if we do make the finals thanks because of Adelaide we will not go very far. The attitude of the players when it is time to stand up is still  very questionable. Swans, Richmond, Port even Geelong have all come out and had good solid wins, we could not ever achieve an honorable loss.

We are a few players short and still missing a lot of heart and common sense from being a great team.

 

12 minutes ago, Deecisive said:

if we do make the finals thanks because of Adelaide we will not go very far. The attitude of the players when it is time to stand up is still  very questionable. Swans, Richmond, Port even Geelong have all come out and had good solid wins, we could not ever achieve an honorable loss.

We are a few players short and still missing a lot of heart and common sense from being a great team.

 

I'd prefer that to not making it at all.

And tell that to Carlton in 2013, who only made it because of Essendon being banned and then proceeded to beat 5th-placed Richmond.

Edited August 27, 20178 yr by titan_uranus

24 minutes ago, Deecisive said:

if we do make the finals thanks because of Adelaide we will not go very far. The attitude of the players when it is time to stand up is still  very questionable. Swans, Richmond, Port even Geelong have all come out and had good solid wins, we could not ever achieve an honorable loss.

We are a few players short and still missing a lot of heart and common sense from being a great team.

 

Agree with your last para. Definitely a few players short. And no match winners. Every top team has the few stars. We don't ......yet. 

6 hours ago, Umpire Please said:

Not happy to see these two on the footy shows laughing and joking about the game. No wonder the players are so mentally soft! Two of the leaders making light of what was a very poor performance.

I wouldn't call gawn a leader of the MFC.

Did very little this year which is ironic because last year he talked about being the best ruck in the comp.

Gawn should be dropped from the leadership group. Didn't stand up in the second half of the season. Threw the toys out of the pram a few times as well

2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Gawn should be dropped from the leadership group. Didn't stand up in the second half of the season. Threw the toys out of the pram a few times as well

One moment stood out in the 3rd. We got spanked going forward and Trac was 1 on 4 and forced the ball out. Gawn and Jones both lingered around, no words, no urgency. Just jogged away. Trac had to pull himself off the ground. 

Jones is trade bait. He was shown up yesterday and it was ugly. We got Lewis to set standards. Jones just doesn't fit. And Gawn is developing worrying "through the motions" behaviour. 

29 minutes ago, praha said:

One moment stood out in the 3rd. We got spanked going forward and Trac was 1 on 4 and forced the ball out. Gawn and Jones both lingered around, no words, no urgency. Just jogged away. Trac had to pull himself off the ground. 

Jones is trade bait. He was shown up yesterday and it was ugly. We got Lewis to set standards. Jones just doesn't fit. And Gawn is developing worrying "through the motions" behaviour. 

I totally agree with this. There is a significant difference between the on field play and leadership of Jones and Lewis. Bar one game I felt Lewis was definitely out most consistent player this year. His ball use and decision making is elite and you can see him in every game making his team mates better with his communication and leadership. I can't say the same for Jones. Jones still racks up possession and does put his body on the line in and around stoppages but he just doesn't make the most of his disposals.

Jones will never be traded and even if he was i don't think we would get much for him. I would like to see Viney as soul captain next year and maybe see Jones play less midfield and more as a half back/wing. I don't know if Jones is a smart enough footballer to play into his 30's. Lewis and to a lesser degree Vince are able to position themselves and play smarter football making pace less of an issue. Jones is simply too slow.

Edited August 27, 20178 yr by mongrel

I think Jones would be the main player hurting right now. It just summed up how Hogan's year went as well. although he probably would have been unavailable. 

I had no issue with Gawn and Viney on today, but what annoyed me was because Gawn was on the panel for the whole show, the first question to him wasn't how did you lose to a second rate pies side, or how do you feel, it was about this stupid thing down at melbourne they have fining people around the club for silly things. 

Viney you could see he was going to do everything to play finals. He was shattered to miss yesterday. 

5 minutes ago, mongrel said:

I totally agree with this. There is a significant difference between the on field play and leadership of Jones and Lewis. Bar one game I felt Lewis was definitely out most consistent player this year. His ball use and decision making is elite and you can see him in every game making his team mates better with his communication and leadership. I can't say the same for Jones. Jones still racks up possession and does put his body on the line in and around stoppages but he just doesn't make the most of his disposals.

Jones will never be traded and even if he was i don't think we would get much for him. I would like to see Viney as soul captain next year and maybe see Jones play less midfield and more as a half back/wing. I don't know if Jones is a smart enough footballer to play into his 30's. Lewis and to a lesser degree Vince are able to position themselves and play smarter football making pace less of an issue. Jones is simply too slow.

When we were playing well with a full list, Jones was playing half forward, half back brilliantly before he was injured. When he came back he had to into the middle because Viney was struggling, then injured. To me one the changes since round 15 is that we didn't have that luxury, Jones playing outside roles. He can play another 2 years if he is allowed to play on the outside. Hopefully next year it is Viney, Tyson, Oliver, Maynard or JKH on the inside and Jones, Lewis and others on the outside. 

I'm glad they had a nice time 

3 hours ago, mongrel said:

I totally agree with this. There is a significant difference between the on field play and leadership of Jones and Lewis. Bar one game I felt Lewis was definitely out most consistent player this year. His ball use and decision making is elite and you can see him in every game making his team mates better with his communication and leadership. I can't say the same for Jones. Jones still racks up possession and does put his body on the line in and around stoppages but he just doesn't make the most of his disposals.

Jones will never be traded and even if he was i don't think we would get much for him. I would like to see Viney as soul captain next year and maybe see Jones play less midfield and more as a half back/wing. I don't know if Jones is a smart enough footballer to play into his 30's. Lewis and to a lesser degree Vince are able to position themselves and play smarter football making pace less of an issue. Jones is simply too slow.

I feel bad for Lewis, many times this year I've felt I need to apologise to him.

There must've been many times this year when he's been thinking "WTF is going on here", coming from an elite organisation and era to this....

Gawn didnt even try the last 4 weeks.

Jimmy would be ashamed  to have seen his total lack of effort when finals were on the line.  Changes numbers please Max, you dont deserve the number 11.

26 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

Gawn didnt even try the last 4 weeks.

Jimmy would be ashamed  to have seen his total lack of effort when finals were on the line.  Changes numbers please Max, you dont deserve the number 11.

This is until next year when he dominates in the first few games and you declare him the greatest player to ever wear the #11.

Have a stiff drink, take a deep breath and calm down big fella.  It will do you some good.

I doubt Gawn has been 100% fit since coming back from his hamstring. He was in fantastic form in the opening couple of rounds.

No need to strip the number 11 from him yet. I'm sure he'll be back next year after a long rest.

Gawn needs to do less media, I like when he's having a bit of fun but when it comes to serious football talk he's out of his depth.

As someone else mentioned, in an interview on SEN during the week he gave a perplexing answer about most players playing in finals as juniors so they weren't too worried about our lack of finals in recent years.

1 hour ago, Demon Jack said:

I doubt Gawn has been 100% fit since coming back from his hamstring. He was in fantastic form in the opening couple of rounds.

No need to strip the number 11 from him yet. I'm sure he'll be back next year after a long rest.

Anyone remember when he was out there telling all and sundry in the media that he'd be back in under five weeks from his hamstring, talking smack about Spence not getting too comfortable as No. 1 ruck and calling himself 'the difference'?

That was a red flag to me at the time. I bit my tongue and was reassured by mates that it's good to see an MFC player with a bit of 'swagger'. 

Did he rush back and did this effect his later-season form? I don't know. But it still doesn't sit well with me.

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Gawn needs to do less media, I like when he's having a bit of fun but when it comes to serious football talk he's out of his depth.

As someone else mentioned, in an interview on SEN during the week he gave a perplexing answer about most players playing in finals as juniors so they weren't too worried about our lack of finals in recent years.

Rance does a heap of media yet it doesn't affect his game at all.

I'm more concerned with his arrogance. Last year he was the underdog fighting for top spot. This year he thought he was the King and just cruised a long and then started to get beaten by the hungrier ruckmen. Don't think he won a ruck battle this year apart from round 1.