rpfc

I dunno, I think we are a chance to pinch this on expected score… 🤞

Quite. The key to getting our front half defensive game going (the keeping territory part) is getting it in there without an immediate intercept. Having kicks that are to the benefit of your teammate - what a novel concept… I am still amazed at that CP5 stat… No wonder most think he and Clarrie can’t hit the side of a barn.

That Petracca stat is laughably pathetic. You want to know why Rds 1-5 happened - there’s your indication - he (and others) were dumping it in there, and we would have probably had players leading to spots that were rarely used due to the hangover of the territory game. Now we have a better sense for what we want to do and how we want to enter the 50.

Oh how dare he

I tell myself that he has excellent technique in going in with his shoulder and hips to pick the ball up but it is always a risk in our 360 degree game that a late hit in a marking contest from a boy out of his depth is what he cannot avoid. All we can do is hope for the best and if the worst comes - accept it with grace.

Well actually…

This is looking…

That First Crack vision was really insightful. Looks like the ANb role has been democratised and platooned with Langdon the headline act. and it is a way for Oliver to tic-tac with CP5 and get CB attendances for Rivers with Oliver shadow boxing as a forward to release Petracca. I am sure this is a evolution that isn’t hard to think up, but to get buy in from established stars to do this is always impressive to me..

And the shorter/shallower looks into the fwd line - you could see it in spurts last year as you say. Habits are hard to break and harder to form - the notion this turns on a dime is as laughable as those Carlton supporters who think they can do the same. Unless you have been hammering that Plan A gameplan for 12+ months, nothing is suddenly going to ‘click’ across 23 young people trying to execute their roles. It’s edifying where we are at now - frustrating it took to the heartbreaking end to 2023 to make us change. But that is a story from a time long ago in a galaxy far away…

This is protected corrupt behaviour. Know a Geelong coterie member who is also a drunk and they are so up their own you know what’s that they think it is justified. Wasn’t there a lawyer on here having a go at me about this last year? Vaguely recall something.

Sinnema to hold down wing in the AFL in 2026? Getting out ahead of your ski’s here.

Apt username. The old game plan was entirely territory based and would generate 72 Inside 50s in a final against Collingwood that would produce 60 points. The team had no space and just hoofed it in there hoping for a different outcome in line with the definition of insanity. Now the team is making the ground bigger, moving it with more boldness off the backline and we are generating better looks with a maligned, if effective, forward line.

Neither, which is why I am intimating in my posts that if his form doesn’t recover and/or he doesn’t evolve - he is going to be moved on.

I literally said he didn’t tag against Sydney in the post you quoted. Tag/Run with - basically someone whose first instincts is to make sure someone else does not get the footy at a contest. There is no such thing as ‘tagging’ as meant back in the Simon Godfrey days. So it can mean ‘run with’ now.

I would not disagree. Also, Clarrie was more expansive in his role yesterday as Rivers was taking Heeney and no one else was worth tagging. So yesterday was a sight for sore eyes for his form - he still needs to evolve into having another string in his bow. Viney just has to be moved to the forward line in 2025 while we have this problem and if it doesn’t work then we can look at the situation again at the end of the year. I guess my larger point is that we can’t carry 8% of our salary cap in a tagger. It’s just not tenable. So either he builds back his form and supplements that with run with, and occasional stints back or forward, or he’s traded to get some draft collateral, midfield minutes for the kids, and we pay a third of his wage.

Until one of them goes somewhere… It has been a good 6 weeks but we have to be very serious about how the list is managed the next 2 years especially - we might have the whip hand from a contractual POV with Pickett and CP5 seems back to his best, but Oliver has to continue to evolve in this modern game or we just have to move him on for the salary he is taking. Viney was moving to that role and it fitted him well, we can’t have them both do it, but we also must continue to move Rivers into the middle and allow Langford minutes in there. I guess my point is that I am glad we are improving but we still have hard decisions to be made and they are made harder not easier by our good form.

Bassett wants Turner in his backline. Said as much to 3AW before the game. He has found his spot - can we get out of our own way here Melbourne?

Jesus. Calm down. He is a fine kick when he takes the time he can take. Contrary to your disposition occasionally - people can disagree. I have my view, and you have yours.

Goalkicking is completely seperate to field kicking. They are different mindsets. Petracca - when he is dumping the ball out of a contest is a net negative. When he uses his feet or hands to get out and forward of the contest and takes a beat to hit an option - he is at his best.

Who second rucks? I am all for flagellating the FD over selection. But dropping a 32 year old because two future MFC Hall of Famers are there and you want to reward a young man who seems to have found his stride in the backline - is not the imbecilic decision many seem to think it is. This isn’t keeping Oliver in the team last year… Drop Spargo/insertnamehere instead? And shuffle the team? Why? Can we just win?

One man’s poor kicking ability is another man’s poor decision making. Ours has always been the latter - our game plan for years minimised the clarity of where one would kick it so it has been a hard habit to shake. For example and against popular opinion, Petracca is a fine kick - he hasn’t had to take the extra .5 of a second that players of his ilk should take to make a better decision and also lower his eyes when territory is not as important as it used to be. Now he is more inclined to take that extra time and deliver a better outcome.

Miers has a win/loss percentage of 65%, Spargo has 64%. He hasn’t known the old Melbourne.

But I don’t like his behaviour after our poor 2024 and him being a brand…

Ah we need an ex-forward to coach him… I don’t know about that ‘direction’ - what I have seen is a forward line that didn’t push up as much as it had in previous years and trying to make the ground bigger when we move out of our backline - completely necessary for getting out of def 50. That isn’t ’stay back and wrestle’ unless you don’t know how to move as a forward. He does not move when the ball is ‘coming down the field’ and only tends to move when he is the next in line to get it - this gives his opponent a free ride to watch the ball and not worry about what our CHF is doing to attract the footy and define and exploit space and make him think twice. This is something that would be talked through in his first year and he hasn’t got better. Bring in that former forward to be a specialist if you want but I see it as a waste of money until JVR can show aptitude for basic forward craft.

Jefferson isn’t good enough. Adams a low pick looks not much, Howes looks a battler. JVR isn’t a natural forward and has stalled as defenders know to stay on his hip and carve him up. McVee, Bowey and Windsor look great and continue to progress. Tholstrup has been injured but battled. Early on the last two. Who else are we talking about? Chandler has gotten better this year. I don’t think you can make a cogent argument that we are not developing players well enough.