1 minute ago, Dame Gaga said:

Oh, the memories...........❤️?

Ha ha!

We have tried to get KPF's in but none of them have worked out for one reason or another

Clark,  Dawes,  Hogan,  Cook and 1 or 2 others but for all of that effort we may as well have payed way overs for pure A grade.

Easier said than done though DG. 

Reality is that we fall short up forward and until we fix that,  we're not a threat.  I was hoping we'd get Patton even though he may have only been available every now and again. 

Still better than what we've got right now though.

If it were up to me I'd play Steven May forward for the rest of the season.  Then still recruit another proven KPF and a proven KPD to replace May.

In the meantime Oscar can come into the backline and do his best.  It's not ideal and far from perfect but we need a decent target to help out T-Mac

Not sold on Weideman but he'll get a chance or 2.  Brown is pure back-up and not the future.

6 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Goodwin in his presser:

"we couldn't get the ball off them"

"Next time we play a team that wants to hold on to possession we'll be better prepared"

Seriously, If I was Goodwin I would resign in shame - if not after that game, then after comments like the above.

It's the stock standard way to beat melbourne. We all know it, the rest of the league know it but our genius coach hasn't yet worked it out.

Holy cow. Anyone that was wavering about Goodwin's ability to coach look no further than the two lines above.

 

Wow. An opponent wanting to keep possession?

Just wow.

Glad we don't play that rubbish style.

Edited June 28, 20204 yr by Brownie

2 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

@titan_uranus or @Nasher- thoughts on the game?

I ask you two as I didn't see a single second of the game and I trust you both to give a decent summary of the game that isn't run only on emotion. 

Cheers. 

I only saw the first half and 5 minutes of the third.

It wasn't good.

Goodwin told Channel 7 pre-match that the key to winning today was to get the ball locked in our forward half.

We did that. But we lost.

Goodwin is doubling down on the aggressive forward press method of play. He continues to believe that we can be successful by keeping the ball locked in our forward half, so our focus continues to be on getting it in there first, dealing with it second.

There is enough evidence to suggest he is wrong.

It doesn't help, though, that our players continue to make fundamental errors. Not manning the goal line properly and failing to touch Ratugolea's shot on goal, in a game we lost by 3 points, is criminal. Dropped marks, missed shots from directly in front, handpasses to stationary players or behind running players, turnovers in the back half. Mistakes get made every week, but when you are making errors with the fundamental basics of football for years, there is a systemic problem. 

I'm sure part of the problem is the stop-start nature of this season. We're getting no consistency. We're chopping/changing the team and we're not playing week to week. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next three matches as they present interesting match ups. But most of all, I want to see us play a month of solid football together. My last bastion of hope is that we need to click by getting some consistency into our 22. Unfortunately, I'm not confident.

Just now, Farmer said:

 

Yes it definitely leaked like a sieve? Geelong who played in last year’s prelim, had 12 scoring shots.  Some leak!

 

23 minutes ago, layzie said:

Yeah so I'm trying to think of what to even say about the game today and I'm just coming up short. I got very little. I don't even know what the issue is but the gameplan does not appear to be one that is working. I just heard Lever's post game interview and he believes in the system and says when it's up and running can bring about some great football, I appreciate his sentiment rhetoric or not but seriously how much banging the head against the wall do we need to go though? Ball gets kicked into 50, no marking option, hits deck, can we keep it in thereeeee?? No we can't, out it comes, moment gone. That piece of play from Kozzie to keep it in and kick it back to Melk in the square was incredible and deserved a goal how did we squander it? So many deflating moments like that.

Our midfield has become slow and boring, everyone works hard but nothing happens. Handballs are poorly timed and go to the wrong person or just miss the person altogether. The Cats matched us in contested footy for most of the day. 105 uncontested marks to 46, Geelong chipping sideways and making us run around and get tired. WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR THIS? Because it seems like continuously playing it into their hands was all we felt like doing. Outcoached again Goodwin. 

Few good performers, I would say the majority of our side were 5 out of 10s. Clarry continues to work hard but isn't playing the smartest footy right now, VIney doing his usual bull like 20 odd touches and not really effecting anything. Kozzie was a shining light and gets you excited when he's simply around the contest and Lockhart might have made some mistakes but I'd prefer to see him out there than others. Hannan just doesn't do enough for me, in and out of games too often. In the past we've loved him because he'd have games like this and bob up and kick 2 in the last to gloss the reality of his performance but he's just not that good in reality.

I will give a little leniency, 1 game in 13 weeks is not easy. Yes I will give it some time, but my god if I see another performance like that after a solid 4 week block then well yeah. 

Get it together.

Hannan was v good for his first match for ages. Better than many others

48 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

By playing to Goody's game style Swooper.  Worked to a tee.  For one side anyway.

They did only kick 7 goals five. 
but I agree, our gameplay was [censored]. We must have another tall forward 

8 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Goodwin in his presser:

"we couldn't get the ball off them"

"Next time we play a team that wants to hold on to possession we'll be better prepared"

Seriously, If I was Goodwin I would resign in shame - if not after that game, then after comments like the above.

It's the stock standard way to beat melbourne. We all know it, the rest of the league know it but our genius coach hasn't yet worked it out.

Holy cow. Anyone that was wavering about Goodwin's ability to coach look no further than the two lines above.

 

If tht is what he said, the board should sack him now and install Allan Richardson as coach on the current pay rate he is on. If he isn’t prepared to do it, find some u9s coach, coz the donkey at the wheel has NFI and they couldn’t be any worse. It’s abysmal to sit here and read those comments. The same happened against Eagles. Does this bloke actually review games? Or does he have his head so far up his ar$3 that he just backs his genius game plan to the hills? I’m sick of it. Has not bought in to the club, it’s members and fans. Truly disconnected. Pizz off

26 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Do you have the details of that trade?

I can’t find it.

Melbourne traded picks 26 and 50 in 2019 and its 2020 first-round pick for North's 2019's pick 8.

We then traded pick 8 to Freo who gave us pick 10 and pick 28  plus Carlton's future 4th round pick.

1 minute ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

I thought it had been decided that none of these players would get a game these days? 

Too old ET but a 47 year old David Schwarz might have been handy in the hot spot today ?

Quite seriously though,  we hardly have a natural forward on the list.

Pickett is already ahead of all of them (IMO)

Fritsch is a flanker/4th forward type and quite handy.  T-Mac has become easy for the opposition to cut out of the game.  Melksham & Hannan don't do enough and Hunt is too flashy whilst AVB looked proppy.

Weideman can't get a game and that isn't the fault of the coach whilst Brown has been brought in just in case they all break down.

It was disappointing to lose, but Geelong are a very good side and I think we are making progress.

As poor a spectacle as the game was, it was good to see Goodwin develop a game plan to defend the MCG. The Cats had a lot of ball but had only 14 shots at goal and 12 scoring shots. If we had have executed our defensive skills better, they would have hardly scored.

Offensively, we are still lacking potency up forward and that is a combination of our midfield not being skilled enough by foot and not having good forwards. The chemistry will get better as the year goes on.

The game is now shocking to watch, but team defence is the only way to win. At least Goodwin has discovered a method to defend.

I think we will win the next couple and get our season kick started.

1 hour ago, Half forward flank said:

Tmac presented and marked once.

Other Clubs also few games in 10 months

Like anti Neeld?

I argued with one of your mob the Suns have gone past us as a Club

Lever, has not proved anything yet.

At the time we were playing well in Q2 TMAC was battling like hell, creating contests, nearly clunking a couple. Then he nearly gets broken ribs in Q3 but still takes a great grab and kicks a goal in the last.Get off his back! The problem is the gameplan  when we beat the Cats easily in the finals in 2018 Weideman took a few marks.Even if he only creates a contest he must be played

Good return to form by Brayshaw. Hannon looks a lot fitter than the last time he was playing. Pickett has lots of nous and pace.

Not entirely disappointed with this loss. Somehow, i cannot put my finger on it yet but the flow / urgency had a bit of the way Richardson was coaching St Kilda for some reason and it could be game style, and i think we actually had more forward opportunities than usual.

These kids are trying still to work out how to play together. Oliver is a star.......

I've now flicked through the replay.  Thanks @titan_uranus for the measured response.  It's appreciated, and I can't argue with what you've said one bit.

The only thing I want to add is that we got it right when we selected Pickett.  Our forward line, while still dysfunctional, looks a little bit more exciting with him roaming around.  He gets to position well and it's only a matter of time before he hits the scoreboard, and hits it hard.

Disappointing loss with the same old problems.  One to next week I guess.

6 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I only saw the first half and 5 minutes of the third.

It wasn't good.

Goodwin told Channel 7 pre-match that the key to winning today was to get the ball locked in our forward half.

We did that. But we lost.

Goodwin is doubling down on the aggressive forward press method of play. He continues to believe that we can be successful by keeping the ball locked in our forward half, so our focus continues to be on getting it in there first, dealing with it second.

There is enough evidence to suggest he is wrong.

It doesn't help, though, that our players continue to make fundamental errors. Not manning the goal line properly and failing to touch Ratugolea's shot on goal, in a game we lost by 3 points, is criminal. Dropped marks, missed shots from directly in front, handpasses to stationary players or behind running players, turnovers in the back half. Mistakes get made every week, but when you are making errors with the fundamental basics of football for years, there is a systemic problem. 

I'm sure part of the problem is the stop-start nature of this season. We're getting no consistency. We're chopping/changing the team and we're not playing week to week. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next three matches as they present interesting match ups. But most of all, I want to see us play a month of solid football together. My last bastion of hope is that we need to click by getting some consistency into our 22. Unfortunately, I'm not confident.

Front half scoring continues to be the basis of good football. Of course we have to be better with our forward entries in order to score more and to lock it in more but that doesn't mean we should go slower once we're in attacking position, just shorter, more diagonally and laterally and smarter.

There's been a lot of changes to our defensive system. The deeper defenders - May, Smith and today Hibberd and always looking to have one of them peel back and keep a number behind play. We didn't give up an easy over the back goal at all today if I remember correctly.

The problem today was partly forward entries, but mostly the desire of our midfield to peel back and defend instead of to work with the forwards and keep a well structured zone. We just allowed too many kick and marks. Our forwards and mids get lazy and get out of position. Fortunately today it was mostly mentally lazy and getting caught dropping too far back or not covering the switch rather than physically not chasing at all so it became Geelong kick to kick largely without getting anywhere. 

The appalling fundamentals are a problem, the lack of forwards who can hold a grab is an issue. The overall defensive and attacking structure today wasn't wrong.

3 hours ago, Forest Demon said:

Yet again, effort wasn’t in question for me. It comes down to system or lack thereof, particularly going forward.

I thought everything was ****house today the effort, intensity, system, execution

I've given the team and Goodwin time but I am losing patience, that was deplorable. The gameplan needs a severe overhaul and the players need to learn to play with intensity

I don't think I could name one player who played well today. Geelong weren't much better which makes it all the more grating. We had an opportunity today and we blew it.

Those who think Goodwin will be sacked are dreaming. No way we can afford to pay him out plus sign a new coach. We're stuck with him til end of 2021 at the earliest.

6 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I've now flicked through the replay.  Thanks @titan_uranus for the measured response.  It's appreciated, and I can't argue with what you've said one bit.

The only thing I want to add is that we got it right when we selected Pickett.  Our forward line, while still dysfunctional, looks a little bit more exciting with him roaming around.  He gets to position well and it's only a matter of time before he hits the scoreboard, and hits it hard.

Disappointing loss with the same old problems.  One to next week I guess.

I love the way he always made contact with opponents even after they had disposed of the ball. Just enough to let them know he was there.

He's super quick but tough as nails as well.

17 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

It was disappointing to lose, but Geelong are a very good side and I think we are making progress.

 

Dont rate Geelong at all.  They lost at home to Carlton last week.

 

Just now, TheKozzieExperience said:

Dont rate Geelong at all.  They lost at home to Carlton last week.

 

I don't rate Geelong as well.

That's why I'm still [censored] filthy we lost today.

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I don't rate Geelong as well.

That's why I'm still [censored] filthy we lost today.

Hey dazzle - sorry to piggyback off your comment, but what were your thoughts on Joel Smith?

From what I could see he had a better game than last week, but interested in what you thought all the same.

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I don't rate Geelong as well.

That's why I'm still [censored] filthy we lost today.

They're not "very good", as @Fat Tony suggests, but they're not a terrible side. They seem to me to be mid-table and a clear chance of finals.

They belted Hawthorn, who are undefeated outside of that match. Yes they lost to Carlton, but Carlton have shown signs of improvement (we played them into form).

We did a few things right today to keep them from getting the ball into their forward half and from scoring. The way we defended the MCG today was not as bad as we saw in many of our 2019 losses.

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

Hey dazzle - sorry to piggyback off your comment, but what were your thoughts on Joel Smith?

From what I could see he had a better game than last week, but interested in what you thought all the same.

Defensively he had a good game. Surprised to see people slating him on here. Spoiled Dangerfield, Hawkins, Rohan multiple times.

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

Hey dazzle - sorry to piggyback off your comment, but what were your thoughts on Joel Smith?

From what I could see he had a better game than last week, but interested in what you thought all the same.

He was much better Wise. He kept to his limitations, and did some crucial spoils on Dangerfield when they were deep. I didn't think he was as bad as everyone made out against Carlton.

People are kidding themselves of they want him drop. He is doing his job and is someone who just needs more time and experience with each game. His closing speed is ridiculous.. in a freakish way.

3 hours ago, Brownie said:

Honestly believe we've got the talent but the problem we've got seems to be leadership and coaching.

It's just total confusion.

But we don't have the $ to pay out Goody and  to contract a good new coach.

The AFL won't bail us out again.

I want my $1200 that I pay for 2 Trident memberships this season to going into a pot to pay out Goodwin . Did nothing to change to prevent Geelong kicking the same goal over and over again . He is a complete sham of a coach . Hopeless 

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

They're not "very good", as @Fat Tony suggests, but they're not a terrible side. They seem to me to be mid-table and a clear chance of finals.

They belted Hawthorn, who are undefeated outside of that match. Yes they lost to Carlton, but Carlton have shown signs of improvement (we played them into form).

We did a few things right today to keep them from getting the ball into their forward half and from scoring. The way we defended the MCG today was not as bad as we saw in many of our 2019 losses.

I know TU.. I agree with everything you've pointed.

Its just exhausting supporting this club and seeing a close like this that could potentially bite us in the [censored] ltowards the back end of the year.

 

Geelong are much chop we know that now, Crows, Sydney and Us are the only teams in the comp that would allow for that chippy chip crap to succeed.

With such naive numbskulls behind the wheel ,we have no hope.

We have a team of talented individuals with a coach inspired by a Neil Craig ethos from 2005-2006.

Among all the pessimism (rightly so)  I just wanted to acknowledge Hibberd's attack on the footy to start the 4th qtr that took Dangerfield out. 

Highlight of the match for me.