Nairobi_Demon

Thanks for sharing. I’m surprised fitness was summarily dismissed by Richardson. For me, we just couldn’t physical run out games in the later half of the season including the finals.

A fit Melbourne the only team that could have got close to the Cats this year. Makes me more confident that the Dees game plan still stacks up - will be interesting to see how the Pies and Swans play next year. But Cats are the team to beat next year. They’re strong, fit and there’s no clear weaknesses across the ground. We need to respond.

More than team changes, I’d like to see changes to where individual players line up. Specifically, and as others have noted in other threads, I’d like to see Brayshaw back to the wing, Harmes rotating through the middle, and more of Max in the ruck.

Re-watched the second half last night and I was pleasantly surprised to remember that we were competitive until about half way through the third quarter and then really struggled. Indeed, we were ahead on the tackle count well into the third quarter But my sense was—but others at the ground would know better—that it wasn’t everyone that was struggling in the last third but mostly the centre/mid-field cohort, particularly Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Jackson and obviously Petracca. These players were often slow/late to effect a spoil, failed to provide overlap run, were caught ball watching, and struggled to defend and tackle. They certainly did not look like they were running over the top of the ground and hitting their peak in terms of performance (unlike round 23). They can’t have suddenly lost the fitness levels they possessed in round 23, so some key alternative explanations are: a) they went too hard last week and got the bye training schedule wrong (still a fitness variable, but a short term one) b) more of the team were effected by gastro than the club has let on (a health/fitness variable) c) there were knock-on effects from Petracca’s injury in that others in the middle had to compensate for his poor movement and thus they ran out steam (a mid-game fitness variable) c) the mid-field group under-estimated the Swans and/or were deflated by incidents like Harmes giving away 50m, the Melksham-Spargo goal debacle, Melksham and Gawn’s poor goal kicking when it mattered, etc which gave them a feeling that nothing was going right on the night (more an attitudinal variable, but one that may have compounded the above) When I make this list, it forces me to realise that they’re all short-term variables that can be remedied, and quickly. And therefore I’m quietly confident that we’ll see a different performance on Friday and in the PF. That is not to say that there aren’t other issues (we need another tall forward, I still feel like we’re waiting for the Choco skill improvement, etc) but they are medium-long-term improvements and they can’t explain the difference in performance between round 23 and the QF. Perhaps not so “quietly confident” given I’m posting this on demonland 😁

Really thought provoking comment Xecutioner. Our game plan/system is kryptonite for team's like Brisbane (as is Tiger's, hence their close match this round) as well as the pre-2022 version of the Cats game plan. But it does seem like we struggle against teams like Sydney and Collingwood. It's one of the reasons I was not as confident that we could repeat round 23 against other teams in the finals. I still think our best can beat the likes of the Swans, but just focusing on our respective strategies/systems, does the esteemed panel think our system can beat the systems/strategies of the Pies, the new Geelong, and the Swans like it can beat the Lions, Dogs, (that is, thrash them)? Or should we and the team prepare for closer, more hard fought games? P.S. I know our system requires a high level of fitness, but I'd be curious for you to discuss system vs system. That is, assume we have adequate fitness to play our system and they have adequate fitness to play their system, e.g., we're not unduly effected by loading and they are not unduly effected by end of season fading out.

This is the key question/issue for me. AFL's All Access Areas (AAA) had some good vision of us continuingly bombing it to the pocket during the Swans game but, as Deeminion points out, we seemed to use a very different approach when our top 4 spot was on the line in round 23. Did we underestimate the Swans and opt to keep our powder dry for the PF in terms of our a forward entry strategies? As AAA suggested, do we need to take more risk going forward if we want to secure a winning score? And does the low risk but taxing long bomb approach expose us on the rebound and/or mentally drain the team when we don't manage to score?

Like @Hatchman, I use the Watch AFL app. Specifically the version available on an Apple TV. Works very well. You receive a subscription with the international MFC membership, which is about the same price as a yearly subscription with watchafl.com. But you get to support the club for the same price (I assume they get a discount on the subscription price). You can also buy short-term weekly and final series packages subscriptions on the watchafl website. We had a thread on this late last year if you're looking for more info: P.S. I'll be watching from Nairobi on the odd chance there are any Dees fans here. We usually host a small GF party but currently only know of Hawks and North supporters.

Like @rpfc, and without discrediting the performance of the boys (they’re building real nicely), I’d be grateful for your thoughts on the extent to which the result hinged on their poor performance or our top notch performance. More specifically: did they try but fail to execute strategies that other team’s have used successfully against us, were we able to negate those strategies this time because of our improving fitness and/or counter-strategies, or did they simply not try some of those strategies such as moving the ball fast through the middle, 45 degree kicks, lowering the eyes, etc.? My sense is that we shouldn’t get too carried away. Finals against Geelong, Sydney, Collingwood and Richmond will be much tougher than last Friday Thanks for the shout out last week @george_on_the_outer, I’m indeed a Melbourne boy living across the Indian Ocean. Love the pod 👍🏼

I missed that, but that is good news and aligns with a return to the seniors in week 1 👍

I’m increasingly convinced that TMac will come back into the team in W1 of the finals unless he has a serious setback. I seem to remember that he purposively opted for a surgery option with a shorter recovery time (plate over weak joint, or something like that) because of the chance he could return to play finals. The last few injury reports suggest he’s tracking well, integrating into team training, and even travelling with the team to Brisbane this week. That doesn’t sound like management of a player that is out for the season.

Great question - our surge and overlap run just seems to have vanished. I think that’s why Hunt’s efforts really stood out in the last few minutes.

I think it’d be interesting if the pod analysed the game from a parallel universe where it ended 12 seconds earlier than when it did 😁

100% At one point BBB was literally lifted off the ground with opposition hands under both armpits - couldn’t understand how that was not holding.

Ah thanks, I don’t think I realised that 😊

Have a missed the retirement of the red Sherrin - why are Sydney and the Pies playing with a yellow ball? P.S. Sydney will win this. Simply because they played North last week!

Our biggest problem is that too often we fall into the trap of comparing our current form to our near perfect 2021 finals campaign, especially the PF and GF performances. Not saying we can’t get better nor that it will just happen, but we’re well positioned for another tilt and Iike others I think this team has gears they can go to in September. Let’s get behind them 👍

One of the positives for me was the way some of our key players reacted when Carlton got on a run mid way through Q3. It was clear to me that the team and especially some key players have another gear they can go to and it gave me confidence that we’ll see more of that gear in the finals. Except for that period, I thought Trac had an ordinary game. Obviously we judge him highly, but he seemed to be caught watching the contest and out positioned a few times.

I’m not convinced Sparrow has added enough value in the past two weeks. In: Harmes Out: Sparrow

I’m excited that TMac was back training today and that, according to the injury report, he’ll integrate into full training next week. I wonder if this is why they haven’t tried JVR.

Thanks, I hadn’t noticed this. It does seem like there’s someone immediately on top of him as soon as he receives the ball. Hence all the WTB penalties. I hope his reaction time will improve as he reaches his peak level of performance in a few weeks. I also hope that goal last week clears his nips in front of the sticks. He really seemed to relish it 😁

Theoretically true, but I think it will significantly increase our chances if we avoid Geelong in week 1. They will be desperate to win the first week to secure a bye. It would be an extremely taxing match, making for a tough elimination final if we weren’t to get over the line.

In: Harmes Out: Sparrow Really frustrated that Weideman didn’t lift last week. He was playing for a spot in our finals 22 and if that’s not enough motivation, I’m not sure what else would do it. But boy we really need another tall up forward. I think we need to blood JVR or give Weideman one last chance, replacing Melksham.

I’m still confident we can win as long as we remain injury free to our key players and we play truly ruthless footy, which Friday’s loss will help Specifically, I think we’ll finish 2nd, play and beat Sydney in the first week of finals, play and beat Fremantle in the PF, then probably face Geelong in the GF.

Nice summary of the key factors influencing performance. However, it was clear we weren’t fit enough in the last quarter. But what’s interesting is that each of those factors seemed to influence the game at different stages. We can’t blame the poor set shots in the first half on fatigue. I think those must have been a combination of our skills (despite all Choco’s efforts some of our key players still have poor technique - looking at you Max) and attitude (evidence 1: Salim’s response to his miss; evidence 2: Langdon’s comments to the media on Friday). The last quarter was fatigue, clearly, which does raise questions about the fitness program. But overall I’m not too worried about this. I’m convinced we’ll be running on top of the ground come finals and teams like Collingwood will crash out in straight sets. I am starting to get a little worried about the attitude. Indeed, I found Goodwin’s and McCrae’s responses to questions about Langdon’s comments in their pressers very interesting. Goody very strongly emphasised two things: one, that Langdon actually meant to respect the opposition. Respecting the opposition is a line he repeats all the time and he seemed to want to nip in the bud any sense of complancy/inevitability amongst the players that Langdon’s comments may have surfaced. Two, he strongly reaffired his belief that this team can go all the way, again nipping in the bud the potential for a loss such as this to deflate the belief of the players (like it has deflated many on demonland 😆). In contrast, McCrae thought Langdon’s comments added colour to the game. Goodies comments were focused on managing attitude. Indeed, with our fitness sorted like last year but with the additional challenge of our hunted status, our attitude really does need to be ruthless if we want to go back to back. I don’t think it was yesterday.

Agree that they look the biggest threat at the moment. They were really impressive for good chunks yesterday. And when we played them round 17 I couldn’t help thinking that they were just bigger bodies than our boys. I think that may be why Rivers has come in and Bowey out. Rivers is much bigger. Interesting to see whether they can sustain the pace and intensity through to end of September. What’s clear is that some of their senior players will know and play like it’s their last chance at a flag. Can’t wait for our finals match against them, hopefully the GF. I suspect it’ll be much closer than our PF last year.