Adam The God

Yep, true, except Arces likes to torch the ball a bit.

He's an interesting choice for a winger at the moment. He's strong in the contest, good in the air and a beautiful kick. Handy traits for a winger.

He had at least two intercept marks taken on him in the first half, so I think more likely he just didn't let that happen again in the second half.

Spargo was good. His press was excellent. Didn't get enough of it, but was a contributor in the forward half.

Yep, that was the footsteps one. It was from a cute but good kick from Kozzy. He needed to go and didn't. I was disappointed. Needs to get that out of his game. Easy to say that from the comfort of the stand though.

I think it's more about being disciplined. The first half we bombed long too often. It was bad, like we were trying to conserve energy. But the game style will work if we're patient in our build ups, rather than just kicking long to out numbers. Keep chipping the ball around, so the opposition have to press up, which opens space up behind. And if the opposition allow the switch, then we need to go quickly and we need forwards and mids leading up at the ball carrier.

JVR to second ruck. Turner can play alongside May and TMac when the opposition plays tall. Agree wholeheartedly on Petty. Was really good again last night.

My point is what we are trying to do was clearly evident in Rounds 1, 6 and 7. No one thinks what we delivered for the majority of rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 were acceptable or what the coacheswant to happen.

Did you see our first game against GWS?

He lacks class and finishing. That's the problem. I'd hope JVR would have kicked that goal late against GWS to seal it. He doesn't really look like hitting the scoreboard as a forward. For that reason I prefer JVR.

I don't like the three tall forwards, but if we're to ever play three talls, AJ has to be one of them as be brings the heat at ground level and provides a contest in the air.

In: JVR, Turner, Melksham Out: Fullarton (omitted), May (managed), Fritsch (omitted)

Yep, we shouldn't be thinking about Hawthorn at all. West Coast towled us up over there last year and are a different proposition in Perth to playing in Melbourne. Let's. String. Wins. Together. Every win is a building block. I hope that's how they're thinking.

Absolutely true and I'd buy it if he didn't have form prior to having a kid. His defensive game, IMO, has almost always been poor.

He has a physical presence, he just hasn't been taught/learnt to use his body to his advantage. JVR is a good second ruck who gets involved when the ball hits the ground. That's not lacking in physicality.

So let's analyse those games where we lose. As they say in the EPL, just get the win and move on. The most important thing to see us continue to get better at is the game style. The switching, the sharing by hand, the overlap running, the quick playing on, the uncontested control game. The style being played is very Arne Slot, who is about to win the Premier League in his first season. If the opposition defence is set, share the ball uncontested at the back, switch and get the best angles to make incisive passes in the final third. Get the ball into a dangerous spot in the middle third of the ground and flick the switch and go quickly. It's not the same game, but it's a very similar strategy.

11 tackles according to the AFL ap (it was 12 tackles when we left the ground, so they've amended that), and Tom also kicked a goal. So Fritta managed 1 extra goal and 11 less tackles and 25 less pressure acts... And Fritta played from behind most of the night. Sorry, he needs to be dropped.

What? Your relationship with the MFC is like a brilliant pop song with one of the great choruses? How odd. 😆 And only a Melbourne supporters forum would descend into Emily Bronte / Wuthering Heights references haha.

And constantly playing from behind. Thanks for the 6 snags on GF day and winning our leading goalkicking 5,434 seasons in a row, but if we can get a first rounder for him, take it and run.

Plus Turner and Adams, IMO. I reckon May is just about done. It took us a bit of time to get used to moving the ball from the back when May was involved. He often slowed the play down. He was much better after rolling his ankle and coming back on the ground, but in 1v1s Lynch killed him all night. Sparrow's pressure was incredible. He and Viney led the way in that department. And I agree on Clarry, but his 13 touches in the third quarter was like A++ Clarry of old. He needs to do it for longer now...

He was definitely tagging Taranto. Went everywhere with him. Having a tagger in our midfield is a masterstroke as it not only gives us a much better offensive/defensive balance, it usually means Jack and Clayton aren't fighting over the same ball.

Apparently not...

I thought we played okay in the first half. Good pressure, but ordinary ball use, too much long bombing. In the third, we were superb. I was told we registered something like 230 pressure points for the quarter, which I believe would make it our best quarter for the season. We then controlled the first 15 minutes of the last and then rested Max. Anyway, each to their own mate.

Dazzle shoots from the hip and when he does, he unfortunately misses more often than not.

Get on a roll, who knows, but I'm less concerned with percentage than I am with game style.