2 minutes ago, CYB said:

I think this definitely had to factor in. We are all human after all. Was saying to a mate that Tomo needed to compose himself or remove himself away from the team as seeing him in distress ( which is absolutely ok) effected the teams focus. 

It sure had an impact on me. Poor guy. 
He seemed so overcome by emotion. Like he just was in shock and the wave of disappointment kept coming back again and again. 

So far this season we’ve had a charmed run with injury / charmed run that our injured players haven’t impacted our performance. Today feels like we are no longer charmed, and on level pegging with the rest of the comp on the injury front.

It’s amazing how quickly things can change and I’m actually really happy that we managed to show some ticker and get over the line in the second half. That would not have happened in seasons past.

This is a reality check and in a way, a fantastic reminder to the group that there isn’t a team in the comp that we can relax against. 
 

Thankfully we have Petty to come in, or Tmac to go back and Weid to play forward. Our depth is now being tested with Viney out as well.

The Richmond game felt like we had arrived, today’s game feels like despite being 7-0, we have plenty of work to do.

AFL is as much a mental battle as it is physical, and we will undoubtedly have bad days and losses, when we least expect them. Right now though, a third of the way through the season, being on top of the ladder is an amazing effort. 

Start again next week and back in our system.

Go Dees! 

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Missed 3/4 as I was on a plane, the last 1/4 was average but good to see we put the foot on their throat when we needed to

One thing that struck me as strange, our % went down... Anyone know why?

?

No. No-one can work it out. One of footy's mysteries.

I actually think losing Viney will hurt us more than Tommo. Our clearance work is super dependent on Viney playing as a defensive mid and today we took a long time to adjust without him. 
Jackson winning his own ball sure helped. He is a gun. Kosi is spectacular but Jacko is just insane to be doing what he’s doing at his age and his height. 

Edited May 2, 20213 yr by Jaded

10 goals to 2 in the 2nd half is nothing to be sneezed at.

Weve come off a huge & emotional Anzac eve, then witnessed a teammates season ending injury in the first minutes of the game.

We responded & win by 5 goals

Good win

7 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Disagree. Tackling and pressure acts are a non negotiable for everyone in the team according to Goodwin. 
Being a high half forward who doesn’t kick many goals, means defensive pressure is even more important. 
I wouldn’t drop Melksham because he isn’t winning clearances, but putting pressure on and tackling is really just a stock standard request for someone in his role. 

Fine. I knew my post would draw a response and I am happy not to agree on everything. 

But while we’re at it, there is a lot of bias on this forum that is not backed up by facts. People don’t like Melksham and actively look for things he does wrong or doesn’t do at all. So, some facts from today’s game:

Spargo 10 disposals, 2 tackles and 7 pressure acts.

Jones 14 disposals, 2 tackles, 11 pressure acts.

Melksham 17 disposals, 3 tackles and 18 pressure acts.

 

6 minutes ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Fine. I knew my post would draw a response and I am happy not to agree on everything. 

But while we’re at it, there is a lot of bias on this forum that is not backed up by facts. People don’t like Melksham and actively look for things he does wrong or doesn’t do at all. So, some facts from today’s game:

Spargo 10 disposals, 2 tackles and 7 pressure acts.

Jones 14 disposals, 2 tackles, 11 pressure acts.

Melksham 17 disposals, 3 tackles and 18 pressure acts.

 

Fair enough. I didn’t look at the stats. I looked at the game, and I may have missed those pressure acts. Maybe I see him not chase and miss lots of tackles because he goes in half arsed and that annoys me. 
And Jones is a non issue. He was dropped and only came in as the injury sub. We know he’s borderline best 22 now, but I thought he was quite good today and his cool head kept us afloat when everyone else was barely going. He also has about 200 more runs on the board than Melksham. 

Edited May 2, 20213 yr by Jaded

Our clearances need work, stoppages as well as centre work.

Taps to advantage could be much better.

When do we shark the oppositions taps?

I think it could be a focus this week at training. 

Can't give Sydney as much ball. They are very efficient when they have it.

 

 

24 minutes ago, CYB said:

I think this definitely had to factor in. We are all human after all. Was saying to a mate that Tomo needed to compose himself or remove himself away from the team as seeing him in distress ( which is absolutely ok) effected the teams focus. 

No way we were smashed in the middle well before Tomlinson went down

2 minutes ago, kev martin said:

Our clearances need work, stoppages as well as centre work.

Taps to advantage could be much better.

When do we shark the oppositions taps?

I think it could be a focus this week at training. 

Can't give Sydney as much ball. They are very efficient when they have it.

 

Max took a bath today simple as that!

 

I just finished watching the second half. I was able to watch the first, but had an appointment on Zoom halfway through the second quarter.

I think Jason Dunstall gave the best analysis of the game that could be given. Like good teams do, what got us over the line (and comfortably too) was the fact we kept running until the end and the Roos (credit to them) ran out of gas. Talent differential was clearly a factor too. 
 

It wasn’t showtime football by any stretch of the imagination, but I think we should be grateful for that. For too often, our problem has been we have been running amok or we’ve been leaking goals. We’ve mostly been getting over the line by putting together consistent, honest stretches of football.

Next week would have us primed to lose to be honest based on our history. We’ve been on a high for quite a while, two key players are out who are vital to our structure (Viney and Tomlinson) and a bogey opponent. How we account for ourselves will say a lot about where we are going. 

Any reason BBB didn’t stand in the middle and get a Gatorade shower for the song today?

2 minutes ago, Rossmillan said:

Any reason BBB didn’t stand in the middle and get a Gatorade shower for the song today?

He probably hates the fact that some poor person has to clean it up after the players make a big mess.

Our game style can’t take too many passengers and if there are a few that are not high in their intensity we will struggle because we don’t hold and slow the footy like Geelong or PA; we crowd the footy to win it back in the forward half. If two players are not right, that creates holes that will hurt all the way past our high backline to the other end of the ground.

Contrarian View

I thought Fritsch was hopeless in the first half and with ANB being horrid, a more subdued Spargo and an out of sorts Melksham - our forward line was not up for it. Fritsch looked disinterested in his role as a small terroriser when we don’t have the footy and he needs to change that quickly. With Brown taking that deeper role; Fritsch needs to reassess his role IMO. And he should reap the rewards of Brown being down there as he did in the second half. 

Orher than that, there were a few ‘millionaires’ out there that shouldn’t cash their cheques just yet- they haven’t done anything. Certainly not enough for over the shoulder handballs, and kicks that they are not good enough to hit.

I expect either Syd or a Carlton to beat us in the next two weeks as the season hits the legs and we move along in our journey to September!

Jackson rucking in the third helped turn the game. 
Gawn was beaten soundly by Goldy but Dogga plays differently and more athletically which threw Goldy out A bit I reckon.

ON TOP OF THE THE LADDER -Bloody fantastic, just bloody fantastic 7 /0 I am just happy to be on this ride, not interested in the ifs, buts and what nots , taking it a week at a time looking to the next challenge and see what this team can achieve.  Did I say its Bloody fantastic well  BLOODY FANTASTIC - May the Dees be with you.

It's a long season. 

It may have been an ugly win, but if there is ever a "good ugly" then that was it!

Still good signs and plenty of upside

41 minutes ago, Rossmillan said:

Any reason BBB didn’t stand in the middle and get a Gatorade shower for the song today?

A faceful of Gatorade is probably not the best treatment for an open forehead gash.

I'm glad we got it done. The first half was very very Melbourne of old. I thought we were past getting ahead of ourselves, but clearly we still have a lot of work to do above the shoulders. Still, we would have lost it completely in the past, so at least we got the chocolates.

Easily Gawn's worst match for the season. Thank goodness for Jackson in the ruck and around the ground. This kid is going to be a star of the competition. Having him in centre bounces made us far more dangerous.

Goldstein regularly kills Max, but Max just didn't get it done around the ground today either. Needs to lift big time for next week, because he's got another opponent who has owned him historically in Hickey.

Tomlinson going down is a massive blow, but I think the coaches were very smart sending Tom back to try it out. I wouldn't have, but Tom showed he could get it done. That said, I think we should bring Petty in and keep McDonald forward, but I wonder if the coaching panel will decide to bring Weideman in and send Tom back. Problem with Tom is he's not a lock down defender like Tomlinson. 

Our lack of forward pressure and midfield pressure showed that even our defensive system won't stand up to even the worst side in the competition if our mids and forwards don't work hard enough to apply pressure.

Kozzie however was a great spark, Fritsch kicked straight, we weren't too Brown focused and he'll be better for the run, and JJ brought great pressure, used the ball well and kicked an important goal when it mattered. 

I know Baker had 15 touches, but I wouldn't have him in my team. He's incredibly soft and doesn't hurt on the outside. At least 3 half hearted efforts to tackle cost us. Throw Brayshaw back to the wing and bring in Harmes or Swallow to the midfield rotation.

I'm very glad we got over the line, but we'll have to reset psychologically and structurally/personnel wise with Tomlinson out next week and potentially Fritsch. 7 zip is brilliant though, but we've got an emerging Swans to take care of next week. Step up, boys.

Just thinking on Gawn today - he was physically worked over by the Tigers and Nankervis in particular last week. It’s always a bit surprising when he has a quiet day, but probably always a reason.

What an effing treat it is to have a second year ruck be able to step up and take charge of the game. I’ve been happy with Taylor, but those three picks have put him in the top echelon of recruiters.

4 minutes ago, A F said:

I'm glad we got it done. The first half was very very Melbourne of old. I thought we were past getting ahead of ourselves, but clearly we still have a lot of work to do above the shoulders. Still, we would have lost it completely in the past, so at least we got the chocolates.

Easily Gawn's worst match for the season. Thank goodness for Jackson in the ruck and around the ground. This kid is going to be a star of the competition. Having him in centre bounces made us far more dangerous.

Goldstein regularly kills Max, but Max just didn't get it done around the ground today either. Needs to lift big time for next week, because he's got another opponent who has owned him historically in Hickey.

Tomlinson going down is a massive blow, but I think the coaches were very smart sending Tom back to try it out. I wouldn't have, but Tom showed he could get it done. That said, I think we should bring Petty in and keep McDonald forward, but I wonder if the coaching panel will decide to bring Weideman in and send Tom back. Problem with Tom is he's not a lock down defender like Tomlinson. 

Our lack of forward pressure and midfield pressure showed that even our defensive system won't stand up to even the worst side in the competition if our mids and forwards don't work hard enough to apply pressure.

Kozzie however was a great spark, Fritsch kicked straight, we weren't too Brown focused and he'll be better for the run, and JJ brought great pressure, used the ball well and kicked an important goal when it mattered. 

I know Baker had 15 touches, but I wouldn't have him in my team. He's incredibly soft and doesn't hurt on the outside. At least 3 half hearted efforts to tackle cost us. Throw Brayshaw back to the wing and bring in Harmes or Swallow to the midfield rotation.

I'm very glad we got over the line, but we'll have to reset psychologically and structurally/personnel wise with Tomlinson out next week and potentially Fritsch. 7 zip is brilliant though, but we've got an emerging Swans to take care of next week. Step up, boys.

This is the one time spelling a name wrong is acceptable.

4 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Our avg wins is above todays margin?

 

1 hour ago, Mazer Rackham said:

It is true. Some people do not understand percentage.

We had 150 % before today . Today we won 103 to 73. So our percentage is 103/73 * 100 = 141% . Soour overall % goes down

1 hour ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Fine. I knew my post would draw a response and I am happy not to agree on everything. 

But while we’re at it, there is a lot of bias on this forum that is not backed up by facts. People don’t like Melksham and actively look for things he does wrong or doesn’t do at all. So, some facts from today’s game:

Spargo 10 disposals, 2 tackles and 7 pressure acts.

Jones 14 disposals, 2 tackles, 11 pressure acts.

Melksham 17 disposals, 3 tackles and 18 pressure acts.

 

Baker 15 disposals and 4 tackles, not bad either.