binman

That was Grapeviney Grr-owl. I reckon there are two questions: Do i think having TMac, Brown, Weid, Jackson, Gawn and Fritsch in the same team would work? Will the coaches select TMac, Brown, Weid, Jackson, Gawn and Fritsch in the same team The answer to the first question is, yes i think it can work with Tmac playing a wingmen or a hybrid high half forward/wingman. That is essentially the role he is playing now. And Jackson also plays as a high half forward/wingman The answer to the second question is, i'm not sure but i think they will trial that mix at some point - probably sooner rather than later. In term's of both questions it is worth noting that the eagles have three talls in their forward line in Kennedy, Allen and Darling. And Cripps is only 5 cm shorter than fritter but a couple of kilos heavier.

We have most positions well covered. And we have a sytem new players can slot into. I hope they now focus on drafting elite kicks. Take the best kick available at every pick we have.

I like wet coke.

Yep. In addition, going to the pocket creates more predictable outcomes, meaning - We mark it - As noted in the age article discussed on another thread it is less likely opposition mark it (its crowded because we are playing deeper and the boundary line creates a barrier) - It comes to ground - It goes over the boundary line. This makes planning a response easier, and more effective. If it goes over the boundary we can implement a set play, aided by having two excellent rucks and a grade inside mids. Hits the ground and with a congested area we are better able to trap it in, create a stoppage and/or scrap a goal. Sure it is harder to score from the pockets than the corridor, but we take more marks, and therefore get more shots on goals, because there are usually more open leading lanes in the pockets than the corridor, so more marks, as evidenced by how many more we are taking inside 50. And even when they kick a point from an angle after a mark, a mark means the players have time to all get set up and make it hard for the opposition to clear their defensive area from the kick out. Which is a big factor in our ability to make it hard for teams to transition end to end. Of course these options (with the possible exception of going over the boundary line) exist with more central kicks. But there are more variables in the corridor. Not least because there is more space. And marks are much harder to take, so its harder to set up the wall to stop defensive exits. And of course if the opposition win the ball, they do so in a dangerous position as they have three lanes to choose to exit from. This was killing us last year, and even in 2018. And like basketball, the boundary line is an extra player because it can trap players and reduce their options in terms of the direction they can move the ball. These reduced options make it easier to set up a structure that makes it easier to trap the ball inside 50 (eg from a hurried attempted clearing kick like the one melksham marked at the top of the goal square in the hawks game).

Spot on. We only had two inside 50 tackles at half time last week. If that is the half time stat against the tigers it is game well and truly over. Tmac's pressure has been first class this year. But he's pretty slow and besides operates mainly up field. Weed worries me. His pressure last year was rubbish. As was melkshams. Melksham's pressure was just ok against the hawks. But still not where it needs to be. Weed and Melksham in the same side is a concern in terms of forward half pressure.

Would be funny if wasn't 100% accurate. Speaking of both his idiocy and diagnostic skills, in the pies Eagles game, de goey copped a hip to the face. Immediately came of the ground clearly dazed with blood pouring from his broken nose. Brian says, no issue there with concussion. Just a broken nose. No dramas. They'll fix him up and he'll be right to go. WTF! To the surprise of none except Taylor, de goey out for the game, and the next one, with concussion. Sheesh.

It's great to see an article like that about the dees. And it's good that it includes some interesting stats. But for me it really it really highlights the two key frustrations I have with with how football is covered by the media. One, how little access fans get to decent stats and information about how the game is played. Champion data, which i think is part owned by the AFL, largely controls what is collected and disseminated. i think, but not sure the AFL generate their own data, which is what can be found on their website and that of all the clubs. But the stats and data are drip fed out to the public, in dibs and drabs across different media platforms and more often than not without any meaningful contextualization or explanation. A site like the excellent footywire has good data but again with little or no explanation of it meaning or the relative importance of particular stats, let alone accurate definitions of each data point/stat (most are self explanatory, but not all). Just raw data. Like the AFL site. And the clubs get their own set of data. Super important data becuase it informs the development of their KPIs and ability to measure how they are tracking against them. Voodoo stuff that drips even more slowly out to fans sites like Demonland. The second frustration is how little analysis there is of the data and stats that are drip fed out. The so called experts on shows like On The Couch and during calls of games are constantly giving little bites of data out. Sure the stats are interesting - but what do they mean? A classic and infuriating example is the pressure meter. In a call on the weekend Brian Taylor was talking about a team's (i forget which) pressure meter being 1.95 and joked about having no idea what that actually meant or how it was defined. His 'expert' co commentators couldn't help him out. Anything over 2 is good he reckons. How [censored] embarrassing. And useless. If paid professionals (he's probably on a million plus a year) and full time producers piping info direct into his ear have no clue about the data they are highlighting how are the fans supposed to understand it? How does it help fans understand the game? In the article, the stats are fascinating but what iI want to know is the why, not just the what. To be fair there is some explanation - structure, forwards playing deeper, forward pressure, mids playing more selflessly, better all team defence etc. So that's a step up from most similar articles. But still, it is a pretty shallow analysis and in reality just a list of possible explanations. And it misses perhaps the two key, related drivers: The change in how we set up our stoppages (which can be seen in our reduced clearance differential) that mean that when we do lose a clearance any disposal is often under pressure and from the wrong side (for them) of the contest. This change to our set up, which i guess is alluded to in the idea of inside and outside rings, are also big factors in our much improved inside 50 scoring ratio as we are getting cleaner and more damaging inside 50s The importance to our game plan of intercept marks in our back half and rebounding from the back half and instigating scoring chains. This isn't new. After all it is why we go may and in particular Lever (and Rivers too for that matter). But our structures, much better all team defence and pressure - and in particular our changed stoppage structure has meant more kicks are coming inside our defensive 50 under pressure and therefore are easier to pick off. We saw that on Sunday. Once Petty got up to speed and the back six sorted themselves (and the defensive pressure improved from our mids and flankers) we started picking off their inside 50 kicks. And they basically stopped scoring. The AFL love to copy elements of how sport in the US are promoted and covered (hello all year round media hogging announcements, g'day blaring quarter time music, kiss cams and fan activation). But seem to ignore many of the best elements - for example how much data and stats are made available across all four major national sporting leagues (NHL, MLB, NBL and NFL) and how much meaningful analysis there is of that data cross different media platforms. The result is fans have the opportunity to understand the sport they love on much deeper level and a more 'stat literate' and knowledgeable fan base

I'll think you'll find you ticked the wrong box. I had the same issue last week.- kept having to pay. Its confusing, but one of the options is free.

I'm pretty sure Neeldy was misquoted. What he actually said was that he wanted Melbourne to be the hardest team to watch play. He left when he achieved his goal.

I reckon j Smith will make it.

That's good to know. I'm sitting in Q29 sat night.

Some really good analysis in that lot. Interesting comment about their midfield.

Absolutely. I doubt nay player in the league surpasses Ed's work rate. You might have misread my comment though. I meant to say that no one currently NOT IN the seniors could match his work rate. So we lose something if he was dropped.

The top deck of the ponsford is great. The key though is not going above AA. Its too high

The tigers are making a case for being the best team of the last 50 years. The proof is in the pudding in terms of their game plan. A great strength of it is that it thrives on pressure. By that i mean a key to beating any game plan is pressure around rhe ground and in particular the ball carrier. This sort of pressure is super effective on game plans like the one the Eagles employ - maintain possession, precise kicking, clinical transition. And ones like the swans game plan, which involves fast ball movement. Of course if you don't apply pressure to the rigers they will carve you up the way they did to the saints. But their game plan is also resistant to pressure. Arguably even sometimes helps it. Under pressure or not under pressure they are a forward half territory team. As are we. Our ace in the pack is our defensive system. We are incredibly hard to score against. Harder even than the tigers. In fact I think we are tbe hardest team to score against. And are intercepting and reboundimg better than any other team atm. And we have Max. Lets see if that systems holds up under Tiger pressure.

Not in terms of how we might tactically respond. By that I mean we won't make any tactical changes. We will back our system. They will back theirs. Whilst there are some tactical differences (primarily our defensive set up and use of max) i reckon the dees have the closest game plan to the tigers. Should be a great game.

On Nibbler, his stats pro vision is well worth a look a: https://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/Discover/CD_I296420/Neal-Bullen-Alex I've noted before but it is fascinating way to look at players game and appears to be completely accessible to all now (previously you need AFL live pass) Some reflections on his involvements: Not big number of involvements across the board, Very quiet in the first half Had a big 3rd quarter Got most of his involvements on the half back line But also in the centre, HF and deep forward A running machine On the above point i doubt he covers as much ground as many of his teammates, but the running he does is often high intensity sprints Often spent when he gets the ball - hence the signature nibbler inhale face Really important to our defensive structure A junkyard dog

By a long way. Last year his comparative advantage in terms of fitness was offset by the short quarters. Nonetheless he was still important. With longer quarters, more games at the g, fewer rotations and a taxing game plan he us even more important.

ANB is a very important player in our team in terms of both the forward pressure role but as importantly the distance he covers and his defensive and offensive spread. He is incredibly fit and works super hard all game. His run and work rate is critical to our game plan working. With his work rate he is almost always redlining. And no one out of the team comes close to being able to matching that work rate. AnB is a best 22 lock.

What do you think will happen kc? Conferences?

Fair points. There is no doubt rhe team with extra recovery time gets an advantage. Particularly when one team only has a six day break. Hopefully that disadvantage is mitigated somewhat by our seemingly superior fitness. And the fact up to four changes are possible, With may and fritter avaible and weed making it hard not to pick him, that's three. And perhaps they will manage jordon who must be feeling the pinch

My thoughts exactly.

Going to be a star.

it is crazy. How much does the stupd website cost. Erase it and spend that money on promoting the VFL. It's doubly crazy given a number of AFL clubs have a side in the VFL, so there is a connection that didn't exist 20 years ago.

Jordon will play. Goody said as much in a mid week presser