1 hour ago, leave it to deever said:

I dont even know what this means.

I think I need to cut back my drinking. I drank less when we lost for some strange reason.

Perhaps it was more familiar territory.

And now Im quoting myself. Good Lord.

Apologies to all. All this winning is turning everything upside down. Im so confused.

Whats happening?

Love your work Deever. I too feel very uneasy with this new Melbourne.

feel like I’ll wake up at any point!

10 minutes ago, Beetle said:

I’m taking the peace wwsw. But at times today it felt like we were playing an intestate team there was that little noise.

true enough, they were very quiet even when they were up and about

It was so good to be back in our own reserved seats today. Hello old friends! As I took my seat I noticed a large weed flourishing between the cracks of the painted concrete directly below me. Hmmm.... is that a sign? Will the Weid play well today? I was looking forward to the game.

Like others have said, it wasn't pretty, but it was workmanlike. The job was done without much fanfare, although there were enough exciting moments to make the win enjoyable. 

Never doubt the Big Mac when having a set shot! Hey Eddie, anything you can do, Kozzie can do better! May and Lever, take a bow, two Mr Reliables. ANB pops up when least expected to do some damage. Lots of love for the Weid every time he contested the ball.

Trac wasn't his usual self but never mind, we still had a good time. Got the win, take the points, look to next week. 

Yes, getting used to this winning caper. Feels good!?

 

 

Never looked like losing that one.

Gritty team effort and we answered all they threw at us.  Had it not been for Saad, Cripps & McKay and being a tad top heavy up forward on a wet day (IMHO) i think we probably win that by plenty.

What a special first half that was from Tom!

However, i reckon the Blues were in the main, better at us with their delivery inside 50 today as well as making space for their forwards to run in to.

I feel there's lot's of room for improvement both from a line up / balance point of view, player methods / execution (Clarry & Tracc) and also pressure in terms of recognising when to retain shape in the zone across HB and when to attack the ball carrier coming through the middle (Tracc on at least two occasions which hurt us on the scoreboard both times i think).

We also could have pulled the trigger a few times in defence, kicking out from the Punt Road end to a one on one with Ed & Hunt on the Southern wing when well ahead on the scoreboard with plenty of time on the clock. Instead we ignored and played it too safe a little too often, kicking long to a congested well covered Northern wing/boundary or too short to a player hemmed in deep in our 50 on the boundary/back flank northern side.

Coming inside 50 we need to clean up delivery and hit the hot zone / higher conversion areas vs the pocket.  Looking at Clarry here a bit.  Put the opp under more pressure and allow the talls to contest, bring the ball to ground and the smalls to do their work.  Instead we far too often hit that pocket and released the pressure valve on the opp's defence IMHO allowing the cavalry to arrive.  I know we are looking to lock the ball in our 50 and have repeat entries but with such a tall line up i would hope to give them some more chances to impact by hitting these zones a little more often.

Weid & Chandler should be better for the run but from a trust POV a fit Viney (or even Chunk/Melk) & LJ in for Chandler and one of either BB or Weid seems to be a big upgrade.  And i'm not convinced with playing both BB & Weid together even on a dry day, but especially in the wet.

Onwards to the the City of Churches to take on Tex Dubbo & his mates for a shot at 10 in a row.

Go you Mighty Demons!

Edited May 16, 20214 yr by Rusty Nails

3 hours ago, CYB said:

Was at the game. Mate saw Trac spew his guts out before the game started. Not sure if nerves or something else.

midfield definitely need to lift - too predictable at stoppages and we never seem to get a clean clearance. The midfield is great defensively but cannot hurt teams enough with poor kicking inside 50 - today field kicking was supposedly pretty efficient. We also don’t use the corridor enough - kicking it wide is boring and predictable.

I tend to blame the Umpires for the centre clearance issues. I think that the same rules are not being applied to Oliver in particular.

The big fat number 9 for Carlton just goes around in the middle, dropping the ball, pushing people in the back and shepherding people away from the ball at will. This is happening week in week out, and is very exasperating.

 

Blessed are they who are not BT, for they are not stupid, ignorant, deckhead buffoons. 

GO DEES!

2 hours ago, Craig Hutchinson said:

The Bell did not toll before the game ! I missed my AC/DC !

But did you walk alone?

5 hours ago, Jaded said:

I love Ed Langdon. It needed to be said. 

You and every other red blue die hard

The Swans had 35 tackles inside their forward 50 last week, Carlton followed with 21 yesterday. Huge numbers if we’re talking forward pressure, would be interested to see the actual scores generated against us from those numbers considering we have kept those two teams around our average against for the season.

Seems teams are trying various methods to break us down and we’re responding every single week. The back 6 are awesome to watch at the moment with the help of the wingers of course.

Edited May 16, 20214 yr by Dee Zephyr

28 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

The Swans had 35 tackles inside their forward 50 last week, Carlton followed with 21 yesterday. Huge numbers if we’re talking forward pressure, would be interested to see the actual scores generated against us from those numbers considering we have kept those two teams around our average against for the season.

Seems teams are trying various methods to break us down and we’re responding every single week. The back 6 are awesome to watch at the moment with the help of the wingers of course.

Salem mentioned this in his post game interview. First person he had to thank was Mark Williams, talking about how calm they were with the ball now.

7 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

true enough, they were very quiet even when they were up and about

I reckon that's because it was so clear from the get go we were intotal control and it was so evident they had no chance of winning 

Mind you IF we make it to the grand final we will have to get off to an early lead. You can’t expect to peg back later like we do. They get a lead like that in the grand final, they will fight like hell to keep it

7 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

 

Coming inside 50 we need to ..... hit the hot zone / higher conversion areas vs the pocket.  Looking at Clarry here a bit.  Put the opp under more pressure and allow the talls to contest, bring the ball to ground and the smalls to do their work.  Instead we far too often hit that pocket and released the pressure valve on the opp's defence IMHO allowing the cavalry to arrive.  I know we are looking to lock the ball in our 50 and have repeat entries but with such a tall line up i would hope to give them some more chances to impact by hitting these zones a little more often.

 

This won't change. Seems to be locked in as a stratgey and is quite a different one to 2020 when were often looking to cross at right angles into the corridor as a set play and if not going to the top of the square 

10 hours ago, Better days ahead said:

Very efficient performance today. Always had Carlton at arms length.

The gameday thread was starting to succumb to the MFCSS from about 2 hours before ball up. A lot of “I won’t be surprised if we lose today” comments. I know its hard to see past our history but this team is a totally different beast. Consistent, dependable, rock solid defence, know how to get the job done. We were never in any danger of losing that game.

Adelaide in Adelaide next weekend. Another challenge to overcome. Another 4 points.

Go Dees.

Im worried about this game.

8 hours ago, Brownie said:

Haha, I'm not too sure. I renewed membership last week and my wife signed up for the first time. Ended up talking to JV on the phone. He said he was hoping to be back next week and was on the mend.

I normally just renew automatically but cracked the s**ts last year after the Port Adelaide and Cairns debacle. Sent Pert an email stating I wouldn't renew until the club pulled it's finger out and started performing.

I think they're performing.!

Probably owe Gary an email this week.

Watching both the blokes and the women this year and the way they play for each other and the club has been brilliant. What more can you ask for?

That's great! I wouldn't be surprised if we rested him another week given that we are facing Adelaide and should be ok. We'll need him for the Doggies though.

Haha I don't blame you! That was a low moment for the club, one that it looks like we have finally learned from! 

We've had lots of highlights this year, the backline fortress, Kossie and Jacko, TMac, Trac, Langdon etc, but the best thing has been that they are all clearly playing for one another. The men, women and 2s, it's all finally a very unified vision. Everyone has bought in and working their guts out.

What a time to be a Dee haha. I've been watching the games with my 2 year old, and so far it's easy selling the Dees as his club (although he really has no choice). 9 wins! There was a time not that long ago where that would have taken us 2-3 years to accumulate and we're not even halfway through this year! 

13 hours ago, Beetle said:

38

Carlton Supporters were there in total..

That spring in our step? The spring that increases with every win/week?? I bet I’m not the only one who’s bounding around like a kangaroo this morning! 
And by kangaroo I mean the marsupial that’s on our coat of arms, NOT the sadsacks who barrack for North. ❤️?

1 hour ago, Cassiew said:

Mind you IF we make it to the grand final we will have to get off to an early lead. You can’t expect to peg back later like we do. They get a lead like that in the grand final, they will fight like hell to keep it

If we make a GF I hope that it is a full blow out like it was for Geelong in 2007. over at quarter time!

10 hours ago, Winter Dan said:

I believe Carton had an extra at the stoppage and we played a spare back. 

we had someone back all game

 

54 minutes ago, binman said:

This won't change. Seems to be locked in as a stratgey and is quite a different one to 2020 when were often looking to cross at right angles into the corridor as a set play and if not going to the top of the square 

Yep it seems that way bin.  Sometimes the distance / angle / pressure of the entry doesn't allow a player the luxury of picking and choosing so they're probably going here as their set option but....

Can i take you back to the kick from just on or outside the arc by Harmea last week on the northern flank kicking to the Punt Road end?

That kick to me was the ideal placement.  About 12 meters out from the boundary pocket but enough space for the big boys to run on to it and hit the contest with Tmac taking a classic pack mark and the angle not so bad .  Result....goal.

All I'm saying is....surely we can find a better balance when the situation presents?  Where we give ourselves  the above opportunity or similar (front and square roving off the spillage from such a pack if no one marks) while still having a fair chance of locking it in IF none of the above happens.

Let's at least improve our chances of scoring when getting it in there when we can vs hitting that same pocket so often as a default, allowing them to get numbers inside 50 which makes our chances of scoring (especially a.goal) very slim anyway.

Boy, there's some tripe written at the start of this thread. I haven't bothered to keep reading. Anyone complaining about that needs to think (if they ever did) again.

It was clear from the opening minutes - and bleeding' obvious by half time - that we were a class above them. It showed in ball use, marking and organisation. Their supporters knew it too. The only time they were excited was when Eddie pinched Langdon's handpass and goaled in the first. By the third term we're opening up a five goal break until dodgy decisions led to a McKay goal and moments later he had another thanks to the only bit of system they showed all day - man with ball bandpasses to Saad who nails a 40 metre pass to McKay. It was a set play and their best of the day.

For our side McDonald was great again, Fritsch returned to form, Pickett was dangerous all day, Weideman did well around the ground and in the ruck, Oliver played one of his absolute best (BOG for mine), Lever and May did their thing and Petty showed he is going to fit in well.

The only blemish I found in our game was that the forwards need to play together more. It was annoying seeing three talls flying simultaneously in the first half, but they seemed to have worked that out by the second half. On the same note one of Carlton's city end goals came from all the defenders going up together but that was an error not repeated.

I worried that we might be 'due for a loss' as they say, but this was a game that said to me the group just sets itself for this moment, and this game. Very focused and well organised. Had it not rained at half time I think the margin would have been greater but in any case I am happy to have dominated an opposition that was supposed to be on the rise.

The margin flattered the Blues and so did the umpires who were appalling. To have every player stop and wait for the whistle, then restart when the most obvious free all day was let go says it all. A 26 point margin that would have been in the 40s if the lime green fools had done their job properly.

I'm looking forward to the replay to see what I missed. Maybe the dud comments are from people who watched on the box and weren't at the game because if they were there they'd have seen how well we set up around the ground. Or maybe their expectations were excessive, but this is a hard game and Carlton have some good players that make a contest. Anyway, a fine win, six in a row against the Princes Park Ponces.

Wow only 9 pages after a game. In previous years this would be 29 pages . What can you say just another win.

13 hours ago, binman said:

I couldn't go today so had to watch it on the box. I was getting seriously furious with BT.

It wasn't just that stupid comment. His vaudeville routine about how quiet went for the whole first half and was replaced by a routine about him not rating us blah blah blah, that the whole team bar bartel joined in on. Pathetic and disrespectful to the club and fans watching

On Bartel, i have to say i'm really impressed with him. Actually brings some solid analysis to the role of special comments (eg his comment explaining why the clearance differential was not an issue and the pressure we put on the player trying to kick from the clearance). And i love how he doesn't play along with BT's clowning.

Bartel is great on The Age Real Footy Podcast. Very insightful.

4 minutes ago, Superunknown said:

Bartel is great on The Age Real Footy Podcast. Very insightful.

It was Jimmy Bartel who had a great answer to a question from BT during one of his many digressions. BT was talking about Elvis songs for ages (during play, of course) and he asked Jimmy what’s your favourite Elvis song? Without missing a beat Jimmy says, “A Little Less Conversation.” ?

2 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

The Swans had 35 tackles inside their forward 50 last week, Carlton followed with 21 yesterday. Huge numbers if we’re talking forward pressure, would be interested to see the actual scores generated against us from those numbers considering we have kept those two teams around our average against for the season.

Seems teams are trying various methods to break us down and we’re responding every single week. The back 6 are awesome to watch at the moment with the help of the wingers of course.

I get the impression opposition teams have been sacrificing their own game to try and beat us. How many times has Lever been tagged this season?  They certainly respect and fear our defence. 

Edited May 16, 20214 yr by John Crow Batty