Chris, if Roos is leaving the motivation to the players then two things are apparent.

1 He is no longer the coach.

2 The players can't do it.

I agree with 2, disagree with 1 though. he isn't coaching under 12's, these are supposed professional athletes, it is not unreasonable to expect them to motivate themselves, actually it should be striven for.

Ii was merely commenting on the assertion by a number of Demonlanders that Freo took their foot off the pedal and compared the situation in other games where finalists were playing bottom 5 teams in the same round. The other similarly placed "top" teams all put in very big second halves (and still managed to take marquee players like Franklin off very early) notwithstanding players who "didn't want to get injured on the eve of finals"..

I made no mention of when I, or for that matter any other Demonlander, would be "far more impressed" by the team playing well.

I apologise if my post was a little too obtuse for you.

Why would Freo go flat out after being 10 goals to Nil up?

Top Spot secured. After that the only risk was injury

The MFC got smashed again yesterday. Anything else is spin.

Well, he fumbled the ball under little pressure and then took the legs of an opposition player. It's a stupid rule, but the free against was there, IMO.

Pretty sure that's not what the free was for despite what the morons in the commentary booth said. He got pinned for holding the ball after stumbling and getting kneed in the head.

Chris, if Roos is leaving the motivation to the players then two things are apparent.

1 He is no longer the coach.

2 The players can't do it.

I agree with 2, disagree with 1 though. he isn't coaching under 12's, these are supposed professional athletes, it is not unreasonable to expect them to motivate themselves, actually it should be striven for.

So Chris when Roos tells the media that the side will play like maniacs or play angry are you suggesting that is coming from the players not him?

If any coach expects the players to get up after being flogged with no direction from the coach then he is not a coach. That was my point.

Roos said they needed to play like maniacs and expect them to play angry. They didn't.

A coach's job is to get the best from the players. On that basis he is failing at the moment.

Does anyone know who was meant to be on Danyle Pearce yet?

Why what is your issue, that Garland and Jetta who shared duties on him weren't tight enough, this is a very simplistic view

Pearce has acres of space so Garland and Jetta aren't doing there jobs properly

Pearce is a cheat and a downhill skier

The problem we have is our players run off (which they should) when we are in possession to provide options to team mates and are committed

Poor disposal yesterday in our back half saw Pearce getting 2 goals directly from cheating and not running with his opponent shocking turnovers saw him free

Pearce has been caught out in pressure games by playing this way, he is a liability in finals and he gets found out big time against good sides who catch you on the break,

It's to easy to see Pearce in space and blame his direct opponent

Why would Freo go flat out after being 10 goals to Nil up?

Top Spot secured. After that the only risk was injury

The MFC got smashed again yesterday. Anything else is spin.

But if you are correct why were the Hawks players recklessly courting injury by thrashing Brisbane? Improving their percentage was irrelevant to the ladder.

I watched the Freo game and rather than assumed they would take the foot off the pedal I had the impression they were trying just as hard. We just started to get our (admittedly not great) act together.

Chris, if Roos is leaving the motivation to the players then two things are apparent.

1 He is no longer the coach.

2 The players can't do it.

So Chris when Roos tells the media that the side will play like maniacs or play angry are you suggesting that is coming from the players not him?

If any coach expects the players to get up after being flogged with no direction from the coach then he is not a coach. That was my point.

Roos said they needed to play like maniacs and expect them to play angry. They didn't.

A coach's job is to get the best from the players. On that basis he is failing at the moment.

He may well be playing a longer game and getting the players to own what they should already own. We will have to wait and see.

No, not at all...you might not like the interpretation of it but if you dive in front of a player and take his legs then it's a free against.

Pretty sure Jones lurched fwd and unco dawson tripped over him from behind - not front on which is what I said the rule is for....will try to look up the replay (anyone know the time of the incident?) but that was my recollection.

Pretty sure Jones lurched fwd and unco dawson tripped over him from behind - not front on which is what I said the rule is for....will try to look up the replay (anyone know the time of the incident?) but that was my recollection.

I thought the decision was wrong but the truth is if Jones had not fumbled and instead handled the ball cleanly it would not have happened.

Does anyone know who was meant to be on Danyle Pearce yet?

Jetta was named on him. Not sure if that's how it turned out.I only noticed Jetta when he was playing loose. Which probably explains it.

Pretty sure Jones lurched fwd and unco dawson tripped over him from behind - not front on which is what I said the rule is for....will try to look up the replay (anyone know the time of the incident?) but that was my recollection.

Looked like he (Jones) went across him but I don't think the rules states it has to be front on. I'm not so sure Dawson was unco either and went hard at Jones to "make him feel it"...

The problem with this decision (although as someone else has said he may have lost it for holding the ball) is the umps are not consistent with it.

....only 1 week to go to the pre season....hallelujah!

I thought the decision was wrong but the truth is if Jones had not fumbled and instead handled the ball cleanly it would not have happened.

I agree but I see that as another reason why it shouldn't have been paid. Its not like the ball was in dispute and two players were running at it. Jones reaction was instinctinve and involuntary unlike a Lindsay Thomas slide to get the ball. Was incensed at the time and still think it was a shocker.

Daniel Cross coped one of those a few weeks back but I think the ump had to pay it because he saw the ball and dived on it.

Also in the context of 12 frees to 2 we were getting well and truly shafted and you will never convince me that umps to don't make home town decisions in Perth.

I agree but I see that as another reason why it shouldn't have been paid. Its not like the ball was in dispute and two players were running at it. Jones reaction was instinctinve and involuntary unlike a Lindsay Thomas slide to get the ball. Was incensed at the time and still think it was a shocker.

Daniel Cross coped one of those a few weeks back but I think the ump had to pay it because he saw the ball and dived on it.

Also in the context of 12 frees to 2 we were getting well and truly shafted and you will never convince me that umps to don't make home town decisions in Perth.

Home town decisions and top team decisions combined meant we had a hard time of it without adding to it ourselves.

But if you are correct why were the Hawks players recklessly courting injury by thrashing Brisbane? Improving their percentage was irrelevant to the ladder.

I watched the Freo game and rather than assumed they would take the foot off the pedal I had the impression they were trying just as hard. We just started to get our (admittedly not great) act together.

What would you do if Finals were 10 days away and you were on Top of the ladder with it sewn up

Keep going flat out or just ease it back a little to conserve precious energy?

Getting ones act together after the game is decided 40 minutes in is also a waste of time

Why not do it at the First Bounce and give yourselves a chance of actually winning??

Yesterday was yet another pathetic performance by the entire club...i just wish more people saw it that way

I didn't see a minute of the game .... Freo clearly had the game won by quarter time and went into cruise control thereafter.

A coach's job is to get the best from the players. On that basis he is failing at the moment.

Disagree. Like it or not, what you're/we're seeing IS the best.

(not helped by injuries ...)

When you’re playing interstate against the top team along with our recent first quarters it was critical to get off to a good start for all sorts of reasons. Going in at quarter time with a free kick count 12-3 against never gives you a chance. The fact it ended 16-17 in Melbourne favour is baffling. Considering one of those free kicks was against the runner, Freo got 12 frees in the first quarter when the game was up for grabs and 3 for the rest of the game.

MFC need to do something about free kick practices that have been evident for many seasons.

We need to request publicly that the umpires advisors provide us with some assistance to train our players in some of the many features of the game that we obviously do not prepare adequately for.

Our players have never had their heads protected from opposition high tackles and yet always seem to give away high tackles. We rarely receive free kicks for in the back while always giving away free kicks for in the back.

Opposition players seem able to dispose of the ball in any fashion while we are often pinged for incorrect disposal.

If we are in front of an opposition player they can interfere with us with no penalty when we tackle we seem to give away an inordinate amount of free kicks.

Opposition teams can play with confidence against us that they will be protected while our players must become frustrated that their efforts are not given the same protection.

The number of times free kicks are given against the run of play where an opposition is able to score where we have been denied similar advantage and even when we were commiitting all players to offensive play which is turned around by a free kick whicjh often the players on both sides are confused by is amazing.

Maybe I am a biased supporter but I reckon an analysis of free kicks in our games would show a disproportionate imbalance.

When I went to most matches years ago it was obvious and I did some comparisons off newspaper reports of all games and our matches were always significantly lopsided. I recall there was a particular umpire who always had a disproportionate record.

I dont see enough games and possibly dont care enough but the few games i have followed I always hear the commentators saying "surely that was a free kick" when it was critical to us I rarely hear them saying this when watching other teams.

We do not seem to get the dodgy free often. When we have we have like our opponents in most matches won. The game is one of such small percentages that free kicks have a big influence.

We need to recognise that we do not know how to get the best result from this attribute of the game.

I apologise for raising this matter again but I have never seen any response indicating that we benefit from free kicks and that we know how to exploit the advantage that having free kicks paid can give.

MFC need to do something about free kick practices that have been evident for many seasons.

We need to request publicly that the umpires advisors provide us with some assistance to train our players in some of the many features of the game that we obviously do not prepare adequately for.

Our players have never had their heads protected from opposition high tackles and yet always seem to give away high tackles. We rarely receive free kicks for in the back while always giving away free kicks for in the back.

Opposition players seem able to dispose of the ball in any fashion while we are often pinged for incorrect disposal.

If we are in front of an opposition player they can interfere with us with no penalty when we tackle we seem to give away an inordinate amount of free kicks.

Opposition teams can play with confidence against us that they will be protected while our players must become frustrated that their efforts are not given the same protection.

The number of times free kicks are given against the run of play where an opposition is able to score where we have been denied similar advantage and even when we were commiitting all players to offensive play which is turned around by a free kick whicjh often the players on both sides are confused by is amazing.

Maybe I am a biased supporter but I reckon an analysis of free kicks in our games would show a disproportionate imbalance.

When I went to most matches years ago it was obvious and I did some comparisons off newspaper reports of all games and our matches were always significantly lopsided. I recall there was a particular umpire who always had a disproportionate record.

I dont see enough games and possibly dont care enough but the few games i have followed I always hear the commentators saying "surely that was a free kick" when it was critical to us I rarely hear them saying this when watching other teams.

We do not seem to get the dodgy free often. When we have we have like our opponents in most matches won. The game is one of such small percentages that free kicks have a big influence.

We need to recognise that we do not know how to get the best result from this attribute of the game.

I apologise for raising this matter again but I have never seen any response indicating that we benefit from free kicks and that we know how to exploit the advantage that having free kicks paid can give.

A few weeks back I watched our players hesitate to tackle because every time they did it was a free against them, I literally saw a player stop and hesitate before trying a weird side on tackle so they didn't get pinged. You are right though, it seems very rare that we are on the good side, although we are at times.

I wish Roosy would cop the fine and come out and call it for what it is.

What would you do if Finals were 10 days away and you were on Top of the ladder with it sewn up

Keep going flat out or just ease it back a little to conserve precious energy?

Getting ones act together after the game is decided 40 minutes in is also a waste of time

Why not do it at the First Bounce and give yourselves a chance of actually winning??

Yesterday was yet another pathetic performance by the entire club...i just wish more people saw it that way

Well I might do as Hawthorn did. If what you say is universally true, why didn't they do differently than Freo?

But if you are correct why were the Hawks players recklessly courting injury by thrashing Brisbane? Improving their percentage was irrelevant to the ladder.

I watched the Freo game and rather than assumed they would take the foot off the pedal I had the impression they were trying just as hard. We just started to get our (admittedly not great) act together.

Because Bisbane won the first quarter whereas we were ten goals down after the first quarter. The Hawks were playing catch up!

MFC need to do something about free kick practices that have been evident for many seasons.

We need to request publicly that the umpires advisors provide us with some assistance to train our players in some of the many features of the game that we obviously do not prepare adequately for.

Our players have never had their heads protected from opposition high tackles and yet always seem to give away high tackles. We rarely receive free kicks for in the back while always giving away free kicks for in the back.

Opposition players seem able to dispose of the ball in any fashion while we are often pinged for incorrect disposal.

If we are in front of an opposition player they can interfere with us with no penalty when we tackle we seem to give away an inordinate amount of free kicks.

Opposition teams can play with confidence against us that they will be protected while our players must become frustrated that their efforts are not given the same protection.

The number of times free kicks are given against the run of play where an opposition is able to score where we have been denied similar advantage and even when we were commiitting all players to offensive play which is turned around by a free kick whicjh often the players on both sides are confused by is amazing.

Maybe I am a biased supporter but I reckon an analysis of free kicks in our games would show a disproportionate imbalance.

When I went to most matches years ago it was obvious and I did some comparisons off newspaper reports of all games and our matches were always significantly lopsided. I recall there was a particular umpire who always had a disproportionate record.

I dont see enough games and possibly dont care enough but the few games i have followed I always hear the commentators saying "surely that was a free kick" when it was critical to us I rarely hear them saying this when watching other teams.

We do not seem to get the dodgy free often. When we have we have like our opponents in most matches won. The game is one of such small percentages that free kicks have a big influence.

We need to recognise that we do not know how to get the best result from this attribute of the game.

I apologise for raising this matter again but I have never seen any response indicating that we benefit from free kicks and that we know how to exploit the advantage that having free kicks paid can give.

It's called the top team rule...if you are a top team you must know what you are doing, you get the benefit of the doubt.

Pretty sure that's not what the free was for despite what the morons in the commentary booth said. He got pinned for holding the ball after stumbling and getting kneed in the head.

Fair enough, mate. I missed that. Don't fumble under no pressure next time, Jonesy.

Jetta was named on him. Not sure if that's how it turned out.I only noticed Jetta when he was playing loose. Which probably explains it.

Playing Jetta loose was probably the right call. Our run out of defense was probably the best it's been for a month because of how loose our defenders were. Had they played one on one, with Freo's quick transition we'd have been stitched up because their mids and half-backs would have just cleaned up the crumbs.

Because Bisbane won the first quarter whereas we were ten goals down after the first quarter. The Hawks were playing catch up!

Well I might do as Hawthorn did. If what you say is universally true, why didn't they do differently than Freo?

If Whorethorn wish to blow a head gasket before week 1 of the finals it is no concern of mine...Freo were sitting on top points ahead of opposition. There position could not be improved....

Like a long motor race....Nurse the baby home

More important tasks are ahead....

Edited August 31, 201510 yr by Sir Why You Little