Macca

Yes I agree, Ernest To Richmond's credit, they pressured us well in the first half, so our short game broke down on many occasions And that's going to happen, we don't get to keep the ball to ourselves. We have to work our way to the right solutions against spirited opposition Resting Gawn in the last quarter was the correct move as we had the game in hand. We lost percentage as a result but winning games is more important (right now) And if JVR or AJ were in the ruck instead of Fullarton? Anyway, my thinking is that we've lost 5 games and we need to hold off for as long as possible before we lose a 6th game

The Eagles aren't much chop but you have to always factor in that they might have one of the better days (or their best day) You can never assume that a poorly equipped opponent is always going to perform poorly And they are playing on their home ground. If we start against them like we started last night, we can give them a sniff and they can win Let's not forget that they defeated us by 35 points last season We bring our best we'll win, but we were a long way off our best last night By contrast, we played very well last week against the Dockers and won well

On occasions last night we kicked long forward to a 2 on 2 ... what is required is that one of our forwards needs to lead away to create 2 x 1 on 1 scenarios Instead of that outcome we end up with a mini-pack situation and thus, a wasted opportunity to score It's basic footy practised at suburban or country level but our forwards on a whole are too statuesque ... creating seperation is also needed to create non-pack scenarios (not just on their opponents) In other words, our forwards need to get on their bikes (get moving)

287 uncontested possessions last night tells a story on how we are trying to transition to the short-ball game. But still too many long kicks to packs or 2 on 2's inside the 50 (with that final possession on the string of possessions) So we need another link to provide another option when entering the 50. Takes another runner to sprint to position or sprint to extend the chain of possessions. Running into the gap being ideal Easier said than done of course, as the new game plan is a work in progress

Fullarton played ok last week but not up to scratch last night ... either JVR or AJ should come in but either player will need to work in with the other forwards and do the 2nd ruck duties We lacked a tall presence up forward last night (Petty was reasonable without standing out) although what was pleasing was that we took 12 marks inside 50. We're finding targets at least So JVR or AJ can make a difference (not will make a difference)

We played one really good quarter and 3 bog average quarters. Obviously needed a rev up at half time, which is a concern Bowey & Salem kept us in the game until our stars decided to lift their intensity We're going to have to do better than that to defeat the Eagles I'm not sure we would have beaten too many teams last night We can play so much better but it's a 4 quarter game. So we need to bring our best from the get-go It's a win but unimpressive

Not sure on Tassie but if the big offer is going to come for Kozzie, I'd be reckoning it will be at the end of this season. They'll want his serviced now (whoever they may be) And if we got what we wanted*, we can use the picks we get for him in the 2025 & 2026 drafts *Lots of picks

Kozzie is not coming out of contract. He's contracted until the end of 2027 So to prise him out is going to take a huge offer I'm not at all concerned As good as he is, 3 first round draft picks coming back for Kozzie is also very appealing (esp with JT at the helm) And if we don't get that type of offer, we tell the suitors to P.O. We are in the position of strength because of the contract

Reckon you're right there, AF, good pick up Although the long dump kick forward to packs was probably more prevalent back then ... and defensive flooding less so? Last week we had 392 possessions in the game against Freo at 81.7% DE The last 6 games of 2018 R20 426 @ 70% ---------- R21 358 @ 72% R22 386 @ 72% ---------- R23 403 @ 75% EF 335 @ 72% ----------- SF 382 @ 69%. Difference being the DE rating up (albeit from one match against Freo) the good news is that our veteran players should be able to re-adjust to how they once played Back then Oliver handpassed most of the time and Gawn often gave it off short Can't recall on Viney & Petracca but they maybe handpassed a trifle more?

From a technical point of view ... We've got a totally new game plan so I'm not sure Yze will have answers for it. The old game plan, sure, but all the other clubs were countering against the long ball style We're now playing a version of the small ball style and countering that can be an on-the-day thing And we haven't played small ball for how long? Maybe the style that Balme was trying to instigate way back when We've been a long kicking team ever since Tonight it could come down to the skills attached to the new game plan and not turning the ball over as Richmond like to hang on to the ball as well And we do not want to fall back into old habits ... no dump kicks forward to packs otherwise we're effectively handing the ball back to the opposition The extra handpass should be in play We bring our best, we win

All 4 Muskateers look to be switched on up top. And all 4 are either 18 or 19 We really should be looking at giving Jason Taylor some more picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the draft. On top of JT having the Midas Touch, we develop our youngsters very well these days It's a better percentage play than recycling players from other clubs. We've got enough experience And I'm with you on Lindsay. Excellent footy IQ and he's only just become eligible to vote!

Regardless, Petracca needs to stop rushing his kicks. He's got more time than he thinks and previously, he nearly always used his smarts to escape trouble We need his creativity by hand or foot ... a good example of that was his handpass to a streaming Viney on Saturday He's getting the ball enough as he's playing forward a lot of the time but we need his disposals to be dynamic

Fixed (Draft starts Friday 10.00am AEST ... not Thursday

I see the NFL draft is on Thursday (from 10am) On ESPN if you've got it First round picks will be on Day 1 (Thursday) Rounds 2 & 3 Friday Rounds 4 through 7 Saturday

8 Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver Bronze 2024 Go the Biff JV7 Clintosaurus Dr. Gonzo titan_uranus ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2023 Dr.Gonzo DemonDave layzie Gorgoroth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2022 DeeSpencer Go the Biff layzie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021 Go the Biff Clintosaurus DemonDave JV7 layzie Gorgoroth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 titan_uranus Gorgoroth Go the Biff Clintosaurus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 JV7 Go the Biff Gorgoroth Macca Dee Zephyr Clintosaurus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 DeeSpencer Clintosaurus Gorgoroth Dappa Dan Dee Zephyr Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Clintosaurus Go the Biff Dappa Dan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Macca JV7 DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 cowboy_from_hell pantaloons Gorgoroth Strafford Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver ----------Bronze 2024 -------Macca------------- ElDiabl14 -----------JV7, Clintosaurus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2023 Clintosaurus Gorgoroth BDA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2022 Go the Biff layzie JV7 Clintosaurus DeeSpencer Dee Zephyr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021 DemonDave Gorgoroth Clintosaurus Macca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 Go the Biff Dee Zephyr Macca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 DemonDave Go the Biff Macca Dee Zephyr Gorgoroth JV7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 Gorgoroth Go the Biff DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Macca Clintosaurus Go the Biff JV7 Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth JV7 Clintosaurus Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7 cowboy_from_hell Gorgoroth Macca DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7 pantaloons Gorgoroth Go the Biff Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze Go the Biff 5 5 2 -Macca ---------------5 --------2 -------6 -----------Gorgoroth 4 5 7 ------------------------------------------- ----------JV7 4 4 3 ----------Clintosaurus -----------4 --------3------- 6 ---------DeeSpencer ------------2 --------2--------4 ---------DemonDave ------------2 2 1 titan_uranus 2 1 0 cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 Dee Zephyr 1 1 3  Dappa Dan 1 1 1 Dr.Gonzo 1 1 0 Strafford 1 0 0 pantaloons 0 2 0 layzie 0 1 3 -----------ElDiablo14------------- 0 --------1 --------0 -----------BDA 0 0 1 Edited January 7 by Macca

And Langford is on the 5th line of betting (and shortening) for the Rising Star Top 4 ... Ashcroft, Lalor, O'Sullivan & Reid

Salem made a few errors but he was far more creative with his kicks ... and with that creativity comes the odd error Kicking it down the line or sideways or backwards is often necessary but when we take a chance through the corridor or whatnot, there's a risk involved But no risk, no reward Mistakes/errors/errant kicks/ fumbles happened 113 times in our game But often the overall number is much higher As a last resort, long bombs to a pack needs to be replaced with the lower high velocity kick forward. Hang time kicks into the forward line are score killers

The Surfing from Bells today has been fabulous (big waves) On Kayo right now (Live) And 7Plus (Daily from early morning)

Yep, 100% against the Bombers, so you're right Down to 75% against Freo

I vaguely recall that he has gone as high as 97% but that might have been a few years ago ... but it was often a high percentage anyway as it was a talking point back then It was a mild surprise that Fullarton played just over half a game but it looks like that's how the FD are going to play it ... JVR was 75% T.O.G as the 2nd ruck against the Bombers

Time on ground stats were interesting for a few Melk 65% (only on the ground 2/3rds of the game but 13 possessions and competed hard) Fullarton 60% (therefore 40% on the bench) Kolt 68% (Fair enough) Langdon 75% (that's a surprise, is he carrying something?) Turner 46% & Sharp 40% (one replaced the other)

Lindsay's disposal efficiency is going at 81.1% for the season. Which is excellent for an 18yo in his first year player It's hard to not get carried away but he looks a goodin. The kid hits targets at speed and looks to have excellent vision

I reckon any team is beatable, even Brisbane on their home ground They were bog average against the Pies and did not come to play. Pies played well but they are not that good

Why are we even remotely concerned about what pick Essendon get from us in the draft? What's done is done and in the whole scheme of things, it doesn't matter Besides which, they gave us their 1st round pick last year and we drafted Lindsay with that pick Remember it's just a number and at least 3 of the top 10 picks each year are busts. And that's factual, not an opinion And Lindsay looks like he will be a fine player anyway Don't sweat the small stuff

Fascinating doco on William Randolph Hearst