Post Match Discussion - Round 9

[rjay 24,917]

Watching this replay, it's probably about the fifth game I've heard Sandy Roberts call this year. He has completely lost his marbles. Has absolutely no idea what's going on. He had no idea who any of the Melbourne players were and couldn't work out who Ben Lennon was even though his number would have been clear to see from their commentary position. Sandy is just an embarrassment now.

I'm a big Sandy fan but he got a lot wrong yesterday and continually. Maybe he hasn't done enough commentary to keep his game up or maybe it's past him by but mistakes and all I would still have him over BT or D-Wayne who also make a lot of mistakes and are absolute ..... to boot.

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

Watching this replay, it's probably about the fifth game I've heard Sandy Roberts call this year. He has completely lost his marbles. Has absolutely no idea what's going on. He had no idea who any of the Melbourne players were and couldn't work out who Ben Lennon was even though his number would have been clear to see from their commentary position. Sandy is just an embarrassment now.

No idea who was who between Terlich and Matt Jones. Unsure of several other players. But at least he doesn't screw the game talking about his tangents.

Eddie isn't too bad when he's on your side and getting excited. Clearly was a fan of Dawes and is much more of a fan of us than Richmond!

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I reckon Frawley will come in for Dawes, who will get one or two weeks on the sideline for that soft hit on Rance. Personally, I'd bring Jetta in for Grimes, who will have to play on Wingard.

agree with the first bit but pigdog for Jetta

[Adam The God 30,220]

Don't get me wrong though, guys. I'd much prefer Sandy over most of the other flogs. At least, he's not a Melbourne hater.

[Sir Why You Little 37,033]

I was wondering what Eddie was actually thinking concerning Dawesy. He must be kicking himself he allowed Chris to be shown the door, and that is what happened.

Cloke has been bog ordinary this year.

Let's hope Dawes can snag 6-7 goals on June 9th

[Ethan Tremblay 30,856]

The Tigers having more scoring shots is almost irrelevant. They blazed away and then sometimes got a second chance when we failed to get the ball out of defensive 50. Overall it was more than evident who the better team was.

Can't quite get over centre clearances being 14-5 in our favour.

A lot of their shots on goal were pot shots from 50 as well. They were under pressure and desperate.

[Scoop Junior 3,468]

A fantastic win and a great game to go to. Saturday arvo, traditional Victorian teams, big crowd and a tough, hard contest. Oh yeah, and a win! That's what footy is about.

At times it was almost hard to believe what I was seeing - a Melbourne team playing hard, tough, combative footy for four quarters, ferocious tackling, being hard to score against, structured and well organised, dangerous on the break...this is the kind of stuff we've all longed to see over the last 7 years. Great credit to the players for playing with that level of intensity and desire and to Roosy and the coaching group for getting it out of them.

We did have our fair share of luck. This does not take away from a great performance and I still believe we deserved to win, but you do need a bit of luck to win the close ones. Richmond missed some really gettable chances, we had a few bounce through that could easily have missed and they only had two rotations in the last quarter to our three. But by the same token the Dogs had this luck the previous week. If it wasn't for some missed chances in the last quarter (including two posters), a couple dodgy frees and some freak goals, we would have beaten the Dogs by 4 or so goals. So we had no luck last week, but had a bit this week.

For me though the most impressive thing in recent weeks has been our midfield clearance work. We all know we have had the worst midfield in the comp over the last couple years, and week after week we'd get smashed in the stoppages. The last two weeks we have played two teams whose strength is their midfield. Both the Dogs and Tigers have good depth and some star talent in their midfield and really it is the midfield that drives these teams. The fact that we beat the Dogs (slightly) and Tigers (comprehensively) in the clearances the last two weeks is quite incredible considering where we've come from.

I am not sure what the key factor is, but obviously having Tyson, Cross and Vince makes a huge difference, as does the scintillating form of Nathan Jones and the rise of Viney. It's a new midfield indeed. It's hard to know the impact of the midfield coaches from an outsider perspective but we just look a lot more structured and confident at the clearances and have shown an ability to flip a few handballs out to release a free player (something we have not been able to do in the past). The coaches should get credit for this. However, one more factor that should not be ignored is the Russian. I haven't seem him ruck like this since 2010. We were still struggling in the clearances earlier in the year, but since he has returned against Sydney we have just gone to another level. His ability to get first hands and more importantly direct his hit outs to our advantage has been critical. Well done Russian.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,237]

A fantastic win and a great game to go to. Saturday arvo, traditional Victorian teams, big crowd and a tough, hard contest. Oh yeah, and a win! That's what footy is about.

At times it was almost hard to believe what I was seeing - a Melbourne team playing hard, tough, combative footy for four quarters, ferocious tackling, being hard to score against, structured and well organised, dangerous on the break...this is the kind of stuff we've all longed to see over the last 7 years. Great credit to the players for playing with that level of intensity and desire and to Roosy and the coaching group for getting it out of them.

We did have our fair share of luck. This does not take away from a great performance and I still believe we deserved to win, but you do need a bit of luck to win the close ones. Richmond missed some really gettable chances, we had a few bounce through that could easily have missed and they only had two rotations in the last quarter to our three. But by the same token the Dogs had this luck the previous week. If it wasn't for some missed chances in the last quarter (including two posters), a couple dodgy frees and some freak goals, we would have beaten the Dogs by 4 or so goals. So we had no luck last week, but had a bit this week.

For me though the most impressive thing in recent weeks has been our midfield clearance work. We all know we have had the worst midfield in the comp over the last couple years, and week after week we'd get smashed in the stoppages. The last two weeks we have played two teams whose strength is their midfield. Both the Dogs and Tigers have good depth and some star talent in their midfield and really it is the midfield that drives these teams. The fact that we beat the Dogs (slightly) and Tigers (comprehensively) in the clearances the last two weeks is quite incredible considering where we've come from.

I am not sure what the key factor is, but obviously having Tyson, Cross and Vince makes a huge difference, as does the scintillating form of Nathan Jones and the rise of Viney. It's a new midfield indeed. It's hard to know the impact of the midfield coaches from an outsider perspective but we just look a lot more structured and confident at the clearances and have shown an ability to flip a few handballs out to release a free player (something we have not been able to do in the past). The coaches should get credit for this. However, one more factor that should not be ignored is the Russian. I haven't seem him ruck like this since 2010. We were still struggling in the clearances earlier in the year, but since he has returned against Sydney we have just gone to another level. His ability to get first hands and more importantly direct his hit outs to our advantage has been critical. Well done Russian.

Agreed Scoop. I had written Jamar off totally but he is playing his best footy for years. I'm still not convinced about consistent accuracy of his taps but his body strength and positioning at the centre bounce is first rate.

[Tim 3,418]

For me though the most impressive thing in recent weeks has been our midfield clearance work.

This. The other teams would score a goal, and in the old days we would just cede first touch at the next bounce on the way to oblivion. Now an opposition goal gives us hope of a possible counter-attack. I still can't believe it!

[Sir Why You Little 37,033]

Yep the Russian was superb yesterday. I thought he was finished also.

Is it enjoyment that brings back confidence?

Whatever it is The Big Russian is pulling his weight.

He is not afraid to kick the ball now which i really like. Dishing off a cheap handball was his old game style

[Macca 16,961]

Gritty determination and a never say die attitude

2nd and 3rd efforts

Gut running to position

Shepherding and blocking for teammates

First in for the ball and we're playing in front of our opponents.

Our clearance work is getting better and better

2 way running with lots of defensive acts.

Our general teamwork has been excellent.

Our disposal skills have improved quite substantially but we were coming from a long long way back. Still a ways to go but that facet of our game will only get better as we recruit more players who are highly skilled.

Another important part of our game is that our players are happy to force a stoppage and then win that stoppage. We're also starting to attack well on the break. We're 9 games into a new game plan but you wouldn't ordinarily think that considering what's been on display.

More and more of our players are starting to step it up - it's like every player wants to play his part. If we can remain relatively injury free, I can see competition for spots hotting up as the season progresses. At this present moment, our depth is questionable but that will hopefully change.

Great win yesterday and bring on the rest of the season!

[Dee Fan 3,247]

It must be exciting for the players to play in front of bigger crowds and the 57,000 yesterday will give them an indication of what it's like to play in finals.

We have had 36,000 last week and 45,000 the week before, crowds that would have been unheard of last year and the years before.

[Demon Jack 6,907]

Just watched the replay after attending yesterday...

- N.Jones is a $&@$ing workhorse. Incredible final term and overall game, he was everywhere.

- Tyson is such a smooth mover with classy disposal. The Black/Pendles/Hodge comparisons are well justified

- Pederson was marking everything. Took 4-5 great grabs and was crucial to our win.

- On the topic of great grabs, Howe was great in defence today (minus 2-3 dodgy kicks). Took a fair few intercept marks. Good to see him marking instead of punching.

- Gawn and Jamar annihilated Richmond in the ruck. Great ruck duo. Prefer Gawn over Spencer at the moment.

- Watts probably played one his best quarters for the club in the last when he worked and led hard.

- I cringe everytime he has the footy but McDonald did a good job on Riewoldt.

- Loved the tackling pressure from Dawes and Pederson. Though I thought Dawes had butterfingers throughout the game.

- The way Viney is able to break tackles is outstanding. Fastest brick I've ever seen.

- JKH was the perfect sub. Had 5 or so handy touches and kicked the sealer.

- Toump had a good second quarter. Terrific pass to Watts. His confidence is starting to build.

- Grimes is probably the only negative from the game. Seemed a bit lost and coughed up the ball a few times.

- Loved watching Pigdog out there. Hard at it and kicked an important goal. Hopefully he gets a run next week as well.

- Enjoy the bye boys! You've earn't it!

[titan_uranus 25,000]

It must be exciting for the players to play in front of bigger crowds and the 57,000 yesterday will give them an indication of what it's like to play in finals.

We have had 36,000 last week and 45,000 the week before, crowds that would have been unheard of last year and the years before.

According to Wikipedia, the average crowd we've played in front of this year has been 30,858. That's not so bad given we've played games against St Kilda, GWS, West Coast in Melbourne and the Bulldogs.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I was wondering what Eddie was actually thinking concerning Dawesy. He must be kicking himself he allowed Chris to be shown the door, and that is what happened.

Cloke has been bog ordinary this year.

Let's hope Dawes can snag 6-7 goals on June 9th

I bet you he does too

will suck if he gets two weeks from the MRP

[Daddyorox 15]

his delivery is just OK.

You're kidding right? I guess you missed the 40 metre pass to Jack Viney across the ground and more importantly, the pass to a leading Jack Watts from the outside of his boot. Only the truly gifted can do that

[DemonOX 8,791]

Is anyone having issues with the SEN app today?

[hells bells 2,023]

Anyone know where I can catch a free replay?

[DemonOX 8,791]

Watching this replay, it's probably about the fifth game I've heard Sandy Roberts call this year. He has completely lost his marbles. Has absolutely no idea what's going on. He had no idea who any of the Melbourne players were and couldn't work out who Ben Lennon was even though his number would have been clear to see from their commentary position. Sandy is just an embarrassment now.

Still better than BT and DR AF.

[Pennant St Dee 13,171]

One of the commentators said that Roosy didn't realise just how good Bernie was when he recruited him, he has been a gun, pickup of the year will be interesting, Tyson, Cross and Vince have all been fantastic.

That was Riccuito and he would know having played a bit with Bernie

[P-man 13,366]

I'm a big Sandy fan but he got a lot wrong yesterday and continually. Maybe he hasn't done enough commentary to keep his game up or maybe it's past him by but mistakes and all I would still have him over BT or D-Wayne who also make a lot of mistakes and are absolute ..... to boot.

Hopefully he's just rusty.

He could get every player's name wrong, and I'd still prefer him over Derwayne.

[DemonWA 3,933]

I heard that comment and thought, I bet roos knew exactly what he was getting,only the mfc Knockers in the media Didn't want to acknowledge we recruited well

[Pates 9,660]

Watching this replay, it's probably about the fifth game I've heard Sandy Roberts call this year. He has completely lost his marbles. Has absolutely no idea what's going on. He had no idea who any of the Melbourne players were and couldn't work out who Ben Lennon was even though his number would have been clear to see from their commentary position. Sandy is just an embarrassment now.

He is shocking! Salem/JKH, Jones/Terlich. He's been a commentator for years, making a gaff once or twice you can let go but he made the mistakes all through the game. Get the record and make sure of the numbers.

[Gorgoroth 12,947]

I would rather hear Sandy get all the names wrong than listen to duh'waaaaayyyyyyyynnnnnnnne, or Duh'arrrrccccccyyyyyy, BT is a big headed fllllloooooooooooggggggg tooooooooooooooo!

[titan_uranus 25,000]

Saying you'd rather listen to Sandy Roberts than Dwayne Russell or BT is a bit like saying you'd rather have your teeth pulled than your fingers broken. Neither is pleasant, both want to make you scream.

Sandy's awful. Really, awful. Dwayne is incredibly annoying, BT somehow worse.

Football commentary these days is just shocking.