Demon Dynasty

You could be right Rob Not saying the 2 ruck combo doesn't work against certain opponents. Certainly did at the Cattery but as you say we don't really know how it would work as they didn't have a genuine ruckman that day. Spencer is certainly a better ruck option than Dawes. But IMO i just think Dawes is a better substitute than Pedo (when he is available), if we can't afford a "too tall" line up against some opponents. Sure we might still lose the ruck contests in general if Dawes is used as the pinch hitter. But IMO from what i've seen, when Pedo is used we absolutely bleed goals out of the center bounce. I would never play Pedo as a pinch hitter in the ruck personally and see Dawes as a "marginally" better option for this "fill in" role when in the team. And i don't necessarily believe he earns a place every week either, especially with a fit Pedo available. I don't think when these 2 are around you can afford both in the team. It's Pedo OR Dawes depending on match ups etc but i wouldn't play Pedo if needed for any type of ruck role. One of the worst "part time" ruckman i've ever seen and not sure why we persist with him in such a role.

Still in recovery mode after our breaking of the 10 year hoodoo at the Cattery. Probably sipping more than a pinot or 2!

"Name a Game" Red

I like the new outfit earl. Not sure u'll get a game at Wimbledon in that though

Lets just get through this 2nd half shall we

Dawes can cover for Gawn in short stints just to provide a contest Rob. Will also change the look of the forward line for a while and free up room for the Hulk and Jeffy to work in while Gawn in resting.

I think it's more that Bail would feel lucky to be getting a game ATM chook. As for Spencil I think he served his purpose last week and would be happy to be playing a role like that given his aerial limitations in rucking contests. On the ground he is super competitive. Going to be an interesting time at the selection table.

If our mid field is on i would say we will be in it up to our necks Kali. It's a matter of how well we close them down on the spread and go the other way quickly ourselves when we get the ball back. When our mid field is on we will be competitive with most from now on, then it's just a matter of how the rest of the crew perform around that mid field set up/structure. If the rest hold up their part of the deal, particularly our forward line, we can beat just about anyone except the top 4 i would think. And before anyone jumps on me, yes i realise WC are in there but personally i don't think WC are genuine top 4 material but i could be proven wrong here. They are an amazing pressure team inside 50 (ranked No.1 here) but let's see how they fare as the 2nd half progresses.

Ah yes! That's an "auto" in if fully fit and in form CBD! (part of that form would include solid pressure i50 when he doesn't have it! He will learn this part i'm sure). What happens when you get old! Another reason i'm happy to leave these things to the experts

List is looking more competitive Awesome? This is awesome!......

I think the only potential outs from such an impressive win, where pretty much everyone played their part, would be Bail/the Toump and/or Pig Dog. Probably keep pig dog for his scrapping ability around stoppages to cover in case we lose a mid early. Grimes in for Bail if he was fit. Keep a winning team's changes to the bare minimum is my motto. They will take more confidence from seeing the same heads/bodies around them than seeing 2, 3 or more new faces every other week. As for the match ups/team balance thing I'll leave that to the experts who are getting paid good coin and know more about this side of the game on their small toenail than me.

ok , didn't realise it was that bad. Not getting bottom of the rung results by being there! Nicely placed venue. Is it not upgradable?

Nice work RP I've done the last 3 weeks CPs & Ups vs League averages just for interest's sake MFC vs League Ave (last 3 rounds) CPs Ave 147 / 137 (+10) Differential +7.0% Ranked 3rd in the league over the last 3 rounds. Top 2 - The Pies (1st) & Power Bottom 3 - GWS (16), Saints (17) & the Lions (18) UPs Ave 232 / 221 Differential +4.75% Ranked 7th in the league. Top 3 - Sydney (1st), Essendrug & the Blues Bottom 3 - Crows, Doggies, GCS As RP has already stated the outcome on these stats is very much dependant on who you are playing in the 3 rounds (or each round as the case may be). I will update this after another 2 rounds which will hopefully give us a bit more meaningful indicator of recent form in these 2 areas. Note that some teams only have 2 rounds of data included from the last 3 rounds due to the bye. I have still used an average for fair comparison. Stats: Courtesy of Footywire

There's an old football adage that's been bandied about in the past once or twice that I think is appropriate here.... let me try and remember. Oh yes, now I recall it ... "One week at a time folks, one week at a time"

Apparently the Hawks are looking to build a new venue in Rowville or something. I wonder if their present venue might be a good option if it comes up

U might want to stick to the curry a little more!

I just want to see us win 2 in a row. I cant recall when we last did that

Well I was gonna give Gawn another 2 to 3 matches before reviewing.... but I got all the convincing I needed after watching that match. It's GAAAWN all the way!

Yes this needs addressing. Happens (and happened again on Sunday) far too often/easily. I'm not watching again as I don't have the time but from what I recall it was mostly Selwood imposing himself and rolling out after bodying Viney off the ball. Viney was solid but hard to keep a champ quiet for an entire match. Also I think an interrupted season has Viney NQR in terms of tank/leg speed in those first 5 metres or so. Tends to get burned off reasonably easy. Steven a good example in those last 40 sec last week. In addition I seem to recall it was some of Spencil's ruck work, eg tapping it to open areas which favoured the cats, that didnt help our cause here. Would need to watch again though to be sure.

Much improved in terms of chasing and tackling in the open but still not quite right at some marking contests and potential clutch tackle opportunities in congestion (need to go as it's your turn!). His uncontested was first class as always though and reads the game better than most. Has also learned to start taking tackles and play through them, ensuring his hands are free for the give off. Something I haven't seen much of prior to this year.

That's the difference between winning and losing I guess. There's still plenty of room for improvement though.Eg, some of the delivery i50, particularly in the 2nd quarter was horrid. Players not lowering eyes (in some cases under little or no pressure) but just bombing it on top of heads pretty much every time. This and we need to look inside when running the ball around the wings off HB and see that sometimes, there is a player or 2 free there and pull the trigger when the opportunity is there. I will name names and happy to say Bail's disposal is still super ordinary. In particular his handballs, which mostly either go straight to an opponent, no one (ie, panic drops it making another loose ball contest) or to one of our boys but often selling them into trouble. Gets to where the contest is pretty well but rarely picks the right options etc after so many seasons in the system. These performances tend to get glossed over when you win (ie, others who are performing end up covering over the ugly bits).

First time in a long time i can recall having trouble "fitting" players in 6. Dunny - Most epic i've seen on one of the league's best forwards away from home. Ran off as well for 15 rebounds! Is that a record for the MFC of some sort i wonder? Also had majority of i50s & time in forward half to contend with...The ROCK! 5. Mr. Vince - Lowers his eyes more often and we have our own Pendles with grunt! Needs to stop Moloneying the ball so often! 4. Big Max - first half was stellar! 3. Gus - absolute class and great positioning/tackling and 2nd efforts all day 2. Viney - The Mauler at his best. 1. H - For providing the run and taking the game on early (showing the way to turn def into attack ...quickly!) and getting to so many contests both in defence and up the field Apologies to Jones boy, Garlett, Howe (2 clutch goals, one at end of 3rd and the other beginning of 4th!), ANB for an amazing 2nd up game, Tyson (a bit one paced but some great body positioning around stoppages/handballs), Watts (reading the play/field kicking and being up and about....still needs to comitt harder at times IMO), Dawes & M Jones (great work on and off Enright!)

There was really only one stand out horrific tunnelball ... I mean turnover. There were some others agreed, but I don't believe too many horrors came out of the mid field contributors that day. I'm more talking from a "belief/confidence" point of view C&B. Think the bulk of the mid field grew an extra leg after this match regardless of what occurred around them, which in most cases was beyond their control.

Personally I think the changing point was the QB game P. To me this was the mid field finally matching it and even getting on top of a quality mid field including Pendles & Swan. We had Mr. Vince getting the best of Pendles which was some feat on the day and IMO this was also the turnaround game for Watts. The tackle in front of goal and the resulting goal was like the spotlight highlighting the "positive" book end of his career. Everyone at the ground, including the players couldn't help but see it and it sent a message to everyone that Watts had finally found his "physical" mojo. Have no idea why we suddenly clicked at the Cattery in terms of a win.... But it all came together on this day for a great win against all odds. However, in order to cement this belief and avoid our usual 1 step forward 2 steps back trait we still need to string a few decent wins together on the trot and against decent opponents like the Cats. While it's important to celebrate a solid win and the breaking of the Cattery hoo doo, we want to make sure this isn't our major win and highlight for the whole season. Need to finish off the good work in the 2nd half.

I hope! Supposed to be after 6. Missed first few minutes so hope it's still coming.