1964_2

1 hour ago, binman said:

I'm still convinced we will end up with the two talls - not sure if that wik be this week now as i cant see Mitch Brown coming into the side, and JVR is a long shot to be selected, at least this week (i have sneaky feeling he might get a shot on the eve of finals).

If BB is right to go next week, and Weed plays ok, i suspect they will both be selected next week

I am concerned about the ability for Weid & BB to play in the same team. 
 

Weid’s games without BB this year

R3.       4.3 goals, 7 marks, 11 possessions 

R4.      0 goals, 3 marks, 7 poss.   (Raining, wet)

R5.       1.1 goals, 4 marks, 8 poss 

R19.      3 goals, 4 marks, 10 poss

Weid’s games with BB

R6.         3 goals, 1 mark, 8 poss 

R7.          1 goal, 1 mark, 8 poss

R11.        0.1 goals, 3 marks, 7 poss

R15.        0.1 goals, 1 mark, 11 poss 

R16         0 goals, 3 marks, 12 poss

Without BB - Ave 2 goals, 4.5 marks, 9 poss

With BB - Ave 0.8 goals, 1.8 marks, 9.2 poss 

If no BB, Weid has shown himself to be valuable, or at least our best option.

With BB, his contribution is down, & there is a void for the team to cover 2 players with very poor defensive pressure 

18 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Some character assassination of Angus on here without any basis. What exactly has changed since 2 weeks ago aside from the media focus??

before people start saying how big his ego is or all he cares about is money, maybe have something to back it up. All that has happened is he is taking his time to sign a contract while playing great football

Just listen to his SEN interview. It’s all there for you from the horses mouth. 

4 weeks out from finals, he has said he is not even close to a decision, ramped up media attention, creating a bidding war and/or pressuring Melb to add some $ to his offer. 
 

56 minutes ago, bobby1554 said:

Thanks for the tip about the AFL website. My comment about Richmond not coughing up 5 goal leads was purely from memory. However, I did just check most of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and could not find a game where this happened. Maybe you could help me out? What I did see was that in both those seasons they won the last 8-10 games of the home and away season. They were bullet proof, invincible almost. Not feelings I get about us this year. Which, after all, was the point of the topic wasn’t it?

Not sure about giving up 5 goal leads, but 2019 they lost R11 by 37 pts, lost R12 by 67pts, and lost R13 by 33 pts.

16 W, 6 L    (Will be same as us if we go 3-1 from here) 

Then went on to win the GF by 89 points. 

2 minutes ago, layzie said:

Im glad hes trying to get the best deal for himself but for a club like us trying to keep our list together for sustained success that's probably not going to cut it. The fact is you need players leaving money on the table if you want to keep the band together. This is where cap casualties come from.

It’s a tricky one. Salem, Trac, Oliver, Gawn, others have all accepted unders (vs the max offer they could get elsewhere), but maybe Gus feels like he is already sacrificing enough by not playing in his preferred position (inside mid).

Might be tough to solve, as the club will be wanting to show some consistency in not significantly revising offers higher, given the sacrifices already made by signed players. 

Apparently Brodie could be out. No Brodie or Fyfe, & get Harmes to tag Brayshaw, and we have their midfield covered. 

7 minutes ago, goodwindees said:

All about the $ with Gus. I don’t believe he’s interested in a quick, win/win deal which gets it done quickly and leaves a bit on the table for the betterment of the Club’s TPP.  Gus is all about getting the best deal he can.  He’s a very confident young man with a big ego who sees himself right up there with Oliver & Petracca.  

Exactly what I took out of his SEN interview 

3 minutes ago, mo64 said:

This reminds me of the all conquering Bombers of the mid '80s. After winning the 84 and 85 premierships, they traded away 2 heart and soul players in Bradbury and Carey for big name players in Raines and Michael Richardson. They went into freefall.

Gus is a heart and soul player. He's more important to the team than just a draft pick or a fictitious forward/ruck from another club.

Fair call. But, I think the degree to which he is heart and soul will be revealed by how he plays his contract situation from here.

The club has made it clear they want to keep him, and many other players haven’t squeezed the club to get their absolute top $, so lets see how Gus plays it. 

Might be a little cynical, but for mine a heart and soul player doesn’t come out after R19, and say I am not sure if I want to be here next year yet. 

11 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

I think you are off the mark here.  Gus has been our best performing back all year and his marking, kicking and courage have been an absolute highlight for me this year.   He is expected to pull off some tough kicks at stages and this sometimes hurts his kicking reputation.  I think his kicking is very good, he kicks both feet which he uses to his advantage and he is going at 75% efficiency which is excellent.  Just as a comparison both Oliver and Trac are at mid 50’s and Pendlebury who is playing a similar role is going at 69 %.  It’s a myth that he is not a good kick.

Not sure you can compare the kicking efficiency of 2 of the most contested inside mids in the game, and a loose half-back flanker, who primarily wins uncontested ball. 

Comparison with Pendles more valid, but he still plays a % of his time in the middle also. 

all that said, without doubt Gus’ kicking has improved this year, but he is still not elite 

45 minutes ago, mo64 said:

You are kidding right? Gus is likely to finish top 3 in the BnF as the season stands. You'd prefer a draft pick in the early 20's after F/S and academy picks? 

Bowey, Rivers and Hunt don't play anything like Gus in defence. 

Use the pick to lure key forwards you say. Like Who? 

At the start of the year I would have agreed with you, but Gus is important to this team on and off the field.

I think you are taking DS a little out of context. I took from his post that he knows Gus is worth more than a late first round pick. 

But is more talking about how much money do we have to tie up for a player, that we can actually replace (do have strong depth in Gus’ key positions).

is tough without all the facts, but if signing Gus meant we couldn’t get the forward/ruck players we need, then his point is valid. 

1 hour ago, Demon3 said:

Goody looks like he has had some sleepless nights to be honest. Its only natural though.. the intensity and pressure on the team has heightened significantly.. its not easy being the hunted, it takes another type of pressure to deal with. Also wonder if the impending departure of Ooze to the Giants is weighing on him a bit as well.. little things add up when the pressure is on.

The Club will be ok though, even if we lose Jackson and Brayshaw.. the club will survive.. we have cornerstone, generational players locked in.. we build around the stayers, not worry about the leavers.

Or he has a cold or flu, like over half the people in Vic currently do. 

1 minute ago, Colm said:

Listened to the interview and I think he is being honest and hasn’t decided yet. 
When he said that his position comes into the “calculations” I took that to mean just that maybe he will be offered more money if he is getting a run through the midfield at another club. 
Unfortunately I don’t think he will make his mind up until after the season is over. A lot can still change between now and then.

For example if Fyfe didn’t get back playing this season he might retire and free up more cap space for Freo.

Gus won’t have the all the final offers in front of him until after the season is over. If  one of those offers is an extra million bucks over 5 years as D4LIfe suggest then it’s not an easy call more so if that offer comes from a club in a Prem window.

 

 

And whether we get our act together and give ourselves best chance for flag vs wasting an opportunity and falling away, might be a factor in his decision. 

2 minutes ago, binman said:

Ouch, BB out is a blow

Or an opportunity.

surely Petty forward, and/or JVR in? 

3 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

6!changes this week 

radical but it’s not necessarily players in/out that will break us out of the slump 

Ins. 1- “winning the clearances” . The numbers don’t lie. We are being smashed in the contest and clearances work. So different to 2021. That’s bizarre considering our contested ball winning. Even with dominant ruckman we struggled. 
2- “tackles inside 50”. Last week … ZERO.  That’s unbelievable.  Yes we let the Bulldogs run it out far too easily. Forwards pressure was non existent. 
3- “marks inside 50”. Yes it’s that “connection” word again.  Long bombs that have 8 seconds hang time don’t work. “ “Hello Mcfly”.  It doesn’t always have to ge a contested mark. Practice more direct spear type entries. 
4- “overlap running and kicking”. It’s an old strategy.  Yes run past for a handball and then kick. Not just handballs to other players under pressure. Even look to use the corridor. It’s about confidence. Slow and wide is a cop out. 

5- a “kick in to create” opportunities. As we watch many other clubs get the kick in and create (aka pies last 28 second play)! 90% of our kick ins are to the big pack 55 metres out on the half back flank. Time after time. It’s so easy to shut down. Boring mediocrity in fact. 
6- “play out the full game”. First half leads have quickly dissolved in the 2nd half. And our last quarters v Freo v Swans v Pies v Cats v Dogs have been killers. Even port kicked the last 3 goals against us. Fitness? Or attitude. 
 

outs. 
1 - “stop the long bombs” to the forwards . We all know why! 

2- “stop sloppy handballs”’to players next to you under more pressure. It’s a stat. But useless!! Frustrating. Wheres the spread? 

3- stop the “near enough is good enough”. There’s no intensity in the sharp delivery or hitting a target.  Maybe we were #freed from desire and need to rekindle the eye of the tiger. Get hungry. Find the desire. 
4- “slow and wide and slow and turnovers”. We move it too slowly now. Kick it down the line to a contest pack. Let them setup. Helloooooo.  We are beating ourselves and other clubs are doing “Melbourne to us”.  Look at the GF 2nd half. Quick running and ball movement. And not always to the wings. Yes I love Lingers but he plays on the boundary line. On the knife edge.  He often runs out of space and it goes out of bounds. Or he kicks with only one option.  We need to play more in the corridor. Ask Lingers to walk 5 steps in. 
5- “stop kicking to the deep forward pocket”. It’s hard to score from even with a mark or crumb. It’s a defensive kick to the forwards. Why? We are the worst entry team imv. The defender just punches it over the line. FFS.

6-“stop letting opposition quarterbacks free”. Bailey Dale. Callum Mills. Jack Crisp.  Mitch Duncan. See the theme. Lock them down. Try Harmesy or ANB. Let them run and create at your peril. And we do !!!! (Hayden Young is Freo quarterback… lock him down and pressure pressure pressure him always) 

7. Stop getting complacent and lazy when 25 points up. When 25 points up, double it. 

3 minutes ago, Foopy on the telly said:

I reckon it’s pretty evident that Brayshaw’s just trying to pump up his future contract with the club as well as the position issue. Clarry did the same thing 2 years ago and people were freaking out (meeting with Carlton etc) but now he’s a demon for life. 

Spot on. If he knew he was going, no chance he would jump on SEN and add more attention to the issue. 

He is trying to add more uncertainty than there is, to force Dees to lift their offer. Not great, at a time when we need everyone to buy in to team first, but it is what it is. 

On the other side, surely Dees have seen enough to pay him what he is worth. 

2 minutes ago, adonski said:

Spill the beans 😫

Spill or don’t tease 

50 minutes ago, layzie said:

I'm disappointed LH, I came up with the Loading End party idea. Hurt.

😜

Are we free to go ahead with our planned Loading End parties Friday night? 

22 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

The way it is often presented on DL is that it is the major factor contributing to our losses.  And the facts I listed are rarely given much discussion regarding those losses but mentioned in passing or generalities as the last few lines of your post do.

I'll repeat, I believe in loading programs.

I kind of view it differently to this. 

Firstly, no matter what training program, strategy and everything else we put in place, there will always be losses. 

The aim is not to go through the season un-defeated. And it’s often just not possible to state with certainty why we lost games. 

If you are a “believer” of loading, it’s not so much justifying losses, or claiming what the “major contributing factor” was, but more providing a point as to why we can expect better performances approaching finals and during finals. 

It also allows you to look past a few “areas of concern” that are unlikely to be a problem when closer to our best (from a fitness & intensity & pressure perspective) 

All to be revealed the next few weeks 

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I was dirty on Vines. That was a clear handball over the top which would have allowed Jacko to run in and steady up for a goal.

Well bad luck. No signature, no handball. 

Well played Jack. 

3 hours ago, mo64 said:

I love Goody, but after the Gold Coast game when we hardly scored in the 2nd half which gave the Suns a sniff, Goody came out and said that we didn't need to score. That sort of attitude gets ingrained into the players. Once we have a lead, Goody will tell the players that we have the game on our terms. Then we try to defend the lead by playing safe down the line football. Once the opposition get a sniff, we can't redress the momentum.

If you look back at all the games where we've given up a lead, the opposition has kicked the last 1 or 2 goals before the half time break. I can't recall the Pies game, but it definitely happened against the Dockers, Swans and Dogs. We go into half time happy with ourselves, whilst the opposition look at the scoreboard and gives themselves a chance.

Not ashamed to say that I backed the Dogs at H/T when they were paying $4.50. I'd seen this script before.

Interesting :- Pies kicked the last 2 before half time also. 

Last night the commentators kept complimenting us for quickly kicking a goal in response to many dogs goal :- It did leave me thinking, why do we have to wait for a dogs goal, to put up our best effort 

1 minute ago, Winners at last said:

This filth success is doing my head in. It's worse than the Demons doing poorly.

Imagine if the GF is filth v puddy tatts!! I'm an MCC member and have been to every grand final (other than 2020/21 obviously) for about 15 years. If these teams play off, I wouldn't go. 

Agree, I wouldn’t be watching that. 

Just put a replay of 2021 GF on at the same time. 

After seeing some footage of Gus’ loose checking, I wonder to what extent he is prioritising getting his 25-30 touches each week, vs defensive efforts, stopping goals etc. 

Has anyone been watching him closely enough to make a call on this? 

I thought Salem had the balance (attack vs defence) pretty right prior to this season. 

3 minutes ago, grazman said:

 

There's media whispers that Freo's clearing the decks to make room for Jacko is upsetting some of the natives.  Longmuir thinks Lobb will be at Freo next year (though I wouldn't expect him to admit that he's a trade target, but he did seem genuine when he said it), so I do wonder if Darcy might be in the mix being a Vic boy. 

I'd trade Jacko for Darcy if it came to that.

Meek + Darcy and we be getting closer 

6 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

M.Lloyd. “They didn’t lose after R17 last year, where as this year they have lost R17, and R19”

Pretty easy to dig up last years fixture and see that we lost R19 Matthew. 

Other than that, interesting and good points. 

12 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

Mate, Essendon won last week, they're in red hot form... that's the reason!

Pies have won 8 in a row, and can’t hold on to a 37 point qtr time lead 

Imagine what demonland would be like if we gave up a 37 point lead against the bombers! 

Macrae said they have been loading when they have a 7 or 8 day break. Just saying. Time for some people to wake up.