RalphiusMaximus

I don't think we're pretenders. I think the team are a little prone to drinking bathwater though. The Adelaide loss in particular it was very clear that they hadn't turned up to play that day. They waltzed out onto the field thinking that the Crows were going to roll over for them. Collingwood had a similar vibe and we saw it again this week. Players trying for the spectacular play rather than the best one. Not watching the ball into their hands, trying for the pinpoint 50m pass into the center square, trying to take mark of the year instead of spoiling over the boundary. I don't think it's quite sunk in for them that every single team in the competition is made up of professional players and the difference between the top and bottom just isn't that great. If you give 80% on the day, you're going to get jumped no matter who you're playing. They need to get back into the mindset they had at the start of the year, play disciplined football, take good options and work for each other.

If Brown kicks three goals, is that a success? That seems to be his thing, 2-3 goals a match. He doesn't provide as much around the ground as other options, but we know that he will hit those few goals semi-reliably every game. I would think his fitness and lack of defensive game were the big reasons for him being dropped. Can we afford to let him be a stay-at-home FF while the rest of the side zones?

Great move. Not only in dropping a large chunk of cash into the club for the "future fund," but getting rid of the gambling revenue. Being pokie-free is a good look for the club.

Just thinking back to before the season when my Richmond-supporting mate was telling me about how he couldn't see any side that would seriously challenge them for another flag this year... ?

I loved this one: I think that sums thins up pretty well to be honest.

I just wish Oliver would sort out his goalkicking. It's the only aspect of his game that's missing.

Just watching the replay. The Swans' first clearance of the second quarter has just leapt out at me as a blatant and obvious throw in full view of the presiding umpire. This is getting beyond a joke.

Noooooooo! He's clearly going to leave for West Coast!

Just for reference, here's Aiden Bonar flattening Fritsch behind play in the first quarter. Deliberate head high contact which left the player stunned and in need of a trainer. Not even mentioned in the MRO's report for the round. Nth Melb v Melbourne _ Match Centre _ Kayo Sports — Mozilla Firefox 2021-05-03 22-51-47.mp4

I just had to put this here. Sometimes it awesome to be wrong, right?

Sitting in front of my computer...

Had a look at the replay on Kayo. The biggest conclusion we can draw is that North are in real trouble. The lack of any sort of depth is strongly reminiscent of us at our worst half a dozen years ago. They have nothing in their key positions, but that's ok because they have almost nothing in the middle as well and most of that is nearing the end of their careers. For our side, congratulations on whoever it was talking up Deakyn Smith during the off-season. He looks to be a very nice prospect. Give him a year or two to build his body and I could see him in the senior side. Sparrow delivers beautifully to the forwards and seems to work well with the Weed, who is of course dominating at VFL level. I get why they put Brown in for this week, but Weed is very stiff to be left out. Really though, there's to much you can take out of a game like that. They were that bad and we were professional and well-organised and took them apart.

He was at the ground. They interviewed him at half time.

Great news. I love that the club are getting these deals done early and with a minimum of drama. We're not hearing about players putting off talks until the end of the season or looking at their options. Already the media are turning their attention to the players who are out of contract at the end of 2022, because we've given them nothing to speculate on this year. Great position for the club to be in.

He played a really good game on the weekend. He used to be a bit flashy, dropping out for long periods. He seems to have moved past that, at least based on that game. He showed real presence and leadership in the middle and kept at it all game.

... Be pretty happy. You know the last time we won the first six games of the season was something like 1965, right? Edit: Or was that the first seven games? I think that team won like eight in a row anyway.

Don't forget his antics last year. Got a week suspension for a deliberate elbow to the head of an opponent, appealed and had it downgraded to careless and a fine. Played the next match, elbowed someone in the head and got a week again. Once again the AFL is demonstrating to the world that they have NFI how to run a league and their self-proclaimed integrity as an absolute joke.

Throw a blanket over the top three. They all had great games in different ways. 6 - Lever 5 - Trac 4 - Gawn 3 - Oliver 2 - Viney 1 - Fritta I have to give it to Lever for stepping up in the absence of May and some of the ridiculous defensive efforts he made. Being the only man in our defensive 50 when Geelong were streaming down the field and somehow making the stop was just stupid. Petracca unlucky given his dominance. I see plenty of people giving him the six and can't argue. Gawn also unlucky with his level of dominance over their ruck brigade. I was also really happy with Gus, Langdon and Salem, but there just aren't enough votes. It's a really nice problem to have.

That wasn't a change, it was a reshuffle. We swapped one of the players on the ground for the substitute. Still the same set of players, just a different one starting with a vest on. ?

Max Gawn - 41 Hitouts, 23 Disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal Both opposition rucks - 24 Hitouts, 19 disposals, 4 marks, 1 goal.

Do we have confirmation that May has a broken eye socket? That's what it looked like on the ground with the massive swelling and I see someone has mentioned it earlier.

Ben Brown won't come in. He's played half a practice match. He's not ready yet. While we're winning there is no pressure to rush him into the side, so he's going to keep building up at Casey for now.

That was just a genuine great win. Everyone contributed, nobody shirked and we operated as a unit all game. Yes, there were a few moments of idiocy that cost us goals, but overall we once again controlled the game and didn't panic when they got a run on. Of particular note is the fact that we were never behind. Not once in that game. We scored first and they never caught up. I don't remember the last time that happened. Even with our usual trouble converting, that was pretty close to a complete game. Is anyone else noticing how much the twins (Hunt and Langdon) are feeding off each other? It seems to me that Landon's presence on the outside has inspired Hunt and he's now working much harder to match his lookalike.

You don't change a winning side unless forced. May out Petty or Daw in. Straight swap for another full back.