7 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Rounds 18 to 21 should show what we have learnt and how far we have progressed this year.  

We have return games vs Eagles, Saints, Tigers, Pies.  They beat us this year with better game plans or better tactics or straighter kicking. 

But we will have most of the preseason/early season injured players back.  We have had 2-3 months to apply lessons learnt and a new coaching structure.  So we should perform better this time round.  Hoping for a few wins!

A benefit of the return matches is coaches can test different tactics/plans.  If they work against arguably 3 of the best 4-5 teams then we can be optimistic of a successful 2020.  If they don't it is back to the drawing board.

I'm looking forward to these games to see how we have adjusted and what 2020 may bring.

Unfortunately Luci, as this year has shown,  Past performance is not an indicator of future results. Or whatever the saying is.

The club just has to find a way to string a few wins in a row and the back end, just so we dont go into Mad Monday with our heads hanging down, and take all that doubt into the next season.

2020 started a few weeks ago.

Im sounding more like PF with every post.

?

 

2 hours ago, SPC said:

Hard to be positive 

Hard to give a rats about the game sunday too

3 hours ago, binman said:

Really?

Just realistic. 

4 hours ago, Scoop Junior said:

We choked that one.

There is no doubt we wanted to win that one but we couldn't handle the pressure / expectation of our first finals appearance in 9 years being one win away.

It wasn't a case of not trying - it was a case of the fear of failure taking charge.

Or maybe it was a case of Collingwoods game plan dominating us like it has done ever since.

7 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

And rightly so.

We’ve been pathetic this season and are a joke amongst the league again. Brisbane absolutely embarrassed us on the weekend, thrashing us around the stoppages - the core of our gameplan apparently. It was insulting and shows how far we’ve fallen since the second half of last year.

Until there is a big change in gamestyle, every team in the league would rightly pencil in a win against us. Even Carlton this weekend would fancy themselves after knocking off Freo in Perth minus Cripps and Curnow!

Yes, the main reason there is not more pressure on the club and goodwin is no one gives a stuff about us. All are happy to just have us where we are and have a 2 out of 3 chance of beating us.

13 hours ago, John Demonic said:

Or maybe it was a case of Collingwoods game plan dominating us like it has done ever since.

I didn't think so.

We beat them 2 months earlier.

Also we scored 11 goals to their 8 after quarter time, so it couldn't have been game plan domination. The damage was done in the first quarter when we came out nervous and then got spooked when they starting banging on the goals.

It seems The Demons have put the cue in the rack for the rest of the season. If we win any more games it will be by accident. Expect to see a lot of rookie tryouts in the seniors and more bad play rewarded with reselection of offenders, we have been doing that for ages. Lewis, Jones and Hibberd will get their farewell games. Gawn will be "injured", others will be "managed" - no tanking here, we will lose it at the selection table and will be unable to blame bad coaching. 

28 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

It seems The Demons have put the cue in the rack for the rest of the season. If we win any more games it will be by accident. Expect to see a lot of rookie tryouts in the seniors and more bad play rewarded with reselection of offenders, we have been doing that for ages. Lewis, Jones and Hibberd will get their farewell games. Gawn will be "injured", others will be "managed" - no tanking here, we will lose it at the selection table and will be unable to blame bad coaching. 

If we put the cue in the rack I will be really angry.  It is 'loser mentality' and we have suffered from it for too long.  Time to exorcise that demon from the club.  Play to win every game.  Play with the 2018 ferocity, regardless of who is selected.

Sure experiment with game plan.  But please no setting out to lose.  The teams above us will win more than we do so we will end up bottom 3.  Nothing to gain.  We don't need to add 'giving up' to the poor attitude and hubris of last preseason.

Edited July 5, 20195 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Actually this raises an interesting point. The Cue

We don't play with a Cue. Even though one might be handy , a cue is used in games that require an understanding of the nuances of a ball and its field of play. it's about position and temperament , about the next move. Its about  touch and precision. About when to go hard, when to go soft. No my friends we don't use cues. We at the MFC  use another implement. One that knows grass only too well. 

I present to you the mallet. We aren't skilled enough for cues !!

 

 

45 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

If we put the cue in the rack I will be really angry.  It is 'loser mentality' and we have suffered from it for too long.  Time to exorcise that demon from the club.  Play to win every game.  Play with the 2018 ferocity, regardless of who is selected.

Sure experiment with game plan.  But please no setting out to lose.  The teams above us will win more than we do so we will end up bottom 3.  Nothing to gain.  We don't need to add 'giving up' to the poor attitude and hubris of last preseason.

I wouldn't bet on us fighting tooth and nail from Sunday right through to the final siren at Blundstone Arena.

Our club hasn't exactly got a fantastic track record of giving it their all every week, 100% of the time.

1 hour ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

If we put the cue in the rack I will be really angry.  It is 'loser mentality' and we have suffered from it for too long.  Time to exorcise that demon from the club.  Play to win every game.  Play with the 2018 ferocity, regardless of who is selected.

Sure experiment with game plan.  But please no setting out to lose.  The teams above us will win more than we do so we will end up bottom 3.  Nothing to gain.  We don't need to add 'giving up' to the poor attitude and hubris of last preseason.

The season is gone. I do not think it is a losers mentality to position the club for better draft choices. There is nothing to gain from winning now. I don't think we need to deliberately go out to lose games this year at any time, we have been playing our hardest. We are rife with injury and our depth is under skilled. We will not have to try to continue these lackluster performances. It is a good time for trying rookies and giving farewell games out. I can see at about ten of our players not being on our list next year.

2 hours ago, Mental Demons said:

It seems The Demons have put the cue in the rack for the rest of the season. If we win any more games it will be by accident. Expect to see a lot of rookie tryouts in the seniors and more bad play rewarded with reselection of offenders, we have been doing that for ages. Lewis, Jones and Hibberd will get their farewell games. Gawn will be "injured", others will be "managed" - no tanking here, we will lose it at the selection table and will be unable to blame bad coaching. 

Jones and Hibberd will both play next year IMO. Hibberd is contracted and Jones will get another year, minus the captaincy, similar to Bernie and Jordan's last years.

Why would Hibberd not play on next year?

 

20 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

The season is gone. I do not think it is a losers mentality to position the club for better draft choices. There is nothing to gain from winning now. I don't think we need to deliberately go out to lose games this year at any time, we have been playing our hardest. We are rife with injury and our depth is under skilled. We will not have to try to continue these lackluster performances. It is a good time for trying rookies and giving farewell games out. I can see at about ten of our players not being on our list next year.

Yes!

It's worked so well in the past...

Scully, Trengove, Toumpas, Blease, Gysberts.....nah...I'm done

26 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Why would Hibberd not play on next year?

Hibberd has lost a yard and is not getting quicker. His disposal has been worse and he has been struggling to make contests. If he is best 22 next year we will struggle to be successful. He may have some value as depth but he is not the future. Much the same for Jones but he has a little more depth value. 

1 hour ago, Mental Demons said:

The season is gone. I do not think it is a losers mentality to position the club for better draft choices. There is nothing to gain from winning now. I don't think we need to deliberately go out to lose games this year at any time, we have been playing our hardest. We are rife with injury and our depth is under skilled. We will not have to try to continue these lackluster performances. It is a good time for trying rookies and giving farewell games out. I can see at about ten of our players not being on our list next year.

Do you not learn? We went down that road 10 years ago and it ripped the heart out of the club. 

WINNING is the object of game we are in..

49 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

Hibberd has lost a yard and is not getting quicker. His disposal has been worse and he has been struggling to make contests. If he is best 22 next year we will struggle to be successful. He may have some value as depth but he is not the future. Much the same for Jones but he has a little more depth value. 

Fair enough, definitely agree he's lost a yard this year. I think he'll see out the last year of his contract though, hopefully can add more value next year with a better preseason.

 

3 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Fair enough, definitely agree he's lost a yard this year. I think he'll see out the last year of his contract though, hopefully can add more value next year with a better preseason.

 

Might be just me ( often is ) ... I have my suspicions over a number of players. i.e they are carrying a distinct niggle of some form but they are being played/managed as we simply need someone to play.  I'm not sure 2019 is really indicative of Pig

I could be wrong

3 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Might be just me ( often is ) ... I have my suspicions over a number of players. i.e they are carrying a distinct niggle of some form but they are being played/managed as we simply need someone to play.  I'm not sure 2019 is really indicative of Pig

I could be wrong

Reckon you're right mate, Brayshaw is the main one that springs to mind for me, followed by TMac.

Be interesting to see how those players are managed in these last few games. I hope we don't sacrifice 2020 by trying to save face in a last season.

 

12 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Reckon you're right mate, Brayshaw is the main one that springs to mind for me, followed by TMac.

Be interesting to see how those players are managed in these last few games. I hope we don't sacrifice 2020 by trying to save face in a last season.

 

Tmac for sure...he seems well restrained...and frustrated. Angus quite possibly.  Some very strange days on the field in my view by some players. They are hardly recognisable ..save for the number. I can only hope where ever possible the injured are laid up...if not...2020 will be no better

7 hours ago, Scoop Junior said:

I didn't think so.

We beat them 2 months earlier.

Also we scored 11 goals to their 8 after quarter time, so it couldn't have been game plan domination. The damage was done in the first quarter when we came out nervous and then got spooked when they starting banging on the goals.

It was a sign of things to come though more so than the QB match that year. They were able to reproduce that quality of footy the following year against us, and then in the prelim v Richmond and WCE in the GF. Did we just choke again? We came up against a style of outside spreading football that we simply couldn't counter with our chaos style. Only WCE have been able to counter Collingwoods burst footy by putting 4 quarters of football together and wearing them down with possession and their talls. We simply cannot play against this tactic YET until we can get a WIN, therefore we could be considered to be 'dominated' by it I believe. Maybe it's just sematics

Edited July 5, 20195 yr by John Demonic

4 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Do you not learn? We went down that road 10 years ago and it ripped the heart out of the club. 

WINNING is the object of game we are in..

To do that we need better players and and better coaching. The game has changed a lot in 5 years let alone 10. A successful club needs to be good at all aspects of the business, playing, drafting, player development, all of it . We have proved to be noncompetitive in many areas. We will struggle to win any more games this year without trying to lose. 

14 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

To do that we need better players and and better coaching. The game has changed a lot in 5 years let alone 10. A successful club needs to be good at all aspects of the business, playing, drafting, player development, all of it . We have proved to be noncompetitive in many areas. We will struggle to win any more games this year without trying to lose. 

So just give up....

4 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Might be just me ( often is ) ... I have my suspicions over a number of players. i.e they are carrying a distinct niggle of some form but they are being played/managed as we simply need someone to play.  I'm not sure 2019 is really indicative of Pig

I could be wrong

I don't think you are wrong bb. The trick is to work out how big is the effect.

4 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Do you not learn? We went down that road 10 years ago and it ripped the heart out of the club. 

WINNING is the object of game we are in..

Spot n SWYL. If you stop giving 100% every game then it is signalling that winning is only important some of the time. Win every game possible then worry about draft picks in September.

50 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

So just give up....

Not at all. It can function as an extended preseason. Treat it as a learning experience rather than do or die. We can develop players and sort some of the wheat from the chaff. I think we will go flat out and may not do any better  at winning anyway. We need to develop another game plan. Other teams have figured us out and some have copied what we did last year and do it better. We are not one of them.