binman

What language is brereton speaking?

We'll win this game by 6 plus goals. Putting this here for future reference.

Both. The app is worse, but that is more because searching around on app is harder.

Hello gil.

Could not agree more. Absolutely hopeless in terms of conveying information, which is kinda an important kpi for a website. As an example I also thought this hame was 7:10 start. Another is i tried to find info about next weeks prelim against the crows eg start time, venue etc. Gave up. Ridiculous given how much money must get poured into it.

They are very similar to the pies I reckon. Like the pies they are super focused on defence first football and contested ball. But struggle to score enough to take advantage of any dominance they have. The pies should have never been at risk of being beaten by the lions. I know it was wet, but similarly the giants had the saints on toast. Neither team can put teams away. I think it is a function of a game plan that involves too much slow transition, midfield that are past their best and average forwards, that are over reliant on individuals (degoey and to a lesser extent cox for the pies and greene for the giants).

The most MFC post ever. I love it.

I'm actually really pleased we are playing the crows at Adelaide oval rather than Casey. One, its fitting tbey play on a proper AFL ground. And two, unless it is wet conditions should be perfect in terms of wind. One reason I thought yesterday's win was so impressive was it a grind. Our skills still shone through and were a big factor. But the wind made it hard to score and therefore get out to a comfortable lead. Our game is built on precision ball movement, by hand and foot. And we are quite aggressive in terms of preparedness to use the corridor. Good conditions support these elements And perhaps our most damaging player (not best), zanker will thrive at Adelaide oval in good condition as will Pearce and Cunningham, two players that give us a big edge. If we are on, the crows will have a hell of a time stopping us from transitioning the ball quickly and scoring. As was the case when we played them in perfect conditions at Casey a few weeks back

I'm annoyed. I won't get the chance to yell, after Perryman is paid a rubbish free kick: DON'T PAY THE PERRYMAN!!!

Great win. Paxman was awesome. As was Gay. Cunningham was also terrific. Super important in rbe first quarter. Worked hard all game. Has been down last 4-5 games. Great time to play well.

Which describes Grundy i reckon who is not particularly tall anyway. Height is a big advantage late in quarters and games, particularly if combined with the fitness and athleticism of a gawn.

The other thing about an effective tap ruck is that sure other teams can set up to shark their taps, but the ruck can control where they do so. Which means that the team with the dominant ruck can set up their defensive structure in response. And for us, as aob noted earlier in this thread, we can set up to maximise our intercepts off half back. We control the structure because we control which part of the ground the roved ball is collected and kicked or handballed from (eg defensive side boundary side etc etc). we change that spot it is hit to which makes it very hard for the oppositionto set up a structure forward of the ball with any certainty.

Exactly. That's pretty much what bucks said. Riddle me this AF. If the ruck position is of no value why do every team have one?

Its interesting actually. Bucks was basically whinging that he is always asked the same things and people just don't get it. For example hits our being a useless stat. Said every other coach would say the same and are asked bonehead questions. My words. I get he says, super frustrated. But those questions are a function of how puerile the coverage of the game is in terms of tactics and tbe meaning of stats. How about the coaches try and educate the fans.

It depends how you define it. If you define the ruck position as the person who takes ball ups, bounces and throw in then maybe. But as bucks said that's actually a small part of the role. Athletic talls ie ruck man can play a critical role structurally. Just as Max does. For example maxy running hard defensively and blocking the corridor inside 50 severely disrupts the quality and effectiveness of the opposition's entries. When they're not kicking it to him, they're trying to avoid him, which forces them to kick to the pockets. The saints game was the perfect example of this. 13 less scoring shots from 2 less inside 50s was in part down to the Max factor. Similarly he disrupts opposition kick outs and defensive clearing kicks. And then there is his impact pushing forward. Someone has to man him up, and there is often a mismatch. He creates goals. I can think of four of tbe tip of my head in tbe first two games. And whilst opposition teams can set up to rove to Max he can still create 2 or 3 goals from stoppages agamr, like the viney goal. In games of small margins that is critical. Bucks point was tap outs is a nothing stat. But not stoppage work, clearnces, goals from them, marks around the ground etc etc. I reckon the dees are now really maximising Max. And I also reckon he is in our top 3 most important players. So def nor trash.

Great question. I am to High Performance Management what the demons are to premiership success, but i reckon Burgess seems to have the ability of convincing the players they are fitter than other teams and that they can, and will run out quarters and games. Now, i'm sure all HPMs try and convince their charges of the same thing but you only have to listed to the dees players post the 2020 preseason and this year to understand they have drunk the Burgess kool-aid. They believe they have the edge. Maybe the best HPMs are the ones that combine knowledge, communication skills, interpersonal skills AND high level sport psychology skills.

From a tactical perspective the dogs are really interesting I reckon. Of all the clubs their model is the most different from the tigers territory, forward half, high pressure template. The dogs like a fast game that is based on speed of ball movement, aggressive transition from the back half and above all (fast) precise transition that involves lots of super quick, high risk handballs/throws and kicks (as opposed to the dees and tigers who of course will link up when there is a clear option to do so, but otherwise will kick for territory - which makes players like Kozzie and Spargo critical in terms of winning the ground ball). Super exciting to watch with lots of complex scoring chains, high risk kicks, incredible amount of in close handballs/throws and bullet passes to leading forwards. Clearly they have recruited to support this model and as result the ace in the pack for the dogs is how many excellent kicks they have. And leaving aside how often they throw the ball they are brilliant at in close handballs and moving the ball by hand When they have the game on their terms they are going to very hard to beat. The challenge for them I reckon is when the game is not on their terms. The tigers are obviously the benchmark - and we have adopted many elements of their game plan. One example is going into tempo mode at different points in games, as we did so effectively against bot the dockers and Saints when they were pressing to stop their momentum and/or suck time out of the clock. Tempo footy really disrupts the dogs, in large part because it stops the game being played on their terms. The dogs eagles game was fascinating from this perspective as both teams wrestled to get their game on their terms. Great game. Th other query about the dogs game is how well their model holds up under finals pressure. The other team with a different tactical model is the Saints, who like the dog's rely on fast ball movement and transition, but are much more reliant on switching across the ground to get around zones (the dogs likes to switch too but are more than happy to go straight through a zone, or down the corridor). The Saints model is weaker I reckon. As the dees showed if you can stop their switch the Saints really struggle on transition. We did that brilliantly last Saturday night and it all but took their medium forwards and runners out of the game as they had no space ahead of them or to lead into.

Jeez, after the shock I recalibrated pretty quiick when I realised how much more time in my day I would have to achieve my life goals and long shelved dreams. Did a quick meditation and watched the sun rise. Then checked dl one last time to wish you all well and realised I had been fooled. Now I feel foolish and my dreams have drifted back to the horizon. Oh well. Banana skin game for us this week.....

I'm happy to provide some ideas for Clare on how comms.could be improved at the mfc, should she be interested. Replying to emails from members would be one. Particularly those that are specifically about poor communication. Like the one I sent nearly three weeks ago and have yet to receive a response.

Good points. He is so dangerous hitting contests at pace. And on Saturday many of kicks inside 50 were flatter - and much more dangerous as a result given how much quickly it comes in. Playing him that way does two related challenges for the opposition. One I reckon it creates a headache in terms of how to guard him/limit his impact. Can tag him but that won't stop him hitting the contest at pace. And two any efforts to block or impede him become really obvious, meaning he might start winning some deserved frees. Closer to the contest he is constantly scragged and held - and rarely protected by the umps.

I think an important element is that tracc, Oliver and viney are all close to their prime years as players. All are excellent inside, contested ball winners but are physically stronger than two years ago, particularly tracc who is dangerfield strong now. All 3 have become very difficult to beat in a contested ball situation and as Aob so astutely noted you can take that to the bank and reduce players at rhe contest. I said last night on the podcast that I questioned drafting jordon on the basis I thought he was another inside mid. But that is not how they are playing him. I was amazed to see of his 20 possessions, 18 were uncontested. I am also amazed how good he is. I was thinking petty was the only young, potential A grader who didn't play last year to come into the side. But jj looks as if he is 100 game veteran. Not flashy, but high footy iq, neat skills and makes great decisions. A natural. Giving him 23 was genius.

To be clear I'm not saying they would ever plan to lose a clearance. Its just that it is no longer priority one. And they are backing their mids to win their fair share of clearances with fewer players at the contest, sometimes just one. And for maxy to sometimes hit it to spots that only give us say a 50 50 chance of winning the clearance as opposed to say 70-30. Bottom line is we were winning clearances and inside 50s against good teams. And getting beaten.

That's a really interesting observation. I reckon you're right. In part it might be related to a having a stronger more seasoned team. But perhaps also a conscious decision to take on the tackle more. Tracc, viney and Oliver do so regularly now. Tracc and viney are both beasts. But the best example was Jones near the end of the third. Took butler on 30 from their goal, risking a sure goal. Instead started a scoring chain that resulted in fritters goal. A goal I reckon that sealed the win.

I think your stats partly answered this question IT, as does part of AOBs post Set ups for clearances that are more likely to create scoring chances can often be a set up that gives us less chance of actually winning that clearance. The very first center bounce of the game against the Saint's is a great example. if the objective was to win that clearance Kossie would not have started in the centre and two players might have gone to the contest. Instead one player did (i think Viney?), won it, fed it out to kossie who handballed to Oliver who had gone to the goal side of the contest, some 10 metres away, who then fed it back to Viney, who could run inside 50 and kick a goal. That aggressive clearance set up increased the chance of creating a scoring opportunity from that stoppage. But conversely reduced the likelihood we would win it. In 2019 Viney and Oliver would have gone to the contest, won it but not be able to spread it so well (one reason being one less player to give it to) and often the player who received the ball was on the defensive side of the contest and then would get tackled

I reckon because once the ball hits the ground tmac is a liability, whereas Jackson is crazy good for a big fella in terms of ground ball gets.