Just need to cut and paste same comments from port, richmond  Geelong wce and the games we have lost, same as last year, cant kick  cant take advantage of ruck dominance, no forward pressure, midfield got outworked.

If it isnt on our terms we go to who we are.

We got taught a lesson in the midfield. What's worse is that the same thing would have happened if we had Gawn

3 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

Disappointed but at the end of the day if our forwards kicked straight we easily could have won. Melksham and Fristch really hurt us today.

You are kidding

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Utter disgraceful.

Melksham, Harmes, McDonald,  Hibbo, Fritsch, 

All disgraced the jumper.

Goodwin shown up for a poor coach he is. Plan B? Where was that Goody? [censored] clueless as usual.

Why stop there midfield ineffective. passengers everywhere on the forward line only decent effort was the defence

Not hungry enough 

to beat good sides you have to be ready to fight

We still don’t know if Goodwin can coach against good opposition 

 

not looking good today

 

A half time lead was surrendered very meakly

Goodwin put too much faith in our mids going head to head against their’s. 
 

No negating on Bont. No negating on McCrae. One of our biggest strengths in 2018 was Harmes work as a tagger. Why not try something?

Hibbo has some credits in the bank, but he was shocking today. 

Bloody Goodwin shown up yet again. He has no plan B. Surely at half time when our midfieldwas was vetting smashed that you would change things up.

And that's why you don't play Tom McDonald. I think I am literally a better player than Tom McDonald. Not even joking. 

Please sack Goodwin and be done with it!

The Dogs are a side who have a game style that we can't handle.  They love to flick out that quick handball to a player on the outside, and they are a terrific team off half back.  Their man three - Daniel, JJ and Crozier - cut us up all day when the ball hit the deck.  Not only are they clever players, but they use the ball very well and were able to hit targets in these conditions.

At half time you could tell that there were a few signs that we weren't playing all that well, but we lifted our intensity and lifted our pressure in the second term and we took our chances.  We just had to keep that up.

And then we fell in a hole, both on the field and in the box, in the third term.  Bevo made some changes, such as English deep and Bruce into the ruck as both had been ineffectual to that point, and he clearly implored his players to look for the switch and run hard at every opportunity.  They did exactly that and too often they took the ball from one end to the other and they made us look second rate.  Goodwin didn't prepare enough for it, but then the players also didn't run hard enough either.

Our midfield was smashed today.  Trac was off, Oliver looked like he was gassed, Viney tries but today it didn't really pay off, and Gus didn't have the same influence as previous weeks.  Preuss was good in the ruck but, really, we should have had more influence out of the guts than we did.

Overall, this was a big test for the club after three wins against teams we should be beating, and we failed miserably.  And it really hurt to watch that.

People will try and pick out individuals in this game, but I don't see that as the problem.  People were pinging Fritsch for goodness sake.  The bloke aint the problem.  Our problem, against good sides, is that they cut us up on the outside and when the pressure drops they run it out without any issue and make us pay.  Our gameplan is too rigid and inflexible to change for it and, unless we put massive amounts of pressure on for pretty much the whole game, we struggle.

One positive from today was, again, the back line.  We could have had the greatest back line in the world in that third term and it wouldn't have stopped the ball the way it came in.  I thought May, Lever and Tomlinson were all excellent throughout the game and gave their tall forwards an absolute bath.  Hibberd was off and Wallis kicked 4 on him but, again, he had A+ delivery without any pressure.

Season is on the line next week against a side who have even more leg speed and run than the Dogs - the Saints.  We will need to make some adjustments and prepare ourselves as if we lose next week, then we're gone.  I won't write us off just yet as many here did after the Port game and then three games later we are in the 8.  However, roll over against the Saints and it will be very, very hard.

Very disappointed after that game but I'm not giving up on the season just yet.  While the Dogs were better, we more than had our chances to not only be further in front at different stages, but to also bridge the gap in the last term.  

Dominated the hitouts but couldn't capitalise. Familiar story. 

Some very poor disposal that killed us too. (yes it was windy but some if it was horrendous) We seem to struggle to play clean footy against teams that apply constant pressure. 

Not all is lost,  but that was a bitterly disappointing second half with season on the line. 

This group just don't want it.

They'll run hard when it's easy to do so against weak opposition, but when they actually have to work hard they give up. A great coach could sort them out, but there's very few of them around and we have a talented but stubborn and boring one.

We'll hear the same messages, see the same underperforming players picked and the cycle continues.

 

4 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

Disappointed but at the end of the day if our forwards kicked straight we easily could have won. Melksham and Fristch really hurt us today.

So did McDonald - waste of space at this stage of his career. Sack him. Joel Smith would have been a better, more competitive choice.

1 minute ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Doggies played very well today; they’re a hot and cold side and today they brought their best.  We weren’t able to match them.

 

 

 

When will we stop accepting this “they are a good team we can’t match them” mantra? They were below us on the ladder. They are roughly similar in age and experience. I can accept losing to much better sides but we shouldn’t accept losing to every team that is having a good day out. We should be a lot further ahead than this, two years after making a prelim. 

Incredibly disappointing. I think at one stage in the third quarter they’d had 7 I50’s for 6 goals. Game over. 

I hope Melksham is made an example of in the review. He gave away one ridiculous 50m penalty, blatantly refused to put his body on the line in another marking contest, and allowed a shot at goal from 25m out to be touched by a Dogs midget. Simply not good enough from an experienced player and apparent leader.

May is absolutely incredible and yet it looks like another season for him where he won’t get to play in a final. He deserves better frankly. We are wasting his talent, just like the Suns did.

I mean, we could yet make it, but that would mean only losing one game from here. I have serious doubts. 

Looking forward to olisik, poita et al emerging after a few weeks in the wilderness. Yep olisik is already here on page 1. Almost as predictable as that performance... 

 

Edited August 22, 20205 yr by No Plan B

Just typical Melb. 2 costly 50's & 2 touched shots right in front. Never looked like it today. Could have been comfortably sitting in the 8. We're mentally weak

 

 

Edited August 22, 20205 yr by wizardinoz
Spell

Just now, At the break of Gawn said:

Goodwin put too much faith in our mids going head to head against their’s. 
 

No negating on Bont. No negating on McCrae. One of our biggest strengths in 2018 was Harmes work as a tagger. Why not try something?

Hibbo has some credits in the bank, but he was shocking today. 

I don't think this was the issue for us today.  ALL of their mids had their way with us today.  Bont, Macrae, Hunter, Libba, Smith, Dunkley etc - the issue, for me, is that our midfield didn't work hard enough.  We allowed them to pressure us and we fluffed in the face of it.

If Harmes goes to Bont, I think it makes little difference here and is taking our focus away from the real issue out of today, which was our pressure around the ball, our pressure when the ball hits the deck and our willingness to run back defensively.  We were totally shown up today.

Lost in the coaches box, taken to school by Bevo.

I had alarm bells before the match when they asked Goodwin about the  Dogs midfield and he said we will back our mids against there’s.

Guess what? 
Theirs were better.

We will never win a flag under Goodwin. The end. 

Just now, Half forward flank said:

You are kidding

No I am not kidding. Melksham kicking into the man on the mark 20m out, giving away a stupid 50, missing other goals. Fristch kicking on the full from 30 meters out and missing a couple of others and trying to get Melskham knocked out with a ridiculous pass. Not to mention how easily they could move the ball from kick outs which wouldn't have occurred without missing these easy goals.

We were outplayed yet right in the game.

“ The Demons are believed to have had the fewest membership refunds of any club.”

it’s good to see that loyalty being rewarded 

Positives:

• Steven May absolutely superb

Negatives:

• Shallow chaotic forward entries
• Terrible forward pressure
• Mids getting sucked into the contest. Has been better in recent weeks but came back against a good midfield.
• No breakaway from Oliver. Completely different to his last 5 weeks.
• I still don't like Harmes down back

1 minute ago, Lord Nev said:

This group just don't want it.

They'll run hard when it's easy to do so against weak opposition, but when they actually have to work hard they give up. A great coach could sort them out, but there's very few of them around and we have a talented but stubborn and boring one.

We'll hear the same messages, see the same underperforming players picked and the cycle continues.

 

But wait! There are learnings to be made. Has he seen a dermatologist over his itchy left leg? Same game plan well researched and countered. Ring a bell?

Well it was fun being in the 8 for a week. 

The 3rd quarter we will rue back on. Disgraceful. We had it inside more 50s but couldn't convert and they put on 6 goals in a row. 

Scoreboard pressure in the first half failed because we couldn't convert. Melksham kicking into the man of the mark was a massive error from a player of that experience. 

Petracca only went at 31% kicking accuracy and Viney wasn't much better. 

Unbelievably playing three too many inside mids doesn't work against teams with legs 

7 minutes ago, Return to Glory said:

I'm trying to fathom why we would play a head to head running game in the third quarter against a strong breeze. I'm sure there's more than that but...boy oh boy

 

You wouldn’t if you had a Coach. Beveridge sh-t all over Goody today.