deelusions from afar

Agree - easily my most hated team so the finish to the season and finals was that much sweeter! Re Cats in Geelong, my sense (might be wrong) is that since Goody has been coaching us, we've played pretty well in at Kardinia Park - potentially have a better record there overall than the MCG against them. I know they smashed us early in 2019 (but who didn't). What's my point? Playing in Kardinia doesn't hold any fears for me (especially after what we did to them this year). Whereas games at Canberra or Tassie often seem to trouble us regardless of how the opposition is travelling.

Apologies if this has already been covered in this thread (thanks so much for everyone's contributions) but I'm keen to have a copy of the full grand final with the different commentaries in the best quality available. Is the only option to purchase the DVD? I'm happy to pay but I don't think DVD is a good long term option as DVD players are already rare (I don't have one anymore). As far as i know there isn't a digital purchase option? I know you an watch through Kayo - but I don't want to have to have a Kayo membership just to watch the GF in future (and I think they wouldn't have the different commentary options?) I'm sure I'm not the only trying to find the best option for this - what has everyone else done?

Models his game on Petracca! Don't seem to have the build or type of game for that that - but why not aim for the stars? He's entering an elite environment now with great development and culture. Like all our new draftees, he's got so much more chance of reaching his potential than many others that have come before him.

I had no idea this is how it worked... so essentially if you win the premiership you have an extra 1/2 mill to play with in your salary cap? Could you rearrange your finances so that all the prizemoney goes to the players (outside the cap) and other areas that received the bonus this year are paid a separate bonus? I guess the amounts are so small in a relative sense (of the total salary cap) that's its really a drop in the ocean?

Next year will be a 'down' year in terms of the ANZAC eve game and Queens birthday blockbuster games both being away. We do play the pies again as a home game but it is late in the season and there is a good chance they might be done by then which might reduce the crowd. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing - we will get a natural bounce due to the premiership win next year and have these up our sleeves in 2023.

I saw photos of a friend with the cup on social media this week. I wasn't able to get one :( She's has gotten on board the dees in a big way this year... but I still remember only a few years ago when she said she wasn't interested in attending the matches etc... when the team wasn't doing so well and I went along with other mates thinking she didn't actually follow football at all. On the one hand I don't care - the more ppl that jump on board the better as that will help drive membership, primetime spots, sponsors, more kids following the dees, long term sustainability etc etc .... but at the same time, when its someone I know well, it grates on me a little bit. (I feel like I'm that guy that says they liked X band before they were popular) I imagine I'm not the only to experience this mixed emotion.

Was surprised by him being ahead of others eg Jordon, Melksham etc towards the end of the year as I thought Jordon especially had shown more reliability and flexibility with positions (not just a see ball get ball type, played the wing etc). I remember Sparrow when drafted was said to have great breakaway speed from clearances but had a bit of work do to on his kicking. But Sparrow became a pivotal player and had key moments in each game. I think others comparing him to Todd Viney have nailed it - he's a very solid unit that is dependable especially at the coal face. He also has shown his ability to cause headaches if left alone when playing half forward which is important for a second string midfielder when the 6th defender is often wanting to zone off. Not directly related to his footy but he's seems fairly intelligent and well spoken off field which is never a bad thing and means he's likely to be a future leader if he keeps developing at the current rate.

Not critical of what Kate Roffey has done in her time as president of the MFC (how would I really know anyway) - she seems to have said and done all the right things by the club. BUT I'm not normally overly political but was surprised to see her take a political stance on ABC News breakfast TV this morning re ICAC and Gladys. Is this just what we should expect when we have a leader of influence who has a media profile? As in it just comes with the territory? It's not as if her role as president is the only thing she does. Not posting to get people's views on ICAC / Gladys etc as that will completely derail the thread - but more what it means to have a leader that will say things that not everyone agrees with. I imagine for most its refreshing to get some honesty rather than straight bat PR speak... until they disagree with what she's saying! Having said that, this pales in comparison to many other presidents publicly saying things that would be out of step of most of their supporter base eg Eddie and Jeff. It's probably a non-issue - just caught me by surprise when seeing it this morning.

If that's the case, why move Lockhart or Hore on? Both shown enough at the highest level imo (although seemingly Lockhart fell out of favour in late 2020 - I thought they wanted more height).

So we can pick a category A rookie AND a category B rookie?

I think JT has done well drafting for needs previously (though I don't remember him ever saying that was our plan) - arguably Bowey / Laurie were needs in terms of best kicks / decision makers last year. The previous draft Jackson was best available but Kozzie was for needs - although some around us were keen on him, the discussion at the time is you don't use a first rounder on a small forward unless it's the next Cyril and aside from his highlights package, people said Kozzie didn't get enough of the ball / didn't play well often enough at the highest level etc. Looking forward to seeing who we get this year.

I agree with what you've said here - I guess it is interesting to see whether we can back up the elite fitness and team first behaviour. Will the desire be there to push ourselves just as hard when we no longer have a point to prove? Can everyone keep going with the team first behaviour when those doing the hard running, the defensive efforts etc are not getting the plaudits etc. They seem to be on top of this... but I guess we won't know for sure until well into next season. Given what we did in the finals, and esp rd 23, it will be interesting to see how much of a psychological edge we have over other teams. For years we've played against great sides - we might play out of skin and be in front late in the third quarter only to be beaten by superior fitness, clutch goals, whole team efforts from sides that barely got out of second gear for most of the game. Will we do that to other sides next year?

These sort of posts can come back to bite us but I think we are unlikely to suffer a premiership hangover (I know everyone would think that after winning). My reasons are: Competition for spots. There are a number of very unlucky players that will be super hungry (Tomlinson, Hunt, Jordon (does the sub count?), Smith, etc as well as others who might be a good chance to be in our best 22 if they can get a decent run at it eg Chandler, Weid, Laurie. Minimal post season surgeries (as far as I know), no retirements from players that were in the 22. Picking up Dunstan can't hurt either. Not playing finals in Melbourne. I think there would be a hunger to win in Melbourne in front of a Melbourne crowd at our home ground. We were the dominant team - we didn't fluke it or get lucky or win before we were ready. We have had many learnings - I feel like our 2018 year was a bit like other teams when they win before they're ready. Obviously we didn't go as far but learning what it takes to get that far and how easy it is to drop behind the pack will be really important for us in 2022. There's room for improvement - many players coming into their prime and others we've only seen a glimpse of their potential (Jackson, Kozzie, Riv, Bowey etc). I'm not saying we'll win it next year as so much has to go right with injuries etc but would be very surprised if we are not thereabouts.

But with change in the path of the sun in Winter v Summer it actually means the towers will block the sun from our training ground in Winter but have minial impact for summer. All for building over the railway to connect Fed square to the MCG precinct but not if it involves these high rise buildings!

I guess my point was that when we are rated THE BEST EVER for defending D50, there's probably other areas that should be higher priority. Goal kicking is prob no1 for mine - but as others have said, it's part of our setup to kick to less dangerous spots (in case there's a turnover) and when it mattered in finals, goal kicking wasn't much of a problem. Arguably the D50 stats are inflated due to the pressure coming from our midfielders and forwards which ensure less quality entries from the opposition, but they're still the best ever. In addition to what Binman has outlined comprehensively, I think the key to us moving forward is continuing to innovate. We are the definitively the hunted rather than the hunters now - so we can't expect it to just happen. E.g. try Jackson as a ruck rover, throw Petty forward, give Kozzie some more midfield minutes, play Tmac on the wing. Not necessarily all of this and certainly not all at once. But we have genuine weapons who if played in the right spots are almost impossible to stop. Next year everyone will be coming hard at us and trying to break down our system. So while its important to back it in (as it will beat almost anyone if we are "on") we have to be ready to mix it up - to counter teams who have done their homework on us and to provide more options should we sustain some injuries to crucial players.

I think you're getting a bit carried away. Every player makes mistakes. May, Lever and Gawn were All Australian and are all known for their intercepts. Maybe they just put themselves in the right positions and more opportunities which means they'll drop more than other players - in the same way that Petracca has the most clangers in the league. I think some people can get carried away with analysing the game - of course we want to eliminate dropped marks and clangers - but if the players are so fixated on not making a mistake, then they won't make the play that makes them the great players that they are. They are up against opponents remember! And when you're at the AA level, generally opponents that are doing everything possible to put them off their game. While there's always room for improvement, given we apparently had the lowest scoring percentage from forward fifty entries ever, I'd say the dropped marks (and our inability to deal with the resultant ground ball) was not a significant issue this year.

Well done to Burgo and Goody (in trusting Burgo to do his thing). Certainly makes sense that you train how you play, play how you train etc At the same time, there obviously has to be the right balance when players are sore because they're injured. We have a long (but recent) history of players with niggles managing the injury only for it to flare up - I feel like this has happened to Viney on multiple occasions. I like the philosophy of the approach and clearly it worked... but also feel like we got lucky (with injuries) this year.

... but conveniently leaving out the drop from 2018 to 2019 in said form line.

Will be really interesting to see how a number of teams cope with getting smashed in finals - Geelong, Port and Dogs. Will they review their last game - remember when people were still talking about our 2018 preliminary final not being reviewed and that being the reason why we weren't performing. Port and Dogs especially should be able to bounce back but some players may have some mental scars!

I thought he was kicking it out in front of the leading player (from memory Brown?) who pulled up when Angus dived for it. Either way it was clever play in a telephone box

While I agree, no team is solid for the whole season and we were unlucky in some ways as well - eg the Adelaide game where we were robbed by some suspect umpiring calls. We were blessed with injuries (which is unlikely to occur to the same extent again) but we also were incredibly inaccurate. Leading into finals people thought we had a weak forward line ... but if they looked at scoring shots I'm fairly sure we would be at the top of the ladder. While it's fair enough that that be factored in (you do have to kick the goals) I think after our strong start Goody and Burgo had us primed for september all year - so it's probably no coincidence the goal kicking largely clicked in the finals. But otherwise agree with the sentiment - its never as good (or as bad) as you think it is! As Goody says "AFL footy is a game of small margins"

I think Brisbane will come back hard - losing Cam Rayner for the season who has the potential to be their Dusty / Petracca type player and then losing Hipwood and McStay for all the finals. They were very unlucky to lose to the dogs - I think they're only a player or two away from being very dangerous. GWS and Sydney certainly have enough talent on their lists to trouble anyone if it all comes together (including injuries and suspensions) at the right time of year. I think Carlton will come good under Voss but would think it would take a few years of "learnings" to get them playing the right way. Don't we know about that!

I'm based in Melbourne, ordered the day after and still received nothing so far. Can't be far off!

What the hell is going on - why are you guys so out to get SONS? Who remembers people's draft preferences from 8 years ago? No one is going to have a flawless record on this stuff - SONS does a reasonable job that most people appreciate.

It is quite amazing when it's simplified down to a message like that isn't it. I think I remember Oliver or Petracca saying later in the season that one of the key differences from the coaches this year is keeping the messages simple. Can't get much more simple than that. I guess when you're the fittest team in the comp and arguably the best at the contest, "get it and kick it" is going to work pretty well.