7 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Red alerts 

1 centre clearances 4-17

2 Contested marks 4-11

Swans definitely were high in pressure and contested footy.  
 

Two reasons why we won 

1 Our defence won the game   The back 6 were so strong once again 

2 Tommy mcd. Another excellent game. 4 goals. 

I'm with SONS. Great to show maturity and keep winning crap battles, but we still haven't truly clicked and there are red flags popping up all over the place. At one stage today I even thought it would be best if we lost, as the defeat 'we had to have'. Our structures are falling away, maybe in part because of the loss of Tomlinsen and into of B. Brown, but we will lose to the Dogs if we don't get tested in a fast movement game over the next two weeks before we meet. 

I

23 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Our midfield got an absolute bath. Ben Matthews will be smiling I reckon.

Credit to the forwards for getting a score, and very much credit to our backline for a huge job.

But the mids need a kick in the backside.

Harmes - zero first options

Clarry - flat footed

Gawn - awful.

Petracca - going for too much.

JJ - effort good but execution lacking

Brayshaw - diabolical 

Tom Sparrow in please.

I was screaming for Jackson to go in the ruck early in the 4th, we've been much better in recent weeks when he's in the middle.

22 minutes ago, Luther said:

Christian Salem is our most important player.

8-0 weeeeeewwwww

Such a cool head, always settles us down when the other team gets a run on especially early in games.

28 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Goodwin in the presser noting we lost centre clearances 4-17.

That's a shocking result, but the fact we could still win against a side starting the round in the top 4 is a good sign.

33-22 in stoppage clearances so it wasn't all bad.

We won the game at the stoppage and throw-ins. They stayed in the game from the centre. But we won where it counted and that's in and under. Thus a very important win.

3 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Tomlinsin and Viney are big outs.

Well done Harmes. Petty was ok.

I still dont get the constant love for melksham.

If someone can point out when he got some votes this in the last two years ill shut up.

I dare you.

Maybe we are lacking depth but this bloke may have been good once but his drought is much longer than tmacs and hes never starred like tmac so its mystifying to me.

Anyway full credit to our boys that beat a very strong team that threw the proverbial sink at us. Especially May...Salem Oliver...Tmac..Spargo and Bbb.

No tx to the umps.

 

Melksham was OK today. Did some nice things. I can handle players making mistakes every now and then but not lack of effort or laziness. Personally didn't see any of that from him this week. (As opposed to last week).

19 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

I would have had Langford as BOG tonight. Fantastic effort throughout. 

I was feeling that way too, an argument could be made, he is a 30% better player at the Dees than the Dockers, #positivelingers, I like him as much as I liked Brett Kirk, so so courageous, so much more than just a running machine, his defensive efforts were tremendous. 

 

Edited May 8, 20213 yr by DaisyDeeciple
'better' was missing

The thing that I’ve really noticed over the last few weeks is the consistency in where players are. Ed Langdon is huge for this. We know he’s going to be boundary side 15 metres from every contest, and that Salem’s going to be 60 metres behind the ball. The faith that players have in them means we can move the ball with much more confidence to the outside, in ways we haven’t been able to do before. It also means we can put players like Jordan, Jackson and Pickett into stoppages to offer something different. It doesn’t have to be Oliver, Viney and Trac fighting for every ball, and if we don’t win at the coal face it’s game over. We are a much more balanced team, and are playing with much more faith in each other. 

Fantastic to win and TMac was immense, but we really need to sort out our centre clearance work.

Max hasn’t been as prolific the past fortnight.

1 hour ago, Skuit said:

When you win a loose ball and look up and some weird 5ft kid named Charlie Spargo is on your case: 

And then rag dolls you .... Lol.

1 hour ago, dee-tox said:

Dude you must be watching a different game. Was excellent tonight.

12 possessions, don't think so. Does he know what a pressure act is

Edited May 8, 20213 yr by Demons1858

Uncomfortable, nervy match. The G was on tender hooks all game.

Sydney were very good, don’t underestimate their quality, they made it really difficult for us.

TMac outstanding and BOG. BB took his marks and kicked his goals. Our defence rock solid as usual. May shackled buddy and Salem very calm and composed. Thought he had a great game other than one errant handball which led to a swans goal.

Centre bounce work not good enough. Can’t remember us winning too many. It’s becoming a theme. Needs to be sorted out. Harmes did ok. Gus is off the pace. Oliver hard at it on the inside but his field kicking is sub-par. Maxy ok but not great. Jackson looked a better option in the ruck. Langdon always provides an outlet. Another solid game from him. JJ played a nice game.

Trac tried too hard. Needs to steady and execute.

Nibbler much better after last week’s horror show. Spargo is so important for us. A nearly game for Kozzie but he kept the Sydney defenders honest. Always buzzing around and never gave them a second’s peace.

Fritsch had a shocker. Melks was Melks, some good some bad.

We’re 8-0 and not playing particularly well. Let’s re-set and go again.

Go Dees

A great win. On the way home from game, I was standing at taxi rank at Caulfield Station, and man waiting as well was former player Paul Callery. He asked what my memory was like, and I told the famous story when Vin Waite knocked him out, and Big Carl knocked out Waite. Waite got 4 weeks at tribunal, and Big Carl zero weeks.

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

We are better when Jackson is rucking. 

I feel (based on zero evidence) that Gawn wins more hit outs but Jackson is better at nullifying opposition ruckmen.

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

Can't understate this enough. He's a critical part of our midfield rotation and whilst Jordon and Harmes were good in spurts, Viney's defensive work in the stoppages is vital.

100%

The best things about him missing the past 2 games:

1. We didn't play an injured Viney and pulverise his foot for the rest of 2021;

2. We still won the game without him.

 

It didn't come as much surprise to me that the dogs gave us a bit of a pantsing preseason without Viney and Clarry in the side.

Jack will be a really important player come September I recon, so ultra important that we keep him in good nick throughout the season.

...meanwhile Tommy Mac's (did I say how much I love him) body, which was thought to be brittle and shot seems to be holding up pretty well this year - touch wood.

Edited May 8, 20213 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

7 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Second week in a row Lever has been tagged - by athletic mid sized forwards in Zuhaar and Hayward.

Petty’s lack of speed means we can’t swap him over as easily as Tomlinson, which means Lever can’t rotate on to the bad tall. 
 

Just something to watch in the way teams are targeting the guy who might’ve been our best player through 6 weeks. 

I didn't pick up the roos tagging him. But at the ground tonight it was clear the swans did. Though really double teamed him, with Sinclair looking to help Heywood. Smart. And really limited how damaging Lever was.

But you pay a price sacrificing a forward to negate a defender.

1 hour ago, P-man said:

If there’s a better sight in football than Ronald Dale Barassi singing Grand Old Flag then I don’t need to know about it.

There was actually a better sight... Neale Daniher in the stands in a Melbourne scarf!

I'll tell ya what.
Papley is right up there on the 'Punchable Head List.'

Not a great game to watch, annoying swans supporters being rude around me but a win is still a win. I'll be smiling all day tomorrow. Was annoying watching the swans continuously come out of contests with the ball.

Good teams find a way. 

Without defensive pressure would've been looking down the barrel. Fortunately swannies couldn't find the trigger. Restoring at least parity to centre bounce clearances needs to be a priority. Otherwise it is not sustainable and the back six dam wall will crack.

Edited May 8, 20213 yr by Tarax Club

1 minute ago, Fork 'em said:

I'll tell ya what.
Papley is right up there on the 'Punchable Head List.'

Yup.  I mean, I know players need to have a bit of confidence and spunk about them, but he comes across as a total cocky [censored].

1 hour ago, bobby1554 said:

Copped a massive corkie in the last play. Would be extremely doubtful next week

Will worry it's more until they say no scans were required or he trains early next week

14 minutes ago, Ditcha said:

A great win. On the way home from game, I was standing at taxi rank at Caulfield Station, and man waiting as well was former player Paul Callery. He asked what my memory was like, and I told the famous story when Vin Waite knocked him out, and Big Carl knocked out Waite. Waite got 4 weeks at tribunal, and Big Carl zero weeks.

Caleb Daniel reminds me a little of Callery at times.  Was a very nice rover when he was on and loved playing in the wet where he often shined.

Our coaches deserve kudos right now.

 

We have such a good defensive system (and players working so damn hard and not chasing possessions for themselves), so even when we have injuries and teams now trying to mitigate our game we can pull through with the big W.

 

I was seriously worried with some of the injuries that we couldn't adapt, but we seem to be at the moment and that I reckon is because of our system and the players belief in it.

 

It also gives the guys from the VFL a role to play when they come in, which simplifies things for them. They don't have to be heroes any more.

 

I don't tend to engage with posters that much but I would love to see @Wiseblood come back and post. He was super optimistic over the last few years (whether I agreed or disagreed doesn't matter) and if he is lurking should come back and enjoy a start to the season I'm pretty confident very few of us have seen in our life-times.

34 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

I would have had Langford as BOG tonight. Fantastic effort throughout. 

We've got a Steven May.  He'll be thought of as better than that Chris Langford bloke over the journey I recon.

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

Goodwin in the presser noting we lost centre clearances 4-17.

That's a shocking result, but the fact we could still win against a side starting the round in the top 4 is a good sign.

33-22 in stoppage clearances so it wasn't all bad.

True, but the problem with losing centre clearances is it is almost a guaranteed opposition inside 50 with even numbers because of the 666 rule.