bing181

Great to see that Brayshaw is playing, also the likes of JKH, Stetch etc. Gives them a bit more opportunity to work on their craft and develop.

Yes. Think it means that we're not very good at hanging on to the ball. Any number of reasons, even including game plan (e.g. plough on regardless as opposed to chip it round and wait for an opportunity) but with work, presumably it's the kind of thing that can be improved on with more experienced players, more skilled players (though the two go together), and more intent/intensity/concentration over 4 quarters. I know it's something that many here don't like hearing, but we're still a young team. Yes, there are other young teams, but what's hidden amongst that stat is that many of our key players (Viney, Oliver, Hogan, Petracca, most of our backline, even Gawn in ruck-years) are young/inexperienced, and that's where it's falling down at the moment.

I believe that what they were talking about is the Ball Movements stat developed by Champion Data (Ball Movement Equity or BME) which measures not just possessions but chains of possessions. It's not about speed of ball movement at all, and I'm unaware of a stat that measures speed of ball movement. My layman's understanding is that BME is about ability to hold on to the ball through chains of possessions, to keep possession.

Hard to get an exact explanation from Champion Data, but believe it relates to chains of ball movement. A low BME figure would be an indication of ball movement chains breaking down through turnovers etc. Poor skills? Not working hard enough as receivers? Lack of experience (knowing where to run to receive the ball and/or create space)?

It's not an out, it's an explanation. If all else is more or less equivalent, more experienced sides will always have the upper hand. There are always exceptions, but it's no surprise that premierships are invariably won by teams with a core group of 150+ game players, Hawthorn and Sydney being the case in point in modern times.

Garland is contracted for next year. He can't/won't be delisted. Only possibility for creating space is that he retires or asks for a transfer (to a lower league one would presume), but chance of that happening when he has a contract is pretty well zero.

Yes and no, but we're certainly still paying dearly for the basket case we were 5+ years ago. In terms of experience and thus maturity and leadership we have Jones, Vince, Lewis (especially), but then we drop down to Viney and the 2nd/3rd year players. We have very (very!) few players in the 100 - 200 game group, which is where the leadership and experience should start to come to the fore and flow on through the whole team. Of that group, the only players we have that have come up playing at Melbourne are: Watts. Jetta. Colin Garland. Tom McDonald. That's all. The difference with a team like Sydney is quite staggering. They have 5 players with more than 200 games, and apart from Franklin, most of those have played their whole careers at Sydney (more or less). For us, we have 3 players with more than 200 games, but 2 of those are recent imports. So, only one player (Jones) who has been with us throughout. But just under that, Sydney also have another batch of 4 players in the 150 - 200 game mark, once again, all of whom have come through the club (excepting Tippet ... and I've included Parker on 149 games). We have one who's come through the club - Jack Watts. In other words, Sydney have 9 players with 150+ games, most of whom have come through the club. We have 5 players with 150+ games, but only 2 of which have come through the club. That's a huge difference, especially when you consider the kind of club that Sydney have been over the last 10 years, from the coaches down through the players. Given what he's come up through, that Nathan Jones is any kind of captain at all is a miracle. The onfield leadership we're all clamouring for will come, we have the young(er) players. But it will take time.

... doesn't exist. There are only 3 players in the league who've averaged over 15 CP per game: Dangerfield, Kennedy and Clayton Oliver. All have disposal efficiency around that of Tyson, +/- 66%, and apart from Oliver, all rank high for turnovers.

The perfect player doesn't exist. Yes, Tyson turns it over, but no more than many inside players where disposals are nearly always under pressure. Hopefully it's something that'll improve as he matures, as it has with other players, though it's interesting that his DE has fallen this year from a more than respectable 70+%. Game plan? Other players not working as hard? Dom himself not working as hard? FWIW, Viney also has mediocre disposal. And has been pointed out, the player who leads the AFL stats for most turnovers is ... Dustin Martin.

Which coincided with our two main clearance players, Jones and Viney, being injured.

91.7%. I rounded it off to 92. 91.7 felt too pedantic, but obviously not pedantic enough. In fact, it's 91.666 (repeating), as he managed to get 22 of his 24 disposals to their intended targets.

Hard to see pick 10 being enough.

Salem with a disposal efficiency of 92%, the highest of our team, that Salem?

No point listing players who already have contracts in place for next year, e.g. JKH and Garland. Not going anywhere unless they a) retire b) get traded. Agree with the main 4 names being thrown about. Hard to see Kennedy being kept on.

Thanks for that, excellent work. Pity Pedo isn't eligible, but great that Bugg and Brayshaw are/should be. On paper, a strong side.

Speak for yourself. Wallowing in self-pity isn't really my thing, but more to the point, achieves nothing. As a some of the more even-keeled posters have pointed out already, what we want/need is a systematic, methodical review of the whole season (not just one game), where, why and how we came up short, and what we're going to do to address it. This from the players through the medical/conditioning staff and boot-studders to the coaches, FD and Board. Which I'm sure is happening. As it would have in any case.

Brayshaw?

The season in a nutshell.

It's a mistake to bring the season down to just one game, as if a better first quarter against the Pies changes everything. It doesn't. We should never have been in that position (having to win the last game) in the first place, the damage - such as it was - was done earlier in the year, especially in those games where we had quarters (or halves) where we just didn't turn up. Making finals would have left us all feeling a lot better, but would only really have papered over the cracks. Perhaps there's some benefit in having our faces rubbed in our shortcomings, I'd hope so or else the loss to Collingwood (and North etc.) will have been for nothing. I do think the injury/suspension issues affected us a) through having important players out, but just as importantly b) creating a situation where there was a real lack of continuity in the structure of the side we were putting on the field each week. To take just one example, Tom Mac became an effective forward, but then he can't just return to the backline and be expected to perform as if he's been there all year, something which then has a flow-on effect through the whole team. On the other hand, that did create some opportunities for the developing players, so hopefully even there there's an upside further down the track. And I think that's the key here. The time to be assessing this season isn't now, it's in a couple of years. If looking back we can see that this season was the one that helped sort out the wheat from the chaff, understand the need for consistency, and put in place the building blocks for a serious tilt at a premiership, then it will have been a success, or at least an important stepping stone towards success. For the moment, hard to see or say. Plenty of positives, lots to like, moving in the right direction ... but only time will tell if we've been able to address some of our key weaknesses.

Probably not the moment, but can anyone list the Melbourne players eligible for Casey/VFL Finals?

Wearing a hair shirt.

Agree with the sentiment, but can we stop using girls (of any age) as metaphors for melodramatic, emotional etc. Though something's seriously wrong when showing that you're upset at missing out on an important event is a sign of weakness. And we wonder why more men than women have mental health issues.

This is just OTT hyperbole. Last I looked there were at least 50 shades in-between black (MFC can do no right) and white (MFC can do no wrong). Just because some of us aren't slashing our wrists ... Have said it before here: I don't know how some of you get through the day.

Read the story. It was talking about the atmosphere around the rooms with kids, families, fans etc., almost juxtaposing that with how the players were. They refer to Viney and his " dejected teammates, who emerged from behind closed doors" etc. etc. not to mention unnamed "club officials" who were trying to put a positive spin on it. From what I saw, the players looked gutted (as above). As Nathan Jones said "I feel sick in the stomach". But heh, carry on wrist-slashing.

I don't think for one moment any of the Adelaide players will be taking it easy. Almost certainly a spot in a grand final is at stake.