Macca

Kiwis have started nicely ... 1-91 off the first 20 overs. Hard to know what a competitive score might be (all things considered) Anything over 250/260? The rule of thumb is often touted as you double the score of a team from the 30 over mark (with enough wickets intact of course) So if the Kiwis could get to 150 off 30 overs they might end up with 300. Edit: Kiwis are now 4-152 after 35 overs (lost 3-61 off their last 14 overs) 250-260 would be a good result from their position now.

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Hunt trails his man again from a rushed kicked forward. Is he ever going to learn? Easy turnover as a result and an opportunity lost. Eventually the Dogs scored their 3rd goal All because Hunt chose to play from behind. And all our forwards do it so he's not alone. Undisciplined football ... coach killers.

Excellent point with regards to defensive pressure in our forward line t_u ... and it could be argued that those of our own (midfielders) who venture into our forward line don't apply enough defensive pressure either. Are the coaches demanding that forward line pressure? You'd like to imagine so but we can't be sure because we haven't seen it (of at least enough of it) Bulldogs & Tigers won flags on the back of defensive forward line pressure (amongst other factors) so we are a ways off that. As you said, even a 25% improvement would make a big difference. Overall tackle counts in our forward 50 would be a good pointer ... especially if the number was abnormally low. Our eyes tell us we're miles off so we probably only need confirmation with the actual numbers.

We've got about 15 inbetweeners on our list. Overall output - way below average. But the issue is that there are too many inbetweeners in the overall system (who are clearly not up to it) The sport would work better with a dozen teams. So there are 6 too many teams thus too many C & D graders. In terms of opportunity the AFL offers a lot but that comes at a cost of quality. The actual skill level falls away dramatically past the top 150 players. And any number of the best players are often injured Our club's issues with so many average (or worse) players is merely a symptom of a much bigger problem The other issue is that there is too much 'management' of players as opposed to actual coaching. It's not like soccer where the people in charge are managers.

If we were to look at our midfielders as a collective then you'd see that the output is a bit down on last year. But the fall hasn't been off the scale like it has been with our collective forwards. Gawn is not quite as dominant, Oliver the same, Harmes good now after a slow start, Brayshaw not as good as last year, Viney has had his issues whilst Jones is now better suited to a back flank. Lewis is no longer a factor so the output isn't fantastic but they've had no one in the forward line to kick it to all season. ANB is ANB. A good forward straightens up those disposing of the ball (by foot) We miss Hogan more than we thought we would. For instance, Brayshaw is playing the same as he normally does (gets on to his non-preferred side to create seperation) but his kicks are often intercept marked or to a contest. To my eyes he's doing the same thing but with different results. Ditto for the others in the midfield when dispatching the ball into the forward line.

And a couple/few of those 7 top-end picks will almost certainly be below par. That's how drafting works. There are no absolutes despite what we're told. The 'hope' attached to drafting leads many to ignore the bad news that inevitably surrounds drafting. So an extra pick increases the percentage play rather than guaranteeing another good player. As a coach, Dew should know this so why he doesn't want what is best for his own club is quite baffling. You take what you can get and if you don't ask, you don't get. I understand all the rest of it with regards to building a great list and a great club but again, you scramble for all that you can get in this league. We'd be a bit alarmed if Goodwin was in conflict with Bartlett over a priority pick. I guess the GCS are a bit out of sight, out of mind so that might explain the difference of opinion between the Pres & Coach.

Coach-speak? Goodwin wouldn't be concerned about our midfield anywhere near as much as he would be concerned about our forward line Collectively our forwards can't win their own ball and they often butcher the ball when they do get it. Petracca is the outlier as he does win his own ball but is questionable in front of goal ... his kicking action needs to be reconstructed. As for the others in the forward line ... I've outlined my reasoning in the above posts. I don't often blame the A-end of a problem but in this case, the forwards are largely to blame. They are clearly not up to it so they either improve dramatically (as a collective) or we make lots of changes (more so in the off-season) Today's result rests with our forwards. If they manage to fire, we can win. If not, we'll probably lose.

So it is not really about Weideman per se ... collectively our forward line has been woeful so in a team sport, changing 1 player in a dysfuntional unit isn't going to fix things. I'd be more inclined to play Oliver, Jones or 1 or 2 others forward for the remainder of the season and then do-over the forward line in the off-season. Target a key forward from elsewhere as well as some medium sized and small forward talent.

If we were to grade the output of our forwards this year only Petracca gets a pass mark. Weideman has been poor, T-Mac not much better, Hannan below average, Garlett runs past far too many contests, Spargo not up to it, Melksham average before injured, Hunt up and down. Collectively they don't play in front, can't take a grab, don't make position, can't kick accurately, don't make enough leads and there is a general lack of movement. As a result, we changed our forward line coach mid-season. But Rawlings needs new personnel. Yet the stats boffins here want to blame the DE of our midfielders? Amazing. Yes, the midfielders aren't perfect and they do spray it occasionally but they aren't the issue.

Yep BBO .... it is the worst forward line I can remember seeing since the 70's. It really is that bad. Plus, our forwards don't play in front so what hope have the midfielders got? In a dramatic move we changed our forward line coach but a change of player personnel is the real answer. Early in the season many here were blaming the backline but our forward line issues have been there since game 1.

What you've said isn't controversial at all AF ... the DE stats people will disagree and that's their right. Numbers can often paint the wrong picture. I prefer the eye test. Our midfielders can spray it but the real issue has been our dysfuntional forward line. The lack of movement, leading patterns, ability to create space and marking ability is really poor. And has been all season. Petracca is our best but it's a long gap to our 2nd best forward. It's happened before on countless occasions at various clubs. We ourselves once had an all-star centreline (Alves, Wells & Flower) but couldn't win games because our forward line was hopeless in those days. Thank heavens we didn't have the DE stats in those days otherwise all 3 star players would have been lambasted from pillar to post by the stats 'Gurus' It's just history repeating itself ... better personnel in the forward line is the answer or a massive improvement with what we've got (which is a long-shot) The value of a key forward stands out more so when you haven't got one. One of them stands up (T-Mac last week) and hey presto we look a different side (until he got injured) Our midfield isn't the issue ... we need better forwards.

To be honest I couldn't care less about the GCS but was more arguing that the more top end picks, the better, when it comes to drafting. The next no.1 could be a Nick Rewoldt or a Jack Watts or a Tom Scully. It's a numbers game.

Any extra pick at the top end can never hurt though ... not sure that Dew is doing the right thing by his club regardless of whether he is right or not. I agee that the messiah attitude with a top end pick is not the answer but again, you take what you can get in this league. In more recent times we angled at a high-end pick with the Frawley compensation. Managed to win just the 4 games in 2014 which enabled us to end up with picks 2 & 3 in the draft. And I'm a sceptic with regards to the draft ... the more picks the better rather than placing an absolute value on any given pick. Weight of numbers (so to speak) ... and that's not foolproof either.

We're no longer the powerhouse ... lots of good or decent players but short on A grade elite class. Which is what you need to be a powerhouse The bowling is good enough periodically but it's not McGrath, Lee, Gillespie & Warne. England were superb last night so credit where credit is due. We never looked like winning. But go the Kiwis hey Wadda! England should win the final but New Zealand are a determined bunch.

The Spring carnivals in both NSW & Victoria just got a hell of a lot bigger. Prizemoney has been ramped up in nearly all the feature races in both States as well as Country racing & the Country Cups. That's competition for you and I'm all for it ... much prefer to bet on the best of the best running around. And we're almost certainly going to see more overseas representation as the money on offer now is amongst the best in the World (if not better) I'll post up more details later with a few links but Racenet.com has all the details in their 'News' area. Horse racing in this Country is in fantastic shape but without the fierce competition between NSW & Vic that might not be the case ... along with of course the punting dollars and the collateral provided by the horse owners.

Nadal/Federer on late Friday evening ... Roger is now 38 so we might not see this match--up again too frequently. Could be another classic. One will advance to the final to meet either Djokovic or Bautista Agut (that match-up is on Friday evening as well)

Kiwis heavily favoured to make it through to the final ... India 119-6 off 35 overs chasing 240 with Dhoni & Jadeja batting. 15 overs to score 121. It's achievable but one wicket changes everything.

Agreed on the +2.5 match score in soccer ... reckon we'll do alright once the round-ball game starts up. The value is when it's good team vs good team ... and the dominant teams at home are often free scoring teams so it's not that risky a bet. And there are a number of baseball games not listed by Laddies and those games not listed quite often involve a dominant home team with a pitching advantage. Happens a lot. Barty is still no.1 despite going out in the 4th round and the US Open will now be her next big target. Good player.

My first choice was the White Sox @ -1.5 but they weren't up and listed at Laddies. They duly saluted - ugh! Dodgers was next choice but there was no pitching advantage. And I don't like picking road teams ... thus, the choices were limited. Was on 5 of Zac's winners on Sunday at Sha Tin though so from a personal point of view my weekend on the punt was a beauty! Soccer season is just around the corner but we should get a collect soon enough fellas ?

Petracca is getting better by the year but I'd like to see him play in the midfield a lot more. He's a rare talent and I see him as more of a big bodied utility who could play anywhere. Use him as we see fit should be the modus operandi. And in the off-season a reconstruction of his kicking action is required. Work could be started on it now of course so why not now? There's no time like the present.

Because Pruess is likely to play we may as well crash-course him on how to play forward and how to mark a ball (positioning himself as part of it all) He's a big unit so he's got that on his side ... he just needs to coached into being able to play AFL.

And there are degrees of realism mixrd in with pessimism & optimism for those who like to class thrmselves as realistic supporters. You've got to have a bit of hope otherwise misery can rule. True realists hate the bs ... for instance, any punter who isn't a realist will lose. And as Demon supporters we are invested which could also be described as a gamble.

A positive is that we get to see Preuss at work for the rest of the season (unless we somehow don't) Working in tandem with Gawn, they'll both play forward periodically in the absence of T-Mac. Neither are easy match-ups forward so that's another positive. And if it works well we can win a few more games this year whilst serving as a real option for next season. Jones was good again ... that's 3 decent games in a row off half-back. Freed up, he'll relish it back there whilst his fitness holds up.

Comes with the territory and it works both ways ... the optimists cop it here as well. Often labelled as apologists. Try being a realist ... you'll cop it from all quarters! If we had have lost yesterday it would have been bad news for the club. As it stands we still need a few more wins to salvage the season. Wins do matter.