Dr. Gonzo

Essendons crowd against Port was poor but was also a Thursday night game (no school hols at that stage). Our crowds vs GWS and Suns were weekend Arvo slots. Tomorrow the same. Yes GWS game was against the grand prix but first game of the year we still should be getting at least 30k to these games, that should be the bare minimum. Last year we got around half that against the Giants and Port.

You're not alone in thinking this. We have just come off our best period in 6 decades and still losing members at a phenomenal rate, 2x sub 20k crowds last year, booted from prime time etc We would want a decent crowd/showing next week vs the Tiges or the AFL will look at whether we should maintain that fixture. They'll also be looking in the longer term whether we should be playing all home games at the G. Carlton and Essendon (and the Saints) all want more home games at the G so someone will have to make up those Docklands fixtures (and it won't be Collingwood, Richmond or Hawthorn).

Yes and before anyone tries the "have to pick from emergency list" May was a known risk last week so they should've had Adams as an emergency in case he didn't get up.

Of course Simpson doesn't have a vested interest in trying to paint it as a player/list issue rather than coaching issue. Sometimes you have to coach to win the game, not coach to win the flag in 3-5 years.

Kick it through the big sticks more than the opposition does 😜

Or even within a season.

Yeah I think it's more the stadium that pays out based on attendances rather than the AFL but who knows. I remember seeing charts a while back stating how much each club made from different crowd numbers at MCG and Docklands, the MCG dollars went up significantly after 60k (and it didn't distinguish between members/non-members). This is severely out of date but look at page 8 in this document from 2011. AFL funding doc

They're learning a different method of playing football not doing an engineering degree.

AFL finances are rubbery at best but I'm not certain this is exactly how it works

They would have been budgeting 75k-80k you would think so 50k & 70k would be a huge blow (dollar wise)

This club is clueless. We are destroying JVRs development as a key forward, if I were him I'd be looking to get out quick smart.

The problem with this is Viney often gets on the end of handball chains or clearances because he has worked hard to create space. His disposal has been poor but I can't fault his endeavour. Against Essendon you could see him looking to give the hand off but no-one there so he had to kick. While it looks like a really bad decision to give him the 3 year contract extension (on top of this year) I don't like the pile on I've seen from Melbourne supporters - he is a great of the club and heart and soul player. Think about where we were when he joined and he had the fortitude to stick with the club and see it becomes successful.

If we were to do that Kings Bday 2023 should be the blueprint.

To an extent but I think this is overplayed. A lot comes down to coaching, giving clear direction etc I think the players are being over coached leading to the stifling ball movement we see and players resorting to bombs into a crowded forward line. A huge part of it is poor forward coaching, the players forward of the ball need to be coached to make space so it is easier for the ball carrier to deliver it to their advantage. Stagnant, crowded forward lines will never succeed.

No different to Prestia's family still being MFC coterie right? Allegiances die hard.

My issue is, what exactly is this huge change to the gameplan? Play through the corridor more instead of around the boundary? More run and carry instead holding it up then bombing it to Gawn? It's not exactly revolutionary, not sure why it's so difficult to implement.

Pinched from BigFooty https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/attachments/1000025373-jpg.2281169/

They can kick long but for God's sake at least kick long to a teammates advantage! And coach to create space in the forward 50 for the forwards to work in. Kicking it long on top of a forwards head who is wrestling with his opponent is never gonna succeed.

It's not just the forward line. Even coming out of defense our mids/marking targets all just stand around instead of leading/making space. There was one instance last night where we had the ball across half back and then only person actually making a hard lead was Gawn. He was ignored of course.

He's a kid who won't play seniors until 2027 at the earliest. Back to putting our hope in teenagers 🙄

Add Richo and probably Williams and Lamb to the list too. Big cleanout required.

Have a look at that effort from McIntosh in the 2nd quarter, repeat efforts in the centre square from a veteran showing the level of effort expected to the kids coming through. When was the last time we saw those kinds of efforts from our senior players? Viney last year maybe but definitely nothing from any of them this year.

Next year? How about next month.

May? Put money on it.

No chance, why would anyone waste their time? Especially over a long weekend when many will be away. In fact only chance is Freo supporters doing a long weekend over here bumping crowd numbers up.