Dunstall kept commenting that we 'over possessed' the ball in our back half, as evidenced by the disposal count and the differential in forward 50 entries between the teams (ie, we had stacks of disposals but got smashed in the forward 50 entry stats).

Whilst it was undoubtedly a correct observation, I was disappointed by some of the analysis that stemmed from it.

Clearly a lot of the game was played in our back half. And Geelong are a bloody good, experienced team.

Yet, despite this, and also despite the fact that:

- Geelong kicked a lot of goals as a direct result of horrendous unforced turnovers, many of which were skill/decision based, rather than due to Geelong's pressure; and

- Geelong kicked very accurately from its set shots,

our defence was quite frugal. In short, despite an overwhelming amount of time spent in our back half during the game, Geelong found it hard to kick a winning score against us.

Whilst I think the scoreline ultimately flattered us, that we were genuinely in the game to the end speaks volumes about our defensive structures. Geelong had a lot of the ball in their forward 50, they're a bloody good team, and yet we should've been down by only 6 points with 90 seconds to go in the game.

With Garland and Frawley out, that's got to be a very positive sign. We have a game plan that seems to work, and that the players understand - even if they are not always adept in executing it.

Losing Chip will leave a massive hole. Whilst Georgiou did well, I felt that Hawkins could have monstered him at any time.

I hope he stays.

I am somewhat surprised by Dunn's improvement. Where did he develop that poise and coolness?

I have been non committal on Dunn for several,years. I could see his potential but also observed his behaviour in games, far from perfect. But let's be fair who could have been poised and cool in Melbourne's backline in the past two years? When the ball is down there 90% of the time every week along with 34 other players, it is hard to have poise.

I have been non committal on Dunn for several,years. I could see his potential but also observed his behaviour in games, far from perfect. But let's be fair who could have been poised and cool in Melbourne's backline in the past two years? When the ball is down there 90% of the time every week along with 34 other players, it is hard to have poise.

Agree - most of our backline are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder…..

I have been non committal on Dunn for several,years. I could see his potential but also observed his behaviour in games, far from perfect. But let's be fair who could have been poised and cool in Melbourne's backline in the past two years? When the ball is down there 90% of the time every week along with 34 other players, it is hard to have poise.

Going to the backline seems to have helped him. Reminds me of Rod Grinter. Flaky selfish undisciplined half forward who found his true grit when Northey came along and rebirthed him as a footballer. Come to think of it, I sense some deja vu of 1987 coming along.

Edited March 1, 201411 yr by america de cali

Yep, and as I've said before Tyson will be a top 5 mid in the comp in the next couple of years and better chance of winning the medal before Kelly. I've seen nothing in the first couple of games to prove I'm wrong.

Other than the fact that we've not seen Kelly play, let alone have a couple of seasons under him.

Please, rjay...

After watching the game, that was a much better performance than I thought.

Most if not all our terrible turnovers happened trying to kick across the ground into the teeth of that strong crosswind.

The conditions could not have been worse to try to execute the game plan, especially against a top team.

Yet the game plan stood up remarkably well ... in fact, probably BOG!

Whats the go with Viney? He isn't on injury list yet is to play in any type of practice match. Lets hope he is not out of favor as he is a fan fave!!

Most of the time the Geelong players didn't even know where Viney was.

yeah. but it annoyed me how the melbourne players kept ignoring his leads

Other than the fact that we've not seen Kelly play, let alone have a couple of seasons under him.

Please, rjay...

Stand by it mate, I think Kelly will be a good player and have seen him play. Tyson brings something else to the game that very few have and it's why he will be an elite mid. 2 years in the system is a bonus that the likes of Barrett and Denham don't get.

Stand by it mate, I think Kelly will be a good player and have seen him play. Tyson brings something else to the game that very few have and it's why he will be an elite mid. 2 years in the system is a bonus that the likes of Barrett and Denham don't get.

Thats right, Tyson is proving the doubters wrong already, and we still have Salem .

Kelly will be a good player, but we got two out of the deal.

Other than the fact that we've not seen Kelly play, let alone have a couple of seasons under him.

Please, rjay...

I watched Kelly alot during his junior career, his real asset is his endurance running, he ran harder than anyone else to get the ball and he is a nice kick, certainly a good player but Tyson is as good or even better, and we got Salem too who i'd rate on a par with Kelly based on what i have seen.

Toumpas showed a heap of courage, when he sat under the ball twice and didn't flinch. First time copped a reckless forearm.

Viv just looks like a footballer to me.

Daniel Cross is just going to fit right in. His field kicking might be getting better with age…finally.

Dom looks like one of those rare quickish players that have the hardness and build for the contest.

Hogan just presents well. That run-up for a set shot won't last surely.

We will rely a lot on a Sam Blease, because he represents all of our line-breaking in one player. He must come on for us to achieve and over-achieve this year.

Without having aerial targets (Clark/Dawes/Ruckman), it forced us to chip a bit. If Melbourne were worried about this NAB 2 game, Watts would played high forward. But they are really playing them to develop roles. Our lack of height played into Geelong's hands, who tightened their zone toward us after half-time.

Scoreboard flattered us, but then again, our turnovers gifted them.

We obviously run backward with handball from the contest. Will be interesting to see whether St.Kilda really bring a few forwards up to crowd this area, leaving Maister (good record v. Melbourne) one out.

We are on track for 6-9 victories this year…by the look of it. A loss to St.Kilda brings that back to 4-7, as the first game is worth 2 for us IMO.

Dom Tyson, wow. This kid will be our elite mid and what a fantastic trade that will end up being for us.

He is certainly heading that way. Quick hands, exceptional kick, can find the footy.

This was a smart trade. Tyson alone will turn out better than the pick 2 we given up.

He is certainly heading that way. Quick hands, exceptional kick, can find the footy.

This was a smart trade. Tyson alone will turn out better than the pick 2 we given up.

Absolutely. The entire draft period was the stuff of genius.

And I don't care about this 'too early to tell' stuff - it's just so damn obvious.

We actually have a capable, balanced midfield now. Almost overnight.

That we were able to recruit midfielders who've been in the system for a while (Vince, Cross, Michie, Riley, Tyson), and yet still recruit young talent to develop over the next couple of years (Salem, Hunt, Harmes, King and JKH) was inspired.

We probably got a bit lucky with Vince and Cross, but they still nailed it. Ten out of ten.

...

We obviously run backward with handball from the contest. Will be interesting to see whether St.Kilda really bring a few forwards up to crowd this area, leaving Maister (good record v. Melbourne) one out.

...

I assume it's based on European (German?) soccer since about the 1970s. Passing it around the back, finding an opening, then quick attack.

What I like about it is that it's a game style that's not easy to pull apart, even though it's blindingly obvious what it's trying to achieve. Think of the "rolling zone", the "flood", the "press" - once teams learned how to counter them, they all lost a lot of their effectiveness.

We need to find a couple of Beckenbauers. And a Gerd Muller or two wouldn't hurt either.

Absolutely. The entire draft period was the stuff of genius.

And I don't care about this 'too early to tell' stuff - it's just so damn obvious.

We actually have a capable, balanced midfield now. Almost overnight.

That we were able to recruit midfielders who've been in the system for a while (Vince, Cross, Michie, Riley, Tyson), and yet still recruit young talent to develop over the next couple of years (Salem, Hunt, Harmes, King and JKH) was inspired.

We probably got a bit lucky with Vince and Cross, but they still nailed it. Ten out of ten.

Tyson & Vince = Johann Cruyff

I am somewhat surprised by Dunn's improvement. Where did he develop that poise and coolness?

he always had it. but it used to be concealed behind a strange moustache and a bad habit of mouthing off.

this—>

I think he has been a steady improver for a long time. It has just taken a little time for people to catch on.

Some people still see him as the Dunn of 2010.

Quite a few have mentioned about our mistakes making up a good number of geelongs goals. Particularly in that third quarter, they kicked 6 to our 2.

however if i recall correctly, 4 of those goals were a direct result of our mistakes i.e. poor kicks/ hand passes or giving away frees in front of goal.

If we can tighten up on that, theres a possibility it could have been 2 goals a piece for that quarter.

That could've resulted in a win.

Yes they had some guys out, but i think we had bigger outs (Garland, Chip, Clark, Dawes)

And i think Geelong had a good crack, overall, i was pleased.

Does it amaze anybody else on here that a thread intended to discuss our beloved team withers and dies after two days whilst a thread about some scummy drug cheats can stretch on for 150 pages? What is the fascination with this matter. It has nothing to do with us and just seems to cater for those vicarious vultures waiting to dance on the corpse of another club.

How come nobody wants to talk up our prospects and shine a light on all of the positive stuff that's happening at the moment?

I dunno.......

Does it amaze anybody else on here that a thread intended to discuss our beloved team withers and dies after two days whilst a thread about some scummy drug cheats can stretch on for 150 pages? What is the fascination with this matter. It has nothing to do with us and just seems to cater for those vicarious vultures waiting to dance on the corpse of another club.

How come nobody wants to talk up our prospects and shine a light on all of the positive stuff that's happening at the moment?

I dunno.......

While there is doubtless an element of schadenfreude amongst many posters, including me, the Essendon saga does have a lot to do with us and anyone concerned about footy. Such a serious issue for footy that may lead to a club/players being banned and totally unknown effects on the players for the rest of their lives is quite rightly subject to a lot of discussion. And when the facts are not all known there will be a lot of speculation, hence many pages.

I don't think I'm noted as a pessimistic supporter, but a thread dedicated to 'positive' items only, while interesting once in a while and welcome when all other news is depressing, is always going to be somewhat artificial and whither. Especially as right now general discussions are more positive than they have been for a long while. Long may that have reason to continue.

Edited March 6, 201411 yr by sue

I am positive that my happiness will improve exponentially with the amount of shite that drops on Essendon.

Does it amaze anybody else on here that a thread intended to discuss our beloved team withers and dies after two days whilst a thread about some scummy drug cheats can stretch on for 150 pages? What is the fascination with this matter. It has nothing to do with us and just seems to cater for those vicarious vultures waiting to dance on the corpse of another club.

How come nobody wants to talk up our prospects and shine a light on all of the positive stuff that's happening at the moment?

I dunno.......

Fear reverend

After seven years of crap we are too scared to pop our heads out of the trenches.

In July when we have five wins people will loosen up a bit.

Does it amaze anybody else on here that a thread intended to discuss our beloved team withers and dies after two days whilst a thread about some scummy drug cheats can stretch on for 150 pages? What is the fascination with this matter. It has nothing to do with us and just seems to cater for those vicarious vultures waiting to dance on the corpse of another club.

How come nobody wants to talk up our prospects and shine a light on all of the positive stuff that's happening at the moment?

I dunno.......

Because it's preseason. We really haven't achieved anything yet. Our new midfield inclusions to get us so excited are a player who was just going through the motions at Adelaide in Vince, a 30+ player who was on the out at the bottom 4 dogs in Cross and a guy who spend most of his first 2 years injured in Tyson. We are all desperate for an 18 year old and 173cm player taken pick 40 in the draft to debut in the forward line as he looks far superior to Blease/Bail/Byrnes. Besides that our 2 key forwards can't get near the field and we are playing Cam Pedersen at CHF and Jake Spencer in the ruck in lead up to round 1. And I actually have some confidence that Pedersen isn't completely awful and can fill a role and same with an improved and good competitor in Spencer.

The positive stuff is that the players are feeling confident, have trained hard and have actually shown us something in preseason (so far). I'm truly excited for round 1 and the season. I wish it started tomorrow. But there's not much that can be said about it until it happened.

Essendon has largely happened and keeps happening. There's a lot to talk about even if you (like me) are even starting to feel sorry for the players and maybe even the club. Everyone deserves justice to be dealt with in a reasonable time frame and over a year to even work out if you will charge someone is a joke.

Its the human condition

seeing some one else suffering more makes you feel less hard done by

Because it's preseason. We really haven't achieved anything yet. Our new midfield inclusions to get us so excited are a player who was just going through the motions at Adelaide in Vince, a 30+ player who was on the out at the bottom 4 dogs in Cross and a guy who spend most of his first 2 years injured in Tyson. We are all desperate for an 18 year old and 173cm player taken pick 40 in the draft to debut in the forward line as he looks far superior to Blease/Bail/Byrnes. Besides that our 2 key forwards can't get near the field and we are playing Cam Pedersen at CHF and Jake Spencer in the ruck in lead up to round 1. And I actually have some confidence that Pedersen isn't completely awful and can fill a role and same with an improved and good competitor in Spencer.

The positive stuff is that the players are feeling confident, have trained hard and have actually shown us something in preseason (so far). I'm truly excited for round 1 and the season. I wish it started tomorrow. But there's not much that can be said about it until it happened.

Essendon has largely happened and keeps happening. There's a lot to talk about even if you (like me) are even starting to feel sorry for the players and maybe even the club. Everyone deserves justice to be dealt with in a reasonable time frame and over a year to even work out if you will charge someone is a joke.

Just to give this some perspective, most knowledgeable Crows, Bulldogs, GWS and Freo supporters are all dismayed that their clubs respectively let Vince, Cross, Tyson and Michie go.

We now have a midfield.