deelusions from afar

Apparently we had a decent win - anyone know how we went? Pies 6.5 (41) Dees 12.8 (80)

Well with the rest of the fixture, I hope my theory of our game plan not stacking up on the wider grounds is proven wrong - The Gabba, Cazaly Stadium and TIO are 3 of the widest grounds going around outside of the MCG.

That's a bit comforting... but I guess it will be more about the cumulative effect. Especially as some of these teams will presumably have a bye in this block - actually maybe it's just the saints?

Good posts here. I don't think our midfielders were necessarily flatfooted early in the season, but I feel like better midfields in the competition knew Gawn would win the tap and so scrag / tackle whoever the tap was going to even before they got the ball. It was prommising to see Oliver / Petracca running away with the ball in the last two weeks - but for me I don't think the likes of Port / Bris etc would have allowed them to do that. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Agree - obviously all depends on whether we can beat teams in the 6-12 range but I think St Kilda are vulnerable as they still have games against Bris, us and West Coast.

While I think TMac has lost a lot of his speed and agility, I felt he actually showed positive signs before getting injured and he was ok last week. I think if we're asking him to play a high half forward then that works for us - but I don't think he's suited to the deep forward role which is ok as Weid is doing that nicely at the moment! Mixed feelings on Preuss coming in. He's a man mountain but does he have the fitness to not be a liability? Regardless of Grundy's form and potential injuries, he plays as an extra midfielder. Not sure if Preuss is capable of countering that or forcing Grundy to be accountable for him the other way.

I wish - but never seen Goody play any games at selection

While its all very interesting... I think most team's numbers will stack up pretty well after playing the crows and roos back to back. The question is have we turned the corner or are we just putting away terrible teams. Next two weeks will tell a lot

I like the thinking - I'm sick of playing inside mids on wings and flanks whether it be Jones, Brayshaw or Harmes. Surely if they're prepared to play Trac and Oliver forward then Viney in this role is worth a chance. The alternative is that at least one (and maybe two) of Viney, Brayshaw and Harmes will not be at the club next year - the club would be negligent to not try to get value a the trade table for an area we have a surplus and the players themselves would be silly not to look for a team that will play them in their best position.

I don't think he is - but would love to be proven wrong. Players rarely improve their kicking over their careers - particularly after significant injury. My sense is that people think because he is a (mostly) reliable set shot for goal he has got better with his kicking. But kicking to people who are moving between an opposition zone is a different skill. I would actually feel safer if the ball was in his brother's hands in defence.

Agree re Tomlinson. I'm sceptical that TMac back will work - but I think i Gawn comes in then a tall has to go out (or at least in the case of TMac or Tomlinson be moved to a wing) as the Weid/Jackson/Tmac forward line was tried and failed v Port. It would be a great asset moving forward to have TMac in the team as a defender knowing that he could be switched forward if Weid / Jacko go down or are beaten by their opponent - but I think he's too slow, lost his agility and foot skills / decision making error are far more costly in defence than up forward. Will be interesting to see what happens v the pies - TMac did enough to stay in the team... but I'm not sure if they have enough tall forwards to warrant him, Lever and May all in defence. I think if not for injury, the answer would probably be Petty or Hore to support May and Lever.

Spot on - I'm wrapped with how he's been playing since being brought back... but from all reports he was not looking likely through the pre-season with TMac, Brown and Jackson all showing more. He's had to earn it and he is doing everything right now (aside from missing a few set shots)

Not a personal attack as I've seen many others call for this... but I'm trying to understand why anyone would think TMac in the backline would be a good idea. Can you help me out? In my view, TMac is a terrible field kick. Potentially this is more decision making. But when he used to play in defence, TMac used to take it upon himself to take the low percentage kick into the corridor that only our best kicks could pull off regularly. If he didn't do that, he try and run around someone and get caught regularly. The benefit of playing him forward was that he could use his endurance and he could kick straight and was a revelation in late 2017 and 2018 with his goal kicking. Since then he's had numerous injuries. He seems to still have the endurance but appears to have lost some speed and agility. His tackle count last night indicated his effort and desire but he will be a liability in defence at the moment with ball in hand and when defending. And finally I think our defence is functioning pretty well at the moment... don't see how he could improve it.

Agree - I think we need to manage a number of players this week. The roos have more injuries and are also dealing with short breaks - I'd make as many changes as we can. I'd love to see JJ come in and spend more time in the middle with Sparrow Brayshaw and Harmes.

Given Goldy is struggling and off a short break, I wonder whether they're putting this out there to tempt the Roos to rest him this week as well.

Don't know what games you're watching but Oscar has been good this year. No defender is going to look good with the way the team played v Port. Oscar is never going to be a star - all he has to do is his role. We have May, Lever, Hibberd, Salem and co to do the attacking things.

I think it's also about there being more ball ups and throw ins so other teams that base their game around the stoppages also like the grounds that will maximise the chances of this occurring.

There's obviously other factors at play... but our win-loss record since I first posted this continues to fit the pattern. I.e. the grounds with a width of less than 135m we play well at (eg Metricon and Adelaide) whereas the grounds with a width greater than 135m eg The Gabba we play poorly at. Clearly this was not the reason we lost to port - we were smashed everywhere - and we weren't convincing against Adelaide in the 1st half. But based on how we've gone while Goody has been coaching, I expect our game will suit the narrower grounds such as Adelaide and Metricon more than say the Gabba or Optus in WA. Looking ahead, we play: - North @ Adelaide. Since Goody has been coaching we have an 80% record there from 5 matches. North have lost the 3 games they have played there - Collingwood at the Gabba. In Goody's time we have won 2 of the 4 games at the Gabba. In the same time, Collingwood has won both their matches at the gabba. - Western Bulldogs at Metricon. In Goody's time we have won 1 of two games at Metricon. In the same time the Bullies have won two and lost two. Small sample sizes and lots of other variables but will be interesting to keep an eye on.

Interesting - I think TMac might need to put the que in the rack for 2020. His endurance for his size is his biggest weapon - but as you say this is less important in the 2020 game. Maybe he should spend the next 6-9 months working on his agility / acceleration as that has fallen away for him - most likely due to injuries.

King went on and on about it last night - accelerating away from the contests. I hope it is a mindset thing that Clarry can continue to do. But I suspect it's got more to do with playing against the bottom side who didn't know how to stop him getting off the chain.

On what we've seen he has better skills than I thought too. Very exciting to see what he can do

You might be right... but I was under the impression that he played there as Oscar was being managed. Despite his critics, Oscar has been solid this year and I suspect against the bottom side would have looked just as good as Tomlinson. In the same way that Oliver burst away from packs, I loved seeing Tomlinson doing this in the backline last night - but then you realise he's crashing through 1st and 2nd year players of the bottom side. If he does it against good sides I'll be converted.

I thought Morris said (or maybe I read elsewhere) that Melbourne had been told that paying out Goodwin's wage (if it came to that) would not be considered inside the footy department cap - which has angered other clubs.

Nailed it - Bernie doesn't come across as the smartest tool in the shed. Clearly there are issues but I wouldn't be looking to Bernie to be able to identify them.

Interesting to have a quick peek at the Port board selection discussion. You would not think they are the top team based on that! They also want to get rid of their coach (that's probably common among about 14 teams) and are wanting them to dump their stars at selection. It's a bonus to us that Port's next game after us is v the Doggies Monday night so they have 2 days less break after the game to factor in. A week is a long time in football - especially in current times where you play more than once in a week!