Stu

It shows that he is thinking through what to do next. It shows he is a quick decision making and observer of the game. Very valuable. Players who don't have that skill are light grunts in the army - you can teach them some version of skill and smarts through pure repetition, but their ceiling is very limited. XL is clearly not a grunt.

Footage was taken:

Hore offers good versatility and allows match-day flexibility to get the right match ups for May and Lever to be more free to intercept. Against North, we could have Petty on Larkey, TMac on Darling, and Hore on Zurhaar, leaving Lever to play the intercept role.

According to last weeks injury report Hore was 'Test' so he may be available this round to replace Howes if we want to keep the mid-sized defender AND keep Rivers in the middle. Excitingly, by the time Round 4 vs Cats rolls around we are likely to have all of Picket, May, McVee, Hore, Spargo, and Melksham available for selection. That adds a lot of options and selection pressure.

In '21, we ran out quarters very well. I think it shows the margins between a premiership and an also-ran is pretty thin. Being off 100% concentration for 5 minutes of one quarter can lose you games, and ruin a good season. I think the fire will burn long after this one, and I expect very strong performances over the next two weeks.

More generally, adding strategies to our game like short kicks to hold possession, having Windsor come off half-back, and hopefully scoring 2-3 goals more from turnover, all gives opposition teams a lot more to worry about. Ultimately, what we're good at we're REALLY good at, and teams have worked out how to beat us if that's all we do. Adding other ways we can play makes teams adapt, and not just focus on one game plan to beat us. We don't have to become the best transition team, and score the most from turnover, but if we can add a little bit it can be enough to allow us to get the game on our terms because teams are off balance having to adapt.

GWS are a very good clearance side, but I think the stat that the FD will focus on is scores from clearance, which we won quite comfortably with fewer clearances.

I completely agree. GWS have the bye this week, and then play another 5 rounds on the road before there next home game, so they were going all out in that last quarter to win. On the balance of everything, I'm excited for what the year will bring, and that I think we will get stronger as the year goes on and the game plan solidifies and the young players gain more experience. It will be a good cross section to see how we perform at Marvel next week in 'perfect' conditions. I'm bullish on Jefferson taking a few nice grabs in the dry conditions.

They must’ve heard some lunatic driver with a MFC member sticker ditched his vehicle in the Yarra and was fleeing on foot directly to Gosch’s…

The average age of Sunday's listed players - 25.5 - is over 2.5 years younger than the team Collingwood fielded against GWS last weekend (28.2). There are 15 players under 28, and 8 over. Under 23: 8 players 23 to 27: 7 28 to 29: 5 (Fritsch, Lever, Langdon, Petracca, Salem) Over 30: 3 (Viney, May, Gawn)

It actually took me a minute to realise the term I had used was for a different sport.

Sunday's forecast suggests rain is most likely before 2 pm. Hopefully very minimal rain after kick off. The temperature is set to drop nicely for a game of footy, so less chance of fatigue for our players.

The article with White reminded me that for a few years, we had Jeff White, Darren Jolly, and Mark Jamar on our list!

And he was limping on the telecast pre-game.

Thanks for all your efforts to maintain this site for us tragics Andy 🙂 I don't login with emails or read banners

Tim Membrey is member of the Kent Kingsley Forwards Club - he will kick a few against poor defences, or teams having a bad day. But he won't help you in big games, especially finals. @Roost it far is right - he'll likely twinge a hammy, quad, or calf at least once or twice through the year. The Pies are 3-4 injuries to their old stars away from middle of the road mediocrity.

It's an overcorrection. Players are told 'Stop bombing it long, or taking low percentage shots', which can often result in going too far the other way, like the examples you mentioned. They'll find the right balance I'm sure. My main query is will it last deep into the season. Last year we saw for the first 9 rounds, players hitting around 20 metres out from goal with low flat kicks that were harder to intercept. But due to the grueling opening to the season, fatigue, injury, and a diminishing lack of confidence, the new approach fell away. The key will be if we persist with these new strategies well past the bye.

Watching replays of our games from 2021, and the first half of 2022, our forward line was a lot more open than in many games since then. A big reason for this, is teams being coached to sit deep against us. This is for two reasons - knowing we often kicked long to the pockets or top of the square, where TMac, Gawn, and Fritsch could beat their opponents one out. And, that we have very few players who can hit a weighted kick to advantage of a forward in a crowded F50. Previously, teams would push high and our elite running and fitness would allow us to score on the turnover. I clearly remember in the 2022 Mother's Day game against St Kilda, Gawn marking on the wing, kicking to TMac who was leading back to the 50, who then delivered to Ben Brown who was also running back into our F50, who run into an open goal. We seem to never get those types of opportunities due to teams sitting deep against us, and our slow ball movement as a result of players receiving the ball after a turnover looking up and not having many options. One of the tactics we seemed to be trying on Sunday was having the deep forwards stay deep to leave space for half forwards and mids to lead back into. Or, if we get a forward half turnover, for Fritsch or JVR to lead (forward) into. One of the things that I liked on Sunday, was a few times players about to deliver the ball into the F50 just held the ball longer, or turned back and handballed, to give the forwards a moment to make their move, and cast doubt in the defenders mind. If Chaplin can have some success with these strategies, I imagine it will make it much harder for teams to coach against us. If teams start to push up when sitting back no longer works, that plays into the strengths of our full ground press, and our forwards start to get looks at one-on-one contests. Brisbane's small forwards did so well last year because they play a very attacking style. The smalls are in dangerous areas when the ball is kicked to a pack, where if they get the ball they have a good look at goal, but conversely if the fall of the ball is not favourable the opposition will be able to rebound. They also counter attack with wild abandon, which often gives the smalls lots of room to move in the F50. We need to fine a good balance between our overly defensive approach, and the reckless abandon approach the Lions had last year. One kick the wrong way in both the GWS and Cats games and they don't win the flag.

I also loved how our handballs changed angles a lot. Previously, our handballing angles were very predictable and allowed the opposition to close down options. However, yesterday a lot of players managed to pivot their bodies 180 degrees and play the opposite diagonal handball from where the ball came. It opened up the field on a few occasions, and we managed to run the ball up to the F50.

As others have mentioned, Fremantle are a terrific clearance and contest team. So to beat them so resoundingly in clearances, contested possessions etc., was a huge positive for me. I'd have loved for us to kick 3 or 4 goals in the first quarter, because I'm sure the result would have went very differently. But given the wind and the heat, which has been persistent in Perth the last week, it's not surprising Fremantle adapted quicker. It appeared that the coaches tried out some very effective centre bounce plays (sort of like a corner kick set piece routine in soccer), and to my eye to seemed like they were trying not to give too much away in the third quarter once we got back to within 3 goals. That could just be wishful thinking on my part.

Heat is also different in Perth. It gets very hot very early but begins to cool down around 2:30/3 pm. It’s not like Melbourne where the heat peaks at 4/5 pm. By the second half it will be pretty comfortable.

What the other track watchers will do if @Roost it far gets down to training...

It seems that way for all the clubs, and based on reports, we've come through reasonably unscathed (by comparison). I wonder if the AFLPA will be convinced to reduce the xmas break from 3 weeks down to 2 weeks or 10 days. Ultimately, it will benefit the players as it will likely reduce soft tissue injuries.