rpfc

He’s a point of difference with his skills and forward IQ and is benefitting from being the 3rd or 4th tall and from our high pressure game providing turnovers around our forward 50. As a ‘hater’ - he has to buy in to that game and play his role on the defensive and offensive side. Yes he gets the weakest defender from time to time but on the flip side he gets targeted and his opponent drives off half back as they can get away with having a smaller player on him. Love how we have a system defence that is getting us to where we are but anyone criticising deviation from that system is labelled by some as ‘deluded’ or a ‘hater’. When Fritsch and others don’t do the things that are within that system - it gets noticed and the integrity of selection is what keeps players bought in. If you are not following - you don’t play.

Same thing happened to Jeremy Renner in the Mission: Impossible movies post Ghost Protocol. Cruise did a massive TMac. Replay is on Stan or Prime or something.

Riewoldt gave Brayshaw a big pump up tonight and basically said that if a player of his calibre is playing a role like that - it is indicative of a team that is at its zenith. I agree, he wants to get on the footy but he can’t do that in a contending team - he is not quick enough and his close in skills are sketchy (that’s my opinion) but he is smart and selfless and courageous and that takes you a long way on a defensive wing. So impressive.

More likely that we don’t play in Melbourne than Alice. Lions would have to be kept away to keep the integrity of the schedule. Surreal times. Hope NT lets us in.

Can I just say that Harmes ‘played on’ Libba and was great getting him out of the slot at stoppages but that was not a hard tag. He had 23 touches. You can’t carry a tagger these days. Harmes was fantastic and showed why he came back into the side quickly.

I would not change The Trio. Baker can have a run out there.

He was better but he was drowning in his own bath water since the NM game and we all saw it. He is a point of difference but IMO, the 3 Pressure forwards and McDonald are more important than Fritsch and he needs to fit into that system and not disrupt it. So no pie is eaten this night.

For Dees fans - supporting a good side is foreign territory so I will forgive those that lambast the honest critiques of our form. We have been down for a few weeks and we paid for it on the weekend - it is not ‘the end of the world’. Of course it isn’t, and nor are Fritsch being dropped, Gawn being told to lift, and the forwards given some home truths - Armageddon style events. The team can take some criticism that isn’t simply [censored] ing on Melksham. So take a deep breath everyone and stop being so bloody precious about everything you read on here.

I’m sure Max would want to lift - he even said in his podcast that he has been having a dip in form. Oddly enough he attributed maturity to not going up for marks that he competes for with Lever/TMac etc. I think he needs to listen to his own advice. He also has been ball watching in contests in the middle.

Fritsch being omitted is ‘fanciful and ridiculous’? Ignores first options, doesn’t get involved defensively, and he goes missing when the heat is up of late. He has been worked out, I think he is on the bubble and it’s hardly Lord of the Rings...

We are playing with four talls. Fritsch is the fourth tall. He doesn’t chase enough, he doesn’t compete on the ground - and it’s actually worse because his opponent is invariably a player who can rebound and get involved in transition - whereas a Weid or a Brown would have a taller opponent more unlikely to do that. I am a system coach - everyone has to buy in and no one gets to avoid the tenets just because they ‘are good for 2/3 goals...’ He needs to lift or find himself continue to be a liability.

The meltdown on here to a 1 point loss is fairly impressive. 15000 roentgens I would say. This is a flare up of the Syndrome; the worry that we are seeing the false dawn revealed. A portends of the two challenges next up in miniature. Demonland holds its breath, as Doom approaches. To next week, and the inevitable.

Well I was right about Brown being one of the many on the bubble. I think this tells you how highly they rate Weideman. Sure he can do near as good a job as Brown but they want him to re-sign... I still think BBB out of the square in a tight final is hard to beat but I applaud the MC sticking to their guns. Speaking of... Are people really going to get the [censored] over Chandler being dropped? Why exert so much energy over which of the 20th to 27th best player is playing? Especially when they didn’t sit anything alight last weekend.

The reference to coaches pushing for decision making to be taken out being the world over - an example that comes to mind is the ‘clear path’ rule in the NBA where if you foul someone in transition and you are the last person it is a ‘CP foul’ and is treated more severely than if there is one defender ahead of that person even if that defender is nowhere near impacting the ability for the offensive player to score. It is silly; the player was certain to score and the defender has stopped that - the fact of where an extra defender is is really immaterial. Again, the reason to keep ‘if no defender on front of the play then it is a CO foul’ is to avoid the officials to have to make a decision... Officials make decisions and sometimes they get it wrong. Boo hoo. Thanks for indulging me if you read the above.

Coaches and admin around the world are trying to take decision making out of the hands of those officiating - they claim it is in the name of simplicity but it is purely because it removes another variable so that the coaches have more control. Hardwick is turning into an entitled blowhard and you shouldn’t listen to him. The umpires need to judge whether; someone has had a chance to get rid of the footy, the tackle is fair, and the ball was correctly disposed of. The rules are fine, the umpires need support and guidance and the coaches need to [censored] off.

The reason why we are number one scoring from turnovers is not because of our skill in moving the footy - it’s because of where those turnovers are occurring - very close to goal. That may be stating the obvious but we talk about the skills and the DE getting better but I don’t think that’s the driver behind our success. We are just creating havoc well up the ground and it is easier to turn that into a scoring opportunity.

I don’t think it’s uncommon. We realise what an opportunity the club now has and that enhances our anxiety and trolling of our emotion. I was better during the Carlton game as I knew we would respond and that the team’s effort is unquestionable right now. It will get easier to watch this over time as they are the real deal - but yes @old dee the club has conditioned us to expect the rug to be pulled and so we are understandably jumpy.

Our smalls are in such excellent form to keep the ball in our forward line. The leading patterns were understandably crossed and confused and that will get better over time. But if they want SW to be there, they will have to get creative with selection - I think Brown at FF is our best bet for success in 2021.

How many people on here wanted to drop Fritsch? I was probably the most vehement on here of the posters worth any salt about how bad his performance was and I didn’t say to drop him. Credit to him - he did lift (it wouldn’t be hard) - he chased harder and tackled and got to more contests. We all laud our new selfless buy in to ‘The System’ and the Demon Web and all that and if you are not playing your role in that you are on borrowed time. ANB, Spargo, Kosi, Fritsch, Jackson, Hibberd, Rivers, Harmes, Brown, Jordon, Brayshaw, Hunt, Petty, and TMac are all best 22 in 2021 if they are in form AND bought in. But if they do not buy in - there are players available who would be selected to replace them who would be happy to play that role.

If Viney is to replace Chandler, it will imbalance the smalls in the forward line. More time for mids who have to go through there - it is not a massive issue but one I would avoid if possible but the MC may see that as the desired set up at the end of the year. At the end of the day - your best players will work it out... ...provided they play their role.

Not true! Now if you would excuse me...