Vipercrunch

Players and coaches from teams that lock in finals early have openly talked about heavy training periods done in season for many, many years. Sometimes they directly call it "loading", other times they call it "heavy training blocks". It's definitely no secret. It is a luxury that teams that bank wins early have and is why teams that have some poor performancess in the middle stages of the year come out and smash teams in finals that have had to fight all the way just to make finals. Flirting with form comes with risk, as does the increased risk of injury, but if you are in it to win the major prize, not just make up the numbers in September, it is well worth the risk.

I facepalmed that too, although an eye-roll would have been more suited to such an childish offering.

Our foward half is definetely frustrating to watch at the moment so I hope the coaching group is looking at something fresh up there. And Petty did show plenty of promise up there a few years ago. However, unlike with Salem's absence in the backline being covered quite well, I am not sure we can cover Petty not being in the backline. May is our absolute key, and with Lever seemingly out of form, Petty imho is now our number two big backman. And I don't trust Tomlinson. Maybe it's time for Turner? Perhaps adding Majak to the lineup will allow LJ or Gawn to play as key forwards? Anyway, it's good to see some others here who are brave enough to post ideas about what we can change to try and imrpove. The resistence to new ideas from many here cracks me up. The competetion is way to good to stop exploring new ideas of where we can improve.

Rounds 10-19 last season we went 4W-1D-4W (plus the bye). Hopefully it’s because we’re loading them up on the track again.

So many mistakes in the last quarter. I hope it was because we’re loading up on the track and we were just exhausted. Sparrow and Lever had some horrible moments in the last quarter and we missed some very easy kicks at goal at crunch time.

My main observation in the second half was we seemed so rushed with our ball movement when Freo got on top. So many quick play ons without much forethought of where to next. It was so out of charachter to what we have been doing recently when oppisition sides have had some momentum. I was shouting at the tv for them to just slow it down. That and a big loss of composure was flashback time to darker days. Not panic stations yet by any means though.

Thinking outside the box a little bit, I wonder if ANB might be our best short term cover for Lingers if he misses. He's already an up and back player and one of the fittest at the club. Spargo, another up and back player could be his backup as I doubt ANB could do 100% TOG like Lingers does. This would make Bedford the obvious IN to play half forward, with Laurie replacing him as medi sub. Longer term, I've really sweetened on the idea of Salem playing half forward. Angus and the whole backline is doing great and JJ is playing the wing role well. Our BIGGEST and most obvious weakness is F50 entries and Salem is the best player on our list to fix this. Yes, Salem is a great defender and stiff not to AA last year, but the backine is NOT our weakness.

Poor effort going back with the flight by Dunstan. He’s not winning me over.

Did Brayshaw step straight into Salems role, or did Bowey do Salem's role while someone else (Brayshaw/Hunt/others) cover Bowey's? Good chance it was a mixture of all of that. We certainly haven't seemed to miss a beat, especially considering Salem wasn't the only premiership backline player missing.

Although he is approaching 30, so maybe it's Geelong?

I heard part of an interview on the weekend with someone from the Suns coaching group (it could have been Stuart Dew, but I missed the start). He was asked about how the Suns wanted to use Jack Lukosius. The response was that they wanted the best ball users in the front half/third of the ground. It got me thinking about where we should play Salem when he returns. The obvious answer is to plug him straight back into the backline and get on with it, but I wonder if he could be better used in the front half. Reasons for shifting Salem to the front half: Decent forward entries have been an ongoing and frustrating struggle of ours. Spargo is very good at it, but it is still hit and miss with many others. I reckon our forwards would love Salem delivering the ball to them. Salem was so important in the backline because he is a great ball user and our backline was really lacking in this area. Jake Bowey has now arrived on the scene and is a great ball user, as is Brayshaw who has slotted in back there to great affect this year while JJ stepped up on the wing. Do we still need Salem back there? Our backline has performed in Salem's absence. We are still keeping the opposition's score low, and have rebounded well. Reasons against shifting Salem to the front half: Why change a premiership winning role? If he was to play forward, you'd think it would be in the place of Spargo, Kozzy or Nibbler (ANB). We hear all the time from the coaches that the main focus of those players is to put pressure of the ball coming out of our forwardline to create forward half turnovers. Can he provide the forward half pressure required? Salem seems to get banged up a bit. There is a theory (or perhaps myth) that players are somehow less likely to get hurt in collisions when they play as a backman than a forward. Supposedly backman need to be more mindful on where the opposition players are at all times, which lessens the possibility of collisions, where forwards are more focused on the ball so they get hit more often. It was meant to be why playing Paddy McCartin as a backman was going to be safer for him. We all know how that ended up.... I think the club needs to always look for areas to improve. Just because something worked, doesn't mean it can't be improved on.

This is my understanding too. A question to Yze suggested both Lever and Viney could have played last week because the rules in Victoria for close contacts had changed. Yze replied that they couldn't play because they were both positive cases, not just close contacts.

It's still a few days out, but the current forecast is suggesting the rain should be over by the time the match starts (see below). Given how well the MCG drains, I don't think the rain will be a factor at all and shouldn't affect selections. Waiting eagerly to hear if there are other cases before thinking about my ins and outs. "Cloudy. Very high (95%) chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Showers easing during the afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending westerly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening."

Sam Edmund live on SEN now - Did not divulge names but suggested he was pretty sure he knew who they were. When asked how significant the players were responded it was "1 or 2 best 22 and next generation stars" LJ plus one other young gun plus a player outside the current 22 is best bet at the moment.

Sam Edmund live on SEN now - Did not divulge names but suggested he was pretty sure he knew who they were. When asked how significant the players were responded it was "1 or 2 best 22 and next generation stars"

Smith in for Lever - Smith is more versatile than Tomlinson Bedford in for Viney - Sparrow and Harmes take Viney’s midfield minutes and centre bounces. BBB in for one of Weeds or TMac - personally I’d like to see more of Weeds but I think it will be him going out.

It's seriously time to throw the center bounce out. People think they care, but if/when it happens, they won't miss it at all. In the games where they umpires haven't bounced the ball due to conditions, I can guarantee no one sits on the train on the way home saying "Gee Frank, I really missed the center bounces today!!

I think a much better approach to the games current issues is to get serious about diving/simulation (more charges laid, and bigger fines leading to suspensions to repeat offenders) and to deal with umpire dissent and abuse after the games instead of inconsistently punishing during the games. The entire system breaks down when the very mild instances like Harris Andrews and the Hawks boys get punished, while the much more demonstrative and aggressive dissent of Hewitt (?? - the Carlton player) get missed. Start with fines of $5k, keep doubling it for repeat offences. If a club has more than 5 offences in a year, $50k out of that clubs soft cap for the following year with $50k more for each offence after that. The final step is to reintroduce a public report into contentious umpiring decisions after each round. Let us know what decisions were right, what was wrong and why the mistake was made (blind spots, bad positioning etc). Not to shame the individual umpires, but to help recalibrate the footy loving public as to how the rules are meant to be interpreted. The inconsistency we are seeing is the main cause of the publics frustrations.

I love watching goal celebrations now where the focus is on rewarding and congratulating the players that did the effort/work rate/1%/unselfish acts as well as celebrating with whoever kicks the goal. The Sparrow effort leading to the Fritta goal was a great example of this. It's also good when the crowd gets in on this. The reception for May after some of his efforts in the third quarter by the MCC was perfect. Our supporters are now growing in awareness of the efforts that are leading to our success and showing their appreciation. A stark contrast to the groans that used to echo around the 'G after a turnover.

Very tough selection unless an injury or protocols happen. I'm on the side of BBB coming straight back in. He doesn't need to prove anything at Casey. The question of who comes out is very tricky though. My thoughts straight after the game was Weeds hadn't quite done enough, but after watching the third quarter again yesterday, I realised he was much better than I thought. Several strong contested marks on the wings, marks which in modern footy are so very important. His disposal was very good and capped it off with the late goal. His first quarter was also handy. We have to keep finding ways to improve. Yes we know the BBB and TMac combo is effective. We have also just won 3 games with TMac and Weeds. I think we have nothing to lose but much to gain by having a look at what BBB and Weeds looks like. Whatever the decision, there certainly won't be any outrage from me though.

Goal to BBB. Safe now at 88-57

I'm not reading that much into it. He's not playing for a spot in the seniors, he's just maintaining match fitness.

Taj with a great goal, then a free given away and Munro gets another without the ball going back. 69-54

Petty has really come into the game since half time. However, they score. We still lead 60-48

Goal to Daw after a big pack mark. 60-42 The camera work is very jerky, but at least the commentators aren't as pathetic as last week.