Three questions this week.

Prior to the season starting would you have been happy with 5 - 5 going into the bye?

Given how the season has panned out are you happy with 5 - 5 at the bye?

Will we make the finals?

Had us down for 6-4 or better particularly after beating the Saints first up

If you had of told me we would be without Gawn (and Spencer) and Hogan for most games I would have taken 5-5

Unless we learn to win the close ones we won't play finals

Yea without our 2 most important players I will take 5-5, take 2 most important players out of any side and you will struggle how would Richmond and geelong be sitting right now if they lost Martin/reiwoldt and dangerwood, not in the 8 I'm tipping, I hope our luck changes a bit after the bye if we make finals will be well deserved 

5 minutes ago, brendan said:

Yea without our 2 most important players I will take 5-5, take 2 most important players out of any side and you will struggle how would Richmond and geelong be sitting right now if they lost Martin/reiwoldt and dangerwood, not in the 8 I'm tipping, I hope our luck changes a bit after the bye if we make finals will be well deserved 

Yup.

Take Fyfe and Neale out of Freo and they would be 0-10.

Everyone is aware that had one of the few close ones gone our way we would be 4th right? I still think we are doing fine in yet another learning year, coach included

No, Yes and No from me.

1. At the start of the season I was hoping for 7 and 3 or 6 and 4 at worst, given a favourable first half draw.  Given our youth and inexperience, I thought we needed to take full advantage of the draw to stake a strong claim for a finals berth.
2. Who could have foreseen the loss of (arguably) our two most important players for a large chunk of the season so far.  In the circumstances, 5 and 5 is only barely a 'pass' from me, especially given 'what might have been' if we had beaten the Dockers, Tigers and Hawks.  The win over the Crows did put a bit of credit back into the bank however.
3. Playing our best football consistently, we are finals bound for sure, and maybe even top 4.  However, we haven't been able to play the 'consistent card' at this point of our development, and I don't think that's about to occur.  This, combined with a tougher second half draw, and the fact that it will probably take Max and Jesse a while to fully hit their straps when they finally get back on the park, makes finals a tough ask for this year imo.  Of course I'm still dreaming 2017, but I think we might have to wait until 2018 to play in September.

I think we are getting closer to it all the time. When you think guys like Oliver have played what, like 23 games, a new and inexperienced senior coach, the upside is pretty good. I have no idea why we can be so hot and cold, but we've had to restructure a lot, given the players missing and i think, we have learnt a lot more than we otherwise would have and that will holds us in good stead. If things go more or less the way they should, we get a few back, fix a few niggles, we will play finals. (hopefully away at an interstate venue).

It's a cop out to put those bad losses (Freo, Hawthorn, Richmond, North) down to missing Gawn and Hogan. We lost similar games to Essendon and Carlton last year with Gawn and Hogan playing. And does that mean that every season we have an injury to a key player, we just write it off as bad luck?

We've got a talented list, but still haven't got a winning mentality. Until we start stringing wins together, I'll never be satisfied.

7 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

No, Yes and No from me.

1. At the start of the season I was hoping for 7 and 3 or 6 and 4 at worst, given a favourable first half draw.  Given our youth and inexperience, I thought we needed to take full advantage of the draw to stake a strong claim for a finals berth.
2. Who could have foreseen the loss of (arguably) our two most important players for a large chunk of the season so far.  In the circumstances, 5 and 5 is only barely a 'pass' from me, especially given 'what might have been' if we had beaten the Dockers, Tigers and Hawks.  The win over the Crows did put a bit of credit back into the bank however.
3. Playing our best football consistently, we are finals bound for sure, and maybe even top 4.  However, we haven't been able to play the 'consistent card' at this point of our development, and I don't think that's about to occur.  This, combined with a tougher second half draw, and the fact that it will probably take Max and Jesse a while to fully hit their straps when they finally get back on the park, makes finals a tough ask for this year imo.  Of course I'm still dreaming, but I think we might have to wait until 2018 to play in September.

Have a very similar view though tbh im still disappointed to be 5-5.

Hawthorn was a debacle. No excuse for not winning. Plenty of reasons though.

You would reasonably expect that one of( at least ) Dockers Tigers Roos games was genuinely gettable.

With our Outs in. 8-2 not implausible.

Even as 7-3 possible 6-4 at worst.

5-5 not good enough to place us in a finals bound path. (imho)

I am not happy we are 5-5 but still optimistic we will make the finals. As I have said before it may be a blessing in disguise that we are still in solid contention outside the eight but not actually there yet. We don't handle favouritism and expectations very well yet and prone to get ahead of ourselves after any good win. Sitting comfortably in the 8 at bye time bodes disaster for us. The return of Hogan and Gawn plus others will be a boon for the second half of the season but issues over attitude, leadership and consequential belief in success are not resolved. I still believe we have been underachieving in the past two seasons. I hope lessons have been learned in the topsy turvey first half of the season and the finals are there for the taking if we have. 

Q.1. Given the draw 6w and 4l was a reasonable expectation.

Q2.  Yes, 5-5 is a good result.   I think had Hibberd not been out injured we would definitely have beaten Freo and Richmond and maybe even Geelong.  Hibberd's absence hurt as much as Max, Jordan and Jesse. 

Q3.  Yes we can!  Of the pretenders, Freo won't stay in the 8 and Richmond and WCE may also drop out.  Of the contenders we are the best and most consistent performer.   

 

It would be nice to play finals this year, maybe we could if the football Gods are nice to us

58 minutes ago, brendan said:

Yea without our 2 most important players I will take 5-5, take 2 most important players out of any side and you will struggle how would Richmond and geelong be sitting right now if they lost Martin/reiwoldt and dangerwood, not in the 8 I'm tipping, I hope our luck changes a bit after the bye if we make finals will be well deserved 

*cough* Sloan *cough*

Start of the year I would have had the losses as St K, Ade, Geel and hoped we beat Hawks (with no certainty). So 6-4 going into the bye. Now we have hindsight that we should have won a whole heap of those games as mentioned above. 

 

If you said we had no Hoges, Gawn, Brayshaw, Spencer and VDB I would have said no way we beat North and Rich probably goes to them. So 4-6. So I cannot not be happy. Yes the losses sting as we are so close, but it's good they are stinging rather than me sitting there in the second half hoping we make the margin respectable. 

I think we are in a similar position to the bulldogs in 2015 they were 5-5 after round 10 that year ended up winning 14 games hopefully we can do the same, it was interesting looking at the ladder at round 10 2015 the pies were 7-3 and ended up only winning another 3 games for the year so still a long way to go, we were in this exact position last year after round 10 5-5 with a percentage 107% but we are a much better side this year 

1 hour ago, mo64 said:

It's a cop out to put those bad losses (Freo, Hawthorn, Richmond, North) down to missing Gawn and Hogan. We lost similar games to Essendon and Carlton last year with Gawn and Hogan playing. And does that mean that every season we have an injury to a key player, we just write it off as bad luck?

We've got a talented list, but still haven't got a winning mentality. Until we start stringing wins together, I'll never be satisfied.

I think the way those losses occurred mitigate them a fair bit.

Losing ruckmen early in a game, losing 2 sometimes three players early in games and generally not having the rub of the green.

Excuses they might be, however they are a reality.  When the competition is as even as it is those breaks which have gone against us have counted.

6-4 is what I hoped for at this stage, and really it's what we should be. Seeing Freo get smashed by Adelaide.....we should've "found a way" to get over the line. That and the Hawks game will be the ones that come back to haunt us if we miss out by one game. 

The second question is interesting, because if you take out every teams 1st and 2nd ruck, and their no 1 FF then they would struggle to win games. We've been in positions to win in every game this year, but for various reasons haven't got across the line. Whether it was injuries, poise, leadership, running out of gas, or inaccuracy. For that reason I'm not satisfied we're at 5-5. It's a frustrating 5-5 because honestly we could be 8-2 with a bit of luck. 

I've said no to us making finals for two reasons: 1) we lack consistency, we need to get a run on of wins to make the finals and it appears the players can't back up good performances. 2) I seem to be a bit of a jinx for Melbourne, so if I say we're not going to make the finals hopefully it'll work the other way! 

1 hour ago, Stretch Johnson said:

I think the way those losses occurred mitigate them a fair bit.

Losing ruckmen early in a game, losing 2 sometimes three players early in games and generally not having the rub of the green.

Excuses they might be, however they are a reality.  When the competition is as even as it is those breaks which have gone against us have counted.

Being asleep in the first qtr  !!  mitigates ??

Yeah I know...you're on about some folk who couldn't make it on the park. 

Catchup footy is why we've lost a lot of games.

Had us beating Carlton, Fremantle, Richmond, and Essendon, and losing to St Kilda, Geelong, Hawthorn, Adelaide,North and Gold Coast.  (We are talking "prior"  to the season!)

So I would have taken 5/5.  BUT the way we have played, the suspensions, the injuries, I am bitterly disappointed we arent 7-3 ! With a little luck we could quite easily be entrenched in the mid-upper part of the 8.

Johnn Pierek's MFC mid season report card from THE AGE

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-2017-afl-midseason-report-card-are-the-demons-finals-bound-20170529-gwff9g.html

38 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Johnn Pierek's MFC mid season report card from THE AGE

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-2017-afl-midseason-report-card-are-the-demons-finals-bound-20170529-gwff9g.html

That is a fair assessment!

It quotes another feat for Oliver which hadn't had much exposure: He ranks No.1 in the league for ground-ball gets (118).

Add to that these stats: ...has averaged 30.9 disposals, 14.9 contested possessions, 6.7 clearances and 6.8 tackles per game... from this article - another fair assessment of our season http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/midseason-report-card-melbourne-in-midtable-position-despite-loss-of-key-players-through-injury/news-story/2f3b01e4afae837d947d5912e5abb441

...and it is no wonder they have him in the AA conversation (along with Garlett and Jetta for the squad).

As much as we've been cruelled by injuries to super important players, we absolutely would've won the Freo game had Lewis not been suspended.

His composure and leadership in the last 2 minutes of that game would've ensured victory.

I'm disappointed we're not 7-3, possibly even 8-2, but, in the circumstances of the season thus far, I'm relieved we're 5-5 (including having put on the best performance in a decade in the game against the Crows).

 

57 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Johnn Pierek's MFC mid season report card from THE AGE

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-2017-afl-midseason-report-card-are-the-demons-finals-bound-20170529-gwff9g.html

Just read this. Surprisingly accurate assessment of things other than he failed to mention the loss of Joel Smith, whose absence has hurt.

 

43 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That is a fair assessment!

It quotes another feat for Oliver which hadn't had much exposure: He ranks No.1 in the league for ground-ball gets (118).

Add to that these stats: ...has averaged 30.9 disposals, 14.9 contested possessions, 6.7 clearances and 6.8 tackles per game... from this article - another fair assessment of our season http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/midseason-report-card-melbourne-in-midtable-position-despite-loss-of-key-players-through-injury/news-story/2f3b01e4afae837d947d5912e5abb441

...and it is no wonder they have him in the AA conversation (along with Garlett and Jetta for the squad).

That settles it, Clarrie is an animal on the grounds too! ?

No, No, Yes.

With only 1 win being the difference between 4th and us at 9th nobody can rule us out of finals. Our percentage is fantastic. If we can win the games we should win then we will make finals. But I still worry that will not happen. Our best is top 4 material but our worst is still bottom 4... If we can bring that worst up to 9th/10th material then we should make the finals.

We should be able to cause at least 1 possibly 2 more upsets. Which should give us a really good chance. But its all going to ride on the games against Collingwood x2, Sydney, Carlton, Brissy, St Kilda, North. We should win all of them, then we just need 1 of the Dogs, Eagles, Crows, Power, Giants. I'd back us to do that... but the unfortunate reality is that we are more likely to win all the hard ones than all the easier ones. All we need is consistency..... the only thing we lack