Adam The God

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.

Nah, Trengove was never a top 2 quality. He looked decent in our D grade midfield.

Stephens more recently.

I'm always suspect on 17 year olds ripping it up in the SANFL. There are copious examples of play in that league failing to translate in the big league.

My brother in law always gets our tickets and we got them this morning, but what's the capacity allowance this week? Same as last week?

Naughton wouldn't be my pick for best young forward in the game, I'd have at least 3 others ahead of him (McKay and the King brothers for starters), but each to their own.

His goal kicking is pretty inconsistent too. Goes at 45%.

I'm not writing them off based on one game. They've been suspect all year when teams have actually brought pressure. Their defence is suspect. Cordy was being outmarked by mid sized players yesterday. I didn't mean Naughton would be out any longer than one week, I meant it to be more illustrative of their lack of forwardline depth. Especially compared with us who have shown we can win with all different types of forward structures and personnel. They've got a great midfield but weaknesses at either end.

Oh and the Bulldogs are unlikely to threaten during finals. Their defence is ordinary and take Naughton out of their forwardline and suddenly it's Josh Bruce as your main man. That's really not a top 4 forwardline. That said, flags are won from the midfield with solid defence. I just can't see their defence holding up, no matter how good their midfield is.

Chris Scott, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield. Are there bigger FIGJAMs in the league than them? How a club has the three biggest FIGJAMs in the league all under the same roof, says a lot about that football club.

Interesting analysis on Firat Crack tonight on how Weitering played Hawkins. He tried to play off him and then use closing speed at the last moment, so Hawkins couldn't engage in a physical tussle that he'd likely win. It's obvious strategy, but given how well we set up by the ball, May has the perfect attributes to play Hawkins this way too. I think even Petty and Lever could play him this way. This gives us options to counter. Fascinating, because without Cameron, if a defence can shut down Hawkins as a focal point, it leaves Rohan as the only other genuine threat.

I really hate the way they play. Not only do they throw it most times, the way they constantly milk free kicks, some will say it's clever, I don't like it.

1.9 is atrocious. And we complain about our goalkicking. :P Carlton need another tall target, otherwise they're far too one dimensional.