rpfc

If we can use this season to get an extra 5k-10k names to send reminder emails then that is one way to make the most of this difficult year.

Probably in the cheer squad…

‘Better midfielder than Viney…’ Sigh. Yeah, nah. God, Jack puts up with some crap on here. If the players at the club ever read this they would laugh their heads off.

In addition - Fritsch is freed up from being under high balls which he hates. He has built a habit of not leading at the ball carrier because of his days under that ball so he will get better and better as the last 6 weeks progress IMO.

Like many players, he prefers kicking for goal in free play where the rigid construct of the front on shot for goal is not an inherent action. He tries to get some momentum into the approach in his set shot to mimic a more natural action but it can be to no avail or success. What? How he fixes it? Dunno. Practice makes perfect.

Salem doesn’t like to indiscriminate kicks. Salem likes to get the ball forward to a teammate and is always asked to do so, if he occasionally [censored] it up it is because that is inevitable. I don’t need to tell you how important he is do I? Do I?

This is information masquerading as insight. He played his role to allow us to function better. TMac does the same even when he isn’t the one ‘involved’ or have ‘any impact’. Imagine all the things that happen on the footy field, or even in life, that can be reduced to ‘not having immediate impact’ that are integral; Viney setting a pick on Wines in the centre, Lever organising the team from behind, rpfc getting up 6 days in a row at 5 to take of a sick rpjfc… Nothing is ever black and white, especially in this game. Coz they’re [censored] colours…

Names people!! Get the names right! I mean, who the hell is ‘Oliver’??

Yes, Ken really didn’t put Aliir into a position to succeed. It was great.

That’s a double edged sword as he will take 45 mins away from other players in the team. So Petracca plays less, Jordan, etc. I don’t know what the split will be but our stars play a lot of minutes and I think that is by design.

They haven’t compounded it which is great. But a mistake was made and we can point it out can’t we? Thats rhetorical obviously but we are a bit precious at the minute I feel.

The 14 marks inside 50s can be a misdirect. How deep were those marks? We’re they in the pocket? Who was marking them? Ie. Charlie Spargo yelling a screaming for the footy 45 out is as helpful as kicking it backwards…

I think he’s effing amazing and these are just pot shots while he is coming back from injury. He has always had this talk of being one dimensional. Pretty good dimension.

Uhh, hi Adrian… I have to go…

Spargo averages 2.5 tackles and under 12 pressure acts. He had one tackle on the weekend. That’s Fritsch level stuff. He’s not there for his pressure. He’s nowhere without his ability to stick to structures and deliver into the forward line. Melksham should do both and provides more. I would bring in Melksham for Spargo or Fritsch but I get what Fritsch brings that we don’t have a lot of; natural forward who knows forward movement and delivery (when he wants to).

No need to throw magnets; I would bring Brown in for Sparrow and Melksham for Spargo. Harmes, Viney, and our stars to lift tho - we are going to win on their backs.

This is what I was talking about Match Committee being too smart for its own good. They go in to a game they think they can play around with, even on the back of terrible form (but rp they had 14 marks inside 50 against Ess - yeah, where and who what did they do with it?). They then watch the calamity and then smash the gear box putting it in reverse and keep Brown and Melksham from playing heavy minutes in the 2s inviting pressure onto Brown specifically for not ‘dominating’ his limited time. It really is farcical tbh. My message to the FD and MC heading into finals - Stop second guessing and being clever. You had a plan to play with two talls and the second ruck. Using Jackson as a point of difference and not relying on his marking. STICK TO YOUR GUNS. Oh, and stick it to your guns - Oliver and Petracca are getting into some old habits. Namely the ****ty hand pass and the blaze away respectively.

Contenders, pretenders, misnomers. Finish top 4 and I don’t care what you call us. Funny things happen in finals and we play a style that suits it, but we are rarely going to get the kind of platform to finish top 4 like we have in 2021. Footy clubs relish the big moments and this Thursday is huge. I’m looking forward to it, it is defining. And I get your point @Jaded about the team and the youth. But you have to capitalise on opportunities like this because they may not come around again - even with our promise.

The odds say we will be 5th by the end of next round… If we are as good as some of us think we should be - we should not let a top 4 position slip. This Thursday is huge. Win and we stay top 2 and beat another good team. Lose and we are most likely 5th and inviting pressure.

It’s perplexing. The MC seem to have done that thing where you tie yourself in knots convincing yourself something is the right thing to do. And then when you look back at it in the cold light of day - it’s just stupid and self defeating. You recruited a FF, because you wanted to have two talls plus a resting ruck, and then TMac form and the first 6 games scuppers that planning? And to play a bloke on and off for a half only invites ridicule and pressure. We have 7 weeks to fashion a forward line that has TMac, Brown, Jackson/Gawn, Fritsch, ANB, and Pickett. That is talented enough to score 80 points…

GFY

I also think we have too many kids in the team - it may not be solvable but jeez when they struggle they can all struggle.

Hunt was the engine in the last ten minutes. The real problem was, tactically, we asked Hunt to do more than his skills can allow him to do. For whatever reason - our run and share in packs went away today and to blame Hunt is to blame those that stick their head up and try as opposed to those that were stuck back, worried about what will be if they eff it up. Drop Hunt and we have no idea with selection. Drop those that are too lazy, or tired, or out of form and not getting the footy.

The problem is where are we going to be in the finals… we have been up and down for a while. And if we don’t get top 4 from 12 and 2 - that Goodwin thread will be get a workout… We had more I50s than score - that is the stuff of recent nightmares…