Earl Hood

Maybe not this game but we are not far off just playing the future to work out what we have got. But for the next game I think it is Weid in AVB out. Maybe OMac in down back as well but depends on matchups. I would like to see Sparrow get a run but who do you drop from the midfield and let’s face it given this years training, playing restrictions I say don’t make more than 2 changes per game. We made 12 changes in 2 games so the side struggles to know what players are going to do. I still have the feeling we have some good cattle but we are not instructed well and don’t have a great game plan. 

6 Gawn

5 Brayshaw

4 Oliver

3 Tomlinson

2 Hibberd

1 TMac

45 minutes ago, joeboy said:

Gawn - failed to dominate 

Viney - used ball poorly

Oliver - rarely effective disposal 

Petracca - tried but limited

Tomlinson - seemingly without passion

Brayshaw - just a game

Langdon - had little influence 

Salem - overrated and slow

Harmes - loose and slow

Hibberd - good first half

Melksham - not team focused

Hannan - tried but lacking 

Rivers - some costly turnovers 

May - steady and reliable 

Fritsch - couldn’t get involved

McDonald - devoid of effort

Lockhart - tried but clumsy

Lever - no second efforts

Hunt - had limited opportunities 

Pickett - occasionally looked dangerous 

Smith - lost in defence

vandenBerg - far from ready 

 

Strewth you can argue TMac’s impact but lack of effort? Got too numerous contests, took one front on and kicked an important goal in a shizen game. 

9 minutes ago, Macca said:

And if we dominate from the stoppages you'd like to think that just by the pure numbers involved,  we'd have enough clean and crisp clearances to turn that into an advantage

In 2018 we did that to a certain degree but in 2019 our clearances were often without any purpose whilst being delivered to a dysfuntional forward line

So where does the braintrust exist ...amongst the personnel involved or the 2 blokes (Plapp & Matthews) charged with organising our midfield and stoppages work? 

Will certainly be watching how we deliver the ball into our forward 50. We have gone with a smallish forward setup so we better not be bombing long to the square! 

Hey Rusty I don’t think we have 6 on the bench this year but I am agreeing with you, Harmes should play a shutdown mid role and drift forward when he can because he can score. But they are struggling to fit in a number of contested mids who don’t naturally have a second string, e.g. Brayshaw, Viney, and Oliver to some extent. 

1 minute ago, Rusty Nails said:

Harmes generally gut runs both ways and covers off his man well when played in the middle.  Also occasionally damages any lazy opponents he might be on when pushing forward.

One of many perplexing experiments by Goody that doesn't seem to have alot of upside but offers plenty of down.

Reminds me of last season starting chunk and Lewis on either wing on occasions.   Goody must have a death wish looking at some of these tactics.

Is all this a result of us drafting a similar player type over about 5 consecutive draft years? Under Roos and now Goodwin we have brought in a plethora of contested midfield types who largely have clicked. That is good but now we don’t know where to play them all. 

53 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

From that extended bench I hope we take in Lockhart, Pickett, Brayshaw, Jetta. 

Smith should play forward or warm the bench.

They probably won’t push Smith forward I think as he has trained down back all preseason, so am hoping they go with Jackson to give us at least 2 talls up forward and take some heat off Fritsch and Melk.  

3 minutes ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

Delist. 

Many more candidates ahead of Petty for a delist. We are very short on tall key position players at the moment. 

12 minutes ago, loges said:

Yes, the game has changed and so has the training. Those stars from yesteryear would obviously be trained for the modern game, not be stuck in some training time warp from the 1990's . Off course they'd be stars today.

I'm a TMac fan Saty, but he's struggling and we need him back in form.

 

 

 

I think the only MFC KPF star of yesteryear that would struggle today would be Jakovich. More than enough talent but he had attitude issues, didn’t like training all that much, wasn’t overly fit and was a free spirit who would not have liked being put in a straight jacket with all of today’s team rules and coaching. 

1 minute ago, Beetle said:

Time will tell. I did edit my original post too. I thought the game was down there..

We could be too fresh after one game in how many months? I hope tomorrow’s Intra Club at the MCG is full on. I don’t want manic tackling but it should go the full time to test their fitness and make it clear performances will count. 

2 hours ago, Satyriconhome said:

So what you actually want is the ball bombed in and the forwards pack marking?

 

Well come on Saty you can make that argument but if we insist on bombing it in long we may as well train for it even though many say, as I do we used to train differently. From my PreCovid training observations we move the ball around but in a game we bomb long? Que. 

16 minutes ago, Win4theAges said:

Frost bashers where are you????? Big big mistake letting him go. A Rolls Royce at the Hawks, didn't miss a target tonight and never got caught holding the ball.

What does this say about our coaching group? FML. 

This was always likely, anyone watching Frost over his journey could see he was progressively limiting his clangers and increasing his zingers, if that is a word to describe his extraordinary athletic and often audacious dashes out of defence. He was always a defensive weapon just had to work to his strengths, size and speed and limit his kicking errors. In a well organised defence it seems it is working. 

Tigers totally outplayed yet had one less scoring shot and kicked I think 2 goals 6 from set shots and those set shots weren’t difficult. Now we regularly kicked the same from set shots last year and reckon it cost us about 4 games. Can’t work out why they don’t put more store into goal kicking accuracy. It wins games. 

Christ can Hawthorn just go away, ever? They look like premiership stuff this half again! 

4 minutes ago, AaronDaveyChipsAndGravey said:

Haven't seen Richmond this clueless in recent memory. No system whatsoever

Looks like it is going to be a bizarre year. The Tiges are making every error you can think up. 

That last free for holding the ball in front of goal was rubbish. Yes the tiger grabbed the loose ball was immediately tackled, no prior but actually got a stifled handball in to release the ball, but gets pinged. Hawks look to be on fire but the Tigers have been insipid. 

What’s going on with the Tigers? They look like us, missing targets by foot, handballs to your feet, missing a set shot from dead in front, leaving key forwards unguarded. Bizarre. 

Would love Sparrow to get a guernsey to see what he has got. But gee as an inside/outside mid he is going to struggle to get a run with Oliver, Viney, Tracc, Brayshaw and Harmes and newbies Langdon and Tomlinson ahead of him. Only so many midfield/wing spots available I suppose. 

6 Petracca

5 Oliver

4 Gawn

3 Hunt

2 Rivers

1 Langdon

Kid can play

25 minutes ago, Half forward flank said:

Sam Frost and your Lever

Lever 5.5 marks per game career average

Sam Frost 5.3 per game career average

I like Frosty but he is just a battler and has as good a stats as Lever. Hope I am wrong but never liked this deal. Two first round picks..

Jeremy Howe walking out has cost us a lot in retrospect. We would not have needed to chase Lever as an intercept back and instead would have taken our first rounders. So far Lever is just a player, hope this changes. 

21 minutes ago, The Swimming Dee said:

Smith isn’t up to it. He is a great athlete but not a footballer.

The majority of our issue today was workrate after quarter time. Sort that out and we aren’t a bad team. TMac needs to find form quick

Trouble is work rate is mental stuff not fitness. We got arrogant in the second quarter, thinking it was just going to be a stroll in the park and what worries me the over confident, lairising culprits were our on field leaders, Max and Steven May in the second quarter giving away 2 goals and letting the Blues back into the game. After that the team lost its nerve and confidence. That said it is Smith out,  OMac in I think. Kossie in and Lockhart possibilities. And the Weid in and need to seriously look at TMac 

2 minutes ago, andrewb said:

Hi everyone, first time poster here. Very happy to get a win, but a bit disappointed with the capitulation. I reckon it will take a few rounds for the crazy scenarios of the past 3 months to settle things down. I am a bit gobsmacked that this is a fan forum and the level of virtriol from 'fans' at our team. From reading a couple of threads it would seem that many posters forget our team is up against another team trying to win, and that our guys deliberately go out of the way to cause them angst. There is more to life than pissanting on dees players after a win, surely. 

Andrew you are making sense, don’t worry you will learn! Welcome aboard. 

11 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Casboult, McGovern and McKay combined for all of 2 goals. I don't think we missed the big witches hat at all.

Ummh 2 goals what though? If they kicked their set shots? 

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Did you see Tomlinsons' attempts at overhead marks today? He's inept in that area for his size.

Rivers, Harmes and Joel Smith give us 3 mobile defenders with height who can hit the contests, they just need up field pressure and confidence to attack the ball or man.

The first quarter showed what the backline can do when the pressure is on. The backline's bigger problem was knowing their roles and finding the right balance.

The forward and mid accountability was - as usual - horrendous. 

 

Sorry I am a Smith fan but he was shizen today, no idea when to go or when to stay back on your man, total liability. Yes his first game down back but I worry now about his footy IQ. He has ability but how do you use it. I wonder if he is best used on the wing, looks like a limited future. I thought Tomlinson was okay today myself. He wasn’t recruited to take big marks.