18 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Not likely if we have OMac on Buddy Franklin.

JKH a liability also.

Hogan still hasn't found any consistency as a key forward either which is hurting us on the conversion vs number of inside 50s.   Just isn't playing at a high enough level often enough at the moment.  This BS of having him play a high game for so much of the match also.  Rubbish.  If Hulk kicks 2 or 3 tonight we win that match.  Needs to become an impact power forward and a regular 2 to 4 goal player.  Goes missing on the scoreboard in far too many matches.  He was recruited as a key forward not a mid fielder from what i remember and while i appreciate the work he does up the field we are robbing Peter to pay Paul playing him so much up the field IMO.  And i don't put this so much on Hogan as Goody.  Poor judge of what is needed IMO.  We had Tyson in tonight to replace Hannan.  That's your extra mid.  No need for Hogan to play through there also.  Goody tried this one before as well against Port.  Another fail.

Edited July 21, 20186 yr by Rusty Nails

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

I think what those losses (Saints, Cats x2, Port etc.) shows me is that we're not a serious premiership contender yet.  I think we can make finals, but going by tonight you would expect us to go out in straight sets.  

I think making the finals would be a big hurdle for this club to jump, but as you say, right now they give us no reason to trust them or have faith in them.  Even I'm finding it difficult.

But I'll cling to the fact that we're still in the 8 and still in a position to decide our own destiny.  I just hope we can do it.

I like your optimism on finals, but I think you mean “straight set” ?

Shattered, but we blew a 5 goal lead. No finals this year either I'm afraid.

4 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I think the better way to say this is that our best football is in the top 3-4 clubs' best.

But if we keep losing these games, I don't think we can say we are one of the best three or four teams. The best teams don't continually lose these games.

I've been watching over and over again.

I didn't mind Petracca's barrel. It wasn't clear that he had any easy sideways/backwards kicks to eat up time, plus there was still 1.40 left. It was to the boundary so it was the right option if he didn't have a short easy kick.

Frost's mark was great but the kick appalling. JKH's miss was just terrible and reeked to me of panic (a better player would have been a lot calmer with that shot).

Then Frost isn't just ball-watching, he runs to chase after the wrong player. The kick comes out and he leaves Hawkins to run to the wing where Jones was already running, leaving Hawkins to make space through the middle.

Our high forward press isn't conducive to protecting small leads, though. Only takes one mistake from us and we gift our opponent a score. We should instead have had the press dropped further back - concede the space across our HF line to clog it up closer to Geelong's goal.

Edit: Brayshaw also mis-kicks it to JKH when he had Melksham on. JKH should have kicked it, though.

JKH could have even passed it to Milkshake who was on his own & would have probably kicked truly. 

1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

 

Just gutted like all of you. 

I have one wish to make me feel a little better. 

Making the finals and then knocking the Cats out of them.

2 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Too gutted to watch the press conference. Did anyone ask him why he didn’t make a move on Hawkins earlier?

Just once I want him to take some accountability. I’m sick of him never admitting that he’s [censored] up. It’s either blind stupidity or arrogance. 

It’s always deeply concerned me that we handed the reigns to a person with a documented gambling problem. Match committee selections and game day tactics have done nothing to allay those fears.

2 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

Chin up mate, trust me things can always be worse.

Also there is always next week and we are still alive for 2018 at the moment. 

Trust me, the only thing keeping me and some others going. To the very end Dees.

3 minutes ago, Roost It said:

Odds?

Down the line

You say we win 4/5 I say we win less

1 minute ago, Rusty Nails said:

JKH a liability also.

Was interesting to see the runner go out and pull him off in the last couple of minutes. They clearly wanted calmer heads out there.

29 minutes ago, Win4theAges said:

How could sex even be running through your mind after that?

The missus is constantly nagging me.

1 minute ago, TRIGON said:

It’s always deeply concerned me that we handed the reigns to a person with a documented gambling problem. Match committee selections and game day tactics have done nothing to allay those fears.

Jesus !!!! What a call!

Just now, bing181 said:

Was interesting to see the runner go out and pull him off in the last couple of minutes. They clearly wanted calmer heads out there.

I think we've seen all we need to of JKH.  I don't really like saying that, but I don't really know what it is he brings to the side.  

Not sure who we replace him with though.

I am still waiting for Hogan to stand up in a big pressure game. I like what I saw from Trac today, but Hogan goes to water when the heat really turns on, which is a massive worry. 

The script continues for the MFC & us suffering supporters...

Create a false dawn then start losing your good players give up a decent lead in the last qtr to be pipped after the siren!

Club continues to kick us in the guts & actually don't deserve to play finals as they haven't beaten anyone in the top 8

Continue to get scored against too easily & lack leadership in tight games

Edited July 21, 20186 yr by Hogan2014

3 minutes ago, bing181 said:

We lost clearances 44 35, and stoppages 31 20. Hard to win when that's going on.

I accept that Lever and Hibberd are big omissions, but Viney out is really hurting us.

We'd obviously be better off with him in the side, but I feel like we were dominating in CPs and clearances in those first 7 games before Viney came back at the start of the year, too (though i might be wrong).

Gawn got beaten today, which shouldn't have happened. I'm sure that's also part of it.

3 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I think what those losses (Saints, Cats x2, Port etc.) shows me is that we're not a serious premiership contender yet.  I think we can make finals, but going by tonight you would expect us to go out in straight sets.  

I think making the finals would be a big hurdle for this club to jump, but as you say, right now they give us no reason to trust them or have faith in them.  Even I'm finding it difficult.

But I'll cling to the fact that we're still in the 8 and still in a position to decide our own destiny.  I just hope we can do it.

You may well be right about being a premiership contender, but for so many reasons we need to make the finals and we have had every opportunity to do that this year.

We can't let 2018 just become another 2017.

1 minute ago, McQueen said:

The missus is constantly nagging me.

....to go Away 

 

hey! Badoom-tish

 

5 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

JKH a liability also.

Hogan still hasn't found any consistency as a key forward either which is hurting us on the conversion vs number of inside 50s.   Just isn't playing at a high enough level often enough at the moment.  This BS of having him play a high game for so much of the match also.  Rubbish.  If Hulk kicks 2 or 3 tonight we win that match.  Needs to become an impact power forward and a regular 2 to 4 goal player.  Goes missing on the scoreboard in far too many matches.  He was recruited as a key forward not a mid fielder from what i remember and while i appreciate the work he does up the field we are robbing Peter to pay Paul playing him so much up the field IMO.  And i don't put this so much on Hogan as Goody.  Poor judge of what is needed IMO.  We had Tyson in tonight to replace Hannan.  That's your extra mid.  No need for Hogan to play through there also.  Goody tried this one before as well against Port.  Another fail.

VERY correct!

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

Not sure who we replace him with though.

Therein lies the rub, especially with Viney and Stretch out.

1 minute ago, Jaded said:

I am still waiting for Hogan to stand up in a big pressure game. I like what I saw from Trac today, but Hogan goes to water when the heat really turns on, which is a massive worry. 

Trade hogan

trac revelatory lift

Just now, Jaded said:

I am still waiting for Hogan to stand up in a big pressure game. I like what I saw from Trac today, but Hogan goes to water when the heat really turns on, which is a massive worry. 

I know this will make me sound like an apologist, but it was reported that Hogan copped a knock to his hip in a contest towards the end of the first term and spent some time on the bench with it.  I don't think he was 100%, or at least looked like it, for the rest of the game.

You're not really wrong though in that he needs to stand up a bit more in big games.

Just now, Wiseblood said:

I think we've seen all we need to of JKH.  I don't really like saying that, but I don't really know what it is he brings to the side.  

Not sure who we replace him with though.

We are also deeply unlucky (what’s new), that we need losing players that we desperately can’t replace. 

If Hunt was fit and playing, if Hibbo and Lever didn’t go down. If Viney could cut that [censored] toe off. 

This club has walked under a lot of ladders and killed a broken a lot of mirrors I think. 

3 minutes ago, timbo said:

Down the line

You say we win 4/5 I say we win less

Done $10

then we’ll roll the cats out of the finals 

So I type this as I make my way up the highway back to Melbourne.

Yet another game where our efficiency going inside 50 and inside in general was insipid. Bottom 4 worthy.

The game style does not hold up defensively. We have not fixed basic structural fundamentals in our game. Every time the ball went inside 50, we conceded against these [censored]. Is it a lack of two way running from our mids, or is it poor coaching that encourages and cajoles our players into high offensive positions, leaving us completely vulnerable on the rebound?

It was so very Melbourne that an absolute gronk like Hawkins (who usually can't hit the side of a barn), was made to look like a superstar. For mine, it's the game style that's at fault.

I'm not saying Goodwin is under pressure, but his stubbornness to change his defensive system is costing us games and will now see us miss finals for the same reason two years in a row. We certainly don't deserve to play finals on the back of the first 18 rounds of 2018 anyway. We haven't beaten a top 8 side and have lost to a bottom 2 side too.

I don't want to talk about leadership tonight. I don't think that's necessarily why we lost this game. There are two major reasons why we lost. 1) our inefficinecy inside 50 and poor kicking at goal. 2) our game style that leads to us leaking goals.

I'd love to know what Geelong's conversion per inside 50 was. It felt like (with the exception of a small period in the third quarter), every time they went inside, they scored. Their straight kicking invariably meant it was a goal against.

I said last week that we'd miss finals if we lost tonight and what a gut wrenching way of meaning we'll miss.

We lack such quality and consistency across half forward too. With the exception of Melksham, who IMO is arguably our most important player for the way he connects the midfield with the forwardline, we also lack speed and polish. JKH and ANB (the latter was pretty good tonight) just don't have the speed or polish for a top 8 team.

And despite winning some crucial one v ones, I'm still waiting for Petracca to impact a game like Brayshaw or Degoey have. He just doesn't exhibit that matchbreaker quality that I hoped. He still has time, but it's frustrating that he is still yet to impact a game in the way those two aforementioned players have.

Another thing, why was Gawn off the ground for such a crucial period in the last quarter? It beggars belief. How many goals did they kick when he was off? A rest is fine but he seemed to be off more than he was on in the last.

I'll have to watch the replay if I can bare it, but despite getting a PB, I felt Clarry played a bit of a Tom Mitchell game. Lots of contested footy and touches, but didn't get it on the outside enough to use his kicking to set up play more. His first quarter was sublime though. Maybe I need to watch it again?

Anyway, does anyone else feel they've seen enough of the game style now and feel it ultimately doesn't work? Or do people think it's merely a matter of tidying up the way we enter forward 50? Surely, we would have done this now if it were that simple...

 

1 minute ago, Jaded said:

I am still waiting for Hogan to stand up in a big pressure game. I like what I saw from Trac today, but Hogan goes to water when the heat really turns on, which is a massive worry. 

Hogan robbed of a certain goal for that disallowed mark in the 3rd. Should have been chopping the arms free even. Bloody maggots.

1 hour ago, DSP said:

As promised in the game day thread, I said if we lose and Hawkins is the reason - then im out for 2018.

So this is me signing off for 2018. Membership is in the drawer and im not wasting another second of the year on this club anymore.

Sad thing is we dont even have the draft to look forward too - we [censored] that away as well.

See you in 2019. Maybe.
 

Well good, the players have heart maybe we don't need weak plicks like u