POSTGAME: Rd 03 vs Essendon

[Dusty_Hill 184]

We were putrid tonight but the afl and their umpires have completely ruined the game. The umpiring was so so bad on both sides. Worst I can remember. Unfortunately for us it was usually at crucial times which made it feel like a fix up. The Jetta one the worst. Closely followed by the Melksham hit in the head in front of the goal, yes he should have marked it but that didn’t mean the umpire doesn’t have to pay a free. And the one against frost where frosts jumper is halfway up his chest whilst his arms are in the air, but then free is paid against him. Good trick! Should become magician. When Oscar was bending down to pick up the ball in the wing and was kneed in the head and they went on to score a goal. The 50 against Harmes but no 50 to us when “the package” drops the knee into our player after a mark right in front of the ump. The couple of protected area infringements on our forward flank that were ignored which would have resulted in shots in goal. The list goes on, there were more on both sides but honestly it ruins the game. Let it go or get em all. This nonsense where they seem to have a new rule of the week and ignore all other rules is ridiculous. When you have the commentators critiquing them the whole time you know it’s gotten bad.

Really struggling to watch AFL these days with the the absolute pitiful standard of umpiring. I still tune in to Melbourne as I love the Dees for some strange reason. But honestly don’t watch many other games any more. In the past would watch 3-4+ a week. 

 

How to fix this? Put some money in it and make them full time for a start. Can’t make them any worse. It’s not possible. 

[Kumamoto_Ken 1,531]

25 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Didn’t watch a second of it. 

Thankfully I was packing my boat with 300 cans of beer for a six day trip to the Abrolhos islands leaving tomorrow morning. 

Good times. ?

Sadly I watched it all while packing my guts with 15 cans of beer

 

Jokes...it was 18 cans

[DistrACTION Jackson 6,470]

Our FIT starting 22 next year must look something like this:

B:      Jetta                      May              Lever

HB:   KK                   New CHB      Hibberd

C :     New outside mid  Oliver          Salem

HF:     Vanders               Weid           Hannan

F:      New Small forward   TMac      Melk

R:    Gawn       Brayshaw      Viney

Int:   Preuss     Petracca      Hunt    Fritsch

Emg:   Jones     OMac       New Backup Ruck     Some new player with heart

[Ethan Tremblay 28,436]

3 minutes ago, leucopogon said:

Damnit Ethan, I was going to try and sell you my 4 tickets to the West Coast game. I guess you're not interested?

I’m not sure when the game is but unfortunately I’m busy that weekend. 

[titan_uranus 22,515]

Let me start by getting this off my chest: the umpiring was disgraceful tonight. There were a dozen times, at least, where either a free was paid to them or an obvious one to us was missed which had direct impact on the game. Possibly the most important was Hurley's blatant interference with Melksham late in the second when we had all the momentum, robbing us of a goal and sending the ball down the other end.

OK, with that out of the way.

I feel like I just watched the St Kilda loss from last year again. A low-skilled side just brings pace and endeavour and finds that they can carve us up and score heavily. They're not good enough to be able to hold us from scoring heavily, but we can't defend them and they get a confidence-boosting win.

We're getting beaten the same way we were in 2018 and we're not fixing the problems.

The second quarter largely happened because for a long period of it Essendon had one on the bench. They stopped running and we managed to run through them through the middle, opening up our forward line. 

If ANB doesn't get dropped after this game then he never will. He adds nothing to the side and his dropped mark was a momentum-killer.

Oscar was embarrassingly bad. He runs under the ball, he runs over the ball, he looks afraid to pick it up, he doesn't know what to do with it when he has it, but worst of all he can't defend. There was an early goal to Essendon where he simply lost his man. 

And Jones. I love him, I always have and always will, but he's a liability at the moment. Our opening play summed it up perfectly - after all that focus on stupidly bombing it inside 50, we get the first clearance, he's got time and space, but he bombs it 50m, turns it over, and Essendon slingshot for a goal. He's a liability and it's hurting us.

What is wrong with Hibberd? He can't hit a target to save himself.

So what it all means is that we've got too many liabilities (ANB, Oscar, Jones), too many new/underdone players (KK, Wagner x 2, Lockhart) and too many important players out of form (Hibberd, Weideman, TMac, Viney, Jetta). It's too much being left to too few and it's not working.

[Jaded No More 58,342]

The players may love Goodwin, but a tactical mastermind he ain’t. 

We clearly spent no time this pre season working on the new 6-6-6 rule. It got to a point tonight where they made Fritsch stand at the very edge of the square so he can run to the backline as soon as the ball was bounced. Absolute goddamn geniuses in the box I tell you. 

Our defence is all at sea. We miss Lewis, and with Jetta and Hibbo badly out of form, let alone the trading of a fat unfit FB who so far got himself suspended and done a groin, we are not looking to improve anytime soon. Frost is a horrible horrible footballer and a total liability. OMac has no support. We are always out of position and out on our feet. 

Now let’s talk forwards. We appear to have none. None in form anyway. TMac is hopefully injured, because at this rate he should go back to defence. Trac is slow and fumbly. ANB is just a complete no. 

My biggest concern is our lack of pace. We are totally one dimensional. If we don’t win a clearance we are basically stuffed and have given away a goal. That’s a lot of pressure on the mids and is a completely stupid game plan. 

Goodwin said there are no more excuses. So let’s see if he can handle the pressure. He’s had a bloody dream run with Roos and making prelims last year. The honeymoon is over, and lucky for him he’s scored a new contract before proving that last year wasn’t a fluke. Right now, we look more like wooden spooners than finalists. 

[Red But Mostly Blue 3,868]

1 minute ago, Collar-Jazz-Knee said:

Our FIT starting 22 next year must look something like this:

B:      Jetta                      May              Lever

HB:   KK                   New CHB      Hibberd

C :     New outside mid  Oliver          Salem

HF:     Vanders               Weid           Hannan

F:      New Small forward   TMac      Melk

R:    Gawn       Brayshaw      Viney

Int:   Preuss     Petracca      Hunt    Fritsch

Emg:   Jones     OMac       New Backup Ruck     Some new player with heart

This is a great team. Can't wait for 2020!!!

[spirit of norm smith 13,048]

Wrap-up of Goodwin presser: 

Too easy to score against.  Bombers Inside 50s - we gave up 20 goals. 

Skill errors. Basic mistakes. Overloads the defence. 

2nd quarter was good. Run and skills. Up and about. 

Good times can defend. They absorb energy. We  gave up goals.  We give them energy. 

 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Grapeviney
Merged

[olisik 4,060]

We need to stop using our wings and flanks as retirement homes. Time to get in proper players who can play those roles properly. 

[Pirlo 519]

He's a hopeless orator. Uses the kind of cliches that coaches insisted on using 10 years ago and offers absolutely no analysis beyond "we have to get better". That's a direct bloody quote from tonight. When we lost games like this under Roos, you felt like he was able to deflect media attention away and talk about areas that we needed to lift.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Pirlo

[Jaded No More 58,342]

Also why for the love of god did we go trade for Preuss and yet I’m seeing poor Weids getting slaughtered in the Centre bounces every week? 

That they were a man down for 3 quarters is even worse. We look slow, unfit and lost. 

As for the umpiring, blatant cheating. 

[waynewussell 4,092]

Stupid to blame Misson... Like blaming the bloke who was calling the countdown for Challenger for the disaster! TMac should go back to Casey... with Weids! Bring in T Smith and Kielty... yes, I'm prepared to wear further pain to punish under-performers. The Premiership is beyond us in 2019... We are only a week away from not being a final 8 contender. I can live with that! But I can not live with blokes who are being shown up as ordinary... getting games after demoralising losses... and I will not attend games where soft c&*%S still get rewarded with selection...

[spirit of norm smith 13,048]

Tom McDonald must be injured. Slow. Fumbled.  No 2nd effort.  Lost it compared to 2018.  No Hogan is now being exposed

[leucopogon 1,468]

2 minutes ago, Collar-Jazz-Knee said:

Our FIT starting 22 next year must look something like this:

B:      Jetta                      May              Lever

HB:   KK                   New CHB      Hibberd

C :     New outside mid  Oliver          Salem

HF:     Vanders               Weid           Hannan

F:      New Small forward   TMac      Melk

R:    Gawn       Brayshaw      Viney

Int:   Preuss     Petracca      Hunt    Fritsch

Emg:   Jones     OMac       New Backup Ruck     Some new player with heart

Unfortunately I think Jetta and Hibberd are both already Welland truly on the decline. We're in a bit if strife now with our list, far too many picks have been traded for lumbering types. We must be the slowest list in the league by some margin.

 

[The Swimming Dee 1,858]

6 minutes ago, Collar-Jazz-Knee said:

Our FIT starting 22 next year must look something like this:

B:      Jetta                      May              Lever

HB:   KK                   New CHB      Hibberd

C :     New outside mid  Oliver          Salem

HF:     Vanders               Weid           Hannan

F:      New Small forward   TMac      Melk

R:    Gawn       Brayshaw      Viney

Int:   Preuss     Petracca      Hunt    Fritsch

Emg:   Jones     OMac       New Backup Ruck     Some new player with heart

You have KK in your best 22? WOW! His first two games for us have been nothing short of disgraceful 

Edited April 5, 2019 by The Swimming Dee

[640MD 2,841]

Perhaps our FD should review the game against WCE last year. They might see what other coaches have seen, we have been worked out.   And over. 

And why have we traded to get a second ruck, who all the watchers said was fantastic and then he cannot get a game in the real stuff.

and why sugar coat our practice form when we really are turds, not much point in sugar coating or polishing [censored]. 

Just too slow and the backs were behind all night. We had enough play just defended very poorly. Who’s up next. Another easy game?

[Brownie 5,332]

3 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Tom McDonald must be injured. Slow. Fumbled.  No 2nd effort.  Lost it compared to 2018.  No Hogan is now being exposed

Yep he looked really sore for most of the game.

[Redleg 37,780]

4 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Tom McDonald must be injured. Slow. Fumbled.  No 2nd effort.  Lost it compared to 2018.  No Hogan is now being exposed

That is exactly why I said at the time to go after Schache, as while he is not yet a world beater, he was cheap and another option if Jesse left, which he did.

[KingDingAling 3,613]

We have no mids with pace. We have no mids who kick efficiently and with precision. Harmes is probably our best midfielder if you ignore the stats and look at actual impact. 

Our backline is terrible. Our forward line is just below terrible. The game has changed and the open space has caught our lack of skill out. We are in for a long long year. We will likely be 0-4 after next week.

[leucopogon 1,468]

6 minutes ago, olisik said:

We need to stop using our wings and flanks as retirement homes. Time to get in proper players who can play those roles properly. 

Spot on

[Soidee 1,496]

Thanks Nathan Jones for the hard years.  Time to take a rest old mate, your body cannot keep up anymore.  The club at this point is a disaster.  Backline is totally dysfunctional, Tommy Mac could not run out of sight on a dark night.  I have said many times ANB is holding down a spot.  He is a fraud.

kick in the guts for supporters.  Last year looks like a fluke now.

time to step back from footy, it does my head in.  The club has gone backwards and still does not have any killer instinct even after last year.

Another $1000 bucks towards the club for what?  Supporters have been fooled and conned again.

[Laughing Goat 308]

24 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Wow.

4 for the season.....Harmes & Viney 12 between them.

[Brownie 5,332]

28 minutes ago, qwerty7 said:

Really interesting you commented on this. I really feel like there is something so different about the Melbourne team playing this year - it doesn’t feel like the Melbourne we have become accustomed to over the last three years.

Obviously an aspect of that is we have new players, but I don’t know... something feels like it’s missing. There just doesn’t seem to be that cohesiveness in the group which we saw so much of last year. Everyone had each other’s back and they all spurred each other on to try harder and win. It was the cohesiveness of the team that translated into the cohesiveness of our footy.

Maybe I am looking into this all a bit too much, but something just doesn’t feel right. I hope I am wrong.

Also, looking at the list of the team we fielded today, it really just doesn’t impress me. It feels like we have gone a step back... or maybe our players have? I don’t know, I’m just trying to make sense of such a woeful start to our season.

I still don’t think it’s too late to turn things around. It certainly is going to be hard, but not impossible.

Really is a horrible feeling though... to think this might be yet another season of missing finals after one promised season. 

Yeah I tend to agree. The team seems so flat and out of sorts at the moment.

[Jaded No More 58,342]

22 minutes ago, Brownie said:

How about that grub Stringer in the first or second quarter. Gave away a free to Nev and then need him in the face. No 50

There is a special place in hell for dirty cheating scum bags like Stringer. What he did to his partner is despicable, and no injury would be punishment enough for him. I sincerely hope he never experiences success again. Professionally or personally. Horrible piece of human filth. 

 

16 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

We gave up pick 6 for KK... just wow...

 

Now now, we gave up pick 6 for an unfit FB and KK. Don’t dismiss this move! 

[waynewussell 4,092]

Nothing but respect for Nev... the lack of umpire support for him is bordering on disrespect (I'm getting very close to using the "R" word!). Nev is a niggler... he even upsets his own team mates at training for his retarding tactics... but he is one of the best! However, if he is hit in the head from the front when about to take a well judged mark.... HE F*&*&*G DESERVES A F*^&^&G FREE!!!!