Macca

If King prefers tall wingman who can take a mark and possess a bit of dash, then CJ could fill the bill if we want to keep Langdon & Kolt back. His attacking nature would be less risky further afield. Failing that, Fritsch could be called upon. He's not too shabby overhead and his forward entries can be dynamic And he could always drift forward as Langford does

All games are tough, old dee, but the more we are fully tested, the better off we'll be Unless we shy away and not embrace what's coming our way We're about to find out how good we are under pressure and under the spotlight I prefer that to languishing down the bottom of the ladder without much hope Richmond aside, we've had 4 good wins, 2 of which where we weren't given much hope at all We need our experienced players to keep stepping up as we can't rely on the youngsters or inexperienced types

We also have Kentfield and to a lesser degree, AJ, in reserve for the 3-pronged tall attack in the forward line The other question is whether we stick with 3 talls up forward as well as the Moose My take on it is that King is endeavouring to get ahead of the new style of football we're seeing i.e. fast delivery forward from all areas of the field. Catching teams out before they can defend with surety So if the result often ends up with 1 on 1's and lots of them, we need marking power up forward as well as elusive types like Fritsch, Melk, Chin & Latrelle But a lot depends on the quality of entries and the ability of the tall forwards to impact You'd imagine that Mihocek is a lock and probably JVR as well (more so JVR playing as a roaming half forward who can get further afield as a link The 3rd spot is Jeffo's for now but he has to produce

And Brisbane lead by close on 10 goals! We beat Brisbane of course Does that mean we'll thrash the Crows? Not necessarily but 5 & 2 is 5 & 2 Prior to the season a lot of us would have taken 3 & 4 or maybe 4 & 3 at a stretch

I can see Petracca playing on until 2031 or even 2032 Probably permanent forward eventually, a la Dangerfield And we'll probably have 6 on the bench soon enough as well as larger lists, mainly because of the evolution of the sport And with greater amount of bench time for the A Grade Veterans, they'll play on until their mid 30's I do see Pendlebury as an abberation/outlier, but the other vets? Now that the league is hellbent on opening up the game into free-flowing affairs, the players are going to need more rest in games (as well as individual player bye's) Fast and relentless running takes its toll especially in terms of soft tissue injuries

@Farmer I might add that the new rucking rules really does help the forwards (and disadvantages the backmen) The ball is coming out of the middle at a rapid rate which makes it hard for the defenders to double-team or to create a pack/spoil situation What that clearance advantage needs is for the forwards to present and play in front consistently. Play from behind and it's hard to mark and almost impossible to win a free kick. And Jeffo, JVR & Mihocek are all fighting for the front position I reckon that's why King is playing 3 tall forwards as well as a proper 2nd ruck The opposition now have 3 KPF's to worry about

It's more about the 3 pronged talls up forward and how they work together. The sum of all the parts So far, they aren't getting in each other's way and we're rotating them occasionally in different parts of the forward line This allows us to use Fritsch further up the field and as well as forward in a type of roving commission Even when Gawn went forward he somehow found himself one-out So it's not necessarily about Jeffo per se, more the combo Worth persevering with (for now)

Good forwards put their body on the line and lead to places where they can get crunched I get what you're saying but leading to the boundary line can often be counter-productive if it occurs too often

Quick ball movement forward is the key and not bombing the ball on their heads is also key Resulting in a lot of 1 on 1's or unopposed marks in the f50. And we're staying away from the boundary line when going forward A complete contrast to previous years What is most surprising is how quickly we've changed ... the buy-in has been remarkable And that can only help players like Jeffo. The ball is now in his court

Viney will adjust to the new game plan once he returns With the new rucking rules, the ball is away from the feet of the ruckman after the tapout. The ball is often out in play So whichever mid wins the ball just dishes the ball off quickly to complete the clearance ... or breaks clear looking for a forward target And Jack knows how to get the ball, that's his strength. He's also adept at the 35m - 40m low, fast drop punt and with 3 KPF's to kick to, it's then up to the forwards to present and play in front and/or get on the lead Viney can also dish the ball off quickly by hand and will add much needed experience to our midfield group I can see him excelling with the new game plan as we need more than just 1 or 2 in-and-under experienced extractors

Could be (or still could be) that the MCC write out a cheque to the home team depending on the size of the crowd. Gate receipts related At the lower end of the scale a minimum of $100k for a 23k or less crowd was often mentioned (but that was years ago) $1Million for 60k? ... again, we're going back a few years @Dr. Gonzo might know a bit more about what the scale is/was Footnote; So when faced with the prospect of a low drawing crowd at the MCG against GWS or suchlike, we've previously taken the NT money instead

6 - Kozzie - Brilliant 5 - Turner - Best Defender 4 - Sparrow - Big game 3 - Steele - Solid as a rock 2 - Windsor - Stood out 1 - Langdon - Linked up well all night Lever, Fritsch, Gawn, Chandler, Howes & Sharp were prominant as well

Turner also had 7 spoils. Next best for us was Kolt & XT with 4 Played a really solid backman's game and was calm & assured throughout

We're bombing it forward again Old habits die hard

Not normally nervous pre-match ...