Vipercrunch

These are the Hit Outs to Advantage numbers which confirms my impressions of the ruck battle. The stats people may have given lots of ineffectual taps to Richmond, but we were 13-8 when it came to clean hitouts which led to many clean and deep clearances, Sparrow in particular was able to sink his sizeable legs into some which ended up 30m out from our goal.

I think it's hair envy. Bald guys like Robbo would love a bufont like Frittas.

I watched a bit of his game on Saturday and he performed way better than I had ever seen him perform at AFL or VFL level, so perhaps he has taken the step. His disposal was particularly impressive. Time will tell of course. I've always felt their midfield was very much a team of champions rather than a champion team. Given their individual reputations and awards like AA selection, the team as a whole has badly underperformed.

What did you think of Oliver swapping into a role across half back to allow Gus midfield minutes? I think we all expected the midfield to forward rotation with Trac and Kozzy, but the Gus/Clarry one was a surprise, but it looked effective to me.

Pretty boring episode today. Thought they would have discussed the practice games, but instead focused on "Bevos land of the giants" in the first half of the episode. Can't wait to dismantle it in 12 days time. The second half was about the fact that the Melbourne vs Bulldogs round 1 game will be the 3000th game at the MCG, so those of us lucky enough to attend can be part of history which may excite some. Dammo and Nat then discussed their best games or moments at the 'G. Boring.

Taj only played the last quarter but looked liked he belonged. After playing most of 2022 at Casey across half back, he played out of the middle when he came on in the 5th period against the Saints last weekend and was one of our best. Was played out of the middle again in the Q4 against Richmond. He has developed really fast, and if he continues on this trajectory looks like he could contribute at AFL level if required by mid-year. Laurie had one great moment when he cleverly tapped the ball on to a team mate which set up a fast chain, but on the whole looked some way off. A clumsy tackle that gave away a free early on was a real poor moment for him.

Typical AFL.com sensationalising things. Good to hear 👍

Anyone close enough to the bench to see what’s the story here?

62-24 about to start second half

Yep. Had to be one. Gawn was tackled during a marking contest prior to that with no free also.

Brown and TMac are just decoys now

Great team goal to ANB after swift ball movement through the middle which started by a 45 kick by Gawn.

Got away with a big and obvious jumper hold. Not sure how none of the 4 umps saw it.

Give our big boys some grippo

You’d think he’ll play round one based one his first half today. Looked very good. Could be Lachie Hunter vs Sauce on one wing and Bailey Smith vs Lingers on the other.

From what I’ve heard on footy commentary and talk shows, the day of opposition players deliberately targeting know injuries is over. The AFL don’t want a repeat of some of the well publicised incidents from the past (and they really are well and truly long past now) and have made it known big suspensions would follow.

I agree. I don’t think the gap between AFL and VFL has ever been bigger.

What's there to look at? We drafted 2 players that played in a premiership team. Those players are so good, other teams are throwing bucketloads of cash at them and capitilising on a go home factor to lever them away from us. It's part of the game. There were 5 players that started at other clubs that also played in our premiership (Hibbo, May, Lever, Langdon and BBB). Yes it sucks and we'd prefer it to be another way, but it's more a sign that we are doing things right than wrong. Would you prefer we only drafted players that no other clubs want? Hopefully if Kozzy leaves, the club that gets him pays overs for him, in terms of both his contract and the trade.

I enjoy her frequent reminders about how many day's its been since Essendon last won a final.

More chat about Lachie Hunter today (28/02/2023) at 11:10 to 13:50. According to Josh Gabelich, Hunter had lost the trust of the Bulldogs playing group and there was some reluctance from the Melbourne "senior leaders" (not sure if that means players, coaches or admin) to get him to the club. The first half of the podcast was about the ticking time bomb Alastair Clarkson and whether Todd Viney will be able to keep him in check. It's going to be an interesting watch this year #getyourpopcorn. https://www.afl.com.au/podcasts/afl-daily https://open.spotify.com/show/3towZDryHPGHbgF2viXRwi

Somewhere to chat about any MelbourneFC related content that come's up on the AFL Daily podcast. Not everyone's cup of tea but I usually find myself having a listen if I'm out and about in the car during the day. You can listen to it straight from the AFL website or on one of many streaming services such as Spotify. From todays episode (27/02/2023) about 14:10 to 17:30, some discussion about how we went with the scratch match against the Saints. Very postive about Lachie Hunter, then if Damian Barrett is to be believed, some bullishness from contacts at other clubs about Melbourne's chances this year and then Nat Edwards is a bit lukewarm about the first glimpses of the Grundy and Gawn partnership. Nothing super new or controversial, but Lachie Hunter's first outing caught certainly caught the eye of many outside of the die-hard supporters who watched the practice game.

Just as you posted that the commentators where also talking up his involvements and he had 3 touches in a minute. Shown a lot.

Petracca with a set shot early in the 4th. And he.... nails it. 73-38 Kick to hot spot where there was lots of numbers. ANB had kept his width though. Ball got out to him who went back to Gus who had drifted forward who dropped it into Trac about 35 out.

The commentators keep saying it's 8 periods today, but all the early official info was only 6. Anyone know whats actually going on?

Too unselfish by Chin (Chandler) there. 40m out running in, just kick it son.