middleagedemon

Tonight should prove again that the talk about 'conditioning' and 'fitness' is just so overblown. How can we be unfit last week but this week we magically look fit? It's nonsensical. Within an AFL environment, fitness levels do not vary to the degree that binman continues to bang on about. Our game-plan, inconsistent level of execution of skills and inconsistent effort brought weekly are the main factors. Fitness and conditioning are a minor factor at this level. There's no disputing that, unless a quarter of your list are missing and the majority of your list are kids that haven't yet had enough pre-season. Which is not us.

Bad analogy. He is not the kick that we need in our team. He is not a daicos or gulden kick. That statistic completely misrepresents the kind of kick he is and supporters need to understand that before throwing that stat around.

How did that 'champion data top 5 best users in the comp' go tonight @Bring-Back-Powell? A long, penetrating and accurate kick is what he is. And if that makes him a top 5 best user in the comp, that should tell you more about champion data in isolation than anything else. Use your eyes. They will tell you the full story.

Cmon matey, we're friends right?!

Experiencing the full spectrum of the emotional scale means one can TRULY appreciate the good times. Living in lala land means one is avoidant and what ever will you have living in Lala land to compare to? Moony and I sleep sweetly knowing that after our weekly nightmares, a lala dream is on the horizon. Don't we Moon?

Collingwood would be kicking themselves at giving up PICK 6 for Lachy Schultz. They have no first rounder this year and already have questionable young talent outside of the Daicos brothers at both ends of the ground. They should be our measuring stick. They got greedy, paid overs because they thought they could go back-to-back and sacrificed their future for the now. We cannot do the same. Houston's form is off the back of playing with the same defensive unit for years and so there's no guarantee he just waltzes into our program year one and plays to the same level. Schultz case in point. These players are role players who are excelling thanks to the system they're in. They're not top end/brilliant individuals who dominate from word go. It's not their position or role. Go to the draft, nail a top 7 midfielder and develop them. I'll pay those odds anyday over giving up the farm for Houston to help win us a flag next year.

Yes, *some* scope..

Risk involved in everything, obvs. But, one thing that we've done incredibly well for a while now is develop our top end talent. So when posters throw up past players from other clubs as a way of proving that high end picks are risky, it's just plain silly. Look at our last decade of first-round draft picks and tell me you can't back our recruiters and development program to get the best out of them? Off the top of my head, Weideman has been the only fail. Salem hasn't quite lived up to expectations, however injury has had a big say in that. And Jefferson is an unknown at the level to this point. Even our early second round picks have been really solid. If posters want to assess risk, look at our most recent trade-ins. That's where the worry should be. So buyer beware for Houston. And add in the fact that nobody will have access to the draft in a few years. So where do we want to place ourselves as a club for the next decade? If Port accept our next year's first round pick and a second rounder with something in return, you'd do it. That's the only way. I'm not sure about others but my enjoyment this year has come from watching Windsor and Tholstrup step into this club and actually impact. That speaks volumes of our development program, the leaders we have and the characters they are. And given this draft has serious midfield depth and we are crying out for more support in that area, it's an absolute no brainer that we hit it hard, hopefully with multiple picks and EVEN if that's at the cost of missing a 28 year old half-back who is completely overrated by so many in here. Especially his foot skills! My god. The way people talk about him is like we'll have Errol Gulden. Don't look at the stats. Look at him with your eyes this weekend and tell me I'm wrong. He's a long, penetrative and accurate kick. He is not a play making/angle changing laser foot like Daicos, Gulden or Coleman. Do not be fooled!

That picture of Gawn's ankle was horrendous and I'm assuming there is little to no risk of further injury given he's playing.. *assuming* Salem back in as well is just so iffy. Just reeks of desperation.

I hope you're not writing this from school holiday program you naughty boy.

Unpopular opinion but if a team offered a first rounder for him, I'd happily take it given the options we'd have of trading up etc, (not purely taking that pick to the draft). Taking my MFC glasses off, it's obvious that the only way to remain consistently competitive and not completely bottom out for years is by having mini-rebuilds along the way. And that requires letting go of players who have been great contributors over the journey. Of course the cheer squad will come after this post with their face-palm emojies, but I mean the evidence is everywhere. Perhaps next year will be the year that something like that will eventuate given I'm still bullish on one last crack at top four next year with Gawn, May, Viney, Melksham still contributing and providing we get a lot right this off-season. But 2025 will be a year to make some really tough decisions in regards to where we want to be as a side in 2028 onwards. I think with the depth of this year's midfielders in the draft, it would be ridiculous to trade out a top 6 draft pick and I just cannot see it happening. Next year, I'd be happy to let a player like Fritsch go if the price was right and especially if his defensive efforts don't change. Off-topic but my two bob.

Can't remember if he was a restricted FA or not but I think the theme here is that the player is the one that wants to go for personal reasons. And not that we are trying to prize him out by offering the world to Port. I think it makes sense that not much has been spoken about in regards to Houston's reasons for coming home, it seems as if it's just accepted that he's coming back to Melbourne and we are the club the media believe he'll join. That to me suggests reasons are private. From there, the media need to make filler so the hypothetical trade talk begins.

I'm arguing that we shouldn't be and won't be giving up anywhere near what is being suggested and I'm basing that off what has gone before us where a past player, (Dangerfield), a three time AA to that point at 25 years of age only cost Geelong a fringe player, pick 9 and 28. Geelong received Dangerfield and third round pick in exchange, (so yes I would expect something back if we were giving up two first rounders). Whenever a player wants to 'go home' and especially for personal reasons, the club will not hold said player at ransom. Which is why I think the talk of us giving up two first rounders is ridiculous. I don't care what Cal Twomey or Sam Landsberg say, they're guessing. I will genuinely rip my membership in half if we give what is likely to be pick 6 away for Houston. It's ludicrous.

Geelong landed Dangerfield at 25 years of age for Dean Gore (who?) pick 9 and 28. I am in disbelief posters think even one high first round draft pick is 'fair' for a 28 year old half back who was a rookie pick! The talk of two first round picks is just the dumbest thing I've ever heard and was made up by Sam Landsberg when he was spit balling and nonsense and having a guess at what their asking price would be. Nobody knows what's going on. If the reports of him wanting to come home are true, then we will not be giving up two first round draft picks and if we gave up any, it'd have to be a late first roundee with a swap that saw our second rounder improve for this year. He's on a three year contract, there simply must be something going on for him back home which is why people have us as landing him but it means we have the upper hand.

Yes a move to half forward would see us have a more dangerous inside 50 kick. But what he'd give up due to his lack of accountability and poor defensive efforts would murder us. We'll never see him at half-forward unless he drastically changes his defensive game. Which won't happen either.

Where's binman to pull some gems from these stats and let us all know we're doomsdayers but we're precisely on track?! He's gone missing recently, this is his thread isn't it?!

Seems the club have employed a work experience kid for socials! Good to have lingers hanging around though.

Robertson has some attributes, but class ain't one of them. Which is why he's playing twos.

Houston is not worth two first round picks under any circumstances and there's no world I can see us giving two up unless we're planning on completely compromising our ability to regenerate our list before draft picks are taken by Tassie. It would be utter lunacy. Also, that champion data stat is pointless. We all know hes not the fourth best player in the comp. In fact, there are a handful of half backs I'd take ahead of him.

Love the look of him. Hopefully slides to 6!

One more thing I'd like to add on this Goodwin thread. The other day, a mate sent me a snapshot of a Facebook comment a lady made from an article about the dees. She ripped into Goodwin after one of our putrid losses. The comment got a few likes and one like in particular was from one of Petracca's brothers. I think it's interesting that Trac's brother would 'like' a public Facebook comment defaming Goodwin knowing full well Melbourne supporters would be reading the comments of this particular post and see that he 'liked' it.. People may brush that aside, but I have wondered for a while now whether Goodwin still has the players on his side given some of the performances we've dished up. Makes you wonder.

Of all excuses used for this season's flop, the absence of Gus and the news of him not doing well would be the most legitimate in my view. Especially for his close mates at the club in Gawn and even Clayton. And I hope they can all reset over the off-season and maybe Gus will then be okay to come in a resume a role at the club.

It's the classic goal-post shifting that is the more hilarious thing from Binman and the like. It's now fatigue apparently!!! Fatigue! I mean, give us a break! How did fatigue go for us when we managed to peg GWS back in that last quarter? Was it fatigue in the first quarter alone against the Bulldogs? How are we measuring this exactly? You can't take that bunch seriously because there'll be an excuse that becomes 'The Reason' for our failings for that given season. Which is utterly ridiculous given these are commonalities ALL teams go through and just covers over underlying issues that have existed for too long. Injury and fatigue hey. Wow. How you measure these as a supporter depends entirely on what level of bias one holds for their team. For Binman and co, the dees always seem to be victim of such cruelties, more so than any other side in the AFL! That's because this particular group of dlanders have held the long-standing and unequivocal belief that we are the best team in it, we have undoubtedly the best game-plan and the most talented list. If you vehemently believe the above to be true, you're no doubt going to throw up one or two excuses as 'The Reason' for a failed season. Which is exactly what this crew have done since the 2022 finals campaign, all the while completely ignoring a set of underlying issues that have plagued us even throughout our 2021 home and away year. Along with the obvious disadvantages that all teams face every year, why don't we look at some of the contributing factors that have remained with us as a side for far too long now. And are the reason that all supporters get so frustrated with Goodwin. 1: Jackson replacement/genuine Gawn support. Why is it that Goodwin defenders cannot seem to handle criticism of the failings in this area? It's been a significant fail given the way we have relied on him and provided next to no support. If dlanders are happy to throw up the injury excuse when he's out or when 'carrying' injury, how do you not point the finger at Goodwin and co for providing no support in a game where injury is bound to happen to anyone at any time? Especially so when part of your game-plan has been built around Max Gawn. 2: Midfield balance/attribute diversity I've banged on about this for I don't know how many years and it has plagued us in just about every game in which a team brings heat to our midfield. How much longer will it continue? Look no further than the first possession that we had on Friday night against the Dogs. Viney racing for a ball in dispute, gets to it and has two free Melbourne players if he manages to hook a dominant hand handball over his right shoulder. But no, he sees red, handballs blindly forward straight to a doggies player who takes possession. That kind of play is emblematic of our entire midfield unit when any serious heat is applied. And it happened all night. We have a contested heavy, ball winning heavy midfield unit who all lack in the same area when under pressure. Composure and disposal. It is that simple. We win the ball in tight and give it up almost immediately when the heat is applied. And every single side that have a half decent midfield know this when they play us. As the game goes on, the more desperate our mids become to win a clearance/contest and the more we swarm to the same ball and man with ball, in part because these mids have been 'ball winning' players since they were kids and desperation kicks in. The commentary around our lack of pace/run and the 'fatigue' comments are actually by-products of what is happening in close. We give the ball up that easily when heat is applied, it makes the opposition look quicker, fitter and like they have more players on the ground. When opposition half-backs could see the standard set by their mids on fri night, they knew they could have a field day by rolling the dice and streaming off their men, getting that call right the majority of the night due to how easily we were giving the ball up in close if we were getting our hands on it. (Which for much of the night we weren't even doing). So then it's two fold. You've got oppo half-backs playing their own game of footy as their mids are just consistently either winning first possession themselves and handballing out of congestion and then to running half backs, or they knew if we were to get first possession, we'd likely cough it up thanks to the the heat their team mates were applying in close and our lack of composure and disposal came to the fore. When the dogs bring heat like that, they look a million bucks because they are one of a few clubs who have mids who excel at feeding a ball out of a contest with a quick, smart handball under pressure. Libba and Bont specifically are specialists at this. Even Treloar has better hands in close than most if not all our mids. Now, clearance altogether has two parts to it. The one I listed above and the second being our actual setup at both centre bounce and stoppage. Both our positioning and lack of connectedness with Gawn has been wildly inconsistent for too long. Another issue that Binman and his brigade seem to ignore when they say things like, 'oh well, we don't place a premium on clearances anyway'. How about nah. Clearance gives you complete ascendency if you get it right. End of the third Q grand final? 3: Forward setup/personnel. Again. How long? Let's go back to last year's finals and those who basically said inaccuracy cost us the flag. That might be so, but that has been in part down to game-plan and personnel. And inaccuracy has cost us in plenty of other games over the last few years. I'm not sure what Goodwin expects when he plays two key defenders as key forwards and one young kid who is still learning how to be a forward at AFL level. (JVR played a lot of defence as an under-aged kid and I don't classify him as a classical key forward). Our inability to land one has been telling. We have a make-shift forward line that consistently looks like a dogs breakfast with little to no predictability in the way it moves. At the very least, Ben Brown was a straight line ball leader, which created vacuums of space for specialist forwards like Fritsch or Kosi to creep into. Goodwin has seemed happy to continue to play 'competitors' which means our kids are again happy to bomb away into the forward 50 with little to no intentionality. This problem also goes hand-in-hand with our midfield issue which I highlighted above. We have average ball user through our midfield when under no pressure and they're poor when under pressure. So, what will it take for us to land a specialist forwards assistant coach and perhaps a complete re-think of the type of players we want to have inside 50? Are we prepared to continue to play Fritsch when the ball isn't perfect for him given his complete disinterest in competing defensively? Another factor in why opposition teams waltz the ball out of our defence. Opposition defenders completely exploit that part of Fritsch's game. Do people notice this? When will Goody hold him to account? I won't hold my breath given the myriad of issues we have in our forwardline anyway. Ben Brown at full fitness is what this team misses more than supporters give credit for and we need to bring in another player of that type pronto. So, whilst I'm not in the 'sack Goody' camp. I certainly think that he's done this team no favours in the last few years and if he is not to blame, who we blaming? The umpires? Injury? Fitness? How about no. Those things will be there every year, period. Sure Petracca has been a missive loss. But that's even more telling! If a team is that reliant on one player, there are some serious underlying issues. And just so it's clear, I'm no doomsdayer. I believe we can rectify, recalibrate and go again whilst we still have some key pillars. But we need to absolutely nail this off-season and nail the pre-season and actually fix some of these underlying issues that have existed for far too long. If not, it will indeed be a wasted era.

Should be a cracker podcast with binman bringing us some stats to back his position that we're on the right path, our heavy loading phase is actually right now rather than middle of the season now, clearance isn't an issue and we're still on track! No need to worry everyone!

Controversial but I'd like to see what Bowey could do as a small forward going into next year. Alongside koz.