Little Goffy

I'm not too fussed about it, though it is definitely daft. Fact is, Collingwood are getting the condescending pat on the head for trying while we are getting the 'come on you can do better'. Kind of how the football world should be.

I am more concerned about a great deal of wasted effort. Lots of player making a very good contribution in effort but what's the point if you have no idea where you should send the ball. A ball flying 40m doesn't even work up a sweat, and there's no better way to rest than watcing someone mark-kick-goal. But constantly grappling and scrapping and pointless bombs meaning every time we run forward we have to run back again, that takes a toll, a phyiscal one as well as the mental one. Our total failure to deal with Richmond's excellent whole-team defensive positioning meant we were spending a LOT of time running to keep up, while they were there ready at the spots we were so obviously about to kick to.

Well, not so much truth hurts as knee-jerk hurts, if you're standint oo close to the person who knee-jerks.

I think it is particularly effective in that all three are just 'not quite normal' in how they go about it, and in different ways, too.

By all the pagan deities of football, I swear it wasn't just you. There's something profound going on there. The one time, the ONE time I don't take a moment to mock Bugg for his terrible kicking, what happens? Uncanny, like deep down he knew the exact moment he had earned the let-off, so he knew he had to fluff the kick to keep his identity secure.

All between the ears. I feel like we might come out in the proper 'hunting' mood where we lift for opponents we are inspired by. Which is ok, since last week we didn't have the traditional lapse against an opponent we 'should' beat. Hunt the best, professionally dispose of the others, that'd keep me happy. Most important thing to see - a bit of steely determination to hold the line when things turn against us. I do feel like we can win, which is nice.

Fair enough. My disllike/disrespect for King is obviously a touch flippant and King isn't a moron - I daresay I'm mostly annoyed by the whole scheme of what he's paid to do is to mostly state the obvious. But wait! Why am I stepping back!? This is the 21st century after all! David King's undermining of Neeld's coaching legitimacy was the crack that ruined our young teams cohesion! Neeld was forcing through a new level of professionalism and commitment that the lazy and casual players at the club were looking to avoid, and they used King's media role as a backchannel to put the pressure back on the coach instead of them! Our entire 'second failure' period is actually the Fault of David King personally! (in need of a sarcasm font for that bit, I always like backwards italics as an option, please return to normal program)

King's ability to see what other can't and provide insight that is ahead of the moment is amazing. Or not. I guess sometimes he does see things other people don't, in so far as he sees things which aren't there!

McCartin: "Drafted Riewoldt, got Koschitzke". This thread is starting to feel like we drafted Schadenfreude.

For a moment they had progress from youth at the same time as getting sterling service from the veterans. Their 2013 crop of Billings, Dunstan, Acres and Weller were reaching maturity and giving an impression of a wave of respectable footballers came through at the same time as their game-shaping champs in Riewoldt and Montanga were still doing well. Unfortunately, just as the veterans were no longer available, the supply of good kids coming in thinned right out. It's been sparse, not outright dead but sparse, at the draft for St Kilda for the last few years. You have to feel for those 22-24 year olds in the team who now find they are shouldering the responsibility, instead of exploring their potential. It is all too familiar, but a shudder going right through me when I think... it could be even worse for the Saints than it was for us. The simplest comparison would be Jack Steven to Nathan Jones. Steven is only a couple of years younger than Jones and he is now -entering- the worst of it while Jones is (touch wood) coming out of it. Anyway, we appear to have assembled a serious team of serious footballers who believe in eachother and what they are doing. What's the opposite of a shudder?

For a young gun kid to cope adequately with a hard tag all day, and nail a few goals as well, is a really big step. Learning to deal with tags without having to go through too much of the experience of being successfully shut down would be a big confidence boost that lasts a career. Also, I've kind of given up on TV commentary, I run the radio through the laptop if I'm watching a game on TV. That way I even have a choice of about three or four commentators. None exceptional but all better than the TV hoopla-razzle-dazzle-[censored]fest. I'm also really happy for Picket Fence, who finally got to see the club draft a player with the exact specifications he has longed for over many years, AND then see that player be an absolute gun right from the start.

I'm going to propose a whole new concept in keeping with the modern times of flair and excitment. A series of four high-intensity short games (approximately 30 minutes) played over a saturday afternoon, where the final winner is decided based on aggregate scoring across all four games. But I'm just being silly, the AFL would never go for it... unless... you could arrange for separate ticketing for each of the four 'games'.

That was the hardest part of last week. Just as I began thinking 'yes, finally, a game where we will really romp it in' the players started thinking it too. I just want to see us dish out one good thumping, just for the refreshment, and as a bit of punctuation to this long slow story of recovery.

In the end the main thing that matters is whole-game effort, which is mostly between the ears so very hard to select for. I'm agreeing more and more with the 'Frost in' comments, an extra, very mobile tall is needed. Hopefully that resets the defensive roles to get the most out of Lever. Lots of mids and sort-of-mids who aren't quite delivering. Vince has a question mark on him for sure. With Melksham playing his role so well, I don't see a need for Bugg even if he were in ok form. My overall feeling is that a couple of underperforming mid-flankers need to be dropped to allow an extra 'true' mid (that'd be Brayshaw, to my mind) to come in. Bit of a shuffle really - one extra right int he middle and someone falls off the side of the boat. Oliver is being a beast in there but after Jones there isn't enough support. Bugg, Vince out. Frost, Brayshaw in.

1. Unlike other times where we have dozed off mid-game, this time when we woke up again we actually hit back instead of merely rebalancing. 2. Hogan has now played one good and one very good game to start the season, and is getting rewarded for work rate. 3. When we are at full intensity, we seem to be incredibly hard to score against and very capable of cutting off play and rebounding decisively. Honorable mention to Garlett for being the proverbial 'small forward you need to have' when nothing is coming easy.

Do this against Geelong, lose by a kick... I'm seriously considering compiling a series of all the 'score worms' from Melbourne games, to show all of our collected snooze sessions.

Well, the weekly snooze is on, this time third quarter. But we -seem- to be weathering it ok, not being punished too much yet.

I worry about having too many players that tend to come in and out of games. As others have said, I would've liked to see Brayshaw out there. It's terrific to have so many medium-sized options in and around the forward line, but I have a feeling we got a bit carried away by the momentum of it today and overstacked. Did it make a goal's difference? Maybe, but only in amongst a thousand other things than make a goal's difference on match day. I have a lot of belief in Hannan's career blossoming and I'm not to worried about Fritsch.

Wow, so much disdain for the Bureau. Besides, they are saying 50% chance of any rain, so they are also saying 50% chance of no rain at all. Still a fair stretch better than the information about Viney, or Dangerfield, or Ablett!

This looks like a job for Kremlin hackers to me. The results could be a) hilarous and defamatory, or b) awesome Red Army choir material. Either way, worth the try.

Making my skin crawl with the memory of what felt like five years in a row of playing a 'depleted' Hawthorn in round 1. Hopes high, set to challenge a top team on a weak day... then getting smashed by 10-15 goals. Of course, it wasn't five years in a row, and it wasn't always Hawthorn, and it wasn't always a big loss, but that was a really awful experience. I actually think I've never personally attended a round 1 win. So I'll definitely stay away. But all my thoughts will be on whether the Demons can avoid their infamous 'we got this' attitude.

Lots to keep an eye on. Several players are in that twilight zone where even if they improve significantly in 'real football' terms, their fantasy/supercoach values might not climb dramatically. For example I'd include Hunt, Nibbler, Lever, Salem, Melksham, Stretch and both McDonalds in that category. Reluctant to take Viney after a flawed preseason. Hesitating about Hibberd because a big part of why his scores climbed so much in 2017 was because he added intercept marking to his game. Now with Lever in to do that as well, our backline looks devastating but the supercoach points look spread out a bit. No points for being part of a super-efficient overall unit! After all the filtering, I'm left with; GAWN, because the risk of needing to use a trade if he breaks down is far smaller than the risk of missing out on the supercoach individual highest scorer for the season. PETRACCA because 'demonstrated improved fitness', 'more midfield time' and 'now 22 years old' are pretty much the fantasy triple treat. BRAYSHAW. because he can go in as a defender and because I believe in him, I really think he can become a premium. Thing to note about his stats history - as far as 'valuable things done per disposal' goes, he is extraordinary. Half the time when he touches it, it is an effective inside 50 or a clearance or a good long kick and so on. Great as a player and gold in supercoach. HOGAN. If he performs at the level of 2015/16 you make an easy $100k profit and then move on. If he lifts to the level we all know he could, particularly with the bonus midfield minutes, then he could be one of the absolute top few supercoach forwards. Keeping an eye on Fritsch and also Hannan. Hannan is a bit like Brayshaw (and Hunt), in that when he gets it, 'valuable' things happen. So a bit more fitness and better whole-game involvement could make him jump price a bit.

I'd argue that with Oliver the horse has already bolted. Could also say that after a couple of seasons of 40-goals plus it would take a Coleman for Hogan to have a 'break out' year! Lever in same category as Hogan - already in the top group in the position, so can't really break out. Still, we do have a large number of quality young players that could've been considered. The more I think about it the more I'm surprised no Demons got a mention. Hunt - a bit more fitness and consistent involvement over games is all it would take to make him a highly visible top player. Petracca - we all know the potential for brutal and creative dominance there. Salem - it is all about getting the body right, then we could see a major lift Brayshaw - it is all about getting the body right, then we could see a major lift Throw in Nibbler, Hannan and even the new improved Oscar McDonald, just for fun. Ahhhhh, it is defintiely March now!

I have an image burnt in my mind of a set-up with three permanent forwards and five permanent defenders who all spend almost the whole game on field, saving energy by keeping more or less to their areas of responsibility. One ruck and nine 'midfielders' (in the expanded modern definition) share the rest of the on-field space and most of the bench time. I guess it'd work best at a lower level than the full professional, when players don't have time to learn complicated structures and cycles, and where fitness is more variable. But when you have the versatility to mix and match and give a bit of tactical momentum, with a top level professional team you should go for it.

Yes but 'needs to get the hormonal glands in his neck right' just doesn't sound very decisive!