POST MATCH DISCUSSION - Round 7

[jnrmac 19,481]

2 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Terry Wallace just saying on SEN that Melbourne will never have real success while the McDonald brothers play in the same side.

Says while they are athletic and can intercept, they are very poor decision makers and ultimately cost the team.

Don't ususally agree with Wallace but he is on to something.

I said at the start of the season our defence is our biggest problem and it still is. We need a big reliable KP backman that can distribute the ball efficiently and make sound decisions.

I suspect the coaches thought Melksham, Hibberd, Salem, Jetta, Frost and Hunt would be able to distribute the ball but it's not working well yet. We still leak groups of goals really easily.

Tom I think has actually improved but still has at least 5 or 6 disposals that put his teamates under extreme pressure. He is a great intercept mark but that disposal.....

Oscar just isn't there yet. May well get there but he is being iosolated one on one and found out at the moment.

Edited May 8, 2017 by jnrmac

[John Crow Batty 8,352]

12 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

No they are not good enough. That is the point. Stop making excuses for a bunch of mentally weak footballers, who think they can turn up at half time to win the game. 

The coach said as much in his presser

This Sh!t has been around for decades. It will either be rectified or the club will continue to slowly die. 

What a great thankyou for reaching 40,000 members yesterday was. 

Sponsors will be queueing up to get on our jumper

Our underperforming when we are favourites is now a mainstream perception or more accurately an accepted reality by all the football community except a few here who continue to blame this and that player etc. Watching the replay even the commentators were talking about it when we were taking the field.

Edited May 8, 2017 by america de cali

[beelzebub 22,703]

The biggest problem as I see it for the club  is to eradicate this idea ( whether real or perceived ) that just getting to A, or B, or wherever on the ladder of building is where acceptance stops.

Everywhere is just a marker on the journey to getting there..and "there" is a Premiership....not just winning a game, not even winning a few games , nor winning a few games on the trot, Not making finals, not even winning finals. Its winning the BIG game and then doing it AGAIN. Then and ONLY then have you arrived  ( in any fashion )

Watching our lot continually reminds me of folk who have got to a particular point and take a 5 min break.. Only to see those behind not take a break and go past..repeat...repeat.

The coaching department needs to seriously reprogram these young minds

[Age 421]

1 minute ago, jnrmac said:

Don't ususally agree with Wallace but he is on to something.

I said at the start of the season our defence is our biggest problem and it still is. We need a big reliable KP backman that can distribute the ball efficiently and make sound decisions.

 

Opposition clubs have worked out our backline. If you watch our kick ins, no one goes near any of the McDonalds, especially for that short 15m kick to the pocket. They should be told to not go there at all. Their kicking is horrendous and clubs are just happy to go and man up the good kicks (Salem, Hibberd etc), means they can outnumber them as teams don't care if either McDonald gets it as they know that they cannot hurt them by foot and more often than not give them a chance to get the ball back. 

[DemonOX 8,559]

17 hours ago, --coach-- said:

After the game the Melbourne coach declared the players brought a questionable attitude to the game against Hawthorn on Sunday. AFL website: http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-07/dees-attitude-was-questionable-goodwin

My question is, when will we stop bringing a questionable attitude to games???

That habit is obviously hard to break as they have been doing it for the last 11 years!

[picket fence 15,735]

2 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Terry Wallace just saying on SEN that Melbourne will never have real success while the McDonald brothers play in the same side.

Says while they are athletic and can intercept, they are very poor decision makers and ultimately cost the team.

First time ever I agree with Wallace!! Trade at years end no ifs or buts.

[pinkshark 938]

16 hours ago, Soidee said:

Why? Bcos you say so?  Fat chance!   We should never have lost this one , nor the Fremantle game.  It will cost us a position in the 8.  Simply not acceptable now!  

Yeah fair enough.  My bad.  But most teams above us lost so we didnt really lose that much ground in keeping in touch with the top half.  Hang in there Soidee.  Demonstrate some faith.  Keep patient.

[John Crow Batty 8,352]

6 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

That habit is obviously hard to break as they have been doing it for the last 11 years!

Longer than that. The Daniher, Balme and even the Northey eras were susceptable. At least Northey got us in good positions before we fell in a heap. I remember an article in the paper in the early 90's about opposition players suggesting we were full of ourselves and always ripe for an easy chop.

Edited May 8, 2017 by america de cali

[dino rover 667]

27 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

I'm sick of losing to bottom teams every year. With Sydney winning, Hawthorn were bottom of the ladder. They were 1-5 with a % of 63. In terms of performance, they were on par with Melbourne during the Mark Neeld era. Sure they have some old champions in that team, but they have been horrendous this year, absolutely pathetic. They've had 3 80+ losses and an average losing margin of 70+ points. And we lost to them. That loss is an absolute embarrassment for the club. I hope the players really feel the sting of that loss but I doubt they will if history is anything to go by.

If we don't make finals this year then it's a complete waste of a season. We've got older guys like Lewis, Vince, Jones who are only going to be around for another 2-3 years. We're already struggling with leadership, we'll be even worse when the guys retire. We need these kids getting all the experience they can get, and that includes finals experience. If we're not producing actual successful results instead of being competitive, we won't attract good players from other clubs, and guys like Hogan will get fed up and go home to WA. It's a vicious cycle and I'm not sure we're out of it yet.

Disagree

Our supposed leaders in vince lewis and jones were poor

The young in hunt frost showed leadership

 

[beelzebub 22,703]

4 minutes ago, Age said:

Opposition clubs have worked out our backline. If you watch our kick ins, no one goes near any of the McDonalds, especially for that short 15m kick to the pocket. They should be told to not go there at all. Their kicking is horrendous and clubs are just happy to go and man up the good kicks (Salem, Hibberd etc), means they can outnumber them as teams don't care if either McDonald gets it as they know that they cannot hurt them by foot and more often than not give them a chance to get the ball back. 

observation of the year !!

[DeeZee 6,905]

We really need a Hurley or a May to go the next step.

[Little Richard 5,935]

4 minutes ago, picket fence said:

First time ever I agree with Wallace!! Trade at years end no ifs or buts.

Don't need to trade, just need to find a mature defender so that Oscar can continue to develop in the seconds and Tom doesn't have to be our number one KPD.

[Binmans PA 26,663]

11 hours ago, Akum said:

Astute coaches (Hardwick, Lyon, Clarko) are now playing the same way against us. They have not just one spare in defence, but 2 or 3. They know we're such a good contested-ball & clearance team, but the one place where they can reliably win the ball against us is from our horrible delivery into our 50. Their extra numbers not only win them the ball, they allow them to run it through our ultra-high press in a breakaway.

Goody et al simply have to work out what to do when there are 8 or 9 defenders against 5 forwards, because bombing it on Hogan's head ain't ever gonna work when he's triple-teamed. 

And it seems we're more comfortable with brave losses than actual wins. It could be argued that we've outplayed the other side in every game (certainly statistically we have). We're the kings of outplaying but losing, and that's a real concern, because it means that other sides don't have to outplay us to beat us. 

I think likewise they force our defenders into making errors, knowing that our defensive kickers are ordinary (minus Hibberd and maybe Lewis).

[Sir Why You Little 35,318]

9 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Our underperforming when we are favourites is now a mainstream perception or more accurately an accepted reality by all the football community except a few here who continue to blame this and that player etc. Watching the replay even the commentators were talking about it when we were taking the field.

I hope Goodwin can clean it up. 

Many have tried valiantly before him and left 

 

[DeeZee 6,905]

I'd try something drastic like make Frost Pederson and Watts the key position backs and try TMac up forward as that second tall

[DemonOX 8,559]

 

8 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Longer than that. The Daniher, Balme and even the Northey eras were susceptable. At least Northey got us in good positions before we fell in a heap. I remember an article in the paper in the early 90's about opposition players suggesting we were full of ourselves and always ripe for an easy chop.

I stand correct. Worse than i thought!

[DemonOX 8,559]

Yet another weekend ruined by the MFC after another pathetic display and to top it off a week of work ahead FMD. 

This club really knows how to continually punish its supporters and I've had an absolute gutful tbh and by some of the postings here I am not alone.

Will this ever end!

[Sir Why You Little 35,318]

13 minutes ago, Age said:

Opposition clubs have worked out our backline. If you watch our kick ins, no one goes near any of the McDonalds, especially for that short 15m kick to the pocket. They should be told to not go there at all. Their kicking is horrendous and clubs are just happy to go and man up the good kicks (Salem, Hibberd etc), means they can outnumber them as teams don't care if either McDonald gets it as they know that they cannot hurt them by foot and more often than not give them a chance to get the ball back. 

I would play Tom up forward. He is a big unit. 

Oscar i don't think will make it. He is just not strong enough. Mind and Body. 

[Sir Why You Little 35,318]

14 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Longer than that. The Daniher, Balme and even the Northey eras were susceptable. At least Northey got us in good positions before we fell in a heap. 

Oh yes. The Younger readers on here must realize this has been an ongoing ball and chain syndrome since 1965. 

John Northey almost broke through, but without a gun CHF we always fell short at critical times

[Older demon 2,317]

At the moment we are vulnerable to teams with talls who take contested marks forward and back.

Sandilands did it, McEvoy and O'Brien showed us up. We are using key position players to cover Max and Pencil and go short when Pedo, Watts or Tom are in the ruck or resting. Consider that besides Max and Pencil we are missing the 2 Smith's (Joel was going to hold down a key defensive post) Garland and Vandenburg are all big bodies and can play in the spine. That leaves Weid and Mitch King as the only talls at Casey. I jusst think we are 1 key position player down. Up forward, and we bombed it in too much in the first half playing Hannan, Petracca and Hunt at full forward is not a good long term strategy. We are relying on run and gun and fast ball movement. Last week if Daniher kicks straight we would have seen the marking problem but that got lost in his 1.6. This problem is not going to go away quickly

 

[John Crow Batty 8,352]

6 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Oh yes. The Younger readers on here must realize this has been an ongoing ball and chain syndrome since 1965. 

John Northey almost broke through, but without a gun CHF we always fell short at critical times

I remember 1971. We were 8-1 top of the ladder after 9 rounds with huge wins under our belt and never even made the finals.

Edited May 8, 2017 by america de cali

[RedLegs23 857]

Still can't believe some here are suggesting Tom McDonald as a forward... smh

[Binmans PA 26,663]

2 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Terry Wallace just saying on SEN that Melbourne will never have real success while the McDonald brothers play in the same side.

Says while they are athletic and can intercept, they are very poor decision makers and ultimately cost the team.

Wallace is usually a mug, but I think he has this one right. Frost is still raw, but I suspect he is going to make it. Get a Jake Lever-type already, Lever and May if necessary and our defence will look so much better.

Hawthorn built a dynasty on the back of reliable kickers off half back. The game has moved on, but good disposal will always be king, especially with our highly attacking game style. Both McDonald's are a liability with ball in hand and in a big final will cost us. Bookmark it.

Oscar is better than Tom with ball in hand, but I'm not sure we can wait 4-5 years for him to develop like we've waited for his brother.

[beelzebub 22,703]

Just now, RedLegs23 said:

Still can't believe some here are suggesting Tom McDonald as a forward... smh

He was actually drafted as one iirc

[Sir Why You Little 35,318]

1 minute ago, america de cali said:

I remember 1971. We were 8-1 top of the ladder after 9 rounds with huge wins under our belt and never made the finals.

Yep We finished 11-11 in 7th spot after being 8-1

the first year i supported the Demons. 

Have always wondered what happened that year. 

Mental Fragility. Drinking Bath Water??

this is why i say it is time for the supporters to actually let the club know we are angry. 

and not just accept that those inside will get it right.