Macca

Max played a very valuable part in last night's win We played him in a proper forward's role and Max competed exceptionally well with a lot of grunt work involved. As well as attaining 26 hitouts (often in the same forward line) Brown looked a bit freed up as a consequence. Led into space created by Gawn (on occasions) Gawn played in the corridor often 50m - 75m out from goal and there was lots of front & centre activity on the back of his endless efforts Our forward line as a whole functioned really well as a result. Many of our shots at goal were from the hot spot area

Playing 2 dominant ruckmen in the same team is what we do And the MC obviously took that path when we drafted LJ in 2019. So the overall structural decision was made 3 years ago. Getting Grundy in to replace LJ (if he goes) just continues the direction we've already taken

Well in the end we won 3 of our last 4 which is an excellent result, all things considered. Pies the only hiccup but we'll have learned a lot from that loss 2 wins on the road against 2 top 4 aspirants as well ... 2 thrashings in fact. Combined scoreline Freo/Brisbane 13.18 vs 30.20. Away from home! We've hit our straps at the right time. And you need a bit of luck to offset the bad luck. Close win against the Blues vs injuries to our key personnel at various times And is that now 12 or 13 wins in a row outside of Victoria? We can win anywhere and we look very comfortable outside of the comfort zone. Not sure it exists in the minds of the players. We are focussed We are a very confident bunch, nothing intimidates us and our teamwork tonight was fantastic Great to watch

The Reigning Premier sends a message!

You'd take that scoreline at the start of the game ... most would have been happy with any sort of win Swans in a fortnight ... at the G or SCG we can beat them

Hungry!!!

Brayshaw dominating ... leading possession winner Another goal from his initial possession

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What about the pressure he's under Those 2 out on the fulls didn't hurt us anyway so where's the damage?

Gawny playing as the lead-up CHF I like it!

In that same year (1972) when they went on their recruiting spree we absolutely slaughtered them at Arden St But get this, I'm catching the train to the ground as a youngster and get off the train a stop earlier than I should have ... a monster walk eventuated but I got to the ground at quarter time and thought nothing of it Until I looked at the scoreboard to see the quarter time scores North Melb 0.2 2 Melbourne 11.7.73 I don't normally carry regrets but I missed that first quarter and I'm still annoyed to this day! I'm sure there's a few here who were there from the start

No I haven't, layz ... youtube? What might not be highlighted was where all the money was coming from to pay for all the A grade talent they acquired? Bankrolled by a few apparently. I won't name names but Uncle Albert? Their wage bill would have at least quadrupled overnight

Swamp out the back? If a fender is spotted, time to panic

There will come a day when a club (with the funds available) will launch into free agency over a 2 year period In theory up to 6 top-notch players can be brought in and with that talent, a club can rise quickly It only seems like yesterday that North took advantage of the 10 year rule (a form of free agency) in 1972 and acquired 3 A Grade players (Wade, Rantall & Davis) As well as agressively stitching up interstate talent such as Blight, Cable, Glendinning and the like Success followed soon after A simple plan executed extremely well The key these days is to not have a salary cap filled to the max with C & D graders. Minimum wage for the floaters (not above award)

I'm as toey as all hell ... the match tonight is like a GF. Win and we set ourselves up nicely. And I don't want to entertain the thought of losing Need alcohol before hitting the rubbity-dub!

All-up, they tanked in 01', 04' & 05' ... and that's just Hawthorn

He did tank in his first year at the Hawks but personally, I don't have a problem with tanking per se Whilst we've got rules and a draft that encourages losing, there will always be tanking

Our forward line has been deliberately crowded all season (by opposition teams) and our counter measure has been to outnumber the opposition in their forward lines. To not do that would leave opposition forward lines open with a lot of 1 on 1's in open space But Brisbane don't play that style. They aren't a total defence team nor do they flood back as a matter of course. They back their style to beat the other teams So in a way, we know what we are getting from Brisbane. However, if they are allowed to play their style they can beat us especially if they can move the ball into their forward line at speed I agree with a few others, Harmes to go to Neale and maybe Brayshaw back to the wing in a defensive style But I reckon we need to more than match them out of the middle and at the stoppages. If their midfielders can move the ball quickly to their 3 tall forwards and crumbers, they'll be a handful tonight

We are playing 1 key forward only because we only have 1 that can play the position. And some would argue that Brown has underperformed anyway (I disagree as I don't expect Brown to be able to consistently beat 2 or 3 opponents whilst trying to mark long bombs) We are now at a point where we are asking Brown to sometimes go up with one arm to tap it down to the front & centre area (unless he is doing that under his own volition) One of the reasons we haven't performed as well this season is T-Mac not being available (and firing) Our structure up forward has been easier to counter 2 KPF's, a 3rd forward (Fritsch) and a resting ruck was our make-up last year and it worked well. Melksham has hit a bit of form so he makes up for the shortfall somewhat but we need him to maintain that form. Fritsch, Gawn & Brown need to get amongst it tonight as well. We at least need 2 or 3 of the 4 players (in total) to fire as Brisbane could be expected to score 12 or 13 goals goals on their home deck They've got 3 talls that could prove to be difficult to curtail. They (the Lions) won't be the same easy-beats we encountered 2 months ago Demons by 15 points!

First G1 of the new season at Randwick Saturday (Winx Stakes) Good field assembled but nearly all the runners are back from a spell ... Anamoe is the class runner in the race but noted frontrunners Profondo, Hinged & Forbidden Love should be leading for a lot of the race Might be one for the exotics only ... trifecta might pay well with the right combo

The strange bit about the pessimists is they often get even more upset about a loss than the optimists. Even though they were often expecting a loss I've always viewed footy fans as optimistic pessimists or pessimistic optimists. We delight in having 2 contrasting opinions Realists see both sides and end up arguing with both camps. Optimists often see realists as pessimists and pessimists often see realists as optimists

And that tap-type action only happens 1 in 4 or 1 in 5. Often when there are multiple defenders in the same contest. It's like he is treating the situation like a rucking contest And one arm up only can get to a higher elevation much like how ruckmen go about it So if he's summed up the situation and then chooses to use his right hand to bring the ball to the front & centre area, then that's smart play. Especially if he is acting under coaching instructions Worked to a treat in the last 30 seconds last night. He made a movement to the side/front of the contested marking situation, got his right hand to the ball ... front & centre to Kossie who kicked the winning goal

Whether we are pessimistic, optimistic or realistic doesn't matter a lot anyway We're not out there playing or coaching and how we react shouldn't effect a player or players anyway A great example were the years 2012 & 2013. All the pessimists were having their say here as were all the optimists (in a poll held towards the end of 2102 over 97% of people here wanted Neeld to continue on and see out his contract) But we were a terrible side and the poor results kept coming whilst we were just yapping away almost pointlessly The optimists can often see no wrong and they need to be optimistic to satisfy their needs whilst many others are only happy when they've got something to complain about (the pessimists) Sport is a departure from real life for many. We are tribal and our instincts connected to that tribalism has the same goal - winning. We just go about searching for that success in different ways Vive la difference

Our crumbers aren't first rate like say Cyril, Farmer or Betts. Kossie might end up being extra good but he's not there yet (needs more time) And we often kick long to the left flank or left pocket and that is where Brown is. And when we kick deep to the right pocket, it's usually towards Brown as well As previously discussed elsewhere on other threads, we need to mix things up more and seek out other forwards in the hot spot just outside the goal square or to CHF. The other forwards need to lead a lot more too The way I read it is we want to lock the ball in our forward line so using the forward line corridor risks turning the ball over to the opposition (who can then counter attack on a fast break) Switching play from the wing to the other HFF or other pocket could also be viewed as risky so we often continue down that same wing side attack on that same side of the ground So Brown starts his movements from the goal square (or thereabouts) either heading left or right which means that he is often targeted by default (based on how we enter the forward line) By the time the ball near Brown arrives, multiple defenders have arrived at the same time (thus, the triple-teaming) However, we did target Gawn a bit last might who was often a bit further out near CHF but Max wasn't holding his marks So I felt we did change things up a bit compared to the Collingwood game

That was the interesting consequence of how Brown is being used. Gone are the days where a key forward (one out like Brown was tonight) is expected to present, take 6 or 8 marks and then have as many shots at goal Crowded forward lines, triple-teamed and even if those circumstances are overcome, a mark and shot at goal might be taken from an acute angle So we play 2 mediums to complement and one shines through. As a percentage play, it can work but equally, the mood here would have been quite gloomy if that crumb to Kossie had bounced a metre to the left or right and we don't get the winning goal Such a fine line sometimes and we live to fight another day from 2nd place on the ladder (could have been 6th if we'd lost) But along the way you need a bit of good luck sometimes. Without that good luck, bad luck can step in Right now, the Blues would be rueing their bad luck. So close, but no cigar We can happily puff away (along with sipping on a decent cognac) Winners are grinners!