I can't recall if a VFL/AFL team ever went through a whole season without winning a game. GWS and Gold Coast when they first started and Essendon when half its list was suspended won at least one game. As did we in the Neeld years. If our team goes into this game assuming victory is a foregone conclusion they've got rocks in their head. We have to go into this game with the attitude that we are playing a team that is challenging for top position and play accordingly.

Make no mistake, win, lose or draw, we should beat Adelaide tonight it we out score them.

Edited August 5, 20204 yr by Ethan Tremblay

However, before we get to tonight's game, I wanted to post a few devil's advocate thoughts, just to get them off my chest before we (possibly) lose.

Tonight will be our 9th game. We'll playing at our 7th different venue. By comparison, Adelaide has only played at three different grounds (Adelaide Oval, Gabba, Metricon).

Adelaide also appear to be a better side at home than away. Other than the Showdown, their losses in Adelaide have been to Sydney (3 points), St Kilda (23 points) and Essendon (3 points).

This will not, I repeat not, be an easy game in my view, as Crows record at home is not too bad (Size of Loss ) and home crowd baying for blood

So all you little demonlanders be prepared for an honourable loss!!

37 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Wow what a remarkable scenario !

We are playing a crap winless team who have made 8 changes !

Yet doubts remain !

If we can’t win this game well - especially after being pounded in the media. Then the players, coaches and assorted hangers on should just find a flight back to Melbourne and pack it up.

In fact if we don’t win this well , then we are [censored] and finished as a footy club!

Sums it up perfectly bbo.

Just another normal game of footy for the MFC.

 

11 minutes ago, Kent said:

This will not, I repeat not, be an easy game in my view, as Crows record at home is not too bad (Size of Loss ) and home crowd baying for blood

So all you little demonlanders be prepared for an honourable loss!!

There won’t be any honour if we lose this one Kenty !

From the nekkid coaching box:  Play Max at full forward - can take a contested mark and doesnt get any shorter.  This will really stretch them.  Jacko to take the centre bounces with Tommo as chop out.  It will force Crows to shift a swing an back to cover, giving balance to our backline.

I think we are one small forward short.  Bedford of C Wagner needs to be at the feet of the forwards.  

Dees to win by 37 points. 

I still have flashbacks to the mid 2000s when we were top of the ladder and somehow lost to bottom placed Carlton. It's a very Melbourne thing to do. If we lose this one then we may as well shut up shop.

We SHOULD win by 30+. Just get it done Dees!

Not sure what all the fuss is about.

We know how it plays out, we know that when we can win, it staves of the doubt for another 72 hours.. we lose and it confirms that the team doesn't care. And it feels like all the emotional effort put in is worthless (and some would argue it ultimately is anyway).

Ultimately, it doesnt care about 'us', or 'me'  Perhaps that's why I  get so angry, because really, I am angry at myself. Where else in my life would I tolerate heartache like this...?

So here I am on gameday, having an existential crisis. Of all my 41 years of being alive, these memories flood back

• Crying whilst on holiday into my banana milk shake when we heard on the radio Jimmy had run over the man on the mark...
• loving Ricky Jackson coming out of the locker and listening on vinyl to 'some forums' theme tune
• listening to the reserves reports of Darren Cuthbertson wondering how some freak goal kicking, marking machine couldn't get a a run of games (back injuries I believe)
• the sexyness of Steven Tingay...
• kevin Dyson thighs
• guy rigonis hair
• a hero called Allen, another called Garry.
• The anticiaption of a dynasty with David and David as the spine.
• The spruiking of The Reverend, 
• The joy of Brad Green vs Carlton,
• The sadness of Troy,
• Brad Miller kicking 5 against the Saints for my first game back from living overseas, thinking, we've got a superstar here! 
• yze goal square hanger in Geelong whilst we failed to win and merely draw
• The hollowness whilst present to watch 186,
• the inconsistency  of the mid 90's- 2000's.
• the awful skills of 2010 plus
• Aussi Wonnameri vs Freo, 
• First round draft picks...none of them superstars.
• Mark Neelds hard [censored] attitude as the saviour(!?)
• Jack Watts against Collingwood...as a first gamer
• Jack Watts against Collingwood with the titanic
• In bali for the first time, in some seedy bar going beserk when TMAC kicked the final second goal against WCE to start providing some long lost hope
• Dean Kent in the West
• Mitch at the G

It's my football supporting life flashing across my eyes... and it's my Hotel California, unfortunately, whatever happens tonight.. I can check out, but I can never leave.

Postscript... Here is my son..just now. I am still unsure whether I have consigned him to a life of misery..just look at his head...it hangs low. He knows how to do the Melbourne Supporter look well.

Edited August 5, 20204 yr by Engorged Onion

Even by our standards, losing this would be disastrous.

i feel like the most Melbournish outcome tonight will be an uncomfortable, nervy, two goal win. Something to turn everyone that little bit greyer

But the fact is nothing would surprise me.

36 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Adelaide also appear to be a better side at home than away. Other than the Showdown, their losses in Adelaide have been to Sydney (3 points), St Kilda (23 points) and Essendon (3 points).

 

57 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I can't shake the feeling that we're going to lose this one.

We shouldn't. We should win by 6+ goals.

But I can't help but feel Adelaide will pull one out, knowing this may be their last chance to win a game all year.

We are proven masters at playing crap sides back into winning form.

Adelaide are a huge chance tonight.

 

19 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

Not sure what all the fuss is about.

We know how it plays out, we know that when we can win, and it staves of the doubt for another 72 hours.. we lose and it confirms that the team doesn't care. And it feels like all the emotional effort put in is worthless (and some would argue it ultimately is anyway).

Ultimately, it doesnt care about 'us', or 'me'  Perhaps that's why I  get so angry, because really, I am angry at myself. Where else in my life would be tolerate heartache like this...?

So here I am on gameday, having an existential crisis. Of all my 41 years of being alive, these memories flood back

• Crying whilst on holiday into my banana milk shake when we heard on the radio Jimmy had run over the man on the mark...
• loving Ricky Jackson coming out of the locker and listening on vinyl to 'some forums' theme tune
• listening to the reserves reports of Darren Cuthbertson wondering how some freak goal kicking, marking machine couldn't get a a run of games (back injuries I believe)
• the sexyness of Steven Tingay...
• a hero called Allen, another called Garry.
• The anticiaption of a dynasty with David and David as the spine.
• The spruiking of The Reverend, 
• The joy of Brad Green vs Carlton,
• The sadness of Troy,
• Brad Miller kicking 5 against the Saints for my first game back from living overseas, thinking, we've got a superstar here! 
• The hollowness whilst present to watch 186,
• the inconsistency  of the mid 90's- 2000's.
• the awful skills of 2010 plus
• Aussi Wonnameri vs Freo, 
• First round draft picks...none of them superstars.
• Mark Neelds hard [censored] attitude as the saviour(!?)
• Jack Watts against Collingwood...as a first gamer
• Jack Watts against Collingwood with the titanic
• In bali for the first time, in some seedy bar going beserk when TMAC kicked the final second goal against WCE to start providing some long lost hope
• Dean Kent in the West
• Mitch at the G

It's my football supporting life flashing across my eyes... and it's my Hotel California, unfortunately, whatever happens tonight.. I can check out, but I can never leave.

Postscript... Here is my son..just now. I am still unsure whether I have consigned him to a life of misery..just look at his head...it hangs low. He knows how to do the Melbourne Supporter look well.

That's a beautiful post. I'm a first generation Demon (since I got off the boat in 2006 - how [censored] is my timing?!) and my boy and youngest daughter are absolute one-eyed Demons, despite having mates who barrack for Tigers, Hawks etc. We can grumble all we like, but the kids don't see all the nonsense that we talk about - all they care about is big Max, Lockhart (my lad), Harmesy (my daughter) and Petracca smashing through to kick a couple of goals!

1 hour ago, Josh said:

Agreed. A rocket like that from the chairman is ok when you have an experienced list that understands their role well and lost their way a bit. A young team still learning, on a journey if you will, spells disaster.

How many of our players think they now have to win the game of their own boot, and try too much. Our young captain is already playing sore, how far will he push himself.

This isn't country footy.

Josh... maaatte how long can we go with this narrative? I'd say we're middle ranked now and yeap just checking (https://www.draftguru.com.au/lists/2020) we're ranked 9th for age but slightly "younger" on games played at 11th.... No longer babies, must grow into the men to lead us to a flag.

 

God I remember some of the abuse we used to cop... "If you're one of these players go and stand over here... if you're not named stay where you are... ok Dogga, Eyes, Simmo and DJ, you blokes over here as you were the only blokes who [censored] tried on the weekend. 

The rest of you are a bunch of [censored] soft c..ks, you let the team, club and jumper down, if you perform like that aain you'll never play another senior game for me again blah blah blah... now go run 20 laps!!! You 4 go and have some beers." Ahhhh the memories 

29 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

Postscript... Here is my son..just now. I am still unsure whether I have consigned him to a life of misery..just look at his head...it hangs low. He knows how to do the Melbourne Supporter look well.

Sorry mate, had to mandatory report, DCP are on their way. 

12 minutes ago, 3183 Dee said:

That's a beautiful post. I'm a first generation Demon (since I got off the boat in 2006 - how [censored] is my timing?!) and my boy and youngest daughter are absolute one-eyed Demons, despite having mates who barrack for Tigers, Hawks etc. We can grumble all we like, but the kids don't see all the nonsense that we talk about - all they care about is big Max, Lockhart (my lad), Harmesy (my daughter) and Petracca smashing through to kick a couple of goals!

Think of the joy that awaits them.

2 hours ago, binman said:

And that pressure flows to the roos game.

And on until the end of the season. The ramifications of the Port game are severe, not because of that one performance, but because those performances have now become endemic in our football club over the past years. The team gets a jolt up the [censored], usually plays better the next game, a little less the following game, until the cycle repeats itself. The only way we will see if things have turned, is if the effort and endeavour that we saw in the Hawks game (and mostly v Brisbane) is the minimum achieved for the remainder of the year. 

this is one of those classic lose-lose games

If we lose tonight, then it's basically confirmed that Goodwin has lost the players and he's on the way out the door.

Let's see where this playing groups collective mindset is at.

4 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

If we lose tonight, then it's basically confirmed that Goodwin has lost the players and he's on the way out the door.

Let's see where this playing groups collective mindset is at.

or is it that the players have lost Goodwin?

There was some stat on the Sunday Footy Show that there have been three rookie coaches start the season 0 - 9, all three won the tenth match. That certainly didn’t help with the MFCSS. 

20 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

26 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

If we lose tonight, then it's basically confirmed that Goodwin has lost the players and he's on the way out the door.

Let's see where this playing groups collective mindset is at.

or is it that the players have lost Goodwin?

Let's hope that none of this eventuates and that SG and these players pull it around and march on to a successful finals campaign.

A couple of milestones tonight.

 

 

 

 

58 minutes ago, trout said:

There was some stat on the Sunday Footy Show that there have been three rookie coaches start the season 0 - 9, all three won the tenth match. That certainly didn’t help with the MFCSS. 

Logs on to Sportsbet and puts a 50 on Adelaide at 3.50. (Was one of those coaches Neeld vs Essendon?)