Stu

And the Lions play well at the SCG. Beat them there earlier in the year.

Maybe “fingers washed” then fingers crossed after that 😁

I think you're right. @Slartibartfast it may be worth also trying to reduce the hertz on the TV down to 50 or 60 (if that's an option) as it might be running in the 100-200 range. The much higher hertz can cause ghosting during action movies or live sport when the frame rate it's being shown in isn't high enough.

I have two questions (because I’m greedy): 1. Sydney overcome their contested ball deficiencies by spreading hard from the contest. As we’re great in the contest and can also spread well, how do you see that influencing the swans ability to win first use of the ball? 2. Longmire likes to change up tactics game to game, and appears to have a group that is easy to instruct. How do you see this chop and change style holding up in the heat of finals intensity? Thanks for indulging me 😊

Slight correction for you 😉

I’m sure you’ll cover this in the review of the game, but the kick to players leading towards our goal was used very successfully. This allowed the forwards to stay inside 50 and then lead up to the player with the ball sitting 70-80 metres out. It’s not commonly used by any teams and seems to be a point of difference we might employ in this finals series.

How amazing was that spoil from Petty? Love it.

They really can't slow momentum can they? I hope we keep the foot down and win by 80 points.

It's our night :-)

Brisbane can't hold up momentum. They've had it all this quarter and we've actually extended our quarter time lead. Shows you the importance of reading the game and not having just one gear.

I’m arriving in Brisbane on Sunday for a holiday at Noosa… you’re making the wait seem even longer now 😂

Great question, and one I'm unqualified to answer adequately, but for what it's worth: I think our scoring shots from centre clearances over the past four weeks would have to be the best or near to the best in the league. Without knowing exactly, I expect the inside 50 efficiency from centre clearances is much higher than those from standard clearances. They're figurative gold for AFL sides because of the 6-6-6 rule. This year has shown that teams have adapted to our strengths, beginning with a strategy to combat our clearance domination, and then a pivot to working around or nullifying our defensive structures. That is why our form and fortunes have been a bit harder to gauge compared to last year because teams have been throwing the proverbial sink at us trying to beat us and different teams have employed different tactics. I believe our form on scores from clearances this year is in a better position than at the same time last year. I think this is a good indicator for the finals series, where there is often very little room and opposition players are rarely left free. When things get tight, muscle memory and consistency is important - our consistent gameday strategies, strength at the contest, and enviable ability to score from centre clearances will make us a daunting challenge for any team. Just one final comment on our form - the Bulldogs (60%) and Collingwood (65%) had scoring accuracy far in excess of the season average (49%). It's even significant when compared to the most consistently accurate team over the last seven years (the Eagles at 52%). If things had gone our way just a little more in those games, our form since the bye would read 7W-1L or 6W-2L if you think Carlton were more deserved winners on Saturday night. We'd also be on a 3 game winning streak and all of us would be talking about the similarities to last years form.

Yep! I distinctly remember the discussion on Fox during the finals was how we were a team that scored from turnovers and how it suddenly changed to stoppage goals in the finals. So the analysis he offered is actually pretty useless.

It’s important to note that King compared our last 7 rounds this year to our last 7 games (including finals) last year, which is skewed because we all know how bonkers our clearance work was during the finals. I think the comparison between the same periods in both years is actually much closer. King just using selective statistics to back up his opinion.

Looking ahead to Friday’s game: If we get up by 4 goals mid way through the last quarter, does Goody keep up the intensity to take 2nd spot or do we revert to the norm and shut up shop happy with securing the top 4 spot?

For all the negative Dee's supports here, take a moment and ponder this question... take all of your negative feelings about our game plan, our weaknesses, our team selection, and analyse it through the lens of our ladder position. If, and I mean IF, everything you feel is true and we're still second despite all that, what does that mean for what we can accomplish if we address all that concerns you?

Honestly, it seems like Freo, Sydney, Bulldogs, Pies all played the games of their seasons against us... a nice easy one against Carlton would seem fair and reasonable.

Don't you mean "The Package"?

Yeah, no easy ones out the back that he seems to love.

Does anyone else want Cam Rayner to get flattened next week?

All the best for tonight boys. If I were in your shoes I don’t think I could show up for it, such is my disappointment from the game. A simple question… If we played that same game 10 times, how many times do you think we win? I feel it’s 8 or even 9. I know they played very well in the second half, but it feels like at least 30-40 events throughout the game went their way. So fortunate we’re they that if only a few of those events go our way instead, that we win.

I have been super jittery all day today. Can't wait for the game tonight. I want this win so badly! Dees 92 - Pies 54

It reflects what the punters think our chances are. The betting companies continually modify the odds to balance their books. Professional punters have clearly felt Melbourne offered great value earlier this week and put big money down. If the betting companies did nothing and Melbourne win, they will have lost a lot of money. So they are trying to lure punters to bet on Collingwood by pushing the Pies odds out to make them better value.

Just to add to the point about small margins at the elite level, consider Carlin Isles. He left sprinting because he knew he couldn’t make the olympics and joined a sport that might get him there: “Before taking up rugby in 2012, Isles ranked as the 36th fastest sprinter in the United States with a 100 metres outdoor personal best of 10.13 seconds” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlin_Isles