rpfc

7 hours ago, Go Lordie said:

Embarrassing that half our goals came from a duo with less than 10 games between them.

Oh right, yeah, I hate it when young players play their roles really well and we win…

What effing planet am I on? We are 5 and 2 and just doubled a teams score while possibly unearthing a possible medium tall option that could answer a few questions in the short, medium and long term.

And we are obviously struggling to get our new gameplan focussed on back half turnover and quick movement from there because Salem and Bowey are missing and it can expose Lever, May, TMac more than we would like. 

I am glad we are persisting and not succumbing to what ‘better suits’ our defensive stars because it will benefit us in the long term, even if we drop a few games getting there.

43 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Caulfield training base  I’m all in!! Compelling case.  

 

You’re all in?! You’ve liquidated your assets to put forward into the bid and eventual build?!

Wow. Great work! 🙌

10 hours ago, Roost it far said:

You don’t need a stadium for VFL and AFLW

‘You don’t need a stadium for AFLW…’

What is this pervasive, hypercritical dichotomy we have with AFLW? It isn’t just you RIF, the AFL have literally given them quotas for attendance to expand the season that are higher than the max attendance of the grounds they are forced to play at. 

So while you may glibly say that the AFLW team doesn’t need a grandstand can I respectfully push back and say that I want to take my daughter and son to watch Kate, Tayla, Alyssa, and Eliza in a [censored] covered, seated area.

We can’t grow the game when it’s deliberately stuck in a bottle by those that are purported to be running it.

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

joe daniher drives 2+ hours to go from byron bay, where he lives, to brisvegas

Yes, he listens to Kellie Finlayson’s podcast on the commute

10 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

I saw Collingwood taking a leak in the women’s toilet. 

Collingwood used actual human facilities??

I mean, that’s progress but the cost of the clean up alone…

1 hour ago, forever demons said:

but mine was better

6 hours ago, forever demons said:

which one picket or picket

Already made that joke

It, ah, didn’t go anywhere

2 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Some personal news. 

I wasn’t watching the game last night but was following along with the scores through the AFL app. I was barracking for the Crows to win all night until I checked my Footy Tipping app and realised that I was the only one in my mates competition that tipped the Bombers and a win would put me outright leader. 

I felt so dirty cheering the Bombers on in the last few minutes, even crediting the umpires for the play on call the gifted the Bombers the win, that I needed to take a shower before going to sleep lest I sully my bed linen. 

It’s ok. The first step is realising what you have done.

Take care. ♥️

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

Apparently training well and says he will be right.

Picket?

Would love to get Locomotive Delicious…

Good player.

53 minutes ago, SPC said:

Need to get him out of the ruck.. he is a good 2nd ruck, but you ain’t putting Winx in the Grand Annual Steeplechase.

He ain’t Winx and we don’t have a second steeplechaser worthy of a game besides Gawn. 

So chase them steeples, Jacob…

58 minutes ago, old dee said:

I hope you are right DS. It is early days I don't see it at present.  

Just turned 21. He has shown more than most in of his age. 

Now all we need to do is continue to change the way we play to ensure he continues to develop.

24 minutes ago, SthSea22 said:

The way he is going we might end up with a late 4th rounder compo pick for him LOL

20 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

Petty is a reasonable back man. He isn’t much chop as a forward though. For starters, he is a below average kick. In addition, he isn’t exactly clunking the footy. He’s a poor man’s TMAC. However, he is more of a key down back than TMAC was, and we will need that when May is gone. 

He’s ’reasonable’ as a backman. Then how is he going to replace May?

Petty is a good kick for goal. He is also a good mark - that’s what makes him a ‘reasonable’ defender…

‘Poor man’s TMac'… - I will just leave that, I assume you are just angry and afraid.

We don’t have the luxury of not playing Petty forward. And he shows good signs but we need to commit to it or forget about it. We also need to remember that he had no pre-season and we hope he is one of those players that gets better with match fitness.

This is where we are at.

32 minutes ago, SthSea22 said:

Looking forward to the week McAdam and Melksham are named. Just adds so much to our boring forward line

HF - McAdam, van Rooyen, Pickett

F - Fritsch, Petty, Melksham

ANB has to be there

2 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

It has to be an anomaly given it literally hasn't happened since 2020.

We have a young team, changing the way we play, and have question marks on some important players. 

This will not be an isolated problem for 2024. 

26 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

No we won’t. Richmond have an injury list as long as the Nile. We'll find out against Geelong and Carlton.

What if we lose, ATBOG? 

Yea that is your acronym.

ATBOG

Can’t win when your midfield gets smashed like that, and outworked around the ground.

We will find out 12 days whether it’s an anomaly.

2 hours ago, Fat Tony said:

The 2021 game plan of hugging the boundary and making the ground small (which got worked out by the opposition in the back end of 2022) did not really suit Brown's game because there was not a lot of space to lead and we move the ball slowly. It really only worked consistently at the back end of 2021 when our midfield was on fire and Brown was holding his marks.

The 2023/24 game plan is more dual sided and gives Brown more space.

But I think Brown was injured a lot last year and also we tried to use Gawn/Grundy in the forward line, which meant less space. We could not have both Gawn/Grundy and Brown forward because it was no good from a forward pressure perspective. Having JVR as the second ruck option means that Brown's poor pressure is covered to some extent.

This conflation of last year with this year is misguided - we may have opened up the game about late last year in an attempt to get us out of our connection rut but that was not what we are seeing this season. The Richmond game last year that some have mentioned was a contest and clearance domination in the second half - not a transition success. 76 points from clearances in that game attests to that. 

The final against Collingwood saw them get 37 I50s - so our ‘prevention’ strategy of non-exposure to our defence was in play there. 

This year it is different - we are more efficient with our fewer I50s, and there are less repeat entries.

@layzie Brown is able to come at the footy more and with less onerous requests to sit under ‘out kicks’ down the line which is how we have moved the ball for the last 4 years. We are moving the ball quicker and with more space to move - forwards are always going to appreciate that.

1 hour ago, Fat Tony said:

I think we have tried to play a forward half game this year. We’re winning due to the backline being so strong and our efficiency but I don’t think it’s by intention. 

Just can’t agree with this. We have set deeper, the high press isn’t so high, and when we have the ball or it is contest, we have kept our forwards deeper to allow more delivery to a leading target. 

When I have the time I will delve into the comparative stats but it’s obvious to the eye, and a cursory glance of the superficial stats.

Just now, Fat Tony said:

Goodwin has been saying that he is not happy with the amount of territory we have been conceding.

We had very good efficient wins against the Dogs, Swans and Eagles last year, which looked similar to 2024.

The big change in style we made was the start of last year when we started using both sides of the ground when attacking from the backline.

 

Ideally, we wouldn’t give 20 more Inside 50s. That is not good, because it puts pressure on your backline.

But there is a concerted effort to create from the backline and to be proactive. 2024 is different to 2023.

27 minutes ago, Demonland said:

You never heard of night driving glasses?

So he will see better in traffic?

I think this is the height of naïveté and hubris this decision…

The Kolt should not be playing in his sunnies?! Especially not at night

#reprehensible

4 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

But we've also had the support of our mids and high half forwards to clog up the defensive 50, and since we're happy playing in our defensive half, those ground balls are less dangerous to May and Lever as they have higher protection. 

There is now a trend of losing ground ball and winning on the scoreboard.

In fact, the only time we've won ground ball (+11) was against Sydney. Now the conditions may have made that a greater necessity, but it also meant the game wasn't being played on our own terms.

Conversely, we lost ground ball in all our wins. -13 against the Bulldogs (R1), -1 against Hawthorn, -22 against Port and -3 against Adelaide.

I'd still like a greater sample size, but IMO it appears to be down to the way we are setting up.

So whilst @Axis of Bob points out we've been protecting our A grade defence instead of providing our forwards with more assistance, I'd argue we're now providing both ends of the ground more assistance. The defenders have most of the team back defending plays and stoppages now, which eases ball movement as it's easier to hit targets in space, and provides more space in our own forward line.

But we have always had an extra behind the ball and allow teams to have an extra at the stoppage. To me, that always amazed me that we didn’t lean into the slingshot even more with that extra player with our Rolls Royce defence.

We still invariably have our extra behind the ball to release Lever by now we are unlocking what that means offensively.

51 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

I’d prefer Florent for roughly a $2.0m over a 5 year deal. Heading into his prime and is a Vic boy who may want to come home. 

You’d prefer to pay one of the best young players in the game a long term deal at less than the average salary?

[F M D], sons. You need to look at the CBA. In 2025, cap is nearing $19m (TPP + ASA).

https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2024/01/2023-2027-Collective-Bargaining-Agreement-FINAL.pdf