Today was somewhat disappointing

[jumbo returns 6,741]

A 54 point loss didn't thrill me today.

The forward line was inept at creating pressure when the ball was down there and it was cleared too easily.

Where was all that run and pressure? Manning up? Why adopt a zone? What was wrong with standing next to their opponents?

Stage fright?

I wasn't expecting a win, but I thought today was....meek.

[Inner Demon 1]

Players had no run in their legs. We knew this was coming after the Darwin clash. No disaster.

Next week is the test.

[Adzman 2,154]

Some of the best sides going can't beat them at Skilled. We were never going to win.

54 points sucks, but we where outclassed by them....for the last time. Next year the tables will turn.

Cats are solid, but are due for a slight fall.

Next year we rise.

[H_T 3,049]

Some of the best sides going can't beat them at Skilled.

Mere observation: Some of the best sides don't even venture to Skilled.

[Sir Why You Little 37,145]

The Positive out of this game is massive. By that i mean the videotape that will be studied this week and beyond will be worth Gold.

We were outclassed but we had more tackles so our commitment was there.

Geelongs ball movement is so clean, even in the las quarter when most sides fatigue.

And so often the entire Geelong side plays 1-2 kicks ahead of the game. Free space every where.

Brilliant training video for years to come!!!! except Kelly Underwood of course!

[Rogue 585]

In a few years would you think we would beat our current self by say two goals a quarter? If we develop like we all hope, the answer is a definite yes.

Given that, i don't see that losing to Geelong at Geelong by about that margin is anything to get too disappointed about.

I was more interested in how we played, and there were some decent signs. We certainly didn't look completely outclassed, as we have at times in the past couple of years.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

Geelong just seems to get better and better. They had numbers at the ball, slick skills under pressure and loose men when they needed them. We didn't play badly by any stretch. We just need to live and learn from it.

[praha 11,240]

I thought we did particularly well considering:

A. We were coming off a hard win against Port in 80% humidity and 30 degree weather.

B. Coming into a stadium we've won once at in 20 years

C. Playing arguably the greatest team of all time

Plenty of teams did a lot worse. Collingwood lost by 6 goals at the MCG. Considering out inexperience, fused together with the Darwin game implications, and you have a team that is potentially 3-20 goals worse that Collingwood team. It could have gone A LOT worse. What you take a lot of things into consideration, they held their own for most of the game, never quite letting Geelong break lose, only in bursts, before we came back with 1-3 goals of our own.

I'm not accepting mediocrity, but it's probably the only 9 goal less that I actually haven't really cared about.

[Theo 276]

I'm sure the future is bright but if we take off the rose coloured glasses it is clear we are well off the pace when it comes teams like Geelong. Even Podsiadly treated our backline with disdain and he's only played a handfull of AFL games. Most Demonlanders rave about our backline and they are fine against most teams, but Warnock and Rivers have trouble with strong bodied opposition and Garland is not the player he was before his foot injury. We really need to strengthen this area.

The positive out of the game was Gysberts with the most disposals (26)

The negative was the senior players going missing again. How embarassing for the team to have a first gamer as nearly our best player. Where was Slyvia(again), Bruce, MacDonald, Jones. Did Jetta and Wona actually play.

Honestly the Geelong players said they didn't play very well. That says a lot about us.

We might be assembling a quality midfield but be have a number of holes to fill down back, forward and ruck before we can compete consistently with the top sides.

[DeeVoted 583]

Mere observation: Some of the best sides don't even venture to Skilled.

Hoping this means when we are one of the better teams,we will no longer have to venture down there.

(memo that to the AFL)

Always seems twice as long driving back, after a loss from down there.

Ah well, it wont be too much longer to wait, when we kick their sorry butts,any place any time!

Edited May 29, 2010 by Deevoted

[Gorgoroth 13,023]

Mere observation: Some of the best sides don't even venture to Skilled.

Correct, and they still beat the filth by the same margin at the MCG.

[jnrmac 20,189]

Maybe more astute player and game management??? We didn't kill our percentage because we played a loose man in defence most of the day. With possible winnable games coming up that's a smart move.

[Redleg 41,484]

Mere observation: Some of the best sides don't even venture to Skilled.

And that has to change. We must now after playing there for the last 100 years say enough is enough. In the last 20 -30 years we have been drawn to play there every year for a near certain loss. The reason from the AFL is that the bigger drawing sides don't play there. With us improving there is no doubt that we would draw at least 50000 at the G against them. Why should 20000 fans be denied access to the game. They should only play the interstate teams there and maybe North as well who we all know can't draw crowds. They have 8 games a year there and in two years there will be 8 interstate teams plus North, that is nine games to choose from. The MFC should take this up with the AFL as a priority. The Cats can fill the stadium with their members against any of these teams so that should suit everyone.

It is grossly unfair that we have to play there and deny 20000 fans when other teams never play there.

[DirtyDees DDC 187]

we're probably lucky we only lost by 54 points. We were about 100 posessions down on our usual average. Clearly the Darwin trip affected their run. Someone mentioned that no club has ever played in Darwin and won the next week.

Look at Port Adelaide. We we played the best team in the land on their home turf; they played at home to the bottom team and got done.

The game is faster than ever; as soon as you mark the ball you gotta move it. Lots of favourites have gone down this year, indicating that it is very difficult for clubs to maintain that intensity week after week. More so for Melbourne with our batch of youngsters so i can live with yesterdays loss.

Next week - that's different. A good result against Carlton means a big crowd on Queens birthday. The blues and Brock Mclean. This has to be our biggest game of the year.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

This week was always likely.

The next two weeks are our Prelim and Grand Final this year.

Win one and we're 5-6 and just in with a chance at finals.

Win two and we're ahead. They're both winnable, if not walkovers.

I don't expect us to make finals, but as long as we are in touch up until the last couple of weeks, maybe the very last week, that'd be great.

[DeeSpencer 26,083]

At this stage I'd rather a certain loss playing the competitions best side in Geelong at Skilled rather than a trip interstate for a probable loss.

What we need to do is really bolster our performance and bolster our crowds so the financial incentive is so strong that they have to play us with their home game at the G. Hard to do considering how much coin they get for a home game down there.

[bandicoot 1,395]

The Darwin game has cost us tremendously...

Who knows how long it takes our players to recover...

The football management has to reschedule the game next year...

The darwin game is equivalent to football suicide...

[Dreamin' Demon 10]

The darwin game is equivalent to football suicide...

With the Gold Coast coming in next season, each team will have a bye. Hopefully the AFL will schedule US for the bye the week after the Darwin game.

These are the only teams that play at Skilled Stadium this year.

- Port Power

- Sydney

- Richmond

- Melbourne

- North Melbourne

- Brisbane

- West Coast

I think it's time for the Western Bulldogs to do a stint down at Geelong for a while. Why aren't they there??

As was said in an earlier post, we would have got in excess of 40,000 at the MCG.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Dreamin' Demon

[Longsufferingnomore 1,647]

The Darwin game has cost us tremendously...

Who knows how long it takes our players to recover...

The football management has to reschedule the game next year...

The darwin game is equivalent to football suicide...

My thoughts exactly. Look at the Port Adelaide result. No way are they a 3 goal side but the conditions they played in exacerbated the after effects of Darwin so it makes me absolutely believe that MFC should stand firm in ensuring that the game next year is played before the "bye" or rest weekend.

[Daz's Dee's 113]

With the Gold Coast coming in next season, each team will have a bye. Hopefully the AFL will schedule US for the bye the week after the Darwin game.

These are the only teams that play at Skilled Stadium this year.

- Port Power

- Sydney

- Richmond

- Melbourne

- North Melbourne

- Brisbane

- West Coast

I think it's time for the Western Bulldogs to do a stint down at Geelong for a while. Why aren't they there??

As was said in an earlier post, we would have got in excess of 40,000 at the MCG.

Yeah agreed why we always play down there is beyond me as stated we could draw a larger crowd at the G if thats the issue. Would love too see Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn play down there and get there pants pulled down. Not that it will happin but be great viewing!

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Yeah agreed why we always play down there is beyond me as stated we could draw a larger crowd at the G if thats the issue. Would love too see Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn play down there and get there pants pulled down. Not that it will happin but be great viewing!

On the flipside, eventually Geelong will lose down there, and at least it won't be Carlton, Collingwood or Hawthorn ending the run. It'll (hopefully) be us.

[Jaded No More 68,974]

Yesterday wasn't disappointing, yesterday was reality

Geelong are 10 goals better than us. Last year, they were 100 goals better.

We're improving.

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Geelong are 10 goals better than us. Last year, they were 100 goals better.

9 goals. They're 9 goals better.

Let's not sell ourselves short.

[H_T 3,049]

The next two weeks are our Prelim and Grand Final this year.

Win one and we're 5-6 and just in with a chance at finals.

Win two and we're ahead. They're both winnable, if not walkovers.

Walkovers ?

Who ? Carlton & Collingwood ?

Getting a tad ahead of yourself Dappa, don't you think ?

[heartbeatstrue 57]

The Darwin game has cost us tremendously...

I disagree. We won (interstate, first time in how many hundred years??), we played some exciting footy, our Aborigine players got to demonstrate their skills and magic in front of the closest they'll get to a home crowd (imagine how exciting for them and their families).

Trengove got the thrill of the winning point, proving he's got footy smarts. All our young players got the experience and reinforcement that they have the endurance to tough out a win under those sapping conditions.

The experience gained and all the intangible benefits far outweigh any negatives.