8 hours ago, Demons1858 said:

Someone needs to tell the Bulldogs this. They should be really concerned about their non-linear improvement last 2 years. We should just thank the MFC.

The Bulldogs improved every year til they won the flag, if we do the same then have a dropoff hangover I won't be upset.

They armed him with the "lineal improvement" stat. All that shows to me what a slow burn it has been. 4 years of "lineal improvement" and still out of finals,

8 hours ago, america de cali said:

People are kidding themselves beliving we lost a finals spot due to missteps during the early and middle/late part of season. Those misstep cost us a higher ladder postition and consolidation in the eight. We really blew it in the last two rounds as in 2016. The finals spot was there for the taking. F**king weak chokers.

Yep. Hold the 32pt lead we had on the lions and we are in. 

I don't subscribe to this"limping in"

 I'd rather limp in than fail and not make it.  Not making the finals hurts the growth of the club and team more than gwtting beaten week one of the finals. 

17 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He's trying to build a gameplan for a flag. I would've thought that was obvious.

Of course it is obvious, Doc. 

But building a game plan for a flag doesn't mean it should not be modified when circumstances require especially when the coach knew at the beginning the team would struggle with it for the whole season.  He expected them to run out of steam, not because the team is young per se, but because it is a demanding game style to sustain.  Being flexible is what having plan A, B, C, D is all about.  Especially, in finals.

Anyway, I wasn't being critical - was making the point that the coach(es) missed a trick.   There will be soul searching and they will learn from it and will be the better for it. 

Even Goodwin's greatest fan would acknowledge he made some significant blunders.  But our coaches are relatively inexperienced.  They will learn and grow from this year's experiences and disappointment.

Edited September 5, 20178 yr by Lucifer's Hero

16 minutes ago, Forest Demon said:

They armed him with the "lineal improvement" stat. All that shows to me what a slow burn it has been. 4 years of "lineal improvement" and still out of finals,

I think that shows how far back we came from, rather than that our rate of improvement hasn't been fast enough. 

13 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

We'll miss by 0.2% next year, 0.1% the year after, ....

Zeno's paradox. We'll never get in.

Did we miss reality bus or get hit by it ? Surely that's the most important thing....

11 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Did we miss reality bus or get hit by it ? Surely that's the most important thing....

Hit!

1 hour ago, Forest Demon said:

They armed him with the "lineal improvement" stat. All that shows to me what a slow burn it has been. 4 years of "lineal improvement" and still out of finals,

2 win 50% team Terlich and Matt Jones 3rd and 4th in B&F

Edited September 5, 20178 yr by Dr. Gonzo

Could help noticing how upset Trac was when walking off the ground.

He used the word "impatient" a lot.

A decade of waiting for finals is impatient?

53 years since the last flag?

I'm 32 years old. I've been 'patient' with the MFC my entire life.

6 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

Could help noticing how upset Trac was when walking off the ground.

Yes, it was so sad as he worked so hard to get us back into the game.  His desperation was palpable. 

Despite the disappointment he intelligently went from player to player in the rooms to keep them upbeat which was really important in case we did make the finals.  Sam Mitchell did similar on the ground after they lost the Qualifying Final last year.  He literally lifted some players up off the ground....he knew the players needed to leave that day feeling positive.  It wasn't over.

We didn't live to fight another day but Petracca showed a lot of nous and was a champion in so many ways. 

The comment about our drop off post Rd 15 is illuminating given it coincided with Viney's injury, Watts and Salems form slump (and being dropped).

Will be an interesting trade period. The sting will keep the knife sharp. 

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

The Bulldogs improved every year til they won the flag, if we do the same then have a dropoff hangover I won't be upset.

Nice try but not quite.

ell.. I'm glad hes finally fronted.

Tbh  I couldn't really care less what he says as I haven't believed a word all year.

For me it's simple. He's accountable. He's now accounting..  A bit late..better than never I suppose.

A little of what he says does substantiate what some thought. All was not right at Melbourne.

Unlike possibly the majority here I'm yet to be convinced we have the Messiah coach on board. Hopefully he speeds up his ability to learn from mistakes as the season was full of instances really where  it looked like we nauseatingly repeating poor ideas.

For me it'll be back to Demon-101  'it's the off season"     It's what we do . We don't do finals...thats for OTHER teams...we just day dream away the summer.

Be truly interesting to see what happens with the list. even more interesting to see what changes occur in the FD !!

Then it's crunch time in 2018.  To be or not to be. Words are rubbish it's action. I want to see action. i.e I want to see wins and demonstrably good wins .

Again. I just wanted Goodwin to front up. that's his job ( afaic) . He could easily have done that last week.

To paraphrase Kennedy...don't talk...DO !!

SO with Melbourne he'll need to do something better than he's done already. Rome wasn't built in a day I know...but the clubs been around a bit longer than a week also.

Season 2017 Failure

Season 2018 has started for Simon. Over to you.

 

18 hours ago, McQueen said:

It was good to hear from the coach. As usual it was a measured approach but one that he obviously needed the time to analyse and put into words. 

I just hope like hell that this years lesson acts as an incredible catalyst for the whole FD and players. We need to move past the 'lost opportunity' phase and form the mindset of being a ruthless juggernaut for next season.

 

I think he makes good points on analysis, noting the warning signs were there in Round 15 and onwards.  Citing the St Kilda fast start but nearly blown, as with Port Adelaide game. 

Knows there is work to do but the foundation is there. The timing of the message was appropriate - no one wanted to hear these messages earlier in the week.

And about just getting to finals is not good enough, its about winning them. I liked that.  I doesn't make me feel better but with our line up we would have been creamed this weekend.

3 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Yes, it was so sad as he worked so hard to get us back into the game.  His desperation was palpable. 

 

hopefully becomes contagious

3 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Nice try but not quite.

Could've sworn giving you a flag gets you first place

12 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Could've sworn giving you a flag gets you first place

No. Gives you the Premiership.

Ladder is the Ladder.

Goody has reached the Peak and drank from the Cup twice so he knows what it takes, he looked disappointed but realistic, it will be another brutal pre-season and anyone that the FD do not believe are up to the journey will have to make way for those that are. The timing was perfect as there is now a sense that a lot of us supporters are starting to emerge from that hole in the ground.....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

51 minutes ago, DeeZone said:

Goody has reached the Peak and drank from the Cup twice so he knows what it takes, he looked disappointed but realistic, it will be another brutal pre-season and anyone that the FD do not believe are up to the journey will have to make way for those that are. The timing was perfect as there is now a sense that a lot of us supporters are starting to emerge from that hole in the ground.....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not much point having a brutal pre-season if we have a bunch of leg weary and injured players mid season or guys who are mentally exhausted before the business end of the season. 

As with other sports, the off season should be about injury rehab, conditioning and working on skills and game plans.

It is also about training hard but with the goal being September. 

As Clarkson says, there are two seasons or games, the home and away rounds and the finals. Coaches have to be able to alter training loads to tune players up for the finals.  This is not possible if players are already physically and mentally done come finals time. 

 Hopefully in 2018, we have a team that will not only make the finals but also be able to lift their run, intensity and competitiveness to a higher level. 

We feel empty this year but will also feel empty next year if we just make the finals and get eliminated in our first finals match.  

Goodwin was the same measured person we have seen week in week out. He looks and sounds like he is on mogadon. I wonder if he ever gives a spray?

Whilst it was better late than never to come out and officially address our pathetic end to the season if I was hearing an address before a game from him I would fall asleep.

Being calm in the coaches box is a good thing but I want our players to come out of the rooms ready to break through brick walls. I get the impression that will never happen under Goodwin.

7 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Anyway, I wasn't being critical - was making the point that the coach(es) missed a trick.   There will be soul searching and they will learn from it and will be the better for it. 

Even Goodwin's greatest fan would acknowledge he made some significant blunders

You're making a number of affirmations as if they were facts, but they're only opinions. I know in your head you think they're facts, it's the way the brain works, but in reality, they're not. When it comes to the inner workings of the coach and the coaching department, you're basically just guessing - as we all are.

9 minutes ago, bing181 said:

You're making a number of affirmations as if they were facts, but they're only opinions. I know in your head you think they're facts, it's the way the brain works, but in reality, they're not. When it comes to the inner workings of the coach and the coaching department, you're basically just guessing - as we all are.

Really, you know what is in my head and how my brain works?  Good grief - how presumptuous! 

And I didn't profess to know the inner workings of the coaching department - don't know where that claim comes from. 

Back to what I actually said.  I stand by it:  I would be very surprised if anyone thought the coaches had not made any blunders and that they won't be doing their own soul searching.  No, not a proven fact but they wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't reflect back and see what they did well and not so well and how they can improve.  In my book that is soul searching. 

So, you might think all is perfect on the coaching front and no reflection is required.  Fine.  Then simply say so rather than take a line out of context of the chain of posts to which it relates and then  needlessly criticise someone. 

Truest comment was the ladder doesn't lie. Fact is on the form we had post round 14 we would have been killed by Sydney in the first final. Is that better than not playing finals at all?  I suspect better not to limp in and get flogged. Think Richmond.

I look at it and think where is the improvement going to come next year. I can tell you one area that if we'd fixed this year would have had us finishing at the top of the ladder. 

It's winning games we are favourites to win. Think Freo, Hawks North twice & Pies last round. It's also dominating in these games when we win eg almost losing to Lions when up by 35pts 5 minutes into the last qtr. Just falling in against Blues, Saints, Lions instead of building much needed percentage.  Goodie's got a challenge to fix the psychology that is causing these losses. Good luck with that one.

If we fix those performances our linear improvement will be signficant. 

Don't forget the poor performance in rd 15 against Swans was our 3rd 6 day break in a row. We had a string of injuries up to then with young players having to play much more game time than they are ready for. Think Petracca and Hunt. Plus we got injuries out of this period.  Not surprising there was  big fall off after that round. 

Come on AFL stop screwing us over. Don't give the 3rd youngest list the most 6 day breaks in the comp. "9". Schedule the AFL promoting Darwin game the week before the bye. Give us some blockbuster games. 

Keep doing incremental improvements to the list. Melksham, Hibberd, next Lever & Gaff.