Jaded No More

I gave up at quarter time and put on that soft porn show on Netflix. And I tell you what, I think more balls were touched in one episode than Adelaide did the entire night. Essendon will now get to think they’re amazing which is funny and Adelaide can go back to SA to help navigate traffic in those jumpers.

Are we watching the same player in 2021? ?

I would 100% watch Love Actually 100 times and it would be 189% more entertaining than this game. Adelaide dressed like traffic cones just adding to the visual sensation.

FMD how did this contest between 12th and 15th get a run ahead of our game or Dogs v Swans or Richmond v Collingwood or a replay of Love Actually?

What does my head in is how much they hate Melbourne. Just cannot say a nice thing about us. Actively barracking for an upset every week. Yet would drown in a bucket of their own semen commentating a Dogs game.

Hoping for a Swans upset. These two plodder sides on my TV on Friday night is extremely upsetting.

Correct. We are a different team than 2018. We are far more mature and physically strong in the middle of the ground. Nobody is physically beating us up. So unless you’re bringing AVB to be Gawn’s personal body guard the net swap of Harmes for him leaves us worse off. At least Harmes can get plenty of the pill and can do a shut down role when needed. We don’t have any versatility with AVB. He won’t play as an inside mid ahead of anyone currently playing and he isn’t better on the wing than Gus or JJ. And I won’t even mention Langdon because I know nobody would ever suggest we swap these two.

Absolutely. They have a very strong list. And yes I know they have had a few injuries this year, but they keep finishing high enough on the ladder that you can't sack Hinkley, but then they don't do any damage against strong sides or in finals. A terrible position to be in.

Hibbo is criminally underrated. Has had a superb year shutting down some of the best players in the competition. A strong off season priority to find a replacement for him, as he is no spring chicken.

As I said in another thread, Port fans hate Hinkley and they are right. He is a terrible tactician and can't get lemonade out of lemons.

Oliver, Trac, Gawn a lock. Salem could be unlucky as they love to fill the half backline with midfielders. Lever and May statistically have to be in that backline. If May doesn't make the AA team this year, you may as well burn the joint down.

Brown's kick to a leading Tmac was perfection. It was a tall forward kicking the ball to a tall forward the way a tall forward would want the ball kicked to them! His ball use was spot on, did not waste a disposal and his follow up work was pretty good. He is never going to be Usain Bolt. But he doesn't need to be. He laid more tackles last night than Fritsch has in a month of games.

#stayclassyPort

I also want to add that forward lines in isolation do not win flags. You can have an average forwardline and win a flag. You can't have an average midfield and win one. But what a good forwardline can do, is significantly lower the impact of good defences and a team's ability to rebound from half back with ease. It's why I think Geelong is perhaps our biggest threat in finals, because their forwardline will really stretch us.

Breaking news: 21 year old key position defender with 20 games under his belt starting to perform like he belongs. Petty will be a very good long term key defender or even forward. Anyone who has followed him at Casey would know this. The knee jerk reaction of supporters to write off players is insane. He's played 20 [censored] games. How well were you doing at your job on day 20?!

Tmac has a future in coaching. He is such a smart guy and very astute footy observer. Could be a forward coach one day.

I reckon Sydney could pull off the best upset for us. No Naughton for the Dogs. Swans in great form. Etihad would suit them. Buddy could really expose the Dog's backline. Will be following that game closely. But excited to get home from work and enjoy a glass of wine while I watch the replay tonight!

Vanders is too slow and his ball use is as bad as Harmes. He just does not bring in anything we need. Bowey may get a run at some point, but really now is not the time to mess with anything. 7 weeks until finals. The more settled we can be, the better. And besides, form suggests we drop this game if we take it too lightly. Tinkering and resting players is not the right message. Hawks may not be setting the world on fire, but neither were Pies or Adelaide when they beat us. Do not take any game lightly.

I agree with you that our midfield and defensive pressure is why we won last night. However, you need to ask yourself how come Tmac was able to actually take marks inside 50 on the lead? Whereas the last few weeks he was playing high on the wing as the link up and we had 0 targets inside 50. You also need to ask yourself how easily would Port have been able to double team Tmac and Fritsch if Brown wasn't there, and Aliir Aliir would have had a field day being able to peel off. Also you totally underestimate in the contests where Brown is. In so many contests he was in the back of the pack, pulling a defender away. He made sure that his opponent could not run and impact the pack, because he stayed back, which made his defender accountable for him. Brown is not why we will win a flag. Our backline and midfield is. However, having another tall up forward who commands respect from the opposition only makes us that much harder to beat. This is why I think Brown should play ahead of Weideman, because Brown is a massive body and he demands a good tall. He is able to take away the best defender each week. Weideman just is not there yet.

Anyone who judges Brown purely on goals kicked doesn’t understand modern footy. It’s so much more about presenting opportunities to bring the ball to ground. Is it any wonder Kossi had his best game for a month last night? Or that Tmac actually could take marks on the lead rather than trying to beat 18 opponents? For a team so reliant on structures, the mind boggles that fans can’t see how his presence completely changes our structure for the better.

He has a very good list at his disposal and a solid home ground advantage. He has never been able to make use of either. They are downhill skiers and he often gets out coached. Last year they had a dream run at the AO due to Covid and they still couldn’t get themselves into the grand final. Port fans really don’t like him and don’t know why he’s been around so long without producing. Their list is absolutely good enough to win a flag. Port game he talked injuries. He loves excuses.

Hinkley is one of the worst tactical coaches in the AFL.

No change. Sparrow probably won’t be sub again. Maybe Melksham sub.

Anyone who can’t see what Brown did for us tonight is not watching hard enough. He drew defenders in a contest, he brought ball to ground. He gave Tmac Fritta and Jacko opportunities to play one on one and on the lead. Opposition defenders worry about Brown. He’s a big unit. You don’t just forget he’s there. He command respect and a good solid opponent. It’s little wonder Tmac had one of his best games of the year tonight. He finally wasn’t being breathed on by 6 defenders! Our midfield was absolutely outstanding tonight. Gawn back to his best. Tonight proved to me that when we are switched on, and when we can bring our signature pressure, we can beat anyone. Edit: if anything ever happens to Steven May we are royally [censored].

Imagine if we ever convert more than 50% of our shots on goal. What a time to be alive that would be!