deelusions from afar

A bit confused by this... I think loading is definitely a factor. But I thought it would ramp up throughout the season until a few weeks out from finals? Some saying the hardest bit is done?? I think the lions looked tonight like they were going through a bit of loading themselves - if that's the case and they are a week or two behind us, are they at more or less of an advantage when we get to finals?

I know he was on the wing against Freo. But apart from that I haven't noticed him played out of position. Where has he been playing? Why is he played out of position when we are not missing any small forwards or wingers?

To be honest it wouldn't take that much to be his best game. People single out his game against Geelong in the 2018 final. There's not that many other standouts (in fairness to him often the delivery has been terrible and he's stuck in the forward 50). He's been more lively when played in the ruck at Casey

I actually have a sneaking suspicion that Weid will play his best game for us if he comes in. He seems to be a confidence player and to a certain extent he gets a free hit in the ruck as the expectations aren't high on him in the way it is when he's forward. He impacts a few contests early and then takes a mark and goals when he goes forward and we'll see a different player.🤞

Psychologists... the game is played 90% above the shoulders!

In fairness though, it's very rare we seem them do it. I don't think its necessarily that we don't have players with the skills to execute it. Hibberd used to in his AA year. Bernie Vince used to do it when we were sh!te. I think this is an area we could easily develop. You get one or two of these per game and it makes a big difference.

Some big changes there. Not sure I agree with all of them. But I've come round on the idea of Petty forward. Doesn't mean he has to stay there all season. But with TMac out, it could give us real flexibility if we know he can play at either end. With Turner and Tomlinson we shouldn't lose too much in defence.

Someone might have some stats on this to back this up (or disprove it) but I feel like we play such a disciplined way that we rarely have shots for goal around 50m out unless under immense pressure or from a set shot. Our strategy is to bomb long to Brown (or whoever) hoping they will mark or create a contest and the smaller players crumb. Many other teams seem to be prepared to handball off to a designated kicker in this position or even have a go from general play. I'd like to see us try a bit of this - if nothing else it makes us a bit less predictable as the opposition know we're going to kick it long to our forward target EVERY time currently. Makes me wonder though... who would be the player you would want to receive the ball outside 50 to have a shot off a couple of steps? There isn't a standout for mine... Petracca is hit and miss, does Salem have the distance? Rivers? Hibberd? Sparrow? May? Harmes?

Thanks - that's a shame... I feel like he showed he had pace at junior level. Spargo's not perfect but he's certainly disciplined. Unless Laurie has some weapons (speed, excellent kicking etc) there's no chance he'll replace him.

That may be the ultimate plan... clearly Goody has given Weid specific things to work on at VFL level before he comes back. I assume these are impacting the contest, bringing the ball to ground if he can't mark and ensuring he has a presence. He's capable but we haven't seen it consistently before. I want to see him succeed but fear he may not be cut out for it. I wonder whether Petty might be a better option if Disco, Tomlinson or Weid could take his spot in defence.

I find myself agreeing with multiple posters in this thread... who are disagreeing with each other. 🤨🤷‍♂️ I was strangely more confident last year because we showed we would lift to another level when playing a genuine contender (Cats, Tigers, Dogs, Lions). I was fairly confident that after getting 10 wins on the board that it was all about peaking at the right time - though never thought we could produce such dominant finals footy. There's reasons to suggest that this year may be similar. In some ways it's more impressive because we haven't had a settled lineup (particularly in defence) all year. But when facing the contenders, we've crumbled. My main concern is that we haven't just dropped the last 3 weeks - we haven't played consistent footy all year. Our best wins have come from a quarter or so of dominance rather than our pressure and fitness wearing sides down. Clearly teams have gone to work on us and with some key injuries / soreness, drop in confidence, form etc it doesn't take a lot to be brought back to the pack. I know stats can be misleading but the one about us going from the 1st to the 17th ranked team in pressure is bizarre. I would have thought this is mostly about effort? Slobbo on 360 asked Goody directly about it - he said it's more complex than effort because much of it has to do with positioning and team defence (I assume to ensure the ball carrier is less certain and takes longer to dispose of the ball). But we're not just middle of the road in this area now - we're right at the bottom. Having said that, Goody doesn't seem concerned at all (not that he would show it). I think we will rediscover our form in the back half of the year - but whether it is still capable of beating the other contenders when they are also peaking remains to be seen.

When Bowey and Laurie were our first two picks in the draft a few years back, they said "we've got the two best kicks in the draft". We've seen some of this from Bowey. Laurie was likened to Brett Daniels from GWS at the time and his highlights package showed him storming through the centre / half forward and hitting up key forwards lace out. I don't get to see a lot of VFL but haven't noticed this from him - I see him more around the packs rather than as an outside distributor. For those that watch the VFL regularly is this right? Is he played out of position or does he not have the speed for this level? Or is his kicking not as good as we thought? Because the outside distributor seems to be exactly the sort of player we need.

Agree - with TMac no longer in the team this is an issue (unless Mitch Brown can be a solid swingman)

I'm genuinely intrigued by this. Because clearly a lot of ppl agree so I must be missing something. My view is that we lost the game because we couldn't lower our eyes and find targets inside 50. I'm not sure who we're bringing in to fix that? Sure the Brown's are out of form / touch... but does anyone really think that Weid would do any better? Really? And JVR has shown promise but in his first game, I don't think he could have done a heap better. At the other end Disco comes in for his first match and does ok before going off. Our defence is a rabble when we get caught on the turnover - but who's doesn't? Who would have made a difference that is available? Hunt? Tomlinson? They were blamed for our loss last week by many on here. Rivers hasn't exactly been setting the world alight back there when played this year either. There's a number of players performing below par the run through the middle / half forward. Would Bedford / Chandler etc really have made a difference? Really? Dunstan to fix our forward connection? I don't think so. I honestly don't think it is personnel (obviously others disagree). We seem very flat, tired, low on form, low on confidence, low on dare and like the opposition have worked us out. Clearly a number of players are playing sore (Gawn, Petty etc) and a few don't seem the same since coming back from covid. The bye has come at the right time for us to freshen up. Maybe its time one of Salem / Brayshaw / Bowey goes to a wing to give us a bit more polish forward of centre?

Surely Hibbo in to get Degoey? I agree that Hunt is unlucky given he's been solid prior to the last 2 weeks. I wonder why Toby Bedford isn't in the extended bench?? I reckon there's a chance Chandler will play for one of the Browns - the forward line needs a shakeup and adding in an extra small pressure could be exactly what we need.

Me too... though at the same time still remember the season he had in 2018 where he became one of our most important and reliable players. Fell off a cliff after that though or maybe the evolution of our game plan meant there was no longer a role for him.

Pretty sure Melksham has played his last game for the MFC.

I thought the vision they showed on the couch last night was interesting - it showed Sydney and Fremantle holding their defenders back so that when we won the ball back we would blindly kick it back to them or look up and realise there's no where to go. It's the same thing that we've been doing to teams the last 1.5-2 years. I'm sure we'll work our way through this but I wouldn't mind us implementing some set plays for players who can kick goals from outside 50 - we never do this which means teams flood back onto our forwards.

I'm not against Petty getting a run forward but I don't think this is the week to do it - he seems to have taken a number of knocks the last few weeks and so expecting him to play that role is too big an ask. I think our main issue is lack of pressure on the opposition. it allows other teams to lower their eyes more when kicking forward and puts our defence under more pressure. This reduces the turnovers in the back half which reduces our ability to score from turnover and not be forced to bomb it in under pressure. So I wouldn't be against dropping a key forward and bringing in another small pressure forward (Maybe Bedford) and bring back the manic pressure. With Gawn and Jackson we already have an extra tall in our forward line most of the time - especially when you consider Fritsch is our biggest goal kicker and is more of a medium size.

This is something I've followed for a while. I thought it was a problem in previous years but the way we got it together last year at Optus (a ground with MCG like dimensions) made me think it's no longer an issue. But here's our record for 2021 and 2022 (so far). 37 games total. At the MCG, 19 games. 14W, 4L and 1D (74% win rate or 78% non loss rate) Away from the MCG, 18 games, 16W and 2L (89% win rate). The two non MCG losses have been the pies at the SCG in Buckley's last game and the Crows in Adelaide last year when we got stooged. However I think it's more than just win/ loss that is relevant as most of our worst performances which we have still won have happened at the MCG: At the MCG, 19 games, our average score is 82.9 and the average opponent score is 65.5 for an average margin of +17.2. Away from the MCG, 18 games, our average score is 95.8 and the average opponent score is 61.8 for an average margin of +34. I'm not by any means suggesting this is why we've lost our last two games. But I do think we don't get any advantage at the MCG which is a problem when we play 1/2 our games (and this year finals) there.

It's amazing how we're seen externally. Since the 1st half against the saints we've really only just been going. Of course there's injuries etc but as some commentators have pointed out, our defensive running / pressure etc is not what it was last year. Sydney always play well at the G. We have some great likely additions but often it takes players a few weeks to find their groove - I think we're ripe for the taking at the moment. I have confidence we'll get it together by the end of the season but can see us dropping a few in the next 8 weeks.

The fact that he was forced to play defence on the weekend with injuries to May and Petty means that TMac will always be picked before him now.

dogs?

I actually thought it was a quick response without much thought after Gary had said he's in the 2nd best ruck combo after the dees one - so the dees players were front of mind. As good as Jackson (and his potential) is, there's no way he's the second best ruckman in the game at the moment.

No doubt Dusty is one of the best big game players I've seen. At the same time, I think the Richmond game plan has allowed him to do this - he's allowed to roam forward without needing to worry about a man or team defence etc as his teammates have learnt to cover for him. Will be interesting to see whether a Sydney based team would be able to do the same.