I wish Salem or Lewis had that last shot at goal.

Salem's a very ordinary player I'm afraid, but is highly skilled and has already kicked a match sealer (Ess in 2014)

Lewis is a brilliant set shot and the nerves wouldn't have gotten to him.

Who else would've you liked the ball in hand?

3 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I wish Salem or Lewis had that last shot at goal.

Salem's a very ordinary player I'm afraid

He's not.

1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

I thought he was down for a bit and he had a few trainers around him before he got up... ?  I was watching from the opposite part of the ground so my memory may be a little fuzzy, but I recall trainers going to him when he hit the deck.

This happened in front of us . He was winded , got up after catching his breath . Just landed on his back ! 

It’s hard to fathom how our forward pressure was so poor for a Round 1 game. That tackle count from our forwards as a collective is inexcusable. I’d watch the game again to try and wrap my head around it but I’d rather stick hot pokers in my eyeballs.

. 

Just worked out why Lewie was so upset with the umpire on that free kick to Parfitt... Parfitt tripped himself, right foot behind left calf, at the precise moment that Lewis laid a hand on his hip.

We move heaven and earth and pay top dollar to get lever. And rightfully so.

We get him in to play a specific role. The rance like interceptor. His weakness is evident - he is not great one on one, not that surprising given he is so young and will get much stronger (though not a great look being out muscled and out read by menzel, who i guess is pretty strong but is also shorter). 

How is it then that in his very first game our coach allows the opposition to isolate him one on one and force him away from his intercept role? He was a liability in that first half. And i blame goodwin. Out coached.

And the error wasn't not selecting frost (though that may have been an error i guess). It was not doing what he eventually did in the second half of having a spare back or trying something else to free lever up, like swinging him up forward or to the wing. 

By the by did i detect an ever so quiet mcc bronx cheer when lever finally made a big spoil in the 3rd q?

8 minutes ago, binman said:

We move heaven and earth and pay top dollar to get lever. And rightfully so.

We get him in to play a specific role. The rance like interceptor. His weakness is evident - he is not great one on one, not that surprising given he is so young and will get much stronger (though not a great look being out muscled and out read by menzel, who i guess is pretty strong but is also shorter). 

How is it then that in his very first game our coach allows the opposition to isolate him one on one and force him away from his intercept role? He was a liability in that first half. And i blame goodwin. Out coached.

And the error wasn't not selecting frost (though that may have been an error i guess). It was not doing what he eventually did in the second half of having a spare back or trying something else to free lever up, like swinging him up forward or to the wing. 

By the by did i detect an ever so quiet mcc bronx cheer when lever finally made a big spoil in the 3rd q?

We were too short in the backline and constantly out marked can we afford Lewis Vince Jetta and Hunt together down back I walked past Frost on my way into the game he is huge and must be played at sometime. Especially with TMac out so Pedo is not as available down back

Coaches votes

MELBOURNE v GEELONG
9 Max Gawn (Melb)
6 Gary Ablett (Geel)
5 Daniel Menzel (Geel)
5 Joel Selwood (Geel)
4 Christian Petracca (Melb)
1 Clayton Oliver (Melb)

 

 

Gawn may have been one kick away from a perfect 10.

2 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

He's not.

Salem’s played more ordinary games than good ones over his career and literally does not have a defensive bone in his body.

Some of his tackle attempts yesterday were under 12’s stuff.

Salem might become a good player, but at the moment he’s an ordinary AFL player with nice skills.

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

Rawlings is no longer our backline coach and our backline absolutely stunk it up yesterday. Coincidence? 

According to Goodwin, it was more of our forwards that caused the defensive issue as they failed at locking it in so we got caught up too much on the rebound. Hence, blame Garlett, Hannan Fritsch, etc for the poor defence. 

On 25/03/2018 at 5:40 PM, Forest Demon said:

Better team for 3 quarters, 1 pathetic quarter, and there goes 4 points down the drain. Unbelievable.

One of the umpires did everything he could to keep Geelong in the game after quarter time and it was this attention for scoreboard assistance that lost the Demons momentum.

Petracca, Gawn and Oliver were great, Pedo was very useful and competitive, Hibberd and Lever seemed flat across the game. For me, it was Wagner who performed very capably once on the ground. Our Full back line was crumbly, loose, loose, and loose, never on their man and unable to punch the ball clear because often it was marked while our backs were still getting to the contest. Melksham had a quiet one and Chunk worked hard all day. Work to do and improved selections for next week. Maynard might be rested to find some form and pace. We need the vigour of Kent. Hunt and Harmes need to be let off the leash that is imposed on them - both are runners, tacklers, body-men screeners, pacy and very capable of running into the 50 arc for a decent shot. 

Yet, it was a ripper game despite the outcome. Half of our players were not ready kill Geelong. Those who battled were great. We actually had Geelong beaten for 3 quarters and very successfully made up the score gap across the 2nd qtr. 

OMac did two nice, clearing punches and one  good pass to a teammate. What he was doing for the remainder of the  of the game is anyone's guess. Less than 10 seconds effectiveness and each effort was quickly rebounded.

1 hour ago, waynewussell said:

Just worked out why Lewie was so upset with the umpire on that free kick to Parfitt... Parfitt tripped himself, right foot behind left calf, at the precise moment that Lewis laid a hand on his hip.

yeah. I rewound it twice and all Lewis said to the ump clearly was "he tripped over his own feet" no profanity or abuse.

No idea what he may have said before that but the 50 was given after Lewis said those exact words to the ump.

 

9 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

According to Goodwin, it was more of our forwards that caused the defensive issue as they failed at locking it in so we got caught up too much on the rebound. Hence, blame Garlett, Hannan Fritsch, etc for the poor defence. 

I'd agree with that, too.  Our smaller and medium sized forwards allowed the ball to be rebounded out of our own forward 50 with too much ease yesterday.  A portion of our game plan is on getting it forward and keeping it there.  If we allow teams to get it out too easily then our defensive structures fall down.

3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I wish Salem or Lewis had that last shot at goal.

Salem's a very ordinary player I'm afraid, but is highly skilled and has already kicked a match sealer (Ess in 2014)

Lewis is a brilliant set shot and the nerves wouldn't have gotten to him.

Who else would've you liked the ball in hand?

Jack Watts.

40 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

According to Goodwin, it was more of our forwards that caused the defensive issue as they failed at locking it in so we got caught up too much on the rebound. Hence, blame Garlett, Hannan Fritsch, etc for the poor defence. 

 

29 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I'd agree with that, too.  Our smaller and medium sized forwards allowed the ball to be rebounded out of our own forward 50 with too much ease yesterday.  A portion of our game plan is on getting it forward and keeping it there.  If we allow teams to get it out too easily then our defensive structures fall down.

Fritsch had 5 tackles...ANB, Melk & Hannan and Garlett had 5 between them.

I think that tells a story.

The new kid showed them up unfortunately.

2 minutes ago, old dee said:

Jack Watts.

I would have preferred Sam Weideman to be honest, OD.

Just now, Wiseblood said:

I would have preferred Sam Weideman to be honest, OD.

The big difference is Wiseblood that Jack is goood enough to play at AFL and has proved it. Weideman is yet to prove he can play well at VFL level. 

2 minutes ago, old dee said:

The big difference is Wiseblood that Jack is goood enough to play at AFL and has proved it. Weideman is yet to prove he can play well at VFL level. 

I was clearly just joking with you, mate.  We all know where your feelings are at re: Weideman.  It was just a fun little dig, nothing more.

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

I was clearly just joking with you, mate.  We all know where your feelings are at re: Weideman.  It was just a fun little dig, nothing more.

I realise that but I could not resist taking the bait. 

I was there. Although it was windy when Gawn shot, it was no excuse. To be fair we were even lucky to get that close. We did mainly because Geelong missed an absolute sitter. Poor umpiring decisions on both sides ruined and otherwise entertaining game.

8 minutes ago, old dee said:

I realise that but I could not resist taking the bait. 

Imagine the selection questions that would’ve been raised itchy Weideman was chosen. Would have gotten as much media as the camp being cancelled did.

13 hours ago, rjay said:

o expand.

Our game plan is to move the ball quickly into the forward line and often it seems we do this at all cost hence bombing the ball.

Toohey said in a post match interview that they know we try to move the ball quickly into the forward  and they set up for it.

Our game plan seems to be limited and doesn't cope well against a team that sets up as Geelong did yesterday.

I'm not big in the "we don't have plan B" line of thinking but I do believe we need contingencies. We're a bit too one dimensional.

3

While execution could be improved, the problem is not that the game plan is flawed -  or at least this part of it. We had 29 shots on goal, and kicked what should be a winnable score (or close to).

The problem is down the other end, where we let them kick an even more winnable score. You cannot have the opposition manage 12.8 in a half of footy and expect to win.

Wagner critics should do themselves a favour and take another look at the 3rd quarter... one word, "inspirational".

2 hours ago, binman said:

How is it then that in his very first game our coach allows the opposition to isolate him one on one and force him away from his intercept role? He was a liability in that first half. And i blame goodwin. Out coached.

1

You can coach all you want, but if for one reason or another the players don't execute.

Someone (Goodwin or Nate Jones post-match) commented that this was the first match that the backline had played together with Lever there. I thought that even Hibberd didn't look his usual AA-self. There was (some) uncertainty as to who was doing what and the finer points of who was playing what role, especially in the first half, which Geelong were able to exploit.

Yes, there were moves made which switched things around, but it's no accident that they improved as the match went on. Keeping a top-4 side to 2 goals for a half of footy isn't to be sneezed at.

 

Well they just showed Max’s miss again. I didn’t realise at the ground how close to goal it was. Agonising, but I really hope it builds character and he doesn’t stay down too long