Lucifers Hero

Slim pickings this week: Bigfooty: Little hope, less enthusiasm Daunting proposition this game. If ever a mercy rule should be allowed it's this game. Very strong possibility we have our biggest loss of the year and kick our lowest score. Which is scary given we've had a 109 point loss to Richmond and scored only 30pts against the Lions. Still somewhat hopeful that we play a young & enthusiastic group who put the effort in, so we can look past the final score. Any chance we can kick more than 4 goals this week ?? …against Brisbane in the wet wasn't a record breaking lost but this week could be. Melbourne look scary good with fast run and carry. The opposite to what we have. Slow stop start style with no one to run with any sort of pace except Ryan and Jones. This will be very ugly. Dee's have around 10+ players that are very fast. Nothing we can do when we have Cripps Foley Gaff Darling Barrass and co chasing them all day. Any chance for some rain again to save us. If not I'm seeing 150+ margin Love how we are working hard to avoid any close losses in order to minimise the risk of being called out for tanking. We are going to be walloped… Gawn might be out so that's a positive We're still a chance! My favourite: There isn't one, all fairly unimaginative. Their Eagles fan forum hasn't started a thread yet. Will add to this when they do.

He got 5. Worthy recognition.

Scroll down on this page as there is a short interview video with Max. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl He says he woke up feeling fine this morning. General issues not PCL. He will be pushing to get ok to play WCE this week. A relief to hear all that even if he doesn't go to Perth.

I would think so. 3 months to go before the count stops and we only need 319 additional members.

Coaches split: 5/4 Oliver 5/3 Brayshaw 4/1 or 3/2 Petracca/Langdon 2/1 May Again coaches in broad agreement.

This sounds like what Port did to him in the first game of 2019. Do we need more of our players to protect Max more? Hopefully the club takes those issues to the AFL.

When that was tried earlier this year Sparrow, Brayshaw and iirc Bowey had a field day. Stop one and someone else steps up.

Last year it was why doesn't anyone tag Salem!! Recently it was a tag on May. Now it is tag Langdon as well as Petracca and Oliver. We could easily add Gus. Where do they stop tagging; they can't tag the whole team!! Its a defeatist game to tag these guys just as it is defeatist to play defensive against us from the get go. Defensiveness won't win a team the game. Given the idea is to win rather than minimise the loss, the most successful strategy so far is attack and attack through the corridor. But we know how to shut that down so it can't be sustained for 4 quarters. We need to have a bad day for another team to win.

Poor research and shallow thinking by commentators. Covid is a massive smoke screen for a multitude of problems of WCE's player and club own making. The very little bit of sympathy I had last week evaporated when a stack of their players went clubbing and at least one brought it back to the club. Don't care if they tank; they are in a world of pain.

Not sure about the last 35 games but it has been very obvious this year. Yeah, there's been a few posts lamenting that we aren't kicking big scores or by big margins against the weaker teams with the % boost other contenders get. The reality is if we keep ops to about 60 pts and we kick around 90pts we keep our % around 150 so no need to worry about big scores or big % games. We are consistent week to week with a steady %. Shutting down teams in the last quarter is part of that. As Goodwin said post GCS game about our defensive 4th quarter: we didn't need to score. High scores is not what we are about; strangling the opposition and putting the game to sleep, are!!

In his press conf Goodwin said he expected "...something will be done in the not to distant future...." I look forward to updating the 'Contracts' thread.🙃

Laughed and loved this comment in The Age game review: "The Demons then just played out time, always keeping the margin above 20 points after strangling their opposition like a python and putting the game to sleep".

Freo vs Lions happens once but your overall point is valid.

Draw is based on 2021 ladder so originally it looked quite difficult. Still to play twice from 2021 : GF Bulldgos. Bulldogs have crashed. PF Power - struggling to find form. mid table Eagles - now entrenched at the bottom of the ladder mid table Saints - going fairly well. So the Cats have been the big beneficiary of the 'upside down' ladder with lots of games vs those top and mid ladder teams who aren't so good this year but only 1 game vs the 2022 success stories like Freo and Carlton. Excluding the Saints if those teams were as good as last year the Cats could struggle to make the 8. Hopefully, those teams find their 2021 form and give Geelong a run for their money, so to speak. But their schedule is hardly good prep for the finals. Fine for their old bodies but not so great for hardened games going into September. Good luck to them. Even if they make top 2 I doubt they will get to the GF.

It looks like the top 8 is nearly set. Carlton could drop out and there is a small chance of Saints dropping out if they lose today. Leaving Port, Pies or Bulldogs to come in. I see the top 4 as Demons, Cats, Lions, Dockers. Tigers while likely to 5th to 8th could do some damage in the finals. Interesting times ahead.

Win today we will be 2/3 games and % ahead of 4th. Short of some major implosion we should finish the season top 4. We can keep our % up around the 150% if we continue to keep ops to our target of approx 60 points and we score 90 pts or there about. And keep any losses to small margins. Our big opportunity for top 2 to stay ahead of Freo and Lions is that we are to play both teams twice. Four 8pt games up for grabs. We should beat both at the G. Win one of their Home games and we are well on the way to top 2. Drop 3 or 4 of those games and we are staring at Away finals in week 1 and possibly week 3 (the Prelim). Btw, Geelong has such an easy draw that they could very easily finish top 2☹️ We play them in round 18 at their kitty patch, so hopefully we win and reduce their chances of a top 2 and enhance ours.

Lower energy/fatigue levels from the Saints' Cairns game could be offset by lower energy/fatigue levels of our 7 recently returned covid players, moreso the 5 from last week. Even if they are a few % off, collectively it could be significant. We faded in the 4th qtr last week. Can't afford to this week as Saints will take their opportunities. Minimise their i50 entries and we win. Dees by 3-4 goals.

To read: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1118293 To hear:

Interesting comment by Beveridge that coming off a 5 day break and last weeks 'high intensive running' game hurt them last night with fatigue and injuries. Why play Bontempelli 81% of game time knowing he had injury. Did they really need to run intensively last week when the game was won? Sure they got the big % boost vs Ess last week but it possibly cost them a win this week and more injuries for the coming weeks. He could learn from out strategy and go defensive in the last quarter when we have a good lead, especially knowing they had a 5 day break. Looks like poor game time management, all round.

We play North and WCE in next two rounds. We must get big % boosts; none off this shutting down in the last quarter that we have of late. Time to put the pedal to the floor. As @Sir Why You Littlewould say: "Show no mercy" Otherwise, we don't really get another big % boost chance as the rest of our games are against current top 8 sides or a few pushing for top 8, the latter being Bulldogs, Power and Crows. If other contenders continue to beat up on the likes of Eagles, North, Ess, Suns the % diff can and most likely will cost us top 2 or heaven forbid top 4 as they have, 'on paper' easier draws than us.

Any one have ideas or info on what this measure means or how it is calculated?

A slight diversion while I'm talking Ess. I drove past the Hangar/Essendon Fields on the backway to Tullamarine airport recently. What a desolate, inhospitable place it is. Didn't see any 'fields' except the ovals. Set in an industrial estate with not a skerrick of urban life around it. Not to mention noise and air pollution! Give me Casey any day of the week.

While he did ok last year to me it looks like the blowtorch on Rutten is also similar Neeld than Noble. Things like changing game plan, players confused on their/each others roles, hand balling anywhere but forward, under performing high draft picks, bad early losses, ditched most of their senior players, lacking leadership etc etc. Ess have a few more injuries than we had but one wonders what if their development, training, rehab and recovery standards are up to scratch. Ess have some of the best resources in the league; North are a very poor cousin. Both in the hot seat but the media seems to be going harder on Rutten than Noble in a way I haven't seen since they went for Neeld. I cut Noble some slack because of the decisions that decimated the list, football staff and the coaching panel before he arrived. The best thing North did was move on Glen Archer last year but the damage was done. He had been a one-man band running that club. The Board etc should stay the course. Not sure if Ess or North, for very different reasons, have the patience to stay the course.

Players didn't break any rules being out partying but not the smartest move. simpson-furious-over-eagles-players-partying-at-leederville-nightclub knowing their club is in dire straits. Nelson played Friday night, parties at nightclub Saturday, trains this week and goes into iso along with other players. It doesn't mean Nelson passed it on to teammates but as I said not the smartest move. The article also says Richmond players: Nathan Broad, Dion Prestia, Liam Baker, Ivan Soldo and co-captain Dylan Grimes were at the same venue. According to the AFL website, Prestia and Vlaustuin will miss this week through illness, "...(Tigers) say they are not in the AFL's health and safety protocols?"

I received 6 extra GA barcodes for the Saints game, which was a nice surprise. Anyone else receive some extras? However, the 'Forward' option is 'Grey' so isn't active. Any ideas on how to forward? Edit: I just saw @daisycutteranswer to the last question a few posts above this.