rpfc

They just didn’t dump it on Gawn’s head moving it forward (and of course we did) they went around him and made that skinny ground big. We assume the opposition is going to play the dumbest footy, honestly. Either that zone stops the switch into the corridor or we can deal with a switch to other side of the ground that forces a dump kick or we are a stick of butter and the other team is a hot knife.

FCS. Go and draw and quarter him, it doesn’t solve our problem.

Yeah, it’s effing humming. There is a pressure problem on defence that exacerbates the lack of connection up forward where we allow 66 inside 50s. Smashed in clearances so we were always on the back foot with trying to move it forward. This is the way we miss out on a prelim - we can’t move the ball up the ground, keep it up there, and put way too much pressure on our backline.

Old Dee when we hit 65k members:

@Nudge

That’s my point.

It’s a bit on the nose to name the stand after the club owner…

This is a good little nugget. Brown helps us ‘move the chains’ (NFL term around moving up the ground instead of going for the game breaking pass) and that is one of the most valuable roles in footy these days. It requires so much unrewarded and unrewardable running from TMac and now Brown. He had a couple of lamentable contests and his marking can improve but let’s not dismiss value so easily.

Those $13 memberships… If only Clayton wore a higher number, amirite? These numbers are quickly becoming irrelevant. The better number to track might be revenue from memberships, with the floor of what is needed to run the club and thrive.

The football gods should reward this hubris and complacent lack of self-reflection with years of defeats to the Demons.

Our best players are locked in for the decade.

Agree, having a ‘needs’ discussion when talking about Jackson is tacitly saying you don’t rate him. He can be so much more expansive than the role he is currently developing in. Absolute jet.

He’s a third year player and development isn’t linear. I think he will be a good player but guys get dropped. Especially when you play for a club expecting to win every week.

Ok then.

Your creating a straw man argument there with the ‘bring the ball to ground’ being his only measure that you see some of us have on him. You are arguing that he will surely be dropped if he doesn’t perform while also agreeing that we just don’t have that many options even if he doesn’t. I don’t think he is playing especially well but I also don’t see him getting dropped IF he can continue to be a cog in us getting the ball down the field and getting enough scoring shots. And, as others have said, if he was not contributing, Sam W wouldn’t be playing Casey this weekend.

He doesn’t need to ‘fire’ - he needs to play his role. No one else can with TMac out. That is his starting expectation and pass mark.

Like this. Adapting the forward line to what can work in the absence of TMac. And a show of faith in Bedford.

Love how the cats “haven’t used the ‘illness’ as an excuse” while using it as an excuse. They deserve to have a long losing run against us.

The forward line is not a problem. Move along. Nothing to see here.

So 100% of 80%?

Good way to put it.

Yes, yes, it’s interrelated but it’s not going to be ameliorated by having more energy on game day. It’s just not so black and white to lay the blame of the lack of forward connection on fatigue. And this is something considering it is me; but it is the height of arrogance to think it is just going to happen. We blaze away, we are leading to the same spots, we don’t make the most of space in the forward line, and we really have struggled on slow plays to move the ball without a dump kick being the best bet. My hope is that our pressure game continues to recover and get back to where it will need to be for this forward line to compete for a flag, because we won’t be snagging goals here and there like a Carlton, Geelong, or Lions. Our attack is dependent on our defence.

Just listened to the podcast. On the topic of why loading doesn’t get more play in the media - clubs downplay the impact of training loads on performance and they aren’t exactly well known lest your opponent have an informational advantage. And can we have rule we stop talking about it after say Round 16? All teams expecting/preparing to play in a prelim are doing it. Don’t let it be a red herring for BL’s carelessness with footy, Freos inability to stop the transition from defence, or our lack of connection up forward.

The stories I will tell about that game: Grandad, why is there no one at the game? ‘Well, Pfizer, it’s because the whole town of Geelong were locked out of events because they were a feral people. Terrible body odour and behaviour to match.’