Adam The God

Superb post mate, but just wanted to add something further. As the game wore on, we definitely let Sydney have two and sometimes even three kicks from the kick out. We wouldn't allow them to get over centre wing, but we allowed them to chip to here. We then set up down the line and in the corridor and dared them to hit the kick into the corridor. They mostly went long down the line and we'd often win ground ball or neutralise their ground ball win. This is a vaguely similar tactic that we used against Collingwood in 2023 in the KB game and again, a similar move to the one we employed against Hawthorn recently. As @binman has said of the Hawthorn game, we allowed the first handball, but sweated the second, and meant that often the press would start across half forward. Against Collingwood, we allowed the first kick and then allowed them to run into our press, and strangled them from there, exploiting their overly aggressive press and commitment of numbers forward of the ball. Both strategies hope to turn the ball over by the centre of the ground, sometimes boundary side of the wings, and then slingshot back inside a relatively empty forward line, as the opposition commits numbers to half way. And that press or gamble that Collingwood (and Hawthorn) do has always left them more vulnerable, and they rely on 1v1 wins or break evens from Moore, Maynard, Quaynor and co to neutralise fast turnovers against. So the key is either lots of forward movement from our forwards when we cause the turnover or lowering the eyes and hitting up shorts, or even better kicking it over the last defender towards the square. I think in the recent past we would have been happy to take the shot from anywhere inside 50, but now we tend to get it deeper and within (to my eye), 30-35m of goal. This entry doesn't have to be central, best if it is, but you can see we have a lot of shots tucked into the boundary line. Melksham often leads here, for example. He's generally an excellent finisher from either pocket, so IMV, he'd be our go to forward. And the beauty of him often taking the best interceptor, is it drags that defender out of the central leading channel and brings other forwards into play with the space it creates.

Mills has a history of this stuff. He definitely meant to hurt IMV.

Sure, I just don't think that's our plan.

It depends if Adams is up to the level this year.

Watching Mo last night, I actually thought they'd make a great sprint off.

Oliver is a much better player than Jack. If he plays like he did yesterday for 23 weeks in a season he'll be A+ again. Jack isn't as damaging IMV. But we're lucky to have both of them and will fit them in. Jack in the forward half for mine.

Great post. Sparrow deserves huge kudos for his last 6 or so weeks.

The comments weren't directed at Jeffo, they were directed at Goody. Of course.

He's a beautiful, long kick. He obviously thought it was out of his range, but I'm not so sure. We've seen him flush them from there before.

This is a Chaplin forwardline. This is exactly the sort of spread we regularly had in 2018, and we're now starting to get a really unpredictable spread. This makes us harder to play against, and as Trac hinted, it's all off the back of defence and manic pressure.

I maintain this may not be the case by the end of 2025. May's pace is becoming an issue, as it is for TMac.

Did you read the post you quoted? I most certainly acknowledged the younger brigade, but said we need 1 or 2 more...

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/1791042/rd-11-goodwin-post-match-media-conference?videoId=1791042&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1748174040001 He is a bloody impressive coach. Particularly, his response at 8.38. This bit in particular - "...but we're not gonna change our process away from not talking about outcome. It's just not helpful to anyone...". This will hold us in such good stead moving forward. It's basically the new "re-set". Psychology is such a huge part of coaching, player management and the modern game, and Goody is a master of this. @Engorged Onion

@picket fence ,you're a funny fella.

This.

AJ stays another week for mine. JVR needs to earn it with another strong performance IMV. Charlie didn't do enough today and could do with a week off.

What I love about AJ is he is providing the bar that JVR needs to clear to get back in the side. Competition for spots is so important.

2 goal assists and 2 score involvements.

Rarely loses a 1v1 contest does he? And reads the play quickly and has the agility to often get to those intercept plays by peeling off.

Courtesy of AFL.com.au: 7) The Dees of 2025 are tracking like the Lions of 2024 Eleven rounds into the 2024 season, eventual premier Brisbane was just finding its feet, with four wins and some burgeoning momentum. It came home with a wet sail to become simply unstoppable and this year, Narrm is treading that same path. Its emphatic 53-point win over Sydney on Sunday was its fifth of the season - from the past six games - and evidence of its damaging, difficult-to-defend fresh brand. Slick handballs, hardness at the contested ball, and an unwavering ruthlessness in its defensive actions, Narrm is back in a big way. Can they follow Brisbane's path and go deep into September? - Gemma Bastiani Thanks Gemma, couldn't have said it better myself. 👏 Anything can happen this year. The trajectory is upward and the new game style is taking shape. Well done, Goody and co. Blips will come, but we have to stay the course.

Walked in the door with Lord Edward in his Melbourne jumper singing the theme song and Hawthorn-supporting wifey says to me "now, I have something really weird to tell you and I don't want you to feel weird... I think I'm going to start supporting Melbourne". ❤️💙 Music to my ears. BOG, wifey. In other news, our transition is getting better, but still a lot of room for improvement, and the goalkicking 🫣 But we're starting to punish teams on turnover and in the second half went from 2 goals from stoppage to Sydney's 2 goals, to then scoring at least 6 goals from stoppage. I think JVR will straighten us up in AJs spot in time, though AJ did some handy things. Clarry almost back to his best, still a few fumbles. Trac dynamic out of stoppage, not far off his best. Max was Max. And 20 [censored] tackles inside 50. 🤯👏🎉

Roger, thanks.

Us too. Gross. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we had a suspected meth head slurring at us and telling us to "Go back to Melbourne!"

Ah, you mean we're not dead yet? 😉

Indeed. I was trying to be diplomatic. 🤣