binman

This game was our serious dress reherseal for round one, just as was the case in 2021 and 2022. I doubt we will have a full strength team next week, and they will probably try some different things eg some new set plays, different positions, some younger players. Meaning it was a bit of a blow to Jordan and Hibbo. From the saints game, the only changes I can envision is harmes out (who did look.a bit rusty - though in his defence it must be hard playing that utility position - same goes for sparrowwho also had a quiet game). Jordan or maybe hibbo in (Gus could play more as a mid and hibbo takes his spot). Given his versatility, jordon could be 23rd man.

I was thinking much the same thing about koz. He's a brilliant field kick. In addition to good technique, he has great vision and the confidence to take on difficult options, so can really set up dangerous scoring chains. If he can average 15 plus possessions we get a lot more value out of his field kicking. Hunter is an even better kick, and also creates dangerous scoring chains. He has that ability the best left footers have to exploit the split second of space lefties get when the defender instinctively shapes to cover a right footer. I think Mcvee will be in the round one team, and hopefully can keep his spot when Salem comes back. He looks class. Fantastic, fluid technique, calm, makes good decision - and hits targets. Bowey looks in great shape, makes excellent decisions and has a case to being the most reliable kick in the team, certainly up to 35-40 metres. With Salem, that's 5 elite kicks in our starting 22, who get 15 plus possessions, reliably hit those crtical 25-40 metre kicks, have tricks and set up rolled gold scoring opportunites. That translates to kicking more goals through quality assists and fewer scoring chains breaking down with junk turnovers (thst often gift the opposition a scoring opportunity). The other factor is those five players almost certainly have goody's approval to take on risky kicks to the corridor. That's obviously the best spot to enter 50 from, so three or four more kicks thst hit the target in the corridor makes us so much more dangerous. The four playing all hit corridor targets against the saints, and I'd be guessing collectively were involved in a lot of our scoring chains. Good times.

I watched the first q of the freo crows game. Jackson played pretty well. As wxpected Darcy was number one ruck, but Jackson probably played about 40% in the ruck. Did some nice things when the ball hit the ground. Played forward mostly when not rucking. Marked on the chest leading out from full forward. And from 30 kicked gun barrel straight for a goal. Which was when the penny dropped he was no longer a Demon player!

You'll have to find that aisle yourself. The 16 year old stoner will try to help, buy ultimately give up. 'What's a cauldron do? So, it's sort of like a bucket? Maybe try the cleaning aisle? Number? Um, down that way? It's hot in a cauldron? Um, maybe try the outdoor sections where they have those outdoor heater thingos. Yeah, nah, sorry man, can't help'

Exactly. Lyon, Malthouse, to a lesser extent Buckley, and arguably Roos, had an identifiable game plan - variation on an ultra defence first, bugger all offence and boring opposition and neutral fans to death. Can Lyon develop a modern system? Even if he can, it will take st least a season. And the list is got holes everywhere, not to mention some injury concerns.

100% bowey is in our best 22. For one thing he is one of of only a handful if elite kicks we have. And he has footy smarts and plays that critical half back distributor role super well. Though needs someone on the other side. Would/will be salem. Suspect it will be mcvee round one (which would make for 2 young half back flankers). His dropping last year felt like a development thing to me, perhaps to temind him AFL is not all about rocking up and winning.

I don't think it will be our best team. It wasn't last year, or the year before. In both years we had our best 22 on the first practice match. Unless there are injuries I suspect we saw the round one team today (with the exception of jvr). Melksham might be an in perhaps.but Chandler would probably have to come out, and I'd prefer Chandler.

I have to say it was impossible watching at the ground to work out what sort of game plan Lyon is running with. And they looked pretty bloody average.

Rebounding half back seemed to be role. I suspect he'll take Salem's place and role - with bowey on the other side. Rivers is a lock down back, so not sure where that leaves hibbo. Gus played back today, so if he goes into the middle hibbo could come in.

100% agree on all three. It looks like Mcvee has Salem's spot for now. Nice kicking action and finds targets. The team really got around him early when he hit up a forward with a sweet hit that set up a [censored] on goal. Hunter's kicking inside 50 is exactly what we need. In addition to setting up scores, he creates a problem for oppos trying to bypass Langdon. I love that both have shaved heads. I think a key factior in how much Grundy improves us will be how well he and maxy combine. It might take the first handful of games to build their chemistry. If/when they click they will be a formidable combo given their size, ruck craft and incredible fitness. That combo is an improvement on maxy and Jackson. So that's a win right there.

His endurance is pretty good now, and will only improve, so a bit a bit depends on the level he can get his athleticism at. Playing as a mid at Casey might help him develop his running power and athleticism. He might be one of those players who take a few pre seasons to get in optimal athletic condition. This is his fifth season, and he is just shy of 50 games, which by the by is pretty impressive as his first game was at the start of 2021 - meaning he has played almost every game of the last two seasons. He's coming into his prime phase, that 50 to 120 games zone, and i reckon his combination footy smarts and good decision making is a skill set too few players have. He'll just get better from here, and I could see him elevating his game to another level. If he does he isn't going out of the best 22.

Jordon could play half back, effectively replacing Salem. JJ has the discipline and defensive nous. And in almost all his games he essentially played a half back role. He's a terrific footballer. Super high footy iq and does whatever job the coaches ask him to do..You can see why the coaches love him.

Credit to you RPFC, you called the issue with forward defensive pressure early last season. I didn't think it was an indication of an issue, but you were proven right and i was proven wrong.

All excellent points Brownie. At the risk of being captain obvious, I'd add that in addition to negatively impacting on match day performance, carrying injury would also have an impact on a players' capacity to build and/or maintain fitness levels (even if they continued to participate in full training ie not rehabbing). Logic suggests there is a correlation between the length of time a player has carried something (and the specific injury) and the impact on fitness levels. As an example, let's take Maxy and Lever. Both appeared to be 'not quite right' from at least mid-season (probably all season for Lever). Their performance was clearly impacted, but it is very likely so was their fitness. No surprise then that they both looked totally gassed late in games at the back end of the season. Thats two of our best 22 not at optimal performance or fitness levels for nigh on half a season. I think it is reasonable to assume there were quite a few more in a similar boat (eg Salo, BB). And even more players again who picked up an injury that impacted fitness levels as the season progressed. As you say, the suggestion is we 10 or 11 such players come final time. So almost half the team. No wonder we struggled. Bottom line, as you say, they struggled to run out games in the last fifth of the season. That was clear as day. And if someone didn't believe their eyes, the scoreboard told the tale. In our last five games, not once did we out score the opposition in the second half. Working back from the semi, the margin at HT and full time in our last five games were: Lions game: up by 22 points at HT, lost by 13 - a six goal swing Swans game: down by six points at HT, lost by 22 - - a three goal swing Lions game: up by 66 at HT, won by 58 - one goal swing Blues game: up by 8 points at HT, won by 5 points - 0.5 goal swing Pies game: up by 17 points at HT, lost by 7 points - 4 goal swing To be crystal clear I'm not saying fitness and injury were the only factors at play. But in my opinion, fitness and injury were, by some margin, the biggest factors in our poor performance.

Our game plan in a nutshell.

I listened to Kate roffey's agm speech earlier today. She mentioned we had quite a few injured players, some of whom no one knew/knows about

I would have thought you like a good belt.

All very reasonable points. The very same arguments could be made about the many and varied health impacts of alcohol use (Noting that the National Health and Medical Research Council Australian guidelines to reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury recommend healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks (3 stubbies) on any one day)

totes agree Luci.

My post was admittedly a bit confusing Luci. I was referring to Melksham as having received no admonishment, or punishment for that matter. The point i was trying to make was that was an indication how out of line May must have been - i mean May was recovering from concussion and Melk broke his hand, if he was in any way in the wrong he would have copped a punishment. I don't think there is any question May was paralytic drunk. IIRC there were reports on DL that the group were seen at a boxing match all arvo prior to going to dinner and were drinking heavily. So a big day on the sauce and then off to a restaurant and more drinking. IIRC May admitted he was hammered. My underlying point is NOT that the media didn't do enough to highlight a societal 'double standard'. Again, i was probably unclear. My underlying point is that there is always a lot of moralizing, from fans and the public (and sometimes, but not always, the media), when a player gets pinged (pardon the pun) for using recreational drugs. And very little moralizing when a player chooses to drink excessively. Excessive alcohol use only gets raised in the context of an incident that happens, as in the case of Steve May. In May's case i don't recall the club or AFL publicly criticizing May for his use of alcohol, other than in general sense - just his behavior. From a moral perspective, not many people had an issue with a big group of players drinking all afternoon and into the evening. But some (thankfully, perhaps less people now than might have been the case 10 years ago), judge Ginnivan for using drugs. This morality palaver means players are expected to come out with a pantomime statement saying how sorry they are for their use of drugs - one off, so sorry, let the club and fans down won't happen again blah blah blah. Just as Ginnvan did - despite there being NO suggestion he behaved poorly. Look at the rubbish Willi Rioli copped for being caught with a small amount of marijuana. Just ridiculous. A player caught using drugs is often criticised because they are 'role models'. Well surely that should also apply to their use of legal drugs such as alcohol. What sort of role models to young kids siting near them were the dees players drinking all arvo at the boxing or to diners at the restaurant? I could care less about a players choice of recreational mood enhancers - be it illicit drugs or alcohol (assuming of course it doesn't impact on their ability to perform). I care about their behavior. That's where i draw my moral line.

That's all correct LF. And he deserved the crtisim for his behaviour. But what I was contrasting was I hardly read any criticism of his EXCESSIVE alcohol use that night. There was some, but the focus on his obnoxiousous and being a [censored]. Ginnivan on the other hand is being slammed for using recreational drugs. BUT there is no suggestion at all that he behaved poorly. No [censored] behaviour and no need for anyone to step in and get him to pull his head in. All he did was take recreational drugs. A crime, sure. But a victimless crime. May didn't break the law, but his choice of drug (grog) contributed to his poor behaviour which impacted his teammates, any poor bugger who went our for a nice dinner and of course the staff at the restaurant. The double standards I was referring to was not about Ginnivan v may"s behaviour or the punishment they both copped. It was drugs v grog. Many (not saying you- many in the general sense) see use of drugs through a moral lens. Hence some of the moralising about Ginnivan - even though he didnt behave poorly. But don't apply that same lens to grog. And so might knock someone for not handling their grog and getting messy. But not moralise about their choice to drink. The person who saw fit to surreptitiously film him and put it on social media is the only person in this story who I think deserves judgement.

Young fella out with with mates snorts coke, or some such, in a dunny. One assumes he thought (as he said in his statement) he was relatively safe from being filmed. So recreational drug use - not performance enhancing. And not in season. Unlikely to have any meaningful impact on his preparation. Cue moral outrage and pearl clutching Who cares? What exactly has he done wrong? Broken the law? Ok, let the law deal with him. Forget that a pretty big proportion of young fellas his age are doing the same - i have zero doubt a pretty big proportion OF AFL PLAYERS are doing the same. Steve May, whilst rehabbing from concussion, get so drunk and his behavior so poor (in a fancy restaurant no less) that a teammate feels compelled to step in and shut him down and ultimately clock him, breaking his hand in the process (and receives no admonishment from the club - suggesting Mays behavior was way, way out of line). May copped plenty of criticism for his carry on, but precious little for getting paralytic drunk. Such ridiculously double standards at play.

And lose 25% of his salary straight off the bat?

I'm not sure if he that's the case at training as i haven't been to any. But I'd be very surprised. I have only seen him play live twice. But both times one of the most striking things about how he played was his attack on the ball and pack in aerial contest and then his instant, instinctive attack on any subsequent ground ball. And that second, and sometimes third and fourth efforts happens every contest. It's what most excites me about JVR and it gives me great confidence he'll be a star. I recall one such example at Whitten Oval, pretty much right in front of me. He was miles away from the drop zone of a long ball in, and the pack that formed there, copped a block as he tried to get to the drop zone, and so had every excuse to prop and wait for any crumbs. But that was never on the cards - he lunged at the pack, didn't quite get there in time to mark, but did contribute to the defender not marking it and the ball hitting the ground - and then he was the first player to the ball when it did. That sort of instinctive reaction and sheer want for the ball can't be coached. Well, i guess it can be to an extent - but if not natural there will always be a half second hesitation that means most times a more instinctive player wins the contested ball. Not wanting to knock Weed, but i have always thought that his biggest issue - - he tries super hard, but that slight hesitation means often there is a delay before his second effort. In juniors that might not have hurt him too much - but it does in the AFL.

Much more likely to be CCP candidate.