I have seen us play a lot worse than last night this year but we have too many good players out. Lets hope Port are of their game next week. No Viney and Jones will cause trouble yet again.

13 hours ago, Chris said:

Expected it but am not happy dropping easy goals in the last. Get our missing player's back and we go very close to winning that. 

6 of our top 10 players out...

have them in and we are premiership contenders 

19 minutes ago, bandicoot said:

6 of our top 10 players out...

have them in and we are premiership contenders 

A lot of mates are saying that sort of thing about their sides and other sides. Tigers saying they need griffiths, Giants Coniglio and others... I reckon our situation is different from any of the other teams. Mfc has impressed the whole comp this year with some wins no one saw coming. We didn't get those because of sterling defense or crows-like attack. Pure and simple we just did the midfield stuff better. Clearances and hard ball gets... so yes, it's one thing to have your stats down... but it's of way more importance when you factor in the way we won... which was through a particular type of player dominating one particular phase of the game...

thats why there shouldn't be wrist slitting. Not yet. I feel like we'll be playing the pies in round 23 to make finals. Have felt that most of the year.

I admit I only saw bit and pieces of the game, but in reality we were playing the top team with key key players missing including our 2 captains and our main midfielders. Yes I know teams have injuries but ours are important players we are losing. 

Im not surprised we lost. I'm looking to see how we respond next week. W are back on the G and I expect us to beat Port. Once we get all these key players back in then I will judge the team. 

Im not panicking yet. I have much faith in Goodwin. My only concern next week is coming off this game from Darwin. 

I still think we are missing Salem a lot in our back half. Hope he can get back in a fortnight. and the sooner Jones comes back the better. 

Hunts goal wow, one for the ages. 

The thing that i have noticed this year is how other teams seem to have one or two contested marking players around the ground. We seem to lack this or the players who can do this are not utilised in the same way. Pedo is one and plugger another. We kick the ball out and the opposition tall marks it.

I know max has been out but i have seen sandilands and others do it to us all year!

48 minutes ago, praha said:

40k at the G actually accounts for about a third of what we earn from a full house in Darwin, factoring in AFL funding, sponsoring deals for the match, etc etc 

Is that right?

Is it somewhere in our annual report? I'm not asking to be a dick. I actually find that fascinating and would love to see the numbers.

Be interesting to see if we make the same profit next year as projected this year if the club would make the NT deal again. Be fascinated to know what they make of it in house.

Its pretty clear the supporters hate it. Last nights felt like an Adelaide home game in Darwin.

Was another 6 day break. 4 of the last 5. 

Obviously a disappointing loss but it's pretty much what I expected would happen. We couldn't beat them with virtually our starting midfield on the sidelines. The loss of Viney, Jones and Tyson is obvious in the centre bounces, where there's far less cohesion between Max and whoever is in there in the place of those guys.

However, if Adelaide also had 4 of their 5 best midfielders out too, I think we'd beat them.

Next week is so important - we need to stay in touch with the top 4.

2 hours ago, McQueen said:

Hogan had a slightly better touch but his second efforts are non existent. Needs to find another gear or three.

His second efforts and the defensive side of his game has always been a concern. It's just when he's clunking marks and kicking goals its rare we raise his deficiencies. 

2 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

Is that right?

Is it somewhere in our annual report? I'm not asking to be a dick. I actually find that fascinating and would love to see the numbers.

Be interesting to see if we make the same profit next year as projected this year if the club would make the NT deal again. Be fascinated to know what they make of it in house.

Its pretty clear the supporters hate it. Last nights felt like an Adelaide home game in Darwin.

Good post. I reckon ditch it and would it be possible to get a deal somewhere else? Tassie? Etihad?? It doesn't work for us and has never worked. It's a hangover from the CSwb days. I think we would have done way better at the G. Somebody once posted a $20 membership levy would cover it. Well if the maths are right, that seems A way better option. It also costs us the following week! The Darwin game is 500k not 1m. I'm not so fussed about the Alice game. What's 500k v a finals berth? A finals appearance would boost the club in so many more ways. 500k is 1players wage for the year. Ditch it.

Edited July 16, 20178 yr by Wadda We Sing

Although the result was disappointing, a big positive was that JKH had his best game that I can recall, I don't think he would have got that chance if Jones Tyson and Viney were playing.

I didn't agree before last week but I truly think now that Hogan should have come back through via the VFL, but what's done is done probably holds his spot from here on out.

ANB and JKH were big positives last night. We needed our midfield depth to stand up and they gave it a real crack.

Particularly with ANB, it just looks like something has clicked. 23 touches at nearly 85% efficiency.

19 minutes ago, Demon Jack said:

ANB and JKH were big positives last night. We needed our midfield depth to stand up and they gave it a real crack.

Particularly with ANB, it just looks like something has clicked. 23 touches at nearly 85% efficiency.

It's all about opportunity IMO. These guys have proven themselves to be dominant when playing in the middle at Casey, and with injuries they're able to show they can play well in the seniors too. It's nice to know we have this depth now.

30 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Good post. I reckon ditch it and would it be possible to get a deal somewhere else? Tassie? Etihad?? It doesn't work for us and has never worked. It's a hangover from the CSwb days. I think we would have done way better at the G. Somebody once posted a $20 membership levy would cover it. Well if the maths are right, that seems A way better option. It also costs us the following week! The Darwin game is 500k not 1m. I'm not so fussed about the Alice game. What's 500k v a finals berth? A finals appearance would boost the club in so many more ways. 500k is 1players wage for the year. Ditch it.

Realistically we would probably have to leave NT all together as I suspect that the NT Govt who pay the $1M would insist on a game in Darwin and Alice. Of course if no other clubs were interested we could play hard ball and say its Alice or nothing. However we do it let's ditch Darwin !

we need another thread at some time to discuss stadium economics/deals. They are so important to clubs and they vary so widely.

Edited July 16, 20178 yr by Diamond_Jim

40 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Good post. I reckon ditch it and would it be possible to get a deal somewhere else? Tassie? Etihad?? It doesn't work for us and has never worked. It's a hangover from the CSwb days. I think we would have done way better at the G. Somebody once posted a $20 membership levy would cover it. Well if the maths are right, that seems A way better option. It also costs us the following week! The Darwin game is 500k not 1m. I'm not so fussed about the Alice game. What's 500k v a finals berth? A finals appearance would boost the club in so many more ways. 500k is 1players wage for the year. Ditch it.

I think every supporter would go for this instead of that hell hole in Darwin.

What was the Humidity in Darwin last night?

In Melbs it was close to Zero

Players would lose up to 5kg's during a full game in Darwin. Midfielders maybe more. 

That is a massive disadvantage for next week. 

A $20-25 levy on all Memberships next year would cover the $1 Mill, make it a selling point. 

Mark Fine said the same in closing this morning on SEN. Now we are contending for finals it is time to stop this deal. 

The Crowd was 2:1 Adelaide. 

Hogan would have got some frees if we had played in Melbourne

7 hours ago, grazman said:

Looking beyond the current season I think there were a number of pleasing signs for us.  

Firstly add any two of the missing Jones, Viney, Watts, Tyson and Salem and I think the outcome of last night looks a damn sight closer, which is something to consider because Adelaide are a genuine top 4 side.

How good is Petracca, His awareness and delivery is unbelievable, while he's not getting a heap of the ball at the moment he will in future years and he's absolutely going to tear games apart.  Add him to Jones, Viney, Tyson, Oliver and that's a very good contested ball bunch in the middle.  

I thought JKH for the first time didn't look out of place last night.  We are really starting to bat deep now with genuine AFL players. (although its difficult to replace your best 6 at any stage when injured)  Obviously while they are young and need games, ANB, Smith, Hannan, and Wagner are all going to push hard for selection with a full list.  You can add Brayshaw and Stretch to that list as well.

Finally on a side note - Lever looked to have injured his Hamstring again last night.  That would be a concern for any team wanting to throw money at him.  Everytime I see Sydney win and Zak Jones sing the song I think to myself he's the one we should be pitching for.

With you on this Gman.  When you refer to Track combining with Jones in the future I'd love that to be Z.Jones.  Love Chunk, but I'm just not sure he can hang in there at his current level that much longer.  Can't say I've seen heaps of his little bro, but from what I have seen, he looks just like a younger clone of our illustrious, most senior captain.  Really hoping that our recuitment team can get a good deal done with Sydney, because I just don't see another up and comming mid we have to step up and take Chunk's role.

8 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Kent dislocated his shoulder and might be lucky to make it back onto a footy field of any description this year.  I'll probably be howled down for this, but I actually think he showed enough until the point he got injured to earn a game next week and build some form/continuity in the senior side.  No one has been down on Gawn for not getting back to his best yet, but many seem quick to judge and condem Kent this season.  Kent is a hard at it, agressive player amd when he's on his game, he can be a damaging player which could complement the likes of Hannan, Track, Garlett, Hunt, Harms etc nicely.

Max Gawn A grade ruckman Kent Like Clark NQR He aint no superman!

Haven't seen anything other than the highlights (which for some stupid reason don't include Hunt's torp).

It seems that, from the stats and the comments from some on here, we competed well in the middle and at the contest but lacked class and finish when going inside 50, resulting in too many turnovers and easy transition for Adelaide.

Given we we playing off our fourth 6-day break in 5 weeks, and we were missing Jones, Viney, Salem, Watts and Tyson, and had a stack of NQRs and players returning from long backs in the side to replace them, the above description of the game makes perfect sense to me.

Granted, I haven't seen the mistakes of players like Frost, Melksham, OMac and Kent that are being discussed but surely the circumstances make the performance at least understandable.

No doubt for mine the most disappointing thing is Vince surely getting suspended for that elbow on Betts. Absolute rubbish from him. Terrible season and I'm not convinced he's best 22 right now.

Getting Watts, Tyson and maybe Viney back next week is going to help considerably. If we lost to Port we have to bank the North, St Kilda, Brisbane and Collingwood games to make finals and given our recent form against North and St Kilda, I don't like the prospect of doing that. A win against Port takes a huge amount of pressure off us.

8 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

What was the Humidity in Darwin last night?

In Melbs it was close to Zero

Players would lose up to 5kg's during a full game in Darwin. Midfielders maybe more. 

That is a massive disadvantage for next week. 

A $20-25 levy on all Memberships next year would cover the $1 Mill, make it a selling point. 

Mark Fine said the same in closing this morning on SEN. Now we are contending for finals it is time to stop this deal. 

The Crowd was 2:1 Adelaide. 

Hogan would have got some frees if we had played in Melbourne

I can definitely see where you are comming from on this one Sir and really like your thinking in many senses, but actually not sure abandoning the NT would be the right move.

We might be up and about at the moment and perhaps we could squeeze that extra $1M out of MFC membership, but:

1. If we can squeeze that exta out in the better times, we need to bank it for thexample leaner times;

2.  Slightly different propersition I know, but case in point, even strong Vic teams like Hawthorn didn't abandon their interstate relationships/sponsorship deals during the good times;

3.  The geographic proximity of Adelaide and WC to the NT in terms of airline routes means that more often or not I think we will end up playing one of those sides in the NT and their supporters will out number ours due to the economics of air travel, size of supporter base etc.  To some extent, the whole propersition needs our opponents supporters to turn out on mass as well for it to make sense financially for the NT gov to come to the party as well 

 

I'm guesing that somewhat, the reality is there are a disproportionate number of teams from Vic and that until one or more fold/relocate perminantly, then these sales of interstate games to the smaller states are a necessary survival mechanism for the lesser power/supporter base Vic clubs.

Asides from all that I'm actually considering how watching the mighty Demons in the NT could work in well with a bit of a holiday there myself with the old man!

4 hours ago, SFebey said:

Winning is more important IMO. But that's just me.

Agree at this point we need to have games advantage at Home.We are finally fiscally viable. Stop selling games. If this was at the G who knows what might have happened. Adelaide do not play well there! Can we afford another potentially slow start next week because of the draining effects of the heat and humidity from last nights game?? Nar!

Edited July 16, 20178 yr by picket fence

4 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Max Gawn A grade ruckman Kent Like Clark NQR He aint no superman!

We are all a bit NQR in our own way Picket (myself included), so I'm not about to hold that against the bloke.

37 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Realistically we would probably have to leave NT all together as I suspect that the NT Govt who pay the $1M would insist on a game in Darwin and Alice. Of course if no other clubs were interested we could play hard ball and say its Alice or nothing. However we do it let's ditch Darwin !

we need another thread at some time to discuss stadium economics/deals. They are so important to clubs and they vary so widely.

Reasons why no change for NT deal:

1. Pretty sure we recently signed up for an extension on the NT deal - 3 years? So little or no chance of changing any time very soon.

2. I know that PJ has worked out the finances and I am happy to rely on his calculations v a levy on memberships or some other  alternative. ie a bird in the hand v bird in the bush.

3. Anyone who says the money doesn't matter, clearly doesn't have to find the money to pay for the Football Department, The Womens Team or the NT Academy etc.

4. The NT Academy - not only does this cost money but it is advantageous for us to have a presence there and lets see what that might do for us.

5. If we had not had the injuries, is there any reason why we should not have beaten Adelaide? What is this hellhole stuff? There was exactly the same commentary about Etihad until we started winning. Winning or losing is more about the team not the venue, especially in Darwin.

6. We lack majority support in Darwin? Why would we expect that to not be the case? Have we been a dominant team for 10 years? Do we have 55 to 60 thousand members as Adelaide or Port or West Coast do? But if we do become a dominant team for the next few years, a lot could change.

7. I am not suggesting that this deal should stay in place forever, but what would we have done without the finances from this deal in the last few years and what might happen if if we collapse again in a few years time?

 

14 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Max Gawn A grade ruckman Kent Like Clark NQR He aint no superman!

Besides, who's to say that Kent might not be the next A grade/AA small forward?  Max spent a fair few years as a nobody before he became a superstar.

Kent has had a few superman moments, just not so many this year.  I remember he played an absolute ripper against Essendon in the days when they were fully chemicaly enhanced and was a big part of a win that never should have been.  Look it up on YouTube.  Goody's challenge is to get him playing that sort of footy again.

Edited July 16, 20178 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter
Boags combined with a recacertrant spell checker

5 hours ago, jnrmac said:

4 goals in time on in the first qtr and a few junk goals in the last.

We were surprisingly in touch most of the night despite their easy transition goals and more frustratingly our own mistakes. Can't tally the number of dropped marks and fumbles at critical times.

Adelaide don't scare me as a side. They might win a home final but won't likely win the flag.

Not to mention missing 3 or 4 sitters of goals.