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POST MATCH DISCUSSION - Round 10

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Jekyll and Hyde performance but I'll take it.

 

You could be forgiven for wanting nothing to do with the club after the first half.  I didn't.  I thought I was going to take a two week hiatus from the site, from the club, from anything to do with Melbourne.  It was close to the worst half of football we have played for some time.  We played lazy, arrogant footy and for the first time I really saw no leadership from our players.  You could almost sense that we thought this was a game we would win without too much effort.  It was horrible to watch.

And then it all changed.  Our leaders, especially Jones, took the game by the scruff of the neck and said 'we've had enough'.  Against the wind we worked super hard and got ourselves back in front before going on with the job in the last term like we should.  We played some terrific footy and it was clear that our changes worked as we had plenty of run to finish off the game.  It was great to watch.  A few things stood out:

I have loved the development of Hannan over the last fortnight.  We are seeing a good player form right before our eyes.  He can be a real weapon for us.

Nathan Jones stood up big time in the third term and gave us some real leadership.  It was fantastic to see.

Jeffy Garlett has been sensational this year and it was so pleasing to see him kick another 4 after a quiet game.

I thought our changes were spot on this week and really gave us run we needed to not only get back into the game but to finish it off as well.

No doubt the first half is something we need to fix and fix quickly.  But, we are 5-5 going into the bye and we can rest and hopefully get a few key players back for a big second half of the year.  We may not be a finals side going by tonight's effort, but we are well and truly in the running.  

Bring on the Pies in a fortnight!


Jason Taylor has struck gold again, this time with his drafting of Mitch Hannan.

The very definition of a game of two halves.

There is NO other team in sports that does this to their supporters.

And we all keep coming back for more.

 

Credit where credits due, we won and won comfortably. But can we just do this for 4 quarters please....

 

We have still yet to account for the pathetic performances we give for 50% of the game.

We have some serious attitude problems at the club that need to be addressed (and should have already been addressed) asap.

That is exactly why we are the most frustrating side in the competition. The team that played the second half was completely different to the first. Its also the current frustration of wondering how we would be with the AA ruckmen and one of the most promising power forwards in the land to straighten us up. Great to see Jones put us on his back in the second half and Lewis and Watts make up for lack lustre first halves. T-Mac into the first ruck and Pederson forward shifted the match. Great game by Jeffy for Indigenous round. Take it, learn, rest, reset and move on.  


One of the most unenjoyable wins I've seen.  Ablett plays and we probably lose.

A long way to go for this group.

Where do you go with that ....

Weird stuff.

Dire first half.

Much better second half albeit with Gold Coast seemingly having decided to stop running.

All capped off with the Suns song being played at the end of the game.

But it's a 6 goal win and we're in the 8. Can't complain about that.


Was it us turning 'on' or GCS turning 'off?'

I though they dropped right off in that second half.

2 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

You could be forgiven for wanting nothing to do with the club after the first half.  I didn't.  I thought I was going to take a two week hiatus from the site, from the club, from anything to do with Melbourne.  It was close to the worst half of football we have played for some time.  We played lazy, arrogant footy and for the first time I really saw no leadership from our players.  You could almost sense that we thought this was a game we would win without too much effort.  It was horrible to watch.

And then it all changed.  Our leaders, especially Jones, took the game by the scruff of the neck and said 'we've had enough'.  Against the wind we worked super hard and got ourselves back in front before going on with the job in the last term like we should.  We played some terrific footy and it was clear that our changes worked as we had plenty of run to finish off the game.  It was great to watch.  A few things stood out:

I have loved the development of Hannan over the last fortnight.  We are seeing a good player form right before our eyes.  He can be a real weapon for us.

Nathan Jones stood up big time in the third term and gave us some real leadership.  It was fantastic to see.

Jeffy Garlett has been sensational this year and it was so pleasing to see him kick another 4 after a quiet game.

I thought our changes were spot on this week and really gave us run we needed to not only get back into the game but to finish it off as well.

No doubt the first half is something we need to fix and fix quickly.  But, we are 5-5 going into the bye and we can rest and hopefully get a few key players back for a big second half of the year.  We may not be a finals side going by tonight's effort, but we are well and truly in the running.  

Bring on the Pies in a fortnight!

Well put. You have become close to my fave poster. Always balanced and eloquent. Kudos. 

1 minute ago, Satyriconhome said:

How many supporters are only going to watch MFC games after halftime from now on

Matches the players :unsure:

1 minute ago, ProDee said:

One of the most unenjoyable wins I've seen.  Ablett plays and we probably lose.

A long way to go for this group.

Gawn and Hogan play and we probably win.  Granted, Ablett is a huge out for them but we were missing some very good, and important, players as well.

An unenjoyable win is correct, but I'll still take the win.

1 minute ago, ProDee said:

One of the most unenjoyable wins I've seen.  Ablett plays and we probably lose.

A long way to go for this group.

I see your Ablett and raise you a Gawn and A Hogan.


Jordan Lewis was so important behind the ball, setting up and really leading the team.

Oscar MacDonald is simply a mistake machine.  Almost every touch led to a turnover, a contested ball and lots of goal assists for GC.  He really isn't good enough, based on this performance.

We can do great things in a half of footy - I'm keen to see them put it together for 4 quarters at some stage.

Big win leading into the bye and the midpoint of the season. Looking forward to our next season defining game against Collingwood in a couple of weeks!

I have no doubt if we brought 4 quarters every week then we'd be a chance for the flag. Unfortunately we're still yet to see it but 1.5 was enough for an easy win.

Jones and Harmes were the catalysts. Hibberd is elite even when the chips are down, and biased [censored] Rohan Connolly didn't have him in top 10 recruits for the year. LOL.

Hannan is a winner, a bit like Breust at the Hawks, just bobs up for goals every week.

I'll [censored] take that win. Halfway through the third and it was season over, now it's alive again.

Goodwin-ball has it's flaws but it's like a tsunami when it works.

 

Right...so the game plan is to play so bad in the first half the opposition thinks the games in the bag meanwhile it gives the coach time to assess the situation make all the necessary moves, and completely bamboozle the opposition in the 2nd half! ....yep, that must be it.

Watching Melbourne play is like having your wisdom teeth extracted without anaesthetic.


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