THE PAIN KILLER by Whispering Jack

Fremantle set out to teach Melbourne a lesson in their clash at Patersons Stadium and the Dockers well and truly did this from the first minutes of the game.

It started when the usually reliable Michael Barlow errantly passed the ball coming out of defence directly into the waiting arms of Jack Watts for Melbourne's first goal. From that brief but painful beginning for the home team, the Demons took the lead from their hosts and stumbled, fumbled and turned over the football to their opposition gifting away goal after goal to give them leads of 40 and 71 points respectively at each of the first two breaks.

Surprisingly, Melbourne won the premiership quarter and narrowed the deficit by a few points in the third before the inevitable fall off at the end which resulted in a thumping defeat that filled the heart of the faithful with enough pain and provided the club with a further dose of humiliation. It was a result which almost certainly will hasten the end of the coach's career.

One senses that the silence coming from both the Board and the newly appointed and temporary CEO points to the fact that the end will inevitably come shortly and all that remains to make it complete is the bean counting on the final settlement and the finalisation of the name of the fill in coach.

That will be a sad day for the club because Mark Neeld has had the unenviable task of changing what for lack of a better description can be termed "the club's poor culture". This is something that requires more time than seems available to him as the naysayers gain the ascendency in the debate about his future.

Other than that, there's not much to write about this game from a Demon perspective although I continue to be impressed with Jack Trengove, a young man who has been given a job that would be difficult on many other older and more experienced shoulders. He has carried himself well both off the field and now on the field this week and he must become one of the club's spearheads for its ultimate revival. I loved Jeremy Howe's work especially given that he looked gone going for the obligatory weekly mark of the year after suffering a tunneling attack from a Docker opponent. The two Jones boys worked hard but for most of the rest, it's the failure to work hard that again brought the team undone.

That, and the lack of progress under Neeld is testament to the fact that the Board and CEO will most likely act soon to put an end to the pain.

But will that course of action be the pain killer?

Melbourne 1.1.7 2.2.14 5.3.33 6.4.40

Fremantle 7.5.47 13.7.85 15.11.101 19.16.130

Goals

Melbourne Howe Trengove 2 M Jones Watts

Fremantle Ballantyne Mzungu 3 Crozier Mayne Pearce 2, Barlow Crowley Fyfe Hannath Ibbotson Mundy Silvagni

Best

Melbourne Howe Trengove N Jones Magner McKenzie M Jones

Fremantle Mundy Fyfe Barlow Ibbotson Pearce Mzungu

Injuries

Melbourne Dean Terlich (ribs)

Fremantle Nil

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Fremantle Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Fremantle Silvagni in the second term for rough conduct on N Jones.

Umpires Hay Farmer Fisher

Crowd 32,950 at Subiaco.

Wonder what hes going to say in the Presser....

One positive.....1 less game til the end of year.

There is no coach in Australia who would be able to get this team playing good footy inside the next three years. It's a personnel problem, but draft picks won't solve it because there is no-one to show the way.

Do you reckon if Geelong wore our jumper next week they could get a win?

Hey... I know it's a crap question but at least I didn't start a whole new thread about it.

Who's going next week ....

Wow ! I'm staggered by how disgusting we play under this coaching department. I'm passionate but it's not healthy to pain yourself when it's like this. I couldn't care less if the entire coaching staff is sacked.

I'd rather see viney coach the season out ... Play all the kids

A decision has to be made this week. There is absolutely no doubt. If this club is serious, they can surely see the damage this is doing.

Do you reckon if Geelong wore our jumper next week they could get a win?

Hey... I know it's a crap question but at least I didn't start a whole new thread about it.

yes

interesting to see jordie getting pushed around, not really retaliating, in fact no one flew the flag except dawes

Sack him, I'm done.

Let's make sure we give Jeremy Howe his due credit. Sounds like he was fantastic today. I only wish he'd consistently reach this potential.

Other than that, we won the third quarter and we won the tackle count (given how bad we were at tackling in previous games, that's not exactly meaningless).

In all other aspects, we're abysmal.

Howe was a positive... Trenners kicked two, and had 20 possies...

Wonder what hes going to say in the Presser....

"Well, we were competitive in the second half and won the third quarter."

There is no coach in Australia who would be able to get this team playing good footy inside the next three years. It's a personnel problem, but draft picks won't solve it because there is no-one to show the way.

FFS how can you not put any blame on the coach?

Of course we have some players who aren't up to it, and of course we are young and inexperienced, but we have a decent forward and back lines to build around, and a handful of potentially good mids. We are NOT this bad, we weren't under Bailey (when the team was just as inexperienced and had no Clark, no Dawes, and Jones in lesser form).

The game plan makes no sense, the match ups are bewildering, our set up is strange, and pre match selection is completely off most weeks. Most importantly, there is no intensity, no hunger, no fight, nothing. Our players clearly have lost all confidence, all desire. It is on the coach to resurrect that. Instead, he's destroyed it week in week out.

So how the hell can our coaching panel, and our senior coach who has turned over nearly half a list since he's come on board, not take accountability?

A new coach will not turn us into a finals team over night, but FFS, we can't be any worse.

What was going on at the siren with Chip and Trengove? It looked like Chip was not happy and let him know he thought he was being lazy by not pushing back.

That about sums up where we are. A former good player yelling at another former good player that's also the captain and now can't get a kick.

What I'm expecting to hear from Neeld:

• It's a rebuild of a rebuild. We're going to have troughs. Obviously this is too deep and we have to keep working on our slumps, but that's what happens when you're rebuilding a rebuild.
• We're inexperienced.
• When you're on the road and you're inexperienced and you give up 7 goals in the first quarter, you're always going to be up against it. But I thought we fought a bit harder after half time.
• We won the third quarter.
• We won the tackle count.
• We're not producing our training form on the track.
• Fremantle are a really good side.

None of our players had any impact other than Jeremy Howe. At least under Bailey on our day you might see a bit of life. We are passed defibrillation now.

Even if our list is terrible and that is the problem, the coach's job is to get the best out of his players. A season and a half and effort being our biggest factor clearly tells me that the coach is at least partially at fault. And ofcourse this is Neeld's side.

What was going on at the siren with Chip and Trengove? It looked like Chip was not happy and let him know he thought he was being lazy by not pushing back.

That about sums up where we are. A former good player yelling at another former good player that's also the captain and now can't get a kick.

Chip's been doing that all year. Perhaps he's right, but it's not a good look that every time he is beaten he starts cussing out a team-mate.

Wait, how many less games on average per player did Melbourne have? Let's clear that up first.

FFS how can you not put any blame on the coach?

Of course we have some players who aren't up to it, and of course we are young and inexperienced, but we have a decent forward and back lines to build around, and a handful of potentially good mids. We are NOT this bad, we weren't under Bailey (when the team was just as inexperienced and had no Clark, no Dawes, and Jones in lesser form).

The game plan makes no sense, the match ups are bewildering, our set up is strange, and pre match selection is completely off most weeks. Most importantly, there is no intensity, no hunger, no fight, nothing. Our players clearly have lost all confidence, all desire. It is on the coach to resurrect that. Instead, he's destroyed it week in week out.

So how the hell can our coaching panel, and our senior coach who has turned over nearly half a list since he's come on board, not take accountability?

A new coach will not turn us into a finals team over night, but FFS, we can't be any worse.

Neeld is a teacher by trade...he must take 100% responsibility.

Couldn't listen today. Probably wrong but I turned the radio on and I heard that we were trailing by 40 points. Gave myself a rest from angst. Anybody show anything ?

What I'm expecting to hear from Neeld:

• It's a rebuild of a rebuild. We're going to have troughs. Obviously this is too deep and we have to keep working on our slumps, but that's what happens when you're rebuilding a rebuild.
• We're inexperienced.
• When you're on the road and you're inexperienced and you give up 7 goals in the first quarter, you're always going to be up against it. But I thought we fought a bit harder after half time.
• We won the third quarter.
• We won the tackle count.
• We're not producing our training form on the track.

And it will conclude with me putting my boot though the screen.

^{'it is what it is.'}

Wait, how many less games on average per player did Melbourne have? Let's clear that up first.

Average games per player:

• Fremantle - 77.2
• Melbourne - 58.5

We had 11 players with less than 50 games. They had 8. We had 6 players with 100 or more games, they had 7 (granted, 4 of theirs are 150+ to our 1).

Average age:

• Fremantle - 25 years 3 months
• Melbourne - 24 years 2 months

Considering the score and time in their possession and we have 4 more tackles than they do.