Macca

We lost the game by 2 points, not 10 goals. One kick in it You'll be complaining about the SF loss to Carlton for the next 10 years by the sounds of it Pardon me for not beating myself up over a loss If it were the Bailey & Neeld years you'd be making a good point. But back then we really were crud My attitude is that we've still got a very good list with good coaching and the future is bright We just need a bit of luck with injuries and we'll be right in it And getting into contention doesn't guarantee success. To win multiple flags requires getting into contention a heap of times You're not always going to win it. Flags are hard to win

Well, after analysing all the data, I believe the MC made the right decision to have Schache as the sub Without Schache in reserve we'd have 1 ruckman in Gawn (with a broken toe) and 1 key position forward (T-Mac) who also had to act as the 2nd ruck Let's say that we had Woewodin as the sub instead and then Gawn can't go on Who rucks? Or if T-Mac couldn't go on, who's our KPF? Anyone, I'm not posting this up to change your mind. That's a futile exercise But others might be able to see my point and hopefully, make sense of it

If Gawn had to come off after T-Mac is already off we'd be down to 3 on the interchange And if Schache is the first ruck we'd have no KPF You haven't thought this through as you've convinced yourself that we wasted the sub Anyway, sleep on it and see if what I'm saying makes sense in the morning If you get your head around Schache being the replacement for Gawn (primarily) then it follows that Schache might not get on the ground And guess what? That's what happened

So Schache is a KPF & First ruck at the same time? Remembering that T-Mac was subbed off at half time according to your judgement (so he can't come back on) And if Gawn has to come off because of the broken toe he's probably off for good as well We'd only have 3 on the interchange

Good luck to the 49ers supporters on this thread ... @layzie @DemonDave @titan_uranus @Go the Biff & @Whispering_Jack You'll have to beat a great team to win but if you do beat the Chiefs, you'll be worthy winners A fair bit rests with Purdy but all the areas surrounding the QB are strong But I reckon if you do win, it will be your defence that will win it for you. It's been your strength all season

T-Mac can be useful for selected games if he can get his body right. And the reason why T-Mac still has to be in the conversation is that Petty has to get over his foot issues And Brown is in the reckoning as well because in an ideal world, the MC would prefer 2 bona-fide key forwards So it's JVR & Petty or JVR and ???? Many are envisaging JVR to CHF so the 3 aforementioned players can play deep forward The tricky part is the 2nd ruck and whether Schache or Fullarton get into the 22. If Max is 100% fit, then it's doubtful we'd use the 2nd ruck as the sub again If so, then maybe JVR has to spend limited time rucking (forward line only?) And someone else down back to cover a few ruck duals. If Tomlinson is the 3rd tall backman, maybe him The over-riding question is whether T-Mac & Brown can get their bodies right at all So if all 3 don't come up, who is the 2nd key forward, DS? (I put forward Tomlinsin but with no confidence)

Yes, the issue of Grundy possibly getting injured was a 2 way factor For our club, we've got a player who we don't really need anymore on a deal worth close on $3Million for another 4 years And we knew he was off to a club of his own choice so we needed to get him there without any hiccups Plus, the other factors that have been raised ... for instance, if it only came down to a choice between Grundy & Schache as the reserve ruckman only, I'vd got no doubt that we would have chosen Grundy under normal circumstances (but would he have been happy as the sub?) But the circumstances were complicated The red herring was Gawn's broken toe which many had forgotten about (of course, at the time, we were largely pre-occupied with the Maynard tribunal hearing) Max Gawn Broken Toe (carried for a number weeks)

I prefer posters who keep it real And again, if we'd taken T-Mac off what happens if we then needed to take Gawn off (broken toe)

@58er If we'd taken T-Mac off for Schache, what might we have done if Gawn then needed to come off with his brokren toe?

Yes, there are better and far more mature ways of critiquing your team or players without resorting to using terms such as weak, insipid, soft underbelly and wetting the bed etc etc And as @Slartibartfast mentioned, even a banged up T-Mac is better value than Schache And if he was only a reserve for Max, he wasn't needed Main issue ... the lack of quality forwards and we're confronted with the same issue this year (so far)

You ask a lot of questions but most of them look like the questions of someone who needs to be educated about how we went about it in the SF

No it's not that We took a chance on T-Mac and it didn't work. We had no other KPF's other than Schache and as a KPF, Schache has done virtually nothing So even a banged up T-Mac is better than Schache

If Grundy had checked out he's not going to be considered But don't forget that we drew the curtains on Grundy

No There is no shouda couda wouda You live with decisions, you can"t turn back the clock You have to talk before the event, not in hindsight

Grundy had checked out (in my view) And maybe the MC thought they could get more out of T-Mac Sometimes you don't get the answers until you get the answers

I'm not sure it cost us in 2022 (as much) as nearly the whole team ran out legs

So if Gawn breaks down and there's no Schache in reserve we would have had to use our only KPF in the ruck (T-Mac who was on one leg) Leaves us with zero KPF's in a final? Smith & Fritsch are 3rd & 4th forwards only We ran out of KPF's as well as an adequate 2nd ruck

Schache was unused as Gawn managed to battle through with a broken toe So he wasn't needed but we did need him in reserve

I wouldn't be sticking my neck out for Schache but I genuinly wish him well if picked

Proper forward line in both finals and we win both finals But I'm not going to change your mind and you won't be changing my mind Thankfully, most here are happy to scknowledge our forward line woes but you won't even reference it It's the elephant in the room Also, there are up to 7 forwards unavailable for the Sydney game as well) It's a real issue

What I also remember was that many here thinking that old dee's account had been hacked!! (in 2021) You've got to admit that old dee gets it right a lot and his views on Clarrie could be on the money as well.

I disagree The major factor was the replacement forward line being a big weakness

No 'old dee' is a realist and he gets it right more than most. And if you get it right most of the time you're keeping it real But he's seen as a pessimist by the optimists He made his call on the flag early in 2021 but I have no idea which threads I noticed because I always read what old dee has to say. rjay, Axis & bing are others who keep it real And they never complain about umpires either. Another thing I notice

I still believe we can win but we'll need a few things going our way. And Sydney aren't a great team either Our team can still be strong away from the overall forward line but our half forward line at least can be relatively good (Fritsch, JVR, Petracca/ANB) And on a small ground like the SCG that might cover it But the other issue is our movement into the forward line - it has to be slick otherwise we'll be entering a crowded forward line filled with replacement forwards And it's important to note that the yips in front of goal we had against Carlton in the SF came from the replacement forward line, not our first choice forwards That gets forgotten by the doomsayers who conveniently put aside our forward line woes as if it's not an issue Up to 7 forwards being unavailable is unprecedented. At least 3 of which are starters in the 22

Teams with an ever so soft underbelly don't win 16 or 17 games 3 years running And we romped in the flag in 2021 ... but no injuries that year And that's the main issue - injuries (specifically to our forwards) And most supporters and even the media are highlighting that facet