Skuit

They likely voted before watching the replay. I thought he had played well as well. I was wrong. Watch the third quarter again - almost every possession was turned over or a missed opportunity.

What - Wagner & Wagner for Jetta and Garlett? Seems reasonable to me.

I think you're in denial as well. The ball comes, Jake reaches for contact with the defender first, misses the mark and then complains about interference. I can back it up with footage. (although I agree with you in some respects and am going to bed).

I'm happy to be corrected. As a statistical average he's taken around five marks per week average with us and above four across his career. The last two weeks have produced four marks. There's of course a lot more to it than that. But my point, as it was, is that he is too busy trying to draw contact/frees atm rather than meeting the ball, and his contested marking is way way down. We can continue to discuss with footage if either of us could be bothered.

Melksham to me has been lucky over the MFC journey with respect to frees, and in my opinion is now looking to engage one-on-one contact to draw such frees rather than going to meet the ball - in which marking respect he's been incredibly fumbly this year as well. He still contributes, but is not playing with the intensity and running he should. Also, in no way whatsoever did I say Petty should come in. Putting him back in the Saints would amount to mental cruelty, as he was pretty much the difference in our loss against that mob last year. Lewis I cared about before last week - but we showed last week that our defence can stand up with midfield leadership.

I watched the replay for the first time in yonks - and I'm afraid I have to agree with a few of the disagreeable folk on here; we were mostly [censored] and Jones was actually horrible despite providing on-field inspiration for the first time that I can recall. Omac on the other hand wasn't as bad as I thought, although him spending a massive chunk of time off the ground probably helped as to this perception. This however is possibly what you want most from a third-string defender - simply to not see them during the match, and maybe Oscar has found his true calling as a bench-warmer. Stretch, in a similar sense, was a revelation, in largely going unnoticed rather than getting in the way and [censored] it up a la ANB. (Please note: I love ANB, in the same way I loved Fitzy). Otherwise, I'll be first to admit that I have no real idea of which Wagner is which when the ball is in play - especially when one or more of them share a Hitler youth haircut with Spargo - but the most [censored] of them can give way for Jetta, while the other less [censored] one of them can come out for Garlett, although I suspect one of them had a relatively decent game. Out: the entire Wagner family In: Garlett and Jetta. Lucky: Jones and Omac and Hibberd and Stretch and Spargo (the new Pedo with a 75% W/L record) Not lucky but needs a rev-up: Melksham and still Tmac Unlucky: Keilty and Lockhart Not unlucky: ANB and Petty Can wait: Lewis and May

Can you find another version of the ladder that doesn't look as if we are 1 and 4?

For all I've defended Goodwin's game-plan with a wait-and-see mantra, there were clearly some tweaks and directives made. Think we may have relaxed the press again a little (hard to tell on TV and with BT and Bruce endlessly muppetting on) and obviously tried to control the ball more and by foot (haven't checked the marks/possession and kicks to handball ratio stats but I imagine they tell the story). It allowed us to find space forward for the first time - and on a smaller ground - and aided with us trapping in it in and in our group-pressure and tackling intensity. Our mids moving into the forward-half were huge in this respect: Petracca, Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw and Harmes all putting in and trying to force a stoppage/turnover, with Jones one of the beneficiaries. And all of a sudden our defence looks way better, despite ongoing concerns. But the two-paced approach was the most pleasing aspect of the game and a sign of developing maturity. Also, when we bombed long we did so with much flatter kicks, and our forward balance looked much better with Preuss as a foil instead of Tmac and Weid as primary targets. Melksham, however, leads to lift; his poor form going under the radar to date - can't take a grab and too busy trying trying to draw contact and frees instead of meeting the ball in front.

Special shout out to Petracca, Hunt and Oliver for their utter determination to win/win back the ball.

Welcome back mate. Post-match celebration bevvy on the barge if you're not too jet-lagged.

We need to get on the phone to this bloke. vs. Sydney round 6 2014: L. Franklin 1 goal 6 disposals 4 clangers 1 tackle 250 × 267

It just occurred to me this crop wouldn't have had all that much practice playing in big milestone games. I recall Watts had a 150th with us before he departed - and a complete stinker if I remember correctly. Maybe Port Adelaide at the MCG after the bye in 2017 where he dropped marks and squibbed from the outset? Melksham and Garlett a couple others. Jones and Lewis.

Thanks La Dee-vina. So I think it is fair to conclude that May wasn't in top shape. This however says nothing around the inference that attitude played a part. It could well have been a failure on the club's behalf to convey what was expected - or an inability to reach the required standard in the time from his trade.

Do you have some data to back that contention ding? Max's 100th wasn't a happy affair, but we were [censored] for quite a number of years so the milestone games have obviously been a bit skewed. What about since 2015? Still, I'm hoping Tomald will play his 150th in Melbourne, for non-sentimental reasons.

I'm calling false news on this one Bing (although I certainly agree he's been nowhere near his best touch for a long while now, even on the occasions he's contributed) - when Jeff is up and about, when, he sets the tone for our forward defensive efforts, and is probably our leading player for forcing HTB frees in our forward 50. With Queen Mary Tomald, a sluggish Weid, and Fatracca up front, we're seriously lacking agility for forward 'coralling'. He's probably our best current hope in better trapping it in - which I think could possibly be our actual primary issue right now.

You sound unusually grumpy AmDam - like me on here last week. This place will do that to the optimists among us.

It's almost spooky in its prescience. Anyone seen [censored]-Bullet lately or is he off gallivanting around the country? Expect him to pop up somehow and influence the coming federal election - perhaps by teaching Bill how to properly drop the ball. Early club-house leader.

This has become ultra apparent in recent weeks when Jay Lockhart has marked himself as basically our classiest finisher.

'Goodwin said on Saturday May would not want to make the same mistake next pre-season.' - from the Hun. It's second-hand and I haven't checked for the source, but yes, this would seem to indicate that the club wasn't pleased with May. Anyone know of the direct quote and context?

Not a bad effort Rusty. Do I want to know what it predicts for this week?

Cheers for the new nickname deefella.

Happy to do so - except I don't think I saved them and would just have to go through the same process as posted plus send them. But, if you're having trouble finding them @Neitz Blitz I can have another look for you and send them across. Shout out if so.

So I was kidding, in part, but Hibberd has always had a bit of headless chook about him as well - run and break the lines first and then work out what to do with the pill. I don't think he has the same natural spacial awareness as say Jetta or Salem. If he's down a yard on pace, and the outlet options aren't presenting, then he's going to struggle to find the space to run and the kick is going to be under much greater pressure. Never been the greatest aerial defender either. Still, we have such an acutely balanced defensive game-plan, that the (relatively) poor form of Oscar and Frost and the introduction of May, Hore, Wagner, whoever, will ultimately disrupt that mix - and it ripples down the chain. Both he and Lever even struggled when first thrown in together, and unfortunately we're a long way from our best back six finding some cohesion. Would love to see a win-loss or points conceded graph as measured against our number of weekly back-line changes.

I found a link via a SuperCoach facebook (I think) post which circumvented the paywall - and could download the pdfs from the HUN article. Hope that helps.

Poor man's Frost.