Adam The God

I do question their ceiling if Curnow doesn't get on the park, but as we've seen with our list (and Richmond's on a greater scale), providing you've got good role players around the stars, the rest can click.

You're talking about Dow? I don't rate him, but each to their own. Yep, agreed, I'm most worried about them. More so than the Dogs, who haven't really changed their game plan significantly in 5 years.

Win the flag and the landscape almost completely changes...

I reckon they'll click next year. Need the pre season to get their defensive mechanism clicking. If they get that sorted, look out. Their midfield depth is still poor and bringing in guys like Williams on big coin to play there and then not, is a big list problem. They need at least two more decent mids.

Agreed. I reckon finishing 1st is vital, because first will likely play a home qualifying final against an injury hit Brisbane or flakey Port for a place in the prelim.

Keep Bulldogs guessing mate. ?

I'm torn on this. I don't mind the multiple talls jumping for the same ball. Obviously not spoiling each other ideally, but as strange as that sounds, it makes our ball movement even more predictable for our smalls. Ideally we get it 1v1 on a lead, but if not, it's not the worst result IMO. I think it's only a matter of time before BBB gets on the end of 3 or 4. I hope it's this week! If the Bulldogs still fail to get through us that bodes well for finals. I have a feeling we'll be playing Bulldogs the first week.

I agree with this generally. And I'd say there clearly is a trend against weaker opposition not to get the job done, but we constantly bring the right mental attitude to the bigger games and as many have said, we simply can't be up every week. Recent historical premiers have been through a similar experience. The big thing is that we are Melbourne, with a history, a backlog of failure and mental fragility. This team however is on top and is clearly the best team in the competition. The only reason the media are wary is because it's the Melbourne Football Club, and like us supporters, as you rightly point out, they have a history to look back on of failure. They are therefore skeptical. If any other team had dominated the top 4 teams like we have, there'd be no doubt from commentators. As for the flakey 2004 team that managed to get itself to the top for a solitary week, schooling a team that's been on top for the majority of the year and comfortably accounted for all major contenders, well, it's laughable.

And in opposition news, Lachie Neale has injured himself at training. If we can stay fit and healthy we'll win the flag. The opposition are all dropping like flies. Is this where Burgo helps win us a flag?

Because we smashed the Bulldogs last time, are on top of the ladder and haven't lost to a top 8, let alone top 4 side. That could be the reason...

It might also explain why Libba was rested this week too.

It seems to me that we want Viney majority midfield in finals, so we're essentially rehearsing continuity and connection now. Problem is I think Jack will be much more effective used in bursts through the midfield, but majority forward, like he was earlier in the season. It's a bad move, but I reckon the FD are showing their hand on the set up we want for finals. IMV, Jack should be forward, Petracca should be more middle, Gus should be on the defensive wing and JJ used as the defensive mid.

Wow. I didn't hear this. So it's highly likely we went into last night's game knowing we'd be playing the Bulldogs next week? Fascinating. That's quite similar to the Adelaide game earlier in the year...

It will be interesting to see whether we start to layer in some new set ups and set plays in the next few weeks in preparation for finals now that we've officially qualified. Players of interest for me in the next fortnight are Gus, JJ and Rivers. Starting with Gus and JJ, what are we doing with the wing position at the moment? Someone mentioned somewhere on Demonland (maybe it was @DeeSpencer?) that we might have been worried about Gus being exposed for pace on a wing against Port, hence JJ to the wing and Gus forward and into the stoppage sweeper role. This seemed to have some merit until last night, when the same plan was hatched again. I'm wondering whether they're giving JJ some rest from the bash and crash of defensive mid and playing him on the wing at the expense of Gus as a way of managing higher loads (JJ played high TOG last night of 82%), but less physicality. Either way, I don't think it's working as well as it could. I'd prefer Gus taking higher minutes on the wing and JJ having less TOG as an impact defensive mid that racks up tackle numbers and is clean offensively and when pushing back defensively. Is Rivers tiring and if so, do we give Bowey a shot at it before the end of the year? Going by selection continuity and what Goodwin has consistently maintained in the media, it's unlikely we make this move, but as a second year player, is it worth jeopardising defensive cohesion for a week and giving Trent a rest? I worry that come finals he may be mentally fatigued by having to get up every week. I know we've been managing Rivers' TOG too over the last 5 to 6 weeks (as I posted in another thread somewhere), but he seems to lack his run and carry, and dynamism off half back. Is it teams negating that or is it simply him tiring or both? It will be an interesting watch on these fronts, because I'm not totally convinced Rivers should be rested if there are other ways we can manage him in game (and Burgess and co will know better than me), but I hope Gus back to a wing is a formality in the next few weeks.

Bedford not mentioned by Goodwin in a long list of players they think are performing well at VFL level. I think therefore Melksham is more likely than Toby. But the FD could have a change of heart. I agree with your calls about Bowey and Sparrow though. I'd seriously think about Weideman for Jackson and Bowey for Rivers.

I'd look at shifting JJ back to half forward and pure mid time. He can fill a gap for us on the wing, but I reckon Gus has to play there. JJ's tackling around the ball and cleanness has been lacking since his move to the wing. He had one of his highest TOGs for the season (82%) and collected just the 20 disposals with two tackles. He may be tiring, but I reckon we miss his hardness and decision making at the contest.

Vanders was poor at both tonight. I'd take Viney over Vanders every day of the week and that's saying something. Vanders isn't a footballer. He's a good trier, but his skills are no better than Jack's, but he doesn't get it enough.

I wouldn't trade him but he's the worst kick in our side by quite a way and when Vanders isn't in the team, he's our worst decision maker. I know people love his pressure, but his cons outweigh his pros far too often IMO. He also has no trusting his team mates to win the contested ball, so ends up undermining our defensive structures. I was saying the same thing last year. Our midfield may not have been dominating clearances without Viney, but we were an excellent post clearance team. The best in the league. Now Jack charges at people and we often get done on the outside.

You misspelt muppet. What a [censored] that bloke is.

So Vanders in for Harmes, who has an ear infection, according to one of the MFC instagram pages.

How embarrassing are Freo? No forward structure, no real forward target all night, even when Lobb was on the ground. Geelong's pressure has been good, but their ball use and decision making hasn't been remarkable. Freo are just a rabble. Whatley really whacked them on 360 this week and rightly so. All they beat the last 4 weeks were Hawthorn, Carlton and Collingwood. And now they've given Geelong a huge percentage boost. We must pummel Hawthorn on Saturday.

Or they've stopped reporting cases.

Great post. Completely agree with this. Bulldogs have been consistent all year. They've just been solidly beaten by teams when beaten. They haven't had a form slump yet. I wonder if that'll come closer to the end of the year?

As much as I love the footy, if cases go up in the next 48 hours, I think there should be no crowds this week, until we get on top of it. I hope it doesn't get to that. We're meant to be shooting my current film in Sydney at the moment, literally in one of the most impacted councils in the state. It's so frustrating, but public health should come first. If the Federal government cares about businesses it should support them and workers with COVID payments. Treasury appropriates funds, instructs its central bank to type numbers into a computer to mark up accounts, money instantly lands in people's accounts. That's how federal finances work. There's no excuse not to support Australians. That's literally the purpose of government. If we need to lockdown for a few days, we need to lockdown. The footy can still go ahead in empty stadiums, provided all teams return negative tests. You do realise WA has some of the most vulnerable communities in the world living there, right? My step mum's sister is high up in WA Health and they're paranoid about it ever getting into indigenous communities. Their strategies of short sharp lockdowns have not only been incredibly successful at suppressing the virus, they've been incredibly politically popular.

Our family is half Geelong, half Melbourne. A GF or even finals loss to Geelong would be a nightmare in our family. The only Hawk is my wife who wouldn't even know when the Hawks are playing. I hope we pummel Hawthorn and I actually think we will.