Macca

Never in doubt

Turnovers are often not the fault of the player disposing of the ball An example of that is a player who is under pressure kicking the ball 50 metres downfield to a contest ... and if that contest is won by the opposition then the player disposing of the ball is credited with a turnover How is that fair? Back in the day there was a saying ... "You called for it, you get it" And a player having the ball kicked to him is by default, calling for the ball. And that player doesn't have to be actually calling for the ball or have an arm raised He is there as a target if he plays on the same team Why? Because he is in a position downfield where the ball is at some stage going to be kicked to him So the player who is calling for the ball should be credited with the turnover not the player who kicked it to him (unless the kick is way off line) The turnover stats are therefore not accurate and are often clearly wrong

1971 we were on top of the ladder (unbeaten) for the first 5 rounds whilst the Pies were in 3rd place for the same 5 rounds And in round 6 the Pies beat us to take top spot (we dropped to 3rd) By the end of the season we'd dropped to 7th after starting with an 8 & 1 record

Jeepers ... I must have wiped that memory as I can't recall that game. It was actually quite a shock seeing the scoreline on AFL Tables #EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind

I reckon by 3/4 of the way through the season JVR will have nailed down a KPF spot ... just a gut feeling The coaches will drum into him what's required and the penny will drop. To my way of thinking he just needs to get to the front position a bit more than what we're seeing right now. If he can do that he'll get more marking opportunities and put himself in line to receive the odd free kick (high contact, jumper tug, chopping of arms, in the back etc) And Gawn will get better, he just needs more game time. A bit rusty but he'll fire up forward soon enough So if the above happens we will need one of Brown, T-Mac, Petty* or Schache to grab the other spot. Surely one of them will put their hand up *Hibberd seems to have got a new lease of life so he can take Petty's spot down back if Petty is the 3rd tall forward HF Kozzie Petty Fritsch F Chandler JVR Gawn And that is the line-up we may see next Saturday up at the Gold Coast

Yes apart from some of the notable clashes in the post above we beat Hawthorn in consecutive weeks ... round 22 and in the Elimination final We couldn't get past the Eagles who a year or 2 later became a colossus

During that 1990 season we defeated Essendon (Grand Finalists) twice and we beat the Eagles twice in the season proper (they knocked us out of the finals) The Pies beat us easily by about 8 or 9 goals but not on the Queens Birthday ... we beat Carlton in the QB clash And with a 16 & 6 record we still managed to lose to North Melbourne by 21 goals! Oyvey 🙄

Might have been the one that got away although we didn't even reach the prelim final that season despite having a 16 & 6 record (did the same last year)

A Spy Among Friends looks the goods. Set in the cold war 60's centering around Kim Philby Stars two of my favourites ... Guy Pearce & Damian Lewis. Anna Maxwell also stars in the show and is very good

Probably need to go all the way back to the Smith era the last time the Demons & Pies occupied 1 & 2 on the ladder Checked 1990 and the teams were 2nd & 3rd for 3 consecutive weeks (rounds 12, 13 & 14) ... behind Essendon

Which, ironically, is what the filth supporters are famous for (more so fighting amongst each other) Strange entities the lot of them

I've said my bit and it's time to chat about how we're going to beat the Pies & Cats. We're going to have to beat both to get where we want to get to. To me they are the 2 standouts Saints, Port, Crows and Blues aren't going to be easy either. And the Lions Bank the next 2 with some ruthless footy and then it gets hard ... at Port, Freo at home is a must win, then Blues, Pies & Cats. After that the Giants & Saints We need to be fresh for the latter encounters too so some tweaking with the line-ups over the next 2 is important. Sooner or later the legs start to feel it (although 3 x 10 day breaks is handy) But hey, it's one week at a time. Always remember that!

Yes, the kid definitely did stay in the picture!

Yeah, like the J.E.T.S with Rodgers

Ruchmond bog average and GC not too bad but if this is their best we can only be in trouble if we don't bring our best Their teamwork is reasonably good but the Tigers just don't have the legs anymore. At the contest they are 1 or 2 players short

3 years instead of 2 can work as it essentially ties the player to the club for at least 2 years A well run club should be able to add at least 1 more year to the 3 years by the end of the first contract year Where as 2 years only is a bit skinny. I reckon it's a good idea but am interested to see what the 3 year contract is going to be worth And a player like Nick Daicos probably won't be heading elsewhere but why wouldn't you pay him extra in his 2nd year as a jesture of goodwill and as a lure to a contract extension

By and large I agree but again, it's just a spirited argument And my aim is not to change DS's mind on Brayshaw. It's more so those who aren't sure on his value that I'm looking at So going against a could-be tide is about influencing others to step-up. Not necessarily the person you might be arguing with Down the track, Brayshaw could well be not maligned at all. But there will be another player to take his place no doubt. That's how things roll

We live with our words ... it's nothing personal, you know that Just a spirited debate about the value of certain individuals It would be a dull old world if we always agreed ... I don't hold grudges and never will To me, these discussions online take the place of pubtalk ... as an example I was with a group of Demons watching the Essendon game at the local Eventually the umpires copped the ire and I argued against that appraisal. It was a spirited argument but then quickly forgotten once it was obvious that we got outplayed So keep posting the way you do DS. I just disagree with you occasionally

So here's a question How can a player be seen as a player who often turns the ball over yet at the same time somehow has an elite Disposal Efficiency rating? That's Brayshaw Rarely gets votes in the 'land award. Barely gets mentioned unless he plays an outstanding game Is it because he came 3rd in the Brownlow and now gets measured against that outlier season? I mean I wouldn't have had him 3rd in the Brownlow that year but I don't hold it against him

I'm sticking up for a player (Brayshaw) who is much maligned on this site Is that somehow against the sites code of conduct? Blinkered & triggered? I've seen you speak in exactly the same way about any number of players over the years You should be on my side as most of the needless arguments on this site are caused by the unfair criticisms of 1 or 2 players (often when the whole team has been at fault) In effect, I'm hosing down the fire and pulling people into line. Takes a while but it does work Eventually the knockers are subdued

So what did you think of their 3rd quarter against Geelong? They jumped out of the way and went fully bruise free. No one to show the way They actually now need to bring in 3 or 4 experienced players just to be competitive. But I could care less. I hope they struggle for the next decade

Coming for him? Who is the one making the inflammatory comments? What the hell does he expect?

Most of the team hey? But at the time you only mentioned Brayshaw. See there's where people like you continually get it wrong You are biased and because of that, hopelessly compromised. You have a screaming need to have someone in the gun. Which is unintelligent Besides all that, Brayshaw played well against the Eagles (when he was needed)

And @DeeSpencer You've got to own your words ... half way through the first quarter against the Eagles you wanted Brayshaw subbed off As it turned out he wasn't needed much as we swamped the Eagles. No errors for Gus, no clangers and 17 possessions in a game where he was hardly called upon And you wanted him subbed off halfway through the first quarter? Why?

No you were wrong on Lewis. Hawks loss was our gain Experience, know-how & showing the way is often not seen by many. It's not all about the stats. We needed him right to the end Look at the Hawks now. No real experience to show the way and they are doing a 'Melbourne' circa '07 - '13 One of the first things Roos did when he got here was bring in some experience. Quite a bit of it actually. And Lewis was part of that experience The Hawks will struggle for years in my view. Another insane, over-the-top youth policy. I would have thought that Mitchell might have known differently