Adam The God

I wonder what that looks like if Trac plays 65-70% forward again? Does Berry play as a pure defender? I expect us to go head to head with Brisbane's mids. They may put some work into Neale, but other than that, we won't look to sit on players. Lyons can be exploited for leg speed and I'd be looking to play through his man on burst at stoppages, but if we win the CP battle, I think we'll win.

Well, I'm on record multiple times saying I'd drop Gus (if Oliver was fit), so I guess I'd be open to leaving Rivers out. I like Rivers, but he's the major liability ball in hand in our current back 7 IMV. It's going to be a fascinating team selection this week, because I could also see us going small and potentially bringing back Chandler as well, so we can exploit Brisbane's lack of speed, but Kade may have to bide his time now that he's lost his spot.

Here we go again, laying the ground work for another Melbourne lose lose situation. We win and "of course we should have won, that's the bare minimum", we lose "told you, we're making up the numbers". I expect us to beat Brisbane FWIW.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a week later against Richmond, rather than the Adelaide game. From Round 19 the past two seasons, we've turned the corner, and with the 24 week H&A, they may be targeting Round 20 instead. But love it, Binners. And RE the pressure ratings and the expected score, it's why the St Kilda win was so important. To bank wins when you're not playing your best is what we have to do to finish top 4.

I'm not saying I'd necessarily do this, but they may rest Juddster.

Dunkley won't be back this week, but it sounds like Berry will be. https://www.zerohanger.com/?p=139715

Interesting. So Hibbo's a chance. I hadn't realised he'd be back yet. I reckon he'll come in @dazzledavey36. Be fascinating to see.

You seem to be doing an awful lot of "thinking" lately @beelzebub. Is your brain tired? Sorry @layzie, not an exciting post for you to read...

True. I did. But May has been terrible at ground balls his entire career with us though...

I'd actually shift May onto him...

I think there's grey in between here. Hibberd shouldn't an automatic selection because we have too many good players to fit into that back 7-8, but he will be an automatic selection if fit this year. Hibberd doesn't make the same mistakes Rivers does either IMO. Mostly, because Hibbo runs and carries the ball. Rivers tries to kick his way out and he's very hit and miss. There's obviously a difference between what should happen and what will happen, but Goody has indicated that we won't tinker with the three defensive talls anymore, so May, Lever and Petty are locks, injury permitting. That should be the case anyway, but that will be. And then as you say, you need Salem, Bowey and McVee. So that's 6. Rivers is playing as the 7th defender and Gus as you say will go back there. Again, what we should do versus what we will do is the question. I don't think Rivers or Gus should be automatic locks for this team, but they will be and are. And in a similar fashion, I think Hibbo should be a horses for courses selection. So if he was fit, I'd be playing him on Charlie Cameron this week. However, his injury does give us another chance to look at McVee on him. Cameron kicked two on McVee earlier in the year (with 5 score involvements), so that was probably a draw or maybe Cameron just won that one. Hibbo is the better option on him at this stage IMO. Vis a vis Rivers and Gus, I'd say with injuries, their flexibility will give us options in filling holes, but at full strength, I'd be saying it should be a horses for courses situation with them as well. I'm sure the DD see this differently.

Good call. We've changed rhe way we play this year in that we rely on chaining from half back, the wing and even half forward to score big. Stoppages are still important sources of scores, but less so than previously. So the half backs are relied on to help generate scores.

I agree, although I think if we win the next two weeks, given the draws of the sides placed 5th-9th, we will sow up the top 4 spot with wins against Brisbane and Adelaide, and it will take off some pressure at the back end of the season.

No doubt, he needs to get more involved offensively, not just defensively.

I wonder if they'll go JVR instead of Melksham or whether we try to manufacture a strange defensive match up like Melksham on Andrews.

Sometimes. He's a bit bull at a gate with disposal on slingshot.

Our two weakest ball users in the back half IMO both offer the best versatility. That's why it's likely neither will be dropped (Rivers and Gus). To be honest, I think Rivers is better as an intercepting and 1v1 half back, with a bit of licence to get high offensively, but with that licence he tends to get involved with chains and often turnovers them over. Maybe these errors will lessen in time, as our backs gel with playing this more offensive chaining?

I don't feel he gets found out 1v1 any more than any other defender. Sure, his height goes against him at times, but he usually makes a good fist out of it, even when he's at a height disadvantage.

Everything McVee does is so good. He so very rarely turns it over and he doesn't just win 1v1s or intercept well, or show extreme composure under pressure, but he also does those clever little tap ons to team mates and away from opponents. He's having the sort of impact that Bowser had at the back end of 2021, but apart from a lull in form for 3 or 4 games from approximately R8-11, he's been great all year. I thought McVee's game was near flawless last night. The one turnover he had, I'm pretty sure he cleaned up straight away by winning it back. He's a ripper.

Yeah, good call, he wasn't dropped, he had concussion. But he didn't come back for the Geelong game, which was well outside the concussion protocol period, so essentially had to bide his time. In retrospect, that was a mistake not to play him down there.

Well, he's already been dropped this season and he got his place back presumably due to Hibbo's injury. I love Bowser and he'd be in my team every week, but I have a feeling there's gonna be an unlucky defender in there somewhere at the back end of this year. And I hope it's not him.

I'd be giving certain players licence to use angles and take on kicks. Those players in the back half would be McVee, Salem and Bowey. (That's why it'd be nice to eventually get Howes in there too) Other than that, I'd be saying to the rest of the team, win your contest, or do your intercepting, or provide a handball receive outlet, or take short hittable kicks, nothing else. Gus and Rivers shouldn't be taking those kicks on and neither really should May and Lever. Petty is one defender who actually plays within his wheelhouse and understands his limitations by foot and keeps it simple. Now that we've got more kickers in the back seven, I'd hope we start to set these rules for certain players, because if I were the opposition, I'd be very happy with Gus or Rivers having the ball and trying to be creative.

So who comes out when Hibbo returns? There's May, Lever, Petty, McVee, Salem, Bowey, Hibberd, Rivers and Brayshaw.

The GWS loss was way worse. But yes, winning both games would have allowed us to rest a few in the lead up to the finals, now we're clinging onto a top 4 spot.

There's a lot of negativity here, but if you think Demonland is negative, the Facebook pages would make your brain melt. The lack of intelligence and general footy IQ on those pages is laughable.