Bombay Airconditioning

My comment of Macrae > Buckley was in response to your comment that the impact of coaches is overrated. Macrae is the most recent example of how much the right coach can have on a team. With regards to how I will assess him, that for me will be after his coaching tenure is up. I still believe we can win the flag this year. As we know success in our game only has one true measure and that is winning the premiership. Before the Lions game, Fagan was interviewed (can’t remember if it was tv or radio) and said words to the effect of credit should be given to teams that consistently play finals regardless of winning the premiership or not due to the toughness of the competition. I get what he was saying, but as we know there are no passengers when it comes to the top job. As for my comment of circle work, no it wasn’t an attempt of a clever sledge or has some cryptic meaning. I wrote it because the discussion you and I have with regards to Ben Brown go around in circles. I make a comment, you reply with a statement, I reply with a question, you don’t respond, I make comment to someone else, you respond with your original comment but without answering my question…. And tonight we learn BBB has been omitted, so what are to make of this? Was he to be rested this week regardless of form to keep him cherry ripe for finals?

And? They didn’t win it. Fly had the Pies 1 kick away from a GF birth in his first year, in 2021 they finished 17th, and many would argue they don’t have the best list this year but are playing like millionaires. Amazingly what an impact a good coach can have. All I can take out of this thread is that you think the impact of coaches is overrated. I think many most would disagree, and that it was imperative that BBB play on a wet track against GWS to get him cherry rope for finals even though finals were roughly 9 weeks away, and that loss has the potential to cost us a top 2 spot, and finishing top 2 would give us our best chance at winning the flag, but that’s all right because as you said it’s not about winning the battles but it’s about winning the war. Again, circle work….

Fly > Buckley.

Circle work.

Soft as in teams we should of beaten easily.

I’d like to see us try Melk and Fritsch in the same side. I think of the Hawks with Bruest and Gunston, both players hard to match up on and can be very dangerous around goals. I agree regarding BBB, can’t fault his team first attitude and endeavour but unfortunately his body isn’t moving like it used to.

Not impressed by what JVR has done this year?

The way I was looking at was, flexibility. I had mids / small fwds on the bench, with Smith at FF if a key defender got injured Smith could go back and Grundy ruck with Gawn fwd. If a fwd goes down same again. But in my team we have multiple avenues to goal which has been / still is our achilles heel.

But to give ourselves the best chance of winning the war a top 2 finish whilst not essential is highly desirable. The soft losses to Freo but more so GWS could well be the difference between finishing 2nd to 3rd or 4th. As for BBB fitness this is the part I don’t get. On a wet track how many miles into his legs did they think they would get? If we were 2-3 weeks out from finals I would understand, but 8-9 weeks out surely he could have played at Casey and done some additional fitness work if required?

And 2 of those finals wins coming last year.

Out of interest what’s Fagan’s record? Lots of finals, not many finals wins and no flag? Is he a success?

Great winning % to have as a coach. Still prone to some interesting decisions at the selection committee. I can understand why he brought Tomlinson in for Petty but the decision to play BBB in the NT knowing it was going to rain was a mistake. Must win at least one more flag with this list.

As a group can we just collectively acknowledge what BBB has done for us. This will eliminate the need for the start of every post where someone talks about the potential for him dropped to elaborate on how important he was in 2021, we all saw it, some of us were lucky enough to be there and we are all extremely grateful for his contribution. This being said, when describing a key fwd in todays game and the first two things that comes to mind are bringing the ball to ground and providing a contest, we really need to look at that player. We should be talking about the players contested marking and goal kicking.

He’s in my team as the sub.

McVee May Lever Rivers Tomlinson Salem Langdon Oliver Hunter Melksham JVR ANB Trac Smith Fritsch Gawn Viney Pickett Brayshaw Sparrow Bowey Chandler Sub Grundy / Petty Trac and Kosi to rotate through the fwd line. I think the fwd line makes us mobile and unpredictable and real fire power, could be difficult to match up on with multiple targets.

I’d rather Melksham go around again.

Just read Darcy and Fyfe will miss remainder of the season.

Listened to the game whilst driving but now I have to watch it. After reading this thread three things I’m looking for are : Lot of commentary during the game that Brown was impacting the game without hitting the scoreboard. A lot of posters citing he’s cooked and Smith should come in. Limited fwd 50 tackles when Kosi plays further up the ground but he’s more influential when playing there. In recent weeks when playing purely fwd he can go missing for large parts of the game. If Fritsch makes it back this season is there any reason him and Melksham can’t play in the same side?

Problem is now that is dependent on other results.

Our losses to Freo and GWS are really starting to sting. Winning those two games and a win today would see us in 2nd spot.

As does Petty, Bowey and Oliver.

Most are aware he’s in his second year and acknowledge he’s a very talented kid and if his current trajectory continues he could quite easily be the best player in the competition in coming years. What I don’t agree with is that he’s the most influential player in the game right now and it’s not up for debate.

Great result. We are still a chance for 2nd. Port loses to Crows and Cats. Lions lose to Pies. We win every game.

Bont & Trac, easily ahead of Nick Daicos.

If Pies lose tonight they’ve only lost 3 games for the season, they just happen to be against 2nd, 3rd and 4th on the ladder. But they will still occupy top spot and many will say they are still the best team and Nick Daicos is the best player in the competition.