Jump to content

Melbourne v Western Bulldogs @ Eureka Stadium Ballarat - 14th March, 2015

Featured Replies

I hope McCartney can get in touch with Scott West, because he would do wonders for James Toumpas.

His name is Dimitri, not James.

 

Any way I can watch a replay of this? When I click the link on the website it's just a dead link I assume it was only a live stream and theres no replay?

Anyone know if there is replay somewhere?

It will be up on the AFL website from tomorrow free for view.

 

Any way I can watch a replay of this? When I click the link on the website it's just a dead link I assume it was only a live stream and theres no replay?

They go up on the AFL site 18-24 hours after the game. Try tomorrow arvo


We need to replace Garland. [censored] he is slow...!

Sorry guys, never been a basher, but toumpas is a dud, nah I have had ten beers, he is not a dud, but his cracking under pressure and useless foot skills cannot be tolerated at afl level. He had heaps of it today but every time he thinks he [censored] up.

So we stunk it up during the second half of a NAB Cup game in March. Who cares. It feels as though the Earth is about to cave in and our impending doom is upon us.

NAB Cup games are for experimenting. Experimenting with centre square groups, experimenting with different styles of play, trialing players in different positions. The scoreboard is close to irrelevant. Take the game for what it was and remember to breathe.

The kids showed some promise. Toumpas and Salem in particular. Viney will be better for the run, ditto Watts. Garlett and JKH looked terrific at the feet of the forwards and our movement out of half back looked good.

Clearly our depth is still poor as when we went with other players, particularly during the last quarter, we struggled. That is still our future until the kids come on more and we upgrade through free agency.

The other positive are the new guys we did pick up - Lumumba, Garlett, Newton, Frost... all of them showed they are best 22 players who will be an upgrade on those who have filled their positions in the past. but

Plenty to like about today when the dust settles.

Too many doom and gloom people on this forum. The Bulldogs accounted for Richmond last week while we beat the Bulldogs today.The Power were thrashed by Richmond today but I doubt there would be many Power supporters particularly concerned with this result. No slashing of wrists etc.

 

Sorry guys, never been a basher, but toumpas is a dud, nah I have had ten beers, he is not a dud, but his cracking under pressure and useless foot skills cannot be tolerated at afl level. He had heaps of it today but every time he thinks he [censored] up.

Keep drinking.

Hey I know if I was playing a practise match and my team was winning by 40 points I would switch off too.

No one wants to get injurd and after hearing Roos perest confence I think that's what happened.

Maybe we will get accused of practising tanking in the second half?

Roos seems less concerned than people here:

Melbourne coach Paul Roos said he wasn't too concerned by the change in momentum and didn't blame his side for taking their foot off the pedal.

Roos said the Demons stopped competing as hard at the contest, but he was pleased with the way his side moved the ball in transition early on.

"I think today what we saw in the first half was what we're trying to work on both defensively and offensively," he said.

As disappointed as I was at the time by the second half I think we can read a little bit into what Roos is trying to do. They mixed up the winning combination from the first half to give some other players game time and to learn more about where those players were in terms of preparation and the game plan.

As I saw it our key mids were essentially removed from the clearance work to see what a few others could do which allowed the dogs to win out of the centre. The coaches need to learn what the marginal players can and can't do and those players need to learn as well.

It became obvious our second rung players have a longer way to go and are not yet comfortable with implementing the game plan.

M jones has a long way to go and Mckenzie was poor. Lumumba is not a good inside mid without support and is better suited to the position in combination with jones and viney feeding him. Garland improved but needs another game under his belt to put in a full performance.

Watts was good in the second half and but for the wind would have kicked 3. It's going to be a difficult choice what to do with watts and frost.

In the season proper we won't see a starting clearance group without one of jones Tyson and viney which happened quite a few times in the second half. (Jones started on the wing a few times)

On reflection we have learned a lot out of yesterday in particular what combinations work and who is ready for the season..

In the last quarter, I saw H appear right in the middle of the screen lining up in the square, and I immediately felt safer. 10 seconds later, Jamar taps it right down H's throat, who bolts away and delivers a rocket to Watts who converts.

I was really impressed with him yesterday. The guy can just play - I think that got forgotten a bit with all the silly business with Buckley in the last few years. Also, I thought we were told he was a poor kick. Early days, but no sign of that so far.

Archived

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

Featured Content

  • CASEY: Collingwood

    It was freezing cold at Mission Whitten Stadium where only the brave came out in the rain to watch a game that turned out to be as miserable as the weather.
    The Casey Demons secured their third consecutive victory, earning the four premiership points and credit for defeating a highly regarded Collingwood side, but achieved little else. Apart perhaps from setting the scene for Monday’s big game at the MCG and the Ice Challenge that precedes it.
    Neither team showcased significant skill in the bleak and greasy conditions, at a location that was far from either’s home territory. Even the field umpires forgot where they were and experienced a challenging evening, but no further comment is necessary.

      • Like
    • 4 replies
  • 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.

    • 216 replies
  • 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.

    • 1 reply
  • 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.

    • 1 reply
  • 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? 

      • Like
    • 4 replies
  • 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?

      • Thumb Down
    • 528 replies