Some Perspective on the First 5 Weeks

[Grandson of a gun 276]

After recent results, in particular Gold Coasts win and Brisbane's effort against the Saints i thought it was a timely reminder for people on here to have a little perspective...

We drew with Sydney and given the start we had, that was a pretty reasonable effort as Sydney definately are a reasonable team this year.

We were poor against Hawthorn. There is no escaping that. But it was an expected result.

We beat Brisbane after being 5 goals down. This win looks much better after Thursday night.

Then the TWO YOUNGEST TEAMS in the competition played off and we beat them by 90 points after a hap-hazard first three of quarters. An even better effort after tonight.

At the start of the year, everyone was expecting us to be 3 and 1. 2, 1 and 1 is pretty close.

We are not a finals team. We are still learning and developing and anyone who thinks otherwise is having delusions of grandeur.

At times we have not been great, but we have not been that bad either. Good teams win games even when playing poorly. We have done that. We haven't yet played our best footy even for a quarter, at best we have been average. But only being average has still seen us getting wins. We have a big 4 weeks ahead of us but perhaps the 75% of doomsayers on here might actually take an objective look at things and see that we are about where we expected to be.

Bring on Wet Coke...

[loges 6,767]

After recent results, in particular Gold Coasts win and Brisbane's effort against the Saints i thought it was a timely reminder for people on here to have a little perspective...

We drew with Sydney and given the start we had, that was a pretty reasonable effort as Sydney definately are a reasonable team this year.

We were poor against Hawthorn. There is no escaping that. But it was an expected result.

We beat Brisbane after being 5 goals down. This win looks much better after Thursday night.

Then the TWO YOUNGEST TEAMS in the competition played off and we beat them by 90 points after a hap-hazard first three of quarters. An even better effort after tonight.

At the start of the year, everyone was expecting us to be 3 and 1. 2, 1 and 1 is pretty close.

We are not a finals team. We are still learning and developing and anyone who thinks otherwise is having delusions of grandeur.

At times we have not been great, but we have not been that bad either. Good teams win games even when playing poorly. We have done that. We haven't yet played our best footy even for a quarter, at best we have been average. But only being average has still seen us getting wins. We have a big 4 weeks ahead of us but perhaps the 75% of doomsayers on here might actually take an objective look at things and see that we are about where we expected to be.

Bring on Wet Coke...

Yes perhaps the team and the coaches aren't doing as badly as some would like to suggest. Big game this week though

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

We were poor against Hawthorn. There is no escaping that. But it was an expected result.

as bad as we were we still smashed them for a quarter, something that nobody seems to care about. They are currently ranked second in premiership odds but we were all over them in parts

[plg31ni 2]

Yes perhaps the team and the coaches aren't doing as badly as some would like to suggest. Big game this week though

I am not saying we are not good enough on my various posts... We in Fact ...Are !!..The very reason dedicated demon lovers like me get a little upset when we KNOW we are constantly taking the foot off the pedal at very vital stages of the game and letting the opposition (whom I believe we are much better than, talent wise) either back in the game or get away from us a la Hawthorn.. I Know if we play 4 quarters the way we play 2 we would win more games than we lose. Even three quarters would help. We have won 2 games playing 2 quarters, drew 1 playing 2 quarters and lost one by 7 goals, playing 1 quarter in which we made the Mighty Hawthorn side look second rate !!! I am not wanting to berate our team, I just put it down to not quite having learned how to persist and bury teams..Against Gold coast last quarter we looked very good but were they out of steam at that time and we just ran over them. In view of the Gold Coast's win against Port and watching Carlton and Adelaide my heart fluttered to think maybe we are not too far out of this.(they were very average).. Believe in yourselves Dees ... Please !! Sorry, that should be the job of the coach to make that happen.. I was getting a little carried away... Go Dees... We CAN be in that top 8 this year.. and then next year?? Who knows ???

[harry 1]

I agree. I'm looking forward to the next few matches - WC (Subiaco), Adel (MCG), North (Etihad), St K (Etihad) - it will be a good barometer of how we're travelling.

[Guest 36DD]

Love how people tend to look forward and start penciling in games. The AFL is a pretty even comp, you have the Pies who are currently a cut above the rest, can throw a blanket over the rest of the comp. If a team is off just a little on any given day they will get rolled.

WC at subi, tuff... Adel at the G tuff...

it aint the harlem globetrotters v washington generals

[RalphiusMaximus 6,103]

I really don't see why people are upset about our season to date. We've lost once, and that was a game we were always going to drop. We smashed Gold Coast by a pretty impressive margin. I'll take a draw with the Swans given how they've been playing. If there has been a blemish it was that Brisbane got closer to us than they should have, but if you see it as a bad thing that we were challenged and held out for a win then there's no hope for you.

This has been a really good start to the season. Not only have we got points on the board, but there is still plenty of room to improve. We have a couple of key players to come back in and guys like Frawley, Garland and Morton are yet to get into form. Given the scope we have to improve, I'm thrilled with where we are right now.

[Sir Why You Little 37,310]

I really don't see why people are upset about our season to date. We've lost once, and that was a game we were always going to drop. We smashed Gold Coast by a pretty impressive margin. I'll take a draw with the Swans given how they've been playing. If there has been a blemish it was that Brisbane got closer to us than they should have, but if you see it as a bad thing that we were challenged and held out for a win then there's no hope for you.

This has been a really good start to the season. Not only have we got points on the board, but there is still plenty of room to improve. We have a couple of key players to come back in and guys like Frawley, Garland and Morton are yet to get into form. Given the scope we have to improve, I'm thrilled with where we are right now.

If we win the next 2 weeks i will agree with you. WC were wooden spooners last year, and i think we are good enough to beat Adelaide at home.

Thinking and achieving are always different things though.

[Striker475 696]

The Wet Toast game will be a toughie. WA sides in WA are always tough, and they've hit form.

But it's right. We're up and about, we've got 10 points from a possible 16. 14 from 20 would be great, but this is a game that I certainly have not, nor ever will, pencil in as a win for Melbourne.

[Adzman 2,154]

We haven't had that "Breakthrough" victory yet against a top side. Beating WC away would be a big deal, but knocking off a Collingwood/Geelong/Hawthorn would go along way to solidify our legitimacy as a finals side.

If we can make a stand and win the next 3 I think we will make enough noise for people to notice. But a big scalp is needed to really give this side some credibility back.

[Disco Demons 92]

We have only played one serious finals team this year. Hawks.

I still think we could make the eight. We have played some great patches of footy. There Will be game this year that will be seen as the turning point. Good or bad.... For us.

Personally I think we are lacking two forwards to support Lj. The rest of the team can compete.

[Lost Highway 31]

...and lost one by 7 goals, playing 1 quarter in which we made the Mighty Hawthorn side look second rate !!!

That's what I call always looking on the bright side. That 7 goal margin was pure flattery. I don't think we made them look second rate in Q2 either, although we did play with directness and urgency to rattle them a bit. But let's face it, the result could and should have been 100 points or more. The capitulation in Q3 was as bad as any I've seen in decades. An optimist would say that's only one quarter out of 16. A pessimist would say that it shows our worst is as bad as a side can conceivably play football. We should never be that bad at this stage.

I'm not that worried about the other matches, where form has been patchy but better than some of the fancied sides like St.K and WB and at least the equal of some of the other mid to lower order teams. The main worry for me is the slow starts. A 5 goal to 1 margin against us in the west in Q1, and it's goodnight nurse.

A rusty, tentative Frawley has to improve, of course, and Petterd, Green and Davey have to play forward. Sylvia and Bail to mid-field. Not necessarily all at once, but in rotation if needed. Tapscott and Gysberts to play out the season, they are as good as Trengove.