mauriesy

28-19. It was more lop-sided in the first half.

Darcy Moore must be very negligent then, signing on for 6 years. ☹️

Avoidability is a factor, not just intention.

I can't see the functional difference between Ryder and English. English should have received two weeks. If the AFL are serious about concussion and future costly liabilities, they'll suspend players for any bump that causes a head knock.

The Demons are now a well-oiled machine. Not a lot of benefit in finding squeaks from three years ago.

In: Ben Brown. Out: someone.

The mongrelpunt on Sparrow: There is a name that is not synonymous with the Melbourne midfield… yet, at least. That name is Tom Sparrow. More of a nice option to have to throw into the mix than a certain starter in the middle, he is serving a fantastic apprenticeship under some of the league’s best on-ballers, and when you see him hit a contest or get down and dirty to extract the footy, you can tell that he is going to emerge from these seasons playing with Petracca, Oliver, and Viney as one of the players that slipped under the guard of the opposition. At 21, Sparrow isn’t required to do too much in the grand scheme of things, but his clearance work, and strength when the ball was in dispute, was a bit of a highlight in this one. He needs to tidy up his disposal a little, but the nature of his game and his clearance work probably impacts his disposal efficiency quite a bit. I’ve liked his work off half-back, but it is clear that he has been a midfielder masquerading as a defender at points over the last year, and with Port floundering, it was an excellent opportunity to give him some midfield minutes and allow him to work to his strengths.

Great, so we sucked the life out of Port like dementors, and half the team were quiet and not at their best? The only way is up! ☺️

I shared a house for 7 days with someone who had Covid (mild dose) and didn't get it. Three vaccinations helped.

Petracca seemed to spend more time forward in this match. It dragged McGrath away from the contest. If tagging Petracca takes one of their best midfielders out of play, I'm not sure it was a winning tactic on Essendon's behalf.

I'd have Smith over Hibberd. I think he's an ideal replacement for him in the long term. That leaves the issue of Hunt. Salem is his obvious replacement, but that won't be for 6-8 weeks.

Bowey hasn't "replaced" Salem's role. He does play the same role. You can have two playing that role in the backline.

Chance of that scenario occurring about 0.5%. And if we did somehow get to that scenario, give Weideman credit because he's marked the ball! 🤔

So the difference between winning and losing is the difference between Brown and Weideman? ☹️

That's because he's in the "3" part of 2-3 this week, and he'll be in the "2" part of 2-3 next week! ☺️

Not sure how any number of "security" can stop 30,000 fans jumping the fence.

Last year we kicked 323.308. Brown, Fritsch and TomMc are all reliable shots for goal.

21.14 in the GF wasn't good enough for you? 🤔

I wouldn't trust Aaron Naughton to win a match after the siren with any shot from close to 50.

Can't believe anyone pays anything for that rubbish. ☹️

Another example of the AFL wanting to limit head knocks and future concussion liability, and the tribunal in diametric opposition.

I just ask a couple of my Bulldog supporting friends "are you sick of Petracca yet?" 😄

Maybe the fact is that in order to win a premiership, you need both stars and a system. I wonder why we won one? 😄

He would have loved to have been here in 2021.

The adjectival tag "long-suffering" has also been removed from the front of "Melbourne supporter", and I'm very happy with that! That tag now belongs to others.