Maldonboy38

Three combined things; 1. Technique. A lot of players don't have great technique, but their natural eye-hand co-ordination covers for it. Think of James Hird's poor technique, yet he was a wonderful kick. Petracca in particular has a very high ball drop. TMac's is actually ok. Hunt's is poor etc... Whoever is our current goal kicking coach or adviser needs to be replaced because the message is not getting through. Some great explayers with great technique are Barry Hall, Jason Dunstall, Wayne Carey, Matty Lloyd. 2. Routine. Practice the goal kicking routine so much you don't have to think about it. Have a look at Jack Reiwoldt - 3 steps and kick while moving in a direct line to the target, every time. Great to watch. 3. Exhaustion. Our preseason of surgeries and late returns has cost us big time, as has a further poor injury record this year. Strange thing is though that we are missing easy set shots early in games when exhaustion is not yet a factor. If any one of the three above are missing, it is easy to overthink the kick and stuff it up. Welcome to MFC 2019.

I'm glad Ablett got off last week's. For mine it was a free kick and 50m penalty, a small fine at worst. But I have no idea how he got off this one. Atrocious.

I remember the lack of success, and the wooden spoons of the 70's and early 80's. I remember the horror of the Neeld era. We won. I am happy. Unwatchable football and no joy in watching the game, but a win.

Yes, when Trevor Marmalade left, the show changed direction. Talking about football decreased, the journalists began to gain profile and all those annoying political stories and Sam became the central focus. I have rarely watched it since.

It can't just be "this payer for that" because of one or two incidents or because we loathe certain players. Looking over the four quarters there were actually very few 4-quarter players, as each and every one had some very poor patches. Two main issues for me: 1. Our mental fragility. We have lost the chaotic, press forward, run your guts out, manic attack from the last half of 2019 which required a fairly arrogant sense of ability. The players simply BELIEVED. Apart from current and obvious fitness/surgery issues it is this underlying lack of mental confidence and freedom which makes us so wobbly. I see it returning a little more each week but I reckon Weideman was one of the leading sufferers. So who are the other players who are suffering this. Omac? Petracca (occasionally). TMac? Hibberd? Others? 2. The Suns are quick - very quick - and we have seen what speed does to us on the outside. Our main game is winning at the contest then spreading with precision, power and confidence. We might have 1 or 2 too many lumbering types whose lack of pace could be costly. Can we keep OMac, Lewis, Hibbo, ANB, Hore in the team while adding Preuss? Probably not. Not being fully up to date about injuries from the Hawks game, I reckon 2 of OMac, Lewis, Hibbo, ANB , Hore to be moved out. But then, looking through the available players there is a continuing lack of pace.

A pure natural footballer and leader. He was a ball player and a ball magnet. His skill and poise over the ball were only bettered by the great Robbie. It will always be his kicking that stands out most in my memory. Absolute gun of the highest order.

Good question - difficult to answer. You wouldn't pay him more than $500K now and that is not going to happen, unless the Swans paid him $2m in a single season which leaves less in the following years. Not sure if it is within current AFL Player's Association rules to change the contract like that mid-term. We won't end up with him, but he remains effective wherever he plays. Absolute gun.

Sydney have to reap what they have sown. A 10 year contract. No compassion from me there. But I would take a match-winning, 6 feet 5 inches, quick, goal-kicking, freakish super-star any time. Yes, there are times when he is unbelievably selfish and yet there are times when he is ruthlessly selfless. He draws attention to himself and is also able to bring team mates into the game. Is he past his best? Yes. But 85% of Buddy is still about 120% of other footballers. The only question for me would be cost.

A big yes from me.

In the past few years, the Saints have really troubled us with outside pace - especially over the back if any of our midfielders or defenders are slow in their two way running. Lewis will come back in. Even though he is not the player he was and now he makes some decision errors, he reads the game so well, is often in the right place at the right time, and is a defensive beast which we need. But he does not help the outside pace quandry. Hunt has been improving each game, but I wonder if he needs to play wing/half back to help with the defensive spread, and limit the easy one over the back? His pace will be important. Frost's pace was highlighted against Buddy and will be useful against the Saints. Do we consider Garlett and if OMac misses due to concussion, do any of the Casey defensive talls possess decent pace?

Very happy with the result. Even happier that I could watch a game without a gut-wrenching knot in my stomach due to constant dropped marks and kicking errors. I loved the grunt, the really good pressure, and the team defence. A big shout out to the back six who really stood up. To poor old Frosty who can do so much right and so much wrong in the same game - he is the one defender who Buudy will not take on to run away from. A lot to like but an imperfect game. Around the stoppages, Sydney ran and handballed their way around us far too easily for most of the game. LOVED hearing the team song.

The more I think about the game, the more I feel our main problems are twofold: 1. Poise. We get heaps of the ball, we get repeated inside 50 entries, then fold under little or no pressure. I am not expecting players to play without any errors, but more to have a consistent mindset over the ball that minimizes skill and decision making mistakes. 2. Intensity. We can't play a full quarter at the same intensity, let alone an entire game. And often we have whole quarters where every player looks like they are running through mud or jogging around.

Stop the turnovers (the perennial MFC issue since Daniher left) We are way to easy to score against. It looks like we win ball often, then simply turn it over by poor kick or dropped mark while all our players have sprinted forward of the play , leaving us exposed to pace out the back. Must have happened 20 times tonight. I am not a huge fan of dropping players because of single poor games, but Hibberd, Frost, ANB and Omac looked poor for most of the game. Kolodjashnij seemed to pep up a bit. What has happened to Nathan Jones?

What is it with un-pressured errors? Simple, uncontested marks dropped. Un-pressured kicks going sort-of near a target but never hitting. And we are getting slaughtered at the ball drop, which was our strength. Melksham, Kolodjashnij, Omac, Hibberd having absolute howlers.

Quarter 1. Gut wrenching, inadequate, sub-standard, weak in the contest, slow. Quarter 2. Intense, running in waves, hitting targets by foot, actually marking the ball. Following the Dees is always so Jekyll and Hyde. Wagners x 2 and Lockhart looking really good. Gawn decided "enough is enough" and just started chucking himself at it and gut running two ways. what a difference it makes when his mindset changes. The run-and-carry was back. My man Brayshaw - gold!

This weekend raises some interesting discussions, but for me 3 main things: 1. The general quality of football was very poor across most games, with many quarters almost unwatchable. Some atrocious kicking, dropped marks, handballs to no-one. Most games saved by some amazing end-to-end goals that were great to see, and/or some close scores at times the only point of interest. As a footy fan I found most of it fairly boring. 2. Round 1 is absolutely no indication of how this season will unfold. Dees, Eagles, Crows and Pies are nowhere near as bad as they played and we will see a pattern of gradual increase that we saw from Sydney in the Roos era, where he gave no credence to the pre-season games and started most seasons slowly, building through the home and away rounds towards finals. 3. Freo, Lions and Blues will worry a few this year.

Harmes surprised me last year - didn't have him in my best 25 at the beginning of the year. Weideman showed a bit in the finals series and I hope his improvement continues. If vandenBerg can get his kicking for goal worked out (he misses to the right a lot, missing very gettable goals) then he could be a big improver. I think this is his first season having done a full preseason so I reckon we will see a very sharp rise. The one I would love to see fulfilling his potential is Hunt. If he can add composure to his kicking, and staying in the game for longer periods, the sky is the limit. But there is a LOT of pressure on for positions in the back 6.

1. Totally ignored rubbish sports like NBA and NBL, NFL, 50 overs cricket, women's soccer, women's cricket, lame level golf (the level I play at!) and enjoyed telling all within earshot how rubbish these sports really are. 2. Watched 1 of the most sublime games of tennis ever played - Djokovic in the Aus Open final was tennis perfection. 3. Tried really hard to stay interested in the MFC and AFL websites during the pre-season, but got bored really quickly with facile, superficial, vacuous spin masquerading as football news. ... for the love of all things sacred, hurry up season 2019...

I cannot believe that any media outlet is giving airplay to Nick Riewoldt on moral/health issues in sport. Under his leadership and later captaincy, the entire St Kilda playing group was a disgrace to sport for every social-issue reason you could think of - performance enhancing drugs, illicit drugs, sexting and nude photos, sex with probably underage girls, group sex with drugged and drunken girls who might not even have been willing, the list goes on. He was an amazing footballer but has no credibility beyond football.

A natural wingman in an era when they have almost been driven out of the game by the term "midfielder". He demonstrates excellence in the four basic skills of footy - mark, kick, handball, evade - and can sustain this excellence often under pressure. And now this pre-season he has demonstrated an ability to work very, very hard on the training track. Put all this together and add emerging similarities the great R Flower; 2019 could be anything.

Spot on. In the 80's we used to drink cordial for thirst quenching! No wonder we spewed so much. I don't know about Manangatang, but I clearly remember near the end of some serious gut running during pre-season playing for Kyneton, where the coach stopped our running, and had the other players jog in a circle around me until I had finished spewing.

He will be his own man, and won't be trying to fill PJ's shoes because he can't. No CEO can be hands off and just let everything run, regardless of who he follows. His job is not to maintain things but to develop, grow and increase influence across every part of club life to the point of a Premiership. rjay got it right above - Pert's main job particular to his appointment is to get our new footy/admin home base done.

I had never heard of him before drafting him, but looking at his size, assets and body-readiness, I really like his addition to our squad. I can see him getting a game sooner than expected.

This.

Petracca is a natural ball-sport player: basketball, footy etc... come easy to him because his instincts and reactions are amazing. He has all the skills, great vision, incredible eye-hand co-ordination. His goal kicking is probably a mental thing and when he gets it right, look out. I also think he has trained very hard since being at the Dees. I remember the photos from his first training sessions when he realised how far he had to go to work alongside Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince. Like Max, I don't reckon he has to work harder, he has to work smarter, and change the way he trains. Less gym, more longer distance running, rowing, boxing. I have to admit to being a fan, and his 2018 season was very, very good. His influence and goal assists were breathtaking at times. Even if he doesn't improve any further he is a wonderful footballer and I love what he brings. However, with his skills and smarts he could become anything. If he can train smarter, change his body shape slightly, run more, then the sky is the limit.