Adam The God

Collingwood remind me so much of the 2021 Bulldogs.

10 days before this post we beat the arousal specialists, Collingwood, and suddenly we look a mile off top 4? You like your hyperbole, don't you, Steve? Agree with the sentiment of not relying on others around us to make the top 4, but I'd much prefer less pressure on us heading into the last month of the H&A season because teams below us have dropped games and can't catch us. Geelong won the flag last year in large part because they were able to manage players and had a very soft fixture at home leading into the finals series. Their last 4 games being the Bulldogs and St Kilda at Geelong, followed by the Suns away and then West Coast down at Geelong. A dream run. I'd prefer that into the final series personally, but all of this is irrelevant as I think we'll make top 4 and if we get going, will finish top 2.

A coaching friend and I were discussing what we believe are the most important factors in ball movement and ability to execute. We were talking about under 19s in this particular conversation, but the answer is the same: fatigue and the flow on effects to concentration, ability to set structures and to get overlap, separation from your opponent and so on. TMac from 3-4 years ago playing forward for us would be perfect right about now, because of his aerobic capacity and ability to work over his opponent up and down the ground. Nick Riewoldt would be another player that would excel under these conditions, however unlike Riewoldt in his prime, TMac rarely misses set shots and so it's this ability under a fatigued state to execute after your hard work that is the difference at this time of year. As Goody alluded to in his presser and as I've said numerous times, we need to execute these moments better and hit the scoreboard and take our chances. We have at least an extra 2 or 3 wins if we execute fundamentals under late game duress and early game opportunities. The Sydney vs Geelong game last night was another game where fatigue played a huge role in the result. Despite the evenness of the inside 50s and Geelong's CP advantage, Sydney should have won that game by at least 6 goals, missing basic shots from the goal square numerous times. Scoreboard pressure is vital in the modern game, because it's extremely rare to have 4 quarters of momentum and dominance all your way anymore. So you want to put separation between you and your opponent to ensure when momentum inevitably swings their way, they don't pass you. Our inability to get separation from our opponents, move the ball quickly to free players, get strong overlap across 4 quarters and kick accurately is now common occurrence, but prior to this 5 week block, we rarely had these issues. These are all related to fatigue. But, if we want to make top 4, we have to be better and push through this, and take our chances when we get them.

There's no need to be that personal. He holds a different view, but that's his prerogative.

I would be surprised if JVR doesn't come back in next week or the week after.

Ahuh... comedy.

You don't seem to like anything we do anymore, @adonski. Apparently someone from the club ran over your cat earlier in the year and now you're on a downward spiral of negativity. I don't remember you being so negative, but maybe you went away when we were busy winning the flag?

Yeah, righto.

Mate, you realise the orange wave is back, right? We need to ensure exits are blocked and we retain territory. Best way to do that is smalls. We've lost one small already in Spargo, so this should give us the best chance to nullify them.

Maybe, but this way we get a look at Brown and Smith together. Smith should compensate for BB's inability at ground level.

Were they though? Let's interrogate this. Minus Sidebottom, De Goey and Howe. We were minus Oliver (best player in the league), Petty and Bowey. Not a world apart really.

I hope the great man is okay.

Likely next week mate.

And where's the bird flying this year?

I think we'll aim to flick the switch a week later at Round 20 or even 21, @binman, but it'll be fascinating to see. I expect us to win at least 6 out of the remaining 9. If we win more, I think we'll finish top 2.

I don't think it's a pride thing. It's a BB fitness thing and a modern game thing (ie you can't go too tall and if you do, they have to be able to defend ground ball). If we didn't have Grundy, I suspect Brown would have been back sooner and JVR might have shouldered some more 2nd ruck duties.

It could just as easily be Brown going up to do community work, so we've named him to keep GWS guessing. Goody did say they were se ding up a few players today to do community work.

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I would have preferred he played the last 5, plus finals, but I'll trust the FD and fitness team. Maybe they want to see how he goes the next fortnight and then we know what we're dealing with heading into the last 5.

Well, given there are 9 games to go, plus 3 or 4 finals, it's hopefully more than an 8 game season.

Come the end of the year, sure, but before then, it's about making the top 4.

I'm starting to come around to this view too, although I think in the cut and thrust of the fatigue-ridden mid season games (competition-wide), I'm happy to go more defensive in our forward set up, by playing more small forwards than talls. As we hit the home stretch, I'd be going taller too and I think they'll change this up over the coming weeks.

Sparrow is the defensive mid that has basically taken the Viney role, while Viney (and Trac to an extent) has taken the Oliver role.

Nah, but we're useless. Our game style isn't exciting enough and we don't have the right arousal levels to win a flag.