middleagedemon

Didn't seem to bother us in 21? And it certainly hasn't helped us make the 8 this year! So which is it? The hawk's comparison is nonsensical given they're playing arguably the best football in the league right now and have been doing so consistently, have the vibrancy and drive of youth and are hungry. They're in a completely different spot to us as a list and don't need a top up of talent. We are middling, are no flag threat, need another strong draft hand and most definitely need a mental rest.

Haha. Jeez Louise, from the poster who consistently talks down those who 'play the man'. I would have thought demonland's favourite son might be better than that! As far as this season goes and the weekly commentary you provide on the state of our side, list, game-plan etc, it's fair to say that you're happy to move the goal posts depending on the result! Which of course keeps most happy on this site, as nobody wants to believe in a cup half empty. But if I may, whilst I agree Goody and co may want to fight nail and tooth to make the 8, I'm not sure the positives outweigh the negatives given the importance of bringing in quality high-end picks especially before the Tassie draft concessions hit. Do people think we'd have won the 21 flag without the help of our bumper draft of Jackson, Pickett and Rivers? Do you? The thing about being glass half full all the time is that you end up painting over cracks, constantly. And a big part of why your views are so popular around here is because they make like-minded supporters 'feel good'. But hopefully reality has set in a bit and supporters can see with their own eyes that we do have fundemental flaws in our game plan, list, method and that coaches are open to criticism. And that losing in straight sets is not just down to inmacuracy on the night and/or injuries, umpires, blah blah blah. And that our team isn't actually as great as many think? And that Van Rooyen might not me 'the' best young key forward in the game. He might be a good one though? Btw, do you still think we're "tracking exactly as we should be"? There are those on here who do say some outlandishly negative [censored] on gameday threads etc, but those of us who have had strong views on club when we've dished up some absolute rubbish have been scoffed at from you and your merry brigade. But now, it looks like we were right all along. These cracks keep getting bigger, but your goal posts keep moving. Which is interesting. For the sake of longevity at the top whilst we have Gawn, May, Lever, Viney for the next couple of years, I think it'd bode well for us to finish outside the 8 this year to have another big crack at the draft and whilst making sure we absolutely nail FA/trade period and bring some a couple of fresh and highly respected assistant coaches to challenge this group that at times look completely uninspired and uninterested in following Godwin's message.

Haven't watched the game due to being overseas, what's happened to Salem? Says he's injured, AGAIN?!

Don't be scared to have an opinion SPC haha. Your observations are completely valid, it's alarming that you feel the need to devalue your observations and make it known you're not potting anyone to please the rose-coloured facepalming nuffs that seem to dominate this forum these days!

Full time midfield rotation is what I should have said. I think he needs to reinvent and rejuvenate his career. Id much rather see him at half forward and through the midfiled next year.

Agree there was a necessity to play him given the lack of options we have as well as the hope that he'd work his way into the seasonm, but neither of those statements you make are true. On output this year, he's not our best mid. And he's current level is not above that of 80% of mids playing the game. That's just rosey-coloured glasses kinda stuff.

Happy to give him next year to see how he fares over pre-season. Something tells me he'll want to have the biggest pre-season of his life, prove the doubters wrong and get back to being one of the top contested mids in the comp. Along with Salem, if they can both have a 'Trac-like' pre-season next year, it will go a long way to getting us back up the pointy end of the ladder.

I'm assuming our interest in him was before our youth explosion post the Collingwood game? Now that we've unearthed Moniz the Wiz, McVee has exploded and Salem has slid back into a half back role. Unless we plan on turning Salem into a full-time mid going forward next year, which I wouldn't mind. Just seems a strange thing that we'd be into him to me?

@WalkingCivilWaranything to actually add to a post that is not in any way criticising/'bagging' a player? Care to give an actual view on the issue? Or just continue on giving nothing with your childish emojies?

I have a full understanding of what 'in-season' loading is. I've played football my entire life and played at a level where in-season loading was deployed. My position on the matter isn't that it doesn't exist and never has been. It's that trying to decipher which results are decided by which 'phase of loading' we may be in is silly given the multitude of factors that also contribute to a result. Im confused by the point of your post. If 'in-season loading' was as dominant a factor in a 'result' as certain posters believe, there would be a lot more commentary about it across all forms of media during the season. It's not as if the topic of 'loading' is some kind of secret. Why don't football analysts talk about it us much as some posters do around this time of year? Maybe because it's not as big a factor in determining a result as some THINK. It's simply just another practice that a high performance team use to try and get an edge on their opponents at the pointy end of a season. Should it be placed above diet, sleep routine, mindfulness/meditation practice, therapy/counselling, a healthy relationship with one's partner/family/children, pre-game preparation, post game preparation, week to week preparation, in-season niggle, motivation/arousal levels etc etc? There are myriad of factors that contribute to an individual's performance gameday performance. More than we could count. Jack Viney may be more fatigued in a match mid-season because he had a broken sleep the night before a match because of the need to tend to his waking child. Clayton Oliver may be more fatigued in the same game due to the fact that he stayed up too late playing video games and ate a pre-match meal that he shouldn't have. Steven May may be fatigued also in that same match because he's in a depression and had an argument with his partner the days leading up to the match. You see where I'm going. Deciding that the reason we look tired after a loss must be because of 'in-season loading' is just casting a blind-eye to everything else that IS going on. Not that MIGHT be. These athletes are human beings. They deal with the same things as us. Binman is someone who likes stats, trends, patterns and due to his borderline obsession with 'in-season loading', started placing far too much weight on it when analsying a loss. If you're convinced that 'loading' is a significant factor, you're going to search for stats that back your pre-determined judgement. Classic confirmation bias. But fatigue could also have been caused by any number of things, just like I pointed out. This will be my last post on the issue and hopefully posters don't think I'm 'bashing' binman. Cause I'm not. I'm just giving another view. And that should be okay I would have thought.

I was banned, so you're incorrect about 'popping up' when we're losing. My post was completely reasonable and my views would be echoed by others on here. Old cobblers because there are some home truths? Thanks for the well thought out response.

I think your memory deceives you. For there where games we'd lose and you'd point to 'fatigue' due to the loading phase we were in. Yet there were also games you'd expect us to bounce from, which we'd end up losing all the while still looking 'fatigued'. The level of tediousness came down to how you seemed to pick and choose depending on our performances and how those performances would line up to where you believed our loading phase should be across a season. And then the pile on began. I think we can all admit that loading is a thing. But to measure just how much of an influence it has game-to-game is almost pointless given the multitude of factors that force results. This especially so given that some teams are still able to win even in a 'loading' phase.

Sparrow may be executing a defensive role well enough. But he needs to start better executing the fundamentals. Kicking, ball handling etc. At the moment, he's costing us in that space and if he continues to do so, the fd will no doubt have to decide which way they will go with him.

Unbelievable rookie pick by Taylor and just a joy to watch his career unfold. Agree I hope he can get into that on-ball rotation eventually, will add another dimension to that Midfield.

He might be 'playing a role'. But it doesn't mean his game can't be criticised. And it should be. For all we know the FD don't have a choice to play anyone in his role give his physical attributes and power running capabilities and a like-for-like replacement is just not there for us. But good grief he is fumbling, butchering kicks and making bad decisions atm which would no doubt have the coaches frustrated.

Couldn't agree more in regards to those two! Well said.

Fascinating. No Max Gawn. No Christian Petracca. A handful of young, energetic kids breathing life into this group, an opportunity for a 22 y/o half-bank flanker to flourish as a starting mid and a ferocity and desire to compete from the majority of the side that hasn't been seen in how long? What is it? It's a godsend is what it is. Forget the stats, game-plan alalysists, 'loading' theorists. This is a simple game. Galvanise a group, ignite their spirit, and anything is possible. We are playing with a will to win and an 'anything is possible' mentality in-part because we're without Max Gawn and Christian Petracca and in-part because the weight of expectation is off us. Think about that for a minute. Some may laud Goody for his selection to play the kids, I would say it is more happenchance given injuries to key players and the change of positions that has forced. Rivers to the middle. Moniz the Wiz in defence. And now that they're in, they are breathing life into this group and energising the team, just as Melksham said last night. It has opened up a world of possibility to Simon Goodwin, a coach who is universally known for playing it safe. The very thing that has sucked the life and personality out of this group for the last couple of years. But you can see it. The group has clearly been pining for 'fun' and exciting football. And our fans have as well. Aside from conceding the last four goals of the match, we did not play it safe. We played with the flair, energy and winning mentality that I haven't seen for a long time. Pair this new zest with the unpredictability of not having THE key pillar in your side and it makes you wonder what is possible. It brings me to team balance. Long have I said that our list has lacked balance. And that whilst we've been blessed with some A-grade mids and an A-grade ruckman in their own right. Rarely do we see a consistent performing midfield unit. Last year with Oliver missing, we functioned much better. With Petracca out, we've blooded rivers, Kosi's midfield minutes are up. We look dynamic, we look great. With Gawn out last night, we actually blitzed them around the ground and at centre bounce post the first quarter. Arguably our best midfield performance of the year without Max Gawn? Why and how does this happen? Less reliance on Clayton (who is hardly influencing this year anyway), Petracca and Gawn is what this team is crying out for. Predictability is a double-edged sword that has been troubling us in recent history. The rest of this season is wide open and with the way we're playing and the team we're putting on the park, I'm back to thinking anything is possible. Especially so given the evenness of this year. The flag is there for the taking. Harness this spirit, enthusiasm and proactive football. Let it manifest. And let's see where it takes us.

Also, surely there's something better to do than going around face-palming every comment that might not be overly glowing on anything MFC @drysdale demon @Rhino Richards

Obviously a tongue in cheek thread title. I think it was a risk that paid off, which is sometimes all coaching selections are. I mean, it most certainly wasn't his selection that won us the game. And the decision to ruck Petty was clearly the wrong one and even bringing him back was a questionable call given his output. All I can say is they must have absolutely no faith in Fullerton in the wet. I can't imagine what he must have thought after being brought across to cover for Max and the potential of playing with him at times. Van Rooyen's physicality and desire to just halve contest was monumental and is the sole reason Draper didn't continue on his rampage. But like others, I'm not sure it was a risk worth taking given how valuable he is to us atm up forward. And they're the kind of games ruckmen get banged up and injured. The win came from our sheer desire to win contest and pressure all night. Which was huge.

Christ Clayton just zero composure

It's not tonight. It's literally any time we play in the wet.

If we continue to dump kick under little pressure, we may as well pull the pin now. Can you see the difference with their hands out of stoppage vs us just dump kick when we don't need to. Sam story. On repeat. In the wet.

We've done plenty of sparring over the journey, my old mate.

See above ^

You said his 'analysis' is iffy? I that article (from 2011!), he states that Richmond are guaranteed to make finals and he got it wrong? Hardly analysis. It was an opinion based on the fact he'd worked closely with that group of players. Wow. Im not entirely sure what point you're trying to make. I already said he gets many things wrong due to how often he features across various media forms and how many opinions he has to throw out there. If his 'track record' of opinions over the years is going to dictate whether you rate him, that's fine. I don't measure it like that. I don't actually care about his opinions on whether a team will win or lose week to week. I think that when he deep dives and gets into actual analysis on either crunchtime, Whately on Mondays or First crack, he offers a lot and there's a lot to be gleaned as a supporter on the 'outside'. If others disagree, that's more than coooool.