Little Goffy

Both Petracca and Oliver thrive when given even a couple more steps to work in. If Sparrow is doing okay at bashing and crashing and drawing attention to himself at the contest that means the ball is coming out to Oliver and Petracca a bit more instead of them having to go in after it and getting sat on. That'll be worth goals. That said, the effectiveness of Sparrow Viney and Harmes is very dependent on their humility. It's very visible that Viney's best is when he is playing a selfless defensive and blocking game. It's even more visible that Harmes' worst games and moment come whenever he thinks he is a star.

I would guess that Jordon is being rested given the lack of a week off. Might be a similar deal with Hibberd and Smith. On the one hand, Hibberd is old enough to benefit from a week off as well as mature enough to not lose form while away. On the other hand, after so much time out of the game Smith needs to be tested and run in if he is going to be any part of our finals effort.

Reinforcing that - in one of Nibbler's interviews for his 100th he talked about the forward pressure and how valuable it was that the midfielders were covering their opponents and closing down any escape options. "Which lets us pressure forwards go to work," I think was how he put it. You put that together with the number of times Brayshaw has been on the spot to spoil or intercept exactly those relief kicks and you begin to see clearly what is being asked of him and why his disposal count doesn't reflect the value of his game. Remember how even in 2018 we still had the critical weakness of the rapid breakaway goals against us that just sailed right past our defensive zone? Dealing with that is probably the single greatest difference (among many) that has us now in serious premiership contention.

For quick reference - 33. Melbourne 42. Melbourne 52. Melbourne 91. Melbourne Presumably that will somehow become picks 12, 65, 70 and a 2022 second rounder by the time of the actual draft night.

Luke Jackson is starting to look like the football unicorn. That moment late in the game where we had two ruckmen combining for a running play on the wing/half-forward flank (Demonland's current highlight video) gave me a good laugh but it was also the moment I finally digested the idea that we are legitimate premiership contenders. When people talk about great teams they always talk on the two levels - on the one hand praising the completeness and work ethic and depth, on the other hand describing things about that team which were genuinely outstanding and unmatchable. Richo describes Jackson in both those ways and right now it also applies to the club as a whole.

What's he doing on that show when there's already an invite to Gus and Gawny?

At least keep a mask on for the benefit of public health. In fact, maybe a second mask as well, you know, also for the benefit of the public. As for me... I reckon I might convince my wife/her family to do a Vietnamese match commentary and crowd noise. The 95% of relatives back in Vietnam are all heavily locked down so it might be a fun family project that would also make them all understand football. :D EDIT: I brought it up and she declared the plan has to be for ME to do the commentary in Vietnamese! Now we're talking a serious commitment. "Cú lấy tuyệt vời của Pickett trẻ tuổi! Anh ấy ngoặt sang trái và ghi một bàn thắng tuyệt vời! " Goosebumps.

Looks like Pickett has some serious resilience. Worked hard to keep himself involved and turned a very quiet start into a wholly respectable small forward's game. Not the first time he's done it over the course of a game, too. It's a priceless trait in a small forward. Then there's the way he pushed himself in the preseason despite being away from the club for a while to mourn his mother. I think we can all set aside any questions about Pickett's 'mental toughness'.

Right on the shortlist of my favourite things to see in a game is when a player has a poor start but keeps working at it and cracks through to end with a great game. Also on that list is when a player is notably doing the team-first things more than they usually do and then find that they've ended up having one of the best games of their career.

Likely to be dropped with Viney coming back in but I am pretty confident in Sparrow's future and I hope he is too.

Noticed that but he seemed to also make a whole bunch of guess predictions about other incidents so it is quite possible he's just making it all up and will later if his guesses miss he can just say the tribunal got it wrong.

Kieran Strachan vs Max Gawn. 25 year old playing their second game in their third year on the Crows rookie list. Tough gig but we've seen a number of times already how fringe rucks have come in and competed hard and well against Gawn. I would imagine there's a certain liberation to knowing that there's no contest for 'total quality and ability' and your only option is to do the team things and focus on having a crack. Could be interesting.

Surely after the earlier loss we'll be sharp for this game. I for one am feeling outright vengeful. The loss to Adelaide was built entirely on creeping complacency and an exposure of the chink in our defensive armour when the opposition just hurtle it through the corridor at maximum risk-reward. Solidly defeating the Crows today requires only that we attend to those two factors. But once that much is sorted I am focused on the 'aspirational goal' of really, really punishing that noxious club.

The article and the story behind it would seem to have so much dignity and humanity that the only reason to comment is to add affirmation. I did find myself wondering about the Brayshaw brothers and family. One good player, one superstar in the making and one who hasn't quite made it and meanwhile the family home is constantly packed with a production line of young star footballers being helped to settle in Melbourne.

I've seen similar charts before (that were actually properly explained) and the 'games lost from 22' was based on which players were considered in the team's best 22 and how many games they had been injured. I've never liked it much as a statistic because the starting point for the calculation is a completely subjective assessment of the 'best 22'. I wonder how they are assembling our 25 games missed? Tomlinson, obviously, and then how much of Brown and Weideman's early season? Are they both best 22? Were they out of it early because of injury? Anyway, the club invested very heavily in the best possible conditioning leaders they could find and they have established really good professional habits. This stat, 'soft' as it is, is nothing more than delivering on that investment.

I actually do believe that the North Smith curse has been cleansed. Very simply, we are from tip to toe a club with a culture to be proud of both as a competitive unit and as human beings. If we win a premiership, we will deserve it.

We should all be watching Tom Stewart's medical report to find out if the pre-finals bye is still on. If it is 2-4 weeks then the rest week is definite on.

Just flicking it around in my head - anyone else able to enlighten me about Dylan Stephens' situation? Could we offer him membership in the wingers club?

Is anyone else quietly hoping that North upset Sydney today? North plays Adelaide next week and with a Kangaroo win today and a really good percentage-smashing of Adelaide tomorrow it would actually make next weeks' game a wooden spoon battle. With Jason Horne on the line, I could see the Crows losing that one while North's recovery through the second half of the season deserves better than the spoon. Full credit to North - after the bye they've gone 3W 1D 5L and not a single blowout loss in it. That's really impressive in a season that started as badly as Melbourne 2013 (No, wait, nope, nope, just because everyone thought they might go winless for the year doesn't make it that bad...)

All the surnames are shared with a famous person who's first name is Barry. Possibly vice presidents of the United States? No, no. I'm afraid my gabber is truly flastered.

He was beginning to find some good form at Casey before his calf strain. He's not completely cooked but it would be a difficult path back. Stranger things have happened in football than a veteran club champion being recalled to play a role following injury or form fades to others.

While we're in the hunt for free kick data, I'd be fascinated to see a timeline of them over the course of games. I'm absolutely sure that much of the differential in our game against West Coast game in a couple of bursts, most notably the alarming one right after the restart. Would be interesting to see the extent of a relationship between free kick 'momentum' and overall game momentum. Before? After? Side by side?

I'm going to guess that Faulty is referring to the fact that a large majority black population was oppressed and discriminated against by a white minority.

In a way, that's exactly what I mean. The way racism just keeps rearing up again and again in big or small, obvious or underhanded ways is making Aboriginal people pessimistic. It would make anyone pessimistic in the same circumstance. For every Aboriginal person in Australia it is just that much harder to believe that if you make the effort you'll get the reward. That's a deep cut. You could watch Eddie Betts interview on Fox Footy as if it was a short film titled "Typically upbeat man struggles to keep pessimism away." 4 minute video - Link: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-taylor-walker-racism-eddie-betts-video-adelaide-crows-suspension-future/news-story/2df3d11d766ebe3c89b4508a0549c412