Interesting that Goodwin has always said something like:  “the past isn’t relevant to us, this team will make its own history” when asked about other hoodoos eg Etihad.  And he is right about that.

Some player quotes from yesterday’s SEN interviews:

Salem:  “To be honest we haven’t really spoken about it at all”.

Melksham:  “The North Melbourne boys were giving us a fair bit of stick about it…I certainly know about it now. I think there is a fair bit of bitterness towards North in that sense that they have got the wood over the boys for most of their career…It’s a pretty big stat and we’re pretty keen to get rid of it.”

Lewis: “We’re planning on it not being 18 in a row.”

While Goodwin doesn't talk about hoodoos it seems some players have and breaking this hoodoo means a lot to the them!  Hope the ‘bitterness’ Melksham talks about spurs then to go the extra mile and make sure it is not 18 in a row. 

Maybe this is one of those times Goodwin can drop the talk of 'humble' players and harness that 'bitterness' to get that elusive win. 

North,  north  norf  norfff

Oh we must win I can't take it any more.

At Etihad a few years ago we were losing again to North and one of the North supporters expressed his dislike of my berating of the umpires with a comment along the lines of  "don't worry mate your not losing because of the umps, your team is just [censored] "

Well I couldn't hold back and came out with " gee mate at least at Melbourne we know we are [censored], you North supporters have such a over inflated opinion of your team its a sad sad joke"

He didn't have anything to come back with.

We will break it.   If we play our game for 3 1/2 quarters I cannot see them winning.  If we win or halve most of the centre contests, we should be OK.  Max will have a challenge, but can hold his own both in the ruck and around the ground.  My biggest issue is how easily they always seem to out-mark us, both from a defensive chop out and moving to half forward to give them an entry.  If we can put real pressure on their marking, their disposal is pretty rubbish. 

We have a better midfield (expect them to heavily man Oliver) and our forwards should overcome what has worked best for them so far - their defense.  2.10 by St Kilda in the first half is still 12 shots on goal, so their defense is not a fortress.  Hogan, Garlett and the half forwards should all be cutting through this.  Down back they have sideshow bob.  We have young Oscar, who looks a lot like Sideshow's nemesis, Bart Simpson.  Jetta to get back into his groove, and Jake to prove his value.  At 5:45, we should have started a new Hoodoo - Demons first of 17 wins over these fnuckles.

I somehow don't think Johnny come lately's like Melksham really appreciate the pain and suffering that Melbourne and their supporters have gone through during this streak.

On the other hand, veterans like Jones (16 losses), Jetta (10), Tyson (6), Vince (5) and Gawn (5) would be desperate to get the monkey off the bank.

2 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

We have a better midfield (expect them to heavily man Oliver) 

This is my concern.

Jacobs is the best tagger in the business, so what happens if he restricts Oliver to 15-20 touches?

Do we have enough midfield options to offset the possible loss of Oliver's influence?

14 hours ago, Goffer said:

Probably not now Melksham has opened his mouth. There seems to be a correlation between an MFC player opening their mouth about the importance of the next game, etc and the team turning in an insipid performance in said game. 

I'd reckon that after 2 matches of real practice and whole team training matched against an array of opponents, Melksham may well be one of several players who absolutely 'fire' this week against North. There will be blood on the table and broken Kanga hearts. It is time we turned the nasty corner, given that the umpires will also be against us. Let's stuff 'em up for 2018. Seeya at the game, folks.

10 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

This is my concern.

Jacobs is the best tagger in the business, so what happens if he restricts Oliver to 15-20 touches?

Do we have enough midfield options to offset the possible loss of Oliver's influence?

You ask the question and here's the answer: Jacobs runs into Tracca and gets hurt.

Hoodoos always end.  Now seems about right.

Btw, the SEN article is factually incorrect.  North's current winning streak against Melbourne is not in the 8th greatest winning streaks in VFL/AFL history, although it is the current longest. The next current longest is Geelong over the Dogs and Richmond over Brisbane, which are both 11.

Funnily enough, it's not even the greatest winning streak between these two teams. Melbourne had a winning streak of 20 against the Roos between round 14, 1953 and concluding round 2, 1965. That streak is the equal 8th best of all time.

The greatest winning streak of all time is Collingwood's 29 straight against the lowly Hawks from 1925 to 1941.

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

if we had beaten North twice last year we finish on 14 wins and 6th place and North finish on 4 wins in last place

T Mac and Viney out is a big hit to our on field leadership. importantly our younger leadership that the other young guys follow.  it will be  a close game but I hope and pray we can win

True but !!!

This could be the making of our young side.  Their time out injured is a great opportunity for our young players to fill the breach & go in firing.

Take the lead. young guns.

3 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

You ask the question and here's the answer: Jacobs runs into Tracca and gets hurt.

there's every chance jacobs may not go to oliver, and they just let cunnington and oliver go head to head - he might go to trac

vince will presumably run with higgins at some point

gawn v goldstein is gonna be huge

Relax...we got this 

Dees by 37

All good

Have some faith, WITHOUT A DOUBT!  

North beat St Kilda  last game and l feel as if the curse is firmly entrenched on the poor Saints. 

They have won there game for the month.

 

4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

This is my concern.

Jacobs is the best tagger in the business, so what happens if he restricts Oliver to 15-20 touches?

Do we have enough midfield options to offset the possible loss of Oliver's influence?

I heard a footy expert (Leigh Matthews I think) say it's hard to tag someone like a Tom Mitchell because he does all his damage in tight. Ie winning inside ball and distributing. I think you could make a similar case for Oliver. He's not really bursting away from many packs. He's a contested possession beast and uses his fast hands to find a teammate.

I thought we were certainties the last 2 times and we royally stuffed it up.

This time I'm not so sure, maybe that's a good sign!

I hate the players talking about it. It builds it up into an event beyond its worth. Play them on their merits and we win the game. Simple.

I've moved beyond caring about the streak being over. I care much more about the four points than ending the streak.

47 point win. Nothing surer

We will give them a horrible hiding.

On form, I think that we should win by 12 points. The Roos are an incredibly proud club and will go down swinging 

However, and this sounds strange, I think that when the dam finally does break, we might win by more than we expect. Clearly part of North's dominance over us has had a lot to do with the prime piece of real estate they own in our collective psyche. 

We start playing with confidence and show them we aren't intimidated then we take a big weapon away from them.

I'm happy Melksham was honest about it all as blind Freddy knows this streak is a bugbear on the club. It's not arrogant or disrespectful to North to admit as much. 

 

Fair umpiring would help.

They've had an armchair ride in all their close victories against us.

Especially in Hobart 2016 , when Goldstein was given mysterious frees against Max, and ended with 4 undeserved goals.

26 minutes ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

Fair umpiring would help.

They've had an armchair ride in all their close victories against us.

Especially in Hobart 2016 , when Goldstein was given mysterious frees against Max, and ended with 4 undeserved goals.

I remember that.  Disgraceful.  At one stage when the whistle went everyone (even North players including Goldstein) were looking around wondering who's kick it was.

I can't describe how much I want us to win this game.

On ‎4‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 11:25 PM, praha said:

Last year we dismissed it and said the hoodoo was a non issue. Goodwin made an effort to say it was in the past and had no relevance.

If we can't win when we dismiss it, then saying the opposite must mean we win.

"If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right."

Is George Costanza now a consultant ?

7 hours ago, P-man said:

I hate the players talking about it. It builds it up into an event beyond its worth. Play them on their merits and we win the game. Simple.

I've moved beyond caring about the streak being over. I care much more about the four points than ending the streak.

And that's how it should be, Pm

Im going to go out on a limb here and call a big dee victory. 80 points plus. 

7 hours ago, Mike said:

I heard a footy expert (Leigh Matthews I think) say it's hard to tag someone like a Tom Mitchell because he does all his damage in tight. Ie winning inside ball and distributing. I think you could make a similar case for Oliver. He's not really bursting away from many packs. He's a contested possession beast and uses his fast hands to find a teammate.

Tagging players like Oliver or Mitchell is imo lazy coaching and lazy defensive tactics. The more effective way to stifle their influence is to zone in on stoppages and not allow an easy exit. Oliver has the best hands in close in the league imo, he always finds a target. Tagging him is pointless because the very trait of his game style is to win the hard ball.

It's why I think our matches against Sydney and Hawthorn will be the true test for this team. This game should be an afterthought and we should easily take care of them. Take care of business, build some confident, put an end to an embarrassing hoodoo, and get ready for the real challenge a week later.

We should destroy North by 10 goals.

Obviously i want us to win, but i couldnt give a [censored] that its north. I prefer them over the bigger clubs. If us, them, stk & the dogs are top 4. Then that is the best possible top 4 ever. Shame that 'smaller' clubs are so competitive / antagonistic towards each other. Fighting over the scraps syndrome?

We should form an IP sharing bloc over the bigger clubs, if anything.