I don't ever injury cheer, but I bet our makeshift back 6 for the next few weeks just took a big ******* sigh of relief. Now they've just got to deal with an ageing slow JR and some short bois (idk maybe they throw Balta forward but he's been in pretty good nick down back)
Autopsy Should have Could have - but didn't. Down by 2 against Port
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Kapers
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Ok, I am absolutely sick of people talking about best defender, and how Franklin makes McDonald's life so much easier, so I made a little graph for the all of the season and all of last.
Yes, it's a small sample size, but the extrapolations are obvious.
1. Even against bad sides McDonald goes missing when Franklin is there (First Essendon game, first st Kilda game, and first Hawthorn game).
2. McDonald doesn't go goalless when he's the focal point
3. He has still hit the score board against the best sides when Buddy is out (only one game for the sample size, so tough to extrapolate).
4. He's taken forward steps this year. Last year he never got more than 2 games while scoring goals, this year he hasn't been held goaless.
If you want to disagree because of sample size, sure go for it, but you can't tell me it's not worth exploring when he kicks more than 2 goals on average than when buddy is in the side.
| Games With Buddy | Goals | Games without Buddy | Goals |
| GWS | 0 | West Coast | 2 |
| Geelong | 0 | Melbourne | 3 |
| Hawthorn | 1 | Hawthorn | 5 |
| GCS | 1 | ||
| Essendon | 0 | ||
| Carlton | 3 | ||
| Richmond | 0 | ||
| Port Adelaide | 0 | ||
| St Kilda | 0 | ||
| Essendon | 0 | ||
| North Melbourne | 2 | ||
| Collingwood | 0 | ||
| St Kilda | 2 | ||
| Melbourne | 0 | ||
| Collingwood | 1 | ||
| GCS | 2 | ||
| Melbourne | 1 | ||
| Port Adelaide | 2 | ||
| Average | 0.8333333333 | Average | 3.333333333 |
| Comparison of the same teams | |||
| Average Hawthorn Buddy Difference | -2 | ||
| Average Melbourne Buddy Difference | -2.5 | ||
| No current info on WC |
Yes, it's a small sample size, but the extrapolations are obvious.
1. Even against bad sides McDonald goes missing when Franklin is there (First Essendon game, first st Kilda game, and first Hawthorn game).
2. McDonald doesn't go goalless when he's the focal point
3. He has still hit the score board against the best sides when Buddy is out (only one game for the sample size, so tough to extrapolate).
4. He's taken forward steps this year. Last year he never got more than 2 games while scoring goals, this year he hasn't been held goaless.
If you want to disagree because of sample size, sure go for it, but you can't tell me it's not worth exploring when he kicks more than 2 goals on average than when buddy is in the side.
I reckon Amartey could be a Allir type interceptor has fantastic leap and agility and can take a strong contested mark.
He's going to get 3 weeks from the tribunal anyway
RedBloodBlackSwan
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It’s also a crazy argument to make that we shouldn’t get him to the be focal point because there is currently a lack of significant evidence of him performing as the focal point.
That’s why people are saying to make him the focal point, because we haven’t done so for an extended period of time!
I've gone through the Buddy-less games on here before as well.
Those of us arguing that Buddy himself isn't the problem, know this small selection of games. It's not new info.
The King!
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whats Buddy get without Mcdonald?
theres no arguing he needs more targeting though , agree 100%
* even if bud stays, let McDonald start at the goal square, send a clear message
buddy can start on the wing for the bounce even
RedBloodBlackSwan
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No fast or agile enough.
People are trying to find roles for buddy rather than fill roles for the team. It’s sad, but Father Time has caught up and the team needs to look forward.
Buddy will still have a few good games in him, but the poor ones will continue to become more common - and his ability is now way below the level necessary to throw team balance out.
Yep. Buddy averaged over 2 a game last year, and there's no telling what he'd have gotten in the games we were without him. Logan also benefited from Reid taking better defenders in most of the games without Buddy too.
We do need to use him though, he got absolutely burnt free in the pocket late vs Port and we just went to a contest.
The King!
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I just meant literally start there , just away from the square, or maybe bench start
The King!
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Buddys form is an issue
but dropping him wont fix our appalling midfield delivery and decision making imo
It's a shame Reid is so broken. Our forward line has a better balance with him in the team. The current mix of talls is too dysfunctional even on paper. Buddy's too old, McDonald too raw and Amartey too average. None can kick reliably and only Amartey even tries to compete in the air. At least with Reid we'd get a few contested marks up forward.
I wouldn't be retiring Buddy just get. That was his first real shocker of the season. He's contributed in every other game he's played.
I wouldn't be retiring Buddy just get. That was his first real shocker of the season. He's contributed in every other game he's played.
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Kapers
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Buddy def isn't the problem, it's how we use him. I wouldn't let him inside the 50m atm. The midfielders brains go to mush.
Dubai Quacker
Wily Old Campaigner
Dubai Quacker
Wily Old Campaigner
I actually think it will.
The King!
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I hope you are right,
it does create more space when he is out it seems
well guess i hope he plays and we play well as a first preference
sataris
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Wheresbuddy
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It just seems like when buddy is in the team the midfield want to get it to him no matter what. Given his drop in speed and reaction team, he doesn't get separation from the good defenders anymore and this results in the long bomb to an overhead contest. When he's not in the side, we tend to look for the best forward option to kick to. We are a better side without buddy because it refocuses our attack onto multiple options. Maybe if we played Buddy on a HF flank or Forward pocket and were a bit more judicious in targeting him, he could stay. But if we keep bombing it to him its going to be a bloody long and frustrating season.
Banyo Bloods
Norm Smith Medallist
We quite often kick to Papley as well when he is closely guarded. Perhaps paps and Buddy are just the best at using their voice.
I’m happy to stick with Bud at
This stage it’s more reliant on Amartey sticking his marks as he had plenty of opportunity for it to look like it’s working and make defenders panic.
I’m happy to stick with Bud at
This stage it’s more reliant on Amartey sticking his marks as he had plenty of opportunity for it to look like it’s working and make defenders panic.
Way too early to worry about McDonald. Look at Tom Hawkins - was considered disappointing until the 2011 Grand Final, which was the last game of his 5th (!) season.
The King!
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the midfield bomb to everyone
i think we aim to get it inside 50 asap
then hold it in there
i think we aim to get it inside 50 asap
then hold it in there
I'm confident Logan will be fine, I just don't think having him as the focal point over Buddy will improve anything.
We're just making poor decisions with ball in hand which leads to added pressure on the defence. A mix of poor F50 entries to 2 of the best intercepting KPDs in the last 2 weeks, and not converting very gettable shots hasn't helped. It's easy for people to hang it all on certain players.
We were well below our best, but if we don't have both McCartin's go down early I think we carry on our 1st qtr form for longer and at least get a 20-30 point win.
We were lucky to have Fox as sub, and he did well despite a lack of match fitness. Rampe was peak Rampe, Lloyd was good, Florent was crucial. But we had to restructure our whole defence and that has flow on effects.
We should still have won, but it reminded me of Hewett getting concussed early, similarly Blakey getting hobbled with a cork early, then Reid going down in the 2nd half against the Suns in 2021. We lost by 40, then had the Cats the next week. Rampe was out, Tom McCartin still young in the KPD game just came back from injury, and we had Dawson as the 3rd tall defender (Melican was the 2nd). Had one of our best wins in recent history.
We should account for the Tigers (it'd be nice to see a live win for the first time in 5 years), trust Rampe, Fox, Gould/Francis to do the job. Tigers had Tarrant go down in VFL so they're short on talls in general.
We were lucky to have Fox as sub, and he did well despite a lack of match fitness. Rampe was peak Rampe, Lloyd was good, Florent was crucial. But we had to restructure our whole defence and that has flow on effects.
We should still have won, but it reminded me of Hewett getting concussed early, similarly Blakey getting hobbled with a cork early, then Reid going down in the 2nd half against the Suns in 2021. We lost by 40, then had the Cats the next week. Rampe was out, Tom McCartin still young in the KPD game just came back from injury, and we had Dawson as the 3rd tall defender (Melican was the 2nd). Had one of our best wins in recent history.
We should account for the Tigers (it'd be nice to see a live win for the first time in 5 years), trust Rampe, Fox, Gould/Francis to do the job. Tigers had Tarrant go down in VFL so they're short on talls in general.
Wheres the graph?
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