AFL Game Day R6 2021

[Grantysghost]

Interesting contrast between us and Melbourne.

I would say that Melbourne are much, much closer to their best form than we are - in fact, I doubt they can go much better than they did tonight. No passengers even amongst the lesser lights and they have zero injuries.

We have quite a few important players down on form (Bazlenka, JJ, Daniel to name a few) or just finding their feet (McNeil, Scott). We also have key injuries to Dunks, English and Williams.

If Melbourne somehow managed to avoid critical injuries, they should be the flag favourite.

Port? And remember it's only early, the pies are perennial May champions.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Melbourne went up in my estimations of them by a lot tonight.
Even without Dusty next week, and maybe Lambert, I expect them to respond.
We're going to have to adjust with some key outs too. Will be a real indication of both where we are, as well as how deep we bat list wise.

[Grantysghost]

It's between us and Port I reckon. Great to see the Tigers lose their want.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

It's between us and Port I reckon. Great to see the Tigers lose their want.

So you don't rate Melbourne?
I was waiting for them to be tested, as I had some doubts, but tonight's performance stamps them as a genuine threat.
I still have queries on their depth, when injuries hit. Especially in the midfield.
I'm disappointed that Dusty will miss next week, as I really want to see how our depth matches up.

[jeemak]

The very simple answer is because that's footy. They aren't a young side and have been bang average for the last 6 or 7 years. Their list management has not been very good but that always falls on the coach when they've made some big moves.

2-4 and their next 3 games are Essendon, Bulldogs and Melbourne.

A season and a half during a list rebuild/ transition period and because the media says they should be better to appease the biggest bunch of dickhead supporters in the league the coach is under pressure.

That's not footy, that's crap. Where because the list manager gets off Scott Free and the coach cops it all, in lieu of the media not understanding how footy works. It's bonkers.

[comrade]

So you don't rate Melbourne?
I was waiting for them to be tested, as I had some doubts, but tonight's performance stamps them as a genuine threat.
I still have queries on their depth, when injuries hit. Especially in the midfield.
I'm disappointed that Dusty will miss next week, as I really want to see how our depth matches up.

Make no mistake, the Demons wiped Richmond off the park last night.

How we handle Melbourne’s deep defensive structure will be telling. They set up a similar way to Geelong, always keeping shape and having one back very deep to clean up the messy forward 50 entry and then use the likes of Salem, Hunt and Langdon to ping it back. We’ve never handled Geelong’s structure well.

They also have a dominant ruck combo with Gawn/Jackson, and the one area we had a decent advantage over them (midfield) has now been reduced with the Dunkley injury.

At least we get 2 cracks at Melbourne during the H&A, inc at MCG. We will know where we sit prior to finals.

[DOG GOD]

Make no mistake, their backline containing May, Lever, Salem and Hunt are top notch right now. Playing their parts to a tee and setting the rest of the field up beautifully. Oliver, viney and Petracca form a great midfield, with Gawn and Jackson (improving a lot) giving them first use. If they keep injury free, and can keep all these mentioned players playing at their peak, then they are a huge threat for all.

And regarding Richmond, I am certainly not writing them off. They will come out firing next week, and if we play like we did in the 3rd quarter against GC, and the first half against GWS, we will be in for a fight. It certainly won’t be a walk in the park.

[Grantysghost]

So you don't rate Melbourne?
I was waiting for them to be tested, as I had some doubts, but tonight's performance stamps them as a genuine threat.
I still have queries on their depth, when injuries hit. Especially in the midfield.
I'm disappointed that Dusty will miss next week, as I really want to see how our depth matches up.

Ha I’m just being facetious with them. Not one of my favourite mobs.

Hard not to rate them after last night isn’t it, but they always find a away to self destruct. Although with their draw they really should finish top 4 now.

Very early in the season but it’s great news the Tigers look to be stumbling a bit. Beware the wounded champs though.

[comrade]

Ha I’m just being facetious with them. Not one of my favourite mobs.

Hard not to rate them after last night isn’t it, but they always find a away to self destruct. Although with their draw they really should finish top 4 now.

Very early in the season but it’s great news the Tigers look to be stumbling a bit. Beware the wounded champs though.

It’s definitely hard to get your head around Melbourne being a genuine contender but here we are. I slept on Richmond in 2017 until about 5 mins into the 3rd quarter of the Grand Final . I won’t be doing that with the Demons. Fingers crossed we stay fit (or they cop a few to even the ledger). It’s a long season though and a lot of water to go under the bridge yet. Getting a top 4 spot should be our absolute minimum target and anything is possible from there.

[bornadog]

Make no mistake, their backline containing May, Lever, Salem and Hunt are top notch right now. Playing their parts to a tee and setting the rest of the field up beautifully. Oliver, viney and Petracca form a great midfield, with Gawn and Jackson (improving a lot) giving them first use. If they keep injury free, and can keep all these mentioned players playing at their peak, then they are a huge threat for all.

And regarding Richmond, I am certainly not writing them off. They will come out firing next week, and if we play like we did in the 3rd quarter against GC, and the first half against GWS, we will be in for a fight. It certainly won’t be a walk in the park.

I think their backline is their main strength. In the practise match we played against them, they took mark after mark in the backline which means our forward entry strategy must be changed a bit. We are relying too much on Naughton, Bruce and English to take the big marks.

As for Richmond, they will now be tested having lost a couple of players to injury. They have been very lucky in the past 4 years with little injuries to main players. Lets see how they cope with no Dusty.

[The Adelaide Connection]

I think their backline is their main strength. In the practise match we played against them, they took mark after mark in the backline which means our forward entry strategy must be changed a bit. We are relying too much on Naughton, Bruce and English to take the big marks.

As for Richmond, they will now be tested having lost a couple of players to injury. They have been very lucky in the past 4 years with little injuries to main players. Lets see how they cope with no Dusty.

I think that game would have given us quite a lot of food for thought. May in particular was dominant and mopped up entry after entry.

The only question mark I have on Melbourne is their depth, particularly in the midfield and down back. Our defensive depth has already been tested and the loss of Dunkley and English will ask some extra questions of our middle and forward groups. They hit their only real test so far with a healthy squad, but time will tell.

The reality is they have a very soft looking draw and will likely win the next four. It would be a very Demon thing to somehow miss the top 4, but surely they are a lock.

[comrade]

I think that game would have given us quite a lot of food for thought. May in particular was dominant and mopped up entry after entry.

The only question mark I have on Melbourne is their depth, particularly in the midfield and down back. Our defensive depth has already been tested and the loss of Dunkley and English will ask some extra questions of our middle and forward groups. They hit their only real test so far with a healthy squad, but time will tell.

The reality is they have a very soft looking draw and will likely win the next four. It would be a very Demon thing to somehow miss the top 4, but surely they are a lock.

If they avoid injury, top 4 is a lock and should sit comfortably in the top 2. They are huge contenders. I’m more worried about them than any other side right now.

[bornadog]

I think that game would have given us quite a lot of food for thought. May in particular was dominant and mopped up entry after entry.

The only question mark I have on Melbourne is their depth, particularly in the midfield and down back. Our defensive depth has already been tested and the loss of Dunkley and English will ask some extra questions of our middle and forward groups. They hit their only real test so far with a healthy squad, but time will tell.

The reality is they have a very soft looking draw and will likely win the next four. It would be a very Demon thing to somehow miss the top 4, but surely they are a lock.

Good to have different teams in the top 4.

We must also remember, Tigers have lost 3 games, so they are down at the moment.

[DOG GOD]

I think their backline is their main strength. In the practise match we played against them, they took mark after mark in the backline which means our forward entry strategy must be changed a bit. We are relying too much on Naughton, Bruce and English to take the big marks.

As for Richmond, they will now be tested having lost a couple of players to injury. They have been very lucky in the past 4 years with little injuries to main players. Lets see how they cope with no Dusty.

I agree. Their backline is their definite strength. The way May and Lever Marshall that defence is top notch, allowing freedom to Salem and Hunt.

As much as I like to see our tall fwds plucking marks, we need to be able to deliver the ball in other ways to be a massive contender. What I like about Treloar, is that he’s one of our mids that banks on himself to run into the 50 and shoot for goal. Bonti does it on occasion. I’d like to see another mid/half fwd flanker that would take that on. JJ is one that could do this.

[DOG GOD]

It’s funny, a demon mate of mine was at the game last night. Before the game I messaged him saying “let’s see what you pretenders dish up tonight”. Obviously in the first 5-10 mins I had a smile on my face.

After the game I get a message back from him that simply said “now over to you guys. Let’s see who the pretenders are”. He’s referring to our meeting with the Tigers next week. And he’s right. Melbourne passed that test with more than flying colours. Now let’s see if we are genuine contenders or the dreaded pretender word. It’s in our hands. Make a statement or don’t.