Vipercrunch

2 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

There's a lot of confidence on here, and well there should be. We were cooked in the SF. The two H&A games are better indicators of our chances this week IMO.

But there's a touch too much confidence. Hipwood has a history of playing well against us. The Lions mids aren't going to all be sub-20 touches again like they were against Port. Their midfield presents a similar challenge to the Dogs' midfield and at times last week the Dogs were on top. And this time there is a more dynamic forward line, not the Dogs' over-sized and pressure-lacking options.

Taking that on board, I'm changing my final margin from 15 goals back down to 10 goals.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1288432/fowler-makes-melbourne-home

Welcome.  Rugby 7's would have a lot of useful transferable skills.

35 minutes ago, BangBnagBang said:

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/03/22/a-bit-of-bad-blood-recently-retired-lion-lifts-lid-on-demons-rivalry/

 

“They’ve always had this kind of not smugness, but you can tell they just think they’re better than us.”

Soooo... Brisbane don't think they're better than us?  Getting upset because another team has confidence is amusing.

7 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

True. Since it clicked, Collingwood has been very tough to beat.

Everyone expects them to regress. Who knows if, or when, that might happen. There's no sign of it happening any time soon, although they did get Geelong without a number of defenders (Kolodjashnij and Henry missed, Stewart down early) which helped them outscore Geelong's 103.

I predict Collingwood will put Port back in their box this weekend but it will be interesting to see how that game plays out, if Port can bring a similar level from the Brisbane game then who knows.

Ignoring our game and death-riding Freo, Collingwood and Port is the most intriguing game of the round, followed by Cats and Blues.  

23 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

I think he was pretty quiet for the first half but played a blinding 2nd. Agree to keep him in defence.

Yeah, in first half Gus stood out for all the wrong reasons.   He had a horrible passage of play early in the 2nd quarter where he missed Bowie by a meter or two by hand, fumbled the ball when it came back to him then kicked it out on the full, all under minimal pressure.  Thankfully he turned it around bigtime after halftime.  I think he plays his best footy across halfback too.

Just now, sue said:

While I think the MRO and Tribunal decisions are too often a toin coss biased towards famous players, I'm not inclined to bag our club for rarely appealing.  But given Crows are appealing for an almost identical hit as Pickett's which actually injured the opponent, I am perplexed. Are we too compliant, or Crows to much the other way or maybe Pickett didn't want the fuss?

I think we pick our battles really well and this is one I don't think we could have won.  If we took it to the tribunal, he could have ended up with more than two weeks (the tribunal isn't bound by the MRO ratnkings and they hinted they could have very well rated Kozzies bump as Severe during the hearing last night).  And given Goodwin has now publically said 3 times (March 2021/22/23) that he doesn't want his players bumping and advises them not to, Pickett effectively went against team rules.  Very prudent decision to accept and move on.

It's going on and on.  Bring on tomorrow nights footy FFS!!

https://www.afl.com.au/news/886962/crows-to-appeal-mcadam-ban-as-bump-debate-rolls-on

11 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

As for Charlie Cameron, I’d try to rotate McVee, Bowey and Rivers through him. Don’t ask one player to go it alone the full game 

100%.  Last week showed that it's our defensive team and structure that is so effective, not just individual players.  Unless the oppisition somehow breaks it down, there will always be help coming.  

Here is some of the FoxFooty team discussing the Pressure Gauge and showing examples.

As they say in Vietnam, "Same, same but different"

4 minutes ago, layzie said:

Yeah it's open to a lot of interpretation, I'm not sure how quickly they get it done or when they do it but certainly not as simple as counting other stats.

There's a pressure number commentators like to mention during games (the one where the league average is 180).  If it's the same one as this it's pretty much in real time which is quite extraodinary given how specific and subjective it is.

We should have a MFC tent at all the hawks games, handing out free Trac and Oliver merch to all these poor, suffering Hawthorn kids.  There's plenty of room on our bangwagon.

I love how Taj needed clearance from the surgeon to sweat post-surgery 😂😂

6 weeks for a dislocated fingure is very stiff, especially after working himself into serious contention to make his debut.

50 minutes ago, AzzKikA said:

Nothing wrong with dropping first game players, I would say it helps their development to give them a taste. The experience is vital but leaving a kid in there just to give him experience I think is detrimental when they aren't breakout ready to play first year players like Oliver was.

Just my simple opinion of course.

As long as it’s communicated really clearly all along, I think it can work too.  In this instance, with 4 of our best players so close to coming back, it should have been made really clear that in all likelihood it wasn’t going to be a long stint in the seniors, but it was a great opportunity to experience it and contribute. 

Such a rapid improvement since last year’s VFL grand final,  where out of all our untried youngsters at that point he would have been right down the list of most likely to make an impact at AFL less than 6 months later. 
 

Great spotting by many of the track watchers who quickly alerted DL that he had taken a giant leap forward into selection contention. Huge credit to him of course too. Rookie selections that turn into AFL standard players are like striking gold. 

32 minutes ago, Action Jackson said:

Keidean Coleman is apparently out this week which is handy given his speed and class off half back.

 

Yeah, he would be a big out as he is one of their only players that can break through good defensive setups.

18 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

Viney plays the defensive cog allowing Trac and Clarrie to hunt the ball knowing if the opposition get it they have to contend with Viney. 

In other words, Viney does what Libba failed to do.

I agree with this ban and think it’s long overdue, but I’m curious as to whether he’s the first player to get suspended for a bump that caused zero (or at the very least, very minimal) harm?  

3 hours ago, Deemac said:

Fritch in for Kozzi 

viney in for Laurie 

May in for Tommo

and Salem plays vfl???

If they are all fully fit and risk free, that’s how I see it playing out. If Fritsch was a midfielder I think he’d need a run at VFL also given how long he’s missed but he should be ok given his role. Viney and May haven’t been out long at all and should be good to play seniors if fit. I like Salem coming back via the VFL but don’t actually know if there is a VFL of any sort to play him in???
 

Given how little we all know about the severity of May’s calf issue, I’m quite amused by all the armchair doctors making calls on how long he needs. The club knows how valuable he is and won’t risk him if he’s not ready. 

35 minutes ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

Love that you're thinking how to respect and include non binary and gender fluid people!  

We're lucky we have the ultimate gender neutral shout... Go Dees!  ❤💙

Go Dees is all we need.  

18 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Just an update on Kynan Brown and a little bit of Noah Yze.

A contact within Murray bushrangers attended the Oakleigh Chargers practice match on the weekend against Sandringham. He's an opposition club scout.

His opinion was he thought Kynan was close to BOG for the chargers playing as a midfielder. Was quite impressive around the stoppages and showed a high level of grunt and speed as well.

He reckons he'll push himself into top 20 draft calculations if he keeps this form consistent all year.

Noah Yze also played as a bottom ager and he reckons he showed some really exciting traits and little bit of X factor at times throughout the game.

Played forward majority of the game and he reckons he's a genuine watch for 2024.

Thanks for this.  Any recent knowledge of how Jeff White’s son is tracking?

3 minutes ago, AzzKikA said:

That's their views on Buddy's?

Kings wanted more for Buddy also, particularly because he has priors.  Not sure if Cornes particularly referenced Buddy too much.

5 minutes ago, BoBo said:

Just putting this out there, dunno if it’s any good?
 

If Mayzie comes back this week and if… IF… TMAC is out, Tomlinson is 1cm short, yes he’s lighter than TMAC, but he looks very mobile and has played across CHF before plus he is hungry to play in a premiership. Considering a part of TMACs role is to open up space for BBB, I don’t see why he couldn’t fulfill that role?

Happy to be wrong?

Not sure why we would look to Tomlinson who hasn’t played or trained as a forward for 24-36 months now when we have JVR (who was close to being selected at the end of 2022) and Schache both fit.  

11 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Petty initially ducked which caused Naughton's arm to go over the shoulder. It was the correct call even though the lingering nature made it look unusual

I thought he got tackled while still down picking the ball up.

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Check up scan but missed training???

Did he definitely miss?

13 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Channel 7 said it was a standard scan post off season surgery.

Channel 7 also said Viney and May more likely to return this week than Salem and Fritta.

Must have been the foot of a giant that stepped on Fritta... 6 weeks off for a stomped foot sounds like someone is lying. 

Salem and Fritta might be fit but because of the long lay off they might need to get match fit either through more match sim at training or game time at Casey.  Hopefully Goodwin is in an info giving mood at the mid week presser.  Or the weekly injury video from Dr Laura(?).