Bring-Back-Powell

For those that don’t like the re-signing of Kozzie, I implore you to rewatch the Freo game, the Sydney game and the clutch goal he kicked to put us in front during Monday’s finals like game. A genuine game changing super star appropriately getting a game changing super star contract.

If you read Bigfooty, many Port supporters would also take great joy in that.

Yeah good question. I have a gut feel we'll put in a terrific performance and a stinker either side of the bye. Just not sure in which order. We've shown we can match it with the better teams this year so a win over GC isn't out of the question. We've also been BOG ordinary against some of the bottom 10 sides this year, so a poor loss against Port could also be on the cards.

This would have to be the most exciting and unlikely news we’ve received in years, if this actually transpires. The scary thing for the comp is that the quiet games such as the St Kilda loss last week are becoming few and far between and are being replaced with more high end 20 disposal 3 to 4 goal games, particularly given he’s spending significant minutes in the midfield. There’s not a coincidence in the world that his return to the side in round 4 has seen us become a far more competent side (aside from the Gather Rd disaster ) and the one week he was down on output, we were atrociously down as a side.

Hopefully we can get to 10 wins and presumably avoid the bottom 4. Our list is better than a bottom 4 finish and I can't really stomach giving Essendon a super high pick off us. More importantly I hope we can beat some teams in the hunt for a finals birth on the run home such as a Hawthorn, Carlton or Bulldogs and actually put some learnings in place in terms of winning close games and rectifying our accuracy. If we can made amends on this front, then we can head into 2026 with some hope and confidence.

And meanwhile Disco Turner is providing encouragement and positive reinforcement to Max. Liking this guy more by the week.

I need to correct myself and adjust the W/L to 3-9 in 6 point margins or less from round 16 2023 to today. I forgot to include the Brisbane 1 point win in round 18 2023.

Just to isolate and cherry pick the close game record of 6 points or less margins, we're 3-9 since the GWS Alice Springs game where Josh Kelly got us with 1-2 mins left on the clock. But even more disturbingly, and as the OP mentions, 1 of those 2 wins was against North last year where we went scoreless in the last quarter and did everything but blow a 6 goal lead, and it had to take a debutante to lay a game saving tackle. I had zero confidence we were going to navigate ourselves to a win during that last quarter yesterday.

And why are the opposition so accurate? As per Collingwood yesterday. We are the most inaccurate side this year, but our combined opposition's "scores against" is the most accurate when you compare everyone's "scores against"

Fritsch won't be getting dropped but the question needs to be asked: did the 19 out of 41 points he contributed to our second half score outweighed the negatives throughout the game? You'd say probably and you'd also imagine that Port would rather he play for Casey than the MFC next week. Re Melksham being rested: once again that's giving Port a bit of a gift and he can rest up at the bye. I think we're a chance in this one. It's best to get sides after they've had a big/unexpected/inspiring win (per Port over GWS) as they might not be as mentally up for the game than if they were coming off a bad loss with a point to prove. Collingwood had a season best win over Hawthorn last weekend and perhaps weren't at their peak yesterday. Conversely, we got Freo, Richmond and Sydney after easy or inspiring wins. I felt way more dejected after the Saint loss last week than yesterday. Thought we did ourselves proud aside from the usual issues that haven't been resolved.

As others have mentioned earlier, today’s probably not the day to have a go at him. He had some tactical wins and put us in a genuine position to beat this year’s premiers (They’ll win it as they’ll leverage off the MCG home advantage in finals) However, he’s the “CEO” of all on-field matters and the facts are we keep losing the games that go down to the wire and we keep losing games despite having more scoring shots. Since the Alice Srings game against GWS in round 16 2023 we are 2-9 in games decided by 6 points or less. That is an absolutely deplorable stat. Furthermore, in the goal kicking thread I listed a long list of losses since the 2022 Brisbane semi final whereby we’ve absolutely thrown games down the drain by outscoring the oppo but losing the game. Collingwood and Carlton featured heavily in this list and lo and behold, we’ve lost another game to Collingwood where we’ve had more scoring shots but lost. We ofcourse haven’t won a game this year where we’ve had less scoring shots. It’s essentially coming up to three full seasons whereby these underrated but costly miscues keep on plaguing us as a football club. Unless these things start turning around, Goodwin will coach us to round 24 2026 at the latest, we shake hands and wish each other best.

Fair call IMO. Has not worked as a defender and that’s on the coach not him.

Disturbing ratio given it’s actually our home game.

No issues with the ins and outs but can we please keep Windsor as far away from the backline as possible. I don’t believe for a second the he was drafted as a defender.

Xander McGuire reporting that Oliver and as per usual Lever are both in slight doubt for tomorrow, but he then also went on to say that the club assured him that both will play.

One other issue to consider is the opposition’s accuracy. Our opposition has kicked a combined 162.122 (57%) which is the most accuraate in terms of scores conceded and really hasn’t helped matters. This would be a combination of: 1) simple bad luck whereby the opposition kick goals out of their backsides. 2) structural, coaching and players allowing the opposition to have shots from simple angles or allowing the incredibly frustrating walk in goals such as St Kilda last week. So in conclusion, we’re the most inaccurate side in the league and our combined opposition score is the most accurate of all conceded scored across the league.

If they can somehow avoid Collingwood at the G, then they’re a chance to win the flag. Only Geelong and to a lesser extent Brisbane stand in Collingwood’s way of this year’s flag IMO.

The difference between Collingwood and Melbourne’s depth is that Collingwood’s VFL regulars slot in seamlessly under a well coached and well oiled system while we certainly can’t say the same about our squad. Therefore, while Collingwood’s injury list is larger than ours both in quality and quantity, they have way better depth to cover their lnjuries.

Brisbane absolutely “Melbourned” that one. Adelaide have been impressive this year but I can’t see them knocking off Collingwood at the MCG on GF or prelim day and thus aren’t a contender for mine.

Is an elite shot at goal with a career 52.27. Would fit in well here.

I'm very pleased and excited to announce that our crisp accuracy of 7.7% (1.12) for the second half V St Kilda is officially our fourth worst conversion in a half of football in the history of our club. THE HISTORY OF OUR CLUB. We couldn't quite reach the lads effort back in 1907 (1.14) or the misfiring crew in 1979 against the Hawks (1.15) but it was still a mighty effort for our beloved 2025 group to hit the record books. (incidentally our 12.2 in the first half against Freo was our 15th most accurate half of footy, ever)

It's interesting that since 2022 we've been more than competitive against Brisbane at the GABBA which theoretically should be considered the hardest assignment in AFL football given the extreme talent and weather at Brisbane's disposal. We're 2-2 with a thumping win (2022), an inspirational win when we were $4.50 under dogs (2025), an extremely gallant and close loss when were out of form (2024) and the other game we came rattling home for a 9 point loss (2023). And yet against Collingwood....

Suffice to say that on my list of requested wins after the bye, the Carlton Saturday night game sits very high on the list. Every loss to them is torture because they always beat us by under a kick. For some reason when we play Carlton we either kick atrociously or they can't miss, or both.

So, Freo next year is now out of the question given they're speculating about an extension? I'm sure a few of us were coming to grips with counting down his games at the MFC at rounds 4 to 5 before he caught fire V Freo. I still can't see a way that he extends past his free agency so far in advance. Surely this ramps up in the off season of 2026/2027.

I hope the club has a word to the AFL and asks for this to never happen again. 4 weekends of no MFC footy in VIC is awful scheduling by the AFL. The pay off is that our last 7 games are in Melbourne but the scheduling is so uneven.