Jump to content

Roos sleepless over loss

DeeMfc
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

There is nothing wrong with the game plan.

It's this sort of dogmatic refusal to review all facets of the football department that will hurt us. And to be honest I don't know how you can say that because I don't think many outside the club know what the full game plan is.

It appears to me we play the most defensive style in the AFL. In recent times Richmond, Carlton, WC and Adelaide have improved significantly coinciding with a change in their game plan - that is to move the ball quickly forward and to play on where they can. We don't do this. Interestingly when we beat Essendon we did do this in the last minute when the imperative was there.

We've kicked less than 40 points six times so far this season. That's mindbogglng. If you think this is purely the players I think you're kidding yourself. I recognize we needed to address the way we leaked scores but there are two sides to footy and we are ignoring one. I don't think we can do that and succeed.

We need to develop a methodology that kicks more goals.

  • Quote
    •  

    I think losing Clark and Hogan unexpectedly obviously seriously impacted our ability to score this year.

    Interestingly our inside 50 differentials aren't anywhere near as bad as last year, so it tells me we are "attacking" and trying to move the ball forward, but our delivery inside 50 is deplorable, and we have a makeshift forwardline with one real forward who is badly out of form.

    We would have won 2-3 more games this year if we had Clark, maybe more.

    Doesn't mean we shouldn't question the game plan, and it is so frustrating going to games where we struggle to score more than 4 goals, it's just not acceptable. However I doubt this is what Roos wants to achieve, he just has to try to work on things we can impact right now with the standard of our list. You can play defensive footy even with a list that lacks serious talent, and try to stay in the game and stem the bleeding. Attacking requires a lot more skills than we have at our disposal currently, so hard to expect much.

  • Quote

    We just don't run anywhere hard enough for an AFL team.

    Fix that and we fix about 60-70% of the problems

    Its like tackling - its a mind game. You can do the lilly livered wet cabbage slaps like Watts or you can do the pile driving smash their heads back into the turf like Riley. Its in the mind.

  • Quote
    •  

    I think a little panic has set in at the MFC

    I got an email today thanking me for being a member.

    Nothing else just Thank you!

    Perhaps they are reading my mind and know I am close to the end/

    Hmmm

  • Quote

    It's this sort of dogmatic refusal to review all facets of the football department that will hurt us. And to be honest I don't know how you can say that because I don't think many outside the club know what the full game plan is.

    It appears to me we play the most defensive style in the AFL. In recent times Richmond, Carlton, WC and Adelaide have improved significantly coinciding with a change in their game plan - that is to move the ball quickly forward and to play on where they can. We don't do this. Interestingly when we beat Essendon we did do this in the last minute when the imperative was there.

    We've kicked less than 40 points six times so far this season. That's mindbogglng. If you think this is purely the players I think you're kidding yourself. I recognize we needed to address the way we leaked scores but there are two sides to footy and we are ignoring one. I don't think we can do that and succeed.

    We need to develop a methodology that kicks more goals.

    I love how my disagreement with your view is seen as a refusal to review.

    On one hand you are saying its the game plan. On the other hand you're saying you don't think anyone outside the club could know the game plan. Then you're stating 4 sides have changed their game plan? Then you pull one minute of play which was probably the most perfect play of any side this year and decide that is the one time we have tried to attack? We have tried it plenty we are just not capable of executing anything close to that skills.

    We have won the contested ball count on many occasions because that is about intent. We have kept most teams to low scores because defensively that is about intent. We cannot attack because that requires greater thought, decision making and execution. It also requires a decent bailout option if you can't do the other elements to their best all the time.

    Richmond, West Coast, Carlton and Adelaide have not changed their game style they are just executing better what they were trying to do earlier. As you execute better confidence grows, as it grows so does trust with team mates and you back your instinct in where you run and when you execute. Its a vicious cycle that goes both ways. In the case of Carlton and Adelaide it has not surprisingly coincided with the improved performance of Walker and Waite.

    To play any style of game particularly an attacking one you need players who have the skills to carry it out and then confidence and trust in your team mates to run hard and execute first options. These are our issues and they will impact the current game style and a more attacking game style even more so.

  • Quote

    I think a little panic has set in at the MFC

    I got an email today thanking me for being a member.

    Nothing else just Thank you!

    Perhaps they are reading my mind and know I am close to the end/

    Hmmm

    did they offer you free counselling od?

  • Quote

    did they offer you free counselling od?

    Just blue pills.

    The wife gets red ones.

    It's standard for our "gold" members.

  • Quote

    Just blue pills.

    The wife gets red ones.

    It's standard for our "gold" members.

    are those the ones dee-luded has been offering

  • Quote
    •  

    I love how my disagreement with your view is seen as a refusal to review.

    Well you dismissed my contention that we should review the game plan with "the game plan is fine". I took that to mean there was no need to review it because "it's fine".

    Also I said not many outside the club understood the "full" game plan. Clearly from the outside we can see aspects of GP's but it's hard to know the details including set up at stoppages and specific player roles in given situations.

    Clearly you and I differ. You seem to contend it's purely the players. I don't think it's that simple. Game plans and strategy change continually. We should make sure ours is effective. I'd suggest our list is not so bad as to score an average of less than 10 points a quarter for a full game 6 times in 20 games. Neeld got better offensive results.

    You disagree with me. That's fine but don't close your mind to the fact you may be wrong. I not saying the game plan is definately wrong. I just want it reviewed with the same honesty that Roos assesses the players. I can't see the problem with that.

  • Quote

    did they offer you free counselling od?

    No dc I think they are saving that for next Monday after the WCE game

  • Quote

    To be scoring less than 10 goals a game is a disastrous outcome.

    Not when it's the opposition.

  • Quote

    I think a little panic has set in at the MFC

    I got an email today thanking me for being a member.

    Nothing else just Thank you!

    Perhaps they are reading my mind and know I am close to the end/

    Hmmm

    interesting, that. I haven't received one. Maybe, as in the AFL, some are regarded as more valuable than others :-(
  • Quote

    interesting, that. I haven't received one. Maybe, as in the AFL, some are regarded as more valuable than others :-(

    Quite a strange email I thought mono

    Nothing special about me I am just an ordinary member

  • Quote

    • Archived

    This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 13

      Follow all the action from every Round 13 clash excluding the Dees as the 2025 AFL Premiership Season rolls on. With Melbourne playing in the final match of the round on King's Birthday, all eyes turn to the rest of the competition. Who are you tipping to win? And more importantly, which results best serve the Demons’ finals aspirations? Join the discussion and keep track of the matches that could shape the ladder and impact our run to September.

        • Thanks
      • 62 replies
      Demonland

    • PREVIEW: Collingwood

      Having convincingly defeated last year’s premier and decisively outplayed the runner-up with 8.2 in the final quarter, nothing epitomized the Melbourne Football Club’s performance more than its 1.12 final half, particularly the eight consecutive behinds in the last term, against a struggling St Kilda team in the midst of a dismal losing streak. Just when stability and consistency were anticipated within the Demon ranks, they delivered a quintessential performance marked by instability and ill-conceived decisions, with the most striking aspect being their inaccuracy in kicking for goal, which suggested a lack of preparation (instead of sleeping in their hotel in Alice, were they having a night on the turps) rather than a well-rested team. Let’s face it - this kicking disease that makes them look like raw amateurs is becoming a millstone around the team’s neck.

        • Thanks
      • 1 reply
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Sydney

      The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town. However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory. At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 1 reply
      Demonland

    • REPORT: St. Kilda

      Hands up if you thought, like me, at half-time in yesterday’s game at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs that Melbourne’s disposal around the ground and, in particular, its kicking inaccuracy in front of the goals couldn’t get any worse. Well, it did. And what’s even more damning for the Melbourne Football Club is that the game against St Kilda and its resurgence from the bottomless pit of its miserable start to the season wasn’t just lost through poor conversion for goal but rather in the 15 minutes when the entire team went into a slumber and was mugged by the out-of-form Saints. Their six goals two behinds (one goal less than the Demons managed for the whole game) weaved a path of destruction from which they were unable to recover. Ross Lyon’s astute use of pressure to contain the situation once they had asserted their grip on the game, and Melbourne’s self-destructive wastefulness, assured that outcome. The old adage about the insanity of repeatedly doing something and expecting a different result, was out there. Two years ago, the score line in Melbourne’s loss to the Giants at this same ground was 5 goals 15 behinds - a ratio of one goal per four scoring shots - was perfectly replicated with yesterday’s 7 goals 21 behinds. 
      This has been going on for a while and opens up a number of questions. I’ll put forward a few that come to mind from this performance. The obvious first question is whether the club can find a suitable coach to instruct players on proper kicking techniques or is this a skill that can no longer be developed at this stage of the development of our playing group? Another concern is the team's ability to counter an opponent's dominance during a run on as exemplified by the Saints in the first quarter. Did the Demons underestimate their opponents, considering St Kilda's goals during this period were scored by relatively unknown forwards? Furthermore, given the modest attendance of 6,721 at TIO Traeger Park and the team's poor past performances at this venue, is it prudent to prioritize financial gain over potentially sacrificing valuable premiership points by relinquishing home ground advantage, notwithstanding the cultural significance of the team's connection to the Red Centre? 

        • Thanks
      • 4 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Collingwood

      After a disappointing loss in Alice Springs the Demons return to the MCG to take on the Magpies in the annual King's Birthday Big Freeze for MND game. Who comes in and who goes out?

        • Thanks
      • 303 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: St. Kilda

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 2nd June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we have a chat with former Demon ruckman Jeff White about his YouTube channel First Use where he dissects ruck setups and contests. We'll then discuss the Dees disappointing loss to the Saints in Alice Springs.
      Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

        • Thanks
      • 47 replies
      Demonland
    View All