Ouch!

Thats the thing though.... if TMac is our key forward then he should not be seeking the ball so far out given that we don't have another forward..... the fact that we *should* put another one in the team doesn't come into it. Team balance and selection of another tall is probably something that most agree needs to occur, which might allow TMac to roam. I don't think he is reading the play that well at the moment, and is trying to hunt the ball rather than create structure in the forward 50 which is what he needs to be doing as the sole key forward. Players like Melk, Fritsch and Hannan are mid sized forwards they are not there to bring the ball to ground as a KPP

The first graphic which is the player ratings is showing how they are performing in 19-20 compared to 2018, which we both agree on But that is all still relative, as it is comparing players to other players in the competition, this rating is relative to all of the other players in the AFL It's not individual stats as an absolute. If we were saying that the number of kicks per game or total handballs, then you would be correct, what the graphic is saying is that relative to other players in the AFL, Fritsch has had a slide of 78% player points relative to other players.

This begs the question though.... why is TMac coming so far up the ground? We have enough i50s to allow him to stay our key forward, ... we have wings in Langdon and Tomlinson for this purpose. Is TMac playing the right role by doing this?

No you wouldn't .... because ALL players across the comp are playing 20% less, so it's all relative to each other.... statistically shouldn't make an impact.

I recall Nathan Jones in the early part of his career was worse than Viney and Oliver in terms of just throwing the ball onto his boot, bombing it and turning it over. Younger players, especially those in inside mid roles appear to panic more and don't realise the amount of time they have, or look for making more space, or raise their eyes to look for different options. Oliver is a little different in that he is aware of options around him, but doesn't appear to recognise whether that option is actually better than disposing it by foot, the number of handballs he dishes off that go to another mid who isn't ready for the ball or has an opponent still frustrates me. Teams are also now reading off Gawn rather than their own ruck given his dominance now too, which means our mids have more pressure as he feeds the ball out Personally I feel our gamestyle is capable of work when coupled with good disposal,... but lets be honest that's a given for all teams. However our manic style of play is fairly predictable in countering from a defensive perspective when it's not working. I think there is much about our gamestyle that does work well, essentially the biggest flaw is the final point of execution inside 50. I don't know if that is just disposal... or forward patterns, or mids with blinkers on in a red haze... likely a bit of all of that. How we go from the highest scoring team to one of the lowest in 18 months is beyond me!!! how did it break that fast?

Changes for me: Bennell for AVB Jetta for Hunt (With Salem to play HFF, one of the few players that can hit a target in our team.) Weideman for Melksham. Special instructions for Oliver to focus on his disposal and understand that getting disposals that put team mates under more pressure than him will see him dropped. Similar to the comparison between the Crouch brothers and Hugh Greenwood, I'd rather see effective disposal and a team role than high numbers that are borderline useless. Open to considering a swing in roles in game between Smith and TMac if Smith continues in the backline as he is... He is more suited to a lever like role than a key back. Lacking a 2nd key back to help May at the moment...

Agree that 16 a side makes wings and people who can run, carry & deliver more valuable. Another indirect benefit might be if they drop players on the ground, the lists could be reduced opening the way for an expanded comp without compromising player depth across the comp itself

http://www.population.net.au/population-of-tasmania/ you must have lived here a couple of decades ago!

You have to wonder if that is because the experiment with playing Fritsch in defence is over, and whether they are viewed similarly in terms of the role that they would play in the team.

He didn't come to us fit, got injured... I haven't heard any reports to suggest that the work they are putting into him is to change his role, it sounds like they just want him fit to play out the season! ... don't think that does anything to ease the fears you have though Old Dee. Still could be a pup at the end of the day if it fails, but I'm happy to give the new conditioning team a bit of leeway.

Guess the main thing with Gus is that he did the 3km time trial on Friday, there could be an issue since then, but prior to today he's been in most of the sessions according to the other training watchers.

TBH, I am just glad we are targeting some RFA and UFAs. It seems to be an area that as a club we haven't exploited, and other than the cap space to get these players to the club, it costs very little else to secure these players. A trade period that could potentially land Tomlinson, Langdon and Elliott does make the list stronger, but identifies the club still as a destination club, rather than one subjected to having our best players poached.

... when does burgess start?

Actually nup, ... and no one is slighting you here, but it's still just training. Regardless of whether he completes it and does it at full speed. Call it 'form' or 100% trust in his body after an injury, but the notion of playing injured still likely has an element of mental preparedness attached to it. Hannan doesn't look quite right playing, Jetta didn't look quite right last week either. Jack Viney really only looks right since the bye if you ask me.

Just quietly DeeSpencer said CHB, not CHF. Might have misread that ?

Posted on a different thread about this same Data fromt he AFL site.... interesting that the move to half back has seen Nathan Jones actually become the most effective kick (using this same stat) in the team for those players who have kicked more than 100 times this season. That's ahead of Salem and Fritsch who we all know have good skills. I know that Viney and Clarry both play inside mid and they typically throw the ball onto their boot and that impacts this stat somewhat, but they need to work on executing kicks better under pressure, and often they seem to have more time than they realise...

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-07-16/stats-files-where-has-it-all-gone-wrong-for-the-demons This article is interesting... depends how much you put an emphasis on stats though. "As an interesting aside, Melbourne's expected hit rate with its field kicks (excluding kick-ins and shots at goal) of 51.5 per cent is the fourth-hardest in the AFL, so it's attempting to play a bold style." Shows also that our midfield group only Harmes and Brayshaw are slightly better than 'expected' given the kick and the expected chance of success of a kick hitting a target. Oliver not great, but Viney has been horrid (-11%). Our best performers in the team (for those with a minimum of 100 kicks) are Jones, Salem and Fritsch in that order Without knowing our stats in this area from last year.... are our players being asked to execute a level of difficulty in the game plan that they are not capable of? Our contested ball and clearance stats haven't really changed since last year, just our ability to execute kicking, especially when connecting i50. Also our players also seem to have taken the 'we'll all eventually get our lick of the icecream' concept too far in my opinion when inside 50, and instead of taking responsibility for the shot at goal, they are trying to give the ball to another player, and without the skill to execute it results in a horrid fail.

The teams in China get the advantage of having their bye immediately in the week afterwards. I wish the NT game for us had the same scheduling.... Instead we have the Queens Birthday game immediately after playing in Darwin in the heat.

I don't particularly have a problem with us being involved with the NT, my issue is more that the fixture that the AFL provides to us ensures that it's only WA or SA clubs that we play there. that means that we don't get a 'Home ground' advantage (or crowd backing) Perhaps if we got the NSW or QLD teams in Darwin it might be more advantageous from a footy perspective. Don't we also have our academy zone up in the NT?

That’s bull. Clubs should not be able to pull a player out for ‘general soreness’ to create a mismatch. People can say Goodwin has had the wool pulled over his eyes, bollocks! WCE should get fined the same as a club staying to pull a player in from outside the emergency listed players. Surprised we didn’t play Pruess, but that’s not the point!

Hey Binman, I couldn't easily tell from the replay, but did he get pushed as he kicked/shinned it? or did the contact happen after it hit his boot?

Omac played on Roughhead didn't he? other than Roughy kicking that goal from outside 50 he was poor enough on the day to force Clarkson's hand and drop him to the VFL. Omac deserved to be dropped earlier in the year, since coming back in his game has improved. OMac is likely to lose his spot to May when he is given a chance to return to the AFL. But that's more due to Frost's form has been stronger than OMac. Not sure there is a like for like replacement for Hibberd in the VFL, Hore and Wagner are the most similar and they are already in the side.

I think the people calling for OMac head are just missing having the chance to bag out Jack Watts! OMac won't be dropped, he has not been bad in the last two weeks, West Coast have 3 key targets in Kennedy and Darling and Oscar Allen. We also lose Hibberd from the back line. Smith in for Keilty, ANB for Milkshake , and maybe Baker/Sparrow if Lewis doesn't get up, or bring in Pruess if we want to change our structure up a bit, and allow Gawn to float back into defence as required.

I read somewhere, and can't remember where I saw it that lower scores are in part to do with the new 666 rule, but also that teams accuracy is significantly lower i.e more points are being scored than goals. Not sure how easy it would be to pull stats down to correlate that. I'm generally in favour of the new rules, the only one that I one attached 50m penalties where another one can be issued for being 'close'. Penalty is too harsh, needs working or throwing out.

Listening to the Inside Melbourne Podcast this morning. Viney sounded doubtful that he will get up for this week, said there are a few things still to tick off.... but I think he's getting better at listening to the medicos and fitness staff at the club. He's trying to get fit, but I reckon he knows he's not right.