spalding

Both seemed very ordinary

So easy in hindsight. I was one who advocated that we try and rest more players during 2022, but in the end we were fighting for top4 and couldn’t risk a loss. Geelong got it tight, but are gifted wins at home in the lead up to the finals versus mainly [censored] Victorian sides or disinterested interstate teams - who they could probably beat with most of their senior backline, Hawkins or Cameron and rest from VFL. All teams would have injured players in finals and would roll the dice to some extent. Sometimes it works (ie Brisbane in 2003) and sometimes it doesn’t.

I’m a 4th generation MFC member who now owns quite a bit of hawks gear (thanks to the vagaries of the draft). At least they know how [censored] their colours are by using navy in all their merchandising. It’s sort of like we own them now (at least in a football sense) anyway.

Gone for scans too mfcss rampant for many

7 news - apparently Brayshaw is cooked too

Great signing. Could be the messiah or a very naughty boy, but definitely worth the risk/reward. Wouldn’t swap him for anyone else I saw in the vfl.

The comparison of our player management versus Geelong’s player management is problematic for me, as Geelong have about 8 games a year that they know they can win at 80% of rat power thanks to playing mainly [censored] teams at welfare park

It may come down to keeping one of Toby or Kade Chandler. I think Chandler could be a more skillful version of ANB, depending on whether he can build a similar tank - i thought some of his kicking in the VFL GF was elite given the conditions (passes over 40m within a metre of the boundary). Never really seen how quick he is relative to Toby. Has anyone seen a comparison at training? I am assuming Toby is quicker, but I not 100% sure.

all summer there will be the usual suspects on Demonland bemoaning the fact that we draft incompetently, our coaching team is stubborn and wont tweak our game plan, our medical and conditioning team is second rate since Burgess went to Adelaide, Kosi is going to Port next year, and our premiership window has already closed.

I reckon Grundy still might be top of the podium

Some people have way too much spare time

Would Rutten be a potential replacement for Yze? maybe yesterdays comments by Goody was part of scenario planning by MFC as per speaking with Gundy. Heady days for us! reigning premiers quietly working away in the background without in-fighting and leaks. Even the stuff the Warner was agitating with earlier in the year has been met with a collective and consistent response

Ever heard of having a plan B ?

was my favourite melbourne highlight (Brett Bailey Night GF was a very close second) until Bang; Bang, Bang

i'm flip flopping too. As much as I want to keep him, I would rather let him go and trust our list management to use the collateral wisely to ensure we are in the premiership window for a few more years given we have locked up our stars. I think there would have been more damage to the culture of the club, and our chances or multiple premierships, if we lost Gus to keep LJ. I sort of feel the same way about the likes of Harmes and anyone else we feel is important to the soul of the club or the future who could be colateral damage to his contract. If he wants to stay, and will accept what we can offer for 2 years, then great. I don't think we can afford to blow up our list to keep him by trying to match the dockers. Lets be a Geelong, Hawthorn, Richmond - not a 1 off wonder like Pies, Dogs, WCE etc.

When he played in the midfield in 2018 with Viney, Trac and clarry, our losses tended to come when they were all ball chasing at contests and we got killed on the outside. The Pies have probably exploited this tactic better against us than any other team. I think the last couple of years on the wing and in defence will make Gus a better midfielder. Great timing for the test coming this week - as I reckon this will be something cats will also try to exploit.

At some point, if we are to win this thing, I think we will need to beat Geelong at the MCG in September. May as well do it in Week 1 of the the finals from 4th. Then the cats will probably have a 1st Semi versus one of WB, Tigers, Carl or Pies (none of which they would be comfortable about), and then an away prelim to one of Brisbane, Freo, or Sydney. We can then wait for our Preliminary final opponent (most likely an interstate team - of which the most concerning would probably be Sydney),

It was great that we changed our forward set up to go smaller - and it worked a treat. I have always felt the lack of pace of the lions defence, and Daniel Rich in particular is exploitable kudos to Bailey Fritsch. We played through him a lot in more of a tall forward role than usual, and as a result he had to fly for a lot of marks against multiple opponents at times. It’s a strength of his that he competes so well in the air and is rarely out marked in either a one on one or in a pack. also very noticeable that our inside 50’s mostly avoided high balls to stationary tall forwards that are ripe for intercept marks. Unlike the 3rd quarter v Pies that nearly cost me a flatscreen!

i thought the match up was tough already (for similar reasons to why we lost last year), and wish I shared your confidence. Maybe MFCSS is slowly creeping in (cue Powderfinger!), but I am already getting mentally ready for a 2 week self-imposed ban from listening to SEN and RSN and watching any footy shows.

Wonder what Caro thinks of that

In the words of supertramp ”won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned?”

Pointless.

Reckon we have had a pretty good run over the last few weeks. Is this another perk for being a good team? we really are in a parallel universe

Freo? Actually, wherever he wants as long as it’s for us.

yeah - they let anyone in these days. even annoying St Kilda supporters