Binmans PA

That's exciting. I figured since Alwyn's son was already drafted, that Aaron's kids hadn't made it.

I think the framing of this is really important. Domestic or family violence doesn't cover it. The Sydney attacks were clearly directed at women, and that does not fit under the realm of the home, but the public sphere, where indeed much violence towards women occurs. I frame this as male violence, rather than violence against women or "a women's issue", and I think it's incumbent upon the next generation and future generations of parents to educate and support their young boye to treat women as their equals, as human beings. There is a fine balance between blaming young boys inappropriately and setting the basic level of understanding and respect. I'm glad it is getting more media coverage, because governments on the Left and particularly the Right have often cut vital front line services, not to mention public housing (started by the Left), which is the safety net for homelessness and would allow women escaping family violence or hoping to escape family violence an option of secure housing. As it stands, public housing stock is woefully inadequate, with demand far exceeding supply, and really what this comes down to is a values conversation. It's not Left or Right, it doesn't even have to be political. Menzies ensured adequate public housing for decades. It's that we value a mythical idea of the individual nowadays, over the collective prosperity of all Australians. Something that used to have bipartisan commitment in this country. So it's education, it's funding, it's safety nets etc. Lots of nuance needed that a post on Demonland will never be able to cover. I'm currently executive producing a film for Stan where a man killed his wife for having an affair, and then argued provocation and manslaughter, which remains a legal defence in some states to this day. I hope the film sparks robust conversation on how we treat family violence and male violence, and with this increased awareness, we get public policy going in the right direction to scaffold the societal changes needed to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.

We're talking game style here and ability to execute it? And specifically, the back to front slingshot transition, winning whilst conceding territory or...?

I'm excited. The next two games will give us a huge sense of the rest of the season.

Great post mate.

It means they'll play slingshot, like they do every week. We just have to make sure we score big from stoppage and neutralise their stoppages.

I agree. I go every week.

Mid to late 40,000s I reckon.

@binman has alluded to this on the podders, but usually when we play Geelong down at the Cattery, it's much later in the season, where we are struggling to kick straight, not necessarily struggling to generate scoring shots mind you. For example, last season we each had 23 scoring shots, we kicked 8.15 and they kicked 11.12, but the last time we played them at the MCG, early in the season was 2021, where we beat them comfortably. Again, no Dangerfield that day either. So I think it'll be a different game to what we've seen since 2021. I don't think we'll struggle to score, but what's interesting for me is whether they can get through our defensive system.

Me too. It was driven by the fact that the Olympic Torch went around the MCG that day.

A bloke I coach with who is a Geelong supporter was bragging today about how they'd smash us this weekend and said Cameron is playing a decoy role. And I said Cameron and Hawkins are playing decoy roles? Wowee. What a forwardline. The smalls and mid sized forwards are the ones that tend to trouble us. Let's see how we go. I'm looking forward to when I see him next week after a Melbourne win.

I'd be staggered if Rivers plays on Cameron. We lose a lot of drive from our slingshot game if Rivers is playing on someone rather than playing +1 interceptor, which he often is.

TMac and May to tag team between Hawkins and Cameron. I'm not against Howes taking Cameron too.

In terms of elite kicks, we have Bowey, Salem and Fritsch, and you could argue Kozzy, Howes, McVee, JVR and maybe Windsor could qualify. Collingwood are similar. The Daicos boys, particularly Nick, Pendlebury and Sidebottom. I'm sure you could make the argue for a few more of their guys too. I'd suggest you have a different definition of elite kick to me.

Good post, @binman. I'd argue you don't even need 5 or 6 elite kicks to pull this off. 2-3 is fine, because it's really the exit kicks rather than the kicks inside 50 that are the score creating disposals. The reason being we're often kicking into space with forwards running back towards goal. Most of our mids can hit those kicks. Trac is an beautifully penetrating and attacking field kick for example.

I agree that Geelong were lucky to win and certainly had the potential to lose. My point was more that IMV, you are looking at the wrong stats. I don't think Scott would rate those indicators. Exactly. Rebound 50s is a stat Scott would rate highly.

I think your analysis on the podders, boss, and your potential fears for the Carlton game aren't unfounded. I expect and hope we'll be right to go against Carlton. The intangible at this stage is how heated and charged is the Carlton v Collingwood game on Friday night. Are there injuries? How emotionally taxing is that game in front of an expected 90,000+, versus what we face on Saturday night, knowing the result of that match too. If we lose to Geelong, it'll be interesting to see how we approach the Carlton game. From 2011-2015, they had no Ablett (they lost him at the end of 2010) and no Dangerfield (they gained him in 2016), so they had to rely less on clearance. IMV, they have played a slingshot game his entire tenure. The battering ram that has become Dangerfield, was Selwood in those years, and others who were nearing the end like Bartel (retired at the end of 2016). But they had an elite defensive mix that set up attacks. Think Scarlett, Taylor, Enright, Lonergan. They've replaced these guys with Stewart, Kolodjashnij, Henry, De Koning with Bews and Z Guthrie as the support hands. The game has changed to place even more emphasis on intercept, but I'd argue Scott has had the most influence on the modern game of any coach. This idea also explains why Geelong has been thereabouts for so many years. Now the modern game is all about intercept. Goodwin took it to an aggressive level, with how we hemmed teams in with our modern press and with our elite mids and frenetic forward half pressure forced teams to kick it to our intercepts in May, Lever and to a lesser extent Petty. But we've clearly eventually said the slingshot game is more effective over the journey than playing a forward half game for 22/23 rounds + finals. In one of my rare differences of opinion with you, I'm also not as convinced that the game will revert to forward half territory in finals. Collingwood played slingshot in that QF against us. Again, it'll be an interesting watch. You could well be right here. Meanwhile, hopefully by the back end of our fixture, we'll have perfected our slingshot game, and with Clarry, Trac and Viney at our disposal, I'd be backing us in against Collingwood. Carlton's midfield could compete and beat us, but as you and @george_on_the_outer said on the podders, they currently lack the defensive system we do, which should give us the edge. GWS are the team to beat I reckon, but let's see how Geelong go for the rest of the season. We've written them off many times before...

I think if we are really aggressive on slingshot, which we probably need to be, it'll mean more turnovers than had we had Bowey and Salem fit. But maybe it's a really positive thing to see how we go with our best half back kickers out of the side, because if it stands up, wowee, are we going to be dangerous when the aforementioned two come back into the fold. Conversely, if we struggle and turn the ball over more, we may need to temper the slingshot.

I don't think Scott would be concerned by those 4 stats... Again, against us in Round 2, 2019, they beat us by 80 points, but lost inside 50 by -24 and clearance by -15, -7 tackles inside 50. Metres gained is also not a particularly useful stat when you play on slingshot, the metres gained stat is constantly against you, and it's about being efficient when you get your slingshot chance. Rebound 50s however are a vital stat. This shows to me you don't really know what Geelong are trying to do or how they're winning.

We are emulating Geelong's slingshot game from the back half, where centre stoppages are less important and an open forward line is generated by slingshot off turnover in D50. I like to use Round 2 2019 as a good example of this approach. I was at the game and we mauled them from first possession clearance and they beat us by 80 points. In the game, they lost inside 50 by -24 and clearance by -15, scoring 62% of the time they went inside 50. I'd argue this back half game has been Chris Scott's template for well over a decade. Meanwhile, that night, we played the same game we played between 2017-2023, which was an aggressive, gruelling forward half game. This saw us lay +2 tackles and lay 18 to 11 tackles inside 50 for the game. This week, I expect that we'll back our new defensive slingshot system in against theirs and whilst we'll be happy to take territory when it's on offer, we'll look to follow the same blue print we've followed the rest of the season. * -1 at stoppage * send only 1 to the ground ball at stoppage (the rest defending or blocking) * emphasise post clearance pressure (from the defensively positioned mids and the inside slider off the back or front of the stoppage) * be happy to soak up pressure with a deep lying defensive zone * and tempt Geelong's methodical kicking game from the back half and try and turn the ball over across the wing area and slingshot back in. I think we'll play Fritta on Stewart like we did Moore last year. Fritta did some good jobs as a defensive forward last year. It meant he was often where the ball was (by way of his opponent going for the intercept) or us directly playing through him. Alternatively, it could be a really good way of getting Petty into the game. Have him sit on Stewart. Interestingly enough though, Stewart didn't do all the damage last year (another game I was at). Although he had the 2nd most for Geelong on the night and 8 intercept possessions, I felt Jack Henry who had 9 intercept possessions was more damaging. In a game where they lost Cameron in the first quarter to injury mindyou. I think Geelong will manage to score with their very talented forwardline (notwithstanding Hawkins struggling this year and Cameron being kept goalless earlier in the year), but the nature of their slingshot game means it's their defenders that set up their game, less so their mids. Dangerfield is a big out, but if we can prevent Stewart, Henry, Kolodjashnij and De Koning from controlling the air and our A50, I think we'll win.

Great podders, team. 👏

He certainly was like this in 2019. We haven't seen enough of him to judge this year IMO, but clearly he's second in line.

This King clip was played on the podders last night too.

Yeah, I also note that Carlton have scored big from clearance, where we are the best(?) if not second best at defending stoppage, and scoring more from stoppage than the opposition (minus against Brisbane). It means play the way we've been playing (minus Brisbane) and the Blues will have difficulty beating us. As for Geelong next week, minus Danger, means historically they'd go for a super slingshot slanted game, even with Danger in the team. It'll be interesting to see if we try and concede territory and play from our back half. With no Danger, our scores from stoppage and our ability to defend from stoppage will be greatly improved.

That's how highly they rate him and how important he is to the structure. Agree, he will turn it around.