rpfc

I didn’t mind it because that’s the best midfield and we were 6-2… you don’t get any chance to test yourself if you move away from your sets and go defensive. I would do that in a final, but guys hate it because you spent all week preparing and then you get the call that ‘nah, let’s not bother’ - it sucks a bit of life out I feel. In terms of our stoppages, I am ambivalent because the guys know they can get great clearances, chest facing goals, front of stoppage clearances, I just don’t think we put a great deal of focus on it because time is precious and I would prefer Clayton understand how he can use his endurance and smarts to get us going on defensive transition than do basketball like set plays that come off 4 times a game because that is life in the centre where a 208cm bloke has to palm it unseen into a slot for an ‘action’ (as the yanks would say) to be executed in a phone booth.

Fair enough. I am more thinking about the first quarter where I felt a level of inertia but I get your point. The pleasing point is when we needed 3 goals in 4 minutes we entered the forward so well for two of those - lowering eyes and hitting up the right option with confidence from up the ground.

Last night was a good example of progress not being linear. We were ‘punched in the face’ and our plan quickly went back to dump kicks and boring movement. It’s a good thing to learn from and recommit to the plan but it can be frustrating… We need to put away the Eagles though and stay out of our shells doing it.

There’s nothing more tragic than when a joke loses its context…

13 year bump. That kind of bump will give you nosebleeds

That is lovely. Reid has been amazing though… Windsor reminds me of a young Danger mouse but I don’t think with the future inside bull motif. Would love if we were to keep that option open with his body shape if possible. He is that good - you want him in the play as much as possible, and unfortunately, the wing is a supplementary role. Supplementary in that it requires others to get you involved and impact games.

🎶your hamstrings connected to your… …collarbone🎶 The human body. What a mystery

Some have touched on this but it amazes me this notion I hear occasionally about the ‘dour Dees’ as they notice us being more patient and not just accepting the ‘red mist’ that is allowed inferior teams to absorb and beat us. We are more exciting this year then the previous two in how we play - we are just not making it easy for the other team to slingshot and bring excitement to the game. Perhaps these commentators should comment that the other team should stop flooding and allow us to score more easily and quickly if they are looking for more excitement…

WE WISH TO BE VERY PEDANTIC

So is it a lie or a damned lie?

Hang on a second. I am talking about insight, the stat itself can help paint a picture as much as my eyes and subjective (yet educated) opinion can, but the insight gleaned by some from this stat- including our coach apparently - is patently misguided. Any team that prioritises territory over deliberate movement is going to have more entries, more shots at goal, more ‘repeat’ shots at goal that make the previous ‘miss’ irrelevant to this particular stat as it would not have existed if not for the previous ‘miss’. It is by definition a flawed stat, and, taken on its own, irrelevant. But that’s all stats I suppose, but none get treated like this one, there is an ‘expected score’ ladder floating around for crying out flamin’!

I’m sorry, but this is a bad stat. It is just trying to place hard truth upon contests and shots at goal under pressure where there is only nuance and grey. There is very little insight with this particular statistic.

We have 5 players who have less than 10 games experience. Maybe we will evolve…

I feel with the crowd building to a crescendo and some of the commentary peppered in its much better that titanic meme.

Me with the memes of the younger generation:

Is everyone ok with him in the team now? His potential for 2024 far outweighs anything any other player can provide across half forward. We will persist AND we will persist past the next 3 week block of poor form you goldfish ‘endure’…

Why should he take glib asides about access to his short term memory after a hit to the head to a broadcaster directly after a game out of his witty repertoire?

Not quite. Gawn referenced the on ground testing they do and that’s what cleared him. Max probably should take those jokes out of repertoire though.

Port are the new Melbourne Yeesh

That is so poor lol If we continue with crowds like this, we deserve what we get from Sam McLure. And before I get the nuffy out from everyone- we would 93k for a final with Geelong at the G but 48k for a top4 matchup in Autumn… Got to raise that floor…

This is the internet. I am sure they will take heed!

Yes I have a little 4 year old liar too… ah well…

This is good content! Although, Eddie lied to Clayton. He lied. He lied and that needs to be dealt with at some point. Shame really. 4 year olds these days, constantly lying…

Yeah, it’s a balance. As @binmannotes - we are always going to be defence first and contest focussed. But that is brutal, and unless you are powering it out of centre - hard to score quickly in a final if you need 3 goals in 7 mins. I think Goodwin wants to see us slingshot when the space allows it, and compress and keep territory when it’s fruitful, but we can’t do that until we are mature in the slingshot. So i hope we lean into it the next two weeks and the team can see it up against some very good teams.

Thank DD. I didn’t read the thread.