rpfc

Yes, he listens to Kellie Finlayson’s podcast on the commute

Collingwood used actual human facilities?? I mean, that’s progress but the cost of the clean up alone…

Already made that joke It, ah, didn’t go anywhere

It’s ok. The first step is realising what you have done. Take care. ♥️

Picket?

Would love to get Locomotive Delicious… Good player.

He ain’t Winx and we don’t have a second steeplechaser worthy of a game besides Gawn. So chase them steeples, Jacob…

Just turned 21. He has shown more than most in of his age. Now all we need to do is continue to change the way we play to ensure he continues to develop.

He’s ’reasonable’ as a backman. Then how is he going to replace May? Petty is a good kick for goal. He is also a good mark - that’s what makes him a ‘reasonable’ defender… ‘Poor man’s TMac'… - I will just leave that, I assume you are just angry and afraid. We don’t have the luxury of not playing Petty forward. And he shows good signs but we need to commit to it or forget about it. We also need to remember that he had no pre-season and we hope he is one of those players that gets better with match fitness. This is where we are at.

ANB has to be there

We have a young team, changing the way we play, and have question marks on some important players. This will not be an isolated problem for 2024.

What if we lose, ATBOG? Yea that is your acronym. ATBOG

Can’t win when your midfield gets smashed like that, and outworked around the ground. We will find out 12 days whether it’s an anomaly.

This conflation of last year with this year is misguided - we may have opened up the game about late last year in an attempt to get us out of our connection rut but that was not what we are seeing this season. The Richmond game last year that some have mentioned was a contest and clearance domination in the second half - not a transition success. 76 points from clearances in that game attests to that. The final against Collingwood saw them get 37 I50s - so our ‘prevention’ strategy of non-exposure to our defence was in play there. This year it is different - we are more efficient with our fewer I50s, and there are less repeat entries. @layzie Brown is able to come at the footy more and with less onerous requests to sit under ‘out kicks’ down the line which is how we have moved the ball for the last 4 years. We are moving the ball quicker and with more space to move - forwards are always going to appreciate that.

Just can’t agree with this. We have set deeper, the high press isn’t so high, and when we have the ball or it is contest, we have kept our forwards deeper to allow more delivery to a leading target. When I have the time I will delve into the comparative stats but it’s obvious to the eye, and a cursory glance of the superficial stats.

Ideally, we wouldn’t give 20 more Inside 50s. That is not good, because it puts pressure on your backline. But there is a concerted effort to create from the backline and to be proactive. 2024 is different to 2023.

So he will see better in traffic?

I think this is the height of naïveté and hubris this decision… The Kolt should not be playing in his sunnies?! Especially not at night #reprehensible

But we have always had an extra behind the ball and allow teams to have an extra at the stoppage. To me, that always amazed me that we didn’t lean into the slingshot even more with that extra player with our Rolls Royce defence. We still invariably have our extra behind the ball to release Lever by now we are unlocking what that means offensively.

You’d prefer to pay one of the best young players in the game a long term deal at less than the average salary? [F M D], sons. You need to look at the CBA. In 2025, cap is nearing $19m (TPP + ASA). https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2024/01/2023-2027-Collective-Bargaining-Agreement-FINAL.pdf

@Axis of Bob Yes! We have a Rolls Royce of a backline we have spent the last 3 years protecting… doesn’t make sense to me. Let’s take it for a test drive…

We are seeing the confluence of events that is demanding a change in how we play that I hope lasts for the rest of the decade; a change that leads to attractive football as well as winning football. Transition x2 With McQualter coming in there seems to be a real emphasis on something that we have never had a real emphasis on; transitioning the ball from the backline with speed and purpose. (I wrote about this mid last season - that you can read about below - bumped post) Where the ‘confluence’ comes in is the emergence of McVee, Howes, Bowey, and Rivers as the engine of the team. This is where we need to ‘transition’ to this engine, which I will dub - The Transition, and away from the May and Lever driven Defence Only mindset. Now this is already happening and that is great, but it doesn’t mean we are not a contest driven or Defence First team - we will be until further notice, but with this strong in the bow we can now win games in more ways, and avoid being out of games. For the neophytes - last two seasons we have been ‘forward half’ or ‘contest/stoppage driven’ to avoid as much exposure to our backline as possible. This means we kicked long to the boundary (May’s infamous kick out from FB) and progressive movement down the field through stoppage and rushed kick. This means that our forward pressure could kick in and we ‘won territory’ and we ‘won the I50 count’ and we ‘won the expected score’ but we didn’t win the games that matter… Having a transition game and a comfortability with our defence getting footy kicked their way has opened up the ground and has allowed McVee and Rivers in particular to show their value and for our forwards to have space to exploit. Suddenly Fritsch has 1-1s and Brown is leading at the footy in dangerous spots. As an aside, this will aide in JVRs development… So I for one thank Goodwin for his ability to adapt and I welcome… … The Transition. (Demon emoji)

We have been boring the last two years. Fans of other teams don’t see things until the ‘narratives’ have got through or their team has played the teams in question. So we will come up against a bunch of fan groups that think we are just a dump it down the line, win territory team, that prefers repeat entries until we slingshot their team into Oblivion through the excellent law firm of McVee, Howes, and Rivers. They are The Transition.