binman

Some excellent points there watson. The only thing i'd query is our forward line being a knock. What's that view based on? I worry about BB and Tmac not being fir and firing, and the third tall has been a key part of Goodys preferred forward line model, so i can see it is an issue from that perspective. But they have clearly had an emphasis on spreading the goal kickers and the bottom line is we remain the number one scoring side and still number one for accuracy from set shots, despite falling away in that are in the last 3 weeks (fatigue related is my take). From where i sit the media so often frame particular talking points, get fixated on it, repeat it a million times and it becomes some sort of accepted truth - even when the data does not support, or even contradicts, the talking point. One of the best examples this season is our supposed scoring and 'connection' issues. Both were issues last year and it is if the media can't let it go. And so, regularly i hear paid analysts talk about our forward issues as if there is no debate that it is an issue. Even yesterday that was a theme in much of the post-match commentary. Jordon Lewis, for example, said on 360 something like 'now clearly scoring is an issue for the dees but their defensive structures etc etc." It is so weird because we had 26 scoring shots! If you ignored the scoreboard and just went on scoring shots, that was a solid performance from our forward line and the connection was really good. By way of comparison, two of our best wins this season were against the Dogs in round one and the tigers on Anzac eve. Against the dogs we had 30 scoring shots. A better example is the tiger's game as we had 21 scoring shots that night, five less than we did against the Pies. Yet because we kicked accurately (15.6), no one mentioned any scoring, forward or connection issues. Another interesting example is our highest scoring game of the year when we hammered the Swans in round 3 by 50 points, scoring 134 points. But we only had three more scoring shots that game than we did against the Pies. So, with 26 scoring shots, connection is clearly not an issue. Or scoring for that matter. We just missed too many set shots. It's also worth noting we had 22 scoring shots on a wet and wild night against Port, 22 against Freo and 21 against the blues. Yes, those numbers are down on our average number scoring shots (just), but that reflects the competition wide drop off in scoring shots that happens in this period every year. On set shot accuracy, goody said on 360 we were deadly accurate until the last 3 weeks, but he is super confident it will come good again because of how hard they have worked on it, noting it is 'the least' of our problems.

What I have been most impressed with this year about Jack is his field kicking. Improved out of sight. Technically better, but also very few of his dump turnover kicks. I think a big factor is related to your field webbs. The medical staff at the dees have been dealing with jack's feet issues for years. The amount of physio and rehab he has had to do would be insane. I'm pretty sure the last preseason was his first that was 100% uninterrupted. Didn't miss sessions and trained with footy boots on from the get go. The kms he has to run he must put a strain on his feet, but i imagine the way he so often powers though tackles an contests must put massive stress through his feet. Kudos to all the medical professionals who have helped him get his feet right.

I must have seen that ad a million times. I've seen it si many times I have stated analysing the final frame here a dees supporter 'clips' shaq over the head. What does it mean?

Diff expected score than from here:

I'm not sure what i was watching, def with my red and blue glasses it would seem, because i never realized he was such a tough bugger at the dogs. His kicking is what excited me most, but boy is he hard at it. Suits our focus on the contest.

Stream of consciousness

Seriously? All of those players meet your definition of elite kicks? And you don't rate Salem, bowey, hunter, fritter and mcvee as elite kicks? Not even one of them? No, I mean seriously, are you serious?

MELB 63 from expected 86.9 (+3 rushed) COLL 62 from expected 59.1 (+0 rushed) 89.9 to 59.1.

Joey knows his stuff. Appears he does his own research - or at least, much more than king. And doesn’t flip flop. I suspect king just a series of PowerPoints slides in his laptop.

Big time player.

Would have cleaned up backing us at half time then

Just finished it. Great stuff. Footy mana.

The only recent similar vibe was the cats final in 2018 I reckon. The dees army was in full voice. Felt like a 1980s game the way it was played. Contest to contest. Just how we like it. BT keeps banging on about control versus chaos. Us being the control weirdly. Leaving aside the fact that our finals footy is equally ballistic, fast transition footy as theirs, a better phrase comparing the two teams would be power versus pace. We have more power athletes than them, whereas they have more runners. Lots of them bloody tall too. And good overhead.

Pre game analysis David King, brown and montagns rabbiting on about the 'mcrae sandwich' (high scoring first and last q) and their elite fitness Montagna weakly notes at the end rhe dees are pretty good in the last q. We're bloody number one in the afl for winning last quarters Half time in the replay. David King confident the pies will blow us away. Elite analysis.

He looked gone. I was watching him come off and it looked all the world he had dislocated his shoulder. Maybe he did! He is a serious unit when he plays like he did today. Which is how he plays every big game. Bugger being his opponent.

Overs and unders on expected scores anyone. I'm going 90 - 64.

He looked gone. I was watching him come off and it looked all the world he had dislocated his shoulder. Maybe he did! He is a serious unit when he plays like he did today. Which is how he plays every big game. Bugger being his opponent.

Replay time.

Who then are the AFL players you consider to be elite kicks. By the by, I'm not sure how, but I forgot fritter. In my book, he absolutely is an elite kick. Can't think of many other AFL players, maybe two or three tops, I'd pick ahead of fritter to nail a set shot from anywhere inside 50 to win a game after the siren. That's five elite kicks, by my defintion.

Can't innovate either apparently. Fritter playing on Moore and dragging him deep must have really confused Mcrae then. On that match up, on the way home one of the sen pundits, I think Gerard heally, who by the by gave us a big wrap, said he had that battle as even. Moore, who is a gun, had six intercepts and played well. But fritter kicked 3 of our 8 goals, so surely he gets the points.

Has been a real issue for us for as long as I can remember. I'm trying to think when it wasn't. Even one more truly elite kick would make a huge difference. I reckon we only have four elite kicks - in order, hunter, bowey, salo and mcvee. In that context, it's worth noting bowey's absence. Missed him today.

Has played something lime 60 of our last 62 odd games. Any suggestion he is getting dropped anytime soon is completely laugable.

Viney was clear best on ground. But how good was salo? And Tomlinson was just fantastic.

Yep. And all three goals were as a result of poor skill errors by us and resulting turnovers. More nervy errors than pies pressure I reckon. I think they scored 5 goals from turnovers - three in the first q. So we sorted that issue well.

Then he'll get dropped then won't he. Not. Coz a premiership coach understands footy and knows just how hard he works and the incredible amount of ground he covers. Were you at the game? if you were you would have seen a player push himself to the limit and beyond. He is almost always completely spent. But sure let's knock his skilll errors under intense fatigue. How many other dees players would have had the aerobic capacity and speed late in the game to mark that high kick from kozzie. Not one. He won us the game and you want him droppe. I edited my comment because it was unnecessarily snarky. Snarky, maybe. Accurate, absolutely.