Tanked against the Tiges

[titan_uranus 25,174]

KB admitted after the match that he wouldn't be able to continue to say teams don't tank.

[biggestred 5,237]

pretty sure i saw PJ playing on nathan brown

[IWAP 170]

Bartram was playing on Riewoldt

[Tony Tea 2,814]

I want to hear KB's response to this tomorrow on SEN

If KB sticks to his guns and maintains tanking doesn't happen, he's only doing it out of habit.

After listening to SEN today it's hard to believe KB's heart is still in the No-One Tanks camp. Not once during the game did he take up the cudgels against Harford, Maher and Wakelin, who all stated quite plainly that the tank was on. Then, by the end of the day, he was joking along with both his co-commentators and the post-game talk-back callers.

Tanks... sorry, thanks to Richmond's ineptitude, today was just too obvious. Melbourne had to work extraordinarily hard to manufacture the loss, and the tank was obvious to even the most ardent denialists.

The papers, the radio, On the Couch, Footy Classified, and the rest will be full of tank talk.

KB's comments tomorrow should be interesting, as will any from Andy D.

[Hulett Packard III 166]

If we're tanking then it's about time we stopped tanking because we've actually been playing better when we try to lose.

Next week Bails should pick his best team and go all out for a win.

There.

That should ensure that North beats us comfortably!

[gOLLy 401]

Miller in the ruck while 3 other ruckmen on the ground was outta this world.

[Jack7 528]

Dean Bailey did his best to lose and our players did their best to win with 2 late goals to Jones & Miller.

KB said he's now changed his mind about tanking and Bailey is a disgrace.

SEN will be interesting tomorrow,KB will finally admit it and the Dees will be in the paper all week and every move will be scrutinised in the coming weeks.

PJ on Nathan Brown was a cracker.

Miller was our best midfielder since Greg Wells,lol.

[Choko 493]

GO THE WET TOAST! THIS DAY IS JUST GETTING BETTER!

[Pipefitter 2,213]

Well we saw the tank in full flight today. Its a disgrace and "supporters" who agree with it are also. Surely a few melbourne players will be shaking their heads at some of the match ups today. Johnson on brown? Its downright match fixing. I hate that we will be put in the same basket as carlton now.

[biggestred 5,237]

itll be just our luck for the afl to turn around at the end of the year, saying "you tanked you dont get a draft pick". you wait

[Jaded No More 68,975]

I loved the positional moves.

Every time I turned around to Dad to say something stupid like "put PJ on Brown" or "Newton to the wing", it happened! :D

My favourite was Frawley and Warnock running the boundary, and me thinking that it's great how we are never letting those two and Rivers play together. Next thing I know both are up forward. Gold!!!

Dean Bailey is a genius.

The media can cry foul, but we were in front at the final siren, and can therefore claim that everything we tried today was done with the purpose of winning. They can't touch us!

[rpfc 28,906]

Well we saw the tank in full flight today. Its a disgrace and "supporters" who agree with it are also. Surely a few melbourne players will be shaking their heads at some of the match ups today. Johnson on brown? Its downright match fixing. I hate that we will be put in the same basket as carlton now.

As 'a disgrace', I'm OK with my attitude on this issue.

We have lost 51 games since 2007, I don't want to lose our 'deserved' PP because of a technicality - a meaningless win against a pathetic side.

You'd be better served by watching what you post as I want what is best for my club, and right now 4 points pales in comparison to a PP.

[Dexter23 2]

Great to See the performance of al players today. Very upset with our coaching staff especially DB. Ridiculous match ups lost us the game. Does any Supporter turn up to a game to see MFC Lose? I was so disappointed when we lost. And I’d blame 1 person, Dean BAILEY!

I know we were down to 1 on the bench, though putting Warnock in the FF was clearly Tanking. DB cannot use only having 19 fit players as an excuse when the players he had were quite capable of playing in their proper positions. Miller, Newton, PJ in the fwd line. Jetta, Davey PJ & Newton would have been our best fwd options. Warnock then would be left to control the back line, LIKE HE IS PLAYED TOO. Bruce should have been in the centre, to relieve some pressure of Davey.

I'm Very [censored] with DB and Co.

On the plus side:

Good Job to Valanti, Spencer, Grimes, Cheney all did a great job. Grimes is an absolute superstar and has future captain written all over him. Tough, Courageous, Top Skills, decision making, the LOT!!

I'm going to go and watch DB press conference and see what excuse he comes up with. If he keeps going like this I don’t think a lot of people will put up with it. I'm still amazed by those decisions....

Surely if PP is all we are after, then we're on our way to the much prized pick...

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........................

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

itll be just our luck for the afl to turn around at the end of the year, saying "you tanked you dont get a draft pick". you wait

Yep. I've unhappily resigned myself to the fact that the MFC has a losing plan but do they have to be so bloody obvious about it? Can't this club do anything professionally?

[Einstein 1]

PJ on Nathan Brown was a cracker.

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw that.

Dean Bailey is a genius.

Yeah, a comic genius. We've all heard he has an eccentric sense of humour. It was on full display today. Had me in stiches.

[biggestred 5,237]

Yep. I've unhappily resigned myself to the fact that the MFC has a losing plan but do they have to be so bloody obvious about it? Can't this club do anything professionally?

they wouldnt have had to have been so obvious except that richmond were so bloody bad

[olgreydingo 51]

Unfortunatley i wasn't at the game, but i have just seen the highlights, one thing is every one of those guys today want a win, an d few of them are playing for their future. Credit to those guys. Yep i want picks 1 & 2, but you could not have planned that finish if you wre trying to loose, IMO.

[rpfc 28,906]

Yep. I've unhappily resigned myself to the fact that the MFC has a losing plan but do they have to be so bloody obvious about it? Can't this club do anything professionally?

We lost to a goal after the siren...

[45HG 1,559]

Kicked from one of the worst player in the AFL.

[Tony Tea 2,814]

BT, commentating the Eagles game, reckons that because we won with a kick after the siren, we are off the hook.

That made me laugh, but I think he was laughing, too.

[G'borough Demon 0]

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw that.

Yeah, a comic genius. We've all heard he has an eccentric sense of humour. It was on full display today. Had me in stiches.

Demetriou, get your head out your a*se! The AFL has sunk to an all time low today.

Bailey should be sacked, he done all he could to lose us the game today when the players were putting in 100%. How can he command respect when he criticises players for not putting in effort week in week out and then make management decisions like he did. I don't know how he could even face the guys in the dressing room after the game.

He has done more damage today than good.

[redman 28]

There were definately suspect positional moves being made today, but the sinister connotations aside can't trying players in different players in a variety of roles be benficial?

Jack Grimes got to play for the best part in the midfield, Pettard started his career in defence but through a change appears to be better suited as a forward.

Stef Martin is being tried as a forward, whats to say that Frawley and Warnock can't do it too? Can't hurt to have options when plan A, B and C fail...

The hawks play a ruckman (robert campball) as a defender...

So while it appears quite obvious as they were in the same game surely it can't all be negative?

We had the game won with 4-5 secs left.. must have been doing something right...

[Pepe Dee Pew 0]

There is a fine line somewhere here. If Frawley or Warnock played really well up forward then Bails would be lauded as a genius.

The season is gone anyway so why not try players in different positions to see what they can offer.

The fact that we almost pinched the game may well have been because of those unorthodox moves. May have given the players a new challenge etc. Players will be cut from the list later so they should be able to show us what they have to offer.

After all i would under normal circumstances expected the Tigers to [censored] us pretty easily today.

So maybe Bails should be give

[norwood_demon 196]

Jordan McMahon may have just kicked a premiership-winning goal - for Melbourne.

I am a Melbourne supporter of >>40 years standing. I hate the last 6 weeks of this season. I actually hoped for Melbourne to lose today and breathed a sigh of relief after McMahon's goal. Melbourne have to play within the system presented by the AFL. Call it tanking; call it list management; just get that PP. The general football community would agree that MFC deserves the PP after 2.5 years of ineptitude. I just wish that we didn't have to endure this farce. Please, Andrew Demetriou, pull your head out of the sand and fix the system...after we get the PP.

Today, for the first three quarters, I couldn't even tell which players were improving and which weren't. How can you when the forward line's in the backline...and PJ's on Brown!! Then you see the players of the future trying their guts out. Grimes (a captain in waiting) marks a kick-in over his shoulder, turns, and slots it. Bartram 3rd up at a bounce on the wing, hits it to Petterd, who charges in to goal.

God, we'll be OK in 2010 with players in position, Scully, and another top pick. And we'll be very good >2012!

Thank you Jordan McMahon from the bottom of my heart!

[pantaloons 2,019]

How would you feel as a Richmond supporter after watching that game? Virtually a full-strength side has to rely on an after-the-siren kick to beat a half-strength side with a bench decimated by injury and making some of the most comical positional moves ever seen. They will be competing for the wooden spoon for the next 5 years.

Well done to Dean Bailey for having the plums to orchestrate that Benny Hill performance today.