pitmaster

Pity CP5 did not nail the follow up centre clearance by hitting up Weed, but instead went too deep and gave us an example of what everyone had been complaining about, but yes his work was that of a beast. On May, interesting to see in the stats that he led - by a long way - metres gained, ahead of CP5, Clarrie and Viney.

Nicely thought through but there is no way Viney is going out. He brings the heat that has us winning contested ball and is too senior to be dropped without being given a chance to lift this group. Agree with 1, 2, 3 & 6 but as I wrote elsewhere I'd like to see Salem brought up for improved forward 50 delivery. Jones is good for grunt but he is a bomber like the rest. He spent much of last year passing to the opposition.

We need to Bring Salem into the play as mid-half forward to improve inside-50 delivery. With Bennell and Kozzie - assuming Harley stays fit - we would have serious ground level potency. Probably need to play one of Weideman or Brown for more marking targets as well.

Yeah I winced too when he said that but we have Jackson who is only two years behind King.

Lyon I think nailed it when he said we try to play too fast. Too much 'red mist'. When the players picked their way through the Tige's defence in he third term they did it deliberately and they hit targets. There's too little of that play and too much frantic hand passing back into contests. On The Couch showed a classic bit of footage in which Viney turned it over with his second handpass in a series of them, one of which was back into the pressure zone when we had a player outside able to be released. At the least I want to see a cooler approach to the play on whenever you can style which is exciting but beyond our skill level.

Defence is not our problem. Stop agonising over it. Our problem is lousy decision making* and lousy kicking into the forward 50, combined with our forwards' laziness or inability to read the flight. Salem as a mid appeals because that would improve our disposal instantly. More movement from the forwards would instantly improve our responsiveness in the forward 50. We outdid Tigers for inside 50s as we outdid so many opponents last year. The issue is how it gets in there and what happens when it does. *I agree that happens in the back 50 too: think Rivers and Gawn first quarter, but still...

Spot on. One more thing which isn't about skill but is about concentration. Rushed kicks into our forward 50 that land in a no-man's-land space are always marked, if marked at all, by the opposition. This happened repeatedly against Richmond where those under pressure, looping kicks found space it was always a Tiger running into it to mark. What I wonder are our forwards taught about concentration and anticipating the flight? They are constantly behind their opponents, by a couple of metres.

Ouch. Well that's better than hypocrite.

Umpires wearing black and white. Disgraceful.

won (just helping you know?)

You don't need a full stop if you're using a question mark.

FCS the word is 'clique'.

Really? I hadn't heard that, but I know his manager shopped him all through his last year.

True Jack but let's never forget Howe walked on us. Or at least he and his manager made it impossible for him to stay.

I'm ordering four guernseys for the kids. Delivered in September they'll go in the Chrissie stockings.

To be clear: the push last year to bring Yze back to Melbourne was as an assistant coach. It wasn't about replacing Goodwin. Of course it might have put him in the box seat in a few years' time but that was not the point as I understand it. I still think Goodwin warrants a clear run at it with a healthy list.

How is he a dictator if he allowed protestors to march? Try Politics 101 again.

Stop wasting our time.

Total BS. Players were over excited and distancing so didn't realise who was missing. Gawn made a joke of it as he broke into the song with the three others who were late. Nothing to this.

How long is it since you went to a game? For the past 10 years or so seat tickets have been assigned to MCC members on a first come first served basis on the middle tier. There's no longer any need for scarf reservations in my experience but maybe you sit on a different level like P or M?

They were 'that excited'. That's why they forgot to check everyone was there. It wasn't just Max. Rivers, Hunt and one other were also late to the party...so they sang it again.

To answer your main question: MFC had a big dip at recruiting Yze to the coaching panel at the end of 2019 and almost succeeded. Hawks managed to keep him despite our best efforts. He started under Clarkson maybe 6 years ago as skills/kicking coach. Last year he was elevated to game day strategy. TV vision strongly suggested he was Clarkson's main game day confidant. It's not just emotion that causes people to want him back although that does not hurt. It's the fact of where he has been and what he has learned.

Those tall backs are going to need time to learn to work as one. That's the best hope I can offer.

Hold on to that feeling.

You're right. It is a shocking head. I think it was George Orwell who said that by 40 every man has the face he deserves. Kennett is the walking living proof. Incidentally he is a bully as well as ugly and arrogant with it. He used to say that if you have never employed anyone you have never created anything. His attitude was if you worked for a living you were nobody. I wonder how he thinks about nurses, ambos and doctors post-Covid? Incidentally his creation was a crummy suburban advertising company that did supermarket leaflets and cheap late-night TV spots. Remember Dave and Mabel? Hardly a commercial behemoth.