whatwhat say what

he gonna promise to play him forward?

harry mckay the latest player to take time off for 'personal reasons' it would seem that more and more players aren't coping with the sheer amount of scrutiny that they come under from external sources - i.e. not from their employer, but from those examining and reporting on their employee

but he's not going to get a short time contract at a nice price, is he? he'll get a long term contract either as a free agent or by sticking with the team of which he is currently skipper

double? quadruple!

the double blow for the rest of the competition - and the advantage it created for hawks and cats - was the doubling of free agency with the northern franchises coming in at the same time so teams like ours, aints, etc. not only didn't have access to high quality draft kids but also lost players consistently to free agency to the best clubs; we lost our key defensive pillars in rivers and frawley within two years of each other that's a hammer blow; imagine taking lever and may out of our side in two consecutive years

since 2000 i'd say there's been two consistently dominant teams: swans: 2003 to current (missed finals just 3 times! been in 7 grand finals for 2 premierships) cats: 2007 to current (missing finals just twice! been in 6 grand finals for 4 premierships) there's been two other teams who have had some incredible runs of success, albeit brisbane in two separate clutches: bears: 97-04 (missed finals once - when they finished last! - for 4 gf appearances, 3 premierships) bears: 2019 to current (6 straight finals, 2 gf appearances, 1 premiership) dingley: 2007-2018 (missed finals twice, 5 gf appearances, 4 premierships)

another q that relates to that - when was the last time any of forwards did a 'hook lead'? i honestly can't remember seeing it; you obviously can't see that on tv but at the ground i find it really noticeable how much our forwards lead once and...that's it our second efforts leave a lot to be desired across the ground

gotta say... the presence of dogga at the end ruins that gif (a bit)

this the same michael jordan who didn't make it out of the east in his first six seasons? gotta have a team that plays together to succeed

our mids point their fingers with the best of em

Midfield bombs it indiscriminately to no one i50? Blame the forwards! Midfield lets oppo waltz out of stoppage under zero pressure? Blame the backline!

other than jamara, probably not

the mark and goal at the end of q1 on sunday - when we had fritsch, jvr, and jefferson all clattering with one another alongside their opponents - is the first time in a while that i've seen him take a contested mark in quite some time still think we're wasting his greatest ability as a high half forward

can see this being a ben brown-alike situation, where a much-loved / much-criticised player goes to a second club and goes to be an integral part of a premiership as a key goalkicking contributor

these 'get a free burger when you spend $20 if yr team wins' aren't exclusive to mfc / melbourne storm members every member of every club gets that offer shame there's no further incentive for mfc members as yet

in fairness, bears vs puddy tatts was meant to be northern round to start the season

pear footscray them? aints dingley? bears? crom flagmantle? bloods? those two saturday night games should be crackers

what key forwards tho? there's few very available outside drafting one in, developing them

Seinfeld summed it up…

for us, obvs

he was best on ground last week ffs

wouldn't surprise me if lever doesn't get up, so that's both jefferson and lever out you can't pick sharp or woewodin either based on today's performance fritsch should be dropped but there's no one to replace him; we've turned one of the best mid-sized goalkicking i50 players into a completely ineffectual high half forward - what a waste fingers crossed may is fit langford the best of the mfc-listed players in the vfl, with fullarton arguably next best, but johnson will get the forward / ruck role over him you'd expect i would drop howes and sharp as well, but there's no one to replace them - crikey, when yr advocating for the return of bill laurie over the latter yr in trouble as a best xxxiii OUT: lever, jefferson, woewodin IN: may, langford, johnson

first two pick themselves then after that it's very slim pickings 6: chandler 5: oliver 4: salem 3: lindsay 2:bowey 1: henderson

Midfield way more of an issue than forwards Smashed at stoppages, murdered on transition

Longmire or Simpson