49 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Basically, Melbourne were guarding space about 40 to 60 metres in front of the ball so all St Kilda had to do was get over or around that zone (which wasn't difficult) and they were away with loose players at the back.

It was absurd.

Yep .The zone is a bit like the vibe.

Nobody really knows how it works but it's good for the Backs  to high five and point around at space near a player like say,Reiwoldt. And then " zone off" when they want to have a run up the ground or stop concentrating for a while.

The zone is the equivalent of a govt job for a backman. No blame,no mistakes,no responsibilities.

1 minute ago, Nasher said:

Lazy is too harsh a word I think as it implies a degree of it being intentional.  I don't think the players are thinking "nah, I can't be stuffed competing for the ball today", but yeah, for whatever reason, we were a gear below the Saints today.  

I think players can be subconsciously lazy.

Well id rather lose to the saints then to either richmond or the pies. 

Can I just say how good Nick Riewoldt is and even at his age and with that dicky knee how much he just runs and covers the ground. Easy when he was on his own most of the game but the guy just does not stop running. Even in defence he'd get back. 

Anyway well done on Hogan, he could have had 9 but he was quiet last week and people go on about his kicking action and sooking it up but geez his marking was good to watch. 

Observations:

1. St Kilda have managed to recruit stronger, faster, bigger, more skillful players than Melbourne for at least the last 10 years. This continues.

2. Compare the game last night where the top of the ladder North Melbourne manned up every player always and tackled every time an opposition player went near the ball with today's effort by the Demons where Riewoldt and in fact all of their players were treated like they had Ebola and NOBODY from our team went within 20 meters of them until after they had possession of the football.

3. Richmond are a $h1t team to be beaten by our pathetic rabble last week.

4. Etihad is a $hithole and should be reduced to rubble by the modern equivalent of Whelan the wrecker. Why do we have a closed roof on a nice day???

5. The deliberate out of bounds rule is far too subjective and is being used by the maggots at will. Get rid of it.

6. I hate St Kilda and all of its fans.

Apologies if it's been mentioned here already, but can someone tell me please when a Melbourne player last kicked 7 goals. My guess is David Neitz well over a decade ago. 

There was a white boundary line around the ground today, wasn't there?

Just now, Hampton 22 said:

Apologies if it's been mentioned here already, but can someone tell me please when a Melbourne player last kicked 7 goals. My guess is David Neitz well over a decade ago. 

Possibly hasn't happened since Robbo kicked 7 at Skilled Stadium.

 

Just now, Diamond said:

 

3. Richmond are a $h1t team to be beaten by our pathetic rabble last week.

 

Pathetic rabble?  Get a grip.

9 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Possibly hasn't happened since Robbo kicked 7 at Skilled Stadium.

 

Pathetic rabble?  Get a grip.

Were you there today?

Just now, Diamond said:

Were you there today?

 I was, actually.  But that's beside the point.  We aren't pathetic and we aren't a rabble.  Any supporter with half a brain cell can see that.

Just now, Wiseblood said:

 I was, actually.  But that's beside the point.  We aren't pathetic and we aren't a rabble.  Any supporter with half a brain cell can see that.

Thanks sweetie

19 minutes ago, Hampton 22 said:

Apologies if it's been mentioned here already, but can someone tell me please when a Melbourne player last kicked 7 goals. My guess is David Neitz well over a decade ago. 

Yep they mentioned on radio today Neitz was the last one to do it. 

Things are never as good or as bad as they seem.

4 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

 I was, actually.  But that's beside the point.  We aren't pathetic and we aren't a rabble.  Any supporter with half a brain cell can see that.

Pathetic rabble after a loss, "finals not out of the question" after a win mate.  You should know that by now.

Due to our pathetic loss the Dees may rise up the ladder because of Gold Coast smashing against Geelong

1 hour ago, stevethemanjordan said:

 

I disagree.

I think patches of today's game without doubt resembled the Essendon game.

Namely our entire defence setup. I don't need to go through tapes or stats to know that so many of their [censored] goals were almost entirely coast-to-coast. 

What completely baffles me is that we didn't do anything about it. And the question has got to be asked to Roos. How was this allowed to happen?

Why on so many occasions were they able to completely slice us open? With nobody on their man?

Are our players still getting used to a zone defence? And if so, why? Are they not smart enough to play it? I want an answer. 

Yet again, we were made to look like complete amateurs. It's a huge concern.

The other major problem I see is the difference in best and worst football from particular individuals. When you have more than half your entire 22 playing their worst football, it's a concern. 

Dunn, Gawn, Tyson, Lumumba, McDonald, Vince, Harmes, Pedo etc etc.

We need and must demand consistency in performance. A couple can have down games every now and then. But they can't all be playing their worst football on the same day. It just absolutely kills us.

Effort more than anything. Summed up by Weller's goal. At around 14:50 to play in the 3rd Jeffy puts one out on the full & Hogan gives away a free. Watts. not really renowned as our hardest defender is between FF and CHF. The Saints take the ball around the wing, assisted by a missed tackle from Vince. By the time they get it to Weller, Watts has run to be the second deepest defender - Bugg the deepest in a 1 on 2. Watts has run past at least 15 of out blokes to assist the (missing) defence. The behind the goals vision of our midfielders & defenders jogging towards the Saints end is damning. Today, the effort wasn't there.

I suspect there is a bit in this. Compounded by a bit of inexperience in Hunt & Wagner. Also, after a couple of good years Dunn is cheating again - looking for frees, looking to avoid contests in the air which doesn't help given he is supposed to be a leader. The zone defence is the way to go but it needs to be flexible and it needs leadership. At the moment it appears blokes have set zones. If I'm in the opposition box I'm looking at who we have where and then shuffle my forwards to get a mismatch - which is how you get the likes of Jetta and Hunt standing Reiwoldt. So it needs a bit of re-tooling. You can still play zone with one or two specific matchups and your zone adjusts accordingly. Today, in my view, McDonald should have been on Reiwoldt, wherever he went - not chasing the likes of Ross & Billing up to the wing. I hope they adjust it next week because Lynch will have a day out if he's not competing with someone approximately his size.

Many of our supporters continue to forget where we are coming from and assess the team on number of wins or whether we play finals. I couldn't give a flying duck about that. I want to see our defensive zone functioning more efficiently by years end. I want improvement in our forward structure and entry. I want to see our mids continue to improve their two way running & decision making. I'm less interested in the results match by match and more interested in the trend. Like it or not, 2016 is still very much a development year for MFC. There will be highs & lows and there will be those gaps between best and worst football both from individuals and from the team as a whole. It happens to developing teams - ask the Saints last week ! While frustrating at times, it beats the hell out of being stuck in the Neeld years with no direction and no hope.

 

3 minutes ago, McQueen said:

And just quietly, Richardson is a very good coach.

The blokes a side-talker. He talks out of the side of his mouth

3 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

Which Oliver wouldn't have helped with.  That selection made no difference today.

 

You're right - Oliver wouldn't have helped with run but the damage was done in close. In the second quarter when the tide really turned we got smashed in clearances and Clarry would have helped there. I understand resting him last week and managing his loads but I was surprised he didn't come straight back in. I think he makes us a better team

It's amazing how much better your outside game looks when you are winning on the inside

So do we wait Rewoldt retires until we beau the Saints? Rediclous. 

A victim of our own hype again, both from the media, us on demonland and the players own belief.

4 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

The blokes a side-talker. He talks out of the side of his mouth

Better than talking out of another orifice 

M Jones should've came in for Harmes

1 minute ago, The Song Formerly Known As said:

So do we wait Rewoldt retires until we beau the Saints? Rediclous. 

A victim of our own hype again, both from the media, us on demonland and the players own belief.

That should be the players own delusion.

27 minutes ago, Diamond said:

Were you there today?

By the way Richmond just lost to port adelaide by 35 points

Well, well, we've gone up to 9th. 

Things are never as good as you'd hoped nor as bad as you feared. 

Let's rest our weary heads 

She'll be right lads, we'll get 'em next week.

17 minutes ago, Diamond said:

By the way Richmond just lost to port adelaide by 35 points

And we beat GWS who beat Hawthorn by 75 points. What's your point?