pitmaster

10 hours ago, fr_ap said:

It's really not that simple, so tiring people say this as soon as someone can kick...'put them in the midfield'. 

In the midfield you generally do not have time to dispose of the ball properly. That's why most midfielders other than the very elite (Merrett, Bont) are considered poor kicks. Plus, all of a sudden you have responsibility for winning contested ball in outnumber situations. That's not Judd's go (yet). It's the same reason Salem doesn't play midfield. He ain't a midfielder 

A key being McVee is a slippery character able to find space where there is not much. The reason I think he's worth a run in the middle - as an outside mid - is his ability to evade tackles and create room (and time) for himself and he is a strong kick. Absolutely he is worth a run in there because it's our delivery into the forward 50 that must be fixed or we're going nowhere.

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

good lord that is horrific

It's also wrong. Total 46 shots comprising 12 goals 19 points and 15 misses. Still bloody terrible.

3 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Skill level was deplorable & kicking .., Trac kicking continued to get worse, Hunter kicking is a joke as kicks it  straight to the opposition & has done so all season, fwd 50 entries are a joke 

Hunter for Hunt not the gain we were hoping for. Would not have lost anything had we kept JH.

Small forwards nowhere to be seen when the ball hits the deck from marking contests. 

But Trac may be the worst offender with 12 goals from 46 attempts.

4 hours ago, ElDiablo14 said:

True, but we also want to be competitive in the long run. That's why it's important we get properly compensated for the number 6 who shall not be named.

Little impact today. 1 mark. 1 hit out. 4 handpasses of which 50% at least were ineffective, 3 kicks and 3 spectacular but unsuccessful marking attempts. 

Loving the movement through and around packs that the Bulldogs forwards are creating. There're lessons for our blokes there.

Just now, pitmaster said:

BT is terrible. Thinks it's about him. It ain't. Darcy is a goose. McLachlan not so bad but has some terrible turns of expression like "such and such and change". Hudson sounds like a hyperactive 12 year-old. Whately is OK. Underwood dreadful nasal tones and talks in the cliches she heard growing up (like Eddie McGuire who was a shadow of Lou Richards) Wish Cometti was still at the mike.

Glad to have BBB back but puzzled at JVR's ousting unless he is being rested. With Brown there JVR could have played with more freedom. Hopefully he is a smokey late inclusion.

10 minutes ago, Young Blood said:

Honestly all the channel 7 callers are awful. Darcy and BT by far the worst.

Only one I think is OK is Hamish Mclachlan. He's more natural and doesn't force things like all the others.

Side note does anyone else find that Alister Nicholson sounds so much like Jordan Lewis.

Fox footy callers are so much better. Whately and Hudson are pros

BT is terrible. Thinks it's about him. It ain't. Darcy is a goose. McLachlan not so bad but has some terrible turns of expression like "such and such and change". Hudson sounds like a hyperactive 12 year-old. Whately is OK. Underwood dreadful nasal tones and talks in the cliches she heard growing up (like Eddie McGuire who was a shadow of Lou Richards) Wish Cometti was still at the mike.

On 6/25/2023 at 6:07 PM, binman said:

All excellent points AF.

I'd add one more (and then stay out of it, i mean who can be bothered - if someone is not convinced by the mountain of evidence by now - teams losing after the bye being just one more - then their minds are made up).

Our fitness fell away late in the 2022 season. Some argue that is evidence against the fact we did a mid season heavy block of training  (which frankly is just assinine).

Well, the obvious counter is that whilst it did not work for us - it DID work for the cats, who openly said they copied our approach (and acknowledged that a factor in their perennial failure to win a flag despite finishing top 4 in mutiple seasons was running our of gas late in the season)

The cats ran out the season as powerfully as we did in 2021, and like us had a clear fitness edge over all other teams (bar perhaps the pies). It was a massive factor in their dominant run from aprox this point in the 2022 season.

Having adopted our mid season heavy block of training, the Cats won the flag.

So, the last two flags, at least, have been won by teams who have done a mid season heavy block of training.

No doubt it is industry standard now. 

Not that you'd know that listening to media people scratch their heads trying to explain how freo, coming off a bye and clearly fatigued, could be so, so poor against the giants.

 

I understand this has become a painful issue for you binman, however I have to ask you to dig a little deeper and go again because I have obviously missed something in this discussion (which I have not followed since last season). Can you please outline the interplay of loading and the bye and explain how training around that time away is fatiguing players?

12 hours ago, praha said:

If I see one more Melbourne supporter crying a river for West Coast I'm going to puke.

It's really no wonder we're perceived as such a weak club when a team whose supporters have ripped on us for decades is suddenly being cuddled and nurtured by our own supporters. 

It's their once-in-every-three-decades slump at the bottom. They'll survive.

[censored] West Coast.

I'm loving it.

Nathan Brown. Courageous, great reader of the play. Matt Whelan and Brett Lovett worthy nominations above.

Personally thought it was a great tackle that should have won a free, not the reverse, but at least there's no longer term penalty.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/954595/match-review-fritsch-learns-fate-for-tackle-star-cat-fined

1 hour ago, Macca said:

Ha ha!

No just someone who obviously sees the whole game better than you do

Try watching without anyone in the gun one time.  You might then see what our overall issues are

Your Brayshaw bashing is churlish & childish

 

Don't want to get between you and those with whom you might have enduring arguments except to say that every week under (comparatively) little pressure Gus will send a couple of spearing 40 metre passes in the general vicinity of team mates only to put it directly down the throat of an opposition player. Alternatively, an attempted switch will put a team mate under the hammer in the manner of TMac in his old time defender days.

I'm not bashing the bloke but it worries me that he has not been able to work this out of his game.

6 hours ago, Deenooos_ said:

Geez the overreactions on this thread are truly ridiculous.

Everyone should know that today's performance wasn't us. We are up there with the likes of Collingwood in terms of flag contention. Even in our flag year between r12-17 we played some very bog ordinary games and we were nowhere near a flag, or so it seemed.

The season is long and we still have 9 home and away games to play. I suspect we will lose one of the saints or gws game in the coming 2 weeks but will find our run and form and finish the season off strong with a W/L of 17-6.

Our contest work and defence is still elite and our ball movement/offence has taken a hit, especially in the last 4-5 weeks but it'll come good. If you're worried about our forward line then look at us play at the start of the season. That's how it'll look come finals.

I agree, sort of, until I remember that this time in 2021 we were nursing Brown back and TMac could still be relied on. Now TMac is rehabbing from surgery and Brown is not within sight. In their place there is Smith whose much disrupted career means he lacks the physical presence of TMac and the forward craft of Brown.

Without a serious threat up there it becomes harder for Fritsch and (out of form) Kozzie to do their things. Hopefully we can fix a few things - Choco goes to town on Brayshaw's disposal, Bowey comes in (better ball use), and despite what Kate told a poster, (see above) Petty goes forward.

Simon broke his own rule of keeping to in form players: Tomlinson should have played back (although was probably omitted because of weather concerns), and Petty, if he was to play should have been forward. Smith is too easily out-bodied to be a key forward.

Spargo had a shocker on KB and should have been replaced. Bowey, a great user, should have taken his place and might just have improved forward connection..

Out played whenever the rain stopped. Out marked in our forward half and out run in the finish. Very disappointing. ANB's last quarter fumble crucial.

Agree that Angus' disposal really hurts us. Handpasses only in future?

Just saw the scores for tonight's games and something told me this would be the first ranked thread.

Hunter running through WHE really did have me out of my seat. It was the moment I realised we were starting to put our game together.

Having said that, my favourite moment from the KB game did not come until earlier this week when it dawned on me that in consecutive weeks we had knocked off Carlton and Collingwood. For decades post our flag in 1964 these two lorded it over us and the competition. To send the Blues into an even bigger tailspin and to nail the Pies both within 10 days was sensational.

Does defeat tonight deflate Geelong's prospects so much that they start to shift focus to next year, or does it make them more desperate when they meet us next week?

I suspect the latter but I can't see Port missing the chance to move ahead of Collingwood, even temporarily. It simply makes next week another chance for us to demonstrate that we are really a contender.

2 hours ago, John Crow Batty said:

Actually Allan Jeans should be on the thug list as well.

Damn right. Old style copper and an apologist for thuggery.

8 hours ago, A F said:

I never go near Level 2, 3 or 4. It happens every week on Level 1.

So...scarf on the seat lives on Level 1???

That's the MCC. Tradition dies hard.

2 hours ago, A F said:

You're not one of those MCC members who leaves their scarves across seats to save them, while you're off having dinner are you? Because as the attendants always say, you're not supposed to do this. It's prohibited.

That particular approach gives me the S's. We pay $10 a ticket to reserve seats at the big games. It's worth it. Then we can turn up whenever we want.

You're way out of date. Tickets are issued for every seat on arrival on Level 2 (coach's level) & 3 (press box level).

 The scarf on the seat has not been a thing for more than a decade, maybe since Neale was at the helm.

1 minute ago, FearTheBeard said:

There are heaps of dry bays in the mcc?? N41, n48, m45 q42-q45 rows a-f are all alcohols free. 
standing room behind punt road is also going to be dry on Monday 

Not heaps. Just two on the level I use (41 and 48). That's six more between them.

And as I said, it used to be that there was no drinking on that level unless you were in a bar.

It used to be that the game took precedence over getting on the turps.

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Mate have you ever been in the MCC? Calling someone a trade unionist is akin to calling them Nazi's 🤣

Remember Brian Boyd? Big man at Trades Hall and big Demon supporter.

Greg Sword also. 

Also the late Mike Hill, famous local government opponent of Kennett Government and mayor of "the Peoples Republic of Moreland" as Kennett's folk called it, was another huge Demon supporter and political progressive. And a great bloke.

One of the great things about our game is that supporters transcend the stereotypes.

58 minutes ago, A F said:

I wonder what crowds would be like if there was no alcohol served at the footy.

I go to watch the footy, not network or to have drinks with my mates.

As far as I'm concerned, you may as well stay at home if you spend half your time in the bar. But again, some MCC nuffies go purely to network.

I'm not advocating no alcohol at games btw, just that I think a significant portion of the crowd wouldn't attend without it. It's become so engrained in the fabric of footy.

The last few weeks in the MCC has been intolerable. People stand up in front of you 25-30 times a game, mid play. They don't even wait for stoppages anymore.

I'm sorry to hear this about your co-worker. That's pathetic.

I often have a beer or wine pre-game because since I sit in the MCC members I have to arrive early to secure a seat in the area I want. So lunch or dinner with a drink follows. But I have begun sitting in one of the alcohol free bays during the game because of the ratbaggery of some. I also hate it when would-be drinkers head off to the bar during play, or arrive with an armful of beers (in plastic!).

I have written to the MCC urging them to increase the number of alcohol free areas but had no response. In the old - that is pre-Covid - days there was no drinking in areas like the Balcony on Level 2, but that changed when we weren't allowed to congregate in bars. I wish the MCC would revert to that. The memory of a rabid Collingwood supporter with a beer in each hand going out of his way to harangue Melbourne fans (we were playing Sydney at the time) convinces me the drinking rules have been a step backward, but try telling the MCC.