Bring-Back-Powell

Is he a chance to miss this week? Was getting treatment during the Freo game and looked completely out of sorts by his standards.

Not surprised. Their accuracy has been unsustainable recently. 15.4, 17.6, 18.8, 12.6. You don't win prelims and GF's if you have less scoring shots than the oppo and have to rely on accuracy.

That's a shame. At least Cumming is going out. GWS supporters rate him.

The MFC won't ever get a better draft haul than this one. I hindsight, I would've loved Hayden Young over Luke Jackson due to the fact that Young's a local boy that likely would have been a long term MFC player, and he's tracking to be one of the best players in the league in a couple of years. However, would we have won the flag without Jackson? I'd argue yes, but some posters think that the only reason behind our third quarter dominance was because LJ was in the ruck. And also consider that Young missed about 15 games in 2021 so he may not have even been in our best 22 that year. Freo are extremely lucky to now have Jackson and Young in the same team, and are tracking towards a flag within 3 years IMO.

If the 80% chance of rain holds up, then I think that suits us. GWS have been getting away with wins against poor oppo due to supreme accuracy and forward 50 efficiency rather than winning contested ball. They had something like +50 uncontested possessions but lost the contested count against GC in the dry last week. The wet weather becomes more of a contested style of footy. I also can't imagine GWS being so accurate in the wet (their accuracy the last 3 weeks has been beyond exceptional) and Hogan's dominance should be neutralised. With that being said, we all thought it would be wet for the Freo game, and after last week's "one too many" thrashings, how could you confidently tip us to win.

Oh yes you're right. Good pick up. The bounty we received from the Grundy trade. I'm happy now.

Is Cumming any good for them? Out for 6 weeks. Kelly is clearly a big out.

I think we all know which particular game he's referring to. “Every supporter, every person who knows football pretty well knows that in the last year and a half there have been decisions made that have cost Melbourne games, cost Melbourne ladder positions and there’s a time coming where if these decisions keep coming, Simon Goodwin won’t be in his position.”

And what's worse is Adelaide reportedly tried to fleece more out of us than just a second rounder, so I'll give Lamb a slight bit of credit for not giving up anything more for McAdam.

We also have a bizarre 16-3-1 record on Saturday nights since the start of 2021. It's by far our favourite time slot. GWS also seem to be winning games on the back of kicking 6 behinds a game which is unsustainable. Both of these factors are predicated on us bringing the minimum standard of AFL pressure. Last week's pressure against Fremantle wouldn't stack up against Nar Nar Goon's thirds.

McAdam for a future second round draft pick, probably in the late 20's, is now looking like an atrocious trade by Lamb. Credit to some posters on DL who at the time who thought we paid too much. There's a whiff of rebuild about our club at the moment, and not having a second rounder heading into the trade and draft period is disappointing. Not fussed about the Billings trade as we gave up nothing for him and he played some good games in March. Fullarton was a big fail considering he was supposed to be out back up ruck when we needed him the most, but yeah whatever.

How so?

Not surprised. There's been far too many of these games this year where the game's been effectively over at quarter time because we haven't applied anywhere near the pressure required. The amount of times Freo waltzed out of a contested situation, as well as the coast to coast goals we gave up.... Our pressure has been much improved since the bye, but there was a major regression yesterday.

Whilst not as confident as you, you're not wrong about GWS's efficiency and accuracy. The last 4 weeks they've kicked 61.25 or 71% accuracy which is so far above AFL average it's not funny. It's also unsustainable if they think they can win a prelim or grand final by relying on accuracy and less scoring shots. They could well be accurate again this week, but the tide will eventually turn for them. Re: Billings, he deserves to stay in the side this week. The problem is he's failed to play 2 good games in a row all year and can't be expected to help much on Saturday night.

Whether you like or dislike Simon, it’s clear to everyone that he has a clear tactical issue against Fremantle. Specifically our ability to defend turnover and transition, as evidenced by Freo’s numerous walk in goals from the goal square. And furthermore it’s undeniable that he’s struggled to get his team up for game day, far more than most of his previous years. How many times has the warning signs been up in neon lights at quarter time. Brisbane, Carlton, West Coast Fremantle x2, Collingwood.

At half time of the Alice game I thought Freo couldn’t play any better and we couldn’t play any worse. They got better, we got worse. Definitely the same vibes about this game aside from Freo’s inaccuracy. Will be interesting to see if we can make some inroads in the second half or just let the game get out of control per round 12. We’re definitely playing with one hand tied behind our back with the ruck and clearance issue.

We always deal with the Dogs in the first game. It’s the return game we have troubles with.

Port only beating Richmond by 41 is actually a minor win for us. Given Richmond sent a VFL side over to Adelaide, Port really should’ve won by 60+

After all the talk of a wet weather game, the forecast is 0-3mm. Doesn’t exactly scream a wet weather slog of a game. And I’m not sure we’d benefit from back to back wet games heading into GWS off the back of a 6 day break from Perth.

Well that result certainly gives us more options. Great start to the weekend.

I can't recall a game in recent memory where we are playing a side that literally has all of its best 23 available. How fortunate are Fremantle going. Edit - Johnson's out injured...

Clearly Adelaide winning would be ideal but without Tex and Rankine I can't see it happening. To Essendon's credit they've bounced back all year from a poor performance. GWS/Gold Coast and Hawthorn/Pies are hard ones to pick, in terms of what suits us better? Hopefully Sydney beat Brisbane, Geelong beat Dogs and Richmond get within 50 of Port.

The main concept of the wild card it to reward the top 6 and make 7th and 8th an "also ran" in reality. I don't think that's a terribly bad thing. Furthermore, the weekend off between round 24 and week 1 finals is a joke IMO and needs to go. What league in the world closes down just before finals?

Yeah I've always liked the NFL playoff systems. The best 1 or 2 teams in each conference get the week 1 bye, but after that they have to win to stay alive.

It would place a premium on finishing top 6. I don't think that's a bad thing. For those against the wild card, unfortunately the AFL are keeping an eye on the USA leagues. The NBA have introduced their wild card/play in in while the MLB and NFL have continually expanded their playoffs. As if we're not going to follow what's going on over there if there's a buck to be made.