Macca

If they had have picked Petracca, who might we have picked? Remembering that Hogan was at the club so we might not have picked McCartin. There again, we may well have drafted him to accompany Hogan But Watts & Dawes were at the club as was T-Mac but Tom hasn't ventured forward as yet, that happened in 2017 De Goey went at pick #5 in that draft so it could gave been him (along with Brayshaw) Jarrod Pickett went at pick 4 to the Giants and ended up being a bust (but we only know that in hindsight of course) Nevertheless, it was a real sliding doors moment

Trouble is that we have quite a few that can play half back (Rivers, Salem, McVee, Bowey & Brayshaw) And right now, we may be a class mid down to start the season. Can any of those HB's play as mids? Possibly Rivers & McVee but it's a big step up in terms of endurance and the ability to do so (play as a mid) Where as we know Brayshaw can play the role of a mid. The key is for either Brayshaw to release a fellow mid or being the release player himself. For that to happen we need better schemes from centre-bounces or stoppages But Brayshaw can play as a holding mid or defensive mid. From memory, a couple of times he played that role was against Adelaide & Brisbane. And he played very well on both occasions He was like a rock at the back end of the square And he was the release player when king hit by the filth thug. In the year when he finished 3rd in the Brownlow, he was often the release mid, dashing forward We're actually quite blessed that he can play so many roles

Turns out that website within that link above 'Prepare Like A Pro' was founded by none other than Jack McLean who just happens to be the MFC strength & conditioning coach He doesn't offer any concrete evidence that players have exceeded 20k's in a game but he does reference that distance in his blog "... with some exceptional athletes surpassing the 20 Kilometre mark" But all that aside, is AFL footy at the top level the hardest endurance ball sport of all? Soccer has a squad mentality and the NFL has a roster of 50+ players that can be called upon anytime Maybe Rugby League? Now that's a brutal sport. Union as well but they don't play that many consecutive games in their comps I'm amazed that players can run so far in the AFL in a full-on contact sport and back it up every week My opinion on 5 day breaks has changed too. Over a long season, a couple of 5 day breaks could tip a player over the edge in terms of soft tissue injuries. So Saturday to Thursday could be problematical despite our thirst for football on that day It's any wonder that the push for more rotations is prevalent

So the 49ers get a visit from either Detroit or Tampa next week. Should win but there are no guarantees in this sport. However, whatever rust the 49ers might have had is now out of their system And I reckon the Ravens won't have it all their way no matter who they play. KC & the Bills are more than capable

As for Jordan Love, his 2nd half was forgettable and he might have a few sleepless nights mulling over what could have been. Loads of potential but he's not that good (yet) First year as a starter so it's still too early to tell where he might progress to Still, you often learn more from a loss and GB need to keep working on areas not involving the QB passing the ball To be a true contender we need a top-level running game (Jones needs help) and the run-defence needs to be top-notch as well. Currently the Packers are 15th in rushing yards and 28th in rush defence (The McCaffrey TD was scored too easily in my opinion) But to make the playoffs and win a playoff game and then run the 49ers close was a grand effort for such a young team

Leaderboard Post Season Tipping Comp 12 - BDA 11 - Go the Biff 9 - DemonDave, JV7, Gorgoroth, Clintosaurus 8 - Macca 7 - Dee Zephyr 6 - titan_uranus 4 - layzie 3 - Dr.Gonzo 2 - DeeSpencer

So Love tries the Brett Favre special and it's game over. Could have thrown the ball away but no risk, no reward Put up a great effort did the Packers but the 49ers just a bit too good on the night

Credit to Purdy there ... marched his team down the field with a TD as a result Both teams have missed a field goal attempt so an even score there

I just knew we'd miss that FG attempt. Errors creeping in for both teams

Jones gets into the backfield with a great run. Need to take advantage

Packers get the ball back after the 49ers fail to capitalise ... 9:37 to play

And now Purdy has his best throw for the game

Another throw where Love's timing was out. Could have been an interception 49ers get the ball back with 13 minutes to play

Poor throw by Love there. Timing to the WR was out. Still, you often have to take risks to win

Was just about to comment on the 49ers run and then it emerges big time. Looked a bit too easy too And now a fumble recovered after an excellent run back! Lucky

A blocked field goal attempt could be telling (or not) 49ers get the ball to start the 2nd half so GB will need to hold them out again The difference so far has been the 49ers redzone defence. Packers need to find a way through

Yes Petracca was everywhere that day with a stack of inside 50 entries to position as well (11 in fact, Salem & Brayshaw 7 each) An interesting observation of that GF win is how we kicked to a lot of 1 on 1's involving Fritsch. And he won nearly every contest and of course, booted 6 goals Fast forward to now and the opposition teams have flooded our forward line to a point where our inside 50 entries are often directed at packs We have to fix that but that's up to the brains trust. Faster and more direct ball movement for starters

On the road and in the playoffs, you've got to go for it and then back in your defence to make a stop with the 49ers having to go 86 yards for a TD Only trouble was that we couldn't stop them!

2 redzone moments for GB for 3 points (as opposed to a possible 14 points) Your run defence held firm And GB don't have the push-tush play!

Fair enough The Ravens were excellent today and completely dismantled Houston. Tougher next week vs KC or the Bills, but they're looking good Packers get a 3 pointer on the first drive of the game. Not bad we're going to need TD's against this opposition

If that happens it might also mean that Petty and/or JVR miss a lot of games However, if both Brown and/or T-Mac play (and are fully fit) then both can provide value I'd say T-Mac has a better chance of getting game time as a possible 3rd tall down back as opposed to Brown being picked as a 3rd tall in the forward line. As a 2nd tall up forward, Brown might need injuries to either Petty or JVR (or a form drop off) But all things being equal and with a reasonable run on the injury front, we look to have good cover forward & back So if we assume that JVR is good-to-go it's really only Petty who is the concern (availability) Brown is next in line you'd imagine and then maybe Fullarton and then Schache In the backline, Tomlinson, Turner & Adams are all in line to play as the 3rd tall (as well as T-Mac) Where we might be a bit light on is in the midfield depth (quality) But if Rivers & McVee are add-ons in the midfield, we should be ok. Obviously, we need Clarrie back asap

Instead of concentrating on a number (amount of k's that Petracca runs in a game) the focus of the discussion within this thread was whether Petracca was a burst player only I threw in a guess on the distances that Petracca runs in order to highlight that he isn't just a burst player otherwise he wouldn't be able to play his role as a midfielder Burst players are often described as such because they can be deemed as running out of puff from time to time. Petracca has real power bursting away from contests but that is just part of his overall game Petracca finishes off games well and is full of running. And he gets to a lot of contests and stoppages and all that requires a lot of running. So it's jog, run, sprint (rinse and repeat) with Petracca It should also be noted that Petracca played as a high half forward in 2019 and was our best forward as a consequence. And that position requires a great deal of running (generally, but not always, as the position can be played in different ways) For instance, ANB runs far and wide when he is playing as a HHF. More so than most others playing that role. But that's just a 'guess' And it was rumoured that after that season (2019) that Petracca himself was requesting more midfield time

That is a guess, not stating stating something as factual, @dazzledavey36 I didn't say ... "Make no mistake, Petracca runs at least 15 k's per game, guaranteed" More to the point was the thrust of my argument that Petracca is much more than a burst player. If he was such a player, he might struggle to get to contests and stoppages. He might also struggle to position himself well around the ground I see a player who does a lot of running and a player who impacts the game with strong bursts. But those bursts are just part of what he brings to the table And my original post was in reply to someone who was stating that Petracca is a burst player only. Which I don't agree with

Why would I need to research how many k's that Petracca runs when I was having a guess? It was a generality If I had presented my comment as fact you'd have a point but I didn't present my guess as a fact You've once again made a mountain out of a molehill over a general comment and a guess And you completely missed the thrust of my argument where I was saying that Petracca is much more than just a burst player As for sounding off at Goodwin because our players missed a few shots at goal, that just highlighted your lack of accountability on the players themselves As I said to you at the time, the players need to take ownership with their own errors. The coach can't kick the ball for them

I can see Brown regaining his spot in the team but for how long? He gets himself right but his fitness then gives out. But even so, not as a 2nd ruck anyway In an ideal world one of Brown or T-Mac are available for the seniors (for all the games) but not necessarily to actually play in a first choice option. But Injuries generally happen so they'll probably get their chances. But more so for the just-in-case moments Not sure where Fullarton fits in if we go with JVR as the 2nd ruck. Schache is depth as well Fritsch is the 3rd medium/tall so I'd say we'll go with JVR & Petty with Brown as back up T-Mac is training with the backs so he looks like being back up as well in that area But with the acquisition of Billings, McAdam & Tholstrup, it looks like we've made a concerted effort to have real depth in our forward line (also factoring in Petracca pushing forward as well as Kozzie with the x-factor) And then there's Chandler who should improve on last year As someone else mentioned elsewhere, Neal-Bullen's inside 50 entries are often of good quality so we need to get the ball in his hands. Petracca is another who can be very good with his inside 50 entries HF Petracca/Kozzie JVR ANB F Chandler/McAdam Petty Fritsch