Pates

I’m not surprised to see where up the pointy end and it’s interesting to think that most of the top clubs in previous years have tended to be up there. It’s because quality players force the opposition to go harder at the man which forces free kicks. The tigers lost their heads big time towards the end of the match and aside from Clarry’s flop I can’t recall there being a lot of really soft calls that went our way. Kozzie’s was 100% fair, Kozzie bumped back into him to get separation and the tigers player copped him high. The deliberate for Nibbler’s amazing snap was harsh but they paid it that way all night. The commentary were harsh on second the Nibbler free kick but he very clearly got him over the shoulder. I actually didn’t think the umpiring was bad this week, it’s just excruciating to hear them constantly yell “stand” for the mark. Particularly one umpire who sounds like his voice has been digitally modified to sound lower.

Much as I want him to improve his kicking he’s getting free kicks for flopping, it’s not the greatest look. That said it was fun hearing Richo sook about it, he was down the moment he realised it was our night.

I just wonder whether we might give Kozzie a management week off, he copped a knock to the knee and a few other niggles throughout the match. Maybe give Bedford or Chandler a go in the small forward/pressure role. Fritta looked totally unaffected by his hand injury, same with May so no need to rest them. I’d be looking at giving Jackson more than 50% ruck time this week, really set him a challenge of being the no 1 ruckman on the day.

Yet another great test of our maturity to not go into the game thinking the 4 points are in the bag. Very common for teams to have a come down from a big match when coming up against lesser teams. Bring the same forward pressure as we did against the tigers and get ourselves a big win.

Anyone that thinks Spargypants will be dropped haven’t been paying close enough attention to the game. Aside from last week (when quite a few of the bottom 6 were off) he has been a vital cog in our forward pressure.

It’s really sad to hear that the COVID restrictions on crowd numbers is actually pricing people out of going to the footy. There really should have been a category created that would allow people to basically pay what you would for a walk up general admission. I still don’t see what the point of restricting to 85% capacity vs full 100% is going to make when there are no community transmissions. It was the only disappointment to the tigers match, it should’ve been played in front of 85k+ people.

At some stage I think we have to work out a structure to get Brown in. A top power forward is the last piece of the puzzle for our push towards September. The magnets might need to be shifted around but I think it can be done. This might end up being Weiderman’s last year with Melbourne if he doesn’t see first team action. He’s too good to be wasting away in the VFL.

Gus is playing a very team oriented role, I think his favourite position is in the guts but he is really coming into his own as a winger now. He just seems to pop up everywhere and is doing a really good job in his new role. Well done on 100 games, Gus!

If (and this is a big if) I were to look at a change it would only be Melksham on the block. He was pretty unsighted for most of the night and if there were to be a “type” to come in it would be a forward. But what a position for the match committee to be in, trying to fit Ben Brown into the side! Weid just seems unlucky, 10 goals in two games should see him a shoe in to get back into the firsts! Alas Tommy Mac is turning back time to 2018! ?

Damn we’ve got some depth right now, fingers crossed we all stay fit!

I just don’t know how you make a change after beating the premiers unless there’s an injury. I mean in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined us being 6-0 having beaten the tigers, with Weid and Brown not having played a minute of senior footy.

I’m spewing I’ve had to go to work so soon after this win, I want to savour it! I’m going to try to watch a replay at some point this week with a beer in my hands enjoying every second. We took the tigers with everything that they threw at us, every time they upped the pressure we responded. Every time they seemed to wrestle some control we’d wrestle it right back. We beat them on all lines, I couldn’t be prouder of the performance of every player in Red and Blue.

We’ve kick more goals in other quarters against other teams, but that is far and away our best quarter of the year. - we kept the reigning premiers goalless - our defence has been outstanding - we have matched and even bettered their pressure - Hibberd’s role on Martin has been sensational - Salem is BOG by a country mile

I’m strangely calm about tonight, I don’t think we’ll win but I want us to go punch for punch with them. No backwards step, make sure they come off the ground knowing they’ve been taken the full four quarters. (I don’t think I’ll be calm at the bounce by the way!)

Wow was not expecting that! Given Goodwin said both were fit to be picked I would've really expected us to bring in one of Weid or Brown. That said, I'm very happy with the Ins vs the Outs. Our forward line definitely looked off a step against the Hawks and I attribute a lot of that to Fritta and his running patterns. He was just starting to find his radar when he hurt himself so hopefully it's on song this week. May back for Petty was always going to happen if May was passed fit. Herculean effort by him to get up for this match. Brown and Weid made to bide their time, let's see how they go against the Tigers in the VFL this week.

This is absolutely not a shot at you at all, but I really can't remember him being beaten badly in a one on one contest against a player for similar size (ie his direct opponent). In fact most his 1v1's this year he's almost always won the dual almost effortlessly. Maybe I've got rose tinted glasses on, so feel free to point to an opponent that has had it over him this year. His contested marking has also really improved this year, for a small guy he's been taking quite a few relieving marks when the ball is bombed out of our forward 50.

My understanding was that fitness wise Weid is ahead of Brown.

Salem has had a really interesting career at the Dees (and is still relatively young), there would have to have been periods of doubt on his and the clubs end. But he is having an outstanding year and is massively going under the radar with Gawny, Trac, and Oliver having such great years. 5 years is a reward for perseverance and it comfortably locks him away for ages, probably leading to him being a one-club player.

So the MCG crowd capacity has been increased to 85k, which is great and should ensure a big loud crowd. But can I ask what’s the difference between 85k and 100k capacity in terms of COVID security? I think it’ll end up at about 75,000 with ticketing issues, which is brilliant but disappointing it’s not full capacity.

Not much better than the old “Wet Toast” that comes up for WC here.

I see this game as a free hit in a lot of ways, number one most important thing is to stay with them deep into the match. The majority of the competition (and its fair to say our supporters) don’t think we’ll win but if we show enough to indicate that we can match them pound for pound we lose nothing we weren’t expecting to lose. If we win on the other hand the lid could well and truly be off!

That’s it and he’ll be hungry for more chances, obviously I don’t want this to happen but if a player goes down coming up to a critical game (dare I say final) he’ll be prepared for the call up to fill in. That was an awful, gutting miss. Redemption comes from opportunity, maybe this week?

I’ve had a think about Jonesy’s career and you’d be hard pressed to find another player out there that has faced as much club adversity than him. He’s had more coaches than I’ve had jobs, he witness the club twice go down on their knees and be on the brink, the whole tanking saga which almost destroyed us, and he’s had to deal the tragedies of Jimmy Stynes and his former coach Dean Bailey passing away. He deserves everything that’s coming to him and he deserves that fans forgetting his current form and just applauding him for everything he had done.

Hearing that only one of Weid or Brown plays I think Sam has to be the one to come in for a few reasons: Firstly he was (according to Burgess the week before) a week ahead in terms of rehab to Brown. This means fitness and mobility wise he won’t be missing something coming into such an important match. Secondly he kicked 7 goals in the reserves. Now the opposition wasn’t great but how many times has he done that before? Get him in while his confidence is sky high. Thirdly is debuting our big signing in a blockbuster really the way we want to do things? I have memories of Jack Watts and I can picture Brown being lined up for a big tackle early on. Let him have another week to build match and general fitness then let him loose against his old team. May coming back is huge if true, I think he would’ve been smashing down Goodwin’s door demanding he play! 2 changes then: May for Petty, M Brown for Weid (Please let this be a big night for Sam!)

The Richmond faithful have always been loud, feral, and insufferable. But throw in their success and they now have the arrogance that the cats and Hawks fans got with this entitlement that they were always going to be at the top. Their fall will be enjoyable to witness when it comes. It great seeing a few of them actually recognise that there is quality in our side, it’s a little unnerving to see an eloquent tigers fan! ?