Lord Travis

A quality goal kicking key forward is number 1 on the shopping list. Number two is a classy mid who can kick goals, and Butters will be exactly that player. Port nailed the 2018 draft, with Rozee, Butters and Duursma. We were super keen on Butters in his draft year but he wasn't within our grasp in the end. He's a second year player who has already showed he's a running machine, has good speed, great disposal by foot, can hit the scoreboard and doesn't mind a bit of niggle. He could play midfield, forward or back flank. If we could pry him away from Port, it'd be a massive win for us. He'd become part of our core midfield for a decade.

Why did we bother getting Brown if we’re not going to play him when we need a key forward and TMac is injured?! Guessing Jackson will come in as he and Brown were the reported standouts in the scratch match.

Mcevoy has been playing CHB/FB most of the year. They shifted him down there and use Ceglar as ruck. McEvoy has been good down back, but they swung him forward the past fortnight with success also. He's a solid utility. Ceglar out robs them of that tall option both back and forward. I think McEvoy is a better ruckman than Ceglar, and he's nullified Max in the past so our ruck advantage has just been reduced IMO. Does help us structurally though with Tmac out, giving them one less marking and intercepting option down back.

I’d go unchanged this week if TMac gets up from the eye scrape. If Hawks get their kicking possession game going, we’re toast. Need to bring the pressure this week to combat this.

That picture is from his profile on the club website. It's simplistic, but it paints a pretty clear picture. He's a poor defender and AFL player thus far. Harsh, but true. He should only get a game in our defence if we have a bad run with injury. As I said, I think it's forward or bust for him.

He does come across as laconic, similar to Travis Johnstone many years ago. Just because they appear that way, doesn't mean they're not busting their gut. I don't recall any specific encumbrance reported, but last year they had him do a mini pre-season mid year to "rebuild his body and confidence". Interesting looking back, as he may have built increased strength that was previously lacking and be moving more freely as a result.

I've been pretty vocal in my disappointment with him this season. He's a good athlete, but he's got poor football IQ. The amount of times he's flown for aerial contests and spoiled/crashed into 2-3 Melbourne defenders already going up is disgraceful. His game against Carlton was one of the worst by a player in red n blue this decade. He's been really poor in defence, really poor. Statistically, this season in defence he's rated well below average in every single stat available except tackles, where he ranks average. In my opinion, he should never play again in defence unless we have horrendous injuries. There's still hope to try him as a forward, where he showed a bit in one preseason game 2 years ago. If he can't excel as a marking target forward, then I'd rate him an easy delisting candidate. At 24 years old he should be hitting his peak, not struggling to even be an average league footballer and find a position. He's the type we need to stop carrying on the list for too long if we want to become a successful footy club again.

He was on Day for most of the match until Day got thrown into the ruck late in the game. He comfortably beat Day and also peeled off to assist other defenders too. Similar to Weid, not big stats but played his role well. Oscars positioning with defensive zone was light years ahead of Smiths. He reads the play quite well and doesn't get caught out as often, which is a good sign that he and the other talls in May and Lever have better understanding of each others games and are able to stick to their roles easier. It allowed Lever to peel off and intercept more and more as the game went on. Credit to Oscar for a decent game. He should be in the team again based on form and structure.

Apologies if it looks crap as I’ve done it on my phone. Names bolded are not currently in the team, injured, or no longer at the club. That is A LOT of change in 12 months! Hopefully we build some consistency with selection now as we had better structure on the weekend.

He played his role yesterday. He provides us a strong target inside 50, and though he doesn’t clunk all the marks he crashes packs and creates opportunities for our smalls. Another thing I liked is that he doesn’t get sucked up the ground like others in the forwardline - he anchors himself closer to goal and it improves our entire structure. If he plays that same role he did yesterday he’d kick 40 goals a year and setup many more. He needs to stay in the team and needs to be played forward, not swung around the ground in the ruck. Sure he can take ruck contests inside 50, but he stays inside 50.

People = ?

Gus had a poor game yesterday, but I still feel it’s due to not being played in a suitable role. His best footy, and coincidentally the teams best footy, comes when he is at centre bounces. In 2018 Gawn to Brayshaw was the best centre clearance combo in the league. We get more value from our clearances when Brayshaw receives the ball defensive side and the charges into space to deliver inside forward 50 by footy. It’s usually Petracca who feeds him too. Gus needs to play on ball. He’s one of our few mids who can hit the scoreboard as well. At the moment he’s being shoved between outside roles, flank, onball and as a result he’s struggling for consistency. Viney and him never play well at the same time. Whoever is on all plays well. We need to balance our midfield better. IMO it works best when we have the on all unit of Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, Gus. Need less bull at the gate inside kids getting sucked to the ball.

That game from OMac was better than Smiths whole career output. Experiment done. OMac is no superstar, but he can shut down a tall and allows others like Lever and Hibberd to get free and intercept and provide drive. Similarly, Weid is no superstar but he provides a target and straightens us up. Always chimes in with a few goals too. We look much better with them both in the side.

Blame Jack Watts. Wait no... who’s the current whipping boy again?

Excited to see Rankine play. He’s probably the most exciting junior I’ve ever seen at underage level. X factor out the wazoo. Think this will be a close match but Suns will get up in the end despite us having more scoring shots.

This has been covered in both the Goodwin thread and the Craig Jennings thread. We basically need to slow down and have some composure when looking for targets. Our overly contested and play on at all costs gamestyle only harms us, and goes against the way successful teams are currently playing. We are the easiest team to coach against. 1. Sit players off the contest, watch our mids all get sucked in to win the ball. Once the contest is done, either pressure them into rushed long bombs or the ball spills out and you're free to gain possession under little pressure. 2. Play a short kicking game creating uncontested marking chains. Our mids are too lazy defensively and our zone doesn't work. Do those two things and you'll beat Melbourne 100% of the time. It's sad we're that predictable and ineffective. Since 2018 we are the worst team in the league with a record of 6-21. On top of that, nearly all those 6 wins have been by less than 2 goals, we haven't had a convincing 4 goal + win since 2018. We're truly in rubbish form and need a shake up fast.

We won't feature so I don't really care. Just make it whatever stadium has the largest capacity. Perth?

He'd be tall forward providing ruck backup. Essentially Weidemans role if Weid leaves or doesn't perform. As I said, I don't think he's the right player and would only take him if he cost us bugger all. Ideally, we go get a strong performing tall forward who actually kicks goals. Throw the kitchen sink at a Jeremy Cameron type. We should always have two tall forward targets. We'll finally have that structure this week for the first time this year and I'd wager we'll perform better as a result.

On form, he's the worst of the 3 listed. Due to injury and form, we haven't seen him impact a game since 2018. He, like Melksham and others, shouldn't be given a free ride. It's poor culture. If he's not ready to play, then don't play him. We have a fit list and plenty of better performing and more deserving players. AVB is hardly a superstar. At his peak, he's a battering ram. At present, he's a waste of a rotation and a liability. Strong culture dictates you perform or you're out. Look at successful clubs like Hawthorn dropping players like Roughhead, Burgoyne, Bruest, Puopolo, Birchall etc when they didn't perform. It doesn't matter what your name or draft pick number was, you need to perform. On form none of AVB, Smith, Melksham, Hunt, Lever, Pickett, Tmac, Tomlinson deserve a game at present.

Right TYPE of player. Wrong player though. He's got the right attributes, he just doesn't show intensity or competitiveness. He's not very "Melbourne" in that regard. If there's nothing else of worth available, then he may be the right option at the right price though.

That was a memorable match for multiple reasons. Nicholson was rubbish that day. Travis stepped up in finals as usual. It had my favorite price of play ever - Whelan bump laying out golden boy Hird and then Travis kicking a goal from boundary line 50 on the run. Beautiful few moments of football. Umpiring cost us that match at the end! As for this weekend, I think it’ll be a close match but still have little hope we’ll find form and win. Gold Coast are competent ball winners and cleaner users. Will depend on if our mids can be smarter for once! Hopefully Weid in provides us better structure. Definitely the right In structurally at least.

Fair call. Everything’s a blur these days. So many years of failure and so few champions or great years. I still remember Nicholson getting toweled up by Matthew Lloyd in the early 2000s. How about Issac Weetra dominating?!

Happy with Smith out. He was horrible as a back men. His game against Carlton was probably the worst I can remember from a Melbourne player. He either needs to make it as a forward now or he’s an easy delist option with us having to reduce list size due to corona fallout.

Cats showing that kicking skills reign supreme. They barely handball, always looking for short kick options. Interestingly 4 of the top 5 teams have the lowest play on percentage. They mark, stop and create uncontested marking chains with short kicks. Conversely we have the highest play on percentage in the league and are the worst team in the league over the last 18 months. Basically proof our gameplan is completely wrong and we need to slow down and hit a [censored] target.

Question paraphrased: Can the issues be fixed and can they be fixed quickly? Jennings answer: It's a 30 second fix. That's just pure strategy and match day coaching. Pretty damning assessment of Goodwin right there!