rpfc

Not a Max issue… Wow. They both should be sharing the ruck and the sacrifice. We have a Semi Final we have to win - we are without options - can Max step up and sacrifice for the team to get to a Prelim in Brisbane? It’s a failed year if it doesn’t happen.

We must be in jail a lot the way we kick it down there… But yes, preferably he is deep on slow plays and on the wing providing hands on quick plays. The more I think about this - our forward line, the way we move the ball, I think we should refresh the assistant coaches especially if Yze is off to Richmond. We are so stale with the footy.

The rest of that water is coming fast…

Don’t ask me; ask the Footy Department. I didn’t want this trade and said as much at the time. They want to prolong Max’s career by making him progressively ruck less and become a fed who rucks. They shouldn’t have bothered. But we have to work with what we have got in 2023 and Gawn being deep may be our best chance to kick a winning score.

Mate, that is essentially what the FD wanted to do when they recruited Grundy last year. Max hasn’t shown the desire or ability to get it going. Having said that - it’s what we should do.

I think we need to play a bit of ‘AngeBall’ - what is the point of restricting sides to 60 points when we can’t get out of second gear to score enough to get 61 points. Stop May from marking and going back and ‘having a look’ because he is ‘such a good kick’, get Lever to have the same rule as Frawley at Hawthorn - ‘if you kick it, you’re off’, and look for McVee and Rivers with hand offs at all times. Blind turns allowed if there is no runner and kick to grass; Chandler, Pickett, Smith, and ANB will get there first. I know Goodwin and Chaplin want to minimise turnovers - prefer not to lose, than try to win - but can we continue this year of experimenting and adapting and try to win?

No. Also, he isn’t a midfielder.

Just go for the point. If we kicked a point for every entry inside 50 - we would have won by more than a goal.

Grundy should come in and share ruck duties. Gawn was immense in the ruck. But now he has to sacrifice for the team to get the most out of someone else possibly at the (hopefully minor) expense of his own game. Can he do it? From his rhetoric, he will ask Goodwin for Grundy to play - I just hope he knows that what that means for him. Those that want the Grundy Experiment to continue into next year - this is it, and it is on Max to make it work.

Like I said before the finals - the way we move the ball, enter the forward line, and the lack of forward craft and structure down there means that we just won’t ‘belt’ good teams. Unless Carlton don’t show up, expect another low scoring slog. We won’t be out of the game, but neither will they - we just are not efficient enough. Look at the Inevitable Premiers of 2023 Collingwood; we have smashed them twice and won by 4 points and lost by 7.

We need a forward line of actual forwards, in their prime, in all structural positions. We are making do with resting mids (CP5), out of position defensive runners (ANB, Spargo), youth (Chandler, Pickett, JVR), and injured talls (TMac, Brown). And before anyone tells at me for ANB - he is playing a box to box role that is inherently played away from the forward line… So Fritsch is a bit lonely as a forward who is actually a forward, in his prime, and (relatively) healthy. We are just so easily bottled up.

Forgive the pun, but it would be petty if we didn’t play Grundy now. Grundy for JVR Tomlinson for Brayshaw Rivers into the middle. Wouldn’t bother with JJ. Give Trent the time in a big game. And we just look better when Lever is free to intercept with AT there. You could look at TMac for Laurie/Spargo but I wouldn’t do that. TMac will play an important role.

It’s more than just ‘being offensive’ or getting a tall fwd in; it’s a team ethos of how to move the footy, we are a Rolls Royce with the handbrake constantly on, and then when we have to rev and go - it’s haphazard and sloppy. I talked about this earlier in the year, I think we need to move away from being ‘defence first’ into something more nuanced. By the end of next year, our best player in the backline will be Rivers. We need to not allowing Lever and May to dwell on the ball and remodel around Rivers and McVee and get aggressive and quick and allow our best forwards 1-1 time in space (Fritsch, Petracca, Pickett). Defence gets you in the top 4, not certain it wins premierships anymore.

I want to know how Gus is. Team selection is secondary

If we simply forced a point for every bomb I50 we would have won by 9 points. This is what I feared. The better team undone by it own lack of connection, forward movement, and inspiration.

Ah yep, slipped my mind, I was just replacing Melksham with TMac in my mind. Still don’t think we are that tall and as you say seem balanced. Also Smith can go back at a moments notice.

I have said my bit, you’re the one with only nonsense to add.

Cheap Seats does remind me of those woodland creatures. And yes, I have seen that episode…

If you’re going to fix the ‘grammer’ you might want to do the spell check too… And, no, the ‘keep him in the VFL’ argument does not have merrit. Unless ‘merrit’ is a small woodland creature or something.

Melksham replacement who can do a bit more than him. His smarts are good, not as good as Jake but who is. Also might mean Spargo finds it even more difficult to get a spot in the 22.

Yeah, I don’t see why he starts back. He can move there if things aren’t working and allow us to go smaller and quicker up forward with Laurie. But I don’t see Fritsch, McDonald, and Smith too tall… Like far from it…

Who is saying he is going to ‘walk out’ other than your strawman argument? My point is against those that say ‘what about if Gawn is injured?’ Are essentially saying ‘He needs to stay in the VFL for 4 months of the year including finals’ These are people. People who the club cares for like any good employer. Small detail I guess…

Yeah, it’s really disappointing how many just don’t seem to care about Brodie’s position here; he’s an amazing ruck in his prime - he shouldn’t be playing VFL.

That’s soft rah rah. He needs to get back out there with the boys rah rah fart.