Jaded No More

Yep it’s the mental battle. They fear nobody and everyone fears them. A self fulfilling prophecy. It’s why beating them in a close one when they kept coming and coming, was so important. And why us winning close ones is great preparation for when we meet again in finals.

You try playing AFL level football with a knee that is bone on bone and then tell me how soft you are 🙄 Ben Brown has a much better idea of how to play a key position forward role than just about anyone else on our list. His body is unfortunately not what it once was and he’s bravely battling on because nobody else has been able to step it up!

Imagine the media fawning if any of Brisbane, Port or Pies were missing Neale, Butters or Daicos for 3 months and went on to beat 2 of the other top 3 sides, and went down by 4 points at home to the other. But when Melbourne do it without Oliver they’re lucky and very ordinary. Pies are never lucky when they win, they’re just amazing. But Melbourne? Pure luck.

Crows are well ahead of Geelong and GWS in contested possessions, clearances, scores, inside 50 efficiency, contested marks, and speed in both attack and defense. In fact they’re in the top 4 for many of those stats. Geelong at ****ehole Park are a different proposition. But head to head at the MCG or in AO I reckon Crows would have their measure, especially with how they attack at speed.

David King had Freo in his top 4 ranking after they beat us. This was when I decided to stop listening to the media “analysis”, as it’s literally just a bunch of wanna be footballers with absolutely no idea about the modern game. I will say this, Adelaide is, in every really important stat, a better side than any of the teams currently sitting 5-12 on the ladder.

I reckon Goodwin is giving us nothing after he told us 10 times Clarry will play next week, when Clarry in fact did not play the following week. Yze would be much more in the know anyway since he’s Clarry’s direct line coach, so would have conversations with him on the daily. He is probably sage cleansing and praying daily for the return of his star player! 😂

Lol at Clarry playing for Casey.

Kosi stayed because of his relationship with Goody.

I reckon you ask McRae which team he would least like to play in finals at the MCG and his answer would be Melbourne. I guess Goody’s answer would be the Pies tho.

Not according to the expected scores they weren't. They nailed some really hard shots in the last, while we missed some absolute gimmes in the last. Adelaide are ranked 1st in the competition for inside 50 efficiency, 2nd for goals, 2nd for contested marks, 3rd for contested possessions and 4th for clearances. They also have the highest average speed in both attack and defence! It is little wonder that they are pushing the best sides, and that they did the same to us. Anyone who underestimates them is looking at the win loss ratio of a side still finding consistency, and not at what they actually bring to the game. If they beat the Pies and us, as they could have given the margin, they are firmly in the top 6 and spoken of in the same "could do real damage" as Geelong are, who are statistically nowhere near as good as the Crows this year.

I disagree entirely because finals are generally a far more contested game where scoring dries up. They average a measly 1 goal a game more than we do, and I reckon that stat has been overblown by some of their smashing of the lowest sides. On the other hand, they are 10th for contested possessions. Guess who is first? FYI Port are 8th and Pies are 12th! They do rank 1st in clearances but I reckon if we don’t lose Oliver for 3 months that looks very different. Not to mention they’re now going to be without Ashcroft. Edit: we are also 1st for intercepts. Port are 5th, Pies 11th and Lions 12th. I think the Lions defense is very susceptible to fast ball movement. We kicked over 100 points against them without Fritsch (yes they did the same to us too). Port also have a very soft defense. As for rebound 50s we are the best out of the top 4 sides, who are all poor. Lions are 17th!

Please explain your position

But the Pies are going to win the flag so who even cares

Oliver under done? I reckon more like a caged starved lion ready to kill. He has been able to get the KMs in. He will not be underdone. He might be a little rusty with his touch but even a rusty Clarry is 99% ahead of just about any player in the competition. I think the way Salem came in and did not seem to miss a beat is how Clarry will come back in.

So we are going to trade an AA ruckman for an average forward who has done his ACL? Yep that sounds like exactly the sort of thing we’d do.

How about our inaccurate kicking? We finished on 13 behinds. Crows on 15. If we kick straight in the last it’s a 5 goal win.

It’s a fine balance between getting the touch and match hardness back in his legs for as long as possible pre finals, given he’s missed so much footy, and not risking him for a game we should win anyway. The flight is 45 mins. It’s neither here nor there. He probably spends longer driving to Casey every day. I also imagine it’ll be a cold day in hell before Clarry finds himself playing in the VFL for fitness/form… would be fun to see him get 60 touches then get taken off at quarter time tho 😂

Woewodin does not have the elite endurance that Hunter has. A few times today he got lost in the transition from half forward to half back. It’s fine, he’s a kid, and it happens. But to play wing requires the freakish ability to run and run and run repeatedly at top speed all day. Hunter and Langdon do that better than anyone. You will not see us place that burden on Woey in his first season. JJ is ok but he doesn’t have the speed. It’s why we went and got another specialist wingman. Hunter is ridiculously maligned here for no reason.

Goody said Clarry is still 2-3 weeks away post game but Ooze said pre game that the North game is the plan, which is 2 weeks. Is Goody just covering his [censored] after the last 10 times when he told us Clarry was playing next week and didn’t? Or is Yze just frothing at the mouth to have his best player back?

He is holding the space warm for Fritta. He’s a very good impact player in short bursts, but cannot sustain 4 quarters of effort anymore. He does it once in a while but never consistently. For mine he has to play the sub role, but Smith is a better option now thanks to his super versatility at both ends of the ground. He could even ruck if you were very very desperate.

McVee might go for a rest. Tough ask to play 24 games plus finals in your second season of AFL. Plus McVee really had his colours lowered today by Rankine, who admittedly is an absolute gun, but you can make a case for him making way for Hibbo, who looked 90 levels above everyone else at Casey. I would consider bringing in Petty forward but I know that won’t happen anymore. Just can’t see how you drop Tomlinson on today’s game. He was so much better than May, but of course you don’t drop May. Or do you “manage” him? The big call will be Grundy. Richmond are basically ruckman-less. We could bring Grundy in for BB and try and stretch them that way?

Lunch pale union guys. You kill me 😂

Each to their own. I hope you’re pleasantly surprised in September.

Ben Brown is one of the smartest players in our team. If he wasn’t playing without a kneecap, he would be doing a Tax Walker right now.

Hunter is the new ANB. Everyone wants him dropped every week. And he never will be.