DeeSpencer

I don't particularly think Rankine making Jetta look bad is a huge part of the problem, the kid is freakish, but it's Nev's lack of impact in general that has me worried. In 3 games he's had 2 tackles - one of the great tackles our club has had in years and he can't get near guys. He's had 4 marks and is averaging 7 touches - even allowing for shorter quarters that's a big drop off. He doesn't look like providing any thing with the ball and he doesn't look nearly as composed when marking. Something very odd happened in that Gold Coast game with both Jetta and Lockhart both barely touching it, whilst McPherson didn't get near it for the Suns and Sexton, Ainsworth and Holman didn't get much ball either, nor did the Suns big guys. So maybe just an odd occurrence from a statistical point of view. But the stats really are just highlighting what the eyes are seeing which is a guy who seems to have lost a step and isn't as sure of his capabilities.

He doesn't have the fitness or attacking game to play as a half back. So he'll always be deep. If they play more of a zoning system at times he'll end up covering a tall outside 50 whilst the bigger boys drop back. A lot of fuss about Jetta holding up McKay 50m from goal a couple of times.... Otherwise if they play man on man he'll have to line up on smalls who have him for pace. Look around the comp and the small lock down defenders are going out of fashion. Essendon called time on Baguley. The Saints are using Geary forward at times. Nick Smith's time ended at the Swans. The Hawks back pockets are Stratton and Frost - quick guys with the speed to play small and the height to switch opponents and take intercept marks. Geelong have an entire backline 186cm+ with Bews, Mark O'Connor, Henry etc as the deeper mid sized guys. I hope I"m wrong and Nev can bounce back but we can't just hide him on lesser opponents.

I agree with you but I do think the theme last night was ‘walk before you can run’. Keeping the game simple and slower rather than the risks we’ve been taking. Another thing to note was the Suns missed a lot of set shots whilst nailing kicks from all sorts of places. So most of our kick outs were from slow plays in to set up zones. Also the Saints under Richo were one of the best kick out teams I believe. And we tried things against Carlton and Richmond. It’s a watch and see.

Is it lucky that Gawn has a good marking day when he’s the best mark in the comp and knows he has his opponent covered? Last week we ran a couple of set plays of Gawn coming back to the middle. We win the ball but turned it over and got killed. Against Carlton May tried to lace out a heap of kicks with various levels of success. The Giants ground is thin and the Suns had a tight zone. There were a couple of chances to go the fat side and then run in to space, but the forward line and mids have to do a heap of work and hit targets. We had a strategy that was working and playing to our strengths with Gawn and contested footy. Isn’t that what people want from that coaches?

Bad kicks can become good kicks at half back though. The options are much easier. Long down the line or safe switches works more often that not. He's not playing too badly right now, but he's not really improving either.

What's the full list of 12? Petty, Hore, KK, Nietschke on the injury list. Preuss, Baker, Bedford. Both Wagners? Bradtke? I think Lockhart was his man for the first and let him go to the front whilst he kept back position of the pack. The mids were awful for the 3rd goal but Nev still couldn't get near him or block his run. And otherwise Nev just didn't look up to the tempo of the game. The old legs just don't go as well as they use to. Maybe he gets one more go, maybe he can reinvent himself as a pressure forward like other small defenders have?

Was very little in it but Clarry swung an arm at him, that's always going to be a free. The biggest armchair ride Rankine got was Max tapping it right to him. Our mids were in awful position at that stoppage and Jetta just couldn't go with the kid. Thankfully he can't kick a set shot.

The umps were soft but our players have to be smarter. Ellis loves that kind of rubbish. So Langdon - who I think easily had the better of him all night as a runner - has to avoid the little shove in the back. And Kossie needs to be smarter too. Kossie's pressure was really good all game and he had a number of efforts that saved our bacon. Plus at least 2 goal assists. But to give away a down field as well as a couple of ordinary turnovers soured his night.

Tom had some decent moments against the Cats and Tigers doing the same. Our ball movement was more predictable today. Don't get me wrong I was happy with the job Sam did, I'm just saying we are yet to get 2 talls really firing.

The 2 big blokes did their job, Bennell showed promise but also was clearly lacking in areas. Jetta was ordinary, your first thought was correct.

And that was for all of a quarter and we were down at 1/4 time. When we went smaller in the 2nd and used Weid as the pack crasher around true CHF we looked our most dangerous. The suns goals were pretty rubbish early and we controlled the ball and tempo better with Tom hitting the wings, but it didn't lead to much on the scoreboard and the ball walked out of our forward line. In the second quarter Weid split some packs and we played on out of those contested situations to hit up inside 50 targets. There's still plenty of work to do to get two talls up and firing, plus make sure Fritsch and Melk are finding the ball enough to contribute and getting the defensive pressure consistently sorted.

He's responded to concerns about his defensive running by this new habit of just sprinting back to the backline and a couple of occasions tonight he actually opened a hole in the corridor infront of him for a suns defender to run through. I actually think he's been going ok this year in a lower possession but more accountable role. We're certainly looking for players at half back though. Harmes didn't work out. Rivers not ready, Lockhart just going. I'd certainly think about giving Gus another go there and seeing if he can make a good go at it. Yeah if Oliver and Viney weren't in the side he'd play more on ball and probably do well but the midfield game has sped up so much the last couple of years, I worry about Gus as a transition runner even if he was surrounded by better movers and users. Half back could see him get good value from his marking and his ability to use either foot - if taking safe or long options.

Did they change the structure? Tom only played the first quarter, so we really only had 1 tall for 3/4s of the game. Weid probably sat a little deeper than Tom was at times the last couple of weeks as Petracca played an undersized CHF but that's been happening the last two weeks as well. We didn't get much of a real look at 2 key forwards together and a couple of times in the first quarter Weid struggled to get off his man anyway. Oscar was better than I expected, he certainly looks fitter and a touch quicker and more assertive, and yeah he's more interchangeable with May at least on the Suns big talls so May could come up a bit more, although he didn't play all that well. Lever has been freed up all season, tonight he took better advantage of it at times.

Backs: I really think Hibberd was so much better when deep and not up getting the ball and butchering it. Jetta just doesn't have the legs any more. And Lockhart's struggling to get involved and tape on the knee isn't a good sign, he's had a few bumps and bruises already. But who's available: J. Wagner --- hmmm Rivers - a week is a quick time to rebound Sparrow? Hunt - down back....? Chandler - did he even make the trip? Smith - Actually don't mind the idea of him playing higher up the ground, he has the tank for it and would provide us with more intercept marking Fritsch - he won't be getting much full forward time if we play 2 talls and he doesn't provide a lot of pressure at half forward Mids: No change for now. Vanders has to use it better and can't turn to tackle (protecting his foot I'm sure). But his crunching tackles and pressure makes a big improvement. Forwards: Tom might be in trouble. Bennell clearly is still a long way off defensively but I guess you give him another chance to see if his work rate lifts. Melksham struggling to find the ball and using it awfully. Who's available: Jones - unlikely to give much tackle pressure but at least would crack in which Melk hasn't been, unsure of how much skill he has left ANB - probably the logical pressure help but pray his ball use is better Brown or Jackson - hmmm, Brown probably the safe option Hunt - if we want to stay small and mobile

Signs of life tonight. Not buying the idea Smith was the problem although Oscar is more predictable. Our best midfield defending and forward pressure which gave him more chances. Still don’t think Hibbo and Jetta can play in the same side and Lockhart is struggling, so the half back line needs reinforcements. Really for Lever he just had to hold his marks which means a few things have to happen: One - stopping his own team mates spoiling him. 2 - setting up the pressure. 3- Jake has to jump and be strong in the air, he’s still not elevating with conviction.

The thing that worries me about Pert is his vision for Melbourne doesn’t really sit in reality. He wants us to be a big club and a big commercial business. Jackson seemed to be focussed on making us a well run boutique club. There seems to be a rise of wearing different jumpers. The social media has shifted towards gimmicks. Everything possible is sold to a sponsor, including the extra Zurich logo on the back of the jumper. Some of that is the commercial reality of covid and preferable to job losses, but I’m still concerned. Otherwise he was bought on to build a facility which now seems unlikely and instead has to get involved in footy decisions - it is the core business. So he has a mess to sort then has to come up with a new plan to improve the club.

I don’t think any new CEO in the world wouldn’t have extended Goodwin. The measure of the CEO’s value will he if the contract has out clauses for the last 1-2 years. A 4 year deal and a pay rise deserves to have some protection on the back end of the deal.

Tomlinson is NOT a forward. Didn't we see a glimpse of that on the weekend? He can't jump. He isn't quick off the mark. He doesn't hit the aerial contest hard. If we want a lead up forward we have Mitch Brown on the list. But we don't need a lead up CHF - we have Tom McDonald in that role who is starting to find a bit of ball and confidence. We need another tall inside 50 or for the alternative down the line option when Tom is elsewhere and we've tried going smaller with Hannan/Hunt/Fritsch and Melksham. It hasn't worked but it has bought time for Weideman to get a bit of confidence in match practice games and now he'll get his go. The awful ball use is still the biggest issue. Tomlinson either gets another chance on the wings if we want to bring more width and slower ball movement. Or if we're honest and decide he's ordinary then we'll look elsewhere. Clearly changing up some of the half forward and on ball mix starting with Bennell back in is a start. Fritsch and Hannan higher up the ground and either Melk or ANB/Spargo/Jones part of the shake up too. Pressure doesn't necessarily equal effort: Round 1 was poor. Round 2 started very well but then everyone stopped running and attacking the game as the game went on. Round 4, we make big changes to ensure more run and the run and effort was huge to keep the Cats score low, but the pressure was bad because we were disorganised and sagging back to help the backline rather than getting up in a good organised zone. Round 5 - effort certainly there against Richmond and plenty of pressure when we kept our structure. Unfortunately all kinds of turnovers from awful skills and decisions cost us ability to get that pressure on. If you have 3 open team mates short and bomb it long to a 1 on 3 you aren't going to get any pressure on! Disorganisation is the key theme, not so much lack of effort.

Only those at the club will know, but I always saw it as the club thinking Tom McDonald will be a quality CHF capable of 50 goals for the time we were in the premiership window. Tom fished 5th in the B+F on the back of 20 games, Hogan was 11th with the same amount of games. Obviously the club thought Weid would be a decent best 22 regular and hopefully more - which in time he still could be. They didn't have to think he was going to be a star because we already had a star. If McDonald was still the kind of guy you build a forward line around things could be a lot different for Weid right now.

Trading Hogan whilst he still had currency wasn't a gamble. It was the safe move. Taking a very good full back rather than a skinny kid in King wasn't a gamble. Again, the safe move. We needed a full back, we got one rather than a skinny kid. Jackson's certainly a gamble. I do wonder if they saw the King's a year after the draft and thought lets get a guy like that even though he's not the same type of player, but I guess we have to give them more credit than being victim to such recency bias. I saw it as basically Nic Nat over Rich and I'll stand by that call for now. Weid not coming on is a problem. But the more Melbourne problem that this club recreates time and time again is a player like Tom McDonald who was fringe AA quality as a key forward in 2018 is suddenly very ordinary. Time and time again whether it's James Frawley, Brock McLean, Cameron Bruce and plenty of others we have guys who have amazing seasons then fall in a heap. Brayshaw and Melksham the 2 others from 2018 who have gone from hero to zero.

Ahhh we could've bid on him with pick 3 and there was strong mail that the Giants would pass him up to get Jackson. There was no reason not to bid on Green if we wanted Green. GWS no the academy rules as well as anyone. Anyway, Green wouldn't help us all that much right now. He'd be whacking away at half forward and fighting for on ball time and we'd just have a bigger log jam of contested ball mids with average kicks. That's no reason not to draft him but people upset we didn't based on his current form aren't watching our team play! That doesn't excuse the Jackson pick if it was for needs and the recruiters talked themselves in to Jackson being a key forward when his forward craft looked a long way off. He's a ruck and will be ready to play as a ruck quicker than a lot of people think and he might be very good very quickly. But he might also be a good example of why you don't draft for need.

My frustrations with the Weid's development are: 1. He's never really had a consistent run in the VFL to become 'the man'. He had a good stretch in 2018 when he started to find consistent form down a level and that translated in a really nice end to that season. Last year was clearly a disaster. But now that he's healthy he could've had a really strong patch of form in the VFL and convinced everyone that he's a proper goal kicker and reliable target. 2. Apart from runs in the ruck with various success (average in ruck contests, good around the ground) he hasn't had a lot of variety in his development. He's never had a go down back and rarely has been asked to do much of anything particular as a forward as far as I can tell. Usually it's just be the 2nd tall and try to stay out of the way whilst the main tall target and a dangerous (in theory) Melksham type get the forward targets. Now he's out of VFL or scratch matches so the idea of a consistent run of good form down a level won't happen. Hopefully he gets a consistent run at the top level and a role to play that actually can develop his game.

Most of our players are probably already doing 100km round trips to Casey for training. I don't know Sydney's traffic well enough to know how Manly to Blacktown is but it should be heading away from the city for most of it. The boys have plenty of time up there so shouldn't be an issue. If they get free access to the beach that's a pretty good result. Certainly seem less locked down than the QLD guys.

Would love to here some of the reasons why people still have Tomlinson in the team. Apart from the idea his familiarity with Giants stadium could come in useful. Might know where the change rooms are for half time. He has to be one of the most awful recruits in recent history even for us. Can't catch an opponent. Takes an eternity to deliver the ball and his kicking efficiency has been as bad as any of our mids. Can't get off the ground to compete in the air. Hits the contest with Jack Watts level apprehension. 193cm of waddling waste.

17-19 is relevant because the coach who had a bias for ANB for 3 years now has a bias against him? Maybe ANB hasn't improved at all and the competition has. You're talking seasons average for 2 games for ANB! And one or two good kicks after years of being a poor kick with no vision or creativity. We've just come off a season where the entire list pretty much got a game. We've played 3 kids. We've played a guy in Bennell off a 3 year break and half an intraclub. Nev Jetta - every coaches favourite player I'm sure - has been dropped. There's really not a lot of evidence for this claim of bias. Goodwin certainly has loyalty to senior players, most coaches do, but we snuck over the line against Carlton and he made 5 changes, I don't think he's doing selection based on some kind of immature pettiness.