Adam The God

Absolutely. They're interesting stats, because it's like clockwork that you look down at the stat sheet and see almost all our forwards or at least a number of our players registering zero tackles. Against Collingwood, when our pressure was high, we laid less tackles than against the Bulldogs and the following players from our forward or mid system had zero or one tackle each: Melksham, Vandenberg, Fritsch, Weideman, Petracca, Pickett. It's not like the rest of the forwards laid a stack either. Jones, Spargo and McDonald only laid two tackles each. Successful tackling pressure isn't necessarily the best measurement, clearly. How do these stack up against pressure acts? Whatever the result, it's clear that we're not getting the most out of all of our forwards. Another thing that has been noticeable over the last few weeks is our want to keep our forward structure and always keep one or two forwards deep. "Currently the balance of the forward line doesn't seem quite right, IMHO, because our highest quality forwards are of a different style to the midfield and defence." - This is great. Agreed. That's why I'd be playing Viney, Harmes and Jones, the same style as our mids, as forwards. They don't have to be defensive forwards necessarily either. Each can hit the scoreboard and I'd argue Viney and Harmes are quite quick.

This is outstanding analysis, Bob. I'd be up for reverting to the one key tall as I've discussed elsewhere. Our forward entries have been markedly better than they were during the West Coast, Geelong and Richmond games. When Weideman's been switched on in the early part of his career, he's often tackled well playing up the ground. I think he has the capacity to evolve his defensive game to a Lynch level. I think when Jackson's fit again, I don't think there'd a question about whether we'd play two talls, he'd be straight in for mine. But until he returns, I'd look at mixing it up too. Fritsch, for whatever reason, is a turnover merchant at half back, but in the forward half of the ground, he's far more accurate. Maybe this is something he can improve on, having already played down there? I like Melksham as the defensive forward, but it means we need another connector, leading up half forward, otherwise the chances the second defender drops off and isolates Weideman in a two on one is very high. That lead up forward at this stage (if Melksham is playing defensive forward) is probably Fritsch IMV. I'd then play mids around this. All great for food thought though.

Bennell?

Great post @Axis of Bob. Agree with that too. So what would you do with our forward make up this year?

No one is saying Robert should get a pass. But it's far too easy to right off his experiences with, 'well, he did himself no favours'. Do we talk about Leigh Matthews or Dermie that way? No. Why is that? It's exactly the sort of problem our society continues to have, at both sides of the political spectrum. Some people assume our experiences must be everyone else's. Well, no. They're not.

Great post @3183 Dee and @titan_uranus. This is partly why I've been disappointed with Salem's conservative play from the back. He may not have the leg-speed of a Trent Alexander-Arnold or Andrew Robertson, but he's no slouch and has beautiful delivery, as those two do. I completely agree on Rivers. Could Rivers and Salem be our 'wing backs'? I'd also play Harmes forward, with Viney and Jones. That's three guys you know are going to more consistently than not, give you a contest and tough tackling pressure. I'd play Weideman, Melksham, Fritsch, Kozzie and Spargo as the other five rotating through there. And I'd use Fritsch as the lead up player across half forward and the wing. I agree that McDonald is a liability with his foot. However, I think we'll get murdered by St Kilda if we play two ruckman. They'll use this weak link to waltz off half back. It's an idea dipped in poison IMV. As for our defence, I think it's slightly more complex than Liverpool's set up, in that our game involves more players and moving parts, but it is certainly true that as soon as Liverpool shored up their central defence with the acquisition VVD, the rest of the defence flowed. I think in our game, May and Lever are both great acquisitions because they not only defend (spoil or intercept) well, they help us set up the rest of our defence and the mids in front of them. This is very VVD and what he brings to Liverpool. I think we have the players on our list to implement the system Goodwin wants to play, but I think we're being a bit stubborn in hoping others can fill the need. Harmes, Jones and Viney should play forward, not rest forward. They are all capable of hitting the scoreboard too. And as TU says, the question remaining is around consistency. Those three hardened mids bring consistency. It's logical IMO.

Such a shallow analysis. Try and put yourself in his shoes. If you'd been beaten by your father, if you'd suffered racism in your day-to-day life, if you were regularly abused for trying to go about your job... how would you react? I don't think you could know without experiencing it.

Great, insightful and thoughtful post.

I think the key here is that everyone is different and everyone's situation's different. To just blanket everyone with the same brush is frankly absurd. We all have different experiences that help or hinder our development as people. Just look at Jesse Hogan. He's clearly been through the emotional and psychological ringer, imagine if you added the racial element to it. Now more than ever, rather than division, our society needs social cohesion, empathy and compassion. Reconciliation with the traditional owners of the land we live on should not be a difficult thing for white people. No one's saying you are directly responsible for the atrocities committed and the intergenerational trauma that has unleashed, but recognising that these events have occurred and being open to the different experiences of Indigenous people is a good start.

I've been on record since just about Joel's first game as been one of his detractors. He has great athleticism, we all know that and poor IQ etc, but we may need someone to play foil for Weideman at the expense of Tom, who can barely run right now. Would we prefer Smith or Brown? Brown can get out the back for a cheapie, but can he play second ruck? It's dangerous to mix the midfield set up too much, given the lack of connectivity and understanding between Preuss and the on ballers yesterday, but perhaps that was a misnomer? I think we're going to be forced to make a move on McDonald sooner or later though.

Hang on a second. Are you really suggesting that Indigenous footballers were treated as royalty? You've got to be kidding.

Perhaps, the club can use his downtime to extend his contract, ala Pickett?

Fair enough. Let's wait and see what happens.

I agree, but this was also clearly a societal and competition-wide thing. It's very hard not to be cynical isn't it? It feels a very corporate, brand-saving sort of move to me. But at least they've done it and shows why it's important this story was written. I hope Robert gets some solace from it and I hope it causes those to reflect in football circles and the wider community. I got the sense this article is the most likely to create change. Given it's not in a tabloid, I'm sure there would have been an element of consultation in the editorial, something you couldn't necessarily control in book form or in the Murdoch and Costello press.

Well said, mate. As for the bolded bit, this is why a story like this, covered the way it has been, is so important. It makes some of us in more privileged positions reflect on the damage this sort of structural racism can have on people.

This is a devastating, challenging and extraordinary piece of journalism. I cried most of the way through it. It's been shared quite a bit through Facebook too. It shows that the AFL's corporate platitudes are just that.

I'd play Bedford, Harmes and Jones all forward of centre next week. We need ferocious tackling as you say. Stop St Kilda's run and gun off half back and convert our own opportunities and I think we win.

Absolutely no doubt about this in my mind. We're witnessing high work rate one week and then nowhere near enough the next. I think we'll make finals because of our softer draw coming home, but our commitment across the entire field seems volatile. It's frustrating because our list is currently around about where Hawthorn's was in 2008 when it stole a flag (remember all those rushed behinds under no pressure?). Hawthorn didn't do anything for a couple of years after that, but it shows you it's possible to do it this early in the evolution of the list. Richmond took a lot longer, but I reckon once it clicks for our guys we'll be very difficult to beat.

Agreed mate. On this, how far off is Jackson?

We blew Collingwood away in the second quarter last week by repeatedly going to the top of the square and to the dangerous area just in front of that. Richmond have won flags doing it. Collingwood, when on song, do it too. I think the plan is workable, we just haven't had guys that have created a contest or mids that have kicked to the top of the square at the right time. But completely agree on the practice, practice, practice mantra. It needs to become automated and feel natural.

That thinking would have seen us finishing outside of the 8 in 2018 though.

For all my defence of Goodwin today, I will say that the stoppage set ups hurt us. This has been a consistent theme when we lose. Teams carve us up on the outside and occasionally when we're on, the 'slider'/extra pushing into the contest to support or pressure is able to stop this, but there's too much margin for error. This is why I'd be up for a bit of a refresh with Benny Mathews moving on and seeing what a fresh set of eyes could bring our midfield group. Or maybe it's not even replacing Mathews, just merely adding a stoppages coach to the mix.

It's a tough one mate. We could try Weideman playing higher and see if it upsets the forward balance too much. If not, we're going to have to compromise system and look at 1 tall (that did not work earlier in the year) or bring Brown in to play Tom's role of rucking and 2nd KPF.

Paradoxically, I'd still play Weideman deep and keep Tom roaming. Weideman is starting to look dangerous deep and will begin to worry defenders the more his confidence grows.

Paging @Pollyanna. Reckon you could throw Viney in a forward pocket. Agree on Gus though. Needs to keep playing midfield.