NeveroddoreveN

I think the reality is that you can't just keep putting Jones/Sparrow/Harmes rotating through a position of huge importance. None have remotely the right skillset for the role. When suggesting both Fritsch and Petracca, i realise it not ideal as we do not have other players with their skillsets and they are valuable in other positions, but something has to give, we need to find a solution here from our list. ANB could be an option, he definitely has the tank and runs hard both ways. Part that makes this sound appealing is that the HFF role he would vacate could be filled by quite a few others on our list. Another option may be Rivers....has a lot of the attributes needed and a fast learner from what i seen so far. Has the kicking skills required to be a decent option anyway!

I would say the real issue was Tmac on 750K+ and nobody even showed interest for half that money. We move him on i am sure we'd have Phillips. As it stands we are stuck with Tmac for another year, no real wing and to make it all worse we are trying to play Tmac into form for over 2 seasons now. I would expect Goodwin will pick him for most of this season, just hoping he comes good again. Unfortunately we have another year of underwhelming McDonalds. Will be rapt if he finds form again fwiw, he is that important to us. Just can't see it eventuating where he reverts to 2018 form, it has been awhile now!

Add Bontempelli to that mix too. After seeing how much better his kicking has gotten put a few on him to win the Brownlow, he was scintillating yesterday. Last few times we played WB both Daniel and Bont destroyed us. We can't be serious without tagging these 2 at least. Next time i would be lining up Kozzie on Daniels and saying just stick with him and pressure him relentlessly. Harmes should be playing tight tag on Bont, or put VDB on him for brief period and just tell him to smash his body. Amazing we did not try and tag any of their major ball magnets. We need to put much more thought into curbing other teams and the way they want to play, we are far too sociable and let them do as they please. It is on the coaches to have a plan....vs EVERY opponent. We can't just play our way, the other teams simply will not allow this! We need to do similar and be much harder to play against. Need many more selfless role players prepared to just stopping their playmakers getting any easy kicks, won't be holding my breath though. We want to play our way 100% of time. It is flawed, every team puts thought into opposition, not sure we do honestly. We seem to get beaten in same manner by same oppositions too often. Groundhog Day !!

i did consider VDB briefly but like you mentioned he can barely cope with training and playing. His loads are constantly being monitored. I like the idea of Kossie for leftfield option. It is not like we can't do without him forward at this stage of his career. A few runs he did from half back breaking lines was exciting enough to see that he could be used in other areas of the ground perhaps like a Liam Ryan type. He would need to learn the role but could be the answer. Be nice having Langdon/Kossie pace on either side of ground. The more i think about it, we need to try him there to find out what he has got. You know he would have the required pressure and speed for the role.

Harmes is a very limited footballer with pretty low footy IQ and big ego. I expected us to get beaten by a much stronger doggies outfit. Moment in the last quarter i found really concerning when Bedford passed to him on the boundary line. The kick was near perfect and Harmes did not work hard enough to get in front. He then gave Bedford a massive spray saying something like that pass was censored! Bedford is a player like all our young guys who needs to be encouraged. When i see someone like Harmes blaming a kid who actually did the right thing is an ugly look. We need to be fighting the opposition, not each other. If i were part of coaching staff i would be ripping into Harmes over that and saying it is not acceptable on any level. If he had been advising him on what he could have done better , that's fine. But that was not the case here, clear frustration and the blame game is real. All this coming from a guy who played like a headless chicken off half back for full year. Probably one of the easiest positions on the ground to play. Do not rate him at all before that incident, rate him even less now!

Agree he is of so much value in the mid or forward role. It is hard to find a solution without robbing another area of the ground. Maybe Joel Smith is the answer, he is quick, amazing closing speed, can take a mark. Just not sure he has the football smarts. Hunt should be the obvious one to play wing but for some reason does not seem to stay involved in games 100%, he drifts in and out of games, perhaps not big enough tank for role though either. There must be a solution in-house!

Quite possibly the case! Found it interesting when Viney was interested in heading to Geelong during trade time. They were prepared to pay him around the 500K mark. We were prepared to renew him 4 years at 650K+. You then add in players like Brayshaw who is on over 600K, Harmes on about 450K, Tmac on well over 700K. None of these guys should be in in our highest paid players. IMO we missed a trick offloading Viney and getting in a wing who would have been far more valuable to our team.

Tomlinson is an interesting one and i am not sure why he he gets canned by so many here. He is basically playing Oscars role and doing it much better than Oscar ever did. i recall that game during Marsh series and we had around 60 touches between Langdon/Tomlinson and we looked much more threatening as a team. We only played Tomlinson there for 1 or 2 more games before experimenting with him back. We seem to occasionally try different things regarding setups but very quickly revert to some other BS when it does not work out for short period. We need to persevere and teach some players how to play the position. Thinking logically about it i am leaning more towards Petracca playing the wing role. He can be an option on the outside at centre bounces and has the tank to run all day. Really is a conundrum trying to come up with the solution without thinking outside the square. We seem to have tried nearly everyone over last few years in this position!

Spot on...i was dismayed we missed out on Isaac. We did not even seem interested in Phillips who is a walk up start in that position and would make us lot stronger immediately. We missed the boat on both both these guys. Baker does not really seem suited to the position. Maybe a HFF but does not seem a natural for wing position. Jones being in the team let alone wing is really concerning to me. All teams are quick nowadays, you can't select too many plodders or you chasing tail all day...like last few times we played WB. Teams like WB and Port/Brisbane are going to tear us apart with their legspeed all over the ground if we continue to pick our slower/older players. Going to be a long year! Not sure the players believe in Goodwin either, there just seems to be something missing. Even more concerning is that we have to park ego's. Seemed this was always an issue of drinking their own bathwater and putting in a stinker after a win. We have achieved zilch as a footy team in a very long time. Achieved nothing with current crop unless you count top 50 players, which we have a sprinkling of. Our mob needs to get angry to play well, when we are bullying teams and making it all bash and crash we bring the skill levels down and can match it with anyone. When we are not angry teams just waltz on by. We seem to lack the intensity required over 4 quarters. We are a laughing stock of a team with some very good players among us....Surely it is time we played like a team that is hungry/angry and doing everything they can to bridge the gap.

Of major concern going into another season we seem to have found no answer for the opposite wing to Langdon. It was only a year ago where we had something like 16 players tried in that position throughout the year. SO far this year we have rolled through Tmac/Harmes/Sparrow/Jones... none of these guys fills me with any confidence they can play the role for long periods. We recruited Rosman perhaps for the wing role but it may take him a year or two to find his feet, and he may not be the answer. Definitely not for the short term anyway. We need to find a player that is going to embrace the role and play there for more than few minutes in a game. I don't believe we will go anywhere if we just have a revolving wing filled by whoever. We had the chance to address this deficiency during the drafts but it seemed trading Tmac held us up from getting anything done. Who are the options for this opposite wing? Bailey Fritsch - runs both ways hard, great mark, lovely kick. Tackling is probably bit below par but i can see he has many of the attributes needed. He likes space, it could be a good fit for him. Harmes/Jones - Putting these guys in same category, they should never be played on a wing, both give very little in terms of offence or for that matter defence. Tmac - Not sure where his best position is at all these days, he barely looks like an AFL level footballer. Bowey/Laurie - Not sure either of these guys will be the answer either. Maybe Bowey but he looks more like a flanker to me. Baker - Does not seem to have the tank to play the role for long periods. Works hard to get forward, but does not seem to work nearly as hard going back. I don't think he is the answer either. Petracca - Can play mid or forward, wish we had few more of him. Could be dynamic wing who helps the connection all over the ground, can win his own ball, can mark, can beat many opponents one on one. He would be a nightmare match up for any wing. Oliver- Would be great for the position but he is needed around the ball. Best to keep him there! It is a massive conundrum for our coaching staff overall, we can't just keep rolling players through there as stop gaps. After going through nearly everyone on our list (not all mentioned here) i believe Fritsch and Petracca are our best options. I would like to see them rotated/switched between our half forward line and wing at around the 50/50 ratio. Have one of them forward at all times and the other running his guts out up and down the wing. We need to get creative and find the answers, any viable solutions that is not going to rob us of too much in other areas of the ground? What would you do in the coaches position?

Major differences in the way way we are playing the game compared to how we played against Doggies last year. We are being bold from the Kick ins, often going long to around middle of the ground. We are not getting sucked into contests like bees to a honey pot, we are holding our space and not giving them easy options. ANd we are without quite a few of our best players. We are going to tear them apart this half with a fitter and disciplined young Melbourne team. Go Demons 100+points for the game!!

Makes sense we would advise him to get some more experience at a lesser albeit talented level. Go away, work hard and if you are tracking well, there is a spot for you next preseason to prove yourself after a year more footy. The opportunity is there if he is good enough, obviously just not in 2021 at senior level for MFC. Will definitely watch his progress with interest, i don't think we are giving up on this one just yet!

We will have both...just not the guys you want atm. We will be fine without them for few games. We got options to be a functional forward line before they get back though. Most team don't have a great CHF/FF package.

To me the more important part is the 2nd paragraph....basically the message is saying we are going to put much more pressure on in front half and have trust in our backline. Instead of being outnumbered forward and kicking repeatedly to that outnumber we are evening out the field and trusting forwards to play their role, as well as backs to play theirs. It's a change we had to make....Having a stacked backline and nobody to kick it to when going forward was one of our biggest issues imo. We seemed to play better with a man on man mentality that we only saw for few brief moments last year. These changes make everyone more accountable with a bit of clarity around what each role should look like. A semblance of a gameplan is going to get these guys running around with purpose, rather than headless chickens they have been over last few years. We have the talent, exciting times ahead as we find our mojo as a team with new attitudes, and a tenacity to take the game on at all times.

In the B match vs Richmond he was in the right spots quite often, but not much seemed to go right for him during course of match. Bowey/laurie/Petty/Bedford were pretty clearly our best players on the day and all get rewarded with a taste. Petty could possibly swing forward or back depending on our needs vs Dogs. Rapt to see young talented players given the green light ahead of someone chosen for the sake of having a key position forward. We have enough up and coming talent that every week should create headaches for team selection, hopefully keeping all of our list hungry!

I think if we are creative enough it could be done and he may kick 20-30 goals from a wing and be far more valuable. You could release Salem to a half forward flank, then put Bowey playing off a half back flank. If Salem was to get 10-15 touches in that role he would set up so much for us with his creativity. We have tools to work with and try a few different things/set ups. This hypothetical setup i don't think you would actually lose a great deal. Salem would probably kick 30+ if he was played there, Bowey would be fantastic off half back from what i seen in the B game(his disposal skills and speed/leap will equate to making at the next level imo, lock in for round 1) and i really think Fritch would make a good attacking winger. He has played both defence and attack, he really works hard on repeat sprints/efforts. He is also a beautiful kick of the football most times. Simon has a lot to work with, i believe that is why many are bullish about where this team can go. I think we are in for some exciting times this season, as i would expect both Williams and Yze will have a large input on gameday as we start switching some magnets around to really make us an unpredictable and dangerous team for any opponent. Looking forward to watching Rosman and his progress, he looks like he has a lot of assets and a great prospect and my gut feel is he will make it too. Hopefully he gets a taste at some stage this year and really comes on over next few years. Nice to have talent developing and not needing to get thrown to wolves as we would have in the past haha!

i would say there is some truth to this. Rosman has been tracking along nicely at practice sessions but in the B team he looked a bit lost at times. From that i would be surprised if he was putting his hand up for selection in 1st half of season for Seniors. Seeing both Baker and at times Harmes or Jones running around on wing we pretty clearly don't have someone that can play the role for long periods. Hopefully Declase is the answer. I still think Fritch should be the one groomed for the role as he has all the attributes needed for a good winger. Whoever plays the role they are going to need to be developed specifically for the role opposite Langdon. Seeing someone like Mitch Robinson become a gun winger makes me think we have to develop one here, really hope we are on to it!

(2) Kysaiah Pickett 2020 Highlight Reel - YouTube Perhaps a little harsh on Pickett....he has some amazing traits for a 1st year player that we have not seen in a long time. He will get better and be super important player for us. The only trait i seen that i do not like is that he gives away too many frees from being little over zealous and not quite steadying for shots on goal. Kid will be a gun though, your comments will look pretty silly as he develops. Can only imagine what you think of the duds that have played for us. Kossie certainly aint one of them!

Sounds like he was very interested or tempted by the Geelong offer until it came to $$$. They valued him around the 450k mark, we value him at 650+. Can see why he is still playing for Melbourne. Fwiw i think we should have traded him and got something different into our midfield but many seem to rate Viney so highly that we had to keep him whatever the cost. For his age/experience he is a very one dimensional bash and crash type that does not seem to think through many situations on the field. The real issue though i think is that he does not have flexibility to play other positions, much like Harmes/Brayshaw. Not sure all 3 of these guys are needed....Definitely not all in the same team. All these three players are expected to play Seniors and are paid well above average wages, i just don't think we function that well when we have 2 or more of them in same team. Overpriced depth if god forbid something happens to either Oliver or Petracca. I hope each of Viney/Harmes and Brayshaw can all add layers to their games, none are automatic selections going off last few seasons.

As much as i would like to the Cats to drop off, just can't see it happening with Hawkins/Cameron, stacked midfield, experience all over the ground, and of course a favourable draw with plenty of home games. They will be top 4 again as much as i would like to see them falter and fail. They just seem to know how to win games, ugly or pretty, they get it done. Have been hoping for years they would drop off with older legs. It just does not seem to happen as they keep getting talented/experienced players and lets face it their system down at Geelong is A1, and they are a very good team.

Dunno exactly when i watched it, i think it was day after,,,,,The replays quarter by quarter were definitely up on youtube as soon as games had finished and at that stage were not on MFC website until later that evening. I find that the information we get from this site is much more informative than MFC site regardless!

Sure do...it was up on Youtube before MFC though :P

Going off our last 5 years we would be far better off playing at Marvel...we don't exactly have a great MCG record. Going to be rapt just to see footy in Melbourne again wherever that might be!

Saw a post game interview with Chandler on Youtube....it is strange that this type stuff would not be up on MFC to get memberships before season starts. They should be doing everything they can to promote the club. Not going to get 50K members by hoping lol.

Need to do a supporter piece of long standing members/supporters "To Hell and back". I reckon it would have a lot more relevance than players/club telling us they are hurting and ready to atone BS. Bullish about this years prospects but i really don't believe as yet the players do everything in their power to win. They don't quite know what is required as yet. Until they can execute under pressure, the inexplicable losses vs an inferior opponent after a good win, the brain fades when a team is coming at us hard, the skill errors from lack of concentration will continue. Hopefully we click this year, the excuses/reasons for failure is becoming unpalatable for a lot of supporters....our team should be good enough to compete for finals. No excuses Demons, demand higher standards of each other, be accountable, do whatever it takes to win.... It is what good teams do!