Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

[The Adelaide Connection]

I read this article at work today and can't see any mention to it (apologies if it's been mentioned), but Melbourne may be without Gawn AND Preuss.

I'll also add a +1 to not understanding why everyone is suddenly gushing over Melbourne. They've had three training runs in a row and have done what they needed to do, but they were uber-awful against Port. Like, bad-bad. Surely no Gawn/Preuss (or playing one injured) would tip it in our favour?


Big problem: Hip injury has another Dees ruckman under an injury cloud
MELBOURNE is sweating on the fitness of Max Gawn and Braydon Preuss as it faces the prospect of being without a specialist ruckman against the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.

Gawn has missed the Demons' past two matches with a posterior cruciate ligament problem as well as a tear behind his shoulder, but the club's injury report now mentions only the knee injury.

Preuss stepped up to play his first senior game of the season in last Saturday's victory over Collingwood in the absence of Gawn and first-year big man Luke Jackson (hamstring), who could miss up to six more weeks.

However, Preuss left Wednesday's training session early after hurting his hip and underwent a scan.


Melbourne's high performance manager Darren Burgess remains confident the 206cm ex-Kangaroo will be available to take on the Bulldogs, but he will be monitored ahead of Saturday's game.

Gawn has also not been ruled out, but is no certainty to play, either.



If none of Gawn, Jackson or Preuss is ready to go, the Demons are likely to turn to some sort of combination between Tom McDonald, Adam Tomlinson and Sam Weideman.

The Dogs have their own injury concerns, with No.1 ruckman Tim English (ankle) in a race against time to be fit to play.


https://www.afl.com.au/news/487892/b...n-injury-cloud

[GVGjr]

Bruce TRIES HARD.

Naughton has been injured and if we plucked Bruce out we'd be relying on Schache who doesn't always try hard or Young who has clearly been discussed sufficiently around here anyway. The alternative in English can't hit the side of a barn etc...…….you know where I'm going with this.

It's not easy coming to a club, it's not easy doing so if not cherry ripe. Whatever the reasons for the latter piece the guys has been left to fight it out in the forward fifty himself for most of the year with a bunch of poor crumbing small to mid sized forwards in support who have been changing from week to week.

Just maybe, his form will improve once he has a partner to play with who also tries consistently with the rest hopefully adding the valuable support needed to make the forward line effective.

The only thing Bruce is 'trying' is my patience but I did have a chuckle.
I honestly don't get why we are so prepared to give him a free pass here. Some fat shame him but also want him picked and others say there is no alternatives but seem to insist that others in our group aren't being played because they don't have the form yet Bruce gets picked with not much to hang his hat on.
We've apparently paid top dollar for a decoy forward and I'm basing that on his performances so far.

I get he will be played but he has been disappointing performer. If form has anything to do with it we should be trying someone like Lewis Young or we could just play Sweet and leave English as a forward

[comrade]

Looking forward to Bruce dominating this week if picked, as it sounds like all that was missing for him to tear games apart was Naughton beside him.

What’s his pass mark now that the missing piece Is back? I’m thinking anything less than than 2-3 goals, handful of marks and 10+ touches is a fail.

[MrMahatma]

Has he really put on weight?

I’m not so sure. I reckon he’s just a big dude who slouches a bit. He doesn’t have a big gut.

[Bullies]

Has he really put on weight?

I’m not so sure. I reckon he’s just a big dude who slouches a bit. He doesn’t have a big gut.

I think it was his condition that was the concern when he returned. With the 1st ISO he went back to the farm and may not have done the work to maintain his fitness. You can see it in his second efforts he is exhausted. This also causes him to drop marks he would normally eat. If you look at his pre season game against Port he was up and about and had no issue with second efforts or grabbing his marks. He will be so much better with Astro in. I think Melbourne will be hoping he does NOT play.

[GVGjr]

Has he really put on weight?

I’m not so sure. I reckon he’s just a big dude who slouches a bit. He doesn’t have a big gut.

I'm not so sure he has, but there has been a few comments

[Axe Man]

Looking forward to Bruce dominating this week if picked, as it sounds like all that was missing for him to tear games apart was Naughton beside him.

What’s his pass mark now that the missing piece Is back? I’m thinking anything less than than 2-3 goals, handful of marks and 10+ touches is a fail.

Didn't you know it's all about possessions? Hopefully he can pick up a few cheap handballs to pump his numbers up.

[Mofra]

Naughton will eat him for breakfast here. Did you see his backwards loop against Talia? Magnificent.
Naughton I think has both May and Lever covered. May is more suited to Bruce but Lever on Naughton is a nightmare for Melbourne.

May isn't slow, but Naughton has him covered for agility. Really small turning circle for a tall

[soupman]

What’s his pass mark now that the missing piece Is back? I’m thinking anything less than than 2-3 goals, handful of marks and 10+ touches is a fail.

bUt HeS PLaYiNg iN a DeCOy FoRwARd rOlE.

Bruce is just so disappointing. I'm fine with him not dominating and at least working hard to try to have some impact but he is just give us nothing and has all year. Honestly the way he is currently playing we may as well have Fletcher Roberts playing at FF. I think it would be almost the exact same output, North game aside.

[comrade]

bUt HeS PLaYiNg iN a DeCOy FoRwARd rOlE.

Bruce is just so disappointing. I'm fine with him not dominating and at least working hard to try to have some impact but he is just give us nothing and has all year. Honestly the way he is currently playing we may as well have Fletcher Roberts playing at FF. I think it would be almost the exact same output, North game aside.

A big 4 year deal to play decoy to a 3rd year forward. Yippee..

[bornadog]

bUt HeS PLaYiNg iN a DeCOy FoRwARd rOlE.

Bruce is just so disappointing. I'm fine with him not dominating and at least working hard to try to have some impact but he is just give us nothing and has all year. Honestly the way he is currently playing we may as well have Fletcher Roberts playing at FF. I think it would be almost the exact same output, North game aside.

A big 4 year deal to play decoy to a 3rd year forward. Yippee..

Whilst he has been disappointing to date in an unusual season, I am still happy we made the right decision. Once he gets back to his peak, he will be very handy for us. As MJP says, you don't lose your ability overnight, and we know he is a great contested mark at his best and kicks lots of goals.

[Mantis]

I have no idea who to pick this week... In 50:50 games I always pick with the heart, but I don't trust us one bit.

The ultimate battle between the league's best ''flat track bullies''.

[Topdog]

I have no idea who to pick this week... In 50:50 games I always pick with the heart, but I don't trust us one bit.

The ultimate battle between the league's best ''flat track bullies''.

Yep, perfect summation. I dont think Melbourne are good but I don't trust us at all.

[Danjul]

Whilst he has been disappointing to date in an unusual season, I am still happy we made the right decision. Once he gets back to his peak, he will be very handy for us. As MJP says, you don't lose your ability overnight, and we know he is a great contested mark at his best and kicks lots of goals.

Last year Bruce kicked over 2 goals in 5 games - 6,4,3,3,3 and a total of 36 from 22 games (average 1.5)
Schache kicked over 2 goals in 5 games - 4,3,3,3,3 and a total of 23 from 13 games (average 1.7)

its a shame that Schache can’t kick goals like Bruce can.

Still trying to understand the enthusiasm

[jeemak]

The only thing Bruce is 'trying' is my patience but I did have a chuckle.
I honestly don't get why we are so prepared to give him a free pass here. Some fat shame him but also want him picked and others say there is no alternatives but seem to insist that others in our group aren't being played because they don't have the form yet Bruce gets picked with not much to hang his hat on.
We've apparently paid top dollar for a decoy forward and I'm basing that on his performances so far.

I get he will be played but he has been disappointing performer. If form has anything to do with it we should be trying someone like Lewis Young or we could just play Sweet and leave English as a forward

There's a couple areas that I think mitigate his performances that I think you undersell. He's had no support and a changing structure around him, meaning he's often double teamed (I get Naughton didn't have any support on the weekend but Adelaide are a rabble and supply was excellent), and much of our football has been played with a high press that has resulted in hugely congested forward areas.

Players who are down whether it be due to fitness or form can often perform well in sides where there's support and structure. We've not had that, aside from on the weekend and against North really. I know you think it's funny that I mentioned he tries hard, but it's the truth and it's not something that could be said of possible replacements with any certainty. We'll never know but I wonder how Schache or Young would have gone under the same set of circumstances. I can take a guess, you probably could too.

As for playing Sweet and putting English forward, I think that just opens us up to other issues and while English is fine swinging forward occasionally I reckon he'd find out the hard way just how difficult being a full time solo forward actually is.

Hopefully if played he will gel with Naughton. I believe this is our best potential combination for now and am keen to see it develop.