pitmaster

Umpires are getting under my skin. You know what town you're in. Stevic you rat. Thirteen steps is too many?

Goody post the Pies game spoke of young forwards (JVR, Petty & Turner was how I heard it) still learning how to play together. That suggests they are there for the duration of the season, injuries aside.

I know we're not supposed to worry about the umpires but...can you comment on how two decisions helped shape North's momentum in the final term. Both were triggered by Windsor's alleged infringements. The first was the bump that resulted in a downfield free (goal) to Zerhar. That to me seemed extraordinary since Langdon was hit in the same fashion and almost identical timing on the opposite (southern flank) in the third quarter and the ball which had landed deep inside F50 was returned almost to the wing for Langdon to retake his kick, thus robbing us of any advantage. The second was the 50 metre penalty for movement on the mark when Wood shaped to handpass which even the AFL website match report said was an incorrect decision (but the umpire was bluffed by Wood who pointed it out). Wood was marched forward and allowed to crib around to lessen the angle and goal from close range. How much did those two decisions shape the course of the quarter? Was North going to gain the same momentum without those umpiring "lapses"? As an aside there was a bit to like about the game: Petty's marking upfield and his smart play to assist Kozzy's goal was sharp work; the Kolt with two cool goal assists was a positive as was Rivers in the midfield and Brown's cameo. May was a champion but for his brain fade moment and Turner looked better both in the air and kicking for goal.

It is a pattern isn't it? Take out one of our best five players in the first quarter so we play one man down for the entire game. We really do have to go after them hard after this.

I could not care less what GW thinks or writes. He adopted this view at the outset and maintains it despite what we have learned since from Dr Bruckner, the AFL and Trac himself. If he listened to them he would have nothing to say or write. Gerard has no special insights into football and no knowledge he needs to share. He should stick to talking to horses.

A rapid Dee-cline: What’s gone wrong? Andrew Wu Numbers show worrying trends for struggling Melbourne. Amid the drama at Melbourne in the past nine months, Max Gawn and Christian Petracca have been the calming presences. In a troubled campaign, punctuated by off-field issues at the club, both have maintained their customary high standards while injuries or loss of form befell others. Neither could have done more for the red-and-blue cause. Now, Petracca, won’t be there. For how long, not even the Demons know yet. It is not uncommon for such internal injuries to take months rather than weeks to recover from. There are no guarantees the club’s champion match-winning midfielder will even be back this year. After 10 rounds in 2022, the talk was around whom, if anyone, could stop Melbourne from going backto-back in a Demons dynasty. Two years on, they are no better than a 50-50 chance just to reach the finals. How fans must yearn for the time when they could fret over another September straight-sets exit instead of the fear of missing out entirely or, even worse, the possibility of the end of an era. North Melbourne great David King suspects the Dees have overcorrected in a bid to find marginal gains after the finals failures of the past two years. But by giving up part of their contested game, a team built on grunt has lost its way to the point where coach Simon Goodwin made a glaring concession last weekend to this masthead. ‘‘When you try to make change you run the risk of losing your identity and right now, we haven’t got a clear identity,’’ Goodwin said. The numbers are a worry. There’s enough red – where they’ve dropped away dramatically – to make any Dees fan blue. A team that prides itself on winning contest, defence and reliant on territory has fallen in each area. The best contested possession team last year, the Dees have plummeted to 11th. They are in the bottom three for ground balls (16th) and loose balls (18th), down from third and fourth respectively. It has affected their territory game. Only West Coast, Richmond and North Melbourne have a worse inside-50 differential. A club with a generational centre-square quartet of Gawn, Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney was taken to the cleaners by a Pies midfield missing Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury and Tom Mitchell – smacked 14-6 for centre clearances despite Gawn’s ruck dominance. As former Melbourne ruck star Jeff White pointed out on social media platform X, the Pies’ midfield set-up expecting Gawn to win the hitouts, positioning themselves in his preferred tap zones. Collingwood coach Craig McRae and his brains turned an area of vulnerability into one of strength. ‘‘When you’re going up against someone much taller and a very good player, you put a strategy in place to try and shark the taps,’’ White, careful not to be seen to be critical of the club he loves, expanded to this masthead. ‘‘Gawny is effectively hitting to six mids. ‘‘A really clear indication you get of the homework clubs do is the first centre bounce. The first two centre bounces is what I showed in the video [on X]. They didn’t go to Cameron’s dominant right hand, they flooded one side.’’ In a competition where you fall behind if you stand still, not enough Demons have improved since the historic premiership of 2021. Arguably, more have regressed than progressed. Oliver has gone from great to merely good after a summer of tumult. Angus Brayshaw, sadly, has retired. Luke Jackson has gone home. Ben Brown can’t stay on the park. Tom McDonald, the other half of their grand final key forward pairing, is back in defence. James Jordon, the sub in their premiership, has become a key player in his club’s flag push, but in the red and the white of Sydney. James Harmes has been offloaded to the Dogs. Both would be playing regular senior footy this year at Melbourne. Their departures have created more opportunities for Caleb Windsor (19 years old), Judd McVee (20) and Blake Howes (21). They will improve the Demons in the long term, but the premiership window should be open at its widest now. Tom Sparrow, Alex Neal-Bullen, Kysaiah Pickett, Jacob van Rooyen and Trent Rivers are the notable risers. Pickett and van Rooyen are the two who can become more than role players, and drive the side. It is asking a lot, particularly of van Rooyen, who must bed down a key post in just his second year of senior football, but they won’t play finals if they do not deliver. Pickett, though raw, has the speed to spark the Demons midfield. Christian Salem, a damaging half-back in their flag year, has the class and the damaging left boot to change the angles. As difficult as it may seem, the Dees remain in the hunt. Victories over North Melbourne and West Coast (at the MCG) in the next three rounds would have them 9-7 when the whips start cracking – but if they cannot rediscover what made them great, Goodwin may well be flogging a dead horse. With or without Petracca.

Sorry, saw this is covered elsewhere. Mods feel free to junk it. (Pretty much how I'm feeling about the year.)

According to SEN it's four ribs, lacerated spleen and a hole in the lung. That's a long stay on the sidelines. ADMIN EDIT (13/6/24):

There was no capitulation. The effort was there but skills failed us. Our skills didn’t seem up to the game we’re trying to play.

Not for one moment will I underestimate the tragedy of how Angus' career came to an end, robbing him of another five seasons with the Dees. But something that is overlooked in these discussions is that he played 167 games, is a premiership player (who played one of his finest games in the Grand Final) and that he was among the top ten club players in his final year. Now recall when he was first at the club, when he suffered repeated concussions and missed long stretches of training and playing. At that time it seemed he would have no real career at all. But he recovered to take part, and play a key role in a ground-breaking premiership. I am triggered by the Maynard incident as much as anyone. Don't let that detract from an understanding of the fact that Angus was almost lost to us and the game years earlier. Awareness of that is, for me at least, some solace whenever his name comes up. What he gave us can be seen as a bonus over what might have been, had he not taken on the helmet to keep his Mum happy.

Yes. It's been worrying me recently since I notice myself doing it. I think it happens because we begin speaking before we know exactly where the sentence is heading or before we realise our subject will be plural. I think a millisecond's thought should prevent it. Can we manage that?

It was pretty clear given how flat he looked in his one appearance on the bench all those weeks ago. This was just confirmation.

McCluggage - just great pack bursting straight ahead defence into attack dynamism.

I thought that was the idea but then 2021 happened.

When I was last at training, six weeks ago, he was moving and kicking sweetly. Looked ready to go then so hopefully he is only a few weeks away now.

Totally. Coming after injuries to Fritsch and Petty, losing Melky was the killer blow.

Stop projecting. (This was your initiative. And as for rude: try blah, blah blah.) With pleasure.

Well I did say it was from memory...

Here's the four previous meetings to Sunday: Round 1, 2023 MCG Freo 79: Melb 72; LOST Round 20, 2022 Perth Stadium Melb 85: Freo 39; WON Round 11, 2022 MCG Freo 94: Melb 56; LOST Round 1, 2021 MCG Melb 80; Freo 58 WON Don't you just hate it when you correct someone, mock them, and then it turns out you're the goose? I guess not, because from memory you have form in this regard.

The only thing I would add to this is that it was an opportunistic hit entirely. It started as an attempt to smother - legitimately - but once the ball beat him Skunkhead saw a chance to take out an opponent and did so with intent. Turning of his body was the give away.

Caleb Windsor?

Never let the facts get in the way eh? Freo's bunnies? How so, since we'd won 2 of the previous 4, and 4 of the previous 7 going in to today's debacle.

The problem is we have plenty of tall defenders. Tommo covered well for Lever today but when Lever's fit Tommo will be straight out. Unless TMac is going forward again there'll be no room for Petty down back. However, as he has not fired up forward TMAC forward to go alongside JvR is probably all we have left. Then yes, Petty can be banished to defence.

Unlike Daicos senior, who carries on like a two bob watch in a kind of look-at-me way when one of his kids does anything, Darcy senior behaved like a mature and serious observer of the game when his son put a dagger through the Magpies' black hearts. I loved everything Darcy junior did last night, from hitting Maynard to sealing the win. He is going to be one heck of a player and there will be a time when he gives us cause to hate him, so when that time comes I'll need to remember this game as consolation.

Responding from afar (have only seen the stats) but six tackles from McAdam suggests he was making a defensive contribution.