PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Essendon

[old dee 23,872]

41 minutes ago, A F said:

Is that you OD? Have you taken over Ernest's account?

So you think things are Rosie AF? Have you noticed how easily we have been beaten in the last five games? 

[Adam The God 30,420]

32 minutes ago, old dee said:

So you think things are Rosie AF? Have you noticed how easily we have been beaten in the last five games? 

No, but I'd prefer to be constructive where possible and not be completely gloomy at every opportunity. The way my good friend Ernest put it, seemed a tad too defeatist to me.

[old dee 23,872]

10 minutes ago, A F said:

No, but I'd prefer to be constructive where possible and not be completely gloomy at every opportunity. The way my good friend Ernest put it, seemed a tad too defeatist to me.

When the results are on board ( 5 easy losses in a row ) you can see we are travelling poorly. Then  you look at the side and see the better players in poor form and add in too many players with vfl level ability in the side you know the result is going to be similar to  the last five games. If hoping things will change based on hoping only Is what keeps you happy then good. My experience of following the MFC over the last half century is that hoping seldom if ever works. I prefer to deal with reality as I see it. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by old dee

[nosoupforme 3,085]

2 hours ago, sisso said:

That is a weak looking side on paper I hope we play better than we look

We have 17 players who played finals recently in this side and made a Prelim. 

Out are lewis spargo Hannan JSmith and V berg.   .........in Hunt Kolo  lockhart    J and C Wagner.  

 

What constitutes a bad side?    Enough personnel to win the game. No excuses.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by nosoupforme
.

[samcantstandya 1,057]

4 hours ago, nosoupforme said:

We have 17 players who played finals recently in this side and made a Prelim. 

Out are lewis spargo Hannan JSmith and V berg.   .........in Hunt Kolo  lockhart    J and C Wagner.  

 

What constitutes a bad side?    Enough personnel to win the game. No excuses.

 

 

Not a fan of Wagner bros  2 vanilla.

[forever demons 2,232]

feeling very flat seeing the team for tonight,had high expectations for this season,but so many players out and many under performing

[JV7 2,354]

What is worse than 1 Wagner... 2 Wagners ? It is funny how we suddenly have no depth. Lewis, Hannan, VDB, Lever & May are all best 22 for mine. J.Smith not too far off it but we couple this with losing Tyson & Kent who were good depth. I’d much prefer Kent on HFF then Lockhart or C.Wagner & Tyson would almost certainly be going through the midfield atm.

It wasn’t until I saw the side on paper round 1 & thought “really ? Is that best we have at this stage” Honestly feels like 5 years ago where we shuffled deck chairs &  felt no matter who came in it wouldn’t make a difference

Edited April 4, 2019 by JV7

[Adam The God 30,420]

7 hours ago, old dee said:

When the results are on board ( 5 easy losses in a row ) you can see we are travelling poorly. Then  you look at the side and see the better players in poor form and add in too many players with vfl level ability in the side you know the result is going to be similar to  the last five games. If hoping things will change based on hoping only Is what keeps you happy then good. My experience of following the MFC over the last half century is that hoping seldom if ever works. I prefer to deal with reality as I see it. 

I'll tell you what I do? I notice patterns and I notice work rate and I see that there is a lack of work rate due most probably to fitness and an injury riddled pre season. Essentially the same team won two finals on the MCG 7 months ago. To compare this team to a Neeld team is either aggressively negative or completely lacking in any understanding of football. Did you actually watch Neeld teams or did you have your eyes closed for those years? This team is nothing like a Neeld team.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Essendon by 21 points.

Our depth is no good.

Come on optimists, sell me hope.

[beelzebub 23,383]

2 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Essendon by 21 points.

Our depth is no good.

Come on optimists, sell me hope.

I can't ...I agree pretty much , Ess by 2-3 goals. 

If we persist with this kind of footy we'll be out-run, out-scored and dared I say.... out-foxed !!

[buck_nekkid 6,046]

4 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Essendon by 21 points.

Our depth is no good.

Come on optimists, sell me hope.

Ok, Clint, here goes:

Max is getting back to form.  Midfield bulls getting their hands on it and should win more than their share against Essendon.

play Tom higher to give more marking options between the arcs.

Tag Saad off HB (Hunt or Lockhart) to stop their rope a dope.

look for better skills into half forward, after being embarrassed last week.  Better conditions for forwards.

i hear Trac has been offered a large Hawaiian and a garlic bread if we win.

Zac Dawson and bell-end should be covered easily by Max and Daisy the mascot.

i think If we play poorly, we lose by 5 pts.  If we are average we win by 12.  If we get back some spark I see us winning by 40+.

ready to buy what i’m Selling Clint?

[Bitter but optimistic 22,247]

11 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Essendon by 21 points.

Our depth is no good.

Come on optimists, sell me hope.

Well Clint, our form has been [censored] but so has Essendrugs.

My optimism lies in the fact that the players will realise that losing this game could mean an end to our finals aspirations and hopefully ….. lift!

[dazzledavey36 55,360]

Essendon by 13.

 

[beelzebub 23,383]

5 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Ok, Clint, here goes:

Max is getting back to form.  Midfield bulls getting their hands on it and should win more than their share against Essendon.

play Tom higher to give more marking options between the arcs.

Tag Saad off HB (Hunt or Lockhart) to stop their rope a dope.

look for better skills into half forward, after being embarrassed last week.  Better conditions for forwards.

i hear Trac has been offered a large Hawaiian and a garlic bread if we win.

Zac Dawson and bell-end should be covered easily by Max and Daisy the mascot.

i think If we play poorly, we lose by 5 pts.  If we are average we win by 12.  If we get back some spark I see us winning by 40+.

Ready to buy what I'm selling Clint ?

Do you even buy it ?? ?

[hemingway 7,631]

9 hours ago, doug williams said:

Jeez Louise Hema - depressed, faithless and hopeless from your last 2 comments.

Drop the negativity.

Get a grip, son.

I have faith Doug is that not enough!

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

14 hours ago, picket fence said:

FMD , I said FMD

how does ANB. PETRACCA, and to a lesser extent HUNT hold places??

Why Recruit Pruess if ya not gonna play him?

If Jeffy is fit sheeeeeit surely a 150 gamer is better than C Wagner???

Billy Stretch whilst not a great fan surely deserves a run at front runner ANBs expense??

Sheeeit Goody I hope ur faith pays of 

And if it doesn't !! 

We are Gone for 2019!!

Let me take a run at it:

Your question: "how does ANB. PETRACCA, and to a lesser extent HUNT hold places??" Possible answers: Because they are doing what the Match Committee asks of them, even if they don't do it often enough or because the coach wants them to stay in the side because he believes there best chance of improving is to stay in the seniors or because even when not playing well they're better than the alternatives.

Your question: "Why Recruit Pruess if ya not gonna play him?" Possible answers: Because he's not fit enough or because he wasn't recruited to play this year, except in an emergency (ie, Gawn injured) or because he was recruited to learn how to play the role to become Gawn's eventual replacement.

Your question: "If Jeffy is fit sheeeeeit surely a 150 gamer is better than C Wagner???" Possible answers: Because he's not fit enough or because he's not match fit or because the Match Committee want to be sure he's fully committed to doing all the hard work, such as pressuring and tackling, which he seemed not to be doing last season. 

Your question: "Billy Stretch whilst not a great fan surely deserves a run at front runner ANBs expense??" Possible answers: Because he's not doing what the coach asks him to do. I don't know what that is, but maybe he doesn't apply sufficient pressure.

[poita 3,902]

I thought our round 1 side was bad, this is probably worse. Corey Wagner is a goer, but little else. Josh Wagner doesn't even have that. We have half a dozen not at AFL standard, another six or so woefully out of form or unfit. I hope that the few guys carrying the team each week have broad shoulders.

I've suffered through enough dismal performances against Essendon over the past 30+ years to fear the worst tonight. 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,878]

15 hours ago, Drunkn167 said:

Bit disappointed Keilty wasn’t picked this week, thought he was a real chance for his debut

I would also like to see him get a game Drunkn, but for now I'd rather he kept developing his form and game at Casey and banning the door down for senior selection.

I fear that if he is bought into our current unsettled side, he could become a whipping boy and scapegoat for a possibly bad team performance.  Also a need to give Weid a good chance to establish himself within the side and I'd be confident given our present match committee's policy that Declan would be given similar opertunity when his time comes.

Liked what I saw of Declan during JLT and just love it when those from the less well trodden pathway into AFL, but full of desire and determination make it as players.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,878]

4 hours ago, samcantstandya said:

Not a fan of Wagner bros  2 vanilla.

Great sides are full of vanilla players that play the team game.

Besides, I don't think either of them are vanilla anyway.  Josh is hard and tough-as, which is exactly how we should be playing and I've been pretty impressed with Cory's skills.

Time will tell.

[binman 43,811]

4 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Great sides are full of vanilla players that play the team game.

Besides, I don't think either of them are vanilla anyway.  Josh is hard and tough-as, which is exactly how we should be playing and I've been pretty impressed with Cory's skills.

Time will tell.

Agree. I thought Corey was pretty unlucky to be dropped. A tough nugget who is not one of those who had an interrupted preseason. 

I really liked the look of Josh when he first debuted. He fell away- in particular with his kicking - but o still think he has something to offer. As does goody it would seem. 

[Ethan Tremblay 30,967]

Essendon by 27, bring on the spew. 

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

2 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Come on optimists, sell me hope.

From the opening bounce, our ferocious inside game will overwhelm them and we'll go to quarter time 6 goals to nothing.

With them shell shocked and reeling and completely off their game, we will go on to win by 9 points in a close one.

[binman 43,811]

We will win.

[P-man 13,366]

We should win, however this is set up perfectly for Essendon to come out and absolutely roll us. It would be the quintessential MFC kick to the guts while laid on the floor.

I wait to be pleasantly surprised but right now a 10 goal Essendon win would not surprise me in the slightest.

That’s what this club has done to me ?

[P-man 13,366]

The upside is if the above happens, the media blowtorch will be heavily applied, and that’s when we will see a response and maybe get our season up and running.