Jaded No More

That’s unfair. He is an inside mid. His primary role is to release the runners once he gains possession. He does that better than nearly all players in the league. He also had some nice kicks inside 50 that set us up. His hands in close are elite. Can he improve his outside game? Sure. But that is not and will never be his primary role. He is highly rated by all league coaches. There is a reason for that.

35 touches at 80% and 7 clearances and Melbourne supporters still think he had just an average game. Name one other player on our list who would have these post game stats and not be considered to have had a phenomenal game? We are so spoilt by the quality of Oliver we don’t even get excited by these stats anymore. And he’s just starting to reach his peak at 100 games. Worth whatever he wants.

I am betting a lower then normal attendance. This game falls on the first night of Passover and many Saints fans happen to also be fans of the Jewish religion. I’m sure if you want a ticket you’ll be able to claim one on Wednesday.

Players who aren’t getting dropped this week no matter how much you dislike them: ANB, Spargo, Jetta.

And some people think Oliver is replaceable.

On Saturday I saw both Goodwin and Yze have one on one chats with Oliver during the breaks and while Oliver was on the boundary. I’m not sure if the club is trying to really show him how much he’s wanted and needed, or if it’s just a normal process. But they certainly didn’t take anyone else for one on one chats. Oliver is an out and out star. His ability to win the contested ball is extraordinary and he is as important to our team as May is. Anyone who thinks we can just replace him is kidding themselves. He is consistently in the top five players in the competition for clearances and contested possessions. Unless you think we are replacing him with Cripps, we will be a far poorer team without him. And our chances of a flag will be significantly diminished. We need to move heaven and earth to keep him!

It’s different rules for players like Danger. I’d be blown away if this doesn’t get thrown out.

My thing with Oliver is that he’s an elite footballer and we will never win a flag without him, or a direct replacement for him. Martin doesn’t drive standards either. Make no mistake, lose Oliver and our midfield drops from good to bloody average.

Yze can teach him how to nail a goal at the G hopefully. His marking in the last quarter was very promising. Will benefit from Brown being in the side.

This confuses me. Langdon played well. Ran hard all day. Is a lone wingman out there but provided good linkage and tackled well. Not the most dazzling performance of his career, but certainly a good game.

Great debut. James McDonald presented him his jumper. So lovely to have him back at the club. A real Melbourne champion.

Harmes was woeful. Disposal appalling. Sparrow didn’t do enough. Depending on fitness Viney, Melksham and Hibbo will all push their claim.

6- Lever 5- May 4- Oliver 3- Langdon 2- Spargo 1- McDonald

Terribly uninspiring game. Good win. You take what you can get at this point. I can’t deny that our backline saved our bacon. Lever and May sensational. Jetta more than held his own. For me the midfield was disappointing. Gawn “dominated” on paper but it certainly didn’t translate into any sort of meaningful ball movement or clearance work until the last few minutes of the game. I’ll put this down to being rusty and out of touch. But gees we would want to improve our clearance work fast, or it’s going to be another long season. I thought our ball use going inside 50 was actually much improved. But our goal kicking, oh boy. Overall a lot of “learnings” ??

Clearance work is disappointing to the extreme. One of the most one sided performance I’ve seen in a while against us. Very concerning when the only mid missing is Viney.

It is extremely hot.

Defensively we are playing very well. Backline superb. I know they are missing a lot of their forwards, but so are we.

Doubtful they’d debut a kid like that. They make a big fuss about this sort of thing normally and announce a debut a few days prior to a game. My bet is Baker.

It’s an ok team until you hit the forwardline. I worry about the non-Langdon wing too. Thank god May is playing. At least our backline and on ball brigade look very strong.

Yep. Until Tmac as our only KPF kicks less goals

To all the Oscar haters

He’s been excellent. Good for him. Wish him nothing but the best.

Jesus that sounds horrible. Wishing him a quick recovery. Injuries are starting to mount. If May is not right for round 1 I can’t see us winning. Especially with no fire power up front and probably no Viney or Gus.

Completely agree. Hard to judge with such poor centre clearance set ups due to missing players. It was a shambles. We couldn’t get near it and the Dogs are an exceptionally good team at getting and using the ball, especially on the smaller faster ground of Marvel. What disappointed me most was the poor showing of TMac even when he played on a kid, and the overall poor showing of most of the younger players except Jackson and Bowie. Rivers was ok too.

It was nice to do something normal, like going to the footy, getting mad at the umpires and watching us lose.