jnrmac

Probably easier to train over summer when you aren't dropping bricks on your head.......

Hawthorn aren't that tall.

The tackle on Anderson wasn't that bad. Anderson just wanted to have Zeibell take the kick for goal. Anderson jogged off miraculously as soon as Zeibell kicked the pill. Jetta shouldn't have a charge to answer. He was attacking the ball and a 100kgm 200cm player is barrelling towards him. Whats he supposed to do? jump out of the way or brace. Its a split second thing.

When was that?

Good summary. Think this aligns with my previous posts where we are getting the ball in quickly to our fwd line but it is bouncing out fast and transitioning into our defence quickly. It all stems from our clearance and contested work where we are winning and getting the ball into our outnumbered fwd line quickly. Our transition from defence (last for rebound 50s) possibly is down to Hibberd being less effective (or tagged) and guys like Hunt having poor starts to the year. It could also be that the defence is unsettled with new personnel and changes to style. It was a clear negative for us last year, particularly in one on ones and allowing opp'n to score from an i50 entry (we were last in both categories last year..) Our game style looks more like Dean Bailey but with better talent. I think the plan is a work in progress with our ability to score quickly being very good but our allowing other teams to score quickly not so good. We also have a better spread of contributors that is harder to negate Gawn is having a huge effect on our fortunes and with better team efficiency and composure generally we can be a contender.

I think he referred to North Melbourne rather than the Kangas as well..

Hartung was prominent in the opening 15mins but didn't really do much for the rest of the day....

Kent played a good game, The game he needed to play. But don't re-write history. He tackling, second efforts and kicking for goal were poor for some time. I am glad he had a good game because he has the skills. For me its between his ears. Had too much arrogance about his own skills. Is much better when he plays a team game like he did yesterday.

I'm not sure you understand what constitutes a tackle stat..all of the above applied solid fwd pressure..

I said the shame earlier but I think they were all at the same end looking into the sun...

Today I was reminded of the sage words of tennis great Vitas Geralaitus. He beat Jimmy Connors after Connors had beaten him 16 times in a row. At the post match press conference he said: And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." Gold

Get yourself a room RB

Gawn absolutely smashed Goldstein. We killed them in centre clearances. Harmes and Petracca in the ruck doesn't seem sustainable. Kent played pretty well, as did Bugg. Selections this week worked well. ANB dropped at least 5 marks but otherwise played well. Bernie and Lewis were good. Nathan Jones was his usual warrior self and his kicking to the fwd 50 was magical. Petracca is a beast and very hard to stop one on one. OMac did well generally - Brown got a few frees and when the ball came in quickly he wasn't great but overall played a good game. Even Wagner played pretty well. Salem was excellent in the clinches, A very good overall team performance that was only let down by our poor composure in the 1st and 3rd quarters. 3rd quarter with 3mins to go we were 20 i50s to 5 and yet had only won the quarter by 4pts. A couple of late ones were very important. Finally we beat those hacks. Very happy with that. Big next two weeks, hawks and Toiges.

Hogan was epic. Saw him do multiple 50-60m runs to make position. 442m gained apparently in his disposals. Absolutely outstanding game.

wow....great insight into team selection

I think Joe G was quoted as saying that if Melbourne selected Ezra Poyas then he wouldnt be selected to play on the Sabbath, or something like that....

Probably referring to not playing on a Sunday and not recruiting Ezra Poyas....

This is the crucial bit. We are definitely trying to get the ball in quicker to our fwd line. This means less chipping around and less uncontested posessions. I can live with that. We haven't got it quite right yet as it also means if our mids and fwds cant hold the ball in, it bounces out pretty quickly and our players are out of position. We saw against Geelong a lot of bombing into our fwd line. We clearly weren't playing to coaches instructions and the ball flew out. The first half saw Geelong's 24 entries i50 result in 20 shots at goal an 8 points given up. We got it right in the first half against Brisbane but fell away in the second half for a host of reasons- two of which are probably the 6 day break and the humidity. Umpiring was another. Its round 3 and we are trying to get the balance right. I will watch with great interest how we manage that balance between attack and defend. I would say the selections are designed to bolster that speed and flexibility (not sure Kent is that flexible but Hannan was failing in one of his key roles of fwd pressure.) I think thats why Goody loves Bugg so much. He tackles, has endurance and applies a lot of pressure. Lets' himself down with kicks but a coach will cut them some slack for that if the first part is delivered.

This is the crucial bit. We are definitely trying to get the ball in quicker to our fwd line. This means less chipping around and less uncontested posessions. I can live with that. We haven't got it quite right yet as it also means if our mids and fwds cant hold the ball in, it bounces out pretty quickly and our players are out of position. We saw against Geelong a lot of bombing into our fwd line. We clearly weren't playing to coaches instructions and the ball flew out. The first half saw Geelong's 24 entries i50 result in 20 shots at goal an 8 points given up. We got it right in the first half against Brisbane but fell away in the second half for a host of reasons- two of which are probably the 6 day break and the humidity. Umpiring was another. Its round 3 and we are trying to get the balance right. I will watch with great interest how we manage that balance between attack and defend. I would say the selections are designed to bolster that speed and flexibility (not sure Kent is that flexible but Hannan was failing in one of his key roles of fwd pressure.) I think thats why Goody loves Bugg so much. He tackles, has endurance and applies a lot of pressure. Lets' himself down with kicks but a coach will cut them some slack for that if the first part is delivered.

Why would you play Frost as an extra man in defense when you have one of the two best in the league in Lever?

This drug has been in use for years. I can't recall exactly but it was something like women's issues in the uterus. This is simply a use they have discovered like - oh, it takes away hip and knee pain as well? Great let's try it on athletes. Hardly dangerous stuff. It would be like saying Aspirin is great for headaches but we just discovered it increases blood flow to the achilles tendon. Nothing to see here.

We also had a 6 day break and then played in humid conditions. Maybe some didn't pull up as well as others? Pedo would be dirty not playing against his old side but he has missed a lot of grabs that he would have taken last year. As for Hunt there is some talk of a lingering back issue....

I hope Frosty has bumped up his endurance. It' hasn't been his strong suit.

Nah, its like giving money to charity. You don't do it to have your name put on a building or tell people about it. You do it because its a good thing to do.

Since 2007 we have only had 4 players kick 40 goals or more in a season. Hogan Garlett Jurrah Green Goal scorers are hard to find....