Vipercrunch

It always frustrates me when umpires don't call back bad centre bounces, and last night, the first bounce was terrible!! Dogga had no chance to contest it and they called play on. Another frustrating thing with the umpiring last night was how long they were giving players before calling play on after marks and free kicks. It seemed an eternity. It slowed the game down so much and seemed to go against everything the AFL wants from the game (quick game with the ball always in motion)

I got quite worried when he grabbed the top of his hamstring. Very relieved it was a corky. He was superb though for all the reasons mentioned above. I loved his couple of fend offs also 💪 🤛.

Following on from that, the bye week is the perfect timing for the planned recovery period as the players have to have 4 days away from the club (it’s in the CBA). If we had a longer break between games over the bye instead of 9 days we could have considered beginning the next 4 week block, but the break was too short and I think the club wanted to make a statement last night. I have no doubt we have another 3-4 weeks of loading to come and expect just like this time last year, there will be some performances over that period that appear poor and fans and media will question effort etc etc but will really be severe fatigue. It’s about maximising performance in September.

Richmond 2017 did.

Please no. I live in Geelong.

Win Loss Win Draw Loss That was our post bye form line last season, so my expectations are somewhat tempered. I'd love to know what this 9 day break has looked like in regards to loading. Part of me suspects the combination of the shorter break and the keeness to get a win against the team who most consider our biggest threat will have the team looking totally different to what we have seen the last 5 games. I think there will be some flatness and sub par performances to come in July, but I have a sneaky suspicion we'll have a strong win tonight.

They are hilarious aren't they 😂🤣😂

It's a throwback to rounds 1-6 last year when (due to injuries) we went with just TMac as our tall forward, Fritta as the mid-size forward then a bunch of smaller players. We won all 6 games and averaged over 90 points a game, so it certainly can work.

I used to think the same but they sooked it up and started playing quite dirty when the game was over against us in last years final. Zorko is particular has quickly become one of my least liked players in the league with his constant whinging to the umpires and other acts of poor sportsmanship.

Clearly we're suffering from LOPH (Late Onset Premiership Hangover), and at precisely that moment in the Fremantle game, the entirety of the MFC organisation suddently succumbed to this darstadly malaise.

I love how he very carefully considers his response so he doesn't give too much away while still being as informative as possible.

True or not, it's nothing more than some mildly piece of trivia which in the end is utterly meaningless.

Gary Ablett won 3 years running 2007-09. That's it. Goody won in 2006 😀

He's special. Leading the AFLCA MVP again too, despite Gawn and Trac also getting plenty of votes.

Yeah, that's how I interpreted what he said as well. It's just his opinion though of course.

"If we finish ninth because we try to prime ourselves to be at our best later in the year, then we'll live with that." (Scott in the press conference after their WCE game) If he'll live with missing finals completely, you'd think he'll be ok with finishing outside the 4.

I shudder at the thought of another trade period trying to get a fair deal over the line with Peter frickin Bell....

There's a link to the presser here with some time blocks to specifically listen to (assuming that like most, you have zero interest in listening to Chris Scott for any longer than you have to) Top 4 is of course preferred, but I think going forward teams will now lean towards risking a top 4 finish in order to make sure they nail their in season loading.

Time will tell, but I think we'll see it more and more often in the coming years. Chris Scott believes loading is the only way to win flags and is willing to risk finals by doing it. He clearly thinks missing top 4 is not the be all and end of all.

God I hope not. That was horrible last year.

There's plenty of evidence (MFC last season, Chris Scott's comment from the weekend to name two) to suggest there is another 4-5 week block of loading to come. Don't expect the form and execution turnaorund to happen until at least rounds 18 or 19.

I've tipped us to go 5W-4L, finishing with 15-7. If that means we finish outside the top 4 then so be it. As long as we aren't overly affected by injuries (and other uncontrollables), we can still win the flag from outside the top 4 if we gain all the benefits from this period that we are hoping for. Looking at our next 5 games, theres every reason to suggest our toughest opponents could very well be Port and Western Bulldogs who can't risk loading. Geelong have made it public they are loading and should expect poor performances over the next period and Brisbane looks like they are too.

I have no doubt if we prepare well now and aren't hit too hard by injuries, we can win from outside the top 4.

I think any deviation away from the 4 week cycle shown so perfectly in the graph posted by @BW511would be a compromise to the overall outcome. That doesn't mean any deviation could be perfectly justified as there is always so much going in within clubs.

Very nasty and not very pleasant viewing. He's a good kid too 😞