YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!

[jimcor 212]

I don't think I saw any significant change in the game plan. For me, the difference was that the players seemed to be learning that there is a 'right' time to spread and doing it more effectively. It was remarkable (for me) to see the number of successful passes by foot because players created enough space for themselves. It then followed that it was unlikely that the Dons could get a fist to the ball. In past games, foot (and hand) passes almost always seemed to put players under pressure - particularly under Bailey. We are maybe seeing the benefit of ten weeks of intense practice.

[Geddy Lee 582]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!! by The Oracle

The strange thing about this game was that it was one of the five that, even before the season began, I had pencilled in for a Melbourne win in the first half of the season. The way it worked, the team would then come home with a wet sail in the latter half of the season to fall into the finals in Mark Neeld's debut season.

...

Thanks so much to The Oracle and all other match reviewers on Demonland. The insight and quality of writing blows away what I read in the major metropolitan sport sections, whether the regular journos are on strike or not.

Much appreciated from me and everyone I forward the match reports to (and probably all the lurkers too).

[Hardnut 327]

Over the last few months I have consistently supported the players, whilst being critical of the coaching and the admin.

Now, where are all those posters who wanted a decimation of the playing list only a week ago?

And yes, there have been changes to the game plan and the role of the players over recent weeks, which is good to see.

[old55 23,357]

I liked some of Tapscott's efforts.

Yes, got involved a lot more and took a couple of nice contested marks when he's looked weak overhead before. I'm not yet convinced but that game was real progression. Had a great collision with Hurley - came off 2nd best but would've killed almost anyone else.

[rufus 1,162]

I just hope the players don't get too carried away with last night, as great as it was. I hope the win gives them the belief that the way they have been instructed to go about it CAN win matches, but that they understand the kind of intensity and commitment they needed to bring for the full 120 minutes for it to work. I do have faith in the current coaching setup that this way of thinking will be drilled into the playing group (something that I have not necessarily had in previous years).

[Range Rover 1,935]

Watching Adelaide, thankfully we didn't get Ross Lyon, sadly we got Neeld, and how I wish we'd got Sanderson - but we didn't look did we!

It didn't escape me. Logic is always the best path to follow. Scott will be around long after Neeld's gone.

Too long WYL.

And a few others should go before, with, or after him (Neeld), as long as it is quick, for the sake of MFC!

Critical?? You wanted him sacked. Out. Goneski.

Re-read your posts if you can handle the embarrassment.

"Changes to the gameplan". Pfft. Kidding yourself.

[Pennant St Dee 13,094]

PSD I had a fantastic 2nd June 2012

Saw Uni Blacks win 7th straight then had I think 1 MD too many.

But soldier on in front of the TV last night.

Was tempted to uncork the single malt but GD minding duties this morning saved me from a big hangover.

Marvelous what a win will do for the spirit

Was thinking of you WYL and some of the older supporters I know last night. Due to our 0-9 start the thougts of many are things are so bad we wont ever move forward.

There will still be bad days but we needed to pear right back before we really move forward, Hope you WYL and others now believe better times are ahead, still a while away though

Enjoy it my Demon brothers, Mt Hawthorn Cardies JFC had a win today and The Perth derby tomorrow so here's hoping for three wins

[The heart beats true 18,107]

"Changes to the gameplan". Pfft. Kidding yourself.

Really not wanting to get involved in the entertaining backs and forth between you and Hardnut, but surely RR you acknowledge that the game plan does change week to week?

I noticed we set up quite differently last night in terms of defensive structures. Watched the replay and the commentators mentioned the same thing.

* This is acknowledged as a compliment to Neeld. If he's readjusting the plan it means he's doing his job.

[Buzzy 992]

Who cried?

Go on, fess up...

I did.

I did at the end of the replay. That win was a long time coming.

I'm just devo that it's the one game I wasn't able to get to this year. I watched it on my phone at a classy restaurant and was screaming out. Some random guy hugged me when we won. So pumped.

[old dee 23,770]

I did at the end of the replay. That win was a long time coming.

I'm just devo that it's the one game I wasn't able to get to this year. I watched it on my phone at a classy restaurant and was screaming out. Some random guy hugged me when we won. So pumped.

Buzzy are you sure he was a dees supporter ?

[Grapeviney 9,705]

Nine touches apiece for our two skippers in the final quarter, really stood up when it counted

[Range Rover 1,935]

Really not wanting to get involved in the entertaining backs and forth between you and Hardnut, but surely RR you acknowledge that the game plan does change week to week?

I noticed we set up quite differently last night in terms of defensive structures. Watched the replay and the commentators mentioned the same thing.

* This is acknowledged as a compliment to Neeld. If he's readjusting the plan it means he's doing his job.

The plan will be tweaked from week to week according to match-ups but the overall thrust from an unaccountable, attacking mindset to a disciplined, defensive one has not changed since the opening bounce of round 1. It is specious (to use an Rpfc word) at best to suggest that we won this week because of some novel change in strategy. Didn't happen.

Footy's not rocket science ... but you can make it sound like it is if you need to back up flimsy argument.

[rpfc 28,248]

Really not wanting to get involved in the entertaining backs and forth between you and Hardnut, but surely RR you acknowledge that the game plan does change week to week?

I noticed we set up quite differently last night in terms of defensive structures. Watched the replay and the commentators mentioned the same thing.

* This is acknowledged as a compliment to Neeld. If he's readjusting the plan it means he's doing his job.

What did you notice?

[The heart beats true 18,107]

I noticed a few times we had more players pushing back in defence after the initial clearance. More like a flood of a couple years back. I felt like it really helped our spread out of defence once we had the ball coming out. I didn't remember seeing us roll from more flooding and then into one on one when we had the ball in previous games.

When I watched the replay one of the commentators brought it up too.

[deanox 9,896]

Have only just now taken off my scarf!

No change in game plan for me; the only difference was three players all executed. This involved a combination of running and spreading harder at stoppages and providing the short link for the 20m kick along the boundary. Set ups at stoppages etc are not related to game plan; they are related to how we set up at stoppages! The game plan is where we are kicking and running to, how we move the ball.

Edited June 3, 2012 by deanox

[Macca 16,904]

Thought Neeld definately out-coached Hird on the night .

Sylvia on Fletcher worked quite well , Colin wasn't great but he was dangerous . Garland was an inspired move and Hird had no match up for Watts . We are playing more as a team , as evidenced by our possession rate . And we turned our contested possessions into clearances . Our relentless pressure in the end caused them to fumble and panic .

We need to back it up now , the Pies are a tough match up but we can take it up to them , no doubt .

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Bear with me...

I didn't cry, but I have to say I didn't really feel anything... I think in times like that, when the result is such a shock that was impossible... Your brain goes into it's storage banks to find a file on what you've seen to compare to, so it can decide how to feel, what endorphins to transmit... And there just isn't information.

There's winning, then there's winning a come from behind victory against a good opponent that means more than an average win against a bad side. And then there's a win like Saturday. I know what I thought... I thought "this can't be real. All my intellectualising can't actually process this. It doesn't make any sense." But what I FELT... I was surprised to not really know how to feel? How do you? How the hell did that happen? I STILL don't understand. We didn't get hauled over the line by a herculean individual effort. There wasn't a defining 4 goal game from someone. The best player on the ground was probably Watson. I don't think I'll ever see something as plainly incomprehensible in a result again.

Here's something stupid. I felt about the same at the end of the game as I did after 186. My memory banks had no reference point for either of these games. And to be honest, I still don't really understand how either happened. In the washup, it's a tremendous thing, of course... But I really still can't quantify the 120 minutes. How often can you say that of a game?

And of course from there, you have to say that all roads lead to Neeld. He reckons he knew what he was doing. He reckons he had the instructions sent out to the team and they FINALLY were taken on board. So from that we have to say that something happened here that in all my accumulated knowledge in footy, I can't explain. Suddenly, I have an inkling of faith in the man. I mean let's not get carried away... scoring 58 points a game will win you maybe one game a year. But at the same time, his method, to me, is a bit of a mystery. And if it's a mystery to me, maybe it's going to be a mystery for opponents when we finally rise. This win, in it's context, could be more meaningful than a GF win in the grand scheme.

Alright Neeld. Now let's see what else you got.

[Demon SeaMan 108]

Any chance of demonland sponsoring Neeldys family to go away on a trip until end of August? apparently he had time to look at stats last week

[hardtack 10,514]

DD... why try to "intellectualise" it? The fact is that we applied constant pressure that in the end, aided by their poor kicking for goal (in no small part due to that pressure), got us over the line. Coupled with that pressure, we made space and so were more effective with our clearances and ball movement.

The feeling I had while watching this unfold, was almost identical to that I experienced in our come from behind win (the first in Bailey's tenure?) against Freemantle. Sure we didn't come from a long way behind and eventually run over the top of them, but there was that same desperation to get over the line for their new coach, the supporters, and for themselves.

I'm now really looking forward to next Monday to see if something really has clicked or if this was simply an aberration. Neeld has the advantage of knowing the opponent in this case, and to this end I hold a little hope knowing that we beat them in the pre-season when on paper they had a much stronger team than we are able to field (Neeld's inside knowledge had more than a little to do with that, I'm sure).

Edited June 3, 2012 by hardtack

[Akum 2,660]

The plan will be tweaked from week to week according to match-ups but the overall thrust from an unaccountable, attacking mindset to a disciplined, defensive one has not changed since the opening bounce of round 1. It is specious (to use an Rpfc word) at best to suggest that we won this week because of some novel change in strategy. Didn't happen.

Footy's not rocket science ... but you can make it sound like it is if you need to back up flimsy argument.

Surely 222 uncontested possessions is a massive change to something. By being able to string together uncontested possessions, rather than just kicking to contests, we hurt them going the other way.

The game plan was not switched around from defensive to attacking. But we were able to supplement our defensive game plan by some really effective attacking footy too.

I had always hoped this was going to happen, but with Bailey, we had the attacking without the defensive capacity. The Neeld way is the right way to go about it. But I must agree with Hardnut - this was the first game this year that I've seen both the defensive (contested footy) and attacking (uncontested footy) parts of the game plan come together. And that's what we need going forward. To continue kicking to contests wouldn't have got us anywhere.

222 uncontested possessions! That's 50 more than our average this season. For the first time for at least 4 years, we now have a well-rounded game plan. Saturday night wasn't an accident.

[rpfc 28,248]

Surely 222 uncontested possessions is a massive change to something. By being able to string together uncontested possessions, rather than just kicking to contests, we hurt them going the other way.

The game plan was not switched around from defensive to attacking. But we were able to supplement our defensive game plan by some really effective attacking footy too.

I had always hoped this was going to happen, but with Bailey, we had the attacking without the defensive capacity. The Neeld way is the right way to go about it. But I must agree with Hardnut - this was the first game this year that I've seen both the defensive (contested footy) and attacking (uncontested footy) parts of the game plan come together. And that's what we need going forward. To continue kicking to contests wouldn't have got us anywhere.

222 uncontested possessions! That's 50 more than our average this season. For the first time for at least 4 years, we now have a well-rounded game plan. Saturday night wasn't an accident.

You're assuming there was a concious change by Neeld to get the players to look for more 'cheap' ball, to spread.

I am assuming the players spread more because that is how you play footy. It is Footy 101 to spread and look for the football. The players haven't been doing that because when you get pumped you go back into your shell and you worry about your bloke getting a touch and suddenly it's 18 blokes trying to work to get the footy versus around 10 blokes trying to do that and 8 trying to keep their direct opponent from getting it.

And while we are both assuming, I certainly favour the view that the players have been told to spread and get the footy all year because that is a basic of footy.

The fact that they are doing it now is testament to their belief in each other, in the gameplan, and in their own ability.

[Macca 16,904]

DD... why try to "intellectualise" it? The fact is that we applied constant pressure that in the end, aided by their poor kicking for goal (in no small part due to that pressure), got us over the line. Coupled with that pressure, we made space and so were more effective with our clearances and ball movement.

The feeling I had while watching this unfold, was almost identical to that I experienced in our come from behind win (the first in Bailey's tenure?) against Freemantle. Sure we didn't come from a long way behind and eventually run over the top of them, but there was that same desperation to get over the line for their new coach, the supporters, and for themselves.

I'm now really looking forward to next Monday to see if something really has clicked or if this was simply an aberration. Neeld has the advantage of knowing the opponent in this case, and to this end I hold a little hope knowing that we beat them in the pre-season when on paper they had a much stronger team than we are able to field (Neeld's inside knowledge had more than a little to do with that, I'm sure).

I'm a bit with Dappa Dan on this one . I don't compare it to the Freo win (as good as that was) but more with how we sometimes won in the Northey era . All players contributing with selfless acts , all game .

Footy has changed vastly since those times but I reckon it was more of the overall team effort for 4 quarters that stood out . The pressure we exerted hasn't been seen before against a decent team for a long time . I can't recall a game readily .

Edited June 4, 2012 by Macca

[Demon Stalwart 255]

Congratulations to the boys and Neeld , long time between drinks but never the less its still as sweet as always

Would be nice to see it happen again .

All I can say is Garland you Bloody Ripper

And the rest a real Contest.

It was the first game I gave Melbourne a real chance in mainly because of the weather and who we where playing

But really I was living in hope , glad to see that hope though is still alive and well

[Hardnut 327]

You're assuming there was a concious change by Neeld to get the players to look for more 'cheap' ball, to spread.

I am assuming the players spread more because that is how you play footy. It is Footy 101 to spread and look for the football. The players haven't been doing that because when you get pumped you go back into your shell and you worry about your bloke getting a touch and suddenly it's 18 blokes trying to work to get the footy versus around 10 blokes trying to do that and 8 trying to keep their direct opponent from getting it.

And while we are both assuming, I certainly favour the view that the players have been told to spread and get the footy all year because that is a basic of footy.

The fact that they are doing it now is testament to their belief in each other, in the gameplan, and in their own ability.

So the 'unchangeable' game plan has changed, and a good change it is! It is not a change to 'cheap ball' to run and spread, it is a logical change and it provides options to attack! I think that's what you are trying to say rpfc.

[rpfc 28,248]

So the 'unchangeable' game plan has changed, and a good change it is! It is not a change to 'cheap ball' to run and spread, it is a logical change and it provides options to attack! I think that's what you are trying to say rpfc.

Not trying to say anything, what I did say is that players are finally marrying the defensive mindset instilled in them with some run and spread offensively.

No change in the gameplan - proper execution of the gameplan.