Higgins comment in the press:

Paraphrased "Melbourne got us in the second when they went man on man. We were too slow to react to this."

How many far king times this year have we been killed by the loose man in defence. North started the game with a loose man in defence FFS. Maybe I don't know what the 'strategy' of the coach is but this is really starting to get on my nerves. EVERY time we go man on man (Geelong anyone ?) we play good footy and don't get blown out of the water. When we allow good teams to have a loose man and move it around at will we get slaughtered. Its infuriating.

HANDBOOK ON HOW TO BEAT MELBOURNE:

Tag Nathan Jones

Have a loose man in defence.

Full stop.

I actually thought we started the game with seven in the backline.

The big problem with having a loose man is that we try to over possess the ball out of stoppages rather than giving a quick kick forward and we don't have the skills to match.

Did anyone notice the Melbourne Trainer with the colossal mullet?

It was a work of art!

Another game lost by a playing group that chooses if and when it will come to play, and to a lesser extent inept coaching and selection. Can anybody name one thing that Roos did yesterday to change things up?

Viney, Hogan, Dawes (!) and Tyson can hold their heads high. Not too many others.

Gawn was well beaten by Goldstein when it mattered. No disgrace in that, but a second ruckman would have been handy. Dawes did okay in support, but we robbed the forward line to play him in the ruck.

We got slaughtered in the centre, particularly in the first quarter, and that was probably the reason we lost the game. Jones had a bloke hanging off him all day, and Vince and Viney play from behind at centre bounces too often.

Lumumba was worst on ground and needs to play the next month at Casey. Aside from one decent run and pass inside 50, he looked totally disinterested. I'm sick of his pea-heartedness. Garlett was a very close second. I'm a big Watts fan, but he was very poor yesterday. Michie is not an AFL player, and hopefully we don't see him again. Jetta was well beaten all day. Brayshaw looks cooked to me. The rest came and went as it suited them.

We should have played Jamar.

For one he deserves a farewell game. Not to mention that North went tall on a dry day and Gawn isn't fit enough to go with Goldstein all day. Was a costly mistake IMHO.

Did anyone else notice that Gawn was off for the first half of the last quarter?

I imagine he was spent from rucking against Goldstein all day but we really got killed out of the centre during this period. Dawes was smashed in the ruck, which is expected. I've got a feeling the coaches thought they would rest him and try and have him fresh for the last 5-10 minutes but the game was lost then anyway.

He was absolutely rooted. When Goldstein had the ball and went on a run Gawn really struggled. To his credit he never gave up and still got involved in some marks and some one-twos when he was buggered. He needed a big rest, Goldstein is easily the best ruckman in the comp and would be giving the Brownlow a real shake up I'd say.

Edited August 10, 201510 yr by Barra17

My apologies if this has already been discussed here or elsewhere, but why was the centre of the MCG an old fashioned mud patch?

Perhaps this was stage 1 of the AFL's plans to bring back footy of by-gone eras...

I'm glad we didn't recruit the big heads that North did last year in Higgins and Dal Santo....

I'm glad we didn't recruit the big heads that North did last year in Higgins and Dal Santo....

Yeah, I would hate to recruit very good players...

Did anyone notice the Melbourne Trainer with the colossal mullet?

It was a work of art!

The fish or hair style?

Was at the game and reallyproud of everyone today , mistakes yes but we broke even accross the midfield the criticism on demonlamd is a joke really . The backs tried hard were undersized and our fowards worked hard .

We ran out of legs . Dawes into the ruck ment Hogan went up the ground again and in the last Hogan and Dawes were out on their feet .

We need a Pederson type or a genuine foward / ruck as well as Dawes and Hogan .

I agree, we seemed to be one tall player short (no pun intended).

Gawn also spent major minutes on the pine during the 2nd quarter. Dawes did surprisingly well during this period after he'd kicked those goals to get us back into it. Really good game by Chris Dawes.

I'd love to see a succession plan for the centre clearances. I'm a bit bemused why Brayshaw doesn't get rotated through there at least. Jones and Vince won't be around at their current level of influence for too much longer you wouldn't think. Viney's been great in there and Tyson was better this week. But if Tyson and Viney are our next generation of mids, I think we're going to be stuffed for a while. We need to develop Brayshaw and Salem into AFL A-grade centre clearance midfielders. Hopefully Petracca eventually as well, but who are going to make up our gun three mids a la Cousins/Judd/Kerr or Voss/Akermanis/Black when we come into our prime?

I agree, we seemed to be one tall player short (no pun intended).

Gawn also spent major minutes on the pine during the 2nd quarter. Dawes did surprisingly well during this period after he'd kicked those goals to get us back into it. Really good game by Chris Dawes.

I'd love to see a succession plan for the centre clearances. I'm a bit bemused why Brayshaw doesn't get rotated through there at least. Jones and Vince won't be around at their current level of influence for too much longer you wouldn't think. Viney's been great in there and Tyson was better this week. But if Tyson and Viney are our next generation of mids, I think we're going to be stuffed for a while. We need to develop Brayshaw and Salem into AFL A-grade centre clearance midfielders. Hopefully Petracca eventually as well, but who are going to make up our gun three mids a la Cousins/Judd/Kerr or Voss/Akermanis/Black when we come into our prime?

I reckon we could use a taller back asap , hopefully Omac or someone new at a genuine 6-5 6-6 .

Dawes was great but playing high chf and Ruck will come at a cost late in the game and poor Maxy hope he has given up the darts.lol

Hopefully getting rid of the sub rule will allow 2 rucks every week.If not hopefully Max King next year can play a forward ruck role like David hale from the hawks.Id use Jamar for now.

Brayshaw will be keen as to get going in the midfield. Roosy doesnt like playing first year guys where they may be injured more-so as they have had 1 short pre season . Next season will see Patracca and Brayshaw in the guts id say at times.

Loved the work of Cross and Lamumba directing traffic . Garlo and Howe are vocal at times also. Lamumba and Cross also showed experience and footy smarts when body on body. Anyone who comes up with those sweeping statements about players being insipid or whatever should get off the couch and sit behind the goals take there eyes of the ball a little and see the game.

people saying we should have played another tall. not sure I agree.

North subbed out Brown and then the floodgates opened in the last Q. I reckon we were running them off their feet for a while there. and I reckon north thought they went too tall

Exactly what I was going to say Dub.

My apologies if this has already been discussed here or elsewhere, but why was the centre of the MCG an old fashioned mud patch?

Perhaps this was stage 1 of the AFL's plans to bring back footy of by-gone eras...

Probably the extra games that have been played on the ground recently, those soccer matches plus the VFL game Saturday.

Did anyone else notice that Gawn was off for the first half of the last quarter?

I imagine he was spent from rucking against Goldstein all day but we really got killed out of the centre during this period. Dawes was smashed in the ruck, which is expected. I've got a feeling the coaches thought they would rest him and try and have him fresh for the last 5-10 minutes but the game was lost then anyway.

Another selection/coaching mis-step?

First loss all year I havent been bitter about the next day. This time (apart from the abysmal first quater) it really was just skill errors that sealed our doom, however the performance of our kids was fantastic and showed that age is little excuse for them to not be performing now! Next year we will beat the blue and white bastards with Hogan kicking 10

Higgins comment in the press:

Paraphrased "Melbourne got us in the second when they went man on man. We were too slow to react to this."

How many far king times this year have we been killed by the loose man in defence. North started the game with a loose man in defence FFS. Maybe I don't know what the 'strategy' of the coach is but this is really starting to get on my nerves. EVERY time we go man on man (Geelong anyone ?) we play good footy and don't get blown out of the water. When we allow good teams to have a loose man and move it around at will we get slaughtered. Its infuriating.

HANDBOOK ON HOW TO BEAT MELBOURNE:

Tag Nathan Jones

Have a loose man in defence.

Full stop.

well at least we are improving.

It used to be ...

HANDBOOK ON HOW TO BEAT MELBOURNE:

Turn up.

I reckon we could use a taller back asap , hopefully Omac or someone new at a genuine 6-5 6-6 .

Dawes was great but playing high chf and Ruck will come at a cost late in the game and poor Maxy hope he has given up the darts.lol

Hopefully getting rid of the sub rule will allow 2 rucks every week.If not hopefully Max King next year can play a forward ruck role like David hale from the hawks.Id use Jamar for now.

Brayshaw will be keen as to get going in the midfield. Roosy doesnt like playing first year guys where they may be injured more-so as they have had 1 short pre season . Next season will see Patracca and Brayshaw in the guts id say at times.

Loved the work of Cross and Lamumba directing traffic . Garlo and Howe are vocal at times also. Lamumba and Cross also showed experience and footy smarts when body on body. Anyone who comes up with those sweeping statements about players being insipid or whatever should get off the couch and sit behind the goals take there eyes of the ball a little and see the game.

Gotta say as much as i love Cross he is too slow, dont think he should be in next year. Lumumba did some good but there were instances where he was spectating and ultimately cost us goals. However, his run off half back is a spectacle and is something we need so I commend him on that, overall a good recruit

I agree, we seemed to be one tall player short (no pun intended).

Gawn also spent major minutes on the pine during the 2nd quarter. Dawes did surprisingly well during this period after he'd kicked those goals to get us back into it. Really good game by Chris Dawes.

I'd love to see a succession plan for the centre clearances. I'm a bit bemused why Brayshaw doesn't get rotated through there at least. Jones and Vince won't be around at their current level of influence for too much longer you wouldn't think. Viney's been great in there and Tyson was better this week. But if Tyson and Viney are our next generation of mids, I think we're going to be stuffed for a while. We need to develop Brayshaw and Salem into AFL A-grade centre clearance midfielders. Hopefully Petracca eventually as well, but who are going to make up our gun three mids a la Cousins/Judd/Kerr or Voss/Akermanis/Black when we come into our prime?

I haven't yet seen the game - but would "resting" Gawn at FF whilst Dawes was rucking at least have stretched them a bit? Would he have been able at east to raise a 20 metre gallop to a contest?

If the interchanges are reduced as much as some say (40 a game?) a ruckman may well have to "rest" up forward, as may some of the mids of course.

Gotta say as much as i love Cross he is too slow, dont think he should be in next year. Lumumba did some good but there were instances where he was spectating and ultimately cost us goals. However, his run off half back is a spectacle and is something we need so I commend him on that, overall a good recruit

I've watched very closely to see what H brings to the table and I'm afraid my conclusion is not much.

It seems to me he has lost that burst that allows him to break free and pump the ball into the forward line. He gets caught and his disposal in close is horrible - can't handball to save himself.

I fear we may have been conned by the Pies who could see he was past his best.

I've watched very closely to see what H brings to the table and I'm afraid my conclusion is not much.

It seems to me he has lost that burst that allows him to break free and pump the ball into the forward line. He gets caught and his disposal in close is horrible - can't handball to save himself.

I fear we may have been conned by the Pies who could see he was past his best.

I actually think a lot of this is being due to H being a rebounding running player in a really poor rebounding and running team. To me, it seems most of the times he's caught or gets in trouble is due to not having any options or players going with him. We've had 1 major problem for 10 years, no one runs when they don't have the ball.

Gawn is another example. Dominates the hitouts but we still lose the clearances as the mids don't have the synergy with him yet. Doesn't mean Gawn has lost it as a ruckman.

Edited August 10, 201510 yr by stuie

I actually think a lot of this is being due to H being a rebounding running player in a really poor rebounding and running team. To me, it seems most of the times he's caught or gets in trouble is due to not having any options or players going with him. We've had 1 major problem for 10 years, no one runs when they don't have the ball.

That could be a factor but H usually didn't deliver to anyone running past - he would bomb it long

I actually think a lot of this is being due to H being a rebounding running player in a really poor rebounding and running team. To me, it seems most of the times he's caught or gets in trouble is due to not having any options or players going with him. We've had 1 major problem for 10 years, no one runs when they don't have the ball.

Gawn is another example. Dominates the hitouts but we still lose the clearances as the mids don't have the synergy with him yet. Doesn't mean Gawn has lost it as a ruckman.

That has been one of my biggest negatives about our teams for years, especially under the latter part of the reign of ND, and under DB and MN - it is gradually coming good but still a long way to go.

When they do PTFO and run it looks a hell of a lot better, and we score.