binman

I was supremely confident last week. Before and during the match. Not once did i think we would lose it Confident again but not as confident. Well more nervous perhaps. Hawks a better side than the Cats - but not better than us. The talk has been about this being won or lost in the midfield but i think the game will be won or lost on our gut defensive running to minimise uncontested marks and when they do get them stopping chains of them and holding them up. I have no doubt we will bring the heat and tackling. When we have lost this year it has been because we haven't spread and run defensively well enough. Bring the gut running and we win. The problem for the hawks game is that it is hard to execute under pressure - and compared to a few years ago they have too many average skilled players who miss targets when the heat is on. Conversely for our ballistic game the benefit of that model is that pressure is not a skill issue it is an intent issue. We will have the intent. So our game will hold up. A couple of thoughts about the game. I predict Trac will have his breakout game. He is marked hard, in large part because of his obvious talent and draft position but also because of 'Hollywood'style and brashness. But his numbers are actually really good and he is often involved with crucial assists. No more crucial than the smart kick to TMac for our first, critical, goal against the Cats and the brilliant intercept (pure basketball!) and handball t Jones that set up the sealer. I suspect he suffers from nerves pretty badly - he is an emotional guy. Last week s game will have done him the world of good. I think he will turn it on tonight and be a huge headache for the Hawks defence. The other thought is VDB reminds me a lot Dipper in his hey day. A big, strong winger who runs in straight lines and sets the tone with his ferocity, hunt and tackling. i'm expecting another big game from him tonight.

Did you say orifice? Uncomfortable

The grace darling in Collingwood is the go. Goid pub. Half price pints of coopers 5-7. Good outside area. 20 min walk to ground

Yes, an important point. Given that history it is interesting that we are such short priced favorites as i suspect almost every side listed above that lost the first week would have been favorites in those games. I think the anomaly this year is that Hawks were a tad lucky to be have finished top 4 and we probably should have finished top 4 and the points difference between us was small (and we had much better percentage). Most years the top 4 usually are a fair bit better than the 5-8. We certainly have been in better form in the last six weeks. And i think we are a more talented side. The other variable is the bye between the end of the home and away and the finals. Not sure of the impact but it may level things out a bit in terms of resting weary players or getting them back from injury - Tyson But of course the same is the case for the higher finishing team.

He has already notched up 60 games. Not many key position players have played that many games at such a young age. 60 of a possible 68 games is impressive.

Dr Cool remains in the house! From the article: Dr Cool has developed into an integral part of Melbourne’s side, and a mainstay in the team’s backline. Dr Cool made his AFL debut in round 22, 2015 against Fremantle at Subiaco, which also happened to be Nathan Jones’ 200th AFL game. The 22-year-old Dr Cool has played the past 40 matches in a row for Melbourne and his form in recent weeks has been another reason for the team’s rise. One of his most staunch fans, Demonland's binman, had this to say: Well done Omac. You have been driving the haters mad with your excellence, calmness, decision making and ability to beat the best forwards in the game, week in week out. So much so that the haters are now as rare as a humble Hawks fan. But beware young man. They are still lurking, waiting for a single error so they can make silly calls like 'lets bring May in' or 'you should be allowed to further develop in the twos now that Frosty has surpassed you'.

This is the only reason i have any angst against them. They hay bullied us big time in the last 10 years. Their fans have become increasingly smug too. Time for a new sheriff. (inset gif of oliver running through selwood and/or jetts crushing selwood and/or Weids crismashing Dangerfield - and giving him a mouthful - or any one of VB's involvements in the same game.)

I have heard some woeful sledges in my time but this one takes the cake. Surely you can do better than that?

Is this a reference to the differing tactical philosophies of Goody and Clarkson: Kaos v Control

Is it usual to train the day before they play?

They have some stats to measure those qualities. Pressure rating being the most obvious one. Effective tackles another.

Very small sample.

He could have played a straight bat and certainly not been as effusive or dismissive of the idea. One of the brothers. A rising star winner who averages over 2 goals game. A star.

Cue 'well he would say that' or 'what else is he going to say' type comments......

Exactly. Add to that Weed and TMac are both excellent in the ruck at centre bounces and Jessie ok from throw ins. This allows Max (who is incredibly mobile and athletic for such a big fella) to play a kick behind the ball, 'rest' up forward, fill the hole down back or have a solid break on the bench to recharge his batteries (essentially giving us another mid/runner on the ground whilst he is on the bench). (Giving Maxy more time on the bench might be important next year because surely we will want to mange Max's time a bit more next season given the load he carries and his importance to the side.) On top of that the athleticism of our bigs and their ability to play in multiple positions makes us very unpredictable as they seem to be very fluid in terms of role and field postion at any given point in time. Hogan, Tmac and in the last few games Weed also go well up the ground to provide the marking target down the line All this fluidity creates huge match up issues for opposition coaches and headaches for opponents. How many players are strong enough to compete one on one with Hogan or Tmac but also good enough athletically to run up and down the ground with them too. Sure they can 'hand off' but this creates confusion. it also creates space in our forward line. There were two great examples in the first quarter against the cats of the problems this fluidity and movement from our bigs causes. The first was the Harmes goal. We go down the line (in what is obviously a set play/team rule) to Tmac who takes a big contested mark. He kicks quickly to Hannan in the corridor (the 45 degree kick the commentators are talking about now). The forward line is completely open (in large part because Tmac has dragged his man up the ground) and Hannan hits Spargo who hits Harmes running into open space. The second example was the final goal by Weed. Weed delivered the ball lace out from half forward to Melk - so about 70 metres from goal. He then runs a big arc and ends up unmarked behind the defenders (including Blicvacs) and takes an almost uncontested mark 5 metres out. They completely lost track of him and were defensively all over the place. This versatility is huge weapon for us and a massive point of difference to the Tigers - or any other club for that matter. It means we have the tigers ferocity, territory and chaos style but can control possession more. It also means there is no issue at all playing Hogan, Tmac and Weed in the same forward line. Not least because there would be very few occasions when all three were actually in the forward line together but also because of the incredible endurance and athleticism of Hogan and TMac. I can't wait.

If the dees win a flag each player should have a bath. The water from said baths should be bottled. And sold to diehhard dees fans. Who can choose to drink should they so desire.

That can't be right. A demonland poster (whose name escapes me) is confident he us not 'locked away' because he is not best 22 and club are holding odf with a view to trading him. Sheesh. Dr cool is getting cooler.

Good points. But even in footy right now having a mobile tall who can mark the liong ball down the line is critical. We are the number 1 long kicking side. Richmond second. Territory is now king. Our advantage over tigers is we have more players who can take a big pack mark from a long kick from defence. Just as tmac, maxy, hogan and weed do so well. The critical thing is that the bigs are great runners and can cover ground. Like hogan and tmac. And unlike say hawkins, who is a one position player. The dees are ahead of the curve.

Great get guys. A serious question. I am interested in the fact that the team defensive running has improved so dramatically in the last 5-6 weeks. We are covering the outlet pass, minimising uncontested marks and slowing opp transition so much better and there is no doubt it is the key reason for our ability to keep teams to low scores (the other big factor is how they have used Max Gawn who is more regularly dropping back in to our back half to intercept and as importantly setting up down the line and forcing the opposition to go around him - or kick straight to him!) The question is how we have been able to improve our defensive running so much. Is it an attitude thing or a reflections of of a different tactical focus? Or is it (as i suspect might be the case) down to training loads (eg heavy blocks mid season) and tapering to ensure we are fitter, fresher and less tired at the business end of the season? (note he himself has said that effectively the club has been tapering the younger players by giving them a day off legs a week, but the question is about the whole club )

Would he trade hogan?

What does he think of his Demonland name Spartacus?

i won't tell a lie. This line from Sam McClure's (who cannot stand for some reason) article on the prelim timing gave me a bit of a pause: The AFL is set to fixture its first afternoon preliminary final in seven years to ensure either Melbourne or Hawthorn can return home on Saturday night and have as much time as possible to prepare for the grand final, should they beat the Eagles. Yikes.

What is this talk about him 'thinking of going'. The only talk from Hogan has been the complete opposite as per my comment above. You mention rumors that 'News was he was off to docket land last year but didn’t happen'. Why didn't it happen? because he extended his contract with dees. Pretty good indication he wants to stay with us i would have thought. He aint going to Freo. Why would he? Why would anyone? Why does their best player want to leave? This whole thread is based on premise of he is 'thinking of going'. For the sake of argument lets accept he does not want to. If you accept that then the thread collapses because he is contracted. And would have to agree to a trade. Sure the club could 'encourage' the player to agree to a trade - Watts comes to mind - for example by saying if you don't agree to a trade you'll be playing twos but does anyone seriously think the club would say would give that sort of ultimatum to Hogan? No i didn't think so. Fugazzi. And i'm out.

Of course. Prudent. And i'm sure the club will start discussions once this season is done and dusted. Those discussions are likely to go on for some months. And of course the club will be hoping to have them finalised by say mid next season to avoid the palaver that comes with a player 'waiting until the end of the season.' I'm sure Jessie will want that too. It is worth remembering Jessie extended his last contract for that very reason. Because he loves the club and wanted to avoid fugazzi (and he is private fella and no doubt he wanted to avoid drama). What we know is he has expressed only recently, though his manager, that he loves the club and has no thoughts on going. We know Goody has come out and said the club loves Jessie and has no thoughts about trading him.So any pressure to sign now or be traded is pure Fugazzi. Jessie is a once in generation player. Here is little trade secret i have picked up. You keep them.

And you wondered why i chose Mark Neeld as your avatar.........