Adam The God

No one deserves to get to 300 IMO. I've been a long time critic of Jones, but he's actually starting to work into his role now and it'll be interesting to see if he can sustain it. I'd keep him in for the moment, but he definitely can get lost in transition and I don't think this is an intelligence thing, I think it's a leg-speed thing.

Yep, I think it's a dangerous move to play with the forward mix. McDonald, for the most part, is doing his job. He just needs to bring the ball to ground and take his chances if he gets them.

We could finish in the top 4 if we win our remaining games, but I don't think we will. I'm hoping we get 10 or 11 wins. That seems par from here.

Great post mate. Me too. That's why I've always rated Spargo even though he doesn't rack up big numbers or crumb too much in a traditional sense. I'm happy to allow those sort of players a bit more leeway too in their disposal. Petracca is a bit this way for me and Dustin Martin can turn it over a fair bit, but he's so often involved in Richmond scoring chains. In a season with shorter quarters and less time to score, players who are regularly involved in scoring chains are worth their weight in gold.

Sorry, poorly written. I meant playing Petty back would release Tomlinson onto a wing.

Thank goodness he's gone. ?

Don't totally agree with it all and the writer seems to think Tomlinson is playing on a wing or at half back, but interesting and well written insight nevertheless. Spot on about Clarry. Glad there's a bit of respect there for him. And telling, the regard for AVB too.

Agreed. Massive Hollywood vibes, but the mark and goal he kicked were class. Just needs to focus on doing his thing and try not to get swept up in the hype. He's had a great season so far, but is overrated IMO at the moment. The commentators last night said 'how good was Petracca' after the game, but really there were a few others ahead of him last night, namely Oliver, Langdon and probably even May. Despite all this, it's good to have a bit of hype around a few of our players. Makes them marketable and can attract sponsors. Hope Trac keeps focusing and working hard on what's made him a much better player in the last year or so.

I reckon he's a great addition. He's like James Milner for Liverpool. Can play anywhere and you know what you're going to get.

Yep, the avoiding contact on the legs thing was a recent example, but he doesn't tackle hard enough (or regularly enough) and I reckon since he's moved forward he's become less physical. I agree that when he played back, he showed courage in the air and backing into packs or in front of oncoming big forwards.

Oofa doof. This has aged well. As for those calling for Petty to be delisted, I completely disagree. Future CHB. He was played forward, but his intercept work in defence as an underager is what saw him find his way onto our list. When he gets his body together, I reckon he'll eventually take that spot Tomlinson's playing at the moment, which will release him onto the wing.

He's not the only Collingwood player in that category. You've got to wonder about their player management and fitness team. For a club that seems to have endless financial resources (or should), have the list seems to spend half the season on the injury list and then they usually use this as an excuse for their performance.

Never said he will be. And likewise, I acknowledge he's our leading scorer.

If we're on our game, our defensive mechanism is set up to prevent this play.

A fully fit Bennell on a wing would be a massive asset.

I think you're misrepresenting what some people are saying about not taking advantage of Max's taps. When I refer to not taking advantage of his taps, I'm saying our mids either don't spread or make the wrong decision by hand or foot from the stoppage. I also think his taps can be too predictable, so that our mids are sitting ducks for a stoppage press from the opposition. I think Max needs to improve and I think our mids need to improve. As a collective, they don't take advantage of either's skill enough.

I reckon we'll drop the Freo game off that shorter break and the hotter conditions.

Haha, Perth is too wide for our system. It's too MCGish. Sorry mate. SA for me.

Look, this is fair TBH. I agree with the sentiment that Gus is the guy that can get it on the outside, but Goodwin did persist with it for too long IMO, because we knew Brayshaw's best footy was "in the back off half 2018, when he was averaging 20+ centre attendances". This was Goodwin being stubborn. 10 games is way too long to make the change. Anyway, we've made the change now, hopefully we stick with it for the future.

Interesting that I had the impression that Harmes was terrible with his disposal yesterday when he went at 93% DE. I don't rate the statistic, but I'm going to have to watch closer I think.

I wouldn't be writing off Collingwood just yet though, mate. Agree, it's going to be very tough for Essendon now.

I'd definitely be nominating Adelaide Oval if it were possible. Long way to go of course, but we play AO very well.

I'm really excited by the noise around Egan as a Development coach. He seems to be a really calm, encouraging and clear voice for these younger guys. People have had a go at Weideman for his slow development in comparison to others of his draft year, but it takes time sometimes. Look at Dustin Martin and Petracca. Their development took 6+ years before they started to really impact games. And I'd argue in a KP it's even harder. You don't have the body strength or perhaps even understand how to use your body and out position bigger more seasoned opponents. Sam is finally learning how to use his body better and it's beginning to connect with his mind that enables him to take stronger one-grabs, rather than hesitant two-grabbers, or being pushed under the ball regularly. I reckon our development team is still showing what a huge impact good development has on the overall success of a team and its culture. There seems to be a real camaraderie between the list and every new guy that comes in, plays his role and then goes back to develop his game after a few shots at the big league. Kozzie, Rivers, Jackson, Lockhart, Spargo and Bedford have all shown improvement this season. Our players with a bit more experience (but are not yet seasoned vets) have also shown improvement throughout the season from Petracca, Oliver, Gus, Viney and Lever. All really good signs that the coaches are working on the deficiencies of these guys and improving them all. I'd like to see more improvement from Viney in particular around his ball use and his see-ball, get-ball approach, but he's still been a very consistent contributor and one of our better players across the season (even if it was at the expense IMV of Brayshaw). In the modern game, it's hard to kick regular big bags like the days of old. Hawkins did it the other night, but it's a rarity and we should be delighted at Weideman's improvement over the last 5 or 6 weeks. I have a feeling Richardson might have a big say in that too. 2 goals a game is very handy and I'd be happy if he kept going at this for the rest of the season and didn't kick a bag. I think consistency in his position is one of the biggest hurdles, so keeping the bar realistic (which is sounds like Richardson has encouraged) is a really good thing and will help him in the long run.

I reckon it's a tough one to gauge because we're not on the inner sanctum. To me, the way we moved the ball earlier in the season was a carbon copy of 2019. Get the ball and go long into the dangerous area 20 metres out from goal, but we didn't have the contest there, so it would break down. It was actually illogical to go there because we weren't playing two talls. Therefore, I think it's a combination of all three. I think the coaching across 2019 and early 2020 was poor, because instead of looking for lateral options, we'd just go bang and go long inside 50, usually to an outnumber or to the disadvantage of our forward in a 1v1. I think the players are able to set up defensively a whole lot better and because our fitness is much better, we're starting to trust that team mates are in a lateral position to receive the ball or will create a contest and then crumb when the ball hits the ground. I think the persist bombing long was down to the coaches trusting the system. I think Goodwin has shown a Hardwick-like stubbornness to change in game tactics and instead trust that the system will right itself. Maybe it's a case of short term pain for long term gain. If you don't play to the system I've devised, this is what happens, guys. This is where I think selection was the major blunder for Goodwin earlier in the year. Not playing two talls is inconceivable given the system is clearly, we want contests from our talls and pressure from our smalls. Well, if everyone's small, how are they go to compete in the air? It's almost as if Goodwin wasn't entirely sure what make his system work. Now we're getting contests in those important areas offensively and we're getting great defensive transition and setting up really well behind the ball. I think we were setting up well behind the ball earlier in the year, but the transition from attack to defence was still being learnt. I reckon we're close to a break out. Problem is, this season, due to the short turnarounds, is throwing up some really strange results, so I wouldn't put it past us to throw in one or two more pathetic results. I'm hoping we can maintain focus though and back our own fitness.

What was really frustrating is our zone had worked a treat and he was there in perfect time to cut off the option, but then butchered it by foot. I think they like Harmes' toughness and gut-run, which is why he's keeping the likes of Rivers out. I'd persist with him for another game or two and hope that his disposal starts to turn in game. He showed some signs of settling into his role yesterday and hopefully with this, comes increased DE. We'll see. Otherwise, I'd like him playing on the opposite wing to Langdon.