Hellish Inferno

With Carlton two men down, shouldn't we try and keep the game moving quickly to take advantage? If we don't make so many mistakes I think we'll hang on

Keeps going up for a mark one handed. Frustrating

Does anyone know the rule to where the mark should be placed if the ball is taken in the air whilst the player is on the move? Should it come back to where the ball was grabbed, or should it be from where the person lands, or where they end up if they fall to the ground? Just wondering as in Q4 Pedersen was made to kick from where he ended up on the ground after he marked the ball against Mitchell in the air with momentum. It made a difference to the angle of the kick and he kicked a behind to make it 93-96. It didn't matter in the end but I noticed it whilst watching the replay

Clayton changed his profile photo on twitter that clearly shows the elbow connecting with his chin. https://twitter.com/claytonoliver16?lang=en I reckon he regrets posting to Damien Martyn as I think he's been copping tons of posts his way, so he felt the need to put up the photo to justify himself further. But surely now that a decision has been made by MRP everyone can move on

Tyson is the antithesis of Hannan in terms of speed of decision making Both have a neat sidestep however although I think Hannan has him covered

Umpire didn't call time on

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Aside from the first quarter I think we didn't play too badly and it was a good contest. The Hawks played very well More frustrating than anything but what can you do, unfortunately we haven't had the best of luck this year whether that be injuries or coming up against teams on song on the day or the game against Geelong where they played like rockstars pulling everything out of their ar*e This is a strange season so you never know but we're starting to have to come from behind now which makes things difficult.

Last kick that goes out (if untouched) is much better than last touch out, which would be ridiculous

Just did the AFL ladder predictor and we could finish anywhere from 5th to 10th Round 23 is huge as we play the Pies and the Tigers play St Kilda, which will be our competition for a spot in the top 8. Round 21 vs the Saints and Round 18 vs Port will also be huge games.

I would have thought the Lewis goal from the boundary would have made the Goal of the Week nominations, but doesn't seem to be. Quite amazing really and was so casual that it lacked the theatrics of the other nominations this week perhaps...

Watching the highlights again it got me thinking how Richmond were very good at tapping the ball to advantage, particularly in the forward 50. Resulted in a number of goals because it gave our boys no chance to tackle them and it was done fairly cleanly (they must have been training for this) so it generally put a free player in space a chance for a shot at goal. Whereas we seemed to take possession many times and get tackled under pressure, therefore causing a turnover or ball up. Harmes the biggest culprit, couldn't get a clean ball all night

GOALS Richmond: Riewoldt 6, Castagna, Butler, Grigg, Rioli, Martin, AstburyMelbourne: Hogan 3, Garlett 2, McDonald, Watts, Petracca, Salem, Hibberd, Hunt INJURIES Richmond: TBCMelbourne: Petracca (left knee), Spencer (right shoulder/right knee), Smith (ribs), Viney (right knee) Riewoldt just couldn't miss tonight and we had some critical injuries. Tells it all really

13 goals straight...

Just watched a replay and Cripps had a few moments during the game where he took heavy tackles where he seemed to hit his head on the ground once (Viney tackle early on) so how can they be sure it was the Lewis hit that caused the fracture??

It isn't Membrey. I thought it was at first too because of the arm tatts, but it is actually Wright. http://www.saints.com.au/player-profile/nathan-wright So it seems the 'bicep' incident is the one...

I thought it might be a good idea to have a dedicated thread for the 2017 Gameplan, but of course it will also be discussed elsewhere. I really noticed (after the first quarter) the tendency to kick the ball longer sideways to open up the ground and spread the players, creating holes forward of the ball where players would lead into and receive short kicks for mostly uncontested marks. They also worked the angles quite nicely. This type of gameplan works really well with a fit team that spreads well and keeps to their structures. The Saints seemed to be really tired and could not keep up the intensity of the first quarter where they were able to pressure the ball carrier into quick kicks forward to contests rather than keeping the ball in our hands. Also, it really helps that our midfield is generally able to win the contested ball and clearances count most games. The players seem to set up well for contests so that they are both there in numbers but are also positioned not too close to each other and moving constantly so not many handballs are received flat footed. The forward line also worked quite well on the weekend, but that might partly be down to the poor defence of the Saints, as at times it seemed there was so much space to lead into and receive crumbs. Although in saying that our defence was also victim to that problem at times too. But perhaps that is a symptom of the way the game is being played at the moment and I also noticed that plenty of other games on the weekend were quite high scoring. I didn't really get to watch the games but it could be that zone defence and quick ball movement from the midfield is catching plenty of teams out.

Just looking at the stats from Round 1. Docherty and Simpson were 12th and 13th in the AFL for metres gained with 598 and 594 metres respectively. The best Melbourne player was Petracca with 437 metres. I guess it depends on gamestyle (which might explain why we are lower due to the higher number of shorter kicks and sharing it around) but if we can limit the influence of these two (defensive forward) the Blues will find it hard to get the ball into their forward half. Who's up for the job? ANB and Hannan? Or Bugg comes in for Smith/Bernie?

Any footage of the incident? Everyone seems to be talking about the Membrey one which is incorrect. It was on Wright during the 3rd quarter apparently. Anyway, the main problem is the 'intentional' charge which differs quite a lot from 'careless' and although 'low' impact, it was to the head. So no surprise that an intentional hit to the head results in a 2 week ban reduced to 1 with an early plea really...if it was 'medium' or 'high' impact he would be looking at 3-4+ weeks.

Speaking of the jumper, how good did the colours look!! At least on my computer the red looked much deeper and also love the full red on the back. But maybe it was the display and resolution of my laptop screen?? What do people think who were at the ground?

Interesting last few posts on his Twitter. Perhaps wasn't a big fan of Deledio? Same day he was traded on 19 Oct he wrote 'typical', then read some of the other comment in the post... https://twitter.com/reecemck21

This is very simplistic I know, but here is our fixture based on teams we beat (at least once) in 2016 Rd1 Saints EtihadRd2 Carlton MCGRd3 Geelong EtihadRd4 Freo MCGRd5 Rich MCGRd6 Essendon EtihadRd 7 Hawks MCGRd8 Adel AORd9 North MCGRd10 Gold Coast Tregar Rd11 ByeRd12 Queens BdayRd13 Bulldogs EtihadRd14 West Coast AwayRd15 Swans MCGRd16 Carlton MCGRd17 Adel DarwinRd18 Port MCGRd19 North TassyRd20 GWS ManukaRd21 StKilda MCGRd22 Brisbane MCGRd23 Collingwood MCG Only 9 wins, but given that in the remaining 13 games we play the Saints, Carlton and North twice and Essendon once I think we have a pretty good chance of 13+ wins and potentially up to the 15 mark if things go to plan... Keep a lid on it!

Can't believe that Brayshaw, Salem and Vandenberg were missing from the squad. Add to that Hogans and Watts didn't have the best of days I finally believe that we are well on the way to having a side capable of winning a premiership. Add in a bit of (quality) depth and maybe a nice trade or two this summer and next year could be the time for a push at a flag! We can only hope for a better draw next year too!

A mate of mine living in Dublin sent me this photo recently whilst on a random hike in the hills. He's a New Zealander so had no idea who Jim Stynes was, but he saw that the plaque on the stone mentioned him being an Aussie footballer so decided to take a photo and send to me R.I.P

Just watched the last 20 seconds again. Can't believe that Bugg didn't manage to hit Stretch on the chest with a short kick to advantage