Youv'e gotta be happy

[DeeZee 7,312]

After 4 rounds We have a player in the top 2 in AFL goalkicking - Jurrah

We have a player in the top 6 in AFL disposals - Moloney (and right up there in media awards)

We are in the eight with 2 wins one draw and one loss

Players such as Tapscott ,Gysberts getting senior games and improving

Wona and Morton,and Bail in the side and getting better each week

Ruck combo of Jamar and Martin doing very well

Blease,Pettard,Scully,Jordie to come in still.

We can still improve heaps with Watts, Frawley,Green ,Davey,Garland still to show their best form,(and you know they can/will do it)

Ignore all the negative media crap.....we know where we are at and have to believe in the group.

We can really only get better with more games in us.

Sit back and enjoy the ride folks.

[stuie 7,374]

All we need now is a game plan...

[Chook 15,000]

All we need now is a game plan...

You know that silky-slick chain of handballs through the midfield followed by a kick down the throat of Liam Jurrah, which makes you go "Jeez, where the hell has that been all day?" That's our game plan in action.

"Why don't we see it more often?" I here you ask. Because we're young, that's all. Intensity comes with maturity, and skills come with time. Put the two together and you have the ability to reliably hit your game-plan.

[stuie 7,374]

You know that silky-slick chain of handballs through the midfield followed by a kick down the throat of Liam Jurrah, which makes you go "Jeez, where the hell has that been all day?" That's our game plan in action.

"Why don't we see it more often?" I here you ask. Because we're young, that's all. Intensity comes with maturity, and skills come with time. Put the two together and you have the ability to reliably hit your game-plan.

Can't remember seeing that actually... Can remember us holding the ball too long and bombing away tho!

I do appreciate your point though, and I do understand the majority of our players aren't quite at the level to execute a game plan 100% of the time, but so far this year I'm noticing a lack of direction and structure rather than an effort to fulfill a plan that then fails most of the time.

So in my opinion something isn't wrong but it's also not quite right... And I don't mean that in a developmental sense, just on current form.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

So in my opinion something isn't wrong but it's also not quite right... And I don't mean that in a developmental sense, just on current form.

I know what you mean. Youth and belief I think. Lethal made some comments about good sides being the ones that know the exact moment to spread. Not a second to soon or the ball might go the other way, and not a second late or you can't get free.

It's probably more a case of honing that which makes our up and down look so extreme. If we master that we are going to be a very good team.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

There are some areas that we can be happy with. There are some players in form, some young players showing a bit and then there are some players who aren't in great form and some young players stagnating.

I would have to say though that given the opposition we have played against and the way we have played I personally am not satisfied. If we continue to play with a lack of process and intensity we will be in trouble in the second half of the season.

I take very little out of yesterday's game.

[Adzman 2,153]

If you add Scully and Jordie to this current lineup then I think we are a much better team. I am starting to feel that Scully's injury may be worse than we first thought. We might not get to see him play this season, so a chance for another player to lock down a role exists.

It would be nice if Blease was that player. He is someone I look forward to seeing. I wonder if Cook will get a run at some point. Given we have a bevvy of tall stocks it would be hard to break into the team with our talls performing like they have been. Even mid sized forwards like Ricky and Bater can't get a consistent run.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I don't think we were particularly good yesterday, which is a bizarre comment after a 90-point win. The GC is just awful, we should have won that by 120.

Still reasonably happy with where we are at right now, we know we have another gear to click into

Eagles match is huge

[deejammin' 2,185]

I concur with Curry and Beer, Eagles game is huge. We have yet to meet a team that has been around our level, Swans game was a close call but I did expect them to be a good team this year, never expected to beat Hawthorn(although I was devastated with the 3rd quarter effort) and if we had lost to Brisbane or GC I would have been shocked and ver upset.

Also although I love the way Scully and Mckensie go about it I think the influence they may have on our team is a little overstated. Yes Mckensie may add some grunt around the contests, and Scully some speed through the middle, but I think the main problems we have seen with the team so far are bad set plays, kick outs and kick out defence and fading out of games. Too many times yesterday was a team as ordinary as GC able to take the ball from our backline to our forwardline for an easy goal without any pressure or contest. Not good enough for any side, even a young one, as it is merely an issue of discipline and structure. Secondly the other problem is fading out in games, and I'm not sure that two players would change this overall team ethic.

Thoroughly enjoyed the walloping yesterday but I hope to see a lot of improvement over the coming weeks as I think these structural deficiencies shouldn't be fundamentally impossible to improve upon.

Go Dees!!!!!

Edited April 17, 2011 by deejammin'

[Rocknroll 1,002]

Good work DeeZee glad for some positive footy talk.

So more reasons to be happy

A dominating performance at Casey with Blease, Cook and Nicholson in the bests and Ricky bobby and Bate getting majors

Also there where moments against the suns where our forward press was working well (albeit against kids) and directly forced turn overs which we ended up hitting the post!

Some sublime taps on the weekend from Jamar to Maloney and co

Jamar and to a lesser extent Martin big presence in the forward line

Trengove playing his best game for the red and blue

And the fact we are into the 8 for the first time since the finals in 2006

[Born to Run 204]

I think on face value the theory that we "have to be happy" is one that can be strongly argued. Its not as though we lost a game to Brisbane or GC which would have driven Demonland into meltdown, we drew with Sydney where we could have lost and we lost to Hawthorn who many thought were probably going to be better than us this year.

AND as has been said, there have been some encouraging signs from players such as Jurrah, Maloney, Trengove, Tapscott etc, etc.

BUT is still feel very anxious about upcoming games and where we are headed. I watched the game yesterday intently, just to see if I could learn anything about where we are at. Playing what looks to be a very incomplete side in GC made that task very hard. What I did feel was that some of the stuff we produced yesterday would have been eaten up and spat out by more mature sides and sides that punish mistakes. Our skills just don't seem to be sharp. Switching play for us does not seem as fluid as it does for other sides. I also felt we dropped intensity for large periods (i.e. over 7 minutes at a time - 3rd qtr in particular).

I can understand that playing GC at the Gabba is not as electriying as playing Collingwood at the G in front of 70,000, but we are a young team that need to leard to concentrate and be able to tough out 'lulls' in games as well as to be able to stop teams having a run on (i.e. several goals in a row).

I didn't care about the score yesterday, I was just hoping we were going to play some great footy which would ever so slightly lift the confidence and belief in the group (but then again any performance against GC would probably be downplayed by the FD). I would have loved to see a gritty win where we did the hard things well and played in a style that I thought could win us games against a supposed top 4 side like WB's, Geelong, Collingwood or Hawthorn. I didn't see that we produced the footy we would be hoping to produce against higher sides than us yesterday.

Can't wait for the Eagles match though - a win there will really lift the spirits as it is a hard trip no matter how the Eagles are traveling at the time. That is a game that can build confidence if we can manage to win it.

For what its worth also (and understand the AFL is trying to slow the game down a bit toward the end), but hate the Sub rule. Not great for any footballers confidence to sit on the pine for 3 qtrs. It will become a farce when someone doesnt play at all in the game because they instead play in a VFL game the next day.

[titan_uranus 24,755]

It's very hard to draw comclusions from two wins against the worst two sides in the competition.

It's much easier to draw conclusions from two games against finalists from 2010 (and likely 2011 too). The second half against Hawthorn still stands out, and we are yet to atone for it. Until we beat someone of merit, and West Coast in Perth counts as that, we aren't having a great season.

[The Great One 99 125]

After 4 rounds We have a player in the top 2 in AFL goalkicking - Jurrah

We have a player in the top 6 in AFL disposals - Moloney (and right up there in media awards)

We are in the eight with 2 wins one draw and one loss

Players such as Tapscott ,Gysberts getting senior games and improving

Wona and Morton,and Bail in the side and getting better each week

Ruck combo of Jamar and Martin doing very well

Blease,Pettard,Scully,Jordie to come in still.

We can still improve heaps with Watts, Frawley,Green ,Davey,Garland still to show their best form,(and you know they can/will do it)

Ignore all the negative media crap.....we know where we are at and have to believe in the group.

We can really only get better with more games in us.

Sit back and enjoy the ride folks.

Agreed.

And nice try, but it seems that you are not allowed to be positive around here. Thought that it might last more than the second post though.

[praha 11,138]

No, we still suck, Bailey needs to go, we have no structure and no future.

BLOW THE TEAM UP!

[Ned 156]

I'm not happy. I reckon we look rotten. A team of kids pushed us for three-quarters yesterday, a team of spuds and two aged superstars almost knocked us off last week, and we were blasted off the park by Hawthorn. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest Melbourne has improved. I have seen a bit to suggest the opposite. The only thing I am happy about is that it's only April and we haven't lost a game we should have won yet. But that's all on paper. What I have seen has been disappointing.

[DeeZee 7,312]

I'm not happy. I reckon we look rotten. A team of kids pushed us for three-quarters yesterday, a team of spuds and two aged superstars almost knocked us off last week, and we were blasted off the park by Hawthorn. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest Melbourne has improved. I have seen a bit to suggest the opposite. The only thing I am happy about is that it's only April and we haven't lost a game we should have won yet. But that's all on paper. What I have seen has been disappointing.

We were the bottom team for 2 years only a short while ago.

Rome wasnt built in a day.

[Red and Blue Flame 150]

put money on that moloney is winning brownlow ahead of swan and watson.

moloney 7, swan and watson 6

[Sir Why You Little 36,696]

We were the bottom team for 2 years only a short while ago.

Rome wasnt built in a day.

I am with you mate....2007-2009 we were a complete joke in terms of onfield, now the Hard work is starting to shine through...it will all click i have no doubt.

We still have ammo on the list that is yet to play a senior game. Thus it is still the rocky roller coaster. BUT...it is getting faster.

Liam Jurrah could kick 10 this year....Let's hope in front of a big crowd.