Adam The God

Dermie is a moron, but I said the same at the time...

Walker stuck the knees in a number of times and you have to remember that if you whack May, he will get you the next time you're in front for a mark. Not worth it.

We won't and shouldn't debut a player as a sub. And before you say it, Billings was not on debut when inexplicably made sub in Round 0.

I'd be staggered if we rest BBB this week. He'll get a rest the following week.

I'd be surprised if we don't see a debutant. Either Kolt or Brown, probably the latter if Koz is suspended.

TOG for our mids have been much lower this year than previous years. Oliver and Viney tend to play south of 80% now, whereas usually they both play north of 80%. I didn't notice the lack of numbers at the contest, but I think we were definitely playing an energy conserving system, which aside from the physical contest side of the game, is heightened, I think, by sitting our defence deeper. What is interesting is that we've lost ground ball gets consistently, which used to be a key indicator of success for us. If we weren't winning ground ball, we'd struggle. I think this speaks to the defensive set up that sags back. If we don't win clean clearance, we are so aggressive from stoppage that the opposition gets clean take aways back the other way. We rely on the inside sliders off half back to push up and impact that first post clearance possession, which enables our mids to get back into the contest.

In other words, he thinks we need to be winning more contest (I agree) and turning the ball over earlier (ideally in our forward half). But we're still really hard to transition the ball against. And when we're on, you can't get in behind us, because we're setting up our defence so deep and far less aggressive than we have in previous years.

Lol, Goody is certainly not a good politician. 🤣

I'm just loving how we are defending the ground and setting up to defend space. It's going to become very difficult to play against. It's very noticeable that we block outlets by hand and then sag our zone back to our half back (when defending from our own half forwardline), which creates space in behind for us and enables us to turn the ball over, usually in the corridor. This means we're starting attacks from in the corridor in the centre square, and then moving the ball either to our forwards running back into space towards our goal, or to leading forwards with much more space in front and around them to work in. You can see the result of this tonight. We were devastating on turnover, and most chains seemed to start through the middle of the ground. Being happy to lose the territory battle can mean we are defending from quite deep inside our own D50, but it eases our forward connection, because we're not kicking to a crowded A50. I'm loving the coaching and the discipline from the players to execute this. I think it's a bit of an evolution of how we tried to play Collingwood on KB last year. We sat deeper and allowed Collingwood to run into our zone, and then closed in around them. Well done, Goody and team.

That was deadset elite and you just knew as soon as he marked it, he'd kick it straight through the middle.

IMO he's exhausted from the rucking role by the time he competes in the air. He did mark and goal at a crucial moment and I thought his tap work was excellent. He's becoming a really handy ruck, which gets him into the game. As his tank improves, his marking will improve. Could have had a big night on the scoreboard, but his tackling and general contest game I felt was droppable. I think we'll see his best against Brisbane though.

That's because you flip flop, ya duffer.

Lol, you're kidding right? I'll eat my hat if we win by 100.

We'd all like a second jab. I'd be happy with 3 or 4 jabs in the next few years please.

Caleb didn't go to Caulfield Grammar, but those two are best mates.

Unless we lose one of JVR or Petty, I can't see us going big on any opposition KPF.

It's okay to get them wrong when Collingwood are on the wrong end of it. 😆

See, this is the thing. We didn't steal it then. We set ourselves up that way. We were super aggressive from every centre bounce and many around the ground stoppages. The mentality clearly being win a pure clearance either out of the front or unpressured or be prepared to lose the clearance and then dig in at our defensive end. That has been a noticeable difference in all 4 games we've played this year.

And sorry to be a downer, but I thought Hore really struggled. Was often the man in the hole and only got it right once in the second quarter. I wouldn't play May against Adelaide, but if we do, Hore definitely comes out for May.

I reckon far too much is being made of inside 50 disparity. We're setting ourselves up that way to slingshot as Collingwood did last year and as Geelong have done for years under Scott.

That last quarter was outstanding, but I've been writing about this a bit - we either try to win an extremely aggressive clearance or we're happy to lose clearance and play the game more in our defensive half. It leaves space in behind for our forwards and makes them look better and us function so much better. I like it. It's potentially more nerve wracking, but the slingshot is absolutely on with our game now. ANB, take a bow. What a game. Viney incredible in the first quarter and then a really even team performance after that. Well done, BBB and Lever's early intercept play was excellent. Up the redlegs and Goody must be an alright coach, I reckon. McQualter a great acquisition as well.

We did have Rex Hunt unfortunately, but otherwise I agree.

I've been critical of Jack at times over the journey, but there is no doubting his vital importance in turning our club around by driving standards and competitiveness. Congrats on 200, Jack. Let's hope he gets another flag or two.

I think Laurie will make it. Our development team have been second to none. I wonder if a centre bounce midfield role would suit him...

It was all team defence. Our post clearance pressure and ground level pressure was so good that the best they could do was kick to a congested forwardline or dump kick it to our free interceptors. Our defenders were great, but it was an all team effort.