Jump to content

Our Robbo's Blunt Warning to Current Crop

John Crow Batty
John Crow Batty
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

 

i liked it.  Made sense.  Interesting he points out how they achieved what they did without any infrastructure resembling a professional club.  Now we have this, unlike any other time.  Happy days.

  • Quote

    To add to the general theme of this thread:

     

  • Quote
    •  

      On 03/05/2021 at 06:54, Sir Why You Little said:

    Won’t open for me JCB

    Same here. 

  • Quote
    •  
      On 03/05/2021 at 06:57, Olgreybeard49 said:

    Try this: AFL 2021: ‘Babes in the woods’ - Former Melbourne Demons star Russell Robertson delivers blunt warning (theage.com.au)

    Else I'll happily post the article.

    Thanks for that

    Robbo needs to address the playing group with this. Hopefully he has already done it

  • Quote

      On 03/05/2021 at 07:02, Sir Why You Little said:

    Thanks for that

    Robbo needs to address the playing group with this. Hopefully he has already done it

    Robbo and his teammates needed to address this back in '05.
    Lost to bottom side Carlton twice that year.
    Forkin' hopeless.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
      On 03/05/2021 at 07:07, Fork 'em said:

    Robbo and his teammates needed to address this back in '05.
    Lost to bottom side Carlton twice that year.
    Forkin' hopeless.

    I remember it well

    2004 was very similar 

  • Quote

    This crop is nothing like the team of 2005.  Daniher had a terrible defensive structure and teams would easily score against them. 
     

    Before their run of losses that year the conceded: 

    dogs 15.21 round 2

    saints 23 goals round 4

    dockers 22 goals round 6

    hawks 19 goals round 8

    no wonder they lost the next 7 games. As soon as the pressure dropped sides would pile on the goals.


     

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    I sincerely hope we do what Brisbane used to do in their dominant era - have a massively hard training block come June/July in order to be absolutely prime in September. 

     

    We have already earned the chance to manage player load through winter and do some in game experimentation of players in different roles to allow flexibility at the end of the year. 

    We will lose games - happy to do so more on our terms when we are gearing up for our first serious charge in a long time

     

     

     

     

     

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    I recall thinking at the time that we were a seriously god side, then I had a look at the back end of the year and realised we had an easy first part but there were not many clubs we would be expected to beat in the last part of the season and we didn't.  

    That's why we fell in a heap.

  • Quote
    • Demonland changed the title to Our Robbo's Blunt Warning to Current Crop

    May be deliberate in this case, for all the Johns he gets?...

  • Quote

    Have to agree, with Robbo.

    One thing that stood out for me was not having our own home ground, the club realy needs fix this; i wish we could convince the MCC to allow us to make the MCG our home, to train on and have everything our players need?

  • Quote

    That side had talent no doubt but they were pushed aside under even a little bit of pressure. 

    This year's team will have its slump/s. It will come. Don't be surprised if we lose 3-4 games in a row at some point. A belting or two will definitely come around. 

    But this team is different. We'll be primed for a run late in the season.

  • Quote

      On 03/05/2021 at 07:25, bandicoot said:

    This crop is nothing like the team of 2005.  Daniher had a terrible defensive structure and teams would easily score against them.

    Before their run of losses that year the conceded: 

    dogs 15.21 round 2

    saints 23 goals round 4

    dockers 22 goals round 6

    hawks 19 goals round 8

    no wonder they lost the next 7 games. As soon as the pressure dropped sides would pile on the goals.

    Robbo was talking about player mind set.   

    It is a timely warning from Robbo - the back half of our season will be a lot harder than the first as we play the better sides and we play interstate every other week.   Injuries are starting to happen.  Youngsters will tire.  Lots of things can derail our season.

    If the right mind set isn't there the team, structures and systems won't protect us.   Players just can't get ahead of themselves.

    Edited by Lucifer's Hero

  • Quote

    I can remember 2 instances of this playing local footy.

    One year we were undefeated on top of the ladder after the first half of the season then couldn't buy a win agains the same teams in the 2nd half and dropped out of the final 4.

    The other one we were comfortable in the 4 and cruising, one of my mates took off on holidays about 4 or 5 weeks before the finals and was due back to play when we made it. He turned up on the Tuesday before with his gear ready to get stripped and train, walked into the rooms and we were all sitting around having a beer. He couldn't believe that we'd dropped out. 

    ...so nothing is a given. I'm comfortable with where we sit but take nothing for granted.

  • Quote

    Hopefully the first half against North is a good reminder we can lose to anyone anytime if our intensity is off. It certainly was for me!

  • Quote
    •  
      On 03/05/2021 at 07:02, Sir Why You Little said:

    Thanks for that

    Robbo needs to address the playing group with this. Hopefully he has already done it

    The side issue in Robbo's comments on the histroy is that looking at the games in the season collapse he refers to , Robbo did his bit as a very productive forward in those losses and I wonder if he felt others let him down, or maybe he is emphasising that it can't be left to a few - everyone has to stay contributing to the end.

    A timely contribution by the great man.

  • Quote

    I think someone mentioned it this week but up until the Tiges game we've had a honeymoon run. Kudos to the fitness staff to have us up and going.

    From here on in it gets hard. We've already lost our gun defensive mid (Viney). We've lost a great one on one defender in Tomlinson. Fritta has been rubbed out for a week. What impact will further injuries have?

    Opposition teams are targetting Gawn, Oliver and Petracca. Some of the tactics used against Gawn were downright thuggish on Sunday.

    We're top of the ladder. Everyone is gunning for us. Our game plan will be examined thoroughly with the slightest chinks in our armour tested thoroughly.

    Will be interesting to see if we can withstand the pressure from here on in.

    Up till now the way we've gelled as a team has been outstanding.

    Edited by dee-tox

  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
    Reply to this topic...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • GAMEDAY: Essendon

      It’s Game Day, and the Demons are staring down the barrel of an 0-5 start for the first time since 2012 as they take on Essendon at Adelaide Oval for Gather Round. In that forgettable season, Melbourne finally broke their drought by toppling the Bombers. Can lightning strike twice? Will the Dees turn their nightmare start around and breathe life back into 2025?

        • Haha
        • Like
      • 90 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREVIEW: Essendon

      As the focus of the AFL moves exclusively to South Australia for Gather Round, the question is raised as to what are we going to get from the  Melbourne Football Club this weekend? Will it be a repeat of the slop fest of the last three weeks that have seen the team score a measly 174 points and concede 310 or will a return to the City of Churches and the scene where they performed at their best in 2024 act as a wakeup call and bring them out of their early season reverie?  Or will the sleepy Dees treat their fans to a reenactment of their lazy effort from the first Gather Round of two years ago when they allowed the Bombers to trample all over them on a soggy and wet Adelaide Oval? The two examples from above tell us how fickle form can be in football. Last year, a committed group of players turned up in Adelaide with a businesslike mindset. They had a plan, went in confidently and hard for the football and kicked winning scores against both home teams in a difficult environment for visitors. And they repeated that sort of effort later in the season when they played Essendon at the MCG.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Essendon

      Facing the very real and daunting prospect of starting the season with five straight losses, the Demons head to South Australia for the annual Gather Round, where they’ll take on the Bombers in search of their first win of the year. Who comes in, and who comes out?

        • Like
      • 489 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • NON-MFC: Round 05

      Gather Round is here, kicking off with a Thursday night blockbuster as Adelaide faces Geelong. The Crows will be out for redemption after a controversial loss last week. Saturday starts with the Magpies taking on the Swans. Collingwood will be eager to cement their spot in the top eight, while Sydney is hot on their heels. In the Barossa Valley, two rising sides go head-to-head in a fascinating battle to prove they're the real deal. Later, Carlton and West Coast face off at Adelaide Oval, both desperate to notch their first win of the season. The action then shifts to Norwood, where the undefeated Lions will aim to keep their streak alive against the Bulldogs. Sunday’s games begin in the Barossa with Richmond up against Fremantle. In Norwood, the Saints will be looking to take a scalp when they come up against the Giants. The round concludes with a fiery rematch of last year's semi-final, as the Hawks seek revenge for their narrow loss to Port Adelaide. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons besides us winning?

      • 231 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Geelong

      There was a time in the second quarter of the game at the Cattery on Friday afternoon when the Casey Demons threatened to take the game apart against the Cats. The Demons had been well on top early but were struggling to convert their ascendancy over the ground until Tom Fullarton’s burst of three goals in the space of eight minutes on the way to a five goal haul and his best game for the club since arriving from Brisbane at the end of 2023. He was leading, marking and otherwise giving his opponents a merry dance as Casey grabbed a three goal lead in the blink of an eye. Fullarton has now kicked ten goals in Casey’s three matches and, with Melbourne’s forward conversion woes, he is definitely in with a chance to get his first game with the club in next week’s Gather Round in Adelaide. Despite the tall forward’s efforts - he finished with 19 disposals and eight marks and had four hit outs as back up to Will Verrall in the second half - it wasn’t enough as Geelong reigned in the lead through persistent attacks and eventually clawed their way to the lead early in the last and held it till they achieved the end aim of victory.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Geelong

      I was disappointed to hear Goody say at his post match presser after the team’s 39 point defeat against Geelong that "we're getting high quality entry, just poor execution" because Melbourne’s problems extend far beyond that after its 0 - 4 start to the 2025 football season. There are clearly problems with poor execution, some of which were evident well before the current season and were in play when the Demons met the Cats in early May last year and beat them in a near top-of-the-table clash that saw both sides sitting comfortably in the top four after round eight. Since that game, the Demons’ performances have been positively Third World with only five wins in 19 games with a no longer majestic midfield and a dysfunctional forward line that has become too easy for opposing coaches to counter. This is an area of their game that is currently being played out as if they were all completely panic-stricken.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All