Review Round 14, 2023 vs Geelong

[Vdubs]

I was doing a bit of percolating about the game against Geelong and if we got more out of McKenzie and Dixon, I think we would have caned them.

15 to 5 goals after quarter time- we all know you caned us anyway. Do you guys think Ratugolea is still on your radar?

 

[Buget]

15 to 5 goals after quarter time- we all know you caned us anyway. Do you guys think Ratugolea is still on your radar?

Tall defenders are the need (and probably a ruck, but Lycett has been pretty decent the last couple of weeks). Jonas is finished and Mackenzie isn’t too far behind. Clurey has back problems, Pisani is returning from an ACL and Marshall is too raw. So the cupboard is thin,

reports are they are heavily into McKay, but I don’t think he will leave Melbourne. Ratugolea is probably the next best available. So I suspect any defender with height they would be into.

Given Ratugolea is getting games at Geelong, will he leave? I suspect as the CBA hasn’t been signed, it is holding up a few contracts.

 

[The Hobo]

Highs and lows always are magnified live at the game.

If the stats are to believed we had the ball in our front half for as much if not more time however squandered some shots at goal and giving up two late goals hurt us on the scoreboard.

Possession wise we were well down which was concerning, but part of this was how Geelong were setting up to move the ball forward for D50 to F50. Basically they were trying not to kick long to our defensive structures and were very disciplined in deliberately looking for the short kick (so a lot more kicks to move the ball forward than usual) which meant our defensive setup was too deep, and we allowing this kick .... this was one of the things we changed defensively at quarter time and it meant we forced Geelong to play the game from that point on (with the exception of about 10 minutes late in the third.

From 1/4 time on we were on top of the game, but it took some time to get in front on the scoreboard.

Yup, exactly how I saw it too.

 

[The Hobo]

Sometimes gifted players are lazy:

It's because they usually don't need to work as hard in the juniors to be the best.

Then when they hit seniors or AFL etc, they sometimes get found wanting - some struggle to make the adjustment whilst others crack on quickly.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Good win from your boys, congratulations.

Just wanted to comment on how unbelievable the change in SPP has been over the last few years. He was completely unstoppable, I ain't even mad. Every time he was near one of our ball carriers my heart just dropped because I knew a turnover and fast rebound was coming. Your side holds this form into September then big Sam will be my long range tip for Norm.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

15 to 5 goals after quarter time- we all know you caned us anyway. Do you guys think Ratugolea is still on your radar?

Yes, we need another one or two KPDs.

I kinda get the feeling he is happy in Geelong but we would love to have him.

The majority of the goals in the first quarter were through McKenzie's direct opponent. If we had a defender who curtailed those, we would have truly caned Geelong.

A guy like Tom Barrass would be good for us as well.

Ben McKay would come to us free.

We have a super interesting rest of the year on field and also off field.

 

[dirty2]

15 to 5 goals after quarter time- we all know you caned us anyway. Do you guys think Ratugolea is still on your radar?

Apparently we are still interested...

 

[jakey]

We will have a chance if it is a non Victorian team we play in the gf

* that ridiculous mindset. It's a game of football on an oval of grass.

 

[Festerz]

* that ridiculous mindset. It's a game of football on an oval of grass....

.......at the 'home' of Football in Melbourne with umpires who in the past have been more than willing to play favourites.

There can be no doubting that the venue and officiating has and always will play a part in determining Premierships.

Playing well enough to overcome those obstacles is what great teams do.

 

[jakey]

.......at the 'home' of Football in Melbourne with umpires who in the past have been more than willing to play favourites.

There can be no doubting that the venue and officiating has and always will play a part in determining Premierships.

Playing well enough to overcome those obstacles is what great teams do.

Agree with all of the above.

 

[Interstater]

Geelong have been dealing with being the away team at the MCG for generations against the "big" clubs like Collingwood.
It wouldn't hurt to have a closer look at how they have countered this MCG crap.
Enemy of my enemy etc.

But anyway, we are not there yet, we are a step closer on that glass bridge though.

I'll grab another bottle of that Sevenhill wine Festerz though 2 beers and some pepperjack shiraz at Harrys and then the Holdy was enough to make me entertaining last night. Everyone on the tram ride down there would agree.

Spoiler - Squid Games - You've been warned

 

[Waspy79]

There was nothing wrong with that tackle, his head didnt even come close to contacting the ground, so there was never any danger to his head. That's the criteria, a tackle that has the potential to cause injury.

Was a sling, making it illegal.

 

[yepits2020]

* that ridiculous mindset. It's a game of football on an oval of grass.

Thank you for your judgement. Anyway, it is a factor we will need to overcome. Why do you think the cows want two ovals at their place, one shaped like Adelaide oval and one like the MCG. And if you think there is no such thing as a home ground advantage that needs to be factored, then …..

 

[jakey]

Thank you for your judgement. Anyway, it is a factor we will need to overcome. Why do you think the cows want two ovals at their place, one shaped like Adelaide oval and one like the MCG. And if you think there is no such thing as a home ground advantage that needs to be factored, then …..

To say we're a chance only if we play an interstate side is a bit more than home ground advantage. But my response was OTT. Apologies.

 

[dirty2]

The whole VFL (AFL) is biased against "interstate" teams..

 

[Jason K]

Haven't had a chance to read this whole thread but what is impressing me most is how quickly we can score. At 20 points down at qtr time, I still had belief we could win. Been a long time since I could feel this way. Teams know we can go on a run like we did in the 3rd and it's starting to make them nervous which will only serve to compound the advantage.

 

[Interstater]

Thank you for your judgement. Anyway, it is a factor we will need to overcome. Why do you think the cows want two ovals at their place, one shaped like Adelaide oval and one like the MCG. And if you think there is no such thing as a home ground advantage that needs to be factored, then …..

When you have that many cows you need a lot of grass.

* that ridiculous mindset. It's a game of football on an oval of grass.

Your right, should we get there and have that mindset then we are stuffed.
And good teams overcome bad circumstances.

One last question because I don't have access to the replay, did Dangerfield go back on after the ribs, lungs, houston incident, win a free because he couldn't catch a ball he normally would of he didn't have fractured ribs (and it was a s**t throw), and then end up in hospital and not be able to fly home because of planes and decompression etc. As a leader of the players association you have to on some level admire that he went against what the association would recommend and returned to the field.

Hope he pulls up alright, and then goes and punches Rohan in the ribs for karma reasons.
Like Lever, Cameron etc, he was smart enough to leave the bovines, credit where its due.

Anyway, enjoy the week off everyone, looking forward to our maggies game (and the ashes test).

 

[dirty2]

Haven't had a chance to read this whole thread but what is impressing me most is how quickly we can score. At 20 points down at qtr time, I still had belief we could win. Been a long time since I could feel this way. Teams know we can go on a run like we did in the 3rd and it's starting to make them nervous which will only serve to compound the advantage.

Yeah at quarter time I wasn't happy.. but thought to my self we pull out finger out (we were s**t 1st quarter) we will be right back in it.

 

[Interstater]

Yeah at quarter time I wasn't happy.. but thought to my self we pull out finger out (we were s**t 1st quarter) we will be right back in it.

At quarter time I was looking for reasons from WGT and Timmy but they both sounded pissed off.
Some of their comments later in the game about the free kick count early on make a lot of sense in hindsight.

Really going this time, maybe.

 

[Gryllis]

I think McKenzie is not skating on thin ice but approaching it.

He's looked a little off the last few weeks after starting the season well and had a bad game this week.

Not sure his role is quite right. Watching how we setup down back on Thursday, we clearly wanted him as our deepest defender regardless of opponent. Probably to allow Bergman as the third tall and for Houstan/Farrell/Williams to be in more playmaking positions. Which meant starting on Rohan, who isn't a good match up for him. Then spending a little time on Stengle, Cameron and one of the Henrys, before handing them back to their primary defender.

Great that he's versatile, or has been, but I think the quicker medium/smaller forwards are now a bigger worry for him than the big blokes he's giving away a lot of height too.

It's all part of the team defence where they seem happy to allow size mismatches to keep our players where we want them (Aliir aside, who other teams try and move), but I think we should look at this.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

He's looked a little off the last few weeks after starting the season well and had a bad game this week.

Not sure his role is quite right. Watching how we setup down back on Thursday, we clearly wanted him as our deepest defender regardless of opponent. Probably to allow Bergman as the third tall and for Houstan/Farrell/Williams to be in more playmaking positions. Which meant starting on Rohan, who isn't a good match up for him. Then spending a little time on Stengle, Cameron and one of the Henrys, before handing them back to their primary defender.

Great that he's versatile, or has been, but I think the quicker medium/smaller forwards are now a bigger worry for him than the big blokes he's giving away a lot of height too.

It's all part of the team defence where they seem happy to allow size mismatches to keep our players where we want them (Aliir aside, who other teams try and move), but I think we should look at this.

Yeah, he's a terrible matchup on quick, young forwards. I thought Bergman would get Rohan but he had a more important job to do.

He is a bad matchup on Rohan who is fast, can lead, mark and finish.
He was also not the best on Ugle-Hagan either the week before.

I kinda felt that Geelong went through McKenzie whenever they could in the first quarter will excellent results.
There seemed to be some adjustments and we were better overall after that.

He still plays other areas of the game well but can be exploited like a oil-rich 3rd world country.
We will see if this gives us problems in finals where these things are exploited even more savagely.

 

[theouthouse]

Thank you for your judgement. Anyway, it is a factor we will need to overcome. Why do you think the cows want two ovals at their place, one shaped like Adelaide oval and one like the MCG. And if you think there is no such thing as a home ground advantage that needs to be factored, then …..

Powerstance practice. Meanwhile the Richmond theme song is blasted through loudspeakers at them and all sorts of cultural insensitivities floundered?

Seriously just have one ground thats a bit wider than the adelaide oval and mark out the different width dimensions accordingly. Length is neglible compared to girth, so they say.

 

[Vdubs]

Tall defenders are the need (and probably a ruck, but Lycett has been pretty decent the last couple of weeks). Jonas is finished and Mackenzie isn’t too far behind. Clurey has back problems, Pisani is returning from an ACL and Marshall is too raw. So the cupboard is thin,

reports are they are heavily into McKay, but I don’t think he will leave Melbourne. Ratugolea is probably the next best available. So I suspect any defender with height they would be into.

Given Ratugolea is getting games at Geelong, will he leave? I suspect as the CBA hasn’t been signed, it is holding up a few contracts.

Perhaps the lure of playing in a team that needs him and is a real chance of winning flags might see him go to Port. We need him, CS loves him, I love him as a player, but time will tell.

 

[TeeKray]

People realise that defenders are occasionally going to have goals kicked on them, right? And sometimes even in quick succession. When an opposition forward takes a strong mark it's quite possible that it was just good play by them and/or their teammate who kicked them the ball rather than the fault of a defender. Look at the overall picture of offensive and defensive contribution across weeks to assess a defender.

 

[Vdubs]

People realise that defenders are occasionally going to have goals kicked on them, right? And sometimes even in quick succession. When an opposition forward takes a strong mark it's quite possible that it was just good play by them and/or their teammate who kicked them the ball rather than the fault of a defender. Look at the overall picture of offensive and defensive contribution across weeks to assess a defender.

Spot-on, and the way your team gets MF clearances is astonishing and unstoppable (by us anyway), and that pressure is too much to blame the defenders.