I also think another issue to the impatience and anxiety of supporters league wide is the success of the Western Bulldogs and Richmond out of nowhere, the "why not us" attitude is very prevalent. But even still, this list should be playing finals. But the above just fuels it to astronomical levels.

5 minutes ago, MSFebey said:

 

If we don't make finals this year it's a massive failure as we would not have taken a scalp, not even a half decent scalp let alone a big scalp. No finals and there is massive pressure on Goodwin entering his last year, which is a problem we don't want or need. Win next 2 and confidence will be up, then sky is the limit.

 

Its the truth. Probably an uncomfortable one but imo  its accurate. Yes, we've improved and yes, we could/ should  also have had about 4 more wins this year and be comfortably in the top 4 and eyeing off a flag. But.... we're not. if it happens, missing the finals WILL add enormous pressure to the group and onto Goodwin...and it should. Near enough, almost, unlucky, young or "still developing" have no currency from here on in. Its time our boys were men. 

18 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

Its the truth. Probably an uncomfortable one but imo  its accurate. Yes, we've improved and yes, we could/ should  also have had about 4 more wins this year and be comfortably in the top 4 and eyeing off a flag. But.... we're not. if it happens, missing the finals WILL add enormous pressure to the group and onto Goodwin...and it should. Near enough, almost, unlucky, young or "still developing" have no currency from here on in. Its time our boys were men. 

8 out of 18 make it every year. It's not that hard.

aside from Max  Clarrie an TMac we don't have anyone that has stood up and dragged this team over the line like Viney did last year over west coast.

a lot of players need to pull their fingers out and rip the game apart. It's where Goodwin needs better motivational skills.

11 hours ago, Earl Hood said:

To use a boxing analogy we are the classic slugger/brawler who lacks speed, balance and finesse, we just keep moving forward, hunting the opponent, throwing haymakers, hoping that if we throw enough punches we will overwhelm the opposition. It works against mugs but not against your classic boxers. 

We are predictable and slow but potentially dangerous. We are the Rocky Balboa of the AFL. 

Just as an aside question Earl, do you know anything about boxing and the time and planning it takes to get a boxer to the level ready enough to reach the pinnacle of their career?

Our entire season will be judged on these two games.

Win one ,and it’s a pass mark as we make finals 

Win both, and we arrive as a team to be feared.

Lose both , and we are flat track bullies, and a failure.

4 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Our entire season will be judged on these two games.

Win one ,and it’s a pass mark as we make finals 

Win both, and we arrive as a team to be feared.

Lose both , and we are flat track bullies, and a failure.

You say it much better haha

11 hours ago, TGR said:

 

For those clowns here that raise Rod Grinter, just shows you how empty and inept some 'contributors' are here.  The Fraser Annings of Demonland.

Thanks for the comparison TGR with Fraser Anning mate - as an practising member of the Jewish faith i really appreciate the analogy with a white supremacist. Why on earth was this insult deemed suitable by you ?

Moron!

 

1 hour ago, MSFebey said:

Interesting watching people's opinion change to now "I don't care if we dont make it." That's the soft underbelly attitude that has held this club back for decades. Show some ticker, be ruthless and don't accept mediocrity. 

I’ve long been intrigued by statements if this ilk on demonland and other supporter forums.

Do you think that Goodwin and the rest of the team are thinking ‘Dave from Perth is cool with it’ so we just won’t try this week?

is there some form of after training event where we all get together and give the players hugs and hand out flowers?

if not for the fact that they get paid bloody well to play footy, they’ve all grown up being the ‘alpha dog’ in their footy clubs growing up and being used to winning, and the fact that as humans the player don’t want to see themselves on the back page of the paper being the recipient of cheap shots from the media, surely that’s motivation enough.

 

i call BS that the willingness of any football punter to accept mediocrity / demand greatness has anything at all to do with an individual football teams levels of motivation, desire, and general attitude around wanting to win on a weekly basis.

For the record, I reckon we’ll beat the Eagles this week. Go dees 

12 hours ago, 3Dee said:

Derm just said on 360 that sometimes Goody gets a bit funky in the coaches box when he should roll 6 - 6 - 6.

Goodwin tries to get too cute at times.

2 minutes ago, davejemmolly said:

I’ve long been intrigued by statements if this ilk on demonland and other supporter forums.

Do you think that Goodwin and the rest of the team are thinking ‘Dave from Perth is cool with it’ so we just won’t try this week?

is there some form of after training event where we all get together and give the players hugs and hand out flowers?

if not for the fact that they get paid bloody well to play footy, they’ve all grown up being the ‘alpha dog’ in their footy clubs growing up and being used to winning, and the fact that as humans the player don’t want to see themselves on the back page of the paper being the recipient of cheap shots from the media, surely that’s motivation enough.

 

i call BS that the willingness of any football punter to accept mediocrity / demand greatness has anything at all to do with an individual football teams levels of motivation, desire, and general attitude around wanting to win on a weekly basis.

For the record, I reckon we’ll beat the Eagles this week. Go dees 

I think you may have misread my post Dave, I did not say the team is concerned with what supporters demand, they're your words not mine, I was just making the point that our side is just happy to coast along. We have a soft underbelly as a football team and club and have for many decades and many supporters are just happy to accept honourable losses and mediocrity, just as the players have over many years. I want our club to be absolutely ruthless, we are nowhere near it. Look at the Fritsch incident last week, weak as [censored]. Time to be feared, not laughed at and beaten easily. I also think we'll beat WCE and I also think we can go all the way, but Goodwin needs some new tricks or should I say, common sense tactical changes.

3 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Goodwin tries to get too cute at times.

and yet often not acute enough

If we don't make the finals, I will be bloody disappointed, and I'm sure the club will be, too.  The failure will come because they haven't met 'expectation'.  I will also be disappointed if we make the finals without winning any more games by a quirk of statistics or whatever.  My expectation is that they should start to be a 'contender' and be able to beat all comers.  We are close, but we are not there yet.  

I think they have shown a vast improvement this year, and the outcomes that they have achieved are well above anything I have seen from the group for a number of years.  They are significantly better.  I am not an apologist, I demand a lot from the group by virtue of the expectations I place on them.  However, I can see the difference between failure to reach a nominal goal and the actual value of the outcomes achieved.  

The biggest failure will be our inability to finish off top ranked teams.  This is a mixture of composure, skill and class.  These three elements have not been hallmarks of Melbourne sides for a dozen years, so our essentially young group have to experience it, and learn it.  If we don't find an opportunity to experience it in the last 2 games then how are we really going to learn it?  This is where we will have failed - putting ourselves in situations where we could gain valuable (winning) experiences, and failing to capitalise.  Once it is experienced, then it has to become a practiced habit.  This is what every team on the rise has done - crack a big win, learn how to do it, and believe that they can.  We have cracked an occasional win (Richmond and Hawks last year) but we have really learned nothing from it in terms of composure or skill.

3 hours ago, chookrat said:

Fugazi

and here we are in the Waiting Room

Edited August 17, 20186 yr by 3Dee
they had two drummers

2 hours ago, MSFebey said:

I also think another issue to the impatience and anxiety of supporters league wide is the success of the Western Bulldogs and Richmond out of nowhere, the "why not us" attitude is very prevalent. But even still, this list should be playing finals. But the above just fuels it to astronomical levels.

Yeah absolutely. You see so many perennial loser teams over the years finally break through that it just feels like we are the one that everyone has forgotten about and continues. Everyone gets their Cinderella story except us. 

 

 

3 hours ago, drysdale demon said:

Just as an aside question Earl, do you know anything about boxing and the time and planning it takes to get a boxer to the level ready enough to reach the pinnacle of their career?

Short answer is no  but not sure of your point. My analogy refers to our game plan, it’s aggressive, simple but predictable and the better teams and coaching panels have been able to counter it so far. Also our game style works well on narrower grounds it seems, our record at the MCG is ordinary this season.

An interesting observation at training this season is that when we do the full length ground ball movement drill at Gosches Paddock we practice moving the ball by foot, switching play, looking for the loose man but we do this drill on only 2/3rds of the ground width! So we practice moving the ball in a limited corridor, much narrower than the Gee. The Swans used the full width of the ground to up holes in our defensive zone and in the last quarter to retain possession and use up time. 

I want to see our Senior Coach show some fire ? in the belly these last 2 games. If he wants a long career as a senior coach, the time has come to stop just saying that “the footy club is tracking nicely”

i want to see him EXTRACT the best out of this team, not for 20 minutes, but for 2 hours each game. 

What do WE stand for Simon Goodwin...?

6 hours ago, jnrmac said:

8 out of 18 make it every year. It's not that hard.

aside from Max  Clarrie an TMac we don't have anyone that has stood up and dragged this team over the line like Viney did last year over west coast.

a lot of players need to pull their fingers out and rip the game apart. It's where Goodwin needs better motivational skills.

Love a good armchair expert comment like this. Get your hand off it mate - playing top level sport is never easy for anyone. 

18 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

Thank you Terry Wallace.

He was a Melbourne supporter and still may be.

6 hours ago, jnrmac said:

8 out of 18 make it every year. It's not that hard.

aside from Max  Clarrie an TMac we don't have anyone that has stood up and dragged this team over the line like Viney did last year over west coast.

a lot of players need to pull their fingers out and rip the game apart. It's where Goodwin needs better motivational skills.

If players need Goodwin to motivate them to win a game to make finals, we really are mentally weak.

6 hours ago, jnrmac said:

8 out of 18 make it every year. It's not that hard.

aside from Max  Clarrie an TMac we don't have anyone that has stood up and dragged this team over the line like Viney did last year over west coast.

a lot of players need to pull their fingers out and rip the game apart. It's where Goodwin needs better motivational skills.

do you really think they're not motivated? really?

coaches and athletes can still care, still be determined, stlll be 'hungry', still want to win, and actually not win. 

38 minutes ago, Danelska said:

do you really think they're not motivated? really?

coaches and athletes can still care, still be determined, stlll be 'hungry', still want to win, and actually not win. 

We lose too many crucial games that can then derail any good work. 

It is above the shoulders

Edited August 17, 20186 yr by Sir Why You Little

Ironic the Clarko has Hawthorn playing finals in 2018.  What a genius showing MItchell, Lewis and Hodge the exit door.  He made them quicker and younger before their time.

 

On the flip side, we went the other way.

 

 

7 minutes ago, TGR said:

Ironic the Clarko has Hawthorn playing finals in 2018.  What a genius showing MItchell, Lewis and Hodge the exit door.  He made them quicker and younger before their time.

 

On the flip side, we went the other way.

 

 

Not really 'TGR'...

Succesful club, probably the greatest coach in modern times. Nothing ironic.

As for moving players on and us taking Lewis. He didn't empty them all out, they still have plenty of experience to draw on.

We had no Premiership experience on our list, adding one was a good move I would have thought.

How long he holds his spot and the length of his contract is another matter but I don't think you could argue the merits of bringing him into the club.

 

22 minutes ago, TGR said:

He made them quicker and younger before their time.

On the flip side, we went the other way.

Actually, the team we're putting on the park is quite a bit younger than Hawthorn's.

But heh, facts.

Edited August 17, 20186 yr by bing181

50 minutes ago, Danelska said:

do you really think they're not motivated? really?

coaches and athletes can still care, still be determined, stlll be 'hungry', still want to win, and actually not win. 

 

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

If players need Goodwin to motivate them to win a game to make finals, we really are mentally weak.

 

1 hour ago, Smokey said:

Love a good armchair expert comment like this. Get your hand off it mate - playing top level sport is never easy for anyone. 

We have failed every test against the top 8. We are mentally weak. Goodwin doesn't appear to have the skills to fix it.

And how was that motivation in rd 23 last year? No tackles in the first 15mins. No probs. Leave it to the players, They'll be fired up.