Earl Hood

Footy Classified just discussed this. They showed Goodwin Press Conferences where he repeatedly talks about the problem and they are working on it, then they showed about 5 of Max’s set shot misses. As I suspected, every miss is the same, the ball trajectory starts straight then veers off to the left. Why hasn’t this been addressed, seriously? It’s like having a golf swing that always veers off in the same direction, it’s more fixable than if you just always spray balls randomly. Matthew Lloyd was of a similar opinion and wondered why Max hasn’t changed how he holds the ball. He also was critical of Petracca’s high ball drop. Demonlanders have been screaming about these things for ages but nothing has been done. And the FC panel said this chronic inaccuracy keeps costing us games and finals. It is just another one of those mind boggling, reoccurring problems (like the poor midfield to forward connection) that seem to be fixable but keeps costing us games, year after year!

A fair cop but a week early.

Maybe best to forfeit the game now so we can complete the loading regime at training and avoid a major injury to one of our marquee players or a long suspension for some minor interaction with a Filth player, like Moore for example.

The stats say the midfield went missing in action, Petracca and Gawn excepted. Oliver, Langdon, Rivers, Kossie, Langford, Sparrow all struggled to have any impact. That meant all our great running and ball movement through the corridor, breaking defensive lines from previous weeks went missing. The result was too many long bombs and too many predictable entries allowing Wilkie to take 15 defensive marks FFS! So the issues start there in the midfield. This was a replay of our slow, predictable ball movement in games 1 to 5. Even then if we kicked straight, who knows we might have won. The heroics of May, Turner and McVee kept us within range. And the predictable F50 entries made our forwards look very average and the Saints interceptors look like champions. I hope Viney is cherry ripe for next week to bolster the midfield and TMac might need a run. But in the end the vibes were there early that the team wasn’t switched on. Unforgivable.

Zak Jones seemed to be tagging and harassing the entire midfield, while also getting his fair share of the ball.

6 May 5 Turner 4 Petracca 3 Gawn 2 McVee 1 Chandler

The midfield has been given a bath, looking at the stats at 3/4 time.

I must be missing something, he is not the problem.

Max misses again and it seems to be the same every time, the ball starts on track, then fads late to the left. Surely that technique problem is fixable?

That was U12 stuff, really. Had more time but just kicked it straight through the wrong sticks.

Getting some bad vibes about our attitude here.

At another classy bar?

From what I have heard but not seen myself, that might be his issue. He seems to have all the other tools.

On my morning bike ride and noticed the boys training at Gosch’s!

Yes I saw the incident you are talking about at the time where he had several players around him to dish off to but chose to try the snap. I put it down to his decision making is not yet tuned to AFL to speed, rather than selfishness. Of course his decision making may never catch up, but it should improve the more games he plays and if his confidence builds.

Yep it’s difficult to work out what Mills thought he was doing. It didn’t look like a “football act” to me. The Pearce Freo hit, to me was an unavoidable, unfortunate football act. What exactly was Pearce to do with the opponent running back with the flight of the ball? The one week is because Spargo wasn’t concussed I guess but I can’t remember was Moore actually concussed from the Kossie bump? The commentators, e.g. Bartel, Hird are saying the MRO findings are injury outcome based.

6 Pickett 5 Oliver 4 Salem 3 Petracca 2 Gawn 1 Langdon

And Max said after the game that Jordan was tagging Bowser! That’s a compliment from the Swan’s brains trust.

Yes extraordinary, never seen so many black cockatoos flying together in Melbourne. Loved how they flew in formation, reminiscent of a WWII bomber squadron, straight through the hundreds of seagulls circling and sent them flapping off in a panic. There is something surreal about the way they fly in slow motion.

A cracked cup! LUXURY I say!

Talk about stiff!

Umpiring in this match worth an AFL inquiry. But in the end if you kick with that level of accuracy, you will win most matches.

Loved all the player highlights, Kossie, Ian, Michaels, Winston Abraham, Michael Long and The Wiz briefly. But gee Stephen Michaels is a very impressive character, a real ambassador for the indigenous game.

6 Gawn 5 Melksham 4 Bowey 3 Oliver 2 Pickett 1 Petracca

I have asked this exact question a number of times, last season and this season. I fear we will never find out.