The so-called “experts” keep saying that Melbourne hasn’t beaten an opponent of quality yet.

If that’s true then the season begins today...

This is the game to see if we really have improved,although the conditions will make it difficult for either team to show their best.Expect Viney to be in and under in the wet

Horrible morning out there. I predict a slog for 3 quarters but the superior fitness of the Dees to subdue the tired old cats legs in the last.

Dees by 4 goals

Prediction: The players have set themselves for this match and will be up and about early. We will win this game without too much fuss. We will be 4/0 and there will be a lot a positive media about us during the week. We will all feel pretty good about ourselves and our undefeated team. We will then be second to the ball and get rolled by a more committed Hawthorn next week. 

Edited April 10, 20214 yr by FarNorthernD

  On 10/04/2021 at 20:52, FarNorthernD said:

We will be 4/0 and there will be a lot a positive media about us during the week. We will all feel pretty good about ourselves and our undefeated team. We will then be second to the ball get rolled by a committed Hawthorn next week. 

Nah. There are shinier things to occupy the media. Sydneys new kids on the block, the doggies silky midfield, Ports over-powering of the tiges, the saints come from the clouds win (remember all the experts who tipped them preseason, they’ll jump straight back on after yesterday)

And remember we haven’t beaten anyone yet, we’ve been lucky to play teams when we did, they had injuries, the cats are short of danger and Cameron, they are old and past it anyways etc. etc.

A hard fought, meat and potatoes win will do nicely. Keeps the focus off us for another week.

  On 10/04/2021 at 20:09, Whispering_Jack said:

The so-called “experts” keep saying that Melbourne hasn’t beaten an opponent of quality yet.

If that’s true then the season begins today...

Our first 3 preseason games have been ok then.
 

Looking forward to settle in to watch this one at the Apollo Bay pub with a cheeky pot and a way over priced parma. 

  On 10/04/2021 at 21:17, Cards13 said:

Our first 3 preseason games have been ok then.
 

Looking forward to settle in to watch this one at the Apollo Bay pub with a cheeky pot and a way over priced parma. 

it's bucketing here on the bellarine... can only imagine what the frigid waters off marengo look like. Enjoy :)

Edited April 10, 20214 yr by Engorged Onion

It's a miserable day out there but I've had a good feeling about this game all week. A Japanese breakfast at CIBI in Collingwood will kick start the day to be followed by meander down and around Smith St for a couple of autumnal ales on the way to the G. Should be a good one. 

  On 10/04/2021 at 20:09, Whispering_Jack said:

The so-called “experts” keep saying that Melbourne hasn’t beaten an opponent of quality yet.

If that’s true then the season begins today...

That’s what they were saying before yesterday.

However, the last two teams that we beat were St Kilda and GWS Giants and yesterday they disposed of the WC Eagles and Collingwood who were both considered finals candidates for this year and played off for the premiership in 2018. Maybe, our wins haven’t been too shabby after all?

  On 10/04/2021 at 21:27, Engorged Onion said:

it's bucketing here on the bellarine... can only imagine what the frigid waters off marengo look like. Enjoy :)

I went for a bike ride yesterday afternoon  up the Barham and then up past Marengo, was a windy day ended hailing so was very chilly by the end. 
I hope the local footy wasn’t an omen for today, the AB Hawks thrashed Otway District (Dees colours) 78 to 2 points. 

I would rather a thumping either way. We belt them or they belt us and I can tune out with it on in the background. We're due a big margin, and the scale is tipped in our favor to get it done. No more bloody close finishes with Selwood getting frees in defense and slingshotting it forward for the match winner. Can't take that [censored].

Edited April 10, 20214 yr by John Demonic

These sort of days worry me. Do we know how to play wet weather footy? Or will we persist with our handball Ring-a-Rosie which often get us in trouble? Geelong have a habit of kicking efficiently against us such as round 3 2017, 20.6 126 Cats, to 13.19 97 Dees. Still makes me sick thinking about that game, cost us a spot in finals just as much as the last game against collingwood. But we definitely have fitter legs than their aging carcasses.

Ah well games not for many hours yet, so will spend the day playing dinosaurs, Lego and building forts with my young bloke so at least 3/4 of the day will be good fun, then hopefully the boys get the job done and it will top off a great day ??????

Ah well. On days like this I am thankful that I live in Brisbane where the temperature right now is 22 degrees. ?

Dees by 30.

Was expect a big win today but the wet has got me a little unsure. We have in the past forgot to switch back to wet weather footy when needed. 

The wet weather will take away their slow switch to switch style.

Last eve’s game at ‘G’  was exemplified by the wet weather skills of the modern footballer. Coaches and particularly players take note, less handball more kicking please. The judicious use of the kick off the ground was also most effective. 
 

 

Hourly forecasts have the rain clearing up (or at least the % chance of there being rain dropping significantly) by about midday. Still be windy though so I hope we learnt some lessons from the Cairns experience.

These conditions would surely suit Sparrow ahead of Melksham. 

Huge game for us.

The chance to be 4 zip was not a prospect it seemed after that dogs scratch match.

If we get it done then we are definate finals contenders.

Go you good demons.

Honestly, I am glad to stay under the radar.  Keep banking the points across a strangely mixed up season.  Let other clubs deal with bath water.

strong defensive pressure especially in the forward half (stop their uncontested mark world record), make plenty of contests and run the legs off them late sees us home by a comfortable 30 points.  Umps to annoy us all day, but we get it done.  Go Dees!

Can anyone confirm if the Yarra Park parking is open today? MCG website says so, but given this weather...

Hail and thunder + heavy rain in the South east.   Concerning as these are the type games we fumble and do not adjust to the conditions.  We "should" beat an aging Geelong with extra days break, but this has alarm bells for mine.

Demons to over-run them in a tense last quarter.

Going to be hard for Geelong to play their chip up game today, they will adjust and just bang it forward and pressure at any cost....i hope we do the same or it could get really ugly.  If we match their game style and pressure we should win this by 5 goals+, if we play dry weather footy we are in big trouble today!

Really looking forward to seeing how tracc’s wet weather footy holds up today, as well as how kossie goes about it. Lever looked a little double grabby last week which had me slightly concerned but our structure has been so good that I still believe an 8 goal grinded win is on the cards. Go dees, g&d on display today!

Geelong have a habit of humbling us in the worst possible way. Despite their possession game they play well in the wet. Though not playing at Kardinia Park today they well and truly smash visitors in the wet over there. We don’t handle wet conditions well. Too many recent wild results makes this impossible for me predict anything. We could win or lose by 40 points.  I’m nervous.

Edited April 10, 20214 yr by John Crow Batty

Seems counter-intuitive but a slop-fest requires extra maturity - which the Cats have in spades. We've also demonstrated extra maturity this season, so will be interesting to see how far we've come. Crazy to think that we could go two games clear of fifth spot by the end of round 4!