Lampers

Old Geelong Sporting Club which plays in South Yarra and is coached by Nathan Brown. Junior clubs were Greythorn and then Blackburn which is one of the big clubs where lots of serious juniors gravitate.

I heard an interview with Ray Chamberlain the other day where he explained this rule. It should be play on as soon as a step is taken that isn’t forward or backwards on the line of the mark (i.e. a side step). So shaping to handpass isn’t play on if the feet don’t go to the side. The change this year is no 50 metre penalty for failing to stand if the man on the mark is momentarily fooled and moves a little due to the feigning actions of the player with the ball. I also noticed the umpires deciding there was advantage when the Melbourne players clearly didn’t want it due to being hemmed in on the boundary with no open forward options. In some other sports the umpire or referee can wait for a few seconds to see if there actually was an advantage, and if not then blow the whistle and pay the prior penalty.

There is nothing surer than Jackson getting booed by Melbourne supporters in his first Melbourne home game. Unless he literally doesn’t touch the ball… Hell, even poor old Oskar Baker copped a brief undeserved booing in round 1. I think it was a retaliatory boo for the Hunter booing, but if someone who Melbourne sacked was booed then someone who chose to walk out will absolutely be booed and booed hard.

It’s almost a “can’t lose” situation if Freo continue to be as poor as they have been to date. I agree Melbourne need quality over quantity at this stage, and they should have the assets to package up and get that very high draft pick. Throw into the mix Melbourne’s 2024 first rounder as another asset to trade. Gold Coast is the obvious trading partner if they finish bottom three. How many elite 18 year olds do they really need? They have plenty who were that on their list and it hasn’t worked for them yet so maybe they need to try something different. Hawthorn may also be tempted to accept quantity over quality. But if there is nobody willing to trade their top three pick, then Melbourne can get some quantity as a fall back. Like the Jefferson pick, they can also afford to take players who can be given 2-3 years’ development time instead of having the pressure of going for someone who needs to contribute from round 1 2024. Heaven forbid it happens, but if Pickett does leave then that would strengthen Melbourne’s trade and draft hand again. The money Melbourne wouldn’t pay Pickett could also be used to pay the salary of a more established player using some of those attractive draft picks in trade. Whatever happens, based on their past deeds I’m at least confident Lamb and Taylor will be able to make something advantageous to Melbourne of the situation. I’m sure they’re already working through all the likely scenarios and putting in the ground work with potential trading partners now.

Kind of related, how much input does a player just starting out like McVee have in what position he plays and how he is developed? Are players asked where they would like to play as an input to the decisions, or does the club say “You will be playing this role” and the player’s preferences aren’t taken into consideration? I appreciate that for a young player like McVee the answer to this question may be different to an established star player negotiating a contract extension.

I was there too. I’m pretty sure Howe took that hanger running with the flight on top of Embley in that game. The huge mark he took against Sydney was also in a 100 point loss. Back in the dark times regular hangers were just about the only thing to look forward to be it Robbo, Jurrah or Howe taking them in yet another belting.

Both Daicos brothers and the Brown brothers (and the Silvagni brothers too) started out at the same junior footy club, obviously not in the same teams given the age differences. Things can change with age, but from what I understand the Daicos boys always looked like they were going to make it and the Browns were not at a similar level of obvious talent.

In short, I think it was decided Baker didn’t have enough AFL traits (as opposed to VFL traits), and the others either do show those traits or there’s faith they will develop enough of those traits. Baker is 24 and I he’s probably pretty much peaked as a footballer. He’s fast, but aside from that I’m not sure what else would set him apart at AFL level. He mostly blasted the ball forward, not much finesse. The acquisition of Hunter put him one player further away from a senior game on the wing, but ironically meant the Bulldogs needed a wing. With Howes and likely Woewodin also competing for depth at wing (and Jordon who was preferred in 2022) that’s just too many wingers to keep. Laurie and McVee were not competing for the same spots as Baker. Laurie is clearly more highly skilled than Baker and is a forward. McVee also appears more highly skilled and more capable as an actual defender. Sure they got nowhere near as much ball as Baker in the VFL, but James Munro and Mitch White also get more of the ball in the VFL. Laurie and McVee are also 4 and 5 years younger, so more scope to develop and improve than Baker.

I think each team will back in their preferred setup, and then it will be a matter of who blinks first if things are getting out of control. As a few have pointed out it’s likely the Dogs will only have three talls in their forward line at any point in time with Lobb giving English a chop out in the ruck, and all of those talls needing bench time too - especially Darcy who doesn’t have great endurance. If teams are selected as expected it’s more likely to be an even 3 v 3 talls in the Dogs’ forward line and 3 v 2 with Melbourne having the additional tall in Melbourne’s forward line. They will need to have a Bailey Williams or Crozier giving up massive size to someone if they don’t go for Bruce, who played back against North, in their 22. If I was the Dogs I’d either have Bruce in the 22 or have him as the tactical sub. McDonald and the possibility of one of the rucks dropping back give the extra defensive options already in Melbourne’s likely team. If Fritsch doesn’t get up Melbourne could try to stretch the Bulldogs even more with JVR or Schache to also have as many as 4 tall forwards. I don’t think they would do that as the match sim and practice matches were opportunities to try that setup and they didn’t use it.

Sorry all, I didn’t realise the protocols.

Perhaps it’s just the player wore more than one jumper number for Melbourne. Jetta fits this but he startrted with 39, then wore 50 In one game, then back to 39. Similar for Jack Grimes who started with 16 and then changed up to 31.

Something to do with starting with a very high jumper number and then changing to a much lower one.

The goal umpire definitely signals a behind initially, so he didn’t miss that the ball hit the post. The ball also looked like it ended up behind the goal line after hitting the post, but maybe it was just on the goal line before coming back into the playing field. Then on the coverage you can just see Gawn come trotting up and presumably kick the goal, and then the field umpire gives the all clear for a goal. I reckon it’s a mistake to allow the advantage given any advantage should’ve resulted in a behind. I’m guessing the field umpire didn’t realise the ball had hit the post and instead thought it was still in the field of play after Chandler’s free kick. Ultimately the right outcome of a goal, but not the player who should’ve kicked it.

Watching the Dogs’ game today, they were running with all of Lobb, Ugle-Hagan, Naughton and Darcy in their forward line at times and at least three of them all the time. That will stretch May, Petty and Lever. Will there need to be another tallish defender brought in like D.Turner or J.Smith (if fit, but I believe he’s been training as a forward)? Tomlinson to come in despite his horrid form against St.Kilda? Hibberd to use his experience and strength to play taller? Will we see more of Gawn or Grundy dropping into the backline, maybe giving Brown a reprieve as a forward if Fritsch is also right to go?

Laurie doesn’t look like an athlete, but both he and Bowey were drafted for allegedly being the best decision makers/kicks in their draft - despite not being physically what you’d expect of an AFL player. I’ve seen glimpses of the decision making and neat kicking from Laurie at VFL level. I think he’s competing with guys like Spargo and Sparrow who have it over him for fitness. I think they will give Laurie time to improve his fitness but if he can’t get to the required level then he will be in trouble.