Winning games at docklands - yep.

Beating Wet Toast in the west - yep

Beating Adelaide in Adelaide - yep

Winning games against teams in top 4 - yep

Percentage in the black - yep

Riddled with injury to most important players for many weeks - yep

Lost games by a kick or two - yep (cooda, shooda, didn't - yep)

Not as bad as some would have us believe - yep

But still need to improve - yep

 

We got smashed by a team, most thought would be the clear favourite for the flag this year in a 15 minute patch that the commentators were stating was almost an unstoppable patch of football. We went in as underdogs and didn't end up winning.

The game against Nth hurt us no doubt, but knowing the ground fairly well, the weather and the conditions of that ground are a massive factor, and Nth know the conditions better than us, should we have won?  probably, but it was always a danger game for us, and seeing how they played against the Pies this week makes it all the more painful

1 hour ago, hardtack said:

Well on the bright side, if we were winning easily every week, playing finals and winning flags, all you'd have to look forward to would be our inevitable fall from grace.

Now that is straight from Danny from Droop st!

21 minutes ago, Ouch! said:

We got smashed by a team, most thought would be the clear favourite for the flag this year in a 15 minute patch that the commentators were stating was almost an unstoppable patch of football. We went in as underdogs and didn't end up winning.

The game against Nth hurt us no doubt, but knowing the ground fairly well, the weather and the conditions of that ground are a massive factor, and Nth know the conditions better than us, should we have won?  probably, but it was always a danger game for us, and seeing how they played against the Pies this week makes it all the more painful

We got smashed by a team who were horribly out of form and missing their 3 highest goalkickers in Cameron, Greene and Patton. We have thrown in the towel, something has gone wrong since WCE game. I wouldn't be surprised if we are actually carrying a lot of sore bodies and injuries as something doesn't seem right.

8 minutes ago, SFebey said:

We got smashed by a team who were horribly out of form and missing their 3 highest goalkickers in Cameron, Greene and Patton. We have thrown in the towel, something has gone wrong since WCE game. I wouldn't be surprised if we are actually carrying a lot of sore bodies and injuries as something doesn't like right.

This has been my thought for a while now.  A number of players are playing well under their "normal game"

Either theyve  all been drinking the wrong koolaid or  we're playing  "sore bodies"

It's not the only factor but it would certainly be contributory.

22 minutes ago, Dee Dee said:

Winning games at docklands - yep.

Beating Wet Toast in the west - yep

Beating Adelaide in Adelaide - yep

Winning games against teams in top 4 - yep

Percentage in the black - yep

Riddled with injury to most important players for many weeks - yep

Lost games by a kick or two - yep (cooda, shooda, didn't - yep)

Not as bad as some would have us believe - yep

But still need to improve - yep

 

And no 10+ goal thumping (so far)

Worth noting our midfield has been carried by a 19 yo for much of the year. Sore, young bodies tiring late in the season.

Just now, beelzebub said:

This has been my thought for a while now.  A number of players are playing well under their "normal game"

Either theyve  all been drinking the wrong koolaid or  we're playing  "sore bodies"

It's not the only factor but it would certainly be contributory.

Well we do know some players are back from injury and Jetta, Hannan & Garlett have been playing sore, that'd be a big contributor but still a few other things wrong fundamentally too like overhandballing, bombing long into 50 and one arm tackles.

The thing upsetting me the most is that pretty much every other team in contention is fighting hard and winning games they have to, quite often coming from behind.

Two weeks ago against North half way through the 3rd qtr we were still just in front of North who had the wind and we had the last qtr to come home with it. Meanwhile in Perth GWS were 15 points down against Freo. I'm thinking wow next week we may be playing GWS for a top 4 spot. Oh the possibilities!

Instead GWS manage to get over the line, we manage to do what we've done for the last ten years and capitulate and then we back it up a week later with a further poor performance just to prove to the football world "No we weren't kidding, we are crap. You want a win, you need a win, come and see us. We'll roll over for you."

They've got to be hungrier. The main problem with Jack Watts is I think he becomes pleased with himself too easily just when he should be looking to further improve his game. Good teams improve into the season, they become focussed. Melbourne are scattered to the winds.

 

Anything worth having isn't easy.

My grandad passed away in 2008. He came across form Indonesia after a horrid time in WW2. He witnessed what we would all be envious of! The 50s..

life gets busy and you forget. But I think I'll head to his grave this Saturday and pray for some of the good times he witnessed!

10 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

This has been my thought for a while now.  A number of players are playing well under their "normal game"

Either theyve  all been drinking the wrong koolaid or  we're playing  "sore bodies"

It's not the only factor but it would certainly be contributory.

I think we are sore and tired, is why I think we will be lucky to win a game in the run in. I noticed in an interview with Trengove after the Port game that he mentioned the game style was a very hard one to maintain for a whole game hence why we faded in the last half. Take this out over a season and we are cooked. This has me worried overall in that our game style may be fantastic during the year when we can implement it but if we can't do it for the whole year, especially at the end of the year, what is the point of it?

For me, if we had of been sitting outside the 8th but keeping up and didn't make finals I would have been somewhat happy with our progress. Since we had been in the top 8 for some time not making finals would be a fail for me. Apart of me can see the light for years to come but thinking of this season and not years ahead I want finals now ? 

3 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

[censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] this [censored] club. [censored]! Jack Watts [censored]!

Eloquent, Ethan. Keep up the good work.

And to those who say "Alcohol is not the answer, "  All I can say is  " Bullshtt !!!!!!  It worked for me last week.

Not being above Essendon on the ladder is a fail for me.
But then beating Essendon in our games is a pass.
 

28 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

The thing upsetting me the most is that pretty much every other team in contention is fighting hard and winning games they have to, quite often coming from behind.

 

 

except for West Coast who gave up a lead to secure a spot in the 8, and Hawthorn who beat Sydney last week and were very bad against Richmond yesterday.

lets keep things in perspective. Its how we are going to bounce back that will count.

3 hours ago, doc roet said:

Blame me.

I turncoated to melbourne in 1964 as an 11 yo from peer pressure at school after being brought up in a carlton family.

Since then I have lost my son to having no interest in football at all because he didn't want to come with me when he was little and watch us lose all the time, and now my 10 yo grandson has advised me he wants to barrack for freaking RICHMOND.

 

Careful. The Dept of Community Services will be visiting you soon for child abuse

We played better football when our key players were out of the club injured or suspended.

Everyone needs to chill out... I think are we lose sight of where we are at, we are in unique situation where we have had a succession plan which is only the 2nd one in the league recent memory (the other been Sydney who still had the core of a premiership side). Goodwin is in his first season will full reins and we are building from a lower base then just about any club, expansion sides exempt but they had the draft concessions to build off... I am as frustrated as anyone but I'm looking at the bigger picture, we after 10 years in the wilderness are on track... Goodwin has us playing a style of football that will take us to the top & will stand up in finals football. It's frustrating because we have had glimpses & tatses throughout the year and we just want more and more of it but we are trending the right way..  You look at the players listed below and you realise we are that season or 2 away from really consistent football week in, week out they say players don't find their feet and stamp themsleves on the comp until the 70-80 game mark.. 

Brayshaw - 33 games

 Frost - 56 games

Hannan - 17 games 

Harmes - 31 games 

Hogan - 49 games

Hunt - 38 games

McDonald - 34 games

Neal Bullen - 31 games

Oliver - 32 games

Petracca - 36 games

Salem - 45 games 

Stretch - 35 games

Weidemen - 9 games

Add to that the coach has has 19 games in the seat..  It takes time & because we have been so bad for so long we are impatient, we'll get there people dont stress. 

I'll also throw in the injuries we have had this year.. You take anysides co-captains out, all australian ruckmen, full forward, 3rd key forward, half back flanker for extended periods, see how they go.. GWS have had a horrible run but when your depth runs as deep as theirs it's easier to cover

 

 

Gee, how many more posts bemoaning the club, supporters? I dont think so

I watched the game at a pub and drank one more pint of McCracken than I should have watching the disappointing display served up

Just like to see the same forward and midfield set up 2 weeks in a row, then we may see better connect

The reason we are not getting smashed is coz we have a consistent defensive set up that works well as a team, thankfully

We may not make finals this year, but from the glimpses and some of the performances I have seen this year from both  the AFL and Casey sides, we are getting there

We can still make the finals and should, whether we do or not is another thing. 

We have had lots of players out injured, and it shows by the way Max played on the weekend, that players need a bit of time back before they regain full playing form, that was his best game back by far. 

During the middle of the season we showed that we could beat any side in the comp, but while other sides have moved on, we've gone backwards. Young bodies, players out and coming back from injury, all reasons, but at the end of the day we should be able to replace injured players, if we can't then we just don't have depth. 

Disappointing that we lost to Norf twice, that is the lowlight of the year, we seem to struggle against mediocre teams and should have put them and Carlton away by a lot more, particularly the way we were playing early on in the year. We were also a bit stiff that we played Sydney when they were flying and not when they were struggling, same with Hawthorn, they started to play better about the time we played them. 

I wonder if we should be resting players on some sort of rotation basis and if we have a player that's knocking on the door, play him and give someone a rest. Surely we could have given Trenners, BenKen and a few others a run in games where we had a full side, not when we had a heap of injuries. 

All we can do is hope we win a couple more, at least improve on 2016, it really is depressing missing out year after year and seeing different players make the same mistakes we always seem to make. 

We rested Hannon this week.

4 hours ago, Bay Riffin said:

except for West Coast who gave up a lead to secure a spot in the 8, and Hawthorn who beat Sydney last week and were very bad against Richmond yesterday.

lets keep things in perspective. Its how we are going to bounce back that will count.

Yes, I did say pretty much though and all those games they lost were against other contenders. West Coast are probably the most disappointing side in the league for potential versus return. If we lose the next two weeks I think unfortunately any gains will be lost and we will be on a par with West Coast for the team that is showing the most unrealized potential.

That puts everyone under pressure and sets us up for a poor off-season. We are not a destination club, supporters start eating their own, the coach starts getting criticized and other teams and their supporters reckon you're a soft touch. 

We absolutely must win 2 of the next 3. I reckon we might lose all 3. My mate reckons I'm an idiot. I am looking forward to this game against St Kilda. Both teams should be hungry. No excuses. It's our Grand Final.

5 hours ago, JV7 said:

Everyone needs to chill out... I think are we lose sight of where we are at, we are in unique situation where we have had a succession plan which is only the 2nd one in the league recent memory (the other been Sydney who still had the core of a premiership side). Goodwin is in his first season will full reins and we are building from a lower base then just about any club, expansion sides exempt but they had the draft concessions to build off... I am as frustrated as anyone but I'm looking at the bigger picture, we after 10 years in the wilderness are on track... Goodwin has us playing a style of football that will take us to the top & will stand up in finals football. It's frustrating because we have had glimpses & tatses throughout the year and we just want more and more of it but we are trending the right way..  You look at the players listed below and you realise we are that season or 2 away from really consistent football week in, week out they say players don't find their feet and stamp themsleves on the comp until the 70-80 game mark.. 

Brayshaw - 33 games

 Frost - 56 games

Hannan - 17 games 

Harmes - 31 games 

Hogan - 49 games

Hunt - 38 games

McDonald - 34 games

Neal Bullen - 31 games

Oliver - 32 games

Petracca - 36 games

Salem - 45 games 

Stretch - 35 games

Weidemen - 9 games

Add to that the coach has has 19 games in the seat..  It takes time & because we have been so bad for so long we are impatient, we'll get there people dont stress. 

I'll also throw in the injuries we have had this year.. You take anysides co-captains out, all australian ruckmen, full forward, 3rd key forward, half back flanker for extended periods, see how they go.. GWS have had a horrible run but when your depth runs as deep as theirs it's easier to cover

 

 

There's some players there with serious question marks on skill- Hannan, stretch, harmes, Neal Bullen, McDonald  

7 hours ago, SFebey said:

At the end of day we are too inconsistent for finals so may as well play the kids now, good teams are building around this time, not dishing up weak efforts. Dogs, Swans, Crows for eg.

Funny thing is we beat all  but Swans.

So the ride isn't over.

We are better at home after a reasonable 2 months away.

If we won next week people would be hyped again about our hopes.

All the players admit it's a close season .

 

8 hours ago, Dee Dee said:

Winning games at docklands - yep.

Beating Wet Toast in the west - yep

Beating Adelaide in Adelaide - yep

Winning games against teams in top 4 - yep

Percentage in the black - yep

Riddled with injury to most important players for many weeks - yep

Lost games by a kick or two - yep (cooda, shooda, didn't - yep)

Not as bad as some would have us believe - yep

But still need to improve - yep

 

Good post. I don't understand the pessimism on here about our club at the moment.

I think we clearly have the best youth - GWS included - in the competition at the moment. And unlike GWS, we actually have depth. If GWS lose Kelly then it brings them right back to the pack. He is clearly their best player. In addition, Deledio, Griffin, Johnson and Shaw aren't going to be around much longer.

Never have I been more proud and buoyant about MFC.

11 hours ago, deefella said:

Just really tired of hearing:" young side in the comp, exciting times ahead, remain positive, impressive wins etc ect blah blah blah. Yawn.

At the end of the day it means nothing if you can't do it consistently.

The point is the MFC make it look like a marathon and harder than what it should be. Other sides get there a lot quicker...... not to mention our snails pace memberships.

ill do my best to barrack and go to games but if the club shut up shop the safest part is I would be at peace with it and probs not too disappointed. 

You got that right. Our incompetence as a club has hurt us over many decades. I 100% hear what you're saying.

All we can do is hope that the light at the end of the tunnel is the end of the incompetence and not another train.

I really do believe this club is on the right track on club and footy level. I believe  our admin is in order and run by some smart operators and the FD from the outside seems full of talent on and off field.

Sadly it needs to grow a bit longer.

Keep the faith mate. And nothing wrong with a good ol rant from.time to time