SMALL MERCIES - POST MATCH DISCUSSION

[3Dee 1,153]

Ugly

[Dr. Gonzo 24,206]

Some of the players I've mentioned are a liability with the ball in their hands, the turnovers cost us more that the gains we have when they have it.

Sure they have a crack but their skill level is simply appalling.

I agree but you can't fault their endeavour. At the end of the day you can only ask players to play to their ability which is why I get far more infuriated with Grimes, Howe even Watts today - yes he did a couple of good things but still second guesses too much refusing to take the first option and refuses to put his body on the line. Too may of our players run TO the ball instead of THROUGH the ball.

Overall though I have to say I'm a bit surprised with the comments here. Yep I was bloody frustrated all game and yep the last 10 minutes were disappointing. But I thought the team responded pretty well today and although too many dumb decisions and skill errors cost us the fact is we could have walked away with a win today if we had a bit more guts to take the game on.

[Adam The God 30,212]

In fairness to Pederson he was one of few to win his position today.

He did a couple of good things, but he was caught on the wrong side of the contest too many times today. He just has no discipline and I really wonder what Jade Rawlings is telling our defenders. I know they are consistently under attack, but their ability to spoil this season, their positioning is so often left wanting. I hope Rawlings isn't the successor.

Did you see the spray Roos gave Terlich at 3/4 time? I reckon every single disposal he made went to the opposition. I know he looks balanced and poised but he is the turn over king and has no awareness. Surely there is a better back flanker than him in the club.

Absolutely agree. I think I remember one, perhaps two kicks through the corridor that hit their targets from Terlich. That's if I'm being very kind. I wonder if those that were singing Terlich's praises all last year are still doing so. He continues to make appalling decisions with ball in hand. Having he, Grimes and M Jones using the ball from the back, it's simply a death wish. I think I would prefer to see Strauss play (I think he's injured). He's had a hopeless career to this point, but let's see what he can do. It couldn't be any worse than Terlich or Grimes.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,206]

Grimes was average, but there was far worse: Byrnes, Evans, Bail, TERLICH, Fitzpatrick to name a few

Grimes wasn't average he was terrible.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

Got nothing out of Viney today

[Dr. Gonzo 24,206]

Got nothing out of Viney today

He was pretty poor but given it's his first game back I'm willing to cut him a bit of slack today.

[deepete 27]

Ive been watching Grimes closely for a while now since my father made a point about how he is just very very average... This season, the season we need a player (a captain no less) to stand up and make a statement... Grimes goes backwards. Needs to be dropped and seriously considered stripping of Captaincy. This is based on two years and a bit of observation, not a quick reaction to current affairs.

[Adam The God 30,212]

Great that Game of Thrones starts again this week. Been enjoying Justified and thought Rake was great...

Mad Men starts tomorrow too.

[rjay 24,916]

Mad Men starts tomorrow too.

Not a fan of that one, just don't like any of the characters. No redeeming features.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,227]

I agree but you can't fault their endeavour. At the end of the day you can only ask players to play to their ability which is why I get far more infuriated with Grimes, Howe even Watts today - yes he did a couple of good things but still second guesses too much refusing to take the first option and refuses to put his body on the line. Too may of our players run TO the ball instead of THROUGH the ball.

Overall though I have to say I'm a bit surprised with the comments here. Yep I was bloody frustrated all game and yep the last 10 minutes were disappointing. But I thought the team responded pretty well today and although too many dumb decisions and skill errors cost us the fact is we could have walked away with a win today if we had a bit more guts to take the game on.

I agree Doctor. While I've been known to whine and carp with the best of them, some of the comments on this and other threads today are as weak as [censored].

[Devil In Disguise 2,278]

What was the idea of kicking the ball to the same side of the ground after a GWS point, time after time? What is wrong with kicking the ball short to loose player or straight down the centre? So frustrating to watch these tactics that clearly failed us. And Grimes gets caught so many times ball watching it's not funny. Meanwhile his opponent has already got a break on him. Not a captain's backside.

Edited April 6, 2014 by wizardinoz

[Pates 9,660]

Got nothing out of Viney today

Viney was quiet but it was his first game back and he still went in harder than 90% of his teammates. Can't even believe you brought him up, so far from our worst today.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,227]

Viney was quiet but it was his first game back and he still went in harder than 90% of his teammates. Can't even believe you brought him up, so far from our worst today.

Agreed Pates. Criticism of Viney is one of the unreasonable responses to today's debacle.

[dees189227 12,385]

I havent seen on ounce of the game. I dont have foxtel but heard it on the radio. All i got out of it was Howe was good down back, Jones was well held and Vince had a shocker.

By the way how did Frawley look as a forward?

[Guest]

Grimes wasn't average he was terrible.

Not even close to average. Before he got the pill on the half back line and occasionally butchered it. He can't even do that at the moment.

[mrtwister 652]

In an ideal world, we would cull 85% of our list and pay big bucks for some 'healthy' leaders in influential positions. Not all on-ballers. Unfortunately, unlike soccer or basketball, culling most of your squad takes years. You can't get rid of 26 players at the drop of a hat and replace them with anybody better. In the NBA it can take as little as 2 seasons to trade/delist everybody except 1 or 2 players that you feel deserve to stay. Football is very different in that respect. Roos would never commit to the amount of time it would take to rebuild this group. Sad really.

Edited April 6, 2014 by mrtwister

[Jack7 528]

The AFL can't not grant us a PP,at least we'll have picks 1 & 2 but then we'll trade them off to GW$ again

Please tell me there is a once in 10 year gun in this years draft,hang on we had that chance with Dangerfield and took Morton

Edited April 6, 2014 by Jack7

[Ted Lasso 19,459]

If mitch clark retires, i'd offer Trelor 600k a year and Plowman 300 k a year and pick 1 as the trade for them

[Pates 9,660]

What was the idea of kicking the ball to the same side of the ground after a GWS point, time after time? What is wrong with kicking the ball short to loose player or straight down the centre? So frustrating to watch these tactics that clearly failed us. And Grimes gets caught so many times ball watching it's not funny. Meanwhile his opponent has already got a braek on him. Not a captain's backside.

The idea during the mid-stages of the game made sense, particularly when it was wet. We get distance on the ball and kill it for a stoppage.

Towards the end of the match when we still had a chance I didn't agree with it, we should've got Vince to roost it down the middle and have runners there to collect it, take a chance every now and then to win the game. Unfortunately they had already moved into the "how much will we lose by mode", that isn't something Roos can get them out of easily because it's ingrained in their brains.

But I'll say this about GWS, they adapted to the conditions much quicker than we did. They worked out very quickly that long and direct kicking was the way to play rather than handball around and the quick kicks into the 50 while there's space was very dangerous.

[Little Goffy 14,515]

Update - Mumford fell 3 hitouts short, and came in 3rd for the all-time hitouts tally, behind Gary Dempsey (63) in 1982, and surprisingly, Sam Jacobs in 2012.

It would've been nice for some kind of record to be nothced up in this game. At half time I was doing the numbers to see if it was possible for Melbourne to win, get off the bottom of the ladder, and still have below 50% for-against.

[Adam The God 30,212]

Howe is a great taker of hangers, but one of the dumbest footballers going around, and the others also play for us.

And he's lazy. Lazy, lazy, lazy. You only had to look at his game against St Kilda to see that too. Or watch all of last season.

[Little Goffy 14,515]

What a masterstroke it was to overlook Kelly in the draft. The kid put us out of the game early in the last quarter with his great skills in the wet. Tyson can get the ball but has average disposal. The AFL must be smiling with all the concessions given to GWS & Gold Coast. We can surely forget about making the finals for the next 10 years.

As I mentioned earlier, Tyson got 10 clearances (out of the team's 32 for the game), 19 of his 25 possessions were contested, and he had the best disposal efficiency of any of our midfielders.

Tyson v Kelly might be a close comparison over the years to come, but we also got Salem. I don't think you can cry about missing out on Kelly too much.

We have plenty of things to be disappointed and angry about without trying to invent new ones. Barry Prendergast is gone, ok?

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I agree but you can't fault their endeavour. At the end of the day you can only ask players to play to their ability which is why I get far more infuriated with Grimes, Howe even Watts today - yes he did a couple of good things but still second guesses too much refusing to take the first option and refuses to put his body on the line. Too may of our players run TO the ball instead of THROUGH the ball.

Overall though I have to say I'm a bit surprised with the comments here. Yep I was bloody frustrated all game and yep the last 10 minutes were disappointing. But I thought the team responded pretty well today and although too many dumb decisions and skill errors cost us the fact is we could have walked away with a win today if we had a bit more guts to take the game on.

I'm not surprised, it was a dreadful game and we were completely over run in the end; it's not as if GWS played great football today, the just showed more skill and team work that we did.

Our skill level is appalling and there is no amount of endeavour that will fix that.

[demonique 314]

Well, probably the only way forward for this team is to play as many players on our list this season as possible and to mark their cards to see who's who in the zoo!!

im reckoning a huge clear out at seasons end , so many players of poor skill levels and too many players with skills but only bring them out in cameo moments and stand around the rest of the time------gosh i don't know what to make of it all!!

a decision will have to made about Clark,Dawes Jamar and other perennially injured players, i mean they are not fit for the jobs they have!!! Forever on bloody work cover!!

Im thinking a team or three in Melbourne are going to have to combine to survive because i don't think Melbourne is big enough to support the teams that call it home!!

Very worried about our position in the pecking order because I sense the buzzards are beginning to circle

I just want to experience what its like to follow a team that is successful before I carc it , sure i remember bits and pieces of our success in the fifties, but we dominated then and would like a slice of that again ASAP

[jackaub 1,402]

As I mentioned earlier, Tyson got 10 clearances (out of the team's 32 for the game), 19 of his 25 possessions were contested, and he had the best disposal efficiency of any of our midfielders.

Tyson v Kelly might be a close comparison over the years to come, but we also got Salem. I don't think you can cry about missing out on Kelly too much.

We have plenty of things to be disappointed and angry about without trying to invent new ones. Barry Prendergast is gone, ok?

So remind me again why we didnt get Kelly?