My thoughts on game v Geelong

[dees_rule_4eva 22]

Like I say, just ok.

Great first quarter, I thought that after Ablett slotted the goal 12 seconds in, that the heads might drop. Great to see that they didn't, they really stuck to the task and was it not for some very poor kicking for goal, we should have been in front at quarter time.

From there on in, Geelong really dominated proceedings, apart from early in the second qtr where again, our poor kicking for goal let us down. Lucky that Geelong also struggled with their kicking or it could have been far greater margin.

That said, I was impressed with the grit and determination that the guys showed. My better players:

- Cale Morton stood out for me. Generally hit his targets today, and knew where to be. I haven't been impressed with him this season so far, but today I thought he was probably our best player.

- Davey did his thing as usual. Great disposal, shame he missed that goal in the first - it would have been a big boost for us. Very good game by him, he pressured well and tackled hard. Still gets thrown away by some bigger players, but that is going to happen.

- Robbo - was great to see him back. He does give us something up forward, and he is no doubt our number 1 forward. Important for the next few years that he remain injury free to guide the young guys through.

- James Frawley is coming along in leaps and bounds. Reads the game brilliantly and his dash out of half back is great to see. I would almost have him as our number 1 defender at the moment.

- Brock tried hard as always. Puts his head over it - shame about his lack of pace.

- Meesen was very good. Although I get frustrated with his continual need to handpass, he was in the right positions today.

- Sylvia attacked the contest well.

Disappointing players today:

- Bate. I am sick of him. How many games is he going to get without being dropped? He is slow, he does not go nearly hard enough at the ball, and his disposal today was awful. A couple on the full and a behind from a shot he should have kicked. He takes short steps sometimes too. Needs a break at VFL level.

- Maric. I was thoroughly disappointed. He got himself in good positions and got enough of the ball, but butchered it every time, bar one. Hopefully it was just an aberation, as we know how skillful a player he is.

- Bruce. Had a shocker, butchered a few kicks that were important. Should have kicked at least one, maybe two, goals in the first quarter. I am a big fan of his and will always stick up for him, but today wasn't his day.

- McDonald. Poor game, muffed alot of kicks. Put his body on the line as always, but made a few crucial errors.

I was also impressed with Stef Martin up forward. Like the look of that.

[Allen Jakovich 516]

That said, I was impressed with the grit and determination that the guys showed. My better players:

- Cale Morton stood out for me. Generally hit his targets today, and knew where to be. I haven't been impressed with him this season so far, but today I thought he was probably our best player.

- Davey did his thing as usual. Great disposal, shame he missed that goal in the first - it would have been a big boost for us. Very good game by him, he pressured well and tackled hard. Still gets thrown away by some bigger players, but that is going to happen.

- Robbo - was great to see him back. He does give us something up forward, and he is no doubt our number 1 forward. Important for the next few years that he remain injury free to guide the young guys through.

- James Frawley is coming along in leaps and bounds. Reads the game brilliantly and his dash out of half back is great to see. I would almost have him as our number 1 defender at the moment.

- Brock tried hard as always. Puts his head over it - shame about his lack of pace.

- Meesen was very good. Although I get frustrated with his continual need to handpass, he was in the right positions today.

- Sylvia attacked the contest well.

Disappointing players today:

- Bate. I am sick of him. How many games is he going to get without being dropped? He is slow, he does not go nearly hard enough at the ball, and his disposal today was awful. A couple on the full and a behind from a shot he should have kicked. He takes short steps sometimes too. Needs a break at VFL level.

- Maric. I was thoroughly disappointed. He got himself in good positions and got enough of the ball, but butchered it every time, bar one. Hopefully it was just an aberation, as we know how skillful a player he is.

- Bruce. Had a shocker, butchered a few kicks that were important. Should have kicked at least one, maybe two, goals in the first quarter. I am a big fan of his and will always stick up for him, but today wasn't his day.

- McDonald. Poor game, muffed alot of kicks. Put his body on the line as always, but made a few crucial errors.

I was also impressed with Stef Martin up forward. Like the look of that.

I agree wholeheartedly with all of the above. More encouraging signs.

Let's get Grimesy and Wheels back in and keep getting the games in these kids.

Jamie Bennel took another step. Sylvia's eight tackles were good, despite him getting smashed in the first half by Wojinski.

[Cards13 9,117]

I agree wholeheartedly with all of the above. More encouraging signs.

Let's get Grimesy and Wheels back in and keep getting the games in these kids.

Soke with Grimey's sister today and she mentioned Bails wanted Grimes to play almost a full game at Casey. For some reason German had him on the bench apnd Bails had to go and tell him again to put Grimes on.

[PeterJames 46]

i agree with that all.. many good points!!

with newton 5, watts 3, and hughes 3, there is a lot of pressure for bate and petterds spot!

Also think you missed dunn a lot of niggle and pushing and shoving yet has little courage foinf back with the flight!

I also think frawley is becoming something special, looks good in defence and has great run out of defence!

[cooko 124]

poor Maric!! he earns a spot in the side and plays like ass!! interesting to see if he is dropped!

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

I was disappointed in McLean and I think there is a parallel between he and Joel Selwood. Both aren't quick (especially McLean), both tend to run the lines and Selwood's disposal is a little better but the big difference is that Selwood has smarts and awareness that McLean doesn't. Selwood seems to create space by doing very little, but McLean (along with Jones) tends to get caught too often or makes dumb decisions.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

Also think you missed dunn a lot of niggle and pushing and shoving yet has little courage foinf back with the flight!

Don't you mean a lot of niggle and pushing and shoving and creating? I admit, I only saw the second half, but he created a contest whenever the ball went near him, won more often than not and did some very good things in tight spaces. The guy has yet to disgrace himself this season.

Loved what I saw of Bennell today. He is going to be a star.

Davey's chase and smother in the 4th deserved a better reward but there were simply no other Melbourne players trying to win the ball around them.

It looked like Robbo destroyed Scarlet. How many forwards can say that? :D

[Jaded No More 68,906]

I was disappointed in McLean and I think there is a parallel between he and Joel Selwood. Both aren't quick (especially McLean), both tend to run the lines and Selwood's disposal is a little better but the big difference is that Selwood has smarts and awareness that McLean doesn't. Selwood seems to create space by doing very little, but McLean (along with Jones) tends to get caught too often or makes dumb decisions.

I want to know what the deal with Brock is.

Is he carrying a foot injury? Some of his kicks don't connect properly with the ball, which is something that has never been an issue for him.

With about 10 minutes to go, he came off the ground and was filthy (at himself I assume). He swore and threw his hands up, before sitting down on the bench.

He seems very frustrated, like he knows what he wants to do, but simply can't do it.

Disappointing players today:

- Bate. I am sick of him. How many games is he going to get without being dropped? He is slow, he does not go nearly hard enough at the ball, and his disposal today was awful. A couple on the full and a behind from a shot he should have kicked. He takes short steps sometimes too. Needs a break at VFL level.

- Maric. I was thoroughly disappointed. He got himself in good positions and got enough of the ball, but butchered it every time, bar one. Hopefully it was just an aberation, as we know how skillful a player he is.

- Bruce. Had a shocker, butchered a few kicks that were important. Should have kicked at least one, maybe two, goals in the first quarter. I am a big fan of his and will always stick up for him, but today wasn't his day.

- McDonald. Poor game, muffed alot of kicks. Put his body on the line as always, but made a few crucial errors.

I was also impressed with Stef Martin up forward. Like the look of that.

Agree 100% with your assessments.

I jumped for joy when Martin was pushed forward, and within a few minutes he was on the end of a great goal assist. He gave off another to Miller as well.

Definitely an experiment worth persisting with.

Maric must have been nervous or overawed by the speed of the game. He has played less than 5 games.

His disposal was horrendous, but he gets to the right spots constantly and can certainly find the ball, which is very encouraging.

Little things today, like not running deeper before attempting to kick the goal, just showed to me that he is [censored] himself out there still. Needs 4-5 good solid game time before we start judging his disposal. He was afterall drafted as an elite kick. Doubt that has changed.

As for Bruce and Bate... the less said the better.

At least we can trust that Bate will get dropped if he doesn't perform. Bruce's position in the team seems as secure as ever, which is frustrating.

[Hannabal 4]

I was disappointed in McLean and I think there is a parallel between he and Joel Selwood. Both aren't quick (especially McLean), both tend to run the lines and Selwood's disposal is a little better but the big difference is that Selwood has smarts and awareness that McLean doesn't. Selwood seems to create space by doing very little, but McLean (along with Jones) tends to get caught too often or makes dumb decisions.

Both aren't quick, but Selwood is far from slow.

[dazzledavey36 54,866]

bruce needs to have a good hard look at himself!!

[RalphiusMaximus 6,048]

Maric must have been nervous or overawed by the speed of the game. He has played less than 5 games.

His disposal was horrendous, but he gets to the right spots constantly and can certainly find the ball, which is very encouraging.

Little things today, like not running deeper before attempting to kick the goal, just showed to me that he is [censored] himself out there still. Needs 4-5 good solid game time before we start judging his disposal. He was after all drafted as an elite kick. Doubt that has changed.

It looked to me from the bit I saw that he didn't know how much time he had. Perhaps people have been telling him about how fast the game is? Every time he got the ball he was in a mad rush to get rid of it when in reality he had the time to steady down and control the disposal. Hope he plays again next week. I would expect him to be much better after a chance to chill out and perhaps look at the footage of how he played.

[Demon_Tingles 211]

Hmmm

Morton .. good but generally annoyed me. Many many times he tried to break a tackle and was caught holding the ball or missed his handpass after being tackled. He is not big or strong enough to be breaking tackles.

Maric.. Awful. Did not see him hit one target by hand or foot and there wasn't many times he got near it.

I think for BOG it is between Davey and Frawley.

Frawley IMO I have been a little harsh on but he is really starting to impress me, He played very very well.

[Jaded No More 68,906]

It looked to me from the bit I saw that he didn't know how much time he had. Perhaps people have been telling him about how fast the game is? Every time he got the ball he was in a mad rush to get rid of it when in reality he had the time to steady down and control the disposal. Hope he plays again next week. I would expect him to be much better after a chance to chill out and perhaps look at the footage of how he played.

I don't remember Bailey ever bringing in a player and dropping them immediately the following week.

He always gives players at least 2 games in a row, so Maric is safe.

I think the expectations on Maric built up on Demonland were a bit ridiculous to be honest. He has played less than a handful of games, and while his kicking is meant to be his strength, better more experienced players often lose their brain in the heat of the contest.

He'll get better the longer he plays. Just needs to find a feel for the speed of the game. He did seem overly keen to handball or kick to the next contest, when in reality he should have taken a breath and looked around for a better option.

[Demon_Tingles 211]

I think the expectations on Maric built up on Demonland were a bit ridiculous to be honest. He has played less than a handful of games, and while his kicking is meant to be his strength, better more experienced players often lose their brain in the heat of the contest.

He'll get better the longer he plays. Just needs to find a feel for the speed of the game. He did seem overly keen to handball or kick to the next contest, when in reality he should have taken a breath and looked around for a better option.

Very fair Jaded. Too many people talking him up when he has played 5 games. Looked soft today and I have a feeling he will be a good player but he just rushes too often and doesn't think. That is his main problem.

[Flying Cloud 152]

I thought McDonald was instrumental in keeping Ablett down to mere mortal number of disposals.

[Hannabal 4]

It's got nothing to do with people "talking up" Maric, he simply played his worst game to date.

He's far better than what he showed.

[Ghost 0]

Frawleys improvement has been very impressive. We've got potentially an A-grade defender in that guy.

Bennell again showed he has great poise, especially for a guy so young.

[Jaded No More 68,906]

It's got nothing to do with people "talking up" Maric, he simply played his worst game to date.

He's far better than what he showed.

Had an absolute stinker, no doubt.

But people on here were talking him up as if he was the next Ablett.

He has barely played at this level, and at junior level was mostly played as a small forward.

So he is not only adapting to the speed of the game, he is also adapting to playing a new position.

And you're right. He is a lot better than what he showed today, which is why there is no need to panic and call for his head.

For a player to be able to find the ball, and run to the right position, is half the battle. A lot of his ideas today were good, but the execution sucked badly.

[Kiss of Death 755]

Maric to bounce back strongly next week against the Weagles.

[45HG 1,539]

It also looked like he's just not used to playing against men.

In the first quarter he ran at a Geelong player (Milburn maybe) in our forwardline like he was going to spin around/push off him. Instead he got drilled.

The boy needs to be kept in the team for as long as possible to give him the best chance to aclimatize

[Doggo 32]

It's got nothing to do with people "talking up" Maric, he simply played his worst game to date.

He's far better than what he showed.

Agreed.

He'll be alright, and hopefully learn from it.

It was a real stinker though...

[Doggo 32]

- Meesen was very good. Although I get frustrated with his continual need to handpass, he was in the right positions today.

Disappointing players today:

- Bate. I am sick of him. How many games is he going to get without being dropped? He is slow, he does not go nearly hard enough at the ball, and his disposal today was awful. A couple on the full and a behind from a shot he should have kicked. He takes short steps sometimes too. Needs a break at VFL level.

- Maric. I was thoroughly disappointed. He got himself in good positions and got enough of the ball, but butchered it every time, bar one. Hopefully it was just an aberation, as we know how skillful a player he is.

- Bruce. Had a shocker, butchered a few kicks that were important. Should have kicked at least one, maybe two, goals in the first quarter. I am a big fan of his and will always stick up for him, but today wasn't his day.

- McDonald. Poor game, muffed alot of kicks. Put his body on the line as always, but made a few crucial errors.

I was also impressed with Stef Martin up forward. Like the look of that.

Agree with most of that, although i thought Meesen was fairly comprehensively beaten today--> 5 hitouts to Blake's 29. I'd probably have him in my most disappointing players today. His need to handball at all costs comes from his disgraceful kicking skills.

Miller was another who really disappointed me. When will he ever lead to dangerous areas and kick some goals!?! Expected much more from him.

[Demon Rob 2]

my thoughts on the game - a very game performance by an outclassed team.

Started repacking the bag after 12 seconds, but glad we stayed a bit longer!

Geelong supportor in the crowd asked why any melbourne supporter would turn up.

Next comment i was ready to remind him about the GF.

Would have won the first quarter except for the stuffing up on that last goal.

Lots of pressure on geelong, but too many mistakes at crucial times, which either killed good attacks or let them get easy goals.

They would have learnt a fair bit.

Anything under a 10 goal loss was a win!

And we won the last!

First team to beat Ablett too. The key - hurt his groin!

[heartbeatstrue 57]

I never enjoy losing but, that said, I enjoyed today's game as much as it's possible with a loss.

There were no expectations on us, and I thought the Dees played very well on occasions, right throughout the game. In fact, I think we won the last quarter. Some great tackling, forced turnovers. Also some fine run and carry from the backline through to the forwards.

OK still far too many skill errors, poor kicking and silly handballs, but all in all a big improvement. After all, these were the Cats, the best side of the past 3 years and we rattled them. Their supporters anyway, a block of them in the members got so frustrated in the last qtr when that free for in-the-back got paid against Davey and the Melb supporters booed the ump, that they turned real nasty. That was kind of fun. I felt like telling them, this is the bottom side you're playing...

If only they could all kick like Davey. And it was great to see Robbo leading and marking and dobbing a few!

[dees_rule_4eva 22]

Agree with most of that, although i thought Meesen was fairly comprehensively beaten today--> 5 hitouts to Blake's 29. I'd probably have him in my most disappointing players today. His need to handball at all costs comes from his disgraceful kicking skills.

Miller was another who really disappointed me. When will he ever lead to dangerous areas and kick some goals!?! Expected much more from him.

Doggo, no doubt Meesen was beaten in the ruck, however I thought he did well around the ground. Certaintly provides more of an option in that sense than Jamar, and even PJ at this point. That said, I thought PJ played an improved game today.

Miller - I agree, very disappointing. Needs to stand up in the big games, not the games against lesser teams (ie. Richmond).