Adam The God

Our midfield runs on Clarry. Without him we're nowhere. With Viney a likely in next week, Oliver and Petracca can hopefully go to the next level. There probably isn't another level available for Clarry, given his 10/10 Adelaide performance. Maybe his mate with the seven year contract can come with him next week though. Looking forward to seeing us bounce back.

Yep, probably true.

Fritsch has to be in the gun again. What a dreadful, selfish game he played. Not only did he try the me me me kick at goal twice instead of passing to players essentially in the goalsquare, he failed to lay a single tackle. Every time he looked to get the cheap one out the back and jogged around when manic pressure on the ball carrier was required. Melksham will be out before him, mostly probably due to the injury. He started okay, but again failed to lay a tackle either. We can't carry two of this kind, let alone one. Especially when Melksham is/was part of the midfield rotation. The signs have been there the previous two weeks with our drop off in inside 50 tackles. We let the ball come out way too easily and as a result, we struggled to get our system going all day. Oliver was simply superb. One of his great games. Petracca is the flashy one, but Oliver has always been the better player IMV. I'd be surprised if Trac outpolls Clarry in the Brownlow this year. I felt the turning point in the match was Clarry bursting out of the stoppage off half back, handballing to Trac who spilled the ball and Adelaide eventually pinged it back for a score their way. If Christian had been clean and we'd scored a goal from that play, the game was ours. Christian kicked a game lifting goal and his first half out of centre stoppages was incredible, but after this, he often tried to do too much and was pinged at vital times. Our defensive group looked shaky from the outset. I thought May was terrible aside from one terrific contested mark at half back. Hunt equally dreadful. Poor positioning, lack of cleanness and inability to win contests. Lever did a lot of good, but was often shaky back there too. I'd say Jake was probably in our top 5 or 6 though, which IMO says a lot about the overall team performance. While as others have said, we missed Salem's coolness and ball use behind the footy. Nev is probably too slow to play anymore. I thought his pace was exposed one too many times. I wonder how far off Bowey is from a debut? We look a little short for good ball users when you take Salem out. However, I thought Petty was solid enough and was incredibly unlucky to have that free paid against him when he simply outbodied Fogarty. I do have a question about midfield accountability. Who was playing on Keays? It seemed that Harmes was trying to tag him early in the game and then he seemed to go head to head with Petracca. Keays killed us and like many Crows, got the ball out by hand or foot when he shouldn't have far too many times due to our poor tackling. Did we let our minds drift to the Bulldogs game next week? Maybe. But whatever it was, we were a bit off forward of the ball (that lack of tackling pressure and cohesion with the mids), and our defence constantly looked nervous. Like they didn't really trust each other. Our lack of tackling pressure at half forward and then their quick play on game through the corridor opened us up and again showed us what will happen to our system if we don't bring half forward tackling pressure. The forward structure was also a mess this week IMO. Weideman's tackling was a lot better, but we can't play Melksham and Fritsch in the same forwardline. Both play like millionaires. Particularly, Fritsch. Loves an easy one out the back, but isn't prepared to play a defensive role. Does my head in. McDonald couldn't seem to get into the game after the first half. We didn't really move the ball to the advantage of our forwards enough either. After this week, I'm even more confused about what our ideal forward set up is though. Weideman doesn't look particularly dangerous to me. Fritsch looks great on the downward slopes. I think I'd have Brown in my team next week. But if so, who comes out? I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, but there were some worrying signs from our leaders after such promising signs this year in terms of leadership. I've already talked about May and Lever's shakiness, but after starting well, how many goals did Max give up? 2 at least from dropped uncontested marks and 1 at least from stoppage. If we want to get near the Bulldogs, we'll need to play better than we have all season. I can't it see it happening. So disappointing to drop this game against an ordinary but enthusiastic Adelaide side.

As someone lucky enough to have a hyphenated surname, can we make sure there's a hypen in there if we're spelling Alex's whole name. ?

Any idea the location for Cerra? I assume it could be a three way deal?

Lol sorry mate. I should really read your posts first. Spot on. Agreed.

I'd say it's less about the possessions and more about the tackles and pressure acts. He wasn't good enough last week.

I would have been fine giving Chandler another crack, but we could also say this is the MC placing the bar higher than a handful of mostly ineffective disposals and not enough tackles. His game was definitely droppable, but is the yoyo the best way to get the best out players? Only the coaches will know how Chandler is likely to react and how best to motivate him. I mostly agree with you, but we don't know why Melksham was dropped. It may have simply been a horses for courses scenario and our desire to get Weid in the side meant that a mid sized had to give way for a small pressure forward.

I'd have him out for Viney next week. Perhaps they want to try some things that Brown wouldn't fit into this week or next? That said, I'd bring in Captain Sparrow this week instead of Melksham if that were the case. There's not a lot that's dangerous about Sam to this point in time, but hopefully he starts to show it. And keeps his feet a bit more, whilst maintaining some strength in the contest. Why not Sparrow? He offers more than Chandler and has been ripping it up in the 2s. I can only assume they think Sparrow is fighting for another position. Say ANBs spot for example.

And I forgot Langdon. His spread and the outlet he provides is irreplaceable. I think losing any of our top 12 or 15 will make it tough this year. I reckon people forget that Richmond had a dream 18 months with no injuries. This coincided with their 2017 flag year. The constantly injured Bulldogs managed to win 2016 on system, but that's much rarer.

Great post mate. In order of importance, it's Oliver, Lever and then potentially Max IMO. We did show in 2017 though that minus Max we're less predictable. Petracca's spark and brilliance is difficult to replace though.

Great post mate. Still waiting for the Axis of Bob newsletter. Would gobble it up.

Zimbabwe is pegged to the USD. Its currency as a result can be at the mercy of money markets and the foreign sector.

Vis a vis #2, nothing can compete with fiat. Sure, the worth of a currency can decrease on global markets, but its domestic value is what's important. Particularly, as most people are beginning to buy more local product or buy very cheap multinational products (ASOS, Amazon etc). As for the reliability of a fiat currency, that is totally in the hands of Treasury and DFAT. The Australian Government can control the strength or weakness of the AUD if it wants to. This is of course why some millennials (in particular) like the idea of decentralising the currency. Personally, I think that's a terrible idea. At the end of the day, the fascination with cryptos are mostly to do with #1 - profit and greed. How can I get a greater passive return for my money? But the thing most people fail to understand is how value is derived from a fiat currency. The majority of the LNP, ALP and the Greens stupidly believe in Thatcher's taxpayer money myth. Taxpayers have no role in financing the Australian Government. None whatsoever. A fiat currency derives its value from the tax liabilities the fiscal authority demands every fiscal year, of every citizen and firm. So the Australian Government could increase the value of the AUD by increasing taxes or by buying up AUDs on the FEX, but it depends what the goal is and how that impacts on your foreign sector. One of the greatest living economists, I'd argue the greatest we've ever had, would do a much better job of explaining currency valuation than I would. He does post on this site, but unless he sees this, I'll assume he doesn't want to post about it.

To da moon, am I right? The dump is on. Again.

Have a read of David Graeber's DEBT. It blows the lid off barter and gold as a medium of exchange. Precious metals are just like crypto and unlike state money. Tax liabilities drive the value of state money. Nothing else can compete. But at least PMs have a history of people believing in their worth in times on instability.

Cryptos are nonsense, but each to their own. They'll never supercede state money. Decentralising finance is even more dangerous than having two major parties who operate almost entirely on behalf of the elites. All you get with cryptos is the same thing happening. The elites manipulating their wealth port folios with the old pump and dump, and then virtue signalling about cryptos horrible ecological impacts. But a deal is a deal. I wonder how much money they're tipping in. I hope it's taxable AUDs. :P

The Dogs will be hard to beat at Marvel and potentially harder at the G (their outside game could really tear you up), but I reckon Brisbane and even Richmond are a stronger team than the Dogs. But each to their own. It's interesting to note those top 3 teams are either Clarkson or Clarkson assistants.

Completely agree. And this is where the comparison to Klopp's team is still very apt. The aim being to force a turnover as quickly as possible or at least as deep in our forward half as possible.

Close. Bulldogs, Eagles, Hawthorn, Geelong and North lead the DE team stat. It's interesting to note the two bottom teams are in the top 5. I think you must be spot on and it's about the tactical way we play.

For many years I have viewed the DE stat with some scepticism, but it is interesting to note that we are dead last for disposal efficiency. This despite all the talk of the Williams effect. It would be interesting to read why Demonlanders think this might be the case, particularly as we are trying to be much more careful from stoppages and we seem to be much cleaner than previous years. In our effort to create the perfect clearance with use of handball, is this impacting on our DE efficiency?

Love it mate, but I'm going to disagree with you here. I think the Goodwinpressing was absolutely a feature of our games across 2017-2019, even early parts of 2020, but I think our defensive set up is now far closer to Clarko's cluster from yesteryear. We protect the corridor and are quick to close any switching exits. We've even started to block the 'play on' space from a standstill defensive position on the wings and flanks. When Carlton had it and looked to kick it long down the line, Kozzie would man the 15m space that the kicker would normally move into to get extra distance with the new rule. I haven't worked out yet whether this was something Kozzie was smart enough to do himself or whether it was a directive. Sidebottom did the same in the Sydney game. In Kozzie's situation, it meant that someone with pace could close down the kicker once they tried to play on, but without giving the 50m away by encroaching on the 15m zone. It's quite evident in games that we zonally mark space rather than press (Langdon and Gus are vital components here) and, sure, if an opposition player tries to break lines we're in a position to tackle and defend, but what happens mostly is that an opposition defender will look up and see a sea of Melbourne jumpers ahead. I think the instinct of a modern player is not to run and carry through that and undermine their own defensive positioning, particularly if their own disposal slingshots back at them. Instead, I think they look for a shorter option or more often a long kick up the line to a contest (and right into our hands). The Goodwinpress was far too aggressive and naturally left space out the back as the opposition could draw tacklers and utilise the space created to continue their attack. We used to see a lot of goals out the back. Carlton's first on the weekend was a very rare sight, where we all went up and it went out the back. Usually, our team plays with the ball in front of them. Petty, May and Lever all took turns at playing the goalkeeper role. May and Lever played it a little higher, but Petty was often 50m behind the play. As shown in the Sydney analysis by King. This happened again on the weekend. At one stage, Carlton dump kicked it over our initial wall and a completely free Petty marked in 30-50m of space. It was less obvious on the replay, but at the ground he was ridiculously deep. I loved it. And as King said, the deepness of this sweeper allows Lever and May to really play a more aggressive intercept game, knowing they've got cover out the back and quickness of defensive transition with the wingers helping out Hunt and Rivers to get back and cover Petty if the ball gets through May and Lever. It's a pretty impregnable set up. I think the first signs of this system started in the Collingwood game last year and were honed and really delivered in that St Kilda game. Like the Goodwinpressing, our current system still requires massive work rate to constantly shift and reposition the zone. Of course, there is definitely some pressing inside 50, but usually 3 or 4 players, not an 18 man press with mids pushing up like in Klopp's teams. We don't usually add an extra or two to stoppages anymore either. We're happy to have that extra behind ball. In some ways, it's been a monumental shift in philosophy. The boys mentioned it on the podcast last night, the ability to give up centre clearences for example and still be dominant around the ground. They mentioned Richmond and Hawthorn. I'd add Chris Scott's teams to this too. They're fine losing clearance, because they're well set up behind the ball. I think the other reason we've gone away from Klopp's aggressive style is our local game is far too quick. It's also much tougher to press exits on an AFL ground as opposed to a football pitch. This new system will get found out soon enough, but I'm hoping not within this year. It might take playing a 1v1 set up in the forward half, but even then, we're forcing teams to go against their own philosophies just to deal with our defensive set up. It'll be fascinating to see how this unfolds.

Way too easy to counter. Just have sweepers on either flank and the centre square. Depending how many of your players go into the huddle, you also leave yourself very vulnerable to the defensive 50 space with a turnover or intercept.

Jordon currently shares the wing with Gus. I'd shift JJ to half forward when not in the middle.

Jackson's tank seems elite going by his early season numbers. I'd try him on a wing if we think he's up to it defensively. Think Cox at Essendon.