Once again our forward line cost the team a victory.  This time around we at least looked dangerous going forward and our forwards generally got to the right spots,  played in front and won their own ball.  A change in personnel up forward was like a breath of fresh air.

But we can't kick straight.  Which has been a problem for at least 2 years now.  Our poor conversation rate has happened at least 6 times this season and about the same amount of times last year.  Perhaps the numbers are even worse than that and the yips might stretch back further than 2018.

The fix is a ton more practice and to recruit players who know where the goals are.  The club needs to look at the kicking actions of a number of our players as well.  Especially the balldrop. 

Edited July 22, 20195 yr by Macca

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Josh Wagner played on the wing yesterday instead of his usual role at half back. What did people think? I thought he cracked in real hard and laid some strong tackles.

Still did some "Wagner" shockers with the ball but.

Wagner, IMO, like many other players on the list, is a good kick (sometimes even a very good kick). Unfortunately when the heat is on it's rubbish. We have some players who are good kicks but are unable to execute under pressure. Eg. Hore, 

He's got a good tank and runs both ways. I'd like to see him get a few more games there to see if a little extra time and space can enable him to execute his kicks and make better decisions. It's not like we are blessed with wing options at the moment.

He did a couple of very ordinary lollipops yesterday and I still see him as competing for a depth spot.

6 hours ago, goodoil said:

I watched the game and he was ok and did a couple of good things and a couple of bad things but as a pressure forward he didnt kick a goal and laid two tackles and had no real impact on a game we lost. He earned a game next week on that effort but it was hardly an awe inspiring performance.

I never claimed it was awe inspiring.

Well done on admitting he was ok and earned a recall. That can’t have been easy.

We really have 2 players that the opposition would be worried about ball in hand Salem and May, Lever is a good kick but just needs more games.  The rest you know will miss targets on a semi regular basis, that is bad 3 players out of 22 that line up each week

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

And he has a small handfull of games and a preseason  to prove his mettle.

 

Does he? 

Better let goody know.

13 minutes ago, binman said:

Does he? 

Better let goody know.

How's that Oscar bet going?

Not to be dropped this season and then changed to 'will play again before the season is out'.

#oscarmyths

#notactuallymyths

Is this really a dangerous tackle?

It wasn’t both arms pinned and whilst he did take him to ground it seemed more momentum than a slam tackle.

 

 

Following on from @Lucifer's Hero's earlier post looking at what we're doing and where we've changed our game, from watching us post-bye it certainly feels to me like we are trying to play differently, with less playing on at all costs, more kick-mark and trying to be less reliant on winning CPs and stoppages.

These are things I've been wanting to see us do and I feel we've been doing them since the Fremantle game, so I think it's fair to say they're deliberate changes at coaching and playing level to try to change our game plan.

We still have forward half issues but those are to an extent understandable with a few key forward players missing. Massive work still needs to be done in that area though.

25 minutes ago, stevethemanjordan said:

How's that Oscar bet going?

Not to be dropped this season and then changed to 'will play again before the season is out'.

#oscarmyths

#notactuallymyths

You should have taken the bet STMJ. You clearly were worried he wouldn't be dropped and you would lose it. Understandable.

26 minutes ago, binman said:

You should have taken the bet STMJ. You clearly were worried he wouldn't be dropped and you would lose it. Understandable.

I'm not a betting man.

You look too foolish if it's a loss.

Edited July 22, 20195 yr by stevethemanjordan

3 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Better late than never!

Goodwin can't win!  Some say he doesn't change enough and when he does someone else says it should have happened earlier!

Anyway, the 'brand' (ie game style) changes have been happening for quite a while but yesterday was the first time they all clicked.  Allocating specific player roles was also good tactics which helped the revised game style.

Goodwin has steadfastly stuck to his 'Melbourne brand' for some time even when it has been clear for a long time it isn't working. He has barely changed his views. I give you Bayley Fritsch as exhibit A. Has been playing in defence and on the wing when most here have been crying out for him to play his 'natural' position of forward.

Lewis is too slow for defence and midfield but played a good game on McGovern. If he kicked two goals we'd be lauding it more.

I am a critic of Goodwin's stubborness but he definitely changed this week and the changes were for the better largely

 

52 minutes ago, binman said:

You should have taken the bet STMJ. You clearly were worried he wouldn't be dropped and you would lose it. Understandable.

OMG As if. You look stupid saying that he will never be dropped in his career.

 

4 hours ago, P-man said:

I never claimed it was awe inspiring.

Well done on admitting he was ok and earned a recall. That can’t have been easy.

It was very easy.  But i stand by my view that notwithstanding the fact he loves the jumper and runs his [censored] off, he is not a good footballer

18 hours ago, deegirl said:

Thanks for the mansplanation

I also call the bald bloke the bald umpire. The criticism isnt gender based. She is not up to the standard. Plain and simply. I don’t know how me pointing out that the identification of her as the female umpire is due to the fact that she is easily identifiable. You said that the criticism and identification was in some way sexist or gender driven discrimination and now accuse me of being condescending for pointing out that she is the competitions only female umpire. You must be part of the easily offended generation. 

Edited July 22, 20195 yr by Leoncelli_36

3 hours ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

I also call the bald bloke the bald umpire. The criticism isnt gender based. She is not up to the standard. Plain and simply. I don’t know how me pointing out that the identification of her as the female umpire is due to the fact that she is easily identifiable. You said that the criticism and identification was in some way sexist or gender driven discrimination and now accuse me of being condescending for pointing out that she is the competitions only female umpire. You must be part of the easily offended generation. 

I’m part of the generation that is sick of reading comments such as “she’s a dumb [censored]”, “slime c*nt”, “she deserves to be killed”.   I’m tired of reading junk like that and wanted to say so.  If that makes me part of the easily offended generation, count me in.

4 hours ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

You must be part of the easily offended generation. 

Let me guess: straight white male?

28 minutes ago, deegirl said:

Let me get on the femmo phone and tell the sisters what a great ally you are. 

I read tweets last night calling Goulftsis a b*tch who should be killed, so yes, I am offended by that.  And that’s why I made my post.  

But since having female co-workers makes you an expert, please tell me what is and isn’t acceptable to be offended by.

Obviously those tweets are revolting and awful. Would be equally as awful if it was said about a male umpire though, and I am sure it has. 

If people are picking on her for being female they are sexist and are distracted by the real issue at hand, which is her umpiring incompetence. 

15 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Let me guess: straight white male?

Oh they're  the worst. ..

Anyone who has a contrary opinion is what..sexist..racist..??

Reasoned  people just see it as a differing opinion. 

Thanks for outing yourself  as a bigot.

41 minutes ago, deegirl said:

Let me get on the femmo phone and tell the sisters what a great ally you are. 

I read tweets last night calling Goulftsis a b*tch who should be killed, so yes, I am offended by that.  And that’s why I made my post.  

But since having female co-workers makes you an expert, please tell me what is and isn’t acceptable to be offended by.

The same sorts of comments were on the game-day thread here.  Still there in fact.

Makes you wonder about the levels of maturity but you can't educate these people.

Anyway,  I reported a couple of posts where the crass language was used so I hope the appropriate measures are now taken.  I urge others to do the same.

Just go back to the last few pages of the game-day thread to see the evidence.  It's shameful.

 

5 minutes ago, Macca said:

The same sorts of comments were on the game-day thread here.  Still there in fact.

Makes you wonder about the levels of maturity but you can't educate these people.

Anyway,  I reported a couple of posts where the crass language was used so I hope the appropriate measures are now taken.  I urge others to do the same.

Just go back to the last few pages of the game-day thread to see the evidence.  It's shameful.

 

This is fair from a friendly site. So I feel sorry for the girls out there. No one gets a welcome when they first post. Actually I think the opposite happens. Some of the old time posters jump on the new posters while ignoring the same or similiar posts from more senior members. Some want to argue the toss with everything said, others are the type who take large scorebooks to the cricket and pencil in every ball, you see it by the way they jump on any thing they is not written in stone and could be opoen to interpretation. And now we have another crisis brewing that some of us saw coming with one of our favorite sons calling the Club out.

2 minutes ago, Sorry kids said:

This is fair from a friendly site. So I feel sorry for the girls out there. No one gets a welcome when they first post. Actually I think the opposite happens. Some of the old time posters jump on the new posters while ignoring the same or similiar posts from more senior members. Some want to argue the toss with everything said, others are the type who take large scorebooks to the cricket and pencil in every ball, you see it by the way they jump on any thing they is not written in stone and could be opoen to interpretation. And now we have another crisis brewing that some of us saw coming with one of our favorite sons calling the Club out.

By and large I find the site to be very good.  You'll get pushback early but the longer you're here,  the less so.

There's a weird sort of internet pecking order at play but it's certainly not representative of how things are in the face to face world.

It's why I often try to talk with people but I'm as guilty as anyone else in talking at people.  Using someone's user name in a post tends to calm the waters SK.

Or just agreeing to disagree early if you know where an argument is heading.  You usually know early on if someone is rusted on with their thoughts.

What amazes me is how different we all are.  For a mob of people who all follow the one team,  that observation stands out. 

e.g ... we have an NFL thread here where at least a dozen contributors all barrack for different teams (with the odd exception - 49ers)

Yet we're all Demon fans at the same time. 

4 minutes ago, Macca said:

By and large I find the site to be very good.  You'll get pushback early but the longer you're here,  the less so.

There's a weird sort of internet pecking order at play but it's certainly not representative of how things are in the face to face world.

It's why I often try to talk with people but I'm as guilty as anyone else in talking at people.  Using someone's user name in a post tends to calm the waters SK.

Or just agreeing to disagree early if you know where an argument is heading.  You usually know early on if someone is rusted on with their thoughts.

What amazes me is how different we all are.  For a mob of people who all follow the one team,  that observation stands out. 

e.g ... we have an NFL thread here where at least a dozen contributors all barrack for different teams (with the odd exception - 49ers)

Yet we're all Demon fans at the same time. 

Cheers Macca. 

As a kid I was in the cheersquad, then during my teen years as friends dropped off so I would often go on my own in the outer or with my Dad who was a kangas supporter.. When my kids came along we sat in the AFL members for many years. So I have always had my own views away from the insider view of the Club. Over 55 long years I feel i have got a feel for how we are traveling, I had it most strongly with Northey, a fair bit but a little less so with Danahier Maybe I am right maybe I am wrong but while we have to be somewhat patient especially with player development we are in a race against time to set the Club up for the next few decades. And decades may go slowly in our work and family lives but not so in the world of AFL footy where it is easy to lose a decade or two. 

1 minute ago, Sorry kids said:

Cheers Macca. 

As a kid I was in the cheersquad, then during my teen years as friends dropped off so I would often go on my own in the outer or with my Dad who was a kangas supporter.. When my kids came along we sat in the AFL members for many years. So I have always had my own views away from the insider view of the Club. Over 55 long years I feel i have got a feel for how we are traveling, I had it most strongly with Northey, a fair bit but a little less so with Danahier Maybe I am right maybe I am wrong but while we have to be somewhat patient especially with player development we are in a race against time to set the Club up for the next few decades. And decades may go slowly in our work and family lives but not so in the world of AFL footy where it is easy to lose a decade or two. 

I'm always hopeful but the one thing I do know is that we are mere onlookers.  All the chat in the world isn't really going to change how the club goes about it.  So we live in hope.

Norm Smith had it all figured out ... have an abundance and excess of talent and stay ahead of every other club in terms of innovation and forward thinking.  Other clubs followed his doctrine.  The man was a genius but the method was quite basic in a lot of respects.

Now,  it's ultra competitive but the same principles apply.  There's just more clubs trying to be the best of the best.

My reckoning is that in a perfect world we'd have a number of very good players not being able to get a regular game.  Hard to lose in that scenario.

It's why I have a few regulars now as back-up next year.  It's nothing personal,  I just want a great list.

On 7/21/2019 at 7:52 PM, Jaded said:

Second and third quarters were as good as we’ve played all year against a top quality opposition. So that’s a positives. Fritsch was great up forward, finally playing where he belongs and Lewis was also very good negative that fat [censored] McGovern. 

Once again our kicking and decision making cost us the game. Even down to Fritsch in the dying minutes kicking the ball into the center of the ground and missing the target. Yes it’s one play, but it’s the constant poor decisions and missing targets and easy shots on goal that just kill you as a supporter. And robs the team of all momentum. 

Our backline is fully stocked but they aren’t meshing. They are lost, they spoil each other and are constantly out of position. I’m going to give it time as they need to play together for a while to get in a groove, but my god Jetta and Lever are so rusty. Lever looks really unsure of his knee, Jetta looks exhausted and Frost is I don’t even know. He is a brain fade short of an aneurism. 

May has been magnificent. Clearly battling fitness still, but he is a presence and did a great job on Kennedy who destroys us on the regular. Despite his poor showing in pre season he has been a great get for us. 

Overall this game is a perfect summation of this season. A few highs, a lot of lows and plenty of frustration. 

"Our backline is fully stocked"  But 4 of them are half fit at best. They have barely played together all season . And some weeks none of May, Lever, Jetta and Hibberd were unavailable. Of course they have not yet meshed