Adam The God

Very risky. I'd be keeping Weideman if we think he is good enough. McDonald and Brown are both 28. The thing about taking those two guys out of our side is there goes 450 games of experience. When it comes to the pointy end that experience could be invaluable.

I'm wondering if they might give Fritsch a week off and play Brown in his place...

As stupid as it sounds, Carlton is a danger game. They match up well against us. I disagree. This is not where we're at as a football club anymore. Young players, health of the AFL 22 permitting, should have to wait until their form demands selection and until there is an available spot on offer in the AFL 22. We don't just get games into players for the sake of it. It's a long season, so if the guys at Casey continue to put their hands up, they'll eventually get their chances organically.

Spargo? Not sure I agree mate. No Spargo and no Kozzie? Unless Chandler can bring any sort of pressure like them it'll change the effectiveness of our system significantly. Our talls play mobile though and not all our smalls or mediums play a pressure game (see Melksham and Fritsch, although they may be improving in this area). IMO we can afford to take out Melksham and bring in Brown, because it's goals we're trading there, not tackles. I would keep Jones in there though, because he allows us an extra mid rotation. Melksham can play there too, but isn't particularly contested. If Harmes puts in a solid performance for Casey and Jones struggles, I'd make that move the following week.

I'm hearing Brown comes in this week, but not sure who will make way just yet. I'd say it'll be Melksham.

Good get mate. It was Viney too.

I'm sure we'd love to get this connection right, but I think we're happy to sacrifice some stoppage work to ensure our defensive system behind the ball is rock solid. Around the ground at stoppages, particularly at throw ins, we have often continued to go with one less at the stoppage, and one extra behind the ball - credit to @Axis of Bob for pointing this out weeks ago. This so often allows May or Lever or Salem to peel off behind the ball as the spare interceptor. It's a brilliant move and because our mids are so strong and Max is so dominant/Jackson rucks as an extra mid, we don't lose a whole lot by going one less in at stoppage. I think in the first quarter our centre square stoppages weren't as well set up. Our mids were too close to the rucks, with not enough separation. I think Oliver should almost always start well wide of the ruck contest, so that he can hit the ball drop at speed. It takes his opponent almost completely out of it, as Oliver has such an elite burst of speed when he hits the ball. The other addition to our armour at around the ground stoppages is playing Salem defensive side for the handball receive. We used this on two or three clear occasions last night in obvious set plays. But we were so clean with our disposal that we could flick handballs around and get it to an elite user on the outside. It surprised me that Richmond didn't roll an extra up closer to the stoppage to pressure Salem, because he was so often peeling off by himself. The Bulldogs will absolutely do this with Daniels this week. In fact, I'm starting to see the Bulldogs handball game in the way we're playing.

If Merrett is happy to take less here than at Essendon, then sure, but I can't see Essendon not matching it. Would love Merrett though. Would compliment Oliver, Petracca and Viney beautifully. His ball use and spread from contest is elite. I'd say we'll look elsewhere to add to our.midfield, unless something/someone comes out of nowhere.

He did it in the 2017 game. Put his knees into one of our guys right on the MCC wing in front of us and our guy bit back (can't remember who), Cotchin got the free kick, the momentum turned and they ran all over us. He's become a good leader, but he's very Selwood. Little [censored].

I was very disappointed with the crowd too...

We were certainly favourites against Hawthorn and we got the job done by 8+ goals. I think we're now seeing a different maturity to this team.

We do, because they're keeping the pressure on the guys in the 1sts. You always need pressure coming from the 2nds.

King was all over us back in 2018. We burnt him, so it may take a while to get him back. He was a big champion of ours for a while though. Yep, that's at least a 4 goal loss in the past. Now we can create scores from the back half and strangle teams when they try to move the ball quickly. Great post. That is the other aspect that was so impressive tonight and spoke volumes about our system: we managed to repel attacks and constant forays forward in slippery, wet conditions. This has decidedly not been our strong suit for many years. Particularly, against a surge team like Richmond. Again, our team defence was incredible.

We actually stopped tagging him at centre stoppages by the third.

Agreed, but it's not just about the list now. It's clearly the coaching and the structures too. JJ is really growing into this team. Really liking his work.

I said after the game, we ought to get a bigger crowd to the QB game, weather and COVID permitting.

Tom was magnificent.

I am almost 34 years old. I've gone week in, week out for 27 or 28 of those years. This might sound a bit ridiculous, but I think that was the best win I've ever seen. Not only were we 5-0 going into it, it was a massive game, against a side that has won 3 flags in 4 years, and they were almost at full strength (minus Prestia), and we stood up. So very un-Melbourne like in my life time. I went to Perth for the prelim in 2018 and midway through the first quarter it felt very reminiscent. Their pressure was excellent and they were all over us. We really took a long time to get going, but our incredible structure behind the ball kept us in it. Then by the start of the second quarter we had the game on our terms. Their stars had less than 10 possessions to half way through the third. Martin included. We simply strangled them defensively and made them pay when we went forward. Salem was extraordinary when we were slow early and I had him second behind Petracca by the end of the night. But Oliver was brilliant, Viney played his best game for the season, Tomlinson, Lever, May, Hibberd, Rivers, our whole back six really was immense. Our forward pressure was finals like and certainly elite for much of the game. Max played a great game too and I felt he comfortably beat Nankervis. There was a passage in the last minute or so of the game where Richmond looked for all money like they'd score, but we laid repeat tackles and then saw the ball out of play. The game was won, but this play typified our night and to be honest our season thus far. We simply weren't prepared to allow them a score, even in the dying minutes when the game was over. That speaks of a focus and a mental maturity, now six weeks running, that I've never seen in a Melbourne side before. It was a complete team performance. Melksham potentially the only one whose position might be in trouble, but he was handy on a few occasions too. So proud of my football side tonight. Keep playing like this and my boy will grow up watching a really good football team. Oh yeah. And he's six and zip!!

I'm pretty sure Robbo failed to mention Gus' 100th at the top of the game. Is that right or did I miss it?

Gee, those highlights remind you what a good goal kicking midfielder he is. Well done, Gussy. Loving the sacrifice you're making playing on a wing for us. The way he's been getting back defensively, but then getting into space on the outside to provide offensive drive has been really impressive.

I said in another thread that I thought Melbourne supporters would be humble if we went on a Richmond-like run. Well, I was probably a bit naive looking at the arrogance of a few of these posts. FFS, after where we've been, you'd think we'd always respect every opposition we play. Apparently not.

Be interesting to see how our defensive system holds up if it is wet. Richmond will be very dangerous in the rain in their forward half. It also means whoever can be cleaner off half back might just win it.

Great mixture of intercept marking and ability to line break. Even though he struggled at times last week, Rivers is usually an excellent decision maker to go with Salem and May's kicking. There's great balance back there. The forwardline looks pretty balanced to me too. It's all about work rate, bringing the tackle pressure and nailing our chances when they come. Do that and we're a chance.

Interesting. He goes on fair walks then. My sister regularly sees him walking the streets near Central Park. I guess he's a fit guy, so loves a reasonable walk.

You're probably right. And fatherhood is going well mate. I might appear a bit cranky on this thread, but the boy is sleeping well and his Demons have won 5 in 5. Chef's kiss. ?