Macca

So with the 2nd incident (which I can't recall) could the scenario have been different if Fritsch has taken the front position and then Gawn (thinking on his feet) then protects the marking attempt by Fritsch? The antiquated thinking that playing in front has been described as is people getting it wrong The coaches want their players playing in front (as they always have) and the 'Hanger' has become antiquated

And then there's the advantage the forward can have with regards to free kicks (playing in front) Arms chopped, push in the back, high contact etc etc Awfully difficult to win a free kick playing from behind. Not a good percentage play And if a defender is allowed the front position they can kill the play (or the forward foray) They can double fist or punch the ball away towards the boundary line or simply mark the ball A good forward knows how to feed the front & centre blokes too. If he can't mark it, his hands can dictate where the ball might end up. But that's reserved for the class forward Playing from behind, all that is a much harder assignment. Clangers will eventuate but again, who's fault?

Another way to look at it is if the forward is behind the defender the player delivering the ball has a much more difficult assignment to find his man ... he'd need to deliver with pinpoint accuracy (over the top) Plus, he may not even be able to see the target properly apart from an occasional waving hand (if the forward is caught out playing from behind) At ground level, spacial awareness and the timing of the length of the kick is a lot harder than it looks Where as if the kicker just kicks it out in front of a leading player or to a player playing in front, it's a much easier kick. Or kick it into space for a player to run on to it Footy hasn't changed that much where the basics still don't need to be adhered to. And if all 5 or 6 forwards continually play in front that would be a midfielders dream Inside 50 conversion is highly dependant on hitting up targets time after time. Lose possession and it's a scoring opportunity missed I haven't checked but I'm imagining that our inside 50 conversion rate during the finals must have been very good T-Mac & Brown were very good at presenting during the finals and the 3 little fellas played a big part too And Fritsch played the 3rd forwards role to a nicety. Often floating in from the side or putting his body on the line playing in front. Gawn & LJ the same A lot to like from a forward line that isn't exactly star-studded *I'm assuming you and most others know most of the above but others mightn't

The Autumn carnival is almost upon us ... at Caulfield this Wednesday we get to see the 2 Blue Diamond Preview's as well as a couple of listed races. All the races carry Saturday-like prizemoney Also on Wednesday the Australia Day Cup will be held at Warwick Farm

And at the other end of the scale we don't have a (visible) stat on what I like to call dynamic possessions An example of that is Salem ... his kicking to position sets up a lot more forward forays as compared to his kicking to position in previous years (not taking as many safer options) ... no risk, no reward Oliver, Petracca, May & Bowey are others that stand out in the dynamic possession area. Harmes when at his best is handy too. Others such as Viney, Langdon & Brayshaw can be quite creative with their disposals Oliver stands out as the best in that area ... he has incredible vision (Petracca is catching him though!)

And moves have been made aplenty in the post season tipping comp Leaderboard Tipping Comp 15 - Go the Biff, Gorgoroth 14 - DemonDave 13 - Clintosaurus 11 - JV7, Dee Zephyr 8 - layzie, Macca 6 - titan_uranus Anyone game enough to pick the Bengals? haha A total of 12 points up for grabs next week!

Yep ... the games have been fantastic Chiefs win after being on their 25 yard line with 13 seconds remaining trailing by 3 points Incredible! So next week its ... Bengals @ KC (7.00am Monday AEDT) 49ers @ Rams (10.40am Monday AEDT)

We're going to overtime!!!

Are we going to overtime? 48 yard field goal attempt

Barnburner! Bills score again ... Josh Allen is a genius! 13 seconds for the Chiefs to score ... 2 plays only? A field goal ties it up

Now KC take the lead! Allen has a minute but the Bills trail by 4pts (29-33) So they've got to get to the end zone

Bills score in miraculous fashion. Wow! Josh Allen has been fantastic! So now KC have got less than 2 minutes to save the day ... Bills 29 KC 26

Agreed Decibel factor at KC through the roof loud ... the 12th man!! Play calling on that last Bills possession null & void!

Yep, in crunch time yesterday the 49ers run came to the fore ... but your run defence is much better than what we saw from the Packers & Cowboys (against the Niners) And the 49ers won't be leaning on Jimmy to win them the game ... short cut-out throws can be expected. Jimmy, if managed well, can be effective The 49ers run defence and pass defence is your biggest concern. They are quite good, Gorg

Live Leaderboard Tipping Comp 15 - Gorgoroth 13 - Go the Biff 11 - Dee Zephyr 10 - DemonDave 9 - Clintosaurus 8 - layzie 7 - JV7 6 - titan_uranus*, Macca* *titan and myself are both choking, or tanking, or something

It's not my thread. Dappa Dan kicked things off This thread survives because we're all careful with what we say about the other teams Let's face it, it's like Blues, Demons, Pies, Bombers, Tigers & Hawk fans all in the one conversation without it getting heated You would have been best served arguing your point out. But again, the choker jibe invites trouble

There's often a very fine line between winning and losing In the end, you got lucky but you very nearly blew it But hey, winners are grinners Gorg and you won the game. 49ers next week will be very interesting Can they handle your defence and can you handle their defence? We could see some turnovers on offense for both teams. That's been the pattern this weekend and we may get more of the same

Really? Gorg just said that his own team choked a few posts back (and he's a Rams fan) You're wrong. A team can choke and still hang on and win By the way, you said that the Packers massively choked. As did the Titans according to your logic Compared to the Rams today, both teams are a long way behind in the choke stakes

How about the Rams today? Was that a choke even though they won?

So did the Rams choke (but still win)?

Kupp comes to the rescue ... Stafford hit him twice so credit where it's due But hell, you nearly gave the game back to them

And now Tampa draw level ... after trailing 6-27 Oh, the irony!!

There's that word again (choke) but this time it's more apt! haha Shades of the Falcons/Pats SB scoreline ... with Brady as the conduit again

So the coaching has been the issue post Shanahan? That makes sense Same deal with the Packers ... McCarthy just planned around Rodger's brilliance and LaFleur is following suit. But that doesn't work As good as Rodgers is, it's a team game and great 'teams' win big Green Bay's issues are structural and systems based One example is our running game ... Jones is too small to power through against good teams in critical moments. And Dillon is average And in previous years, our running game has been far worse So it all gets back to Rodgers again. And we telegraph our intentions So the Packers are obviously good enough (with Rodgers at the helm) to make the playoffs (from a weak division) but get found out in the playoffs And I'm not making excuses either .... on the contrary, my analysis is highly critical of how the Packers go about it

As someone else here said, what constitutes a clanger and who does the judging? e g If a midfielder has no other choice but to kick to a contest where his own player plays from behind which allows his opponent to win the ball, does that midfielder record a clanger against his name? If so, it's a farce. And what if the kick forward is primarily to gain ground for his team (under coaching instruction) We've seen teams deliberately kick the footy deep into the pockets to create a stoppage. Is that a clanger? Giving away a deliberate free kick in the back pocket can also be a tactic ... a long kick that sails out on the full then puts pressure on the opposition to manoeuvre the ball out of danger (this tactic is often used in soccer ... allow the opposition to have the ball and then pressure them to turn it over and then counterattack) A midfielder can't always see a free target but because of pressure from the opposition, he often must dispose of the ball in a risky way And apart from 2021 & 2018 our forwards would often play from behind ... a cardinal sin even in modern football I'd award clangers to forwards who play from behind. And then it's mugs to the backline time if they continue to transgress