Undeeterred

5 hours ago, A F said:

Exactly.

Without injury, he would walk into any midfield in the AFL, but what he provides our midfield, if he can stay on the park, will make our midfield the most feared in the competition. That's before we add two top 10 draft picks (hopefully players with an ability to roll through there too). The modern game is about midfield depth.

Things are getting exciting again if Bennell is over the line.

You’re usually pretty unflappable and balanced, but I can see you getting carried away here.

West Coast has us well and truly covered. Collingwood and Richmond too I’d argue.

3 hours ago, TGR said:

Many on here said the same thing about Howe, then we go and pay the world for an inferior replacement in Lever.

When will people remember that most of the reason Howe left was because we were playing him back, when he wanted to play forward? 

He was never going to be happy with us. And the way that people blather about how Buckley ‘discovered’ Howe as a defender is ludicrous.

and finally, if you remembered correctly, you’d remember that Howe took a lot of speccies in defence for us and not a lot else - he was nowhere near the player Collingwood have turned him into.

Port have to go to Whyalla and Moreton Bay. We can’t complain!

22 minutes ago, drysdale demon said:

 

More involved than just concussion, he along with his brother have a similar problem, lets just say one club has handled in a far better fashion than the other.

The diabetes or something else?

He will be fine - Superman couldn’t have kept oppo key forwards quiet this year 

Looks great in a humming side when it all clicks, looks a disaster when it’s not going well.

But he deserves his spot and another crack next year.

On 10/22/2019 at 5:06 AM, praha said:

Criticism levelled at Petracca is at best ignorant, at worst stupid.

A complex player that deserves complex analysis. Much better than people are prepared to admit. He's not just another Jack Watts. He is firmly establishing himself as a great of the game.

Holy moly!! Really?

50 minutes ago, Nelo said:

Looking forward to seeing Fritsch next year too. It only took the coaches about 18 rounds to work out that he is a natural forward. 

They knew he was a natural forward, where he played most of 2018.

He was moved back at the end of 2018, when we needed a sweeper type in defence.

They left him in that role for most of 2019, which was odd, but they knew damn well he was a forward after they drafted him as one...

If McDonald and Melksham get back on the park next year we will be fine up forward. We probably forget how damaging Melksham in particular can be.

I think we did extremely well - got the outside players we needed who push a couple of fringe players out. It also takes Brayshaw, Jones, Salem, Hunt and god knows who else off the wings

We can use 3 or really push GWS - I reckon they will pony up before the draft with something decent

Here's an idea. How about recruiting a bloody forward instead.

There's some amazing nonsense on this thread.

Let's assume bringing him in doesn't kill our salary cap space (which, given he's almost a direct swap for Lewis and Garlett, it couldn't possibly). 

Is he better than any of ANB, either of the Wagners, JKH, Lockhart, Dunkley or some of the other fringe players regularly getting games with us?

Of course he is. It's an utter no-brainer. If he's a walk up start at GWS, he sure as he is a walk up start for us.

On 9/10/2019 at 6:57 PM, spirit of norm smith said:

Sorry if we are into Tomlinson but it means losing Frost, then bail out on Tomlinson.  

Are you actually joking? Or is this a serious suggestion that if you had to choose, you'd take Frost?

20 hours ago, Kelpien said:

 

No one is suggesting that they train on Mad Monday. I'm not even suggesting that they don't have a break for the holidays. I just do not want to see them galavanting it up on social media like they're champions of the world. Many should be ashamed of the season that they had. Go away. Recharge. And come back on day 1 of the preseason in tip top condition. And by day 1 I mean even the senior players should front up on first to 3rd years day. No [censored] excuses.

Except for Max. He can do as he pleases but even he will rock up on day one because he doesn't have a [censored] pea heart. He has the heart of a stallion.

What possible right do you, or any of the other 'livid' people on this thread, have to dictate to players about their holidays?

For god's sake, they chase around a piece of leather for your entertainment. You don't own them. Their holidays, and what they do on them, are none of your bloody business.

4 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Lever looking better tonight.  Maybe needs footy into him. 

Sure, but to what end? 

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Tom Browne

 

@TomBrowne7

 

Jake Lever can’t take a trick. He won’t make any excuses. But he’s had an iffy ankle I’m told since Richmond game. Wouldn’t be major, but more post season surgery likely

If that's true, and it's a big if, why the hell are we playing him??

49 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

The Paul Roos theory: one dhead will suppress the performance of 10 others 

I'd like to know the 10 he's suppressing at GWS...

On 4/11/2019 at 10:31 PM, Petraccattack said:

 

Not sure how more hasn't been made of this. This was an utterly ridiculous goal for a big guy to shark. Amazing stuff.

32 minutes ago, tiers said:

Let's separate the issue into pack/contested high marks and leading marks.

We have not been as dominant in pack marks as we would expect with Gawn, TMac, Preuss, Weideman running around from kick ins and long transfers down the ground. Can't explain why but they just don't stick even when we get first hands to the ball and we seem to be easily outmarked.

Better at one on one contested marks but not by enough.

Then we are behind other teams in our ability to deliver direct passes to leading targets (not targets wide on a wing). Again either the ball doesn't stick or the passes do not advantage team mates by kicking to the open side rather than dropping the ball into a contest.

Our ability at chaos ground balls is not enough to overcome these deficiencies and the coaching team should be working hard at a fix.

 

Not sure about this.

Gawn is a sensational pack mark and pulled in a few last night which reminded me of last year. He's taken a number of huge contested marks down back in particular to save goals, but up forward as well.

Weeds is getting up there, and Tom McDonald is probably the only player we've had in years who takes one grab marks at his highest point.

Brayshaw and Oliver have very strong hands for young mids

And Melksham is a great mark for his size.

Concern is overblown. We're fine

11 hours ago, DV8 said:

Nope. we don't need one of them.....................   we need a team like that.

 

Our team came out with aggression tonight and we carried it forward.

One player does not make a  'Diamond' Jim,  'Udtrrd'.

Well, not really. If we had 22 208cm lumbering battering rams with questionable ground skills but good ability to make a contest and get the ball forward, I don't think we'd get very far. Clearly misread the point I was making.

Loved his game tonight. He's a big mean fella and he was fantastic.

Preuss is just the type of big nasty baaastad we've needed for years.

9 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

I'm going to share a story and it doesn't bother me whether or not posters believe me. 

I'll start firstly by asking if anyone else noticed Jack's clear limp during the last half on Saturday. There is absolutely no way that he was moving in that manner due to fitness. Watching him shuffle from contest to contest was almost unbearable and from second level MCC it was clear as day that Jack is either playing through pain or not being entirely honest about his pain. And neither is the club. 

Goodwin said we came away 'unscathed' in his presser but I don't think we're being told the truth about Jack and I'm fearful that he's in a similar position to Vanders in that this will always be an issue for him. 

Here's my story:

Two years ago I was suffering from plantar fasciitis which started over the pre-season (Same as Jack's injury). As soon as it became a constant ache and pain that wasn't going away, I got in touch with a physio from a previous club I'd been at who had just finished up working as North's physio. 

He suggested a relatively new non-invasive procedure that involved a needle which he said some AFL players had trialled with success as there's barely any recovery time. The more traditional surgery (the one that Jack had), is where an incision is made to cut the fascia and relieve the pain. But the recovery time is greater. However, this particular physio said that Jack's foot was in a shocking state after the surgery. Basically that it would never be the same and that he (like Vader's), will have to manage it from now on. He knew the guy who did the surgery. 

I realise this is probably suspected by many already but at the time I didn't want to believe it and thought I'd wait it out and see how he'd recover. But after seeing him in the flesh on Saturday, he is clearly favouring one side and had a notable limp and it can't just be a lack of fitness. 

I'm interested to know if anyone has heard similar. 

 

I've heard exactly the same thing, albeit via a foot specialist who also knows the surgeon.

Knowing our penchant for coming up with novel ways of losing players to career ending injury, he'll probably be the first player ever to lose a leg to flesh eating bacteria....

8 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

With Lyons outdated game plan and freos slow ball movement I reckon he'll find it tough.
Gonna have 3 blokes standing next to him whenever the ball comes in and we know how Hogan loves that.

Completely agree, based on last year's form. I think they'll open up this year (and Fyfe's interview today in the Age said as much).

Lyon knows he's coaching for his career and I bank on him being smart enough to use the tools he has got rather than be completely non-adaptive. We'll see.

2 hours ago, monoccular said:

Serious question. Why, as a matter of interest, should JH “have a huge year” under Lyon’s super negative game plan when he hasn’t really had any “huge years” at MFC?

 

Genuinely, I think they'll try and rejig that around him. In any case, my best bet is that he will stop the sooking too now that he's got his move home and he's through most of his recent issues.

I could be wrong of course, but that's my gut feel at this stage.