From my observation I really think our form has been consistent. We have struggled against the teams above us and played well against the likes of the Power, Crows, GC, and Brisbane.

I find it interesting when i hear that our form is up and down. Lets face it, we have improved but we simply haven't taken the next step.

My only concern is that we have suffered heavy losses to the teams above us on the table.

#2 Collingwood - lost by 88

#3 Carlton - lost by 47

#4 Hawthorn - lost by 45

#5 Sydney - draw //home

#6 WCE - lost by 54 //away

#8 Essendon - won by 33

#9 St Kilda - lost by 20

#10 Melbourne

#12 North - lost by 41

#14 Adelaide - won by 96

#15 Brisbane - won by 11

#17 Gold Coast - won by 90

Not to mention, the game focus is shifting to be even more focused on clearances and contested possessions (so it generally corresponds on the ladder).

North may be at about the same level as us, but I'd say their strongest asset is their ability to win contested footyl.

They don't have a lot of class, but they do that well.

Maybe a reason why they still have the wood on us.

I should add, in respect to MFC, we have class midfielders, but we are reliant on some very young and physically underdeveloped kids.

Sure, Moloney, Sylvia and Jones are solid and will not get pushed off the ball.

But I'm not sure I can say the same about Scully, Gysberts, Maric, Evans, Bennell.

Even Jetta, McKenzie, Bail and Trengove are able to stand their ground, but are still not yet big enough to really throw their weight around.

BUMP

Thoughts? This is our performance against each team so far

#2 Collingwood - lost by 88

#3 Carlton - lost by 47

#4 Hawthorn - lost by 45

#5 Sydney - draw //home

#6 WCE - lost by 54 //away

#7 Fremantle - Won by 89 //home

#8 Essendon - won by 33

#9 St Kilda - lost by 20

#10 Melbourne

#12 North - lost by 41

#14 Adelaide - won by 96

#15 Brisbane - won by 11

#17 Gold Coast - won by 90

Our effort drops right off when we lose, but we've really beaten every team we should be expected to beat. There's a chance our "on-off" form is simpy a side-effect of our draw. Based on our performances this year, I would expect an easy win over Richmond next week.Our only losses against teams close to us on the ladder have come at Etihad (St Kilda and North Melbourne), where we've been known to play quite poorly.

Edited June 19, 201114 yr by Chook

The Richmond Game next week could be a classic.

2 young sides both on 22 points.

I hope the Boys and FD really believe this week....sounds silly i know, but i think you know what i mean!!!!

Very impressed with Jeremy Howe...Could he be that forward we need??? Fingers hugely crossed.

Edited June 19, 201114 yr by why you little

If we win next week against the Tiges, I reckon the Dogs game is the big test.

Why can't we beat Victorian teams other than Essaden and the Tiogs??

Thumping Freo/Gold Coast/Crows by huge margins is much cause for back slapping IMHO.

Why can't we play consistently. I dont care if we lose a game by 15 points at least we bloody well had a crack!

Have a crack against the Tiogs boys and win lose or draw I'll be proud of you!

If we win next week against the Tiges, I reckon the Dogs game is the big test.

When we win a game at Etihad i will crack a bottle of red.!

When we win a game at Etihad i will crack a bottle of red.!

I'll second that!

Maybe Eagles 14th August Round 21??

I'll second that!

Maybe Eagles 14th August Round 21??

Bulldogs for mine...They are beatable.

Would be nice against the Doggies but they are a hoodoo team of ours

Why can't we beat Victorian teams other than Essaden and the Tiogs??

Maybe because, North Melbourne and that ridiculous hoodoo aside, they're all good?

Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Carlton are the current top 4. St Kilda and the Dogs have been top 4 for the last 4 years. We've beaten Richmond and Essendon, multiple times.

Why can't we beat Victorian teams other than Essaden and the Tiogs??

Thumping Freo/Gold Coast/Crows by huge margins is much cause for back slapping IMHO.

Why can't we play consistently. I dont care if we lose a game by 15 points at least we bloody well had a crack!

Have a crack against the Tiogs boys and win lose or draw I'll be proud of you!

fair point except i think we should be proud of a big win today. freo are top six on the ladder and allthough they struggle in melbourne you can only beat the opposition in front of you and today we did so convincingly.

From my observation I really think our form has been consistent. We have struggled against the teams above us and played well against the likes of the Power, Crows, GC, and Brisbane.

I find it interesting when i hear that our form is up and down. Lets face it, we have improved but we simply haven't taken the next step.

My only concern is that we have suffered heavy losses to the teams above us on the table.

Yep we've struggled against the Real potentially top 6 teams...

Apart from the Roos, when we were still trying to get our better players out on the Park, we've been true to our current area of the competition. I think when we come up against the Top Teams, our young guys, and our senior players drop the 'Self Belief' a bit, and we get smashed. Then it looks Bad.

fair point except i think we should be proud of a big win today. freo are top six on the ladder and allthough they struggle in melbourne you can only beat the opposition in front of you and today we did so convincingly.

Because were still green, and were carrying too many passengers, who are exposed badly in those bigger games... Players like Morton, Jurrah, sometimes Green himself, depending on his frame of mind, won't get the hardball,,, and look to the widest, softest option when trying to start an attacking setup from the halfbackline.

Again today, we kept taking the safest, widest, slowest, 'Switch' to the fat side... Not enough confidence in one another to take the game on enough, to the more attacking option. And IMO this stems from too many 'noncontested' ball players, who let us down when under the pump, from a poor kick or handball... This is why I've been pushing up Nicholson & Evans.... They'll Fight, for the contested ball.

Bulldogs for mine...They are beatable.

The Doggies young pups look like they've found some Bite this week. They looked good they way they threw themselves hard at the contest, looked committed finally.

From my observation I really think our form has been consistent. We have struggled against the teams above us and played well against the likes of the Power, Crows, GC, and Brisbane.

I hope we played well against The Power... when we played them in four weeks.

Melbourne, still very much a work in progress, has been reasonable against sides in the same ladder bracket, but been pantsed by the top liners. When we are ugly, we are well beaten by good sides; when we win we scrap it out.

My big knock on the Demons is that the sides we have beaten played utter rubbish on the day. Essendon, Adelaide, Fremantle, the Schoolies and Brisbane all failed to show up for large parts of the games. Adelaide & Freo were filth, Essendon went home at half time, the Schoolies had a nap after half time & Brisbane are dead set strugglers. It was good to pinch a draw against Sydney, but we were a bit lucky.

What I want is to win a couple of games against good sides.

West Coast at the 'Had will be interesting - a side we struggle to beat at a ground we struggle to win.

The Tigers will be tough to beat. They have great on ball talent and play physical footy.

The Dogs at the 'Had is a must. They are barely going and we must give that game our best shot.

But I am not prepared to lock in any of our remaining games. Not even Port at at SHAAMI or in Darwin. Well, maybe the Schoolies at the MCG.

Maybe because, North Melbourne and that ridiculous hoodoo aside, they're all good?

Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Carlton are the current top 4. St Kilda and the Dogs have been top 4 for the last 4 years. We've beaten Richmond and Essendon, multiple times.

That's a fair point to make Titan.

That being said surely we could have beaten one of two of them over the years on a good day. But as has been said our self belief runs out the door and probably our 'game plan' too and this combined with good teams which you well point out result in our rubbish form against other Victorian clubs.

It's just hard to swallow that we can only perform well against struggling interstate teams at the MCG. I'm sure the boys will give their all next week against the Tiogs and hopefully it's the start of a few on the trot. Just seeing some consistent good form will go a long way to making up for our performance against the Pies.

My big knock on the Demons is that the sides we have beaten played utter rubbish on the day. Essendon, Adelaide, Fremantle, the Schoolies and Brisbane all failed to show up for large parts of the games. Adelaide & Freo were filth, Essendon went home at half time, the Schoolies had a nap after half time & Brisbane are dead set strugglers. It was good to pinch a draw against Sydney, but we were a bit lucky.

What I want is to win a couple of games against good sides.

West Coast at the 'Had will be interesting - a side we struggle to beat at a ground we struggle to win.

The Tigers will be tough to beat. They have great on ball talent and play physical footy.

The Dogs at the 'Had is a must. They are barely going and we must give that game our best shot.

But I am not prepared to lock in any of our remaining games. Not even Port at at SHAAMI or in Darwin. Well, maybe the Schoolies at the MCG.

Yep, agree. Today was terrific but Freo are decimated by injuries. Essendon have dropped away and Adelaide are a joke. The Tigers will be a good test (feels really weird writing that!) Beat Richmond and we're into the eight. Lose and we simply don't deserve to be.

Of all other clubs, the FD consider Richmond to be its closest ranked peer. The Tiges really have a swagger going. I was there today and the disappointment of Monday seemed miles away. While Freo were very ordinary we did thump them and a few new boys got going. Lets hope our confidence can continue through next week. Shame about Col G, I love him out there. It will not be an easy game for us to win against RFC but of course I am eternally hopeful...

Also, the reason we go good against the bad sides is that they allow us to play the game on our own terms. You don't get that against the good sides. Collingwood, in particular, pressures you into mistakes - they don't let you play the game on your own terms. Same for North, who set up like Collingwood to deny your space and turn the game into an arm wrestle.

Until we can duke it out with the pressuring sides - and that means getting physical impact from Jurrah, Morton, Davey, etc - we will stay mid-table.

We are top heavy for outside players. We cannot hope to compete on a regular basis with the top liners until we get our balance right between inside and outside players. That means several of out lighter players will either have to develop, or be sacrificed for bigger bodied heavy hitters.

There's a chance our "on-off" form is simpy a side-effect of our draw.

I think this is a big part of it, yeah.

It's supported by looking at the results in the context of the quality of the opposition, as in my earlier post/your update.

I'm not so bull-ish about Richmond, but I do think we should win.