SHRINK!

[Demonland 73,485]

SHRINK! by William from West Perth

Melbourne (the football team) comes to Perth once or twice a year and when that happens I get a rare opportunity to support in person the football team of my youthful days. However, there are some pitfalls involved in this; mainly because said football team has great difficulty winning any matches over here.

My expectations this week were no different and the game against the Purple Haze opened much as I anticipated. Since Melbourne returned from its steamy escapade up in Darwin in Round 8, it has become oh, so predictable, conceding at least the first goal of every game (and often much more) to the opposition. Why should things be any different at any time when the team travels out here to a place where it has failed to register a win against either of the local sides since 2004?

So predictable are the Demons that I put them on my list of dead set certainties:

1. Death and Taxes,

2. Vision of Julia Gillard appearing on the front page of every newspaper after the weekend hugging and kissing a baby, and

3. Melbourne stuffing up the start of yet another game.

And so it came to pass that bang, bang, bang (snip, snip, snip - ed.) ... the first three goals of the game were in the Docker's bag before the Demons were out of snooze mode; the clock hadn't even ticked past the ten minute mark! I sat there with my two companions (both Eagles fans still celebrating Mark Le Cras' amazing haul the night before), my face resting in cupped hands and me muttering expletives about umpires and ... well, before I knew it, we were in the shadows of half time, that (snip) little pest Hayden Ballantyne (why couldn't he have kept his interchange antics for this week?) had just kicked his third and the team was down by 44 points.

By then, we had witnessed all of the usual cock ups. Last week it was Jared Rivers who stuffed up a simple short pass for an embarrassing Bomber goal. This week it was Cam Bruce's turn to kick across the face of goal and give away an easy one. We did it all. Stupid free kicks, one or two of them soft, umpire # 8 (snip). They were wallowing in the mire, the yellow maggots were hurting us as much as the purple people and the game was over. Or was it?

Jamie Bennell kicked his second goal, the siren went, and we wandered off to a bar for liquid refreshments and an opportunity to calmly and rationally discuss what could be done to turn things around for the ailing Demons and enable them to fight their way back into a game which appeared to be firmly in Fremantle's control.

That was about the time when I hit upon a brilliant idea to help stem the weekly tide that sees the Demons give away goal after goal before finding themselves chasing tail and playing catch up football. Surely, enlisting the services of a psychiatrist could do the trick?

What I really needed was a hot line to Dean Bailey to break the news to him. I would have to told him to forget telling the newspapers that he was changing the pre game routine or reminding us how many games in a row we've lost in a row at Subiaco or AAMI Stadium or telling the supporters that "the team is determined to end its worrying Subiaco Oval hoodoo against AFL top-four fancy Fremantle in the west today."

Forget that (snip) Dean ... just do something about it and hire a shrink to fix the problem. After all, you yourself said it all after the game:

"If you're not prepared to fight your way into the game from the start you are going to be chasing the opposition for the whole game and that's what we did."

So why not get an eminent psychiatrist in to talk to the players and convince them that when they go out to play it's really half time and they're already six goals down. That should rev them up and get them going.

If that doesn't work then why not give them all a (snip) rocket up their (snip) which is what Bails must have done during the main break because the minute they stepped back onto the field of play in the third quarter, you could sense that something big was about to go down and it was really big!

Melbourne took the game on and with a superb brand of running, free- flowing, fast paced football, they banged on six goals in the first 17 minutes of the term to reduce the deficit from 39 points to a solitary point. Even without the aid of a shrink, they had drawn to the very brink of what would have been an impossible victory and one that would almost have rivaled the one at the MCG against this mob two years ago. Aaron Davey and Liam Jurrah came good with two goals each, Tom Scully was running rings around the Docker midfield and Nathan Jones came to life in the absence of injured teammate Brent Moloney. Colin Sylvia came to life as well while the steadiness of Jordie McKenzie (fantastic for someone so young and really still a rookie) and James Frawley were important.

But just as the impossible was about to happen for the Demons, stage fright set in. Ryan Crowley gave the Dockers a vital goal just before three-quarter time break and Jack Watts failed to score with a difficult angle shot after the siren.

Brad Green kicked the first for the final term and the Demons soon got to within a point again. Then, for the rest of the quarter it was an arm wrestle as the teams traded points and tragically (for me and the few hundred red and blue faithful at the ground and the thousands watching in homes and pubs somewhere else) Lynden Dunn and Jack Watts both missed set shots that would have put Melbourne in front. In the end, the (snip) pest kicked a left footer that bounced through and the game was over. Fremantle 11.16.82 to Melbourne 10.11.71.

Anyway, Dr. McZyff. That's my story for the day. What's yours? By the way, did I ever tell you that this is really a comfortable couch?

Melbourne 1.28 3.5.23 9.8.62 10.11.71

Fremantle 6.3.39 9.8.62 10.10.70 11.16.82

Goals

Melbourne Bennell Davey Jurrah 2 Green Johnson Jones Sylvia

Fremantle Ballantyne 4 Mundy 2 Duffield Fyfe Hasleby Palmer

Best

Melbourne McKenzie Frawley Davey Jones Scully Sylvia

Fremantle Ballantyne Hill Mundy Duffield Ibbotson Palmer

Injuries

Melbourne Moloney (corked thigh) Green (finger)

Fremantle Roberton (ankle) Bradley (knee)

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Fremantle Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Fremantle Nil

Umpires Margetts Rosebury Dalgleish

Crowd 32,816 at Subiaco Oval

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

So predictable are the Demons that I put them on my list of dead set certainties:

1. Death and Taxes,

2. Vision of Julia Gillard appearing on the front page of every newspaper after the weekend hugging and kissing a baby, and

3. Melbourne stuffing up the start of yet another game.

One thing I am becoming increasingly [censored] off about is our starts... I will admit I am usually one to have a whine about one or two players that play poorly throughout a game but when it comes to starting a match well, it's hard to point your finger at one or two players.

What the hell happens? Obviously the ball starts in the middle so is it our midfielders that are letting us down early?

Do other teams get a lucky break, kick the first goal and get a roll on? Or is it to do with positioning of players as some have said at the start of matches?

Why is it that we have had so many terrible starts? Our games seem to be predictable now. I could say there are at least half a dozen games that have played out just as the Freo game did yesterday, (the only difference being that yesterday we actually could have snatched it).

How many games this year have developed as follows.

* We start terribly and let our opposition skip away to a handy first quarter lead.

* Second quarter doesn't change much although we improve marginally.

* The third seems to be the one where we come out and play football and it's catch up from there.

* Last quarter we have either given the opposition too much of a head start to catch up or we can't quite get over the line because we are spent after having a big third quarter.

I hear people on here blaming one or two for not putting the match away for us. Yesterday Watts and Dunn were the culprits in the last.

If we had started well and not had to play catch up footy for the rest of the last half, the Watts and Dunn misses may not have been so crucial.

I will resist from criticizing certain players from yesterday's match. But I will criticize our team for letting themselves and their supporters down in the first half yet again.

Here's a hint MFC. Stop talking so much about how "we need to address our starts" and "how we must start well" because everyone is well aware of it and has been for a little too long.

It's time to show it on the ground and I am expecting nothing less than a ruthless, unforgiving four quarter effort from every player on the MCG on Sunday.

Go Dees.

[Trisul 674]

Not making an overall excuse, but yesterday specifically the loss of Moloney at the opening bounce did not help matters one bit.

[Age 485]

Personally I think it comes down to confidence. The last few years we have been getting smacked week in, week out. Coming to this year, again, we are still scared of getting blown away and start the game with a defensive attitude, sacred of making mistakes and not taking risks, not backing ourselves. Our gameplan and play work best when we do back ourselves and take those risks (as do probably all gameplans). With this defensive attitude, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy in that by us going into our shells, we play badly and let the opposition get their tails up. The result, a bad start.

Then we get behind and with us being behind, we start to have a crack, figure that 'we have nothing left to lose' and go for it. Usually though this takes some time as the opposition has their tails up and its hard to get back into it. This shows in that the second quarter we are generally competitive but dont tend to get too far back into it. With half time, the momentum of the other team stops and we still have the nothing left to lose attitude. We therefore come out in the third quarter and generally play our best footy. With us being so far behind, we spend too much effort coming back and this leads to our fadeout then happening in the last quarter.

I havent seen any of yesterday's game but I read we started a man in defence, this I think, leads into the negative mindset that freezes us up as mentioned earlier.

I would love us to start a game with that nothing left to lose attitude and have the real go from the start, not the third quarter, I reckon we wouldn't fall behind if we did.

There you go, problem solved...

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I always thought there was going to be a lull mid-season, then we'd come home with a wet sail. The lull has lasted a bit longer than I thought it would, largely due to our draw.

I reckon we'll fix this problem by season's end. Though people won't see it that way. Every sow start we have for the next couple of years will be attributed to Bailey.

[Red Sox 2]

Confidence, Confidence, Confidence....is the key word!!

Nice post above Age.....it is amazing when we hit a few targets and score that it can open up for us and we look fantastic. We do look scared to make any kind of mistake and seem almost too careful when trying to hit a target.

[The O 39]

I'm a firm believer in the stats that point towards a club starting the game in the same manner they finished off the previous week. (Ie our last 20mins against the Dons set the ball rolling for our terrible start yesterday). Whilst Bailey and the FD are searching for an elusive formula to ensure we start games off well, I believe that Confidence is the key to our improvement.

1) The Confidence in the players ability to take the game on (without the fear of committing errors or mistakes)

2) The Confidence from within the playing group that another MFC player will win the ball (and thus allow others to run off as exemplified in the game style of Geelong)

3) The Confidence to run games out (which will come as our younger midfielders develop bigger tanks)

If we can continue to improve and develop our young players, I'd expect we will significant improvement in all three areas resulting in 4) The Confidence in the playing group to put sides away by signifcant margins, and win the contested ball and the greater application of pressure during the close games.

[old dee 24,002]

Most games of sport are fairly simple. The team in front at the end wins!

To get to that point it is usually the team that plays the better for the majority of the game that wins.

This year Melbourne have played a number of games were we started poorly and usually lost.

If you look at the games were we have "almost won" we have usually had one and a bit good quarters.

That does not win games on a consistant basis.

Until we get good starts we are destined to stay a team in 11th. spot.

[Harrisonrules 273]

Slow starts have been a problem for a few years.

From my perspective several factors contribute.

1. Personell - adequate skill...we are slowly improving. Champions are a big help here. We are just budding them.

2. Confidence - grows with belief in yourself in comparison to the the oposition. Again experience is necessary.

3. Game plan - we now play chess - the game plan consists of so many ingredients its hard to put a finger on which ingredient has the most impact. Maybe man on man would sometimes work. But this is the ultimate test of the good coach. That's what they are paid to do. That's why we listen to the so called experts on the radio wondering if any has that special edge in insight.

4. Attitude - at what level of passion does the team arrive on the park. Again, that's the job of the coach. IMO That's what is the problem at Essendon. I have a contact with personal insight into the bombers rooms and the problem is the low level of personal communication skills Knights has. He is articulate but can not elicite rapport with other people. Hence his personality is not such that rouses people to their optimum performance level. They are still struggling to articulate this so fight each other. I have not seen evidence to help understand Deans ability to arouse and create stimulation amongst others , but this may be an issue. Some like his calm disposition eg Ross Lyon, Paul Roos. But in some cases if the mix is not right it can lower the level of arousal instead of highten it. From reports the guys like Dean, but that is different from a persons ability to highten arousal.

[old dee 24,002]

Slow starts have been a problem for a few years.

From my perspective several factors contribute.

1. Personell - adequate skill...we are slowly improving. Champions are a big help here. We are just budding them.

2. Confidence - grows with belief in yourself in comparison to the the oposition. Again experience is necessary.

3. Game plan - we now play chess - the game plan consists of so many ingredients its hard to put a finger on which ingredient has the most impact. Maybe man on man would sometimes work. But this is the ultimate test of the good coach. That's what they are paid to do. That's why we listen to the so called experts on the radio wondering if any has that special edge in insight.

4. Attitude - at what level of passion does the team arrive on the park. Again, that's the job of the coach. IMO That's what is the problem at Essendon. I have a contact with personal insight into the bombers rooms and the problem is the low level of personal communication skills Knights has. He is articulate but can not elicite rapport with other people. Hence his personality is not such that rouses people to their optimum performance level. They are still struggling to articulate this so fight each other. I have not seen evidence to help understand Deans ability to arouse and create stimulation amongst others , but this may be an issue. Some like his calm disposition eg Ross Lyon, Paul Roos. But in some cases if the mix is not right it can lower the level of arousal instead of highten it. From reports the guys like Dean, but that is different from a persons ability to highten arousal.

I think you are fairly close with 1 - 3, assuming we prgress with 1 - 3

we are proberly not going to know with 4 till this time next year,

It may well determine if DB keeps his job!

[Luck Lucy 0]

1. Death and Taxes, 

2. Vision of Julia Gillard appearing on the front page of every newspaper after the weekend hugging and kissing a baby, and

3. Melbourne stuffing up the start of yet another game. 

4. Clubs coming from interstate to play in WA always give away more frees than they get!

[Guest Yeats_08]

SHRINK! by William from West Perth

Umpires Margetts Rosebury Dalgleish

Crowd 32,816 at Subiaco Oval

Most aptly named umpire in the AFL

[Dee*ceiving 1,724]

Obtaining a sense of heightened arousal is important but can still lead to dissappointment if not handled appropriately

[jackaub 1,402]

I belive the poor starts are a direct result of a poor defensive style set up. The team is on the back foot from the first bounce

No body seens to have the desire to get the first possession! I have lsot count of the number of times we have tapped the ball to a running opposition outsde player and two kicks later first goal !!!! Geesus

Our set up is completely predictable and more importantly readable

I cannot blame the players it is very poor coaching! Please DB do something different this week

lets make a team rule to get the first goal each week have a real go and you might be surprised what is possible after that

[inmylife 0]

This is just a put it out there post.it is obvious our backline is our strength,though i do have problems with our kick outs.watch a game featuring geelong,hawthorn or even essendon.the cameraman or producer can not keep up with them,a point goes thru and the next frame u see is the ball in the hands of a teamate up the ground and they are away.

this is the reason,in my opinion,that goal kicking is so poor,u miss and the ball rebounds so quickly,u have missed and have given a golden opportunity for the opposition to score on rebound.

this is a fundamental of the modern game,we do not have a designated kicker or a back up if that player is out of position.

guys run off the ground with amazing tenacity for interchanges,why cant this commitment be transferred to kick outs.i believe our first quarters are lost here, a team scores a point,we immediately become dysfunctional thru either a lack of confidence and hesitation.

the camera will be on either garland,bruce,bartram,davey etc etc for minutes and we have missed the greatest,or maybe easiest,way to brake the zone.instead we allow a full court press.this is a lack of structure not a lack of tenacity.

we simply allow sides to zone so early that pressure is immediate.it transfers across the ground ,the modern game is all about pressure and confidence in your ability to do so.it is also contagious throughout the entire group,this is for pressure applied and received.

this will be my guage of bailey by years end,he is taking his eye of the the ball and looking towards his teams ferocity .how can u be ferocious when u are under immediate pressure,ferocity in stagnation is what we have been doing.

a team playing melbourne should not be afraid of missing shots on goal,a point will shut us down.what are the beliefs of others?i would like to know if i am seeing something that is not there or would like to hear other opinions on our starts

[baileybyebye 0]

i agree,though we have had this problem since the rule came in.if i was bailey i would give 4 guys an edict to get to that ball bag behind the goals(not the goal umpire)as soon as that ball appears to be crossing the line,especially on long running shots on goal,this is when the opposition is most vulnerable.

im not a great fan of bailey,he couldnt inspire an erection out of an over the hill queen in oxford st.

i always believed he was a poor choice.you need to respect and to a certain fear him.to see him standing on the boundary line patting guys on the bum after a chat says to me he wants to be part of the group,there should be a line between the coach and the playing group.

give a spray.

i know craig(crows) has been successful,to a certain extent,though a player will ,at least once question the coaches playing history.if the reply is he was good or hard at it,respect is gained.he was once one of us and understands the commitment he is preaching.hardwick case in point. bailey is as timid off the ground as he was on it.

look at matthew knights,one of the least courageous players ever to play.if an essendon player saw a few of his games they would be asking"how can u tell me to put my head over the ball"?

[keajai 0]

to see him standing on the boundary line patting guys on the bum after a chat says to me he wants to be part of the group,there should be a line between the coach and the playing group.

Was it after Bailey sat down with Jones in the third or last quarter, arm around him, that Jones lifted his output (included a goal) and had much bigger impact on the game?

I think Bailey was chosen for his ability to develop players and a team.

Over the course of the year Bailey must have set improvement objectives and milestones for the key fundamentals of his game plan. Maybe kick in's are low on the development priority this year as opposed to hardness/ferocity at the content.

He probably feels it is important not to overload his young side with areas to improve, instead focussing on fundamentals, getting them to a solid base and building on them.

I agree that our kick in's are generally poor and need work, but have other areas improved under Bails?

On our poor starts and firing up pre game. Some of the goals conceded in the opening quarter came from sloppy free

kicks (Jones) which indicates players were potentially over aroused before the game, so maybe sprays don't always help?

I'm not sure Bails is a premiership coach, but at the moment I am

not sure I can fault his player development this year, the list he is building, nor the game style he is developing.

Yes, we have been inconsistent and that is frustrating for all. But surely that is a pitfall of growing side.

(NB I was o/s for 6 weeks in May and June so missed some of our losses so I am a bit biased)

[Harrisonrules 273]

The heading on the Web site suggests Bailey is going to spark up the demon starts.

I'm glad after 55 games he's realised its in his job description

[titan_uranus 25,176]

Interesting stat: we've only kicked 6 or more goals in the first half three times this year.

[Eth 4]

Interesting stat: we've only kicked 6 or more goals in the first half three times this year.

Ouch