Maldonboy38

Logan Morris - wow. A very complete player.

My red wine and biscuits can sit comfortably in my stomach as I sit back content with another Blues loss.

Mild sunny afternoon in country Victoria, a wonderful event with my family this morning, woodfire on as the chill begins to settle, a glass of red only 5 steps away... and Carlton losing. I will open the Savoury Shapes in a minute and my afternoon will be close to perfect. (unless the Blues rally and win which will make me vomit up red wine and biscuits)

Jordan Lewis absolutely hammering the Blues midfield for lack of defensive spread. And you can see it live right in front of you. If GWS continue to press their advantage in this regard they will win easily.

The AFL is $-centric, and assuming the huge amount they have already committed to this project, there is now way this is not going ahead now. I reckon they care little about what Tassie people think and have enough clout to bend political will their way. As for their draft concessions etc... the reality is we are headed for another fully compromised period for drafting young talent. I can't tell you how much I hate this, but I suppose it is essential in some form to get Tassie off the ground. List managers are going to have to be fully prepared for anything and to think creatively to ensure good young talent gets to their club. I just hope the father-son system is protected and uncompromised.

Not sure if it was sarcasm or genuine, but on one of the social media platforms, someone stated that TMac did a hand injury at home and is therefore not playing. If it is not this or something like it, it is a strange decision considering May's form. TMac has been playing his role really well and the team is weaker with him out. As for handing it over to the next generation of KPDs, only Turner is standing out. Adams looks likely but Howes struggles at AFL level.

Tigers half back line to Bummers half back line playing kick to kick. Some serious poor work through half forward from both teams. I think my Kindle is calling me.

The Dogs are playing high quality, effective, quick footy and will trouble the Cats tonight, but taxpayer park is a tough place to win. Bailey Smith is two things: a gun and a w-anchor. However the Dogs decide to handle him tonight, I hope it messes with his ugly ubiquitous head and he has a shocker. Dogs by 16 points.

I did not know he did this. What a brilliant analysis. Best analysis of play-by-play football I have seen anywhere. How come I am only learning of this now? What is the breadth of his analysis? Does he analyze 1 game a week, only Dees games, all games? Can someone clarify?

I've been watching the Dees for almost 6 decades now, and Petracca rates inside the top 10 I have seen. He has a quality that few demonstrate - match winning ability. He can turn his power game on for a quarter, or a half and sometimes an entire game, and totally dominate stoppages and clearances. I think it was in one of the 2021 finals games, or maybe our round 23 win and the Cats, where he said he was proud to help Dees fans find pride and joy in the jumper and colours again. He had me lock, stock and barrel after that. Most importantly, a real good human being. Warm personality, big smile, big heart. It is a pure privilege to welcome him to the MFC 200 games club.

Reflecting upon our last quarter dominance, the role AJ played is interesting. I personally don't think AJ had a good game at all in terms of his impact play-by-play, with only 5 disposals for the game. However, his role helped create two things: His running and physicality made the Lions think twice at stoppages and was a major factor in us keeping he ball inside our F50 for long periods, despite him not winning a lot of the ball. Gawn's last quarter dominance. He was fresh. I haven't seen game time numbers, but AJ taking 2nd ruck duties while also playing a forward role meant Gawn could sit back in a defensive position, read the game and take a breather while we locked it inside F50. I remain unconvinced about AJ's general viability an as AFL footballer, but if he can keep doing this he has to say in.

What a great win. Pressure, intensity, structure and determined concentration across 4 quarters. Seeing Lindsay, Bowey, Sparrow, AJ continuing to press in with only 2 minutes to go - wow. Gawn, Petracca and Oliver (&Viney): who knows how much longer we have these all together? But it is a pure pleasure to see the best Dees midfield play like they did today. Bowey and Melksham were terrific. Looks like Fritsch got the email - he was very different today. Holding his marks, tackling. With Viney and Lever to come back things look promising. AJ's last quarter was strong. His running capacity was a surprise to me. Feeling rather good.

Viney out is a huge loss, so their mids are going to be difficult to stop, or break even. I remain unconvinced about AJ, but I hope he can prove me wrong. And I have my moans, groans, swearing, ranting and head rubbing all prepared for the goal kicking. Unfortunately, we are hosting a baby shower for my daughter and I am on BBQ duties. Having adult daughters can be very very cruel sometimes.

The AFL has had a LOT of strong, "get the job done" kind of leaders, going back into the early 70's. Dillon is not this type, and that's OK, but I regard him as a manager, not a leader. He doesn't inspire, he doesn't encourage you to follow him, doesn't take a project or issue by the horns and fiercely demand excellence. At least that it what it looks like from the outside. I reckon as 2IC or team leader he would excel. But not as a person who has to execute board decisions. Bland, often not articulate when he has to go off message. Laura Kane looks out of her depth. She actually come across as very strong which I like, but her knowledge and decision making look patchy, weak and ill-informed. How they got appointed is beyond me.

Probably 50-60% of our current list are not naturally great kicks, from their U18 years through until now. Lack of concentrated method in goal kicking routine. Have a look a the routine of Jack Reiwoldt or Jack Watts. Simple, repeatable, methodical, technically very very good. Spinning the $%#&ing ball in their hands 2 seconds before starting the approach.

Is it just me, or is Daicos going off because of an "injury" when his tagger is beating him a bit sus.

Billy has become an AFL clown/funny man but he was a wonderful footballer. And if we are talking training for specific players to kick goals from 70, maybe Billy, the two Rocca boys, Fev and Garry Lyon could lead the way.

Last 5 minutes, Freo doing everything possible to lose the game. Some horrific turnovers leading to absolute freebie goals to the Pies.

Within the MH sphere, a golden rule is to not make big decisions when at a low or even weakest point. Regardless of whether journalists are right or wrong, I hope Clarry's MH support network (I am assuming he has one) is advising him along these lines right now. He may have spoken to someone his feelings about needing a fresh start, but being open like this is a long way from making that feeling into a decision. If he does leave, it will be a sad day for me, but if he plays in another jumper I will always hold him in high regard for the footy he played in our jumper, and the part he played in helping us get a premiership.

Petty out, JVR in. We should beat them at the stoppages, and pressure their ball carriers. Cover their half back line who run and carry (so our half forwards must run hard both ways for 4 quarters) . Turner plays on Sicily to keep him accountable.

Reflecting on the drive-by-shooting words from Bailey Smith. He is a terrific footballer in great form, but that was appalling. No reason, no excuse, and when he needed his post-millennial psycho hug, the bulldogs helped him get to the club of his choice. Kudos to the Bulldogs - really poor form from Smith. I loved the response from Bontempelli. And although I despise football thuggery in any form, I hope Libba tears him apart in a legal tackle next week and he gets subbed out. And as he walks off I hope he flips the bird (again) and gets suspended.

Gawn Chandler Turner Petracca Rivers Viney

The game of two distinct halves is an ongoing concern, but part of Goodwin's mantra for his whole time at the Dees is "reset from anywhere". In a moment, a play, a quarter, a game - whatever. And we are doing this really well even if it is against rubbish opposition. Please leave Turner in the forward line. I maintain that he is actually the best mark in our team next to Max and his kicking is a coaching manual. A forward line of JVR, Turner, Fritsch, Spargo, Kolt and Melksham, with Trac and Kozzie rotating through looks balanced and skillful enough to cause problems. I have a soft spot for Jeffo but he will have to earn his place back. Viney as a tagger/defensive mid is a coaching stroke of pure genius. This single change is a bigger part of our winning that we realise. Kolt is frustrating but he is getting to the right spots at the right time, along with real defensive pressure. The list of players we have encouraged to grow while playing AFL is very long (Chandler, ANB, Sparrow, Rivers, JVR etc...) so I reckon the plan is to apply this same rule to Kolt. Langford, Lindsay and Windsor - we will be saying these names for a while. Great recruiting. May looking shaky. I hope it is fitness and injury recovery or we will need to start blooding Adams to give him some AFL game time, so he can develop. Winning is fun.

I thought about this 3-4 weeks ago. He is BOG every week.

And all of a sudden we look cleaner forward of centre. Melksham showing his class, and we are finishing our transition work. Both Melbournes have turned up tonight - first half and second half look like different teams.