nuff. Crowds were down across the weekend for every match vis a vis historical levels (even factoring in caps) So really, the 21k is pretty much bang on reasoned expectations. Everyone cant be hating their team and sending a message surely.

Kelly is out for 12 mandatory days due to an avoidable bump causing a concussion. (And he missed the rest of the game) The starting point for suspension has to be that surely. How can the concussed played be required to miss more game time that the deliberate bump infringer?! 2 minimum. 3 right length (and message). 4 if the players involved were reversed.

Oliver. Close thread.

On paper, we bat (marginally) deeper than them. 7 goals to 4 gets it done. Top of the ladder here we come.

Looking at their forward line, ill be positive and predict we shall sit atop the afl ladder for the first time in 16 years? 7 goals to 3.

How depressing of a stat. All this talk about building a team meant for finals and going deep into finals comes across as mildly delusional if you could only once in 60 years win 2/3 of your h & a games in a single season. Egad.

Confused by the narrative. So is it the players or the board/coaching staff? In the paragraph above he takes aim at both before taking a pot shot at Gawn. What exactly is Gawn meant to do? Need specifics. Have a sit down and tell some players some truths. Ok and then what? Tom mcdonald suddenly going to rediscover form and langdon is going to hit targets? Whats the coach meant to do? Drop say Lever a few weeks and suddenly hell magically become an a grader? They sent a message to Fritsch last year. Did that make a difference? Lets fix the fact we have 6-8 vfl players running around each week first.

If the situation was reversed and we had our full strength midfield and you took out daniel, mcrae, bont and dunkley, you'd expect the result to be 6-7 goals. Its about right given the talent out there. Unfortunately, its about where our depth sits. Our 16th-22nd player is essentially making up numbers again it seems.

Langdon gets a free pass on this week after week after week.

We suck when he doesnt get inside 50s. We dominate when he does. Other teams know this and locked him down. Goodwin is amatuer and didnt work out how to release him. Doesnt need to now. Fingers crossed he returns.

Anything involving Alan Jakovich kissing his brother or bicycle kicking it over his head or high fiving a crowd member.

Disappointed considering this but Steven May is probably the next best player id trust in the forward line to have a presence, draw an established and match him, have good positioning and clunk a few marks week in week out. If nothing else its worth a try if we dominate inside 50s and continually outmarked. And yes i know hes a wonderful defender. Otherwise Gawn simply has to play more forward this year with Jackson in the ruck. Hes the best contested mark in the game. We need legitimate marking targets.

Butchers in the midfield is not a coaching issue or an endeavor issue. Its a personnel issue. After 10 years footballers aren't suddenly going to start making the right decisions and hitting targets because someone tells them to. One, maybe two, a team can accommodate. We had 3 last year. Reading between the lines, the club realises it.

Any player causing a concussion (sling tackle, stray elbow) going to be suspended for mandatory 12 days also?

Yup. The ruck position is overrated but Gawn is one of, if not the best contested marks + intercepts marking in the AFL. Wish he played forward more and stretched defences. Imagine the immense panic and need of multiple defenders to spoil him on every contest. Nah. Lets have him a kick behind the play week in week out.

His highlights package reminded me a bit of Melksham the way he lowers his eyes and pinpoints a low pass into 50. But then he went and tackled someone and the comparison was lost.

To play devils advocate cant really deny we have a bunch of butchers in our midfield and Melksham is the only one who reliably makes the right decision and executes forward of centre (when he shows up). Its not a list of our best players (which he isnt) but yea given our awful delivery into 50, hes pretty important cause he essentially carrying the efficiency inside 50. Fwiw, at his career at Melbourne.. when he has > 5 inside 50s we are 10-4 < 2 inside 50s we are 7-14

Im usually softly in the Goodwin-peasement camp. But, considering we have a defence built by him, a midfield built by him, the best ruckman, a top 3 afl matchwinner in trac and a top 3 forward fall into his lap for free and 3-young talented rookies. Top 4. 15-16 wins. It aint getting better than this.

From a kick in or when the ball is in a forward pocket, you can have 36 players in one half of the field. Reducing the number of rotations is fine, but from that point you'll still have congestion again. Paying tiggy touch wood holding the ball decisions constantly is just going to peev everyone off. The rule is random enough as it is. If you have 1 or 2 players from each team (3 is too many imo) mandatory inside the arc at dead balls it stretches the field and allows open space. I dont see how this changes the fabric of the game. You can still run where you want but if the ball goes over the boundary line or a kick in... Spread out again. The vfl trial will tell us anyhow i guess. (The goal-square requirement is a bit silly)

Or the other option is to release a full fixture. Get a quarter way through and some outbreak totally [censored] up the schedule and entire season. They are being pragmatic. there are no magic contingency plans. if a state in Australia gets an outbreak, you know things are going to get shut down hard and then youll have 10 times more disruption (and complaining)

So in the end, they created a zone (the centre square) to overcome the quagmire. Then for a few glorious decades it worked well. Anyway, 16 a side or zoning, just trial it in 'lower' grades and see how it looks. Nfl v college does that effectively.

hope all those who favour to ease congestion by reducing the number to 16 and 'get players tired' wont be the same group that then complain about the skills that inevitably drop off. Speeding up the game will also just mean more tired players. Players arent robots, expect the standard to deteriorate. If you're ok that, then sure, give it a go. As for zoning... for the majority of the history of the game players were effectively playing in a zone, without an explicit rule. You think dunstall, jakovich and plugger left the forward 50m arcs? The game was played with players that held their position allowing for an open midfield. It was definitely a better spectacle and yes, more goals were scored. (More goals being scored didnt lead it to a better spectacle per se). Mandating 2 players from each team stay within the forward 50 isnt going to be something new for the game. Its going to make the game look like something pre 2000. You can debate how hard it to is official but to dismiss it without trying it first is shortsighted. I believe the game does need to change in line with other sporting codes progressions. Those that argue for change still like tactical defensive battles, but we'd rather watch 5 free flowing games a round than 1.

I wonder where Oliver would be going if he was in this draft without playing his final year? Not only is it compromised with the academy picks, they havent played for 12 months+. Better to be lucky than good. Throw a dart.

Australian football players, among world sporting professionals, accept some of the lowest payments as a percentage of the games revenue. Part of the trade off is a player gets a chance to choose where you play. I personally dont consider that a flaw. Sucks when its Philips, but its ok if its Brown. Swings and roundabouts.