So proud of the team so far this season. In previous seasons we might have dropped these past two games. GWS came out of the blocks and looked like their classy best, and we managed to claw it back and overrun them. We just didn't have the resolve in previous seasons. And one of the best parts is we have different players standing up each time. T-Mac was down, Oliver got tagged out but others stood up. That's definitely the hallmark of a good team. We just look look more team oriented at the moment. Bring on the Cats!

Kozzie for pick 12 what an absolute bargain! 

3-0 feels so good. Enjoy. Ahead of the ledger and the confidence will grow. If we made the most of our scoring opportunities the last two weeks we would have had a couple of thumping wins. Look out when that clicks. Great time to play the Cats. 

A week ago I posted the only thing to beat us vs GWS was ourselves and what was happening 'between the ears. 

Answer:  Plenty good is happening -

• We came to play; we came to win.
• We didn't take our foot off the pedal.
• We played 120 mins of committed football
• We didn't let their early run of goals daunt us or to drop our heads.  We fought back.
• We fought back in the last quarter again when they had a bit of a run.
• We know how to steady the ship. 
• We are less likely to panic

Three weeks of consistency and resilience.  Great foundations on which to build the rest of the season.

I'm guessing the belief by the players would be growing by the week; no matter what the opps throw at us we can deal with it and get over the line.

That is the new Melbourne.   Next step:  Ruthless defeat of the opps!

Yes, we have tougher opps over the next three weeks but there is untold benefit in the growth 'between the ears' of the last 3 weeks.

We can easily be 6 - 0 or 5 - 1.

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by Lucifer's Hero

8 minutes ago, Kent said:

why is our 50 always crowded??

Seriously?

Have you been watching us this year?

 Even rhe boneheaded commentators pointed out how less crowded we were than the saints for example. As evidenced by our incredible inside 50 to scoring ratio in that game (almost double of the saints).

Similarly we had an open forward line v the dockers and in both our practice games. 

Why was it so crowded against the giants? Because they played a spare back there and flooded back at every opportunity. Which was a big factor in their impotence after q time.

And for what it's worth I thought we did a good job of scoring against that flood. Some smart leads and passes, 17 tackles inside 50, kossie and max pushing forward (smart move by goodies- something else to disrupt the anti goodies narrative).

Sometimes I think people complain for the sake of complaining and are stuck in 12 month old preconceived critisms. 

 

10 hours ago, layzie said:

A friend was keen to use the sub to get Fritsch off and Melksham on. This would have been silly, it is well publicised how much Fritsch misses gettable shots and how he 'Needs to practice goal kicking' I've seen every lime to describe this possible. But he's smart and knows how to find the footy in the 50. Action Jackson kicked a very crucial goal when it was needed.

 

I’d say your friend doesn’t understand how the sub works...

3 and 0.

3, in the end, comfortable wins.

Cant ask for more than that.

There is most certainly a more composed looking nature about how we go about things. Has to be yze and chocco's input.  

Jackson is extremely talented.  His hands around the ground ball, willingness to compete, his reading of the play.  6 foot 6.  Look out.

I thought much of the hype around Kozzie was a bit over the top leading into last nights game.  I sort of still do.  But he was sensational and without him we lose.

Hunt?  playing great.  Can you believe it.

Jones, ticking along alright the old boy.  Had his obligatory, weekly kick smothered but far from the headless chook who turned it over time and again in our cairns games last year. 

Brayshaw going good guns. 

Oliver needs to convert his scoring opportunities.  Like all the great ones.

Ah but I'm just happy...so good not to be depressed by round 3 for a change.

If we now lock in, reset, keep everything in check, heads down, bums up, win another two of the next three, well then, I'd be getting pretty excited.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

That’s twice now you’ve attacked the man and not the ball, that’s ok. 

Did you read my above coach comments regarding Wayne Bennett?

What effect do you think it would have on the team if for one game we didn’t sing the song, but the players spoke openly and honestly with each about how easily tonight could of been a different result and about what it is we want to achieve. Do you think it would have a negative of positive effect?

We all want one thing but when certain aspects of our game continue to remain the same what harm can come from mixing things up. We shouldn’t be afraid to try new things and to hold each other accountable.

 

Did you listen to Simon Goodwin' press conference - there is no way we're drinking the bathwater and he acknowledged we need to improve.

It was obvious the Giants would come hard with their season and coach's future on the line and they did.  But we were already back on even terms before Cogs went down.

Sure they had injuries but we had 3x the scoring shots and double their score after quarter time.

I agree with Goodwin we have a lot of room and scope for improvement but enjoy the win and the journey.

PS: we brought in some outrageous talent last year - Langdon, Jackson, Pickett and Rivers. Great list management.

There's so much to like about the side right now. The fact that Rivers, Sparrow and Jordon are making the likes of Hibberd, Melksham and Vanders earn their recall with Jay Lockhart also close to a return. Luke Jackson is showing the versatility we were never going to get from Braydon Preuss. I also love how we've persisted with guys like Hunt, Spargo, Nibbler and T-Mac who have all played important parts in our three wins this year. All of this means that our three draftees have time to learn their craft down at Casey. Last but not least of course we have two key position forwards ready to pull the boots on again. Happy days!

11 hours ago, sisso said:

How good is Langdon would be just about the top winger in the comp at the moment....never stops running

He is a great pickup along with Tomlinson in our backline. There is alot to be said about us picking up these two for probably around $500-600k per season, rather than a Brad Hill or Jack Martin for $800k+.  This decision will mean we have salary cap space to retain Oliver and Petracca and who along with Gawn would be our highest paid players.

Keep banking points.  It is a crazy season, and will continue to be.  Gotta keep getting the points in the bank every opportunity.  Looking like a side that wants to win, and is prepared to work to make it happen.  Well done Dees.  Not champagne footy (yet).

2 minutes ago, Pollyanna said:

PS: we brought in some outrageous talent last year - Langdon, Jackson, Pickett and Rivers. Great list management.

That has been the key... four contributors

Early days but fingers crossed that Jordon can also become an automatic selection.

Not sold on Hunt and the continued roles of Jones and Jetta will make for hard decisions.

While we are talking 'great pick-ups': The pick 2 (Josh Kelly) for Salem, Tyson and Hunt trade is looking pretty good right now.  Even tho we lost Tyson for Preuss who was traded to GWS, their pick for him helped us get B.Brown and either Bowey or Laurie.   (iirc, GWS pick 33 for Preuss went to North in the Brown deal and we got pick 28 back  which we used for Bowey or Laurie).

Kelly is a great player but I would say we have done very well from the trade.  Desperately hoping Salem stays.

And while doing a postmortem on recruiting - how many people wanted us to pick Cody Weightman instead of Kozzie? Weightman may yet become a very good player but Kozzie is a rare talent.  Imagine if we took Weightman and Bulldogs got Kozzie. 

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by Lucifer's Hero

What's all this palava about TMAC being unhappy?

FMD - some times it's a grind... he contributed with tackles in the forward 50, and took some telling marks.

He's playing the big dog at the moment, when he is best suited for number 2 and 3 forward.... 

GWS flooded back, it's pretty hard to take marks in a pack of 5...

Is there an expectation from some that he must jag 2 goals each game and dominate the forward 50?

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by Engorged Onion

But seriously, how good is Eddy Langdon?

Absolutely love the guy.

Also, on the subject of seeing something on TV and making assumptions, judging by this image

Clarry's not going anywhere, due to his mutual respect with Simon

Jones has just been told his is to retire effective immediately, and has taken it with good grace and is looking off into the middle distance...

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by Engorged Onion

9 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

What's all this palava about TMAC being unhappy?

FMD - some times it's a grind... he contributed with tackles in the forward 50, and took some telling marks.

He's playing the big dog at the moment, when he is best suited for number 2 and 3 forward.... 

GWS flooded back, it's pretty hard to take marks in a pack of 5...

Is there an expectation from some that he must jag 2 goals each game and dominate the forward 50?

Captain Gawn spoke up TMac’s game last night 

i think he was given a job to do and did it,  it just wasn’t obvious to us regular folk

6 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

 

You got it wrong. Goodwin just farted and said, "you stink Jonesy" Ollie says " you got him Goodie" 

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by ManDee

My whipping boy ANB has played well so far this year and good on him and I hope it continues for him and us.

17 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

What's all this palava about TMAC being unhappy?

FMD - some times it's a grind... he contributed with tackles in the forward 50, and took some telling marks.

He's playing the big dog at the moment, when he is best suited for number 2 and 3 forward.... 

GWS flooded back, it's pretty hard to take marks in a pack of 5...

Is there an expectation from some that he must jag 2 goals each game and dominate the forward 50?

Agree it not easy and he is doing his best. What other options are there. But he is a stop gap and in the last quarter was moving like a glacier. The point is against good team he will be a weak link. Winning three in a row allow supporters to drink their own bath water but we have only played three teams who have 2 wins out of 9 games. Shudder when thinking Barass and McGovern teaming TMac. Hopefully we bank our wins and have our A team when we play the big guns

5 minutes ago, Redleg said:

My whipping boy ANB has played well so far this year and good on him and I hope it continues for him and us.

Absolute credit where it is due. He has been very very good. His gut running and defensive pressure has been incredible important and even his ball use has been much improved. 
Went from my “delist” pile to my “best 22” pile. 
If Hunt can improve his kicking, he will be not far behind. 

Just watched the full replay. I’m absolutely stoked with that display. Not a complete performance by any means but without doubt we again displayed a level of maturity which has been lacking the last few seasons. GWS asked the question and we answered it. That’s a game we’re coughed up previously.

I hope they get their players back because if they continue to play like that they will beat teams we are competing with for Top 4. Toby Greene will cause problems for any team. Great player.

Best games of the year for LJ, Hunt, ANB and Fritsch. We are getting contributions across the board.

I think we all need to remember that you do not get to play games of AFL on your terms all the time. Talk of percentage boosts before the game were ridiculous. People disappointed we’re not winning by 50-60 points. You’re getting ahead of yourselves.

Big test next week against the Cats. They are so street smart and know how to win by fair means or fowl. I think they will play like GWS last night so we really need to work on creating separation this week. TMac was crowded out every time (I’d persevere with him by the way, he has credits in the bank from his first 2 games).

I think it’s a 50/50 game. Win it and i'll really start to believe.

56 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

A week ago I posted the only thing to beat us vs GWS was ourselves and what was happening 'between the ears. 

Answer:  Plenty good is happening -

• We came to play; we came to win.
• We didn't take our foot off the pedal.
• We played 120 mins of committed football
• We didn't let their early run of goals daunt us or to drop our heads.  We fought back.
• We fought back in the last quarter again when they had a bit of a run.
• We know how to steady the ship. 
• We are less likely to panic

Three weeks of consistency and resilience.  Great foundations on which to build the rest of the season.

I'm guessing the belief by the players would be growing by the week; no matter what the opps throw at us we can deal with it and get over the line.

That is the new Melbourne.   Next step:  Ruthless defeat of the opps!

Yes, we have tougher opps over the next three weeks but there is untold benefit in the growth 'between the ears' of the last 3 weeks.

We can easily be 6 - 0 or 5 - 1.

Love your belief LH. I still think we need a tall key forward added to the mix. Either of the Browns are needed IMO. Sadly I think the mop top is still some weeks away. It is hard to change a winning combination. What I like about this year is that when one of our best players is down we seem to be able win in spite of that problem. Unless there are injuries I think there will be no change for the cats. 

I think we Dees supporters have become so used to turnovers, bad skills, losing games by giving up 5-6 goals in 1 quarter etc... that we now complain about small stuff too much. There are mistakes all over the ground, each week and in every game, from both teams and the umpiring - even in great games like Doggies v Eagles last week.

I love that we are 3 - 0, but the most pleasing thing is we are playing great TEAM footy. There are very few occasions where we are burning our team mates, or individuals being too selfish for too long, or choosing the long bomb without thinking etc... Some of the selfless link-up footy by Jackson, Spargo, Langdon, Jones  is great team footy and I love it.

A big whole in our performance during Goodwin's reign has been defensive running, and by that I mean getting to the next contest in numbers when the opposition has the ball. Seeing Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca, Langdon, Jordon etc... working hard to get to half-back to help out means I don't have to watch with a knot in my stomach.

There is a rider of course - the three teams we have played will probably all struggle to make finals, so my lid is still firmly fixed to the jar.

We are 3-0 and our opposition so far is 2-7. The jury is still out whether we are the real deal but no one can complain about the 12 points. Big scalps on offer coming soon.

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by John Crow Batty

42 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Captain Gawn spoke up TMac’s game last night 

i think he was given a job to do and did it,  it just wasn’t obvious to us regular folk

TMac couldn’t snag them but contested everything coming forward and helped our crumbers. Lots of forward pressure and five tackles as well.

Edited April 5, 20214 yr by John Crow Batty