rpfc

How do you two think he was ‘pushed’?? He was told he wouldn’t play.

Did you just cop an injury?

No, but he left his previous club in large part because he didn’t want to be a back up. So I can guess. You don’t seem to care.

Ok then. What Brodie wants would be immaterial?

Grundy is not sticking around to be back up. Max and the FD need to have a discussion in early October about whether Max wants to play for 2 more years or until one his knees goes, or whether Max wants to have some discipline applied and turn into a FP that rucks for a third of the game. If that is too hard and Max was just humouring everyone last October then pay $200k for Port to take him and go and get a 22 year old lump from somewhere.

On JVR - Grundy should really be backing himself to provide more than a 20 year old forward/back up ruck… whether he gets the opportunity I don’t know. The other point around playing teams that will be playing to win is that we get to avoid teams that just park the bus. Carlton and Sydney will be playing to win and that is a great primer. The Hawks will want to show us up like they did the Pies, they are getting ND3 regardless so Mitchell can go for it.

Really need the Tigers to get back to winning. GWS have their pick and prefer to get country Vic kids. Right now they have ND6 and ND12. Very close to ND4 and ND15…

I think it’s great for the last 3 games to be against very competent sides that will try to play some footy against us.

Not many have defended Melkshams possible roles in this team over the year and he has been just great the last 6 weeks. But Fritsch is a match winner and our best forward. He was obviously playing with a foot injury that then gave way so his form was down on previous output. I wonder if Fritsch can come in at the expense of someone other than Melksham but if Bayley is ready to go - we have to find a spot for him.

That’s fair. And he may be down to work on things that circumstances dictate he may never get to redeem because of various things that Goodwin may not have foreseen; the form of others and a new structure that highlights ‘medium’ forwards more predominantly. Which means you could be right but never validated. Another one of those felines from Schrödinger.

Re: spargo - I think your belief is going to be shaken. All the Speed Forwards (as they are known to Staffords setup) have different attributes; Spargo would not play like Chandler because he won’t be able to. As you say, Spargo’s value is in his delivery into the forward line, Chandlers is his pressure presence and instincts in the forward line. Melksham, ANB, Pickett, Chandler, and Spargo would have some consistent KPIs in the team (pressure acts, discipline in zone, kms, contests attended etc) but then they would be judged on the other parts of their game and what they bring (Melksham shut down role or decoy, ANB on stoppage effectiveness assisting CP5 and defensive side contests attended, etc). With Spargo it would be involvement in scoring chains, maybe defensive contests attended, turnover scoring chains involvement, etc I just don’t think his form with the footy, and when we have the footy, has been good enough this year. And I honestly don’t know who he removes from the team if Oliver and Fritsch are right for finals.

I don’t care as long as win our last game of the year.

That would make a lot of sense.

That might keep us winning games that scoreboard watching… I want ND4. I also want to finish 2nd, but that is entirely within our grasp - If we win our remaining games- which we should - we will finish 2nd. Regardless what Freo does. So go the Lions and Power when they are in Perth!

NM pick for Logue and Tucker from memory

I neither agree nor disagree.

Short answer no, long answer yes.

No one is ‘lathering up’ okay??

Yeah, not certain Spargo comes back. Also they have to bring back Sparrow and keep someone to drop for Oliver…

He is neither in nor out. He’s Schrödinger’s Brodie…

The Pies literally leave their line at the smell of a turnover to crowd the footy and win it. That’s what I mean as the swarm - you can it’s a ‘high HB’ but it’s a massive gamble at the point of the possible turnover to win it. We, and other teams, wait for the turnover and then commit numbers to the counter. I see it as very different. And my read is it is a real tactic to avoid 1-1 contests where possible because they don’t have there cattle to win them. With us - I see the last few weeks with just a loosening of the shackles on turnover and commitment to forward movement and the corridor on turnover and stoppage play. It’s hurt us defensively but who cares because it has got us going and given some confidence that we can score to a new forming forward line. I agree we are more balanced (hard not to be), and that we can fall back on our defensive press and front half pressure should our minds be right.

Personally I think we will drop one where we get jumped by momentum at some point. Maybe the Blues.

I don’t think that the general confidence in beating NM, a depleted Carlton, lowly Hawthorn or a Sydney who’s season might be over really deserves a ‘wowsy’… Especially, when you are criticising ‘Demonland’ of being optimistic… And no one deserves a ‘wowsy’