Nasher

When I checked on Sunday, it said Tuesday 11am. Now it says Wednesday 11am.

Yep. We were massive North Hobart fans - it’s how I became a Melbourne fan in fact. Was present for the back to back flags in 91 and 92. Awesome times. Feel a bit sad going past the place these days. Hate going to Bellerive, home of the mortal enemy.

Too small both in ground size and crowd capacity. Bellerive is where the state gov’t elected to spend all their money on upgrades on, so it’s the one with all the big, modern facilities. North Hobart looks exactly the same as it did when I was a kid watching footy there in the 90s. Great memories having a kick on the ground at half time. I’d love to watch the MFC play there more than anything, but it’s not going to happen.

$1, you really went out on a limb there, big spender!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m hoping for a total and utter massacre. My only disappointment is that Boomer Harvey isn’t still playing, although he acts as their runner so he will have a front row seat. It’s just that engaging in banter feels like stealing an ice-cream from a toddler. Besides, remember how patronising it was when we were so rubbish that people stopped teasing us?

That’s what it says, isn’t it?

I don’t want to hang on them too much as I’m all too familiar with that feeling of dread and hopelessness at the upcoming game, and their mood reflects that sentiment. But there is one lost Swans supporter on their BigFooty board foreseeing a boilover. Obviously hasn’t watched much footy this year; even the Norf fans are laughing at him. https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/round-7-2021-north-melbourne-vs-melbourne-blundstone-sunday-may-2-1-10pm.1264716/

If Brown comes in for someone like Melksham, the vacancy in the team will be on the HFF, not the wing. Can TMac do that role? I guess it’s not dissimilar to wing. I’m not sure why Fritsch isn’t in the conversation for a higher role and keep TMac deeper. He has a 14-4 record there. Happy hunting ground for him traditionally.

A lot of that comes down to maturity and experience I would have thought. The Roos-Goodwin rebuild is the first one that has been seen through without being dismantled half way through. I don’t think the mental clicking is JUST down to maturity, but a critical mass of it in the team is certainly a prerequisite.

Just tuned in an now they’ve got 15.0. Wonder what the record is for most number of goals without a behind?

Yep. They might make an exception if NMFC can prove they only did the airport-hotel-footy ground circuit and took all the precautions etc. I hope so anyway (as self-serving as it is to support hard border policy then suggest relaxing it when it doesn’t suit me). I really want to go to this game.

Tasmanian border policy - currently closed to visitors from Perth. We (Tassie) shut the gate completely every time there’s a COVID hot spot emerging. It’s been great for keeping it out but this is the consequence.

Neal-Bullen was awesome last night. One thing I’ve noticed recently is that his tackles are a lot more likely to stick, and get the ball loose than they used to. Not sure if it’s the strength of a fully developed body or improved skill, but it’s improved his value immeasurably. First time since 2018 that he’s an automatic selection and arguably in career best form.

Water off a duck’s back for me. Winning tastes way better than whatever salty crap they’re drinking. Eat dirt, footy media. I’m happy to just enjoy the winning and just let all the barbs, jabs and general banter just bounce off me like I’m made of rubber. I’ve thrown plenty over the years so it’s only fair. I do make an exception of disrespecting Nathan Jones though. Bag the MFC in general if it makes you feel better, we can just point at the ladder and say suck it. But don’t make it personal by insulting a great of our club and a player who has shown more resilience than 99.99% of the players to have played the game. He deserves global respect from the footy media and it’s a disgrace that it’s not being given.

Yes - the place with the weird winds he described is Blundstone though.

Harmes comes through the VFL and eventually replaces Jordon when he tires for mine. No hurry on that one.

Comes back to the point made by Jayden Hunt as relayed by jnrmac - high half forward is a feast-or-famine role by nature. Spargo’s value to the side is defensive effort. It’s a strength and he helps is trap the ball in. I still think there is a bar for minimum number of times for being involved in a possession chain though and 6 is below it for mine.

Goodwin said in the post match presser that they’re continually looking to improve, be it personnel or method. It’s a pretty obvious point, but it does defeat my previous instinct of “don’t change anything while it’s working” when something else may work better. Breaking our forward structure totally seems an unlikely outcome to have to worry about. The outs would have to come from Melksham, Spargo and Jones. I don’t think it will be Jones yet. Looking at the heat map, both Melksham and Spargo got the majority of their touches on the wings and flanks - they are playing low possession roles at high half forward. Melksham is a class user of the ball but with some questionable defensive efforts while Spargo is a terror defensively, but doesn’t get the ball enough, with 6 disposals this week. I don’t think the choice is obvious. But if one of them goes, we’re replacing an i50 deliverer with an i50 receiver - no doubt it changes the mix. One of TMac or Fritsch have to get out of the forward 50 and move high in order to maintain the balance if that were to happen. I thought Weid would come in after last week, but now I think it has to be Brown. At the end of the day he’s a 60 goal a year forward at his best, and he’s playing well. Weid’s form warrants selection too, but there’s no room, TMac is holding him out of the side at present. Tough for him, but that’s how it goes when the seniors are flying. Glad I’m not on the selection team this week.

When Gawn was really starting to cement his place in the side, the one knock on his game was that he didn’t hold his marks enough. Max was about 23 at the time. That’s where Jackson is at now, at 19. He does all the hard work - just needs to hang on to them. In the long run I reckon he’ll be a better player than Max and that’s a very high bar. He’s more athletically gifted than Max for starters. Hard to think of a more salivating talent on our list other than maybe Kozzy.

In the interests of moderator transparency - I’ve deleted a couple of my own posts and those that quoted me. I was legitimately intending to diffuse what I thought was unwarranted negativity but instead inflamed it. I never thought I’d see the day where I was accused of being the negative one? This was a fantastic moment tonight. I was genuinely buzzing after the game. I reckon we can all take extra confidence out of this. Richmond are quality and didn’t let us grind them in to the dirt like Hawthorn did, but make no mistake, from 10 minutes on we were in complete control. I think we can all agree that it really feels like there’s something special amongst this group. I can’t remember the last time I started looking forward to the next game as soon as the game finished. I’d forgotten what it felt like to love footy but I’m there again.

Jones, Melksham and Spargo are our clear bottom 3 at present. I think a case can be made for any of those three to go - but only one of them. I’d pick Brown ahead of Weid. I’d be really tempted to go no change though. The present mix is working. The risk of breaking it has to be a consideration.

Ed Langdon to return to the long sleeves next week please. Just wasn’t the same.

Anyone foresee TMac legitimately holding BBrown and Weideman out of the side before the season started? I wouldn’t change anything next week. This formula is winning. Leave it alone.

Love that despite arguably our best quarter of the year, against easily the best opponent we’ve played, we’ve still got room for bagging Melksham needlessly. Never change, Demonland.

I think I’m more nervous now than I was at the start. Is there anything worse than the half-time break? Hurry up already.