Macca

According to the AFL, Ben Brown averaged 15.6 kilometres per game in 2019

And in the same year, the Swans ran for a combined 306.3 kilometres in a single game (against the Demons) ... that's an average of 13.9 kilometres per player

I'd like to see some actual proof that Petracca runs less than 12k per game

22 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

So in other words.. you do agree with me in my initial response to you?

More to the point is do you agree with me that Petracca is not just a burst player?

That's what my original post was in reference to 

And if you read the dozen posts prior to my original post, it might make sense to you

By the way, do you still blame the coach when our players miss easy shots at goal?  I'm still waiting for your reply on that baffling observation

2 minutes ago, dpositive said:

Are these AFL assigned, nominated or requested.

I think we should get WCW to chat with them and get them on side. Show them what a great bunch we are. and tell them to tell all their friends in the locker room what a great team we are, How we do have backs , necks and dont throw the ball. Ask them is there anything they could help us with to improve our tackling. Or indeed if there is anything we as supporters can do to help our side. 

The better question might be what we need to do to stop giving away needless free kicks.  Mind you, giving away a few professional free kicks deep in the oppositions backline can be a sound strategy sometimes (worked very well for the Tigers with their recent 3 flags) 

I've seen our players bomb it so far towards the left forward pocket that the ball has sailed out of bounds on the full.  Resulting in the opposition often being hemmed in with no easy outlet with the switch of play being covered.  A set plan?  Maybe

But when we lose games we have no one to blame but ourselves (unless we get a rash of injuries to say, our forward line players like we did last year) 

Not sure how reputable the web site is in this link but in it, they make mention that AFL players have exceeded 20k's per game

How far do AFL players run in a game

8 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

His impact on games and his individual accolades speaks enough for itself.

Well, as far as I'm concerned he does a hell of a lot of running in order to get to any number of contests (and that includes stoppages)

His style also includes a number of burst plays but all of Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw & Kozzie can display those traits from stoppages from time to time

It's just that what Petracca does stands out which might lead people into thinking that, that's all he does

And my original post was in response to one such person who was suggesting that he's only a burst player

He's a lot more than that

14 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

Do you want to post up a link as I'm not inclined to take your word for it

And it's not like Petracca fails to run out games if that's what you are suggesting.  He's quite often full of running in the last quarter's of games.  Racking up possessions

He's not just a burst player either but it might look that way to the untrained eye

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Fact was, not once did Petracca ever clock up 14 or 15kms a game at all again last year. My guess is that he roughly averaged around the 10-12 kms covered per game

Well he might have averaged 13.5 k's for all you know.  Yours is a guess, not fact

So around 13ks - 14ks is still a lot of running.  And that would put him into an area that a lot of midfielders would be in

AFL players run 12-14 kilometres per game and some have been known to exceed 20k's

Midfielders especially need to get to a stack of contests as well as flooding back and pressing forward.  All that 2-way running.  Stoppage after stoppage

So Petracca being a midfielder would mean he would do a lot of running and in bursts, a lot of sprinting

At a guess I reckon he would exceed 15 kilometers per game and that's every week.  You've got to be very fit to do all that

So imagine being an 18yo coming into the AFL system?  It would be quite an eye-opener.  It's any wonder we often hear that draftees need 2 or 3 years in the system to be AFL ready

As for soft tissue injuries, players need to be managed to the minute to avoid 

But even so, running 15k's in a full-on contact sport with all the physicality involved is quite a task.  Every week

So Petracca would need to be as fit as a Mallee bull (and in my view, he is) 

@Dee Zephyr  @layzie  @DeeSpencer  @titan_uranus  @Dr. Gonzo

Don't forget your tips 

Games are on tomorrow from 8am

3 hours ago, BDA said:

Thats all true. 

but the manner of the defeat, the lack of belief, the collapse of confidence speaks to a deep rooted phycological problem. The Cowboys have no mental fortitude. McCarthy will not solve this next season. I hate to say it but they will flop again. 

Both of us can be right but these days, I tend to focus more on the technical aspects of sport

For instance, I reckon GB's only chance is if Love can complete a large amount of passes and with it, gain lots of yards.  Plus, we'll need the 49ers to make a few errors

I'd be most surprised if Jones is allowed to run into the backfield frequently... but you never know!  And how do the Packers stop the Niners run?  

14 hours ago, JV7 said:

Also the irony of Bill coming in to fix up the franchise as we've never been same after 28-3!

I still reckon that SB was more about the incredible comeback by New England more so than Atlanta losing control of the match.  Still, hard to cop even 7 years hence, JV

They (NE) played lights out and everything went right for them. It took a champion team to do it and enormous self-belief.  No other team could have done it

So if you get Belichick, that's what he will bring.  It will be an exciting time for the Falcons.  He's still got it 

To me, he's the best coach I've seen across all sports.  Better than Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho or anyone else

But he does need a talented roster, any coach does

10 hours ago, BDA said:

Nobody can Jerry doesn't back in his head coaches. Stuck with Garrett for far too long and I reckon he should have bit the bullet with McCarthy. He has not addressed the mental fragility issue with this group and if he hasn't sorted by now, he never will. Hope I'm wrong but I don't have much faith in McCarthy breaking the drought.

McCarthy is too QB-centric.  He was the same at GB but because Rodgers was so good, it always looked like it might work

And it did work early (SB win) and then we'd get close but ultimately our all-round game (lack of) got found out

And I'm not sure that Prescott is as good as Rodgers so it is a flawed strategy

To me it's when it gets to crunch time or the big moments.  McCarthy leans on the QB but here lies the problem, the opposition know it so the bluff is taken out

Dallas passing yards was 3rd in the league and they were 14th for rushing

Run defence was 16th and passing defence was 5th

So not too shabby but do SB winning teams lie mid table on rushing & run defence?  You'd maybe expect at least top 10 for both categories in order to win big

By contrast, the 49ers are 3rd in rushing and 3rd best on run defence.  Passing yards 6th & pass defence 14th

Houston @ Baltimore (7-12)

Green Bay @ San Francisco (1-6)

Tampa Bay (1-6) @ Detroit

Kansas City @ Buffalo (7-12)

Dallas to Retain Mike McCarthy

Jackson Irvine breaks the deadlock after an hour

Prior to that, it has been a real arm wrestle with very few shots at goal (apart from Syria slamming one into the the right upright early in the game)

In other news, Roma have sacked Jose Mourinho and now he has been linked with Chelsea (again)

Edit: The Aussies finished strong in the end and could have scored a couple more

So 2 wins puts us at the top of the group and we're through to the next round with 1 game to play*

*Australia play Uzbekistan in their final group game next Tuesday at 10.30pm (Ch10)

14 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

Raheem Morris has interviews with Seattle, chargers, panthers, commanders.

Interesting.  There's certainly a few vacancies

All the more reason why Belichick is now saying that he is "Targeting talented but underachieving teams"

Bill gets to call the shots with his fantastic record.  He might only have 3 or 4 prime years left but teams can rise quickly in the NFL

 And there's a lot of teams that would like to taste SB success (Some for the first time)

26 minutes ago, forever demons said:

Rivers should stay at half back,hes got his confidence up now and his run and carry is fantastic and inspiring ,much like Gary Hardeman

How would Hardeman go as an intercept mark specialist these says?  Without having to worry too much about his opponent!  

He would absolutely dominate

8 hours ago, 58er said:

Some good points Macca but of all our players Petty is probably our best bet forward for the foreseeable future. 
JVR Is a beauty because he has no limitations in playing the game. He is fearless and so competitive thsts why I kind of like him having some tuck work at the throw ins. Even if we had Fullerton mixing the two of them up forward wouldn't be the worst move Goody has made. ( Schache prob still is the one to date as Sub and not using him). 

I'll am bullish about McAdam who looks like a slightly bigger version of Kossie but perhaps not as many tricks but enough to take some pressure off both Kossie and Fritta as he can take a good grab flying or competing. And Billing's could be the finisher with Fullarton doing exactly what we got him for. Relieving Maxy in the ruck and being a competitive beast taking the pressure off Petty and Rooy up forward.

Any improvement is possible with Jefferson and I hope he gets a good go atCasey at learning with possibly BBB who woiuld be great depth also to have. Tmac can be a defender who could still do a cameo if his fitness stands up all season.

Three others I reckon are going to have real breakout years are Riv, Tommy Sparrow and possibly Disco.

Plus The Kolt and the Duke are real potential for our speed and Goal kicking if they mature early and debut.

2024 could be our best list possible if we have some luck with injuries snd Mini helps with the game plan

I can't see any scenario where we would miss Finals and on the contrary Top4 is agsin our target with a fit and more aggressive game plan resulting in us being a free scoring attacking team that is feared by the other 

What can happen when a team is in contention is that a team can have a gap year.  Happens quite a lot 

So even though I believe we're good to go for the next 5 years, we may have a year or 2 in there where we don't perform to our best. Or we have a rash if injuries or we don't have luck on our side

For instance, for years people kept writing off Geelong off but they kept bobbing up

And I've been keen observer of how the best teams have gone about it.  Their window often just stays open as they keep recruiting well

So if Jason Taylor isn't the most important pillar at the Demons, who is?  He keeps recruiting good players and if you keep adding 2 or 3 good players to the team, year after year, you'll remain in contention 

That stands to reason

So last year we added JVR, McVee  & Hunter to the team along with Grundy who was by no means a poor player

Along the way you have to add A grade talent and that's where the savvy recruiting comes into play.  Free agency, trading and somehow working our way up in the draft is the way to go about it

And that's what we continue to do

We're just not going to win the premiership every time we're in contention.  The key to it all is to remain in contention

Atlanta have interviewed Bill Belichick and the Chargers have interviewed Jim Harbaugh (Harbaugh just coached Michigan to the college championship and formerly coached the 49ers)

This young bloke Alcaraz is very impressive.  A tremendous all round game and a killer drop shot

And the commentary from John McEnroe is excellent ... supreme knowledge along with dry humour 

@Gorgoroth @layzie @JV7 @DeeSpencer

Leaderboard Post Season Tipping Comp

6 - BDA

5 - Go the Biff,  JV7,  Gorgoroth

3 - Dr.Gonzo,  Dee Zephyr,  Clintosaurus,  DemonDave

2 - layzie,  DeeSpencer,  Macca

So, next week, each win is worth 2 points plus 2 points for each correct score bracket (1-6,  7-12 or 13+)

Interesting lines

Sun 8.30am   Houston @ Baltimore (-9.5)

Sun 12.15pm  Green Bay @ San Francisco (-10.0)

Mon 7.00am   Tampa Bay @ Detroit (-6.0)

Mon 10.30am  Kansas City @ Buffalo (-2.5)

20 minutes ago, 58er said:

Why move a proven 60/80 goal forward to down back if you have won 2 flags with him as spearhead. 

Our  replacement for Maysie could be JRV ( why move him also) or more likely Jed Adams who we have recruited for defence. Disco is more like a third defender really unless he puts on more weight than he is doing between seasons. We can also trade fora defender from A+ down to B+ as well. 

Given our stellar record with recruiting, we might end up with real depth in our forward line, 58er

We've extended Jefferson's contract so the MC must see potential in the lad

JVR will only get better and what if Fullarton can hold down a spot as a forward ruck?

T-Mac & Brown will probably be gone at seasons end so we might need to recruit another key forward anyway (although Jefferson might come on)

I suppose we did recruit May with the no.5* pick so we could do that again with another full back but we'd need the currency.  We might even have our eye on a free agent key forward to facilitate Petty going back.  Or a free agent Full Back

So, a lot can happen between now and when May hangs up the boots but Petty is an option if we've got real depth in our forward line

And we are addressing that issue with the recruitment of McAdam & Billings and Tholstrup looks like he is being viewed as forward/mid.  If he shows a bit early we may see him debut early

So Petty going back would need a few things falling into place, but it's definitely a possibility

*That 17 loss season in 2019 worked out alright after all! (we got Sparrow as well in that deal for May) 

Our premiership window can well and truly stay open and can do until at least 2028

The only 2 great players that possibly/probably need to be replaced immediately after 2025/2026 are May & Max but do both replacement players need to be A+?  

Petty is an ideal candidate for full back as long as we can keep him and a Nankervous type rickman is not such a bad thing

And if we continue to recruit as well as we have done, there's no reason why we can't stay in the window (allowing for the odd year where we may finish in the bottom part of the 8 or just outside) 

3 minutes ago, BDA said:

Bills no 2 seeds so chiefs have to travel to buffalo. 

Oh, thanks for the correction!

What a big win that was against Miami!

As expected, the Bills won comfortably

So, they'll be at home against KC next Monday at 10.30am (AEDT) 

2 points for quite a few in the comp too!