Mate I was sitting there in the rain in row G on level 1 for 75% of the game, and when we fell 50 points behind, that was my signal to go because me and the Mrs were getting wet, and whilst we all support the club, every single club has fans that leave early once the game is gone.
Again, there are lots of good reasons for people to leave (weather being one)
Another couple of good reasons are trying to avoid the public transport crush and trying to avoid being out in public any later than necessary in crime-riddled Melbourne.
Young earned his place in the team after spending much of the season in the VFL
Young had reached his ceiling and found wanting at AFL. Best to give someone else a go. Even a MSD pick might be OK
Why do we persist with players that won’t be part of a premiership team?
With so many teams in the league (and another one on the way) the depth of talent has never been worse and the mechanisms for recruiting or developing better players (especially tall options) have never been so strained. You only need to look at our VFL team to realise that the number of players capable of playing better than guys like Young are few and far between.
Dropping players from the list - just because of limitations to their potential ceilings - could well consign a club to long-term failure - e.g. since 1995.
We played Hawthorn a while back in the rain and got spanked, tonight we didn't handle the slippery conditions again. It's clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.
Spot on. The short passing and possession handball game is definitely more risky in the wet.
Apart from the increasingly wet conditions, the other main turning point seems to have been when Dean went off and stayed off injured in the second term. He was not a factor when he returned and Weitering was similarly less effective without Dean's support.
One feature of the team's improved performance after the coaching change seems to be the willingness and commitment to forwards selflessly kicking the ball back into the corridor within the forward 50 arc to set up better goal-scoring opportunities - just as well as the forwards still miss goals that they should kick.
Excellent all round effort by the boys to incrementally and systematically contain Melb. Very professionally done. Loved Pitto’s effort in eventually nullifying Gawn who looked spent to me as the 2H unfolded and also a great effort by Lord in largely nullifying Kosie. We are becoming a very professional outfit. Loved it!!
Kudos to the MC and/or coaching team who pulled all the right reins with team selection and planning - not just yesterday but to turn around the disastrous start to the season.
Just as well Pickett was busy being a show pony - flying for big marks and trying to kick goals whenever he was inside the 50 metre arc - we might have been behind at 3/4 time if he had managed to kick some of the goals
Hollands earned his place today and will be hard to displace next week.
Best game from Cottrell for many a moon - shame he kept narrowly missing the goals.
Young did his job but could still be omitted for Derksen next week - Wonder if Hayward and/or Newman might be available next week.
Florent is the sort of player who has many facets to his game, and his contribution is imho invaluable around the back of stoppage. Watch he polices the back of it, and often is the second posession at the source using it well.
Charleson might be good enough, but there is a leadership, experience and multi faceted component to his play.
A lot of his knockers have egg on their face. There was no shame not being able to get a gig at sydney. They'd love to him right now.
Florent serves a similar role to how Saad used to carry the ball through the lines, but he is much more poised because he does not always run to the left to set up a left foot kick, which cuts down the attacking options, plus he is a more reliable kick and uses effective hand passes to bring teammates along for the ride.
Hollands showed great effort but still turned the ball over on several occasions - I can't imagine he will retain a place in the team now that Acres has returned to form.
I think that it's time to concede that the new ruck rules, as flawed as they may be, haven't disadvanteaged Pitto and he's probably playing the best footy of his career.
He has adapted well, deserves a lot of kudos, and I'd suggest he has been very well coached because we are seeing now that even if he is beaten to the tap he's capable of creating a clearance by controlling the space around the contest, and that is far far more important.
Getting beaten in taps doesn't mean being beaten in the contest.
He's got Fraser and Kreuzer to feed off, should we expect any less from our rucks?
Even Young and Harry are looking better, both of them compete, especially in F50 and then immediately spread to become a target. In the past they would compete then stand watching.
Credit to Pitto for adapting to the new ruck rules, which severely disadvantaged him earlier in the year.
Credit to Lewis Young for his development into something resembling a ruckman and playing better football than he has shown since his initial season with the club - I guess playing second fiddle to Weitering as a defender severely restricted his capabilities.
Speaking of Weitering, I noticed that he seemed to be limping at various times during the game and spent all or most of the final quarter on the bench - hope he is okay for next week.
