rpfc

Outs were predictable. Ins too. I am partial to KC.

@Demonland the last five mins: Andy on fire

Nah, his ribs

I guess we will find out the splits that Gawn and Grundy play in time. Im not to blame for the mixed messaging and splitting hairs by AR and SG. I never wanted Lobb and McStay. The opportunity cost was ongoing TPP commitments. But that’s done until 2027 so we should make the most of Grundy now. Think we’re done and I have refuted the ‘hysteria’ label enough for adjudication:

Ok then. I think that I have been quite measured with what this means for the FD, Max’s future, for 2024 and beyond, and for Brodie to have a future in the team this year. I have critiqued that the FD brought in someone with known forward deficiencies and have reversed course on which ruckman would play predominantly ruck. I have maintained that Max would be best placed learning to be a ‘forward who rucks’ over time. I have said this year is this year and that 2024 could look different with the role we have for Grundy. I have laid out the role and the base level craft Brodie would be taught by me if I had the job to get him functioning in this forward line in 2023. I don’t think that any of that is histrionics and the thing that some struggle to get past is that I am happy to own the critique of the initial decision to recruit him if this is where we are at 17 games in, and also that we have been disjointed in our communications on this situation which doesn’t help the situation (forward craft, no VFL, predominantly forward, not making him a forward). Also, I am in the ‘guys get dropped’ union too - so give me some credit.

Gawn just played a game indicative of his role and he played around 80-85% in the ruck didn’t he? So where this number of 40 mins each game for Max to go forward would then set an expectation that we simply won’t meet. Gawn is not going to spend 33% of gametime forward. Especially not after these recent decisions to drop Grundy, and with his performance on Friday night.

Excuse me?

As an aside, how poor are our comms on this? What is going on?

I think Goodwin has created a bit of a strawman there. We are not comfortable with Max playing a third of the game forward (10mins each qtr as stated) because he struggles to play that role atm and impact games. Brodie, if he plays in 2023 in finals, will be forward or on the bench for at least 75% of the game. So what role do you call that? ‘We are not turning him into a forward, we are just teaching him forward craft.’ Great. But for this year, to play finals, he is a what first? Anyone? Anyone? He is a forward first. Like JVR is, like TMac would be if they were back up.

I think this zone vs press is a matter of tense - is the ball ‘in play’ or are they just sharing short kicks that we won’t ‘press’ up onto. What I saw on Kings Birthday was the Demon Press of Death but it was not aggressive in getting up to the half backs it was just allowing them no other option than to kick it long. They really struggled to do what they like doing - crowd the footy and share and drive to another contest where they outnumber and share and wave it forward. My coaching head sees a zone as a fwd/mid structure from a kick in or turnover that ends at the first long kick that causes a contest, where as a press is the inclusion of the entire team marking space in an extended zone. To me it’s a press, whether they press ‘up’ or not. Anyway, I think we can agree that we were picked apart but that happens with these full team structures when 1 person screws up, when 2 people screw up you may as well just kick into their forward yourself…

I definitely think it is a workrate thing but it’s also just base decision making - in the second and third I just saw the Lions switch and pull it back and make the ground bigger and find those gaps in the first and second line and then run from coleman and the Irish bloke and then you are over the top of our press. I also don’t see the pressure numbers as a worry really, teams don’t want to play offensively through aggressive play that would invite pressure, they just want to avoid defensive turnovers with our press and so our games are a little more about possession and control. That all changes in finals when grounds get smaller and pressure gets louder.

Again, he is an unrestricted FA and that is why there are three clubs in his ear. Hes cheap and good. I still think it would be best for all to move on. We want Rivers and Pickett and pick 4/5 in there more…

Glad that’s over. Was enraged for 4 seconds…

2024 isn’t 2023. The fact remains that Max needs to make a decision- he can swallow his pride and play FF for the next 4 years and progressively build up to 70% forward and Grundy has a place at the MFC and Max extends his career by a couple years…. Or he can continue to look lost, overbearing, out of position, and not make a fist of being a forward. That may need to coincide with handing over the captaincy to CP5 but if he wants this to work he is going to have to be comfortable going missing for a quarter here and there because that is what playing forward means sometimes - you see it twice in 20 mins and the best plays are the ones you create with your own movement away from where the ball goes. Natural mids and rucks really struggle to get their head around that.

I am aware of what they were trying to do by recruiting Grundy; they were trying to make him ruck for 60% of the game and turn Gawn into something that he may never be; a ruck with an idea how to play in the forward line. I am content with what the next few makes will hold for BG and for Melbourne. I am just not going to live in the fairyland that is thinking there is ‘nothing’ there or that this ‘was always the plan’ or that, laughably, it’s just a ruse to get him a couple of weeks off. We are providing the content at this stage. Don’t see a point in getting upset about it.

Because it’s news about the club. What are we so afraid of? If it’s [censored] it’s [censored], but we have a highly prized recruit playing VFL 6 weeks out from finals to build ‘forward craft’. It is going to generate stories like the one Andy has linked to.

Again, would you retire if you were a chance to play in this team? Unless of course we are delisting and just eating the salary

Hopefully, Woey gets re-signed soon so we can drop him…

Or we need the list spot

I don’t think coca plants grow out Geelong way…

Such an even season…

Those are appropriate odds; all winnable but sport is spasmodic.

They said this week, the comment in the post from Katrina was that ‘it was always expected BG would need VFL time’ and it just isn’t the case. The fact remains that BG had famous issues with being effective forward and here we are asking for something we might not get.

They were probably gassed in addition to not being very good. Their bodies are probably not as seasoned as older teams are but I haven’t done enough analysis of where they are at in terms of the 22 and years in the system. And of course I understand the aerobic programs that teams run throughout the year - I just don’t think in a comparative league that it has the implications on performance like you do. All teams lift their training intensity around the bye weeks or longer breaks. Even when Ainslie up here was ever present in the NEAFL - we used to schedule aerobic blocks in bye weeks to try to get up to where Sydney and Brisbane were. So it is real, but maybe the fatigue of a long season on young legs is determinative? Depends on the team. Look at the Dees atm - we are working through forward connection issues that have led to dropping a back up ruck, brining in our number 1 tall, bringing in Melksham, and encouraging run and dare that is sputtering. I know you see that differently to me in terms of a diagnosis of our issues but it probably just be a matter of degrees.

I don’t remember the FD saying he would need VFL games to hone his forward craft. And I don’t think they are saying it’s Grundy’s fault - they are laying blame at the FD which is a fair critique at this stage. It’s all immaterial - I want to win finals - if that is with BG playing FF and rucking 20 mins - great! If it isn’t, I don’t give a damn.