Skuit

Thankfully, a statistical comparison is really easy in this instance. Rioli in his second AFL season kicked 21 goals and 21 behinds. Pickett midway through his second year sits on 20 goals and 20 behinds.

Hey Dee Zepher - if you get a moment could you share Pickett's numbers, and if they compare any differently to normal? He seemed to pop up a lot last night in defence (not sure if following Heppell?) and on the wings back of centre. Curious if there was some tweak or plan. I could also just be imagining it. Maybe those at the ground might have noticed something?

Thought I'd have a look and instinct proved mostly correct - JV has definitely had a lot of slow starts after long lay-offs. Measuring disposals alone, he has easily more than doubled his output in his second week back in most instances. Augurs well that he still picked up 17 last night in a relatively quiet outing. 2014 – Rnd 3 (first match of the season) 12 disposals (21 the following week) 2015 – Rnd 9 (after being absent since Rnd 2) 7 disposals (26 the following week) 2018 – Rnd 9 (first game of the season) 12 disposals (35 the following week) 2019 – Rnd 1 (first game of the season) 10 disposals (27 the following week) 2020 – Rnd 2 (first game of the season) 13 disposals (24 the following week)

Can't abide by this Kozi lazy Hollywood narrative. Lazy analysis from my point of view.

Clarry is almost always best man on, but it's a high relative bar. Didn't grab the scruff when we needed it like vs Adelaide, and Trac wasn't particularly influential, despite his timely goals. They got the job done, but I think there was some teething issues bringing Viney back into the fold. Viney's job nowadays though is in creating the space for those two to shine, and I fully believe that is what will happen. Just get this one under the belt first.

Brown in please, with a solid block to build into it. We need straightening up. Brown is the perfect player for it.

Haven't checked the records but in my mind Jack has always been a bit slow out of the blocks post-injury. And it felt like the least influence that Clarry and Trac have had in a game this year in combination. I'm convinced that those boys are our best throuple heading into the pointy end though. Let it flow.

Defence too good. So odd to be sitting atop the ladder and still waiting for the team to click. The Roos' defensive ethos was bs. Stemmed the bleeding is all. And then Goody came out all guns blazing. Spent all our cookies on Lever and May. To allow Goody to keep on blazing. Genius. So satisfying.

Saw that the MFC website is celebrating Simon Goodwin's 100th game coaching the MFC: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/964238/top-10-wins-goodwin-s-road-to-100-games?fbclid=IwAR3fzwVcO3jl0ljBvcdpsNuV4_ruiWr8k4dQ4PU4lZsw82DxzHpDamXqTJM Lesser noted, it also just happens to be Clayton Oliver's 100th consecutive match in the red & blue. Simon has never coached a Melbourne team without Clarry in it. Surely that has to be some sort of quirky record? Trac has also played in all but one of those matches as well, including the last 72 straight.

Leo Porter lol - dude just named his kid after a steak. Without conducting an full-scale audit, in my mind by far our most trusted current source.

Is that the worst looking forward line on paper of any injury-free mid-season ladder-leading team in the history of football?

Coincidentally, Willie 'Too Big' Hall shared a link to a quiz on his own facebook page just a week or so ago: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/quizzes/isaac-hayes-shaft-quiz/?fbclid=IwAR0wHQVGXlWUE_6V_SAs4eHlWNgx-yRcgiYZGwH5nvjhGFf5q-lpRZeSQ_4

How I feel when reading these diabolical quizzes:

Ben Brown kicked a bag of four goals against Essendon in his 9th AFL game, from six marks. For good measure, he followed up with another bag of four from six marks against Essendon in his second AFL season. After his 49th AFL match, Sam Weideman has yet to kick a bag of four, and hasn't taken more than five marks in his past sixteen appearances - some of those considered the best games of his career. (Brown took six against Sydney). Ben Brown averages 2.9 goals (and 4.2 scores) against the Dons and six marks per match, 3.2 of those marks taken inside50. Sam Weideman averages 0.6 goals/scores and 0.3 marks inside50 vs. the same team. These are of course selective stats, but one of these blokes is a proven consistent performer at top level (and let's not forget BB only entered the AFL two years before Sam). I'd rather it was him in the team building fitness and form.

Jason Taylor made a curious comment a couple years ago that recruiters on occasions get it wrong, but just wished they had asked a certain specific question or two at the time to maybe weed out a few issues regrading personality and drive etc. The easy call at the time would have been thinking this statement was in regards to Trac, but I sincerely felt he was referring Weid. Has all the tools but never remotely displayed the hunger. Said to a Wobbles mate this week that he would most likely be at their club next year, the only issue being now that Eddie has gone they were less likely to pay overs.

A bit of [censored] OUTING, but who really gives a [censored]? We've lost two games by a combined two goals against two of the bottom three teams, and struggled against the other. Supposedly that exposes us to other teams on how to beat us, but we've stood up against every genuine challenger. Move on. We're still the team to beat, by a fair margin. Go Dees.

I'm somewhere between pfft-fugazi and oh-my-god-Hogan-isn't-smiling on the Buckley swansong impact expectations, but I agree that hopefully it will have a positive impact - not just the thought that the Pies will come out swinging, but that they indeed do and make it a high-pressure game. I have been a bit concerned about our inability to play our best outside of big occasions and genuine challengers. I know this is a partially flawed measure, but it terms of points gains and losses on last season results: Rich +61 Dogs +56 Geelong +28 Bris +26 Hawks +3 North -27 Adelaide -50

There's a difference between a list and development. It's far from surprising that you don't credit maturity and humility as factors in our rise.

Could have just added to the facepalm emojis. But I thought it best to quote you both again for SEO purposes and the best chance that your moronic posts come up at the top of the Google search rankings in perpetuity.

I say it based on the presumption that anyone clued into our cap isn't posting on Demonland, especially about this specific matter, and I would be highly disturbed if they were. Ergo, no one on here has any idea as to the current management of our salary cap. Be weary all you want, but don't buy into uninformed speculation.

MFC salary cap tightness is a fantasy. No one on here (presumably) has any idea how we've managed our cap in recent years, and the fact that we've got ahead of the game this year and extended a number of our key components to 2025-2029 suggests we're making space rather than using it all up. I'm supremely confident that if a marquee player came into the frame such as Merrett we could accommodate them, but that we will also continue to manage the cap wisely. I believe that we have room if something falls in our laps in the short term, but will otherwise plug smaller holes with cheaper acquisitions until that presents. Go Dees.

Serial polyamorous anti-parental monogamoust here ManDee, and I'll ask you not to judge, bread becomes before breeding.

I quite like that doofus, similar to my fondness for Fitzy and Frost. Faulty along with the rest of the supporters should put his/their efforts into keeping Burgo at the club, at almost any cost. I would support him working for almost the same remuneration for a few months over the pre-season with FIFO top-ups during the year, just to ensure he was ours and didn't defect to the Crows. We're already paying that cash. That's how important I think he is. It's so satisfying heading into last quarters knowing we will at least have the legs. On top of that, Burgess is a truly inspiring figure, like having a second coach.

Is Jahmal Stretch someone we should know about? Not a common name (and other stuff from older discussions about Steve and Billy, which used to constantly pop up in my suggested Demonland threads ).

Playing devil's advocate here . . . poor Daniher looked a tad tired and aha-ahaha long live Darren Burgess. Though I sometimes wish Tomald or Gawn would put in those types of efforts at the contest and not gain possession. Maybe it's instructed?