Ted Lasso

Nice to see Harry Petty get some recognition by the broader AFL community, i know most Melbourne supporters rate him, but i'm not sure the rest of the comp quite realises how good he is/can be. I'd argue he's our best young key position prospect by some distance.

100% the conditions should be the trade is extremely favorable for us, and our medical staff get a really good look at Grundy to make sure they're confident they can get him fully fit.

I'd probably look at Sparrow out for Harmes, I really like the speed Hunt offers down back, gives us some cover for our biggest weakness those lightning small forwards

Amon is exactly what we need, Jordan is a really good role player on the wing, but i actually think we're missing his hands inside, and Amons speed and kicking combination is something we really lack.

Pies had a decision to make between Grundy and De Goey and until recently they were happy to lose De Goey but now they've shifted due to his recent form. Bottom line is they can't sign McStay, Hill and Taranto as they're hoping unless Grundy leaves now. I don't think they'll be asking for a huge amount in the trade, it's really going to be more of a question of if the amount we're willing to pay is enough, i'd say neither us, nor the Cats could afford anywhere near his full salary

The tribunal system is a farce, the only reason getting off is even a possibility is because it's Patrick Cripps. if this was Trent Rivers he'd be zero chance of getting this overturned. typical of the AFL Kangaroo courts though

There is a fairly decent list of players who're injury prone, but move to another club where the medical staff get them right and they thrive, if Selwyn and the team think they can get Grundy back to anywhere near his best i think we'd be silly not to seriously look at it.

I'm really pleased with this because Grundy is probably Max's biggest rival when fully fit, if we could get him for below market rate, it is a good get. if it allows for Max to play as our deepest forward more often he becomes a very serious headache for opposition teams and gives us a real target that actually makes our forward line more suited to the long bombing style we're trying to play.

I reckon it's our ball movement full stop that's the problem. in the 2021 finals we were ultra aggressive and bold with ball in hand. we're so far from that it's not even funny. if we can re-capture that, and lift our pressure rating accross entire games i am very confident we will go back to back

It's a weird one because we've been so bad for so long you almost don't even consider the club would be appealing for high profile players. If Naughton was to leave the Dogs we'd definitely be number 1 on the best options.

It's all above the shoulders with this group, the talent is there, the fitness is fine, we are quite healthy overall, and i even think the game plan is sound. we aren't as hungry and so we aren't ruthlessly adhering to role as we did in 2021, i think the players thought we're back after the Freo game and the Pies gave us a wake up call. I hope we see a really strong response against the Blues because we can't afford to lose from here.

I don't see our problems as being that huge or complicated to be totally honest. we've gone from one of the best pressure teams ever recorded, to the worst in the comp in one season. We need to get that back to top 4 standard and i think we will be really hard to stop, if we can't we will go out in straight sets most likely. I think there will be a natural lifting of effort and intensity and hunger that comes from the team being in finals rather than home and away, and i think our intent has been trending positively for a couple of weeks now but we're needing a dramatic jump to be relevant in the finals. I think our game plan is still good enough to get the job done, but it's all pressure.

I reckon HE would be keen to come back if we were interested, but the question would be if the club would have him. when he left it was as much about us wanting him to go as him wanting to leave

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. what's incredible is the conviction with which something so ridiculous is posted. Loading is real, it's not exclusive to AFL, we did it in 2021, i almost guarantee we've done it in 2022 as have other sides, i would be shocked if we still were at this stage of the year, so it's not an excuse for last nights result. but i am going to call out and challenge any posted silly enough to try and claim loading doesn't exist because it's just an absolute load of nonsense.

That one stings, because the first half was premiership standard football, we maybe could have converted slightly better but overall pretty happy, and then just hit a bit of a wall, not too sure why. thought we found a little bit of energy in the last but the Pies just handled the moment a little bit better. It stings a bit to drop that game, but not too worried in the bigger picture The concern for me overall is that for the second time in 3 weeks our team defense has been found lacking. we seem to get sucked into the fast paced shootout style game with teams very easily and it just doesn't suit us.

In: Harmes Out: Hunt

Sucked in? clubs are pretty open about loading, if you're denying that's something they do? anyways, had nothing to do with tonights result, another poor defensive showing is a massive concern this close to finals

Geez Ed Langdon is a weird bloke

Gut feel is Clarko will go to North, simply because he has a past connection there and they're Melbourne based. Giants i think will go with one of Kingsley or Yze. If Yze goes, we need to headhunt the best midfield coach we can find, he's played a massive role for us. I don't hate the idea of James Hird as an assistant. i understand the negative drug saga side of it, but he's a brilliant football mind, a legend of the game and someone who'd walk in and have the respect of the players from day 1.

I don't mind what Ed said about this game, just because i think it could get into the Pies heads a little bit. reality is they may have won a string of games, but they're 3rd with a percentage of 106% which suggests to me they're not winning convincingly, they're winning close games. hopefully we give them a really blunt reality check tonight and send another warning shot to the competition. I reckon the Cats form is just starting to drop slightly as well so can't help but feel we're building at just the right time again to give another flag a very serious shake.

Interesting that Freo are seemingly into 3-4 high ish profile players despite having no picks to trade. makes me think a big name player might be on the way out.

Cam Zurharr? Out of contract at the end of this season, more of a hybrid than a key forward, but someone i think could be seriously damaging in a forward line with better delivery. my big question mark would be if his defensive attributes are up to a level required to play for Melbourne, it'd be hard to carry both him and Fritsch in the same forward line if they're not.

It's a culture killer, especially when as much as i rate Jacksons talent, you would normally see this sort of thing for a Bontempelli/Oliver level player, Jackson isn't really close to that yet so a lot of it is projecting.

I think if he requested a trade there is a decent possibility Port would grant it, but we'd probably have to give up something like a future second to get him. he's a talented player and a similar style ruckman to Max in my opinion 205cm Giant

Geelong stay competitive for a few reasons. 1. an elite core of champion players, Joel Selwood and co 2. a consistent and simple game plan that the champion core is able to execute consistently and stands up strongly in home and away 3. a HUGE competitive advantage with their home ground which essentially gives them 6-8 wins per season 4. Geographical appeal, the ability to play for a consistently competitive vic club, while also staying out of the Melbourne bubble to some extent is absolutely massive. I think these reasons show why the Cats are always so competitive in home and away, but they haven't done the work in terms of the draft and aquiring young talent in their prime to really beat the best of the best in big finals, and i'd also argue their game plan is a difficult one to sustain under intense pressure.