Macca

I remember that and at the time I thought I'd cop plenty of grief coming back, Col ... but that didn't happen. It's fair to say that the appraisals were rather damning! Fast forward to right now and most of our players are down on their best in some ways, haven't come on or have stagnated The optimists will point at our standout performances (Impressive Lions and Freo wins and our 10 & 0 start to the season) whilst the pessimists will focus on the 6 losses from our last 10. And both evaluations are correct in isolation But from an overall perspective, we are just not playing well enough right now. As a team or as individuals Beat Carlton and everything can change ... one win and then we play for the next win. And the next win would be for the double chance in the finals. It's all on the line and the way forward is crystal clear. We've eliminated the grey area with those losses

Numerous players are down on their best whilst others have stagnated or just not come on The best way to evaluate is to look at how we have played in the last 10 games 2 excellent games with 8 x Non A Grade efforts ... and that's way too many. 2 or 3 off days might be acceptable for a supposed A Grade team. Not 8 We were not all that impressive against the Crows & Port whilst we lost 6 of the other 10 games with below par efforts So if we are loading, tapering or whatever, it isn't working. It's like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Fulham go ahead of Liverpool 2-1 with 20 minutes left. Who would have thought? Klopp pacing on the sidelines nervously Still time for the Reds if they're good enough

Oh and @layzie The last 15 times we've met the Pies in a final we've prevailed 14 times We own them in September!

Good outcomes don't come easy, layz Might be just the wake up call we needed, losing last night. We now know what's required to go deep in September. It's crystal clear and there are no excuses. If we were getting ahead of ourselves, that thinking will have disappeared In an odd way, Ed's words have made sure that we now need to clam up and just get the job done. I can see the team becoming totally focused now with no distractions As for Collingwood, they are a dangrous opponent and it will be a challenge to beat them next time. They are very efficient when they have the ball and they stifle the opposition when the opposition have the ball. Eventually they win the ball back and they are off They have close wins and they lose many of the stat categories but their efficiency wins out. They don't waste their opportunities. And they don't give up Every time they win the ball back they've got a plan to score with that opportunity A bit like when Tom Brady has the ball in his hands ... efficiency is the forte Our coaching staff can learn from how the Pies play ... we need to be more efficient and not waste possessions So we learn from the loss so it's not a total disaster (much like the Cats have learnt from their PF loss to us) We're still in the game and we've still got the game to win big

No sweat layz, we'll beat the Blues next week and then our destiny will be in our own hands (which includes playing for a top 4 berth with a possible re-match against the Pies or Cats first up in the finals) You've got to love a challenge and we'll be up for that challenge The next win changes everything and we will bounce back ... the lads will be smarting about last night's result

@Gorgoroth@layzie@Dee Zephyr@Go the Biff@Clintosaurus @JV7@DeeSpencer@Dappa Dan@titan_uranus@DemonDave@BDA The practice games have started already! Not that the result means much but the Jags went down to the Raiders on Friday There's a full list of games next weekend including the Packers @ 49ers on Saturday ... 10.30am Oz time If you've got the ESPN app, you'll find all the scheduled games If I get a chance I'll try and find what the main talking points are going into the new season (apart from the latest installment of the Tom Brady show!) Season proper kicks off on Friday Sept 9th (Bills @ Rams) Happy to run with the tipping comp again. We should get enough starters

Yep, they've got that home field advantage and England have traditionally done well in the track & field events too Looks like it's going down to the wire, TD Because of work commitments I haven't been able to watch and follow the games closely this time around ... and there's only 2 years to the Paris Olympics! Will try and catch up tonight, tomorrow & Monday. There's still a stack of medals to play for

Well it all kicked off this morning 9.30pm game tonight is Fulham vs Liverpool

All this talk about not wanting to get into a shoot-out is a bit moot If the opposition want to attack at breakneck speed through the corridor, criss-crossing or switching play towards goal then it's up to our team to stop them doing that (if we can) If we intercept then we are in a great position to counter-attack at speed. Hesitate and the moment is lost Teams are abandoning the safety-first way of playing (boundary line play or holding on to the ball for an eternity) Working for a stoppage can be counter-productive unless positives come from those stoppages One thing is for sure, we haven't played with an open forward line for most of the season. The other teams have flooded back with a high concentration on intercept marks ... and with the better teams, they intercept and then they are off to the races To play at that breakneck speed using all of the ground requires highly skilled players. McRae has summed up his list of players well and he is playing to their strengths

Oh, ok I often get right into the EPL later on ... that would be way different if I followed a title contender Would love to take a point off Man City in the early hours on Monday so am hoping that City are slow out of the blocks (hoping!!!) And how could I not embrace a player named ScaMacca? My kind of player, roy!!

We can obviously still win the flag but the forward line is in urgent repair Petracca forward, Max CHF, Van Rooyen in a forward pocket Add in Fritsch, Brown & Kossie and suddenly the forward line is much improved Backline & midfield is fine. No issues there Bowey can be the spare small forward (or ANB or Spargo) One of those 3 plays but 2 miss out Melksham out as well and Harmes can therefore go into the midfield rotations Petracca to spend 30% on the ball Forward line is the issue ... scores say otherwise but structurally we are being found out Teams are scoring freely or moving the ball out of our forward line with ease That has to change

And we've become the hunted in our own forward line. Opposition teams know that we lack quality forwards and then take advantage What we can do this year is place some other types up forward. I'd start with Petracca (70/30 forward/mid) and we need another marking option just to keep the opposition honest (Van Rooyen) 3 smalls & Melksham isn't working ... not enough goals, not enough possessions and almost zero defensive pressure

Our Achilles heel are teams that transition from their backline quickly, are highly skilled, use the corridor and are able to make the switch of play whilst keeping possession of the ball That was Collingwood last night but the other teams have picked up on it as well (we've lost 6 of our last 10) So from rubbish forward entries along with non competing forwards the above occurs (time and time again) Ultimately, that puts our backline under seige. So we often do the first bit well (midfield strength and dominance) but then it can all fall apart once we go forward We need better forwards

Our backline is under extreme pressure as a result of how we go forward and how our forwards play. Our forward entries lack quality and our forwards lack quality Long bombs, no real defensive pressure up forward, a lack of marking power up forward and the ease that the opposition transition from their defence (our forward line) Intercept marks aplenty as we just don't compete in the air up forward Nor do we have forwards who can gain separation in order to take hit-up marks Out inside 50 count in terms of numbers doesn't tell the real story. The eye test tells us that what worked last year is not working this year. Our midfield dominance is stifled once we go forward The other teams have done their homework on us and have picked apart our forward line and our forward entry style Really need to change things up but in reality, we need better players in our forward line Petracca to play forward (predominantly) Gawn to get to better spots up forward (not the boundary line) and Van Rooyen needs to get a call-up (replacing Melksham who didn't do enough) Neal-Bullen or Spargo out as we can't have 3 small forwards not applying defensive pressure and also, not scoring goals. Petracca up forward replaces the need to bring in Chandler or Bedford Along with Kossie, all our forwards had enough opportunities last night but were found wanting. And of course, the way the ball enters our forward line is a major problem as well F Van Rooyen Brown Kossie HF Fritsch Gawn Petracca Spare forward ... Neal-Bullen or Spargo (not both)

Our forwards don't present enough, they don't fight for the front position, can't get separation and don't make anywhere enough multiple leads (at pace) Our midfield wins the ball but faced with our forwards not playing their roles properly are then coached to kick the ball long to a large pack or to the pockets (usually the left forward pocket) We've become very predictable So the numbers say one thing but the reality is way different. On top of that our marking strength up forward is poor (especially for a top 4 team) Lowering the eyes and following up with a bullet pass can only work if the forwards present. And they don't present The chaos ball forward has been worked out by the opposition and our forward line defensive pressure has gone missing as well. 8 tackles inside 50 tonight to Collingwood's 18. The Chaos ball forward (or long bomb) requires defensive pressure as one of the other main ingredients. Without that defensive pressure, it's just a rubbish entry. Next thing we see is the ball rebounding out often with a switch of play By contrast, we had 51 tackles outside the forward 50 tonight in the other areas of the ground Against the Doggies we didn't register a tackle inside the forward 50 6 losses from our last 10 is the stat that matters most right now and our record is 0-4 against top 4 teams

A lot and probably most of our forward 50 entries were ineffective and wasteful. My eyes told me that only about 35% of those inside 50's were fruitful. We never really looked dangerous when we went forward. By contrast, they did (all night) Bombed the ball to the pockets on a number of occasions where often nothing came of that tactic. Other times those entries resulted in a boundary throw in at half forward In other words, nothing entries most of the time. Other teams have worked out how to defend those long bombs to the forward pocket. We've now lost 6 of our last 10 games The Pies on the other hand were extremely effective with their inside 50 entries. So much so that they nearly always looked like scoring when they went forward (at least 75% of the time) They switched the play well, didn't fumble, used the corridor well and are highly skilled. Their forwards play in front and constantly present to the ball carrier. That's far and above being a one trick pony By contrast, our forwards are often caught playing from behind. Low percentage football and you can't play like that in September We need to fix our forward line woes and the entries need to be far more efficient So if you do the maths, even though we won the inside 50 count 65-41, the real numbers were more like 25 to 30 (in their favour) And there lies the difference, we were wasteful and they weren't wasteful As a consequence, they win And we got beaten fair and square Zero excuses

I often wonder why the EPL doesn't start their season with a few blockbuster match-ups But lots of interesting games coming up nonetheless Great to have Nottingham Forest back in the top flight (along with Leeds joining the fray last season) My Hammers will once again be aiming for a top 8 finish but I'd like to see West Ham make a concerted effort at the cup competitions (that includes the Europa Conference League) ... hoping that Antonio can have an injury free season too The fan friendly 9.30pm (Oz time) games sees a reasonable line up of match-ups for the first 2 or 3 months (those particular games start at 10.30pm in October)

Champion: Liverpool Runner up: Man City 3rd Chelsea 4th Tottenham Relegated: Bournemouth, Fulham, Brentford Golden Boot: Harry Kane First Manager Sacked: Pass Over to ... @Grapeviney @Dee Zephyr @Winners at last

I prefer winning by a point against this mob With Langdon kicking the winning goal after the siren

That is certainly true but it's that way for a reason. As boring as it is, I highly doubt anything will ever change (apart from the odd comment to the contrary) There's also Pres-speak, media-speak and even supporter-speak I've seen numerous people here on this very site being told off for being too confident "If we lose, it'll be your fault" haha

There is a chance that his comments might motivate the Pies in some ways ... but equally (as I mentioned in an earlier post) we may well be just as motivated If you were a Demon player playing tonight you'd be well aware of how the Pie players would be approaching the contest ... you certainly wouldn't be expecting them to not be fully motivated. We'll be ready for them The game might have changed but the approach to the contest has not changed

You're probably right but the game is often played above the shoulders and sometimes motivation can be an issue (even at the highest level) Certain players are always highly motivated (Viney) whilst others need a rev-up (HWSNBM!) Still remember Buckley mentioning that in his belief, players shouldn't need to be motivated but he realised within a year or 2 of being the head coach that he still had to motivate his players Scarlett once mentioned that one of Thompson's great qualities was his motivation skills Ed hasn't committed a crime here but it is still quite rare for players or coaches to go away from player/coach-speak

You never give a sucker an even break. Team needs to walk the talk now which can be looked at as a positive. Inadvertantly, Langdon has in some ways, motivated his teammates Pies will see the comments as coming from further afield than Langdon. Imagine if it was one their better players making pointed comments about how we play? Collingwood attack with pace using the corridor and against us they haven't turned the ball over (that's in the last 2 encounters at least) So if we lose, we're never going to hear the end of it!

Correct, Jjrogan Caro conveniently ignores the approximately 40 other times tanking has occured (including 9 times between 2003 & 2005) I was amazed that Ross Lyon didn't intervene as he'd know about how tanking was once quite a normal practice (not necessarily Lyon being involved) Tanking has been going on since the mid 90's coincidentally when the priority pick became a thing. 2 picks in the top 5 as long as a team didn't win more than 5.5 games? There's a dangled carrot! And it still goes on today, albeit in a very well disguised form. Nevertheless, it still happens Caro rightfully brought up the Essendon drug taking scandal but has never blamed all & sundry (the players were obviously complicit) And as far as I'm aware, they are the only club that ventured down that path ... a dark day for Australian rules football The camp and what went on just beggars belief. People need to be held to account and the league's reply was and is pathetic ... the tone is that they just want to move on so it all goes away. Poor governance (again) Reminds me of how they turned a blind eye to the Adam Goodes treatment. A shocking time for the sport