deelusions from afar

I was thinking about this as well - the pies prob need to move De-Goey on unless he find some consistent form this season. They need draft picks but a ready made key forward they need more than anything. I wouldn't want to lose Weid but I do remember De Goey destroying us with Cox in 2018 and thinking that he has a higher ceiling than Petracca. Since then their careers have gone in opposite direction. If at the end of the year Weid or TMac said they wanted out (because they didn't finish the year in the team), I wouldn't be against this if he could fit in the cap.

Happened to be flicking round different radio stations this afternoon and landed on 3AW with Gerard Healy - he did a big start to the segment all on Kozzie. He can't help himself! But it was great listening as a dees fan. A couple of points he made: A lock for the AA team if he keeps up this form Couldn't remember a better 1st / 2nd year player in all his days as an AA selector. Similar stats to Cyril in his second year in terms of averages but averaging 2 goals a game (rather than 1). He then asked his co-hosts (Richo and maybe scoop maclure) what they thought of Kozzie before starting the interview with their guest Stewie Dew by asking him about how good Kozzie is. Was a good listen!

Might not be popular on here, but I think there is a good chance Harmes will come in for Viney to play the defensive midfielder role as he has done this before and Sydney have a number of midfielders that are damaging clearance players (Kennedy, Parker, Florent). Alternative is obviously Sparrow who would be more deserving - but I don't know if I've seen him lock down on a player in the way the at Viney / Harmes have.

Not saying he's in the same league but doesn't Majak do both of these already?

Have a look at the one-eyed sydney supporters comparing it to the fritsch incident: ?? https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/sydney-swans-vs-melbourne-demons-saturday-may-8-mcg.1265792/page-9

What about Koutoufides - I see a bit of that in him

dislike but agree

Who has the pies first pick this year?

I don't think you can blame McDonald solely for his form in 2019 / 2020. He had injuries, was clearly asked to bulk up to play a key position forward role he wasn't suited to and was asked to carry the forward line when the team was playing poorly. I don't think Weid / Brown would have necessarily done much better. TMac has always performed better when there are other tall targets in the forwardline and given his running capacity, I think having a mix of Brown / Weid / Jackson in the team will allow us to get the best out of him.

True but also for him he may want to see good form from the team for more than 6 weeks. When Simon Goodwin had his contract extended at the start of 2019, many "experts" had us as their favourite for the flag, champion data said we had the best list etc etc and then we had a terrible season and missed the finals the following season. If we're cautious as supporters, I wouldn't blame Petracca if he wanted to see a bit more for committing to the club long term when his contract doesn't expire for another 18 months.

Emotion aside, if you're Trac why sign now? He's not out of contract till the end of next year. Unless he gets injured, his value is going to continue to rise and until we make finals and win finals, we (and he) doesn't know if our current form is a flash in the pan or if we have really turned the corner.

I reckon very high chance that one of Bedford or Chandler will play on Sunday if Jones and Melksham are both out.

Just saw the interview BBB did today that's on the club website. We all know he can play - but gee he also speaks well. You can tell by what he says that he's very aware and humble - would have to be great for our culture. How the Roos let him go for next to nothing I'll never know.

All makes sense but I get the feeling that Goody would like to try playing them all to see how it looks. And if ever there was a game to try it, this would be it. I don't think it would work as we would lose too much of the ground level pressure - but we are in a unique position of having a large number of big men with great aerobic capacity. There is a parallel universe where this type of lineup means we are dominant in the air all over the ground and become unstoppable. I don't think this will happen but if when you're 6-0 and playing the bottom side, it is worth trying some things to see if we can get even better.

In '18 and '19 we roughly signed another 4k from this point so with more wins and hard work it should be doable - would be an incredible achievement!

Agree although I think it's more about positioning eg They don't want Lever dragged back to the goal square - if that's where his opponent goes then someone else will pick them up. I feel like it should be fairly easy to exploit this type of approach but many teams like us manage it pretty effectively - I think it's also why it's harder for Jetta and Lockhart to stay in the team as they are more likely to be shown up for height regardless of their relative strength and determination.

I think I read a stat that Thommo has only lost one one-on-one this year. Is that right? Incredible if true.

All of these amazing stats - undefeated with players queuing up to get a game with hot VFL form - I don't know what to do with myself! Very strange feeling!

It does tell us a bit with us, doggies and port in best shape atm.

Anyone with too much time on their hands, the game day thread for the tigers is pretty funny reading. https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/round-6-2021-richmond-vs-melbourne-mcg-7-25pm.1264478/page-8 E.g seeing these sorts of comments when you know it's about to come crashing down for them: pretty sloppy start, but a nice mark from Lynch is good early damn, nice stuff Rioli Do you reckon lever still has nightmares about jacob townsend fu** we look sharp, zero fumbles. Dees [censored] themselves That's a poor free, nice to get one our way for once though Jack and tom look switched on we're on early Great start from everyone We have entered “raise the fight” mode This is QF 2017 pressure! Haha Lever is Richmond's batch. Geez we look hot Also shows how well the tigers started - and how well we did to turn it around!

Justified at the moment - but I wonder if Goody ever gives votes to the opposition!

The King interview was with Whately on the radio but I'm sure he will say it again when he gets the chance on 360. I actually don't mind King - a lot of his opinions are garbage but I prefer that to most of the ex-players in the media that just go along with the basic group think - he's looking for new trends (often that aren't there) so at least he offers something different. He's also been burnt a few times (by us and the tigers coming good) so i think that affects his opinions. And given where the tigers were for much of last season, I think it would be brave for anyone to write them off until about round 18. I agree the extra handballs doesn't mean we've changed the way we play - but I thought it did feel a bit different to our other wins in the way we moved the ball. Incidentally, I also don't think its a problem if we did change the way we play. If you have a team stocked with talented (like ours) that is prepared to adapt / tweak things slightly to tailor the game plan to the opponent I think that makes us more scary for an opposition. Haven't gone back to watch the replay but my sense (might be incorrect) was that we weren't looking to go inboard as much (particularly early) but move the ball wide by handballs up the wings. I figured that its more a case of playing safer footy in slippery conditions. Agree on the comment about the tigers inside 50s. I feel like a few teams are getting a bit of their own medicine - I've heard a number of people say they still got x inside 50s and so were unlucky not to score more. Well any dees fan knows that inside 50s count for zilch as a measurement on its own - we have dominated that stat for years. I'm sure Hardwick knows it - but he's trying to sell a positive message (and many in the media have bought it). As for the Tigers pressure - I thought it dropped away after the first quarter but not sure how this can be measured - certainly hope you're right that it was up and they barely laid a scratch on us!

Things can turn quickly but I think it says a lot about our fitness / conditioning staff that we've really only had collision injuries so far this season (a few other injuries preseason). Where other coaches are saying the games are too long / the preseasons been too short etc, I feel like the players have supreme confidence in their fitness (and we've obviously had some luck too)

Agree - although with that particular poster he has form. Wouldn't bother with anything be puts down

Prior to the game (following Casey's win) I thought, it's only a matter of time before Bedford or Chandler comes in for him but he's not getting dropped after performances like that!