Lucifers Hero

I reckon today we found the game plan to win at the G. In fact we smashed it at the G. Huge, huge confidence game.

Triple M just reported that players sent coaches and staff out of the meeting room. Suspect some sort of pact was being hatched! Players are really owning this - absolutely beautiful!

We are the form side going into the finals. Last 8 games: Freo +54pts WBD +50pts Geel -2pts Adel +13pts GCS +96pts Syd -9pts Eagles +17 pts GWS + 45pts Thrashed the teams we should have. Played 4 of the finalists. Won 2. Lost only 2 by a total of less than 2 goals. Bl...dy good form!

Lots to like about today: Great tempo management, especially in the third term. Terrific pressure all over the ground. Excellent defence: Looks like we have virtually abandoned the high zone and stopped the 1 or 2 behind the square. Much more 1 vs 1. We are following a more traditional 6 x 6 x 6 game structure. Works a treat! Fantastic effort being 2 down players down. Composure +++ . Add we kept playing till the very last minute Great game plan modifications by coaches and equally good execution by players. Finals @ the G here we come!

Time to go into injury protection mode and bench Max and Clarrie!! Play with 16 if we have to!!

I think GWS would prefer to play us at Spotless stadium than Sydney at the SCG (altho the AFL love an Elimination final derby) so that may spur them to win today. But for GWS it may come down to managing injuries so they may take the foot off the throttle a little bit so your point is well made.

Interestingly the 17 game schedule doesn't make a lot of difference. If played each other once ie 17 games. Geelong drops out because they beat us twice. Scroll half way down this article to find the discussion https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/08/22/one-week-go/ (not sure what the 18 game schedule is). 17-game sched 18-game sched Club GtoG W L D Pf/Pa W L D Pf/Pa Richmond Tigers 1 12 4 0 426 13 4 0 434 West Coast Eagles 1 11 5 0 217 12 5 0 275 Hawthorn Hawks 0 11 6 0 335 12 6 0 346 Collingwood Magpies 0 11 6 0 299 12 6 0 319 GWS Giants 1 10 5 1 247 10 6 1 227 Sydney Swans 0 11 6 0 138 12 6 0 158 Port Adelaide Power 0 11 6 0 120 11 7 0 117 Melbourne Demons 1 10 6 0 350 10 7 0 348 Geelong Cats 0 10 7 0 389 10 8 0 378 Essendon Bombers 0 10 7 0 71 10 8 0 63 Adelaide Crows 0 10 7 0 43 11 7 0 46 N Melbourne Kangaroos 0 9 8 0 110 9 9 0 103 Western Bulldogs 1 6 10 0 -335 7 10 0 -328 Fremantle Dockers 0 6 11 0 -427 6 12 0 -485 Gold Coast Suns 0 4 13 0 -600 4 14 0 -604 St Kilda Saints 0 3 13 1 -415 4 13 1 -413 Brisbane Lions 1 3 13 0 -174 4 13 0 -170 Carlton Blues 0 1 16 0 -794 1 17 0 -814

jr, I think many teams are. Lots of people in my non-dees supporting circle are saying if we get a run on in the finals we will be hard to beat. They are tipping two of Rich/Haw/Dee Grand Final. I agree with them. Last week was a galvanising win. If we don't get 'stage fright' along the way we can do it!

Totally agree from our finals prep view. Was reflecting more on the overalll fixture and how the last few rounds benefit those clubs playing the bottom teams who have put the cue in the rack. Makes for an easy run into the finals and could be at the expense of teams playing others in contention.

That's it! Thanks. I wonder when they Geelong will realise their % doesn't matter. Maybe they are just showing off... What this shows is another distortion in the fixture. Non-finals contending teams usually have youngsters who tire at seasons end, with nothing to play for. They put the cue in the rack. If finals contending teams get 2 or 3 games in the last few rounds vs them they can get easy wins/boost %. Geelong have had two very easy wins and added about 20% to their percentage = Automatic entre to finals.

That's true, thanks. It looks like no matter what we do their most likely scenarios have them travelling to Sydney to face GWS/Swans or play Hawks at the G. Is that right? So they are building % to avoid playing us whether we win or lose?

Not sure about that - The G as Home ground certainly helps Tigers, Pies and Hawks. Hopefully, next year it will become our fortress as well.

Geelong really don't have much to gain from boosting their %. They can only end at 7th or 8th. While there are many finals combos their most probable scenarios: 1) We win, they play us at the G. 2) We lose, they travel to Sydney to face GWS/Swans or play Hawks at the G. It looks like they are playing hard to avoid facing us in the 1st final

Looks like the Tigers are playing 'Injury-Free' football! Crows did the same in rnd 23 last year and went into GF with only 2 decent workouts in over a month. And they played like it in the GF. The 'Injury-Free' attitude might come back and bite the Tigers.

I'm saying the exact opposite. In fact, I said before October ie while Jackson is still CEO. The line you quote refers to my experience where an outgoing CEO is rarely involved in major decisions post his tenure (eg as we saw with Jackson's replacement). It will be a Board decision and they will re contract Goodwin. The sooner the better. However, the Board will give the new CEO the courtesy and the opportunity to set terms and conditions, KPI's etc. as he (the new CEO) will be held responsible for all of club performance. In fact it would be irresponsible and poor governance if the Board were to negotiate a contract with any key staff without the new CEO being involved.

It would be a fitting reward for making finals if his contract is extended before the off-season starts ie October However, I can see that the new CEO may want to have a say so in the off-season makes sense.

If we win one final I reckon 50,000 is a no brainer!

MELBOURNE MVP: Max Gawn, Tom McDonald, Clayton Oliver Most Courageous: Neville Jetta Best First Year: Bayley Fritsch They select themselves really. Great to see Nev get this recognition. So many times he has been knocked around in a game yet bounces back the next week.

That means we have sold 721 new memberships this month! Great response by supporters to the likelihood of making finals! Would imagine there will be a very good crowd on Sunday: good weather, winning form, big game!

Just as there is a lot at stake in ladder position for the top 8 there will also be jockeying for position outside the 8 for Draft position. eg 3 teams are on 44 pts so they can shift 3 spots in the draft. Ditto a few spots for teams further down. I doubt the likes of Freo will try too hard to beat the Pies, or North try too hard to beat the Saints. Adelaide may even let Carlton win to lock in draft pick 7 - critical for Adelaide in a draft top heavy with SA talent. A very interesting round...

Like others I would like Geelong in our first final - time to get even on their close (lucky) wins this year. I heard this morning that Geelong have lost their 11 games after a bye! They must be mental demons for them to deal with. And, they will need to deal with the 18 red and blue Demons running rings around them on the G! ?

And Jones' toepoke kick at the centre bounce that resulted in a goal to put us back in front in the dying stages of the match. Not pretty but damn important!

A 50/50 choice. After this game someone needs to make way for JV7. In the meantime my theory is to keep the team as stable as possible. Hence opted for Spargo but hey, small diff. It will be interesting to see where we play JV7 on his return. Our midfield is ticking along beautifully. Do we start him in the fwd pocket to give him a feel for the tempo and let Gus and Clarrie continue on their merry way or does he go straight into the middle and who does he displace... ?

The squad is in: Melbourne squad: round 23 B: Neville Jetta, Oscar McDonald, Jordan Lewis HB: Christian Salem, Sam Frost, Michael Hibberd ? Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver, James Harmes HF: Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald, Aaron vandenBerg F: Bayley Fritsch, Sam Weideman, Alex Neal-Bullen Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Christian Petracca I/C (from): Charlie Spargo, Dom Tyson, Dean Kent, Mitch Hannan, Cameron Pedersen, Jay Kennedy Harris, Tomas Bugg, Josh Wagner In: Pedersen, Kennedy Harris, Bugg, Wagner Out: - No change I think...everyone did their job last week and deserve to stay in the starting 22. So i/c: Charlie Spargo, Dom Tyson, Dean Kent, Mitch Hannan

Here is the info on buying finals tickets. http://www.afl.com.au/tickets/finals/finals-ticket-on-sale-dates Week 1 – Elimination and Qualifying Finals (September 7-9) Competing Club Members 9am - 1pm Tuesday August 28 (venue local time) General Public 2pm Tuesday August 28 (venue local time) AFL Members 9am - 1pm Wednesday August 29 (venue local time) Also worth noting is the ticket outlet depends on which ground the final is held: Ticketek for MCG, SCG. Ticketmaster for Optus Stadium, Spotless stadium (if GWS???) Etihad not metioned. We will know more on Sunday night. Not sure if tickets can be purchased in person at nominated retail outlets. I called a couple in the Bayside area and they didn't know too much about them... So watch this space on Sunday night.. I can't believe it is happening... too happy for words...