Toast Round 24 = Melbourne 57-103 Collingwood

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To be fair I think he will probably cop 2-3 weeks for it because that's the way the MRO goes with these nowadays, just saying I wouldn't be surprised if he got off as well given the circumstances because they'd at least have a case to argue. I reckon Pickett was going to get there first if Moore had kept his feet, which is why Moore chose to slide in desperation to get the ball away from him because he (Moore) knew he was likely cooked if it came down to a contest.
My take - at the point Moore slid Pickett had the opportunity to run past him and continue going for the ball. Instead, he took his focus off the ball and chose to bump Moore. Pickett will absolutely cop weeks, and rightly so.
 
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This the problem with Melbourne
They are obsessed with the past and blaming everything else except themselves for their own demise.
It’s almost like they are high on cocaine and think they are shit hot and nothing is their fault.
 

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Could be a number of things.
Trac talk (although Goody reckons he stays for 5 yrs) Oliver fitness etc and Neal-Bullen leaving.
Pert remaining as CEO and constantly dribbling shit.
Oh, and who knows what pearls of wisdom Steven May will come up with at the B&F?
What about Ed all duck, no dinner?
 
His mistake was to deviate into Moore’s path in order to bump.
He could have just continued to attack the ball and not made contact, but chose otherwise.

Bit unfortunate, tried to shift a 100 kg+ giant off the line of the ball, had to use force in the option he used.

At the end of the day, elected to bump, got him high and Moore was concussed.
 
Whole year, they have been saying if you elect to bump, you have a duty of care.

Now all of a sudden it doesn't matter and the excuses come out?

Pickett could have played the ball instead of bumping, surprised not one of those so called experts came out with that point.
Oh I agree completely. But working on the assumption that it was a glancing blow and Moore was fine to come back on, he might have gotten away with a fine.
As soon as you put a player out of the game via a bump though it’s weeks.

Hodge annoyed me though. As soon as it happened he started victim blaming Moore, as if Pickett shouldn’t have expected Moore to lower himself down to get a ground ball so therefore the contact was Moores fault. No idea what he thinks Moore’s alternative was other than soccer the ball directly out of bounds and give away a free… 🤦🏻
 
Did we see a small change in game plan last night heading forward? We were happy to possess the ball more and methodically move into the forward 50. I think Fly tried some subtle changes last night.


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I saw this differently. We always look to chip forward but any team that is trying, man’s up and we have to kick down the line or handball to Nobes. I have not seen an opposition as unwilling to run to man up all year as Ds. They only wanted to run in numbers when they had the ball. They were a good team when an elite mid group won clearances and an elite defence won contest when mids failed. Mids were never two way runners, unlike ours.
 
Predictable bruise free last game of the season - no point impacting anyone else's pre season by getting a medium to long term injury in the last game.

Nice to go out with a decent win though. the last 5 games have given me hope that, with some luck on the injury front, we'll be back up at the pointy end next year.

Great to see Allan & Parker play so well. I didn't realise Allan was so big - definitely in the 'just play him' category now.

Hopefully, Nick will get the 3 votes. Him winning the Brownlow will really piss off opposition supporters, especially the Scum.

I really hope Richards sticks around, I think he's got a decent future, and with Elliott near the end, he could grab that spot.

The trade period will be very interesting. I wonder how many of our fringe players like Macrae, McInnes, Kruger etc will find themselves at other clubs, looking for greater opportunity. Fly said we are looking for a key forward - that will be interesting, given our poor draft hand.

Anyway, that's that for another year. Go Saints & Go Freo!!
 
So there's no acknowledgement of the potentially dangerous act of Moore taking out Pickett's legs due to his deliberate decision to go to ground at the last moment and slide into the ball? It would be entirely reasonable to think that a player would keep their feet and not take the legs out from under an opponent in that situation, the sliding rule is in place to cut out that exact type of action from players after all. If Pickett comes out of that contact with a bad ankle injury or an ACL and is out an extended period does that change anything?

I know we've got blinkers on this one for obvious reasons, but I don't think it's as cut and dried as most on here would think after having watched it again multiple times - Moore definitely contributed to the contact significantly in a way Pickett couldn't have anticipated or most likely avoided in the time he had to do so when it looked like a regular bit of body contact in the process of pushing the ball towards the boundary line coming in.

Where the MRO / tribunal end up on this is anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if Pickett does get off.
I’m sorry but I’ve watched the replay of that over and over again and I can’t see for the life of me how you could regard Moores slide as “taking out the legs”.
1. He’s not sliding towards Pickett creating force against the lower leg (you know, the type of slide that Goodes used to do which was the reason for the rule in the first place)

2. His body remains relatively upright, to the point that his head is high enough to be taken out by Picketts forearm. To be regarded as a dangerous “taking out the legs” type slide the player needs to be low enough that the impact is legs only. Impact with the torso basically negates any danger to the legs breaking or knees busting.

I get you’re trying to play some kind of devils advocate here, but you’re barking up the wrong tree with this argument.
 
Yep, it's those 3 plus DeMattia, Jiath n co that'll keep us relevant over the next few years.
Yeah dunno why we keep hearing that our under 25s are terrible. Development takes time, not everyone can be Nick Daicos instant impact style

Hopefully next year we see a Geelong style move and have these guys player regular seniors and being competitive, balanced out with the veterans
 

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"This mob next door, I haven't had a chance to reflect on Melbourne. Max Gawn is a player of a generation isn't he with the way he goes about it. They've had a tough year and they're a very competitive group so I wanted to pay my respect to Melbourne and Goody [Simon Goodwin] with the challenges ahead of him"."

I think I need to watch the video to get more context on this quote because... whaaaat? Challenges ahead of him? 🤔🤔🤔

Nothing more than the same challenges ahead of us I reckon insomuch as 2 teams that regularly play finals and expected to play finals and not playing finals. Not sure why we need to look for anything more in it than that.
 
Yeah dunno why we keep hearing that our under 25s are terrible. Development takes time, not everyone can be Nick Daicos instant impact style

Hopefully next year we see a Geelong style move and have these guys player regular seniors and being competitive, balanced out with the veterans
Bingo. Nick is a freak.

Look at Josh, really struggled in his first 4 seasons. Now an All Australian who would walk into any team in the league.
 
Predictable bruise free last game of the season - no point impacting anyone else's pre season by getting a medium to long term injury in the last game.

Nice to go out with a decent win though. the last 5 games have given me hope that, with some luck on the injury front, we'll be back up at the pointy end next year.

Great to see Allan & Parker play so well. I didn't realise Allan was so big - definitely in the 'just play him' category now.

Hopefully, Nick will get the 3 votes. Him winning the Brownlow will really piss off opposition supporters, especially the Scum.

I really hope Richards sticks around, I think he's got a decent future, and with Elliott near the end, he could grab that spot.

The trade period will be very interesting. I wonder how many of our fringe players like Macrae, McInnes, Kruger etc will find themselves at other clubs, looking for greater opportunity. Fly said we are looking for a key forward - that will be interesting, given our poor draft hand.

Anyway, that's that for another year. Go Saints & Go Freo!!
Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

In Allan and Parker, just maybe we have found some quality youth to go on with Naicos. Cupboard may not be as bare on youth as some have suggested.

Whilst we have not backed up with another flag, we have achieved the next best thing - beating Carlton at home and Carlton away:)
 
I listened to it. It’s really not clear what he was talking about.

It’s 6 mins into the presser if you want to listen.

It was a response to a question about Nick’s standing in Brownlow contention. Responded by listing other very good footballers he’d be contending against.
 
Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

In Allan and Parker, just maybe we have found some quality youth to go on with Naicos. Cupboard may not be as bare on youth as some have suggested.

Whilst we have not backed up with another flag, we have achieved the next best thing - beating Carlton at home and Carlton away:)
And you can include people like Smit, who’s shown some solid talent early
 
I’m sorry but I’ve watched the replay of that over and over again and I can’t see for the life of me how you could regard Moores slide as “taking out the legs”.
1. He’s not sliding towards Pickett creating force against the lower leg (you know, the type of slide that Goodes used to do which was the reason for the rule in the first place)

2. His body remains relatively upright, to the point that his head is high enough to be taken out by Picketts forearm. To be regarded as a dangerous “taking out the legs” type slide the player needs to be low enough that the impact is legs only. Impact with the torso basically negates any danger to the legs breaking or knees busting.

I get you’re trying to play some kind of devils advocate here, but you’re barking up the wrong tree with this argument.

Ok just to be clear look at these three screen caps inside of one second apart.

Feel free to tell me that looks like something else and that there isn't an argument that Pickett was reasonably bracing for contact with eyes on the ball, after which his legs were taken out from under him by Moore's decision to slide.

1724470069920.png

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1724470228893.png
 
So there's no acknowledgement of the potentially dangerous act of Moore taking out Pickett's legs due to his deliberate decision to go to ground at the last moment and slide into the ball? It would be entirely reasonable to think that a player would keep their feet and not take the legs out from under an opponent in that situation, the sliding rule is in place to cut out that exact type of action from players after all. If Pickett comes out of that contact with a bad ankle injury or an ACL and is out an extended period does that change anything?

I know we've got blinkers on this one for obvious reasons, but I don't think it's as cut and dried as most on here would think after having watched it again multiple times - Moore definitely contributed to the contact significantly in a way Pickett couldn't have anticipated or most likely avoided in the time he had to do so when it looked like a regular bit of body contact in the process of pushing the ball towards the boundary line coming in.

Where the MRO / tribunal end up on this is anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if Pickett does get off.

They were running virtually parallel to the footy. There wasn’t any danger of Moore taking out Pickett’s legs until Pickett changed directions to bump.
 
Actually shocked that Dixon and Brereton are talking sense about the Pickett incident.

They're spot on. Moore goes for the ball and Pickett deliberately bumps. It's irrelevant if Moore lowers his body.

This. The buffoons on Fox last night (Bucks included) trying to lay the blame on Moore. Just bizarre logic. Moore went for the ball, who cares if he lowered his body. Pickett decided to bump over playing the footy and concussed his opponent. Enjoy a Round 4 start to 2025.
 
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Ok just to be clear look at these three screen caps inside of one second apart.

Feel free to tell me that looks like something else and that there isn't an argument that Pickett was reasonably bracing for contact with eyes on the ball, after which his legs were taken out from under him by Moore's decision to slide.

View attachment 2089330

View attachment 2089331

View attachment 2089335
Are you really trying to make this argument using screenshots from a single angle?
And not even convincing ones either, because the first shot shows them both going the same direction and the second shows Pickett very clearly deviating his direction away from the ball and toward Moore in order to make contact.
And you really need to look in to the rules regarding low contact with the legs because you’re interpreting it completely wrong.
 
Anabelle from Hotrods has written a big report on the game.

We knew it was a dead rubber prior to the match but there were still things to be gained from it.



Nick needed another huge match to add to his Brownlow credentials.



It’s always great to finish a season on a high note, regardless of ladder position.



We had youngsters performing their dress rehearsals on a bigger stage – Parker, Allan, Richards, Dean and Macrae.



Maybe most of all we wanted to add even more to the positive side of the ledger in our win-loss ratio with the Dees and silence these Maynard booing theatregoers.



In essence we probably ticked off all criteria and our fans drowned out those in red and blue despite it being their home game.



As others have alluded to, McRae was so much more gracious than the evasive Goodwin who always seeks alibis in explaining his team’s current woes.

Lightning struck the Dees in the form of the Pies and later literally as it delayed the finish.



Our season being truncated in this way was disappointing because we had a tough last month with many predicting that we’d come a cropper, but save for the Sydney match which we were unlucky to lose, we managed to overcome the Blues, Lions and Dees with key players missing.

Unsurprisingly there is now a scent of spring in the air but unfortunately for us there will be no more sightings of the leather kicking Magpies at training sessions and on ovals near you. On the upside, like our heartbreaking bowing out in 2022, it might make us hungrier.



While it was essentially bruise free, there were still noteworthy performances and feedback players provided on their readiness for a sustainable career at the top level.



Nick did his Brownlow chances no harm with another prolific game. His teammates aided and abetted him as they sought him out. His low number of contested possessions attests to Melbourne’s lack of appetite for an intense encounter, and there were some uncharacteristic errors but again his class and ubiquity were prominent. Nick wandered far and wide and linked with numerous teammates as part of his prolific ball hunting and gathering display.



Parker another in the long list of those who’ve shown ability in the summer game to try their hand at Aussie Rules had his best outing. He has looked poised during match simulation and in VFL games but last evening showed that he can stand a man, weight his kicks, and delay by hand to effect a give to a teammate. His icing on the cake was striding purposefully towards goal and achieving the maximum – or hitting for six as one commentator screamed. While he’s not Usain Bolt, he’s not manifestly slow. His game sense may compensate for not being as quick as others. Most significantly, his football this year has been played without a pre-season. Fly certainly rates him and he was guaranteed a game following the Lions win.



Allan of the excellent pedigree, has been standing up at the lower level during the past month but always struck one (partially based on training form etc.) that he may be someone who performs better a la Shane Warne who rarely shone at district or Shield level, in front of a bigger audience. Occasionally he can look languid and lacking intensity but from the outset last night he attacked the ball with vigour. He’s been more dynamic since moving from a wing to the centre square and showed that he can win a clearance and feed teammates. He is deft and measured delivering by hand and possesses a good tank. The late goal was the cherry on top. He looked pleased with his involvement in the game and this has to set him up for regular selection next year. We know he has tools and Fly must help superintend the nurturing of his talent. Barring injury, we don’t want to see Bytel et all who belong in the NQR category. It was good to see Ben frank his VFL form.



Dean – given that we had ascendancy for most of the match he wasn’t under siege like our defenders often are but he had a solid outing. He has concrete boots so will never be the Howe type player down back but has some footy nous and is capable of staying with an opponent. He can take a mark and his kicking is satisfactory.



Richards – clearly his footy career is at a crossroads with the Pies because of external interest but he has showed that he has tons of pace, goalkicking canniness and an ability to win the ball. Clearly, he’s quite small by AFL standards but can compensate this with his skill set. Two years seems reasonable to offer him given that he hasn’t played a lot over the past two seasons and if Port want to offer him four, surely, they must compensate us as he won’t be able to walk through to the pre-season draft given their high finish.



Pendles was creative last night and shows he’s still got a lot to offer the team despite sometimes being a bit weak in the contest. The evergreen’s footy IQ Is standing him in good stead and he knows how to bring others into the game.



Josh, like his brother suffered from leather poisoning and the siblings combined telepathically on numerous occasions. While Josh can sometimes butcher the ball, he was generally effective last night and ensured that we dominated the pill.



Howe did not stamp his authority on the game as much as he had in recent outings but his late season form augurs well for his capacity to play another season.



Sidey looked almost down for the count a month ago but the tagging role has revitalised. In comparison to Pendles he is more versatile so there were always options for him other than being a primary ball-winner. He’s shown an ability to limit his opponent while still gathering possessions himself and being constructive. Last night he quelled the influence of Viney who’s often been a thorn in our side.



Camron excelled again last night with his ruck work, marking around the ground, including in defence, with his goals adding to his all-round game. It would be a travesty if he doesn’t finish on the podium in the Copeland.



Maynard will in all likelihood be booed for the remainder of our encounters against the Dees. Anecdotally there are fans who still believed it should have been rubbed out for life such is their anger with the Brayshaw incident but their claims are irrational, especially given the light penalties meted out to their serial offender Pickett. His reaction to the latter’s bump on Moore was perhaps ignited by the injustice of how he is perceived as much as support for his skipper.



Elliott was busy at times but his kicking for goal has become problematic. He seems frustrated with this decline in inefficiency though he regularly practises this skill at training. Nonetheless he does at times do the hard work which profits his peers.



Hill has developed a noteworthy unselfish streak which is sometimes to the detriment of his own game and the team. Maybe at times the instinctive act might be better, provided that it’s not an ambit claim for the highlight reel. Ironically that last shot at goal appeared to be optimistic while other bread and butter goals are passed up to assist a teammate.



Schultz – last night encapsulated why fans are unhappy with our profligacy in terms of this trade. He resembled a nuggety, blue collar battler who tried valiantly but was found wanting at nearly everything he did. His own frustration was laid bare when Razor denied the head high tackle, though it might have spared his blushes as his goal kicking radar was calibrated to be very wide of the mark.



Noble – again ran relentlessly demonstrating his turn of speed and indefatigable energy. He remains a useful conduit between different sectors of the ground despite some proclivity towards frustrating errors.



Cox – was quite funny to see his work in the rain but for someone who’s not a footy native, he does do some instinctive work which shows an innate intelligence. At times he positioned himself to give off handballs and he is not averse to a scrap with the opposition.



Moore started quite well and he’s found some form later in the year. His early exit was counterbalanced by the silver lining of Macrae’s exposure to the action.



Macrae tried hard and got a bit of the pill but was arguably the least impressive of the trio of youngsters, excluding Dean who got to finish the season last night. It’s not that he’s insipid, it’s more that it’s hard to see him ever dominating, matching or eclipsing the best mids in the game. Maybe another season in the gym and the confidence gained from another game might be the catalyst for him to go into next year with a greater feeling of belonging. He has a contract for next year.



WHE – the Swiss Army Knife was required to be the sole tall forward and acquitted himself quite well with some solid marking and kicking and doing some work off the ball to pave the way for other teammates to strut their stuff..



Crisp was a bit up and down during the game but his best work was high class. He ran purposefully between the arcs and looked dangerous in attack without quite dominating.



IQ showed glimpses of his best form in a mixed night which characterised the vicissitudes of his season.



Lippa was like the Daicos brothers prolific with the number of disposals he gathered and his ability to hit the scoreboard though on occasions he was quite fumbly below his knees and a bit soft in contests.



It was an eventful night bringing the thunder, lightning and rain Macbeth confronted on the moor when the witches foretold his ill-fated future. Let us hope that we can be sanguine regarding ours. The youngsters showed promise and we would hope that the likes of Ryan, Harry, Smit and Tew all develop next year. Who knows what trade week will bring!!!



Razor Ray finished all smiles though of course was guilty of some howlers. I currently teach his daughter and can verify the fact that he’s a great guy so I wish him well in his retirement because if nothing else he added a bit of spice and personality to the umpiring development.
 

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Toast Round 24 = Melbourne 57-103 Collingwood

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