Dr. Gonzo

Was Salem on him? If so gave him an absolute footy lesson

I don't know how we won that. Actually I do. Goodwin. We completely outcoached the Saints tonight, took away their one wood and they had nothing else. If we lost it was going to be because the killed us on the outside, Butler, Hill, Kent, Billings etc None of those guys had much influence tonight, we set up extremely well defensively and shut them down. Petracca is a gun, hopefully it's eating the Saints supporters tonight seeing him kick 4 including what proved to be the matchwinner

Hannan Spargo Pickett Brayshaw Viney Vandenberg Brown I have no idea how we are in front with those guys having about 5 touches between them

"OMac almost in slow motion there" Never a truer word spoken

Pathetic from all of them

Oliver is doing everything he was criticised for earlier this season. His dinky handballs are trash. Use the footy ffs

Has Vandenberg had a touch?

Thank god for Steve May

It opened up the last 5 minutes and no surprise the Saints kicked 3 goals

That's what I thought - the game we ended up losing by 2 pts? Many dubious 50s in that game too

I think it goes a bit deeper than that as it depends on the quality of our opposition. We struggle against the top tier teams but can do it seemingly easily against the middle-lower sides. We get the game on our terms by brute force overpowering the poorer teams in the contest and sreamrolling over them running forward. Whereas teams who can match us in the middle and also have some pace and skill to outrun us on the outside and retain possession we struggle to match. This is what most commentators have been saying for the last couple of years.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Goes into the history of tactics since the games inception covering the critical evolutions across Vic, WA and SA as well as the rule changes by the ANFC

That's because 13k of them never signed up in the first place!

I don't even know which incident its relating to. Does anyone have video?

I know I shouldn't be but I'm legitimately shocked. 1 week was bad enough but then to get off completely? The AFL = the Absolute Farce League

Absolute filth. The only reason people post this rubbish is because they are so devoid of success or fulfillment in their own lives the only way they can feel any sense of superiority is by denigrating others by their physical characteristics. Kozzy is just a kid and shouldn't have to put up with this crap but no doubt it's not the first time he's had to de with it.

In an almost identical incident against the Crows in almost the exact spot on the ground as the ANB tackle, Luke Dahlhaus for the Cats was cited and received 1 week. Absolute joke. https://www.afl.com.au/news/490295/match-review-cat-suspended-for-dangerous-tackle-lion-cops-ban

You may be right, if he is doing his job defensively then that is probably enough. When we talk about the modern game and 18 man zones etc though I think that works both ways. Every player on the ground has to have an offensive and defensive element to their game these days

I can't fathom how they could get ahead of themselves. Surely they understand by now that only consistent efforts across, quarters games, season and seasons is good enough. Three wins against mediocre opposition (Collingwood was mediocre no matter how it is spun) doesn't mean anything. Even if we knock off the Saints this week it means nothing unless it is backed up again and again and again! A lot of people have said it but this team needs to build the trust of the supporter base. That can only be done with consistent effort. Play well and lose is one thing but turn up with only half your mind on the job and unwilling to work hard for 2 hours is something else entirely

I think it was touted as about $500k/year for 4 years

It seems he's doing his job defensively then but offensively he is all but unsighted and ineffective. Who have his opponents been out of interest? (Genuinely interested not trying to "catch" you)

I said it in the post match thread, but for me it is starting to seem like a structural issue rather than a workrate issue. It can't just be coincidence that we falter en masse in our workrate when we come up against the better sides. It's happened enough now where it's got to be looked at as more than just a workrate/effort issue (Haw, Coll, WCE 2018, WCE, Port and Dogs 2020)

This is true but playing devils advocate we still have about 13k members from last year who didn't join in 2020.

Our mid-small forwards are a massive issue. They are largely ineffectual 3 out of 4 games. Hannan, VDB, Pickett, Spargo and Melksham will have one game in 4 or so where they kick 2 or 3 goals, present and lay some tackles. The other 3 games they'll get 6 touches, 0 goals 0 or 1 tackle and be pretty much invisible for the whole game. Bennell has been the same when he has played. TMac is useless, can't take a mark to save himself, can't present, can't do anything at ground level he's just a massive liability. Fristch gets chances each game but often doesn't capitalise. Fair enough he's not going to average 3 goals a game but he should be kicking 3 goals a game every 2 or 3 games with the opportunities he's getting.

Honestly, I don't know. I see both sides of the argument, the players workrate not being up to scratch is what lost the game. But also it is the coaches job to move things around to give us the advantage and the best chance to win when things are going against us - otherwise he's just basically hoping for the best. On the workrate, I don't know if it's as simple as that. There have been too many instances of this occurring now in crucial games/against better sides who put the pressure on for it to be merely coincidence. Either our players go to water when they come up against a good team or one who puts the pressure on because it's all too hard or the gameplans of the better sides strangle and confuse us so effectively that it appears as though our players are slacking off or just having an "off day". Honestly I don't know which is worse.