Macca

Ha ha! Different game back then but in finals, KPF's who can take a grab are valuable commodities It was only 5 years ago that big Mason destroyed flag favourites Richmond with his towering marks And Brown, T-Mac & Fritsch marked a number of long kicks in the '21 GF It's my guess that the MC are going with Brown & JVR right now to see which one puts his hand up and which one falls by the wayside Meanwhile, Grundy gets some forward line practice in the 2's and is waiting in the wings to replace 1 of the 2 current KPF's The red-herring will be if both Brown & JVR fire. But what's the likelihood of that happening over the next 2 or 3 weeks (both players firing each week)

Well neither Brown or JVR are setting the world on fire right now so they are both close enough to being off the boil as we speak Not sure either player is safely in the team and would any of us be surprised if either player is dropped over the next 1-3 weeks? (on their current form) So if Grundy has been flagged to make a return within the next 3 weeks it stands to reason that Brown or JVR will make way (unless they both start producing - unlikely) Melksham stays and Fritsch will slot in on the other flank once he's fit I reckon that's the plan ... could be wrong but I can't see Grundy playing the rest of the season in the 2's He may not be a natural forward but is he any worse than Brown or JVR with their current form? He'd be a tricky match-up for the opposition with his mobility & rucking ability whilst forward Of course, it's a whole different conversation if our current KPF's were Neitz & Schwarz

The truth is that Brown & JVR aren't any better than Grundy up forward ... not on their current output And from an overall perspective, Grundy is a better player than both the other 2 and is obviously a better ruckman I'm expecting Grundy to come back into the side within 1 to 3 weeks. It won't be any longer than that otherwise we will have an off-season problem John Nicholls averaged a goal a game in his long career but went forward in the '72 GF and booted 6 goals

Rivers has done that a few times nearly always in crunch time or crisis time McVee does it a lot as well but at any time during the game Personally, I like risky footy especially when you've got the talent bank. We're not going to win big without risking turnovers Back when Roos first took over I had no issue with the team limiting the damage as we were not ever a chance of getting anywhere near the finals in 2014 & 2015 Thrashings can kill morale and confidence but when up against another non finals team, you attack So you bide your time whilst improving the list ... and once that happens you press the go button In 2021 we pressed the go button

Brown & JVR stay for now but neither player is assured of a spot over the next 2 months Grundy has a chance to come in sooner or later as he might be our best bet at CHF or HCHF T-Mac is also a chance if he can get his body right and somehow get match fit. Running out of time though. Schache is pure back up by the looks of it So it's 2 out of Brown, JVR & Grundy. But because he can ruck very well I reckon eventually it will be Grundy with Brown or JVR ... probably Brown but he is not moving as freely as needed I can't see Grundy playing at Casey for the remainder of the season but he might have to play a couple/few there for now JVR could play out at HCHF for the next couple just to see if he can play the role ... against the Crows & Tigers at least, it's worth a try. Remembering that we played him a bit further afield against the Blues where he picked up 16 possessions with 7 marks To me he looked at home out at CHF in that game

Doug Bigelow the former Bomber and ABC commentator when describing the great Robbie went with 'Flower Supreme' many moons ago Amongst my circle, the comment stuck And what we saw from Rivers was quintessential Robbie Flower ... exalted company Dash, dare and the driving kick forward. Magnificent

But see here's the thing deevs, Spargo's value is in big games with his delivery into the forward 50 We haven't seen it lately but that's his best asset, not his goal scoring acumen With our stars on fire and with our middle level players at their best, Spargo can nip in from 60m out with a 15-25 metre pass to a forward who can create separation. Can you picture it? That's what he does when all the stars align

The other rejuvinated man is Hibberd If he can overcome his latest injury, he'll find his way back in because of his vigour and toughness at the contest ... needed in finals Lord knows who goes out for him but ain't that a good problem to have, Kev? I believe it was @DeeSpencer a few weeks ago who made mention that a vandenBurg type would be more than handy in our forward line right now ... a good call too You've got to have a bit of a point of difference to keep the opposition backmen honest. Always been a fan of the aggressive forward Same goes for the opposition forwards, they have to 'earn' their possessions

The May push in the back? Surely you're not going to complain about that blatant indiscretion? It was a hefty shove

I was with a Lions mate last night and made mention that in the 70's, we often only drew about 15k-20k to the Melbourne/Fitzroy games Reserves curtain-raiser, zero music, zero ground announcements*, the Little League match using the whole ground (!) and the only time there was any noise was when the game was in motion Henry Coles and his booming torps with Flower, Alves, Wells & Hardeman dominating Those were the days! Oh, and the umps copping the usual grief *Unless someone had left their car headlights on

Yes, their movement into their own forward line was quite brilliant at times. Credit to them Lowering their eyes was their default mode, not as a 2nd or 3rd option. And their forwards were constantly on the move in anticipation of those dart-like 25 metre passes It was good to watch and added to the high-class spectacle By contrast, our forward line forays were sometimes of the chaos ball style but that worked well enough to win the game In summary, our scope for improvement can definitely improve with regards to the forward line connection We need to see our all our forwards on the move before our midfielders have clean possession. Our anticipation skills can be like Brisbane's. Mindset and discipline We won the game but they are a decent outfit

A (near) future forward line could look like this F Melksham Brown/Grundy Kozzie HF ANB/Spargo van Rooyen Fritsch I believe that van Rooyen is a bit inexperienced (right now) to play deep forward and Brown may not have the legs to play out at CHF The mystery man is Grundy and if he can adapt and learn* quickly this season, he could play deep forward or CHF Fritsch & Melksham can both play deep or HHF but ideally, on each side of the forward line (left & right footers) *Learnings?

Wow! And you saw Barassi in his prime Gold

Not sure he can top that ruthless steal & goal late in the game last night but more of the same is highly probable The other thing is that his vision has improved immeasurably. It was previously not a strength but we've seen numerous examples this season including that pirouette, baulk & delivery forward to JVR against the Pies Oh, and by the way, the J.E.T.S are my (official) AFC team (Packers the main deal of course)

Game of inches ... if the ball drifts ever so slightly towards Hipwood he maybe marks cleanly with a shot at goal to win the game Then the conversation is completely different. A little bit of luck hey? Maybe, but if the goal is for Kozzie to get warmed up with a few easy touches, it's a great investment. A confidence player and we need his explosiveness AFL's version of Beast-mode who could probably teach Marshawn Lynch a few tricks Lawrie Lawrence would describe him as an animal! (Duncan Armstrong style) haha Viney does not know the meaning of a backward step. Imagine having him as an opponent? Yikes!

Yes, if so, it's quite a good start Of course, we're looking for the goals, Wellsy, but 16 possessions, 6 marks and 1 goal is better than 8 touches, 3 marks and 2 goals (IMV)

So the more immediate talking point is what needs to happen with our KPF stocks in order for our line-up, up forward to work (in terms of being a premiership threat) Can Grundy force his way into the team up forward and does he need to be 'that' good to replace JVR or Brown? What does Brown or JVR need to do to maintain their spots? And what about Schache? Is T-Mac done for the year? Does Melksham rediscovering his form change the make-up of the forward line going forward And then there's Fritsch coming back in a month (?) After initially being quite shocked with the Grundy back to Casey in the forward line move, I can now see what the MC are looking for ... but whether Grundy up forward can work or not is questionable Watching last night it's noticeable that JVR isn't getting to the right spots due to his inexperience. He's a step behind instead of being a step ahead. He's got a bit of go in him but he's raw With Brown, he's just not the Brown of old. So he's a step behind but that's due to a body that can't quite do what it once could do So again, does Grundy have to be all that good in order to snag a KPF spot? 16 possessions, 6 marks and a goal today is hardly startling but it is a start

Even though our instincts can often only see one way, we need to see the other side of the ledger as well. Therefore, the Lions supporters would have also expected more free kicks. They are no different to us The disecting of the actual game in a tactical sense is way way more interesting Last night's game was a beauty and of high standard. Umpired well although there were a few errors (the players made more errors) In my view if the umps can get it right 8 out of 10 times they're doing well. In other sports the expectation might be 9 out of 10 It's daylight to the next hardest game to officiate. Nothing comes close

From an overall perspective we had nothing to complain about

I take the good with the bad ... always have

Just on the umpiring ... mine is an unpopular view but we shouldn't have any complaints from an overall perspective If anything, we had the better of the decisions not that, that made any difference to the final result I thought the game was well umpired and I don't get the angst towards the actual umpires who officiated. We won the game fair & square

Ok then, I believe you I only looked once so might have got caught up but what I remember is that I saw 26.40 (or thereabouts) thinking that there was probably 3 or 4 minutes left And I didn't feel like more than a minute had passed before the siren went

Are you sure? The last time I looked it hadn't ticked over to the 27 minute mark

I'd like to believe that taking the boundary option is a cosching issue rather than a player decision Have you heard McRae talk about his players taking risks and how he does not concern himself with errors? An example for our team is Brayshaw and how he has an attacking midfielders mentality ... that mentality means he will naturally take risks (and the coach knows that about him) But he is often asked to play as a holding midfielder or defensive midfielder or defensive wingman or even at half back You know what? In those roles he still takes risks with coaching approval. So some errors are going to occur Btw, Brayshaw has close on the 2nd most possessions at the club this season ... only a handful behind Viney (Angus had another 29 or so last night) He's had a very good season and is severely underappreciated on this site To win risks must be taken and that has always been the golden rule in footy. The safe option like heading to the boundary line spells doom (especially against the best sides) That's not to say that that switching the play (quickly) or using the angles aren't good options ... it's not about just booting it to CHF when using the corridor

Top 3 standout and then any number of players could have filled the next 3 6 - Gawn (a colossus all night) 5 - Petracca (brilliant) 4 - Viney (a beast) 3 - Melksham (dangerous & productive) 2 - Brayshaw (solid) 1 - Hunter (solid) Unlucky - Pickett, McVee, Bowey, Rivers