It's only the 3rd quarter, but what do we all think now?

Hopefully supporters remember this lesson for the future.

Should placate the panic merchants for a week at least, but as last week showed one bad loss and they'll be back.

It's only the 3rd quarter, but what do we all think now?

Hopefully supporters remember this lesson for the future.

What has happened in this context is he has learnt..and applied some much better thinking. Kudos for that.....but thats what hes supposed to do..isnt it ?

He's pulled his finger out and got the litel grey cells fired up. Hes going to need to keep at it..and at it.

A much better coached game... but like last week.. one game is NOT a season.

It's only the 3rd quarter, but what do we all think now?

Hopefully supporters remember this lesson for the future.

I've changed my mind since last week.

Lets get Rid of him, we won't get another priority pick if he keeps coaching like this.

In fact we should drop half the team or we'll win more than 4 & 1/2 games.

Oh but keep Bennell, I liked that little short step he put in going back with the flight. And the impromptue cramp following.

Edited April 3, 201015 yr by dee-luded

What has happened in this context is he has learnt..and applied some much better thinking. Kudos for that.....but thats what hes supposed to do..isnt it ?

He's pulled his finger out and got the litel grey cells fired up. Hes going to need to keep at it..and at it.

A much better coached game... but like last week.. one game is NOT a season.

How would you know? He may have done the same things. Maybe it was the players who have had a change of attitude.

Next week it going to tell me a lot about Bailey.

A slightly undercooked Adelaide at the MCG... Winnable if we play like today, but anything less than 100% effort will result in another 8 or 9 goal hiding.

Can Bailey get his troops up for back-to-back weeks.

Should placate the panic merchants for a week at least, but as last week showed one bad loss and they'll be back.

this is a much better performance, but still we had a chance to take the points. We did much wrong in the last 10 to 15 minutes of the last Qtr.

We held onto the ball too many times in a static situation, instead of keeping the pill moving around our forwardline and causing the Pies defence to breakup.

we had enough chances towin it.

Bennell, have a good hard look at yourself.

How would you know? He may have done the same things. Maybe it was the players who have had a change of attitude.

Suffice to say the matchups and postioning was far better this week.. and yes..some players turned in a much better performance..possibly due to a huge kick up the arse. Again..if thats coaching..then good on Bailey. Contrary to some's thinking..I actually want him to be a successful coach..and in turn Melbourne a successful. team. what I dont want to see is any acceptance of mediocrity nor 'fate'.

As another has alluded...next week becomes very interesting on many levels..

Go Dees

Be prepared for a rollercoaster of a season.

Much like the high school teen, this developing team will experience some pretty wild mood swings over the course of this year.

It might be the most emotionally draining season since the merger talks.

Let's just hope that we keep the intensity into next week.

I'm sure part of our performance today was from playing Collingwood and Green's 200th.

We don't have those next week. The crowd will be half as big. No milestone. No long-time rival. We need to come out with the exact same mindset and attack on the ball.

If we do we'll win*.

And Bailey has to get credit. We had forwards today, and whilst he did put a man behind the ball when Collingwood got on their run, it didn't last. Our ball movement was much better, and our pressure in the forward line was so much better.

*Subject to watching Adelaide tomorrow.

The jury is still out for me. In case you did not notice we still did not win. I think Collingwood got the four points. But what ever we all here on Demonland think. He is the coach for the next 1.5 years.

Yep, Crows next week at the 'G is winnable. The fans, coaches and players will know it.

It is even possible that we will have a load, parochial, one-sided crowd. How 'bout that?

Be prepared for a rollercoaster of a season.

Much like the high school teen, this developing team will experience some pretty wild mood swings over the course of this year.

This will be overlooked by many over the course of the season.

this is a much better performance, but still we had a chance to take the points. We did much wrong in the last 10 to 15 minutes of the last Qtr.

We held onto the ball too many times in a static situation, instead of keeping the pill moving around our forwardline and causing the Pies defence to breakup.

we had enough chances towin it.

Bennell, have a good hard look at yourself.

DL - if you're blaming Bailey for the last 15 minutes, you're a tool, simple as that. Pressure is a massive thing in football, and when you are deep in to the final quarter, no AFL coach can control what his players do. This is where leadership, experience and the ability to hit targets get you over the line.

You are correct in saying we had enough chances to win. How many goals did we miss that should have gone through? Jamar in the 2nd quarter, Green in the third, Jones on 2 or 3 occasions, blah blah, but if you blame the coach for these errors, you know zero about the game.

Well done Bailey, well done MFC. A 1 point loss to the scum is fantastic. It hurts me, actually, it really hurts, and I'm sure you are all in the same boat, but the ones who will be hurting the most is the players and the coaches. They WILL benefit from this loss, more so than a 10 goal+ hiding. It SHOULD make the young blokes hungrier, which will benefit the team in general.

Nb - I have never, ever called for the Coach to be sacked, and still believe he is the right man. Everything he has promised he has delivered. Name me one thing that hasn't.

this is a much better performance, but still we had a chance to take the points. We did much wrong in the last 10 to 15 minutes of the last Qtr.

We held onto the ball too many times in a static situation, instead of keeping the pill moving around our forwardline and causing the Pies defence to breakup.

we had enough chances towin it.

Bennell, have a good hard look at yourself.

Might that be the players not moving the ball on. Unless you think we were tanking, its hard to claim that Bailey told them to hold onto the ball when we were behind and time ticking.

How about if a few players in the 2nd half actually nailed gettable goals. Bennell, Bail, Dunn (did he have to go for the mark?).

Tactically I thought Bailey had a good day.

- Used Jamar well against Jolly and Flopsy Fraser.

- Moved Bennell fwd when he was out of his depth up back.

- Moved Green forward in the 2nd half.

- Put the stoppers on Swan, Pendlebury and others.

Nah, lets sack him and pay him out.

credit to bailey today. a lot of things you cannot credit or blame the coach for, such as the increase in our kicking efficiency from 52% last week to 65% this week. or even the lack of flat feet which plagued us last week.

What you can comment are the following:

-we looked to spot up a man in the centre almost every thrust forward. a clear game plan direction which worked.

- in the second and third quarters, collingwood kicked the first couple of goals. both times we managed to hold the game up and wrest some momentum back. credit to the coach here, both times we swung an extra man in defence to slow the play, then once we choked it down he went forward again and we scored. a clear change of coaching tactic helped control the course of the game in this situation.

- we started with 6 men in the forward line, only two of whom ran into the square. for the majority of the day we had a couple of players deep. we didn't do this last week, and it worked today.

- harry obrien shepparded players on the mark non-stop all day. after a quarter of this our backline started doing a similar thing, possibly a coaching direction, unless warnock saw it from the other end and thought it was a good idea.

perhaps another ruckman would have made the difference today? collingwood got a run on a couple of times that jamar was off.

People just never learn... especially on these sites. Things are never quite as good or as bad as they seem at the time. Everybody felt as low as you could possibly feel after last week & this week the same people will be riding high and making bold predictions about winning the next 3 home games and where we finish in the 8.

One thing is guaranteed this year... the MFC will play very well when everybody writes them off and their backs are to the wall(like today)... and on the other hand they will get pumped when we all expect them to have better form, less injuries and home ground advantage over the opposition. Its just the way it goes with a young developing side... so strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster of emotions this year.

Rollercoaster.... rollercoaster.... oh oh oh rollercoaster... (chilli peppers)

I backed him last week so in keeping with the bi-polar nature of the site I now lead the chorus and call for his head.

Edited April 3, 201015 yr by Rojik of the Arctic

- we started with 6 men in the forward line, only two of whom ran into the square. for the majority of the day we had a couple of players deep. we didn't do this last week, and it worked today.

Melbourne haven't done it since 2006.

I couldn't make it to the game yesterday, but that is good to hear.

EDIT: This kind of thing is hard to tell from watching on TV.

Edited April 3, 201015 yr by Clint Bizkit

Yesterday's effort was a major improvement.......everything during the game pointed to a Melbourne victory, but for a range of reasons this did not happen.

Add a few players from the injury list, some better luck with the umpires, or better decisions on some forward thrusts and no doubt we would have won.......still no cigar but at least we were very competitive

Really pleased to see the development of the younger players.....also Macca (ex Brisbane) is showing great poise in defence and doing good things at clutch times......loved his big pack mark in the last quarter.

Jamar's best game.....go the big Russian.........bring on the Crows

- Used Jamar well against Jolly and Flopsy Fraser.

- Moved Bennell fwd when he was out of his depth up back.

- Moved Green forward in the 2nd half.

- Put the stoppers on Swan, Pendlebury and others.

Bennel started forward, and I agree it was a smart move. The starting forward six was all about forward defensive pressure. It was great coaching.

DL - if you're blaming Bailey for the last 15 minutes, you're a tool, simple as that. Pressure is a massive thing in football, and when you are deep in to the final quarter, no AFL coach can control what his players do. This is where leadership, experience and the ability to hit targets get you over the line.

You are correct in saying we had enough chances to win. How many goals did we miss that should have gone through? Jamar in the 2nd quarter, Green in the third, Jones on 2 or 3 occasions, blah blah, but if you blame the coach for these errors, you know zero about the game.

Well done Bailey, well done MFC. A 1 point loss to the scum is fantastic. It hurts me, actually, it really hurts, and I'm sure you are all in the same boat, but the ones who will be hurting the most is the players and the coaches. They WILL benefit from this loss, more so than a 10 goal+ hiding. It SHOULD make the young blokes hungrier, which will benefit the team in general.

Nb - I have never, ever called for the Coach to be sacked, and still believe he is the right man. Everything he has promised he has delivered. Name me one thing that hasn't.

what? I just saw this. How did you read that into what I posted? I'll go back & reread my post.

Youv'e taken my post the absolute wrong way. I'm defending Bailey @ blaming the team for missing the many opportunities we had when we controlled most of the ball for that time.

Marking the ball & standing flat footed looking for a target, (this allows the defence to reset) instead of moving off with the ball to create movement & hopefully the teammates forward will lead to your actions.

This happened many times when we had the Pies on the ropes.

NO, not attacking Bailey. If you read my posts over the week you'd know I'm supporting the Coach & current development plan!

I've changed my mind since last week.

Lets get Rid of him, we won't get another priority pick if he keeps coaching like this.

In fact we should drop half the team or we'll win more than 4 & 1/2 games.

Oh but keep Bennell, I liked that little short step he put in going back with the flight. And the impromptue cramp following.

The cramp was comedy gold. It was David Brent like stuff.

Its just the way it goes with a young developing side... so strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster of emotions this year.

Mental note: must copyright future posts.