maybe the players are playing poorly due to some disquiet over Juniors forced retirement?! Pure speculation and we always play poorly here but who know?

Don't make me laugh.

What sort of young team goes out and tries to lose to prove a point about a player retiring?!

James McDonald's 250th was the only reason I even remotely had any interest in this game. Port at AAMI when the season is over. Yawn.

Bring on 2011. Wake me up in March please.

Morton, too long in the VFL. Maybe should have stayed there.

Needs some bulk.

Newton is signing his own papers. Again.

I was all for keeping him next, but he is doing his best to change my mind.

Gutted.

Had 3 bucks on Green to kick the last goal at 26-1. Bloody Scully

Don't make me laugh.

What sort of young team goes out and tries to lose to prove a point about a player retiring?!

I meant perhaps its may have been slightly disruptive in terms of mental preparation for what was a significant milestone game, but yeah unlikely I agree

Morton, too long in the VFL. Maybe should have stayed there.

Wait . . . what? On the one hand, he's been there too long, but on the other, he should have been kept there?

One thing I'm really concerned about is our performances in ball-up/throw-in situations in our d50. Both last week and this week we were absolutely killed in this area. Conceded a total of around six goals just in this area. Say what you like about Jordie McKenzie and Nathan Jones, they are not good at this particular aspect of contested situations. "Ball watching" is the term I would like to use here. Trengove and Scully are also culprits, but they are often just buffeted off the ball, given their size problems.

Cale Morton is a seriously flawed footballer and I think the Yze_Magics of the world have in him another Cameron Bruce; a player whose strengths they'll ignore and whose weaknesses they will never forget.

Morton had 11 kicks, 14 handballs, 2 tackles and 8 strong grabs. 95 DreamTeam points & 92 SuperCoach points. How do you like them apples??? Lay off him. He and Frawley were the only solid backmen today with Rivers playing good too.

Question Bennell, Warnock, Bail and Bartram today.

Congrats on Junior's 250th game - he played out of his skin and dominated.

Bruce a real leader today with 39 possies.

Jurrah a sensation. AND WHAT A GRABBBB!!!

In the end, we gained a respectable scoreline in losing by 29 points after our average losing margin over in Adelaide has been in the 50's of recent times. Getting better but still a long way to go.

One more match and then it's into pre-season mode!!!

Newton is signing his own papers. Again.

I was all for keeping him next, but he is doing his best to change my mind.

agree, i was on the same page as you..

Morton had 11 kicks, 14 handballs, 2 tackles and 8 strong grabs. 95 DreamTeam points & 92 SuperCoach points. How do you like them apples??? Lay off him. He and Frawley were the only solid backmen today with Rivers playing good too.

Question Bennell, Warnock, Bail and Bartram today.

Congrats on Junior's 250th game - he played out of his skin and dominated.

Bruce a real leader today with 39 possies.

Jurrah a sensation. AND WHAT A GRABBBB!!!

In the end, we gained a respectable scoreline in losing by 29 points after our average losing margin over in Adelaide has been in the 50's of recent times. Getting better but still a long way to go.

One more match and then it's into pre-season mode!!!

When the team said they would be pumped for Juniors 250 this is not what I had in mined. Bring on North big last game

Classy.

You know what's even classier though?? The fact that you fail to realise Morton was running in the direction of where the ball was about to be heading.

I bet if we had've won the game by a point, Morton would have been "sensational down back".

James McDonald's 250th was the only reason I even remotely had any interest in this game. Port at AAMI when the season is over. Yawn.

Bring on 2011. Wake me up in March please.

Too blase Nasher. Yes, it's Round 21 and the season's dead. But that doesn't excuse the attitude of plenty of our players. This was a game that, on form, we should have won. We were pretty good last week against Hawthorn, and had won the three before that.

We still suck massively in Adelaide, and when the chips are down too many of our players don't stand up.

Morton, too long in the VFL. Maybe should have stayed there.

Needs some bulk.

Don't really get that sentence, but he was crap. Didn't deserve his spot, which was supposedly Bail's prior to the game. Bail was no good today either but there's no way Morton deserved to push him out in the first place.

Newton is signing his own papers. Again.

I was all for keeping him next, but he is doing his best to change my mind.

This game should have put to bed any notion of keeping Newton. It's quite unbelievable that it was considered, really.

Morton had 11 kicks, 14 handballs, 2 tackles and 8 strong grabs. 95 DreamTeam points & 92 SuperCoach points. How do you like them apples??? Lay off him. He and Frawley were the only solid backmen today with Rivers playing good too.

Just goes to show stats can back any POV up.

Morton was crap. Soft, bad decision making, cheap possessions in defence when he should be having more influence up the ground by now. Missed a goal from 15 metres out early that would have given us confidence, turned it over too much.

Too blase Nasher. Yes, it's Round 21 and the season's dead. But that doesn't excuse the attitude of plenty of our players. This was a game that, on form, we should have won. We were pretty good last week against Hawthorn, and had won the three before that.

Agreed, what a poor attitude to have towards a game.

Every game is important, especially when you're developing a young side, and the players should be made accountable for putting in such a pathetic performance at AAMI Stadium yet again.

I just don't buy the whole "who cares it's Round 21" thing. We care because we are better than what we showed today, and because when we play we should play to the best of our ability, and expect the best from our players, regardless of what round it is.

Classy.

You know what's even classier though?? The fact that you fail to realise Morton was running in the direction of where the ball was about to be heading.

I bet if we had've won the game by a point, Morton would have been "sensational down back".

No, I do realise Morton got the ball, but he still ran away, even if it was for half a second then he started leading for the ball, but he till ran.

And I find it funny.

Was less about the effort and more about our poor disposal and finishing, otherwise we would have been in a fairly good position before Port even got a sniff. Credit to them for their pressure and while I agree some efforts weren't there today, it was far from a shocker.

Think of the talent that was out today, Jurrah was good, Scully was awesome.

Agreed, what a poor attitude to have towards a game.

Every game is important, especially when you're developing a young side, and the players should be made accountable for putting in such a pathetic performance at AAMI Stadium yet again.

I just don't buy the whole "who cares it's Round 21" thing. We care because we are better than what we showed today, and because when we play we should play to the best of our ability, and expect the best from our players, regardless of what round it is.

Right on. If we're about learning, developing, and gaining consistency then today was simply not good enough. No excuses. Today's game had a real 'nothing' feel about it and I hate that. Maybe it's the ghosts of deliberate poor efforts coming back to haunt us?

I hope the whole team gets baked by Bails for today, we're past the stage of just 'learning experiences' and need to start understanding the effort required EVERY WEEK at AFL level when you are trying to move forward and become a successful, consistent, and HUNGRY team.

I know it's sometimes important to look for positives, but I think today needs to be looked at and not just swept under the rug.

Was less about the effort and more about our poor disposal and finishing, otherwise we would have been in a fairly good position before Port even got a sniff. Credit to them for their pressure and while I agree some efforts weren't there today, it was far from a shocker.

Think of the talent that was out today, Jurrah was good, Scully was awesome.

Excuses excuses... nNo offence Hill but I'm just sick of this kind of attitude. We won't automatically become a good team, so just writing off certain games is not good enough.

Too blase Nasher. Yes, it's Round 21 and the season's dead. But that doesn't excuse the attitude of plenty of our players. This was a game that, on form, we should have won. We were pretty good last week against Hawthorn, and had won the three before that.

Agreed, what a poor attitude to have towards a game.

Every game is important, especially when you're developing a young side, and the players should be made accountable for putting in such a pathetic performance at AAMI Stadium yet again.

Wow, sorry guys, I had no idea my poor attitude towards the game would have such a huge bearing on the result. I won't let it happen again

Important it may well have been for the players, for me it held zero interest. I make no (sincere) apologies for that.

Wow, sorry guys, I had no idea my poor attitude towards the game would have such a huge bearing on the result. I won't let it happen again

Important it may well have been for the players, for me it held zero interest. I make no (sincere) apologies for that.

I'm not talking about what influence it would have had prior to the game (obviously you need to hone your ESP).

But I would have thought that after a game which we could and should have won, and in which we played some totally rubbish football for extended periods, you'd care even a little bit. Just because it's Round 21, interstate, against a bottom 8 side, and in a hidden timeslot, doesn't make the game as unimportant as you seem to think it was.

I'm not talking about what influence it would have had prior to the game (obviously you need to hone your ESP).

But I would have thought that after a game which we could and should have won, and in which we played some totally rubbish football for extended periods, you'd care even a little bit. Just because it's Round 21, interstate, against a bottom 8 side, and in a hidden timeslot, doesn't make the game as unimportant as you seem to think it was.

I didn't say it was unimportant, I said it held no interest for me. There's a huge difference.

This year I was looking for the signs that we're capable of playing football capable of matching it with the best sides. That was met after the Sydney game (not the best opposition but an exquisite brand of footy played by us) - then we hit purple patch of form that brought our faint finals hopes back to life. Then we lost to Hawthorn.

As far as I'm concerned I've seen the improvement I wanted to see. I've seen where the team is heading, I've seen our young guns, I get what the plan is for the side. Finals are gone. There's nothing else I want to get out of this season. Therefore I've got nothing but token interest left, especially for a game in that shitheap that is AAMI stadium that we were always going to lose anyway.

Wow, sorry guys, I had no idea my poor attitude towards the game would have such a huge bearing on the result. I won't let it happen again

Important it may well have been for the players, for me it held zero interest. I make no (sincere) apologies for that.

It's just a [censored] attitude for supporters to have.

And when you say that we were always going to lose that game, is a load of horseshit. We had every right to go over there and win.

Edited August 22, 201014 yr by Jaded

I didn't say it was unimportant, I said it held no interest for me. There's a huge difference.

This year I was looking for the signs that we're capable of playing football capable of matching it with the best sides. That was met after the Sydney game (not the best opposition but an exquisite brand of footy played by us) - then we hit purple patch of form that brought our faint finals hopes back to life. Then we lost to Hawthorn.

As far as I'm concerned I've seen the improvement I wanted to see. I've seen where the team is heading, I've seen our young guns, I get what the plan is for the side. Finals are gone. There's nothing else I want to get out of this season. Therefore I've got nothing but token interest left, especially for a game in that shitheap that is AAMI stadium that we were always going to lose anyway.

Hmmm, kinda makes sense, but still sounds to me like a way to excuse our crappiness.

So if we'd been smashed by 100, playing like we did in 2008, would that have mattered?

FWIW, I don't see this performance having any bearing on 2011. I see it as being a bad game, something I'm really disappointed about, and one that we screwed up big time.

What makes a man a man, it's not how he starts things but how he chooses to finish them.

It's just a [censored] attitude for supporters to have.

All the things that interest me in AFL football were absent from this game - and this was true before the first bounce, it had nothing to do with the result. So much so that I wasn't even going to bother watching but for the grace of a TV being nearby where I was - I decided that I'd stop revolving my family life around when the footy was on this week rather than in two weeks time.

If that doesn't meet your standards for supporter attitude then I'm afraid that is your problem and not mine.

All the things that interest me in AFL football were absent from this game - and this was true before the first bounce, it had nothing to do with the result. So much so that I wasn't even going to bother watching but for the grace of a TV being nearby where I was - I decided that I'd stop revolving my family life around when the footy was on this week rather than in two weeks time.

If that doesn't meet your standards for supporter attitude then I'm afraid that is your problem and not mine.

Do whatever you like, but don't tell other supporters that it doesn't matter how we performed because you happened to not care.

Just because you're over this season, doesn't mean the rest of us, or indeed the club, should be.

I hope that Melbourne-based fans don't feel the same as you and we get 20,000 people to next week's game now. Junior deserves a better send off than that, and for those of us who have been there every week, we deserve a better end to the season than the slop we displayed today. Finishing the season off well is going to give us an important launching position for next year.