NeveroddoreveN

It is putrid when put this way.....40m is a pretty easy kick, they should be getting nailed 50/50 by any player on on the day. It gets exponentially worse from around 50m....i would say only Petracca can actually cover the distance with any sort of reliability. We need to learn to put teams away. The pressure on set shots with fatigue/pressure gets too much for us in final quarters. I believe our team needs to be reminded that EVERY game is worth 4 points, regardless of their ladder position

All of this makes a lot of sense.....If this were the case why did we finish full of run in the last quarter and not the first 3? Something is not quite adding up with Melbourne atm. I believe it is more a mindset thing. We have won games off our defensive effort all over the ground in the 1st half of season. Lately we seem to see what the opposition are going to do and hope that our defensive structure helps us repel and prevail. We have lost the impetus to win the ball, take on tacklers, or pressure the ball carrier lately. Our structures when we go forward are all out of whack because we are defending all over the field. The balance of our team has gone way too defensive, we need to move the ball much quicker. We seem to be switching every time through the backline which makes us slow and predictable. We are allowing any team vs us to be in the game up to their eyeballs through our currently predictable game style. Melbourne have been great at resetting this year within games.....i feel they need to take a collective deep breath and reset themselves for the business end of the season. As a collective we have become too insular in our mindset and ability to take the game on. The shackles will (should be) released this week. Expecting to see a new mindset and lot more energy from the whole team. Really looking forward to this coming match, will tell us lot more accurately of where we are at than the last 3-4 weeks!

Flat-track!

All VFL matches this week are cancelled sadly.

Langdon is the player i could see us struggling most to replace structurally....there is no player on our list with similar attributes.

I think the two biggest things we have improved on which has made a huge difference, and neither are a measurable quantity. BELIEF....in each other more than anything. We have had some great players for years and i am sure they believed within themselves, just not so much in the players and structures around them. TRUST...in each other, the game plan, and all our coaches. Why we were so often in the past like bees to the honeypot was a complete lack of trust. We now hold our structures to have players as options in many different positions for an outlet or quick transition. The last one i would like to add that i think is also important! SIMPLICITY....in our gameplan. It has been clarified that players actually understand what they are required to do in all 3 phases of the game. Players no longer drift through games waiting for their moment/s. It is a team effort and every player is depending on their mate to either win the ball back, hold structure or run to create options. The players have bought into all these things. I can imagine Williams coming into our club and saying to our players that Richmond where/are no better than we "could" be. They built their belief and their confidence surged, Williams would look at our list and drool, perhaps even better than the Richmond and Port Adelaide teams he had a part in that won flags. Listening to the way the players speak about him, and the way he talks during interviews, my guess would be he is building on these intangibles of belief and trust and is the refreshing voice our players needed to play the way they are. I remember not so long ago Blues tagged as bruise free. We have come a long way, and we could be building something special. Starting to believe and trust in my team makes each game a pleasure to watch. It feels like the start of a dynasty....not that i would know what that feels like!

From around 35 min 30 to around 39 minute mark is really fascinating viewing! Love how our team is going about defense. Worth the watch :)

Was some fascinating footage of what our players are doing without the ball on The First Crack last night by David King. Would love to put it in this thread as it seems really relevant to our new look defense. Can't find last nights episode to highlight it though. If anyone could find it would be great to discuss!

Seems that Rioli's girlfriend was offended by random guys....Rioli tried to put an end to the situation verbally....copped a punch to the face....Bolton jumps in to smack the guy who just assaulted his mate. Pretty straight forward, i am glad both the guys defended their gf and each other. Rioli gf is pretty hot, could see her getting unwanted attention. The issue is many go to nightclubs to get drunk/high or both and not much good seems to happen when it comes to altercations/booze and drugs. It is much safer to dance at a friends house/home than risk it these days...particularly if you an AFL footy player. They gotta live, but also make more sensible decisions in regards to their entertainment

Get the chopsticks out with Dusty hey!

One of the major reasons we .lose in the middle is lately we are 2nd to the ball. We are just not getting our hands on the pill first often enough. Another is Max, he never gets off the ground, nor does he block for our onballers at ground level, he is pretty much useless actually once the tap has been won or lost. Another thing i am seeing is Oliver starting too wide and is actually not getting to where the ball drops way too often. A lot of these things are not as noticeable at boundary clearance situations as we have Langdon/Salem/Brayshaw/Jorden covering. Oliver is playing a much more stationary predictable player at round the ground stoppages too. It is clearly not about tap outs otherwise we would be drilling most teams. Really do think Max needs to screen/block for others a lot more, or rest him if he can't put his body on the line. To me he just does not throw his weight around.... nearly every other ruck does. Max needs to play with lot more aggression and we will start winning a lot more clearances imo.

North player is also being pushed into it in this shot, looks like he was falling into the tackle.

After Oliver/Petracca/Viney i think we are actually a bit thin. JJ can definitely play a role but he is not doing it currently as a pure midfielder, more structure based filling gaps and putting on pressure seems to be his current role. Sparrow is improving out of site and needs experience at senior level....SHOULD be in this week. Harmes is a bit of a worry honestly. He racked up heap of the ball in the reserves but he just runs around chasing the ball ignoring any structure around him. To me he does not think when he plays. He crashes in over the top of teammates to get the same ball, gets lost in transition and lacks care with disposal. Brayshaw i don't think has what it takes to be a pure midfielder. Although he has had good games in the past there, he is generally just too fumbly with the ball. Melksham is not a midfielder, he lacks the pressure required and does not seem to want to put his head over the ball. Jones i would put ahead of Brayshaw/Melksham and probably Harmes. He can fill a role as required. The player i would be taking a good look at in the middle is Salem. He is clearly a heap fitter this year and his clean ball handling skills around stoppages could really free up our other mids. I think with Rivers/Hunt it would allow us the flexibility to at least roll him through there occasionally.

Just making sure the perm looked alright! He should have been hurrying back and just banging it through, was quite strange considering time left in game.

We pretty clearly have developed a system at MFC and both the seniors and reserves are playing a very similar game style. Would love to see Brown in without doubt....Would also like to see weed in coming weeks. Against the next best defender he will step up a level....last year he was double and triple teamed as our only target. Doggies make it work with Naughton, Bruce & English. We really need to be getting both these guys into our system ASAP, as long as all the team is working like they have been on the little things like chasing/tackling/shepherding and structure they should make us better, not upsetting the balance.

The Weid was exceptional in the reserves....one of the best games i seen him play, intensity was up, he shoved out bigger ruckman to kick a great goal, kicked straight. Brown was pretty decent, he had some good moments. Be super surprised if Weid is not in on the back of that performance, he was fantastic.

Equality means equal for both parties. It is better in some places in the world, but i think you are so far off the mark here it just screams ignorance and male entitlement. i might need a reality check and live in fantasy land as you put it, but i would say you need to delve a bit deeper and look within yourself. You still did not answer why you reacted in such a way?

Does it really? You must live on a completely different planet Earth to me. Maybe the last 10-20 years it has improved for women but by no means does it exist. Why did you have the response you did then, try explaining?

Don't like gender equality? Women deserve the same opportunities as men, in fact they need to work even harder to gain the same respect. Typical misogynist response to positive news. I will be glad when this becomes the norm in society, and the person whether male or female is best credentialed for the job. Sexism is an ugly thing. See and hear way too much of it, especially in footy. Rant over! Good luck Kate!

Can thank Williams written in the Langdon article....said he had really worked hard with all our young players! Goodwin never really had the game plan....the players did not believe. Results over last few years showed that we were flaky in our resolve and not often did we play as a team or unit. Insert Williams and Yze, we have structures, multiple plans, and belief is growing. I think Goodwin is much like Hardwick and will be rapt if/when he gets the plaudits. Our assistants are having a huge impact, you can see it in so many facets of our game now. Goodwin seemed pretty inflexible when it came to switching magnets and we never had a good structure. Kossie is a gem and wants to get the best out of himself, he is ahead of Cyril at this stage of his career. Can see him getting to a stage where he has few peers. Has a Liam Ryan type game already and this is only year 2.....SOOOOO exciting!

He has been in the best players in all of the games so far for Casey. He is a fantastic mark and has sticky fingers. Majak also has claims, as does Hibberd. For structure though Petty will be best fit and straight swap for May. BB and Weid are off long injury recoveries, and will need to run out 4 quarters at lesser level before they can step up. If you don't know much about Petty, you should be pleasantly surprised seeing his game. Will be a very good player for us!

Hail and thunder + heavy rain in the South east. Concerning as these are the type games we fumble and do not adjust to the conditions. We "should" beat an aging Geelong with extra days break, but this has alarm bells for mine. Demons to over-run them in a tense last quarter. Going to be hard for Geelong to play their chip up game today, they will adjust and just bang it forward and pressure at any cost....i hope we do the same or it could get really ugly. If we match their game style and pressure we should win this by 5 goals+, if we play dry weather footy we are in big trouble today!

Hardwicks motivation imo. We probably won't have room to play in our Senior team any time soon, see what he has got at no risk to us. If he plays well we either trade him for more, or want him for their own team if he surpasses all expectations. Win/Win.

Good in theory but would only apply to teams that have a surplus on a certain position. Reality is you would not even get the immediate back up players, you would be getting 3rd/4th ranked players and ultimately would be more beneficial to the club lending the actual player. How about just a mid season draft, with these type players on the fringe of ANY list available to be drafted? A 2-3 day draft period during the bye would keep the AFL relevant, and it could/would be exciting if you picked up a gem from another club. The talk of temporary trades only benefits the strong, and the really weakened teams.

Fuschias are still available! :)