Dr. Gonzo

The key is to not allow the defenders to take instant possession and get of a clean disposal. Otherwise the ball comes flying back over your head and out the back where the opposition will score. This relies on speed to get to the contest and either make it a contested possession or pressure the opposition so they can't get off a clean possession. This is where the speed and pressure of the small/mid-forwards is important and is something that's been lacking so far as well as our mids pushing down across centre forward to block space and pressure. The long bomb has a place but it needs to be used to our advantage for example letting our players run towards the fall of the ball instead of dropping it on their heads, putting it about 20-30m from goal not 40-50m and putting it in a position where our small forwards can close in the space if the opposition wins the footy (like the Weagles Web of 2015) or spread to create options into space if we win it.

The only reason it won't get 85k is if the weather is a torrential downpour or MFC members don't turn up. I don't think either will be the case.

Plenty are. Can't play one on one. Not worth what we paid. Is struggling on the bigger ground (MCG). Poor disposal. Etc etc

If we can pull wins out over the next couple of weeks we should be aiming at 45k. Shouldn't underestimate the value of Anzac Eve as a home game (every 2nd year) moving forward either, being a member may be the only way to get a decent seat.

He's 22. He's still 2 or 3 years off his peak. Maybe we should give him more than 3 games before writing him off hey

Been happening for years. One of my pet peeves.

Yeah that was my thought too

Which part? I think its a coin toss Game but have a feeling we might get done by the Hawks. I think we match up well against Richmond and we have a tendency to get up for big games so I think we might win that one.

Well there ya go

They were rubbish early but had a few premiership players back for our game and were one of the form teams in the second half of the season.

Plus we didn't have Gawn or Hogan last time we played and Burgoyne killed us from memory. Not saying we'll [censored] it in (I'm actually tipping us to lose this and bounce back against the Tigers) but there are reasons to be optimistic.

We did do this to some extent in the last quarter vs North. Jones and Lewis in particular looked for chip passes to take some time off the clock and sting from the game. We seem hesitant to control the ball going backwards though, we need to learn our opponent is not just the other team but also the clock. @Delusional demon 82 beat me to it!

Not if the defender gets hit in the head with an elbow though. Surely a head high supercedes front-on contact.

That's what I thought - so the fact we are getting the arms up in tackles to get a handball away means even when we are "tackled" on those occasions it does not count towards the tackle count as we are able to get away an effective disposal.

Its actually quite dangerous if you tell players they are not allowed to look back at where they're going when backing into a pack. Players should be allowed to have a quick look to ensure they won't cop a knee or something to the head or cause a head clash as long as they don't interfere with another player going for a mark.

No way! Even taking your eye off the ball you can't hit someone in the head. Free kick should have been Lever's not Goldstein's.

Wait, if Gawn is on 19 and got 10 this round that means he got no votes vs Brisbane? He got 9 against the Cats didn't he? I also thought Hogan would have more than 14.

That's a good point, tackles only count if you don't get a possession off don't they? (Or do they break the tackles stat down to effective and ineffective tackles?) We seem to be raising our arms to get handballs off in a tackle far more this year (and Petracca just bulldozing through tacklers) which would result in fewer effective tackles.

Was going to say the same thing. We're more prepared to move the ball forward at all costs, knock ons, kick off the ground, quick handballs over the top of a tackler. Previous years we've more inclined to handball backwards then sideways and around in a circle. I'd say moving it forward and getting a kick off quicker would result in being tackled less.

This guy seems to have gone to another level this year. He seems to be really enjoying his footy and the freedom that had come from playing further up the ground and being allowed to play his natural game rather than sitting in the goal square with defenders hanging off him. His body language has improved exponentially and he is in career best form. This is a credit to a young man who endured a year of hell in 2017. I look forward to watching the rest of his season and career play out, he will be a key piece to our 13th flag when we finally get there.

Hawthorn and Richmond are two interesting matchups for us because they each possess a strength that we don't - Hawks superior kicking skills, Richmond superior pace. But the advantage we hold over them is winning the footy. I'm interested to see how we go in these two games, I'm kind of expecting Hawthorn to be out to make a point after Sunday and they will make us pay with errant inside 50s. If we lose this I won't be too shattered as long as we best Richmond the following week. Lose both and I'll be upset but I think we match up well with Richmond. We really should have beaten them last year and we didn't have Gawn or Hogan who are both in ripping form. I also think their speed will be less of a factor against our contested footy although their backline does shape up well All in all I'm enjoying the ride this season, it's a very even competition there's not many teams who will suffer drubbings like we did in the Neeld days. Beating any team by 5 goals is a good outcome.

Haha very good analogy, that's how I feel watching this side at the moment. The commentators talked about Melbourne being a good side when we're going at about 3/4 pace, too frenetic and we look sloppy, not frenetic enough and it falls apart. You could also say we are missing a bit of focus or composure to our attack at the moment, something I think Viney would help immensely. We seem to be going quite well but there is something intangible that means we look slightly off, the flow isn't there yet. But when it comes and I think it will at some point soon, it will click and we will look very slick.

So being up by 3 goals then having 6 kicked against you is worse than being up by 6 goals and having 6 kicked against you?

I assume Scott gave Cunnington and Brown votes ahead of Hogan and if so he's either completely biased or a moron.

We didn't scrape by, we won by 37 points. After that initial 4 goal run we outscored them by 10 goals. I'm not saying everything's peachy but some of the negativity on here is crazy.