Fat Tony

5 minutes ago, kev martin said:

Not such a good morning, weather wise. As I arrived, it starting raining, settled into watching some Victory players have a kick around.

The MFC squad come out as the rain abated, they had wide smiles as the walked down the roped corridor. Plenty of joy from the supporters towards them, kids everywhere, maybe about 500 to a 1000 of us.

Rehab/light duties, Hunter, BBB, TMac, McAdam, Bowey, Chandler, Melky, Sestan, AMW.

Chandler was doing enough running to suggest he will be right.

I expected Hunter to be in the main group, must have had a setback.

Looks like they are working on the fitness of Sestan.

BBB and TMac are managed, no obvious hindrances, and the easy recovery run is usual for them.

A surprise with AMW, just as we were suggesting he is nearly ready, he goes into rehab. I couldn't tell what the problem was.

No Spargo or Hore, and I cannot remember seeing Turner (?).

They split into three stations, short kicking, a kind of soccer competition of kicking the ball down the field with finesse  from outside the line, and a structured handball game.

Down came the rain again for 5 minutes and then cleared.

They did some structured sims. Coaches would move the ball from the forward line and set a high mark for a backman who would slingshot it off via spread and/or corridor it with links, to either a marking forward or to a forward that brings the ball front and centre. may was moving well.

They had a couple of meetings in the middle.

Finally, they head to the boundary for extensive signings.

Great atmosphere.

Spargo and Turner were in rehab group but didn’t do much.

AMW told me he hopes to play this week. Also said he thought we would challenge Kossie’s ban. 

Hunter looked very proppy. Might have re-injured himself. 

Chandler looked in doubt this week with his right knee. 

2 minutes ago, Pates said:

Look I'll agree to disagree, he lifts the elbow out which raises his arm to impact with the upper arm. He doesn't get done for striking because that's the part that made impact.

This is the point of impact. The elbow was clearly down and tucked by his side. A raised elbow would mean the contact was with the elbow or forearm, not bicep. 

7 minutes ago, Pates said:

I'm not sure what you're looking at to be honest, he raised his elbow even if it was only slightly. He keeps his ams by his side the whole time he grazes the Adelaide player and we're not missing him next week.

It's silly from Koz, these silly acts have no genuine benefit to him, the team, and the game. It makes him look like a cheap thug. I don't like it from any player in the comp, so to have one of my favourite players do it really frustrates me. 

I've heard a few people saying Goody should be taking him aside and trying to curtail it, I actually see it as a leadership group situation. A chat from Gawn and Nibbler saying, "you're letting your teammates down with these acts" would be the best approach. If can play the game hard, without playing it dirty. 

He was charged with Rough Conduct not Striking, as would have been the case had he raised the elbow. 

1 minute ago, Master Chief said:

Unnecessary lifting of the elbow by Kozzy is going to cost the team. He needs to pull his head in with these kinds of acts. Missed too many games for silly, avoidable incidents.

He didn’t lift the elbow. It was by his side. 

The concept of using “potential to cause injury” to alter the level of “impact” of the charge has more holes than Swiss cheese. The case could fail at the corrupt MRO, but I reckon the chance at appeal is decent. 

21 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

the only way he gets a week is if it comes down as medium contact, and i remain confident we'll try and get it downgraded to low, and a fine

just don't hire adrian anderson as our representative; he's a lovely chap, but i can't recall the last time he had a win at the tribunal 

Anderson is not a lovely chap. He was responsible for initiating the tanking investigation. He is no friend of the MFC.

9 minutes ago, seventyfour said:

Can't defend Kozzy for this at all. Anyone making excuses has their MFC glasses on. He raised his elbow and was clearly trying to make Soligo feel it.

It was a dumb choice, he will get weeks, and he deserves weeks.

In his time off he need to do some work on the mental side of his game.

Raised his elbow? He tucked his arm in to his side just as he was taught at Auskick to protect his vital organs and shoulder.

The force of the collision was significantly due to Soligo's momentum forwards.

I am still not sure what players are meant to do in this instance. Pickett jumped pretty much straight up in response to the handball. His action to tuck his elbow in is required to protect vital bodily organs. Should he leave himself open and cop three broken ribs like Steven May. I don't see it as a careless act at all.

16 minutes ago, binman said:

He did say that, but I suspect we will lose inside 50s, or just break even, most weeks with the change to our method (though I predict come finals we will start winning i50s ahain as transition footy is not as effective in big pressure games).

As Binmans PA noted, we are setting our defence deep, and almost inviting inside 50s - as opposed to say Port, whose d presses up high and works to prevent the oppo going inside their 50 (leaving space and out the back goal opportunities inside 50 if their last defensive line is broken - eg fritters first goal against them).

That model only works because we are so brilliant at zoning and absorbing pressure.

When we do win it back we then have space ahead of us to utilise on transition, which we have been terrific at taking advantage of with handball chains and short hits on the 45.

The crows were just about the best at moving the ball fast from the back half, last year, but we've gone past them, as evidenced by this data (note: the season number is our average against scores, not the crows average. The match against is how many points the crows scored last night from their back half).

Points from defensive half

For		Against
Match	Season	Match	Season *
42	29.8	22	22.6

I doubt we are trying to change our approach that much from last year.

We are kicking a fractionally more centrally through centre half forward and less to the pocket inside attacking 50, which reduces the chances of re-entry

I think our forward pressure has been down due to Ben Brown and Petty coming into the forward line.

We have lost centre clearance by -5 in the last two games. Clarry is a liability in the centre bounce at the moment due to injury.

The inside 50 count was also lost against Port in part due to our accuracy (no repeat entries after a goal). We also kicked well to outperform expected score against Hawthorn and Bulldogs.

Pickett looked to jump up and land in the same spot rather than towards the player with the ball. Hard to argue he has done a lot wrong IMO. 

5 minutes ago, Redleg said:

No it was explicable.

Incompetent, simply umpiring to the crowd.

The rules went out the window and it was purely appease the crowd.

TBH that umpiring display was shameful.

Gather round, home side winless and being talked up by everyone from the Premier and Dillon down and packed crowd of Crows fans.

No surprises there.

I would love to see the insufficient intent free statistics at Adelaide Oval. It only ever gets paid one way!

The Crows were ferocious at home against the Cats but were stupid with their entries inside 50. We will need to treat this game like a final in terms of intensity.

12 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I don’t think the xScore thing impacts the strength of our wins vs the Dogs or Hawthorn; in most aspects we were strong in those games. 

The Port win was a special win, but that’s in part because we were on the back foot for long portions of it. 

I agree with you that this week presents a major risk. Adelaide are under intense pressure and I don’t think players like Dawson, Laird, Tex (unless he’s truly injured) and Rankine are going to keep playing poor footy for much longer. IMO a win this week will be an outstanding achievement for us.

We were the better team against the Dogs and Hawthorn and played well but the margins flattered us.

I think we can and probably will win against the Crows but I wont be betting on it this week.

We have had 3 games in a row where we have significantly outperformed the expected scores through goal kicking, indicating our form is not as strong as we think. And we are coming off a 5-day break and playing against a team with their season in peril. I am a bit nervous about this one.

9 minutes ago, Demonland said:

😢

 

They need to put much more water on the grounds early in the season (especially in Perth). Way too many knee injuries.

10 hours ago, jnrmac said:

What do we do with Hunter?

 

Can he play anywhere else?

Hunter might challenge Langdon for the other wing role.

And Windsor has the tools to play Bowey's high half back role or Billings's high half forward role.

On 31/03/2024 at 13:41, Axis of Bob said:

Windsor has already shown us that he’s got pace, class and is a road runner up the wing with defensive intent. He’s shown that he’s a safe bet as a decade long wingman even if he just maintains his current level.

Being that, I’ve been very impressed with his ability to do some work in tight spaces at AFL pace. He’s winning some impressive contested balls and using his athleticism in closer to extract himself and using it really well under a lot of pressure. This is beyond what you’d typically expect from a wingman. He definitely shows a lot of scope for future midfield time, which would be a plane pleasant bonus. 

It is only very early in his career but he’s shown enough to think that there is a possibility he could develop into a better player than we (in the public) imagined.

I see more Connor Rozee in Windsor than Lachie Whitfield. He is better inside that we expected and a good but not perfect kick. He has excellent hands and great decision making. He definitely looks an inside midfielder with more muscle.

17 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Adelaide screwed us to the wall for Lever

IF he goes it would be nice to return the favour.

They still owe us for Scott Thompson. 

1 minute ago, Demonland said:

We really should have been scheduled to play Port on the Friday night giving us a 6 day break. The AFL should try to avoid 5 day breaks as much as possible if not at all.

The Crows got Friday night!

Last time Viney played a milestone game was rather enjoyable!

I’m confident we will get an especially brutal performance tonight from the Demons!

I have 4 tickets for Gather Round for the Adelaide v Melbourne game. PM me if you are interested.

Surely it would have been smarter to wait until later in the season to make this deal.