binman

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

Failed to ignite?

Why?

Apparently the covid vaccine also protects against getting sick from MFCSS. Can still get it. Just protects you from predicting losses to cellar dwellers.

They have who can run the slowest races at athletic carnivals? If so does that mean Jones finished behind seleood?

It's crazy. The AFL should be promoting the hell out of the VFL. A strong, popular VFL can only help footy

I fully acknowledge my confirmation bias with melksham. I might go watch his afl pro vision to see all his involvements. By the by, for some reason thus far this season you don't seem to need an afl live pass to watch relays or the afl pro vision on afl.com. I assume it is related to tbe kayo deal. Hopefully it will continue.

I see your point. But for the sake of argument lets count Melksham as a tall (as you have with Fritter). Our line up this week is then three talls - Jackson and Tmac being the other two. A player like Sparrow can replace Melksham as a medium. In the future i think Brown is a lock. I have no doubt Jackson is a lock (though they might 'manage' him at some stage). But Weed isn't. For me its Tmac or Weed. At the moment i'd go with Tmac. In that scenario the forward line would be Brown, Jackson, Tmac and Fritter. To that mix you have to add Kozzie, Spargo and ANB rotating though the forward half and bench. Hard then to see where Melksham fits, though many would say that it one tall too many. So lets say Tmac comes out. That frees up a spot. But i reckon those four talls can work as Jackson can play as a medium on the high half forward, such is his athleticism and mobility. Also in this context its worth keeping in mind Tmac trained a winger in the preseason. And has almost played as one this season, with many of possessions up the ground. So he could also play at high half forward.

You're preaching to the converted OD. But we aint Goody. And he clearly has him in his best 22. And really with his talent he should be.

Which is why the obvious move is Melksham playing Fritters role. Basically the same size (2cms shorter and 1kg heavier), but like Fritter he plays tall. And is a good mark - though not as good as fritter i don't think. He is as good a kick at goal as Fritter and has good goal sense too. As is the case for fritter, if he can snag 2-3 goals it doesn't matter so much that he is not getting big disposal numbers (not in Fritters job description in any case). And like fritter, Melksham is no defensive star, though to be fair he still has Melksham covered. And unlike Brown Melksham is in our best 22. Or so says goody, it would seem.

I said before the season started that the first four games would shape our season. Freo started the season with an outside hope of making finals, and the next three teams would have had making finals as a minimum expectation. So three, maybe four of those teams are direct rivals for a final spot. Winning those four games has set our season up. We only have to win 50% of our remaining games to be a lock for finals. And we have put a points, and crucially, a percentage gap between us and key rivals for the 5-8 spots. We can now make a serious push for a top 4 position. I don't see either the swans or the tiger's game as as important as those first four games. A win against the tigers would be a bonus. And history suggests the swans will run out of gas as the season progresses given how young they are. And personally I think their run and gun style, which has caught teams off guard, will become less effective as the season progresses and under finals pressure. I don't see them as direct competitors even though they are likely to still scrape into the finals with their start. Which is a long winded way of saying I don't see either matches as 8 point games. Funnily enough I do see the hawks game as an 8 point game. And I hope the players do to. We need to bank these points. Good teams win these games. Our serious rivals - the Dogs, Eagles, Lions and tigers (sounds like a zoo) will likely beat the hawks. A failure by us to so is an effectively an eight point swing to those teams. On a related note we play both the hawks and crows twice (though north only once) which i doubt all of dogs, Eagles, lions and tiger do. We need to win all four of those games (and of course the roos game). Doing so will go a long way to a top 4 spot and a serious tilt at a flag.

Yep, melksham is the logical replacement. Arguably melksham's best role is the one fritter is currently playing. Like fritter he has good hands ans is generally an.acuuraye kick Might be good for him too as the kpi is goals not disposals.

Any idea who was injured?

I thought it was Mia Farrow's maiden name

Viney doesn't forget. Or forgive.