Biggest test in years?

[Deemented Are Go! 3,677]

I'll just leave this here

[Bitter but optimistic 22,218]

I hope Viney finds that mongrel in himself again.

[Nasher 33,607]

6 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

We can lose this and still be in the 8 after round 5.

Might as well put the cue in the rack then!

[At the break of Gawn 4,460]

I agree with the OP. This is a huge game. As Paul Roos likes to say "It's all about momentum". The Tigers have plenty of momentum coming into this game albeit a few easier opponents. Nevertheless, If you look back on our last 3 wins against them, they were struggling form wise during that part of the season when we faced them, while we were doing OK. This is the first time we've played against them when they've come in on red hot form.

2014 - Round 9. Melbourne had beaten Adelaide (in Adelaide) and lost narrowly to the bulldogs the week before. The tigers on the other hand were floundering at that point and couldn't even get it up after the death of Tom Hafey

2015 - Round 4. We were doing "OK" after a win against GC in round 1 and a spirited loss to Adelaide in Adelaide. Tigers again were struggling to kickstart their season.

2016 - Round 5. Melbourne had just beaten the Pies easily and were 2-2 while Richmond again were struggling (1-3) despite making the finals the previous year.

If we lose this. It's 3 losses on the trot and a 4th could easily happen at Etihad stadium against the Dons.

[Demonsone 2,030]

Honestly all games are important!

Win or lose it will not define the MFC!

Two different clubs with their lists miles apart in terms of development and maturity...

I want a win and agree missed opportunities in the last 2 games but its about how we play....

[Adam The God 30,105]

5 hours ago, Deemented Are Go! said:

I'll just leave this here

Thank you. That will remind me to heckle Rance all night.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

19 hours ago, drdrake said:

I think Richmond will get us by 5 goals.  Sorry to be negative but the 2 games I have watched live Carlton and Fremantle, we aren't that good.  To many players just can't kick and that is a massive issue for the way we play as soon as we turn over the football we are in trouble.  At the moment I reckon we have 2 players that played on the weekend with elite AFL kicking skills Watts and Salem, the next best is Jetta but I reckon he knows his limits 25-35m kicks.  On the flip side we have a number off players to me that can't kick the Football at AFL Standard.

I think quite the opposite. We dismantled Geelong at their 'home' ground for two quarters straight despite missing key players, having no ruckman and kicking absolutely woefully at goal.

We eventually ran out of legs, which was always going to happen. When Gawn went down, they were always going to win the game. And they did, but make no mistake, we were up to our necks in that game. The Cats are now top of the ladder.

Against Freo, sure we went missing in the third quarter, but our key 'outs' hurt us during that period. Nonetheless, we turned it around in the fourth quarter and simply should've won that game. 

Richmond will deservedly be the favourites going into this game. But that's not because they are the better team - it has more to do with the fact that we have some massive 'outs', which have hurt us, and which have cost us at least one of our two losses thus far this year.

One cannot underestimate the importance of injuries and suspensions to key players of any team - the Bulldogs last year are perhaps the stand alone exception to this rule that is otherwise an inalienable truth about success in this game.

Our best 22 would have Richmond covered next week. Problem is, we don't have nearly our best 22.

 

 

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,709]

13 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

We will absolutely be out of the 8 if we lose, and could quite easily go as low as 12th.

I can possibly see North beating Freo. North are due for a win and Freo can't play 4 qtrs.

I can certainly see GC losing to Adelaide

I can certainly see Collingwood beating Essendon

I can certainly see Geelong beating St Kilda

Losing to Richmond will have our season on the knifes edge, but if all of the above results occur, we can still be in the 8 and can remain there for the next few weeks if we're good enough to beat Essendon and Hawthorn.

 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Bring-Back-Powell

[Webber 10,454]

Richmond's good start to the season has been based on their ability to force and exploit turnovers.....no. 1 in the AFL thus far. Our lapses have been based on our inability to avoid making critical turnovers and being carved up on account. As ordinary on paper as they seem to be, this makes the Tiges our worst nightmare. If they get a hold of us, I fear it's going to get very ugly, and searching questions will be asked about our game plan and trajectory. Thus, a season defining game, even though I think we effectively cooked our season in last week's third quarter. Depends how much they've learnt from that. We're just a very young, talented, potentially great but enormously brittle team, so as we'll frustratingly see all season, ANYTHING could happen. 

[drdrake 3,157]

2 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

I think quite the opposite. We dismantled Geelong at their 'home' ground for two quarters straight despite missing key players, having no ruckman and kicking absolutely woefully at goal.

We eventually ran out of legs, which was always going to happen. When Gawn went down, they were always going to win the game. And they did, but make no mistake, we were up to our necks in that game. The Cats are now top of the ladder.

Against Freo, sure we went missing in the third quarter, but our key 'outs' hurt us during that period. Nonetheless, we turned it around in the fourth quarter and simply should've won that game. 

Richmond will deservedly be the favourites going into this game. But that's not because they are the better team - it has more to do with the fact that we have some massive 'outs', which have hurt us, and which have cost us at least one of our two losses thus far this year.

One cannot underestimate the importance of injuries and suspensions to key players of any team - the Bulldogs last year are perhaps the stand alone exception to this rule that is otherwise an inalienable truth about success in this game.

Our best 22 would have Richmond covered next week. Problem is, we don't have nearly our best 22.

 

 

Every game this year we have played in patches, most have been 2 good quarters and the other 2 in range from bad to woeful.  We have talked for many years on this site about the difference between our good and bad, I have never seen such a variance quarter to quarter, our good we are a top 4 side our bad we are a bottom 4 side, this is quarter to quarter not week to week and the concern I have this is all between the ears.  We can train to play better but for some reason we can't get the mental side of our game right and I'm not sure the club knows how to correct this as it seems to be entrenched in our the culture of the club.

[Engorged Onion 10,215]

An observation:

I feel as a supporter, observing other supporters on Demonland who are starved of success/satisfaction about our club - we latch on to media hype, and take a very very generous gulp of the 'kool aid' about where we should be and about our young stars - we misattribute how important singular games are vs the body of work and get quite hysterical when our expectations are violated.

[Sir Why You Little 36,950]

6 minutes ago, Danelska said:

An observation:

I feel as a supporter, observing other supporters on Demonland who are starved of success/satisfaction about our club - we latch on to media hype, and take a very very generous gulp of the 'kool aid' about where we should be and about our young stars - we misattribute how important singular games are vs the body of work and get quite hysterical when our expectations are violated.

You shall never succeed with that attitude. 

Yes you will survive, but never succeed. 

It is time the MFC was pushed hard by its supporters and shareholders (Members)

We have been patient long enough. 

Goodwin said as much over Summer. 

It is time this club thrived when the heat is red hot

we are Demons. So be them

[Engorged Onion 10,215]

17 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

You shall never succeed with that attitude. 

Yes you will survive, but never succeed. 

It is time the MFC was pushed hard by its supporters and shareholders (Members)

We have been patient long enough. 

Goodwin said as much over Summer. 

It is time this club thrived when the heat is red hot

we are Demons. So be them

huh? I appreciate your sentiment, but its wide of the mark if you think it promotes mediocrity. 

[Sir Why You Little 36,950]

1 minute ago, Danelska said:

huh? I appreciate your sentiment, but its wide of the mark if you think it promotes mediocrity. 

Well then what are you promoting?

[Bobby McKenzie 2,383]

16 hours ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

I hope Viney finds that mongrel in himself again.

Agree. And wasn't it great to see him sling Rance like a rag doll. A much bigger player too.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Bobby McKenzie

[monoccular 17,411]

On 18/04/2017 at 8:59 AM, Forest Demon said:

I think Garry contradicted himself a bit on morning radio, and I agree with what he said.

    

He said we will likely get up and win against Richmond, but our problem is that the players get comfortable too easy and play differently when they should win, to when they confronted with a challenge.

So while it's a huge game, and we need a win, I'll be no more confident in the side than I am at the moment.

That sounds like the classic Shorten line re Gillard (during one of his inter-Ruddine  phases when he gave her his full support) - "I don't know what she said but I fully agree with it"!

[monoccular 17,411]

32 minutes ago, Bobby McKenzie said:

Agree. And wasn't it great to see him sling Rance like a rag doll. A much bigger player too.

Stuff Rance.  Martin please. 

[beelzebub 23,313]

Just now, monoccular said:

Stuff Rance.  Martin please. 

Awaiting meme..

You know.....have both 

[jumbo returns 6,737]

Bernie, Wattsy and Hogan to star.....

[Engorged Onion 10,215]

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Well then what are you promoting?

Let's be clear, the players do not play for us as individuals - (can you imagine if Bernie was thinking of you or me, when bombing goals from 55m - it'd be [censored] hilarious) it is our own relationship to what a win, or a loss means (and its context) that dictates our stress and urgency for another win - so we can make sense of how we are tracking. It's all about hitting behavioural standards as a team, and the teams own expectations are very different from the behavioural standards. If we could have a chart from 14-17, we've improved exponentially - and supporters (myself included) get [censored] scared when its not linear. Further our own expectations as supporters mean one [censored] jot to Goodwin and the boys, inherent in supporting/playing for a team, is that they want to win. 

An acceptance that performance is not linear, is a good place to start, to become less stressed about 'must win games' - as a supporter (and an athlete) but that does not at all devalue or promote mediocrity/not striving for things...if anything from a performance perspective - an openness and a genuine intellectual and emotional understanding of these things actually promotes consistent performance. But that last point is meaningless as a supporter because we have no direct influence over how the athletes play. 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Danelska

[Sir Why You Little 36,950]

2 hours ago, Danelska said:

Let's be clear, the players do not play for us as individuals - (can you imagine if Bernie was thinking of you or me, when bombing goals from 55m - it'd be [censored] hilarious) it is our own relationship to what a win, or a loss means (and its context) that dictates our stress and urgency for another win - so we can make sense of how we are tracking. It's all about hitting behavioural standards as a team, and the teams own expectations are very different from the behavioural standards. If we could have a chart from 14-17, we've improved exponentially - and supporters (myself included) get [censored] scared when its not linear. Further our own expectations as supporters mean one [censored] jot to Goodwin and the boys, inherent in supporting/playing for a team, is that they want to win. 

An acceptance that performance is not linear, is a good place to start, to become less stressed about 'must win games' - as a supporter (and an athlete) but that does not at all devalue or promote mediocrity/not striving for things...if anything from a performance perspective - an openness and a genuine intellectual and emotional understanding of these things actually promotes consistent performance. But that last point is meaningless as a supporter because we have no direct influence over how the athletes play. 

I think this club has been in its own private fish bowl for too long. 

Which is exactly what i mean when i say the heat should be turned up a little bit. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,709]

I think the winnable games over the next 6 weeks (ie Essendon, Hawks, GC) are just as important as this one

We have a horror month's draw after Queens Birthday so if we're any chance of making finals, we need to be 7-4, which allows us the luxury of dropping 7 games on the way home (as long as we have a decent %)

Dropping this week's game isn't life and death, but if we do we must beat all of Essendon, Hawthorn, North, GC (in NT) and Collingwood. We WILL lose to Adelaide over there in round 8.

If results go our way and we still lose this week, we will still be in the 8 which would help immensely..   

[Redleg 40,806]

We often lose when we are predicted to win, how about we win when we are not predicted to.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I dunno why people are saying the crowd will be 80% Tigers. I realise it's their home game, but we get in for free and it's at the G. Traditional standlaone clash, two clubs on the up in the media. Weather pretty good. This is the kind of ingredients that lead to a seriously startling crowd. I remember in the early 2000s when we were ok, we got 80,000+ to Queens Birthday. Nowadays we're pleased with 60,000. I'm pumped. And I'm picking us with confidence.

[beelzebub 23,313]

Happy to go into this game with Toiges favs. 

They'll be jumping at shadows by mon evening. 

They're fav ( deservedly )....but the Devil's coming and he's hunting felines