JTR

I know right? Clips like this remind me how much I've already forgotten about what it feels like to be in stadium full of people going nuts.

Mine too! Also on my list along with with those two, is the passage of play from the 2018 SF, where Gunston hit the post, and we went right up the other end from the kick in for a goal by ANB. BT: "Cant believe it, cant believe it, cant believe it, CAN NOT believe it!" Also this from the 2014 game vs Essendon when Salem got the goal less than a minute from the end for a 1 point win. TMac was crucial in the chain so the "Macs" certainly have form when it comes to being involved in memorable passages! ?

Mahoney said they had sought feedback from clubs already in hubs, and there were arguments for and against full squad vs reduced. With full, whilst it was good to have them all together for training/match simulation...etc, it was logistically harder to move the extra players/support staff/families around. It had also been observed by some clubs with full squads that the players who are not likely to get a game were tending to treat the trip as a bit of a vacation and creating a distraction for those in the best 22 or the fringe of it. Whereas with reduced, it was opposite. Easier to shift everyone around, greater focus on best 22.. etc, but then the obvious downsides to splitting up the group. Last weekend for example, to make up numbers our non-playing guys in the hub had a joint training session with Sydney. Suppose they also looked at the performance of teams in hubs with reduced squad (Port) vs full squad (West Coast).

Not ideal playing Brisbane at Metricon instead of NSW, but it's probably better to have the certainly of where we'll play now, rather than be like GWS/Richmond or Sydney/Hawthorn who are in still NSW for round 8. Given how fast the COVID situation changes, who knows this far out whether those games will actually be in NSW, or moved, or even postponed. We already have one catch up game hanging over our heads, so maybe thats why we were shifted, to prevent possibility of 2nd?

Kennedy too.

^^^ this is all that needed to be said and I don't think many would disagree. If you'd just left it at that rather than add the preceding comments trying to link or compare your experience here to what has happened to Harley, we wouldn't have another derailed thread. I know you feel hard done by, but this is not the time and certainly not the thread for it, so please stop.

Sorry if already mentioned in the article, or thread. Too much reading for me this early in day! One thing that's been bothering me this season is the lower angles they are using, presumably in an effort to maintain the crowd noise illusion and not show empty stands in the background. It's particularly bad when play is on the opposite wing to camera and all the players are running around in the top 1/4 of my screen. Looks terrible, especially when ball is kicked and it disappears out of the top of the screen. Same happens when they do that close-ish angle from behind the player kicking on goal. They don't track the ball, meaning it disappears out of top of the screen and we don't see where it's going till it comes back down. Makes me feel like I'm watching the game from the concourse of the G.

Yep he was very good tonight. Loved seeing him lower his eyes and look for some better options.

Haven't read any of this thread so if already said I missed it. It'll probably been an unpopular opinion/observation, but does anyone else think Bennell plays like he doesn't want contact? He had a couple of chances to go hard but pulled back. Also when tackling he just sticks his arms out rather than fully commit with body and they run right through him. Yes I'm sure I'll get given a list of names who have their own moments of poor play. I've just been particularly focussed on Bennell this game.

Stat they had on Footy Classified earlier in the week showed Brisbane have the lowest play on from a mark % in the league. It was something like 20% whereas last week vs Tigers we were almost 40% If we could slow down a little and only go when it's actually on I'm sure it'd make a massive difference. It's probably also help the likes of Viney spot up the much better options inside 50 rather than sending in blind bombs.

Avoid Demonland

I didn't realise it was an argument about Petracca v OMac? My point was that OMac is a lot better kick than most give him credit for. That's it, full stop. Again, the comparison to Petracca was yours. If you're not happy with that one given their relative playing positions, then compare him to pretty much any other defender in the game, KPP or otherwise. Stacks up against all of them too.

You used Petracca as the comparison... ? There are a lot of knocks on OMac, but kicking is not one of them. Jason Johanissen (if you want a comparison with a defender) was rated as one of the best kicks last season, and he is 72.1 for career kicking efficiency. Still less than OMacs 74.4

Just FYI.... for career kicking efficiency Petracca - 57.7 OMac - 74.4 https://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/Compare?playerIds=CD_I298210,CD_I992472&comparisonTab=h2h

Chaplin said that tonight. No knocks at all on his running, but they need him to be better at the contest.

Just a couple of points from the current Zoom session with Troy Chaplin.. - Game day coach Matthew Egan has remained in Melbourne with the non hub players. - Those not in the 22 this weekend will be participating in a joint training session with Swans players. - Staying in the same hotel as the Lions

Playing both Bennell & AVB is a little risky imo, considering they are managing their games time. AVB has only averaged around 65%, and in only game Bennell has played it was 50%. That was one of the big positives for Tomlinson - once he's out on the park he hardly comes off.

... and then all the same people who have decided we are nuts for not playing him, will do a full 180 and start complaining about how we always get it wrong with selection. Lots of people were pretty happy to see Smith and AVB in the side initially. Now we hear they are cooked and should never have been selected. Even see some calls for perennial whipping boy OMac to come back! ?

Ross has been reading Demonland... ? FWIW, he (who has been at our last 2 games) doesn't think it's a technical problem and thinks it's all about decision making and not taking the easy option. We are also going at manic speed the entire time (or in the "Red Zone" as other Lyon said) and playing with no composure. Stat from weekend...

I still blame the mids and their decision making. You see plenty of examples each week where the forwards get into a good position, but are not identified.

I'm not sold on him either, mainly because of this. He went to Fremantle when they already had the cattle and when they were at their prime. In first 4 years he took them to 4 straight finals series, but along the way neglected the development of the younger players to make the success sustainable. Year 5 they dropped off a cliff and finished 16th. At that point they had 8 or 9 players at 32+ years old, of which many were still amongst the best they had Year 6 & 7 they finished 14th and year 8 he was sacked, after finishing 13th. Same thing happened at St Kilda where he ground the old crew in the ground and had no younger players coming through behind them. Once the Riewoldts, Goddards, Hayes and co. were gone they also dropped off a cliff, culminating in a spoon a couple of seasons after Lyon left. So yeah. Whilst he is seemingly quite good at grinding every last drop out of the players he has as quickly as possible, there doesn't seem to be much of a long term vision. I crave success for our current crop (who IMO are a top 8 side, at least on paper) as much as anyone, but I wouldn't want that to be an the expense of the long term development, and find myself back here in 5 or 6 years time reading all the same things. All that aside - game style. Yuck!

Preuss is injured so he wont be going. So in taking 33, does that mean the end of any sort of match practice till the full squad is back together? We'll effectively be be splitting our scratch match team in half with the 7 or so non-injured players staying in Melbourne and the other 7 that are in the hub, but not named in the 22 + 4 emergencies.

I was rolling my eyes at Dermott pre match when he suggested we have a couple of stat padders in the middle. Watching Oliver... ?

Look at this... Viney with the ball kicking inside 50. Left to right he has Hunt running to space, McDonald on his own with no one near him and Langdon on his own with no one near him. Where does it go? Long bomb to Fritsch in a 1v3 That not a problem with the forward structure. It's just taking the wrong option when going inside 50. Much as I like Viney, he is one of the worst offenders.

Endeavour and intensity looks much better than last couple of weeks. Probably taking it on a bit TOO much at times, but I'd rather see that than playing exclusively around the boundaries. Tidy up execution and we'll be looking good