Little Goffy

Geezus that is trivial.

I have to admit I'd completely forgotten just how much range he can cover with his set shots. Which is an odd thing to forget because he's delivered some true beauties. Still has a question mark on him but he's certainly a complex opponent for defenders to match up on. People seem obsessed by his half-back-flank 'destiny' but if that's the way we want things we would still have Frost.

I started a whole thread on 'Pickett's statless high light reel' but it is definitely an issue just how little he is getting the ball. He was pretty unlucky several times today with people kicking to him over, wide and short and when he was outnumbered by taller opponents. I feel a little bit like we've recruited a small forward and we're trying to fit them into a medium forward role. All that frantic energy is getting dissipated around the ground instead of being turned into that handful of moments of something from nothing that clearly Pickett is destined for. Five years from now, with experience and fitness, he can wander the ground with composure and poise, but it is mistake to expect him to be so much now when we actually have a real, current, need for him to be the kid he is.

Strange how the top quality intercept/rebounding opponents he keeps being matched up on keep having comparatively quiet games.

The main flaw in his game is that every time he gets the commentators have to stop everything to say 'who Melbourne love to have the ball in his hands' or 'and who is such a good user of the ball'. If he can get past that, he'll be a really top player. But, seriously, he's continued to improve his defensive nous and his physicality was never really lacking, and he's a good contributor whenever he is moved upfield or responds to circumstances. You wouldn't be upset to have a midfield of 9 Salems, or maybe 7 Salems, a Petracca and a Langdon. Leading tackler today, which is a good effort from him but also shouldn't be allowed to happen by the full-time mids who I think let us down a bit on that count. Our greatest list deficiency is in reliable 'better than average' players and in the most ruthless sense Salem is terrific value for money.

That was easily Brown's best game for his time with us and among his best of his career. He has had a scattering of very good games over the years and an interest patch of great form late in 2016. The main effect I think that effort will have is to increase the chances of McDonald being traded, but by the same token, Brown isn't about to become a standing heavy forward target for us, even short term. Preuss is a big body but doesn't seem to have the 'presence' we'd want. The problem is clearly real, but the solution isn't obvious. I wouldn't trust any of the potentially tradeable 'star' key forwards to fill the hardworking and strong bodied slot we need. Not Daniher, not Cameron, not Brown. Where are we going to get our Cameron Mooney? Meanwhile, just for a laugh at beautiful irony, we are very much hoping that Jesse Hogan kicks a bag to put as in finals.

We all know you just hate skinny dudes.

I think I'll leave it. 'Went missing except for a goal kicked thanks to good positioning and forward craft and another goal snapped around the body from a pack, which were the decisive moments winning the game for us and keeping out finals hopes alive.' Yep. We should be riding Fritsch's prospects of doing a full Petracca over the pre-season and into 2021, not making up feeble excuses to pick at him.

He plays his team role which pushes him out to boundary at fairly long range. It's annoying that he misses a lot of shots but it's not abnormal for kicks from such positions. He also is dragging defenders wide which is giving Weid and others some space and opportunities closer to goal. He's playing a tactically important role and without doubt sacrificing the 'appearances' of his own game. If you'd rather a bomb to nothing and instant rebound, instead of a mark and difficult shot on goal, sure, I see why you have a problem with Fritsch. Ffs why do we even bother responding to this drunk nuffy snarking?

I've been in a jag once. Property manager of the apartment gave me a lift back to the office to sign the lease. Good times.

A damaging enough failure for Worsfold's final game will mess with their heads just as much as a win. Meanwhile, I'll never let go of the ultimate prize - getting smacked by West Coast in Perth in a final. ?

Always refreshing. I love the 'Melbourne are 12 months ahead of us'. Is it possible that Bomber fans don't realise that their club is imploding? They may as well have not participated in the draft for the last three years, partly just because they kept making mediocre selections and partly to bring in Saad, Smith, Shiel and Stringer. That's four players at the peak age range now and you wouldn't say any of them are failures, but meanwhile there's basically nothing younger than Andrew McGrath on their list. Anyway, I do hope we shatter them completely, for our own benefit and to make them mentally put a line through 'the Worsfold years' and think that things will be better now without radical change. The longer Essendon stagnate and slide, the better for football.

The closest I got to being interested in them was 'hmmm, ah, hmmm, nah, nope'. Couple might be of interest when freed of injury curses but even then they don't look like hiddens gems so much as unearthed bronze. There's no readings on the Bennell-o-metre, so to speak. On the bright side for Norf, those delistings aren't going to be ripping the heart out of their 22 or anything. They do certainly have a challenge to manage some kind of competitive level as their current young players and the wave of incoming kids develop. I wonder if they'll continue to throw fat contracts at mid-level players to try to top up in the meantime? It could affect a few of our own list decisions if we can respectfully move on a few of our 'adequate but unreliable' players currently in the bottom third of our best 22.

I wonder what level of interest Essendon would have in keeping the McDonald brothers together? If Daninher goes, they are just about empty of genuine tall forwards, whole Hooker and Hurley are both 30+ and a bit banged up. I'm not talking about some bumper trade value, nor am I writing off the value of either McDonald. Just looking for a respectful player movement to where they'll get more opportunities.

There's a guy at my work who in just the last month has had the misfortune of twice getting a sniffle so mild that normally you wouldn't even crack out the Vicks. Both times he's done the right thing, stayed home, got tested, waited for the result. I would guess he's about $800 out of pocket for doing the right thing and nobody has issued a press release saying what a great guy he is and how he's really hurting. Just sayin'

Perhaps ironically, GWS will be hoping/needing to pass us (and/or the Dogs) on percentage, so will look to beat the Saints by as much as possible, and in the process boosting our chances of making it. The gap between us and the Saints is 5.19%, which works out to about 50 points in this short and low-scoring with everyone lurking around 1000 point for/against. Call it nine goals to make up, combining the amount St Kilda lose by and the amount we smash Essendon by. Or the Dogs lose, we win, obviously. Sorry if I'm just repeating everything already said. I'm finding walking through it out loud a bit therapeutic.

I worry that we're going to be a 'genuine' small defender short and it'll cost us, and I'm not sure Saad is exactly what we need. But certainly a player to be interested in. Both his tackle numbers and his overall consistency are underestimated and speak to a hard working professional, which is always welcome. Other than that, it's all a matter of budget, because I worry that one trade period hype gets involved with Saad being 'elite in his role' that will turn into having to pay for him like he is 'an elite player' which is all very nuanced, as shown by the debate already in this thread.

Yeah, I hope nobody who is distressed by our coughed-up turnover goals problem is also spruiking Hunt for the backline. Unfortunately, and as others have already noted, his 'run 15 kick 40' option is too easily countered and he doesn't actually have great vision to pick out targets the way is necessary to penetrate the midfield and half-forward minefield with being blown up and sent directly back. If he's going to make it in the present form of the game, it'll be somewhere forward of center. He could be an Ed Langdon clone except he doesn't have the key Ed Langdon features of relentless gut running to smart places and the repeat efforts. So it's a bit like saying Matthew Bate could be a Koutafides clone. I'm on the fence as far as keeping him for next year, but can also see that another club may feel he offers something more suited to their mix.

Collingwood failing horribly would also be the most satisfying way to get into finals. Only thing better would be annihilating Essendon and sneaking ahead of the Saints on percentage, ideally by about 0.57%.

Hmm, line up for conspiracy theory tickets here.

Well, they caused us all kinds of trouble by sending their tall forwards on long leads up the wing providing marking target after target, and then still having a tall available close to goal. Could work very well with their little collection of smart zippy types in support, too. I'd especially rate Curnow as a player capable of being a marking target but then instantly becoming a tall midfielder if the ball gets loose. There's some danger in this Blues squad, even if they aren't quite getting it together just now.

Crows will have certainly worked out that pick 1-3 is a toss up for them, so would love to finish the season with a string of wins and climbing out of last place. Carlton adding to the body of evidence that 'blowing it completely' is the theme of 2020.

What I'm really looking forward to is more 4-day turnarounds between games. What the game needs, more than anything else, is more off-field powerbroker factors having more influence on the actual sporting contest.

As is often the case, Wilson is not really wrong but you have to wonder why the obvious and inevitable scuffling at one club approaching the end of a mostly disappointing season is worthy of a feature article by the Chief Football Writer?

Number of players and staff in the AFL hub system X frequency of routine testing / number of false positives = false positive rate Let's see, for round number's sake lets say that 1000 people, tested weekly, for a total of 20,000+ tests. So the false positive rate is 20,000+ to Conor McKenna. That the McKenna stuff-up was such a scandal does, indeed, highlight how accurate the test is and is expected to be.