On 04/06/2022 at 23:08, layzie said:

This loading line is spreading as quickly as the flu and while there's possibly truth to it I'm getting tired of friends using it as a crutch to why we lost and completely ignoring our inability to convert when the game was there to be won.

What's next, are people gonna blame Ramadan? Come on, there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade and being critical of the events in this match doesn't make us bad fans.

I don't know why we would be loading yet. We are coming off a shorter preseason, and didn't start loading til the bye last year. We are only half way through the season. I'm not sports scientist but it seems far too early, especially with the injuries we've had.

The more obvious reason is we just aren't playing at our best.

  On 04/06/2022 at 23:13, Roost it far said:

Loading is certainly a legitimate reason as is missing May in our 2 losses. If TMac is out then Weideman is going to become our man. BBrown looks all at sea and our rushed kicks into F 50 aren’t helping

All valid points, no arguments at all on these.

  On 04/06/2022 at 12:48, cantstandyasam said:

 When May comes back I'd drop Mitch Brown he's not a KPF. I'd leave Tomlinson in Petty's defensive position and try Petty in Tom McD's position up forward position if as rumoured he's out for an extended period. I'd also either play Hunt as a wing or not at all. That one on one that cost us a goal was unforgiveable. So he either plays as a wing rotating HHF or he doesn't play. I don't want him as a back ever again he doesn't play the percentages and costs us. I'd also like to try Gus as an onballer sometimes. So I'd play Lever, May, Salem,  Bowey,  Tomlinson???, Daniel Turner, Gus & Hibberd as our 7 with Gus rotating onball.

Up forward Petty CHF, Weed FF, Kossie, Fritter Jacko/Max & Spargo/Laurie to debut. We can't keep the team as is it needs another dimension other teams have worked us out. BBB needs to earn his spot with zero goals in 3 games  means  back to Casey

 

 

was anybody anywhere near Heeney all night??

  On 04/06/2022 at 15:35, Wodjathefirst said:

I love being positive about Melbourne, it’s the only way I survived the previous 56 years prior to last season and stuck with them. And  trust me in those 56 seasons at the end I was downright miserable.

I was also that positive about Melbourne last year that I upped my membership midway through the season to guarantee a GF ticket if we made it, despite Covid breaking out and not seeing any games from June or thereabouts onwards and the likelihood that finals would not even be played in Victoria!

I was that positive that when I went travelling up north my ‘game plan’ was to get home to Melbourne knowing deep down that the finals weren’t going to be played there.

I was that positive that when I got to Adelaide heading home (you wouldn’t / couldn’t travel through NSW) that I saw the Dees beat Brisbane in the first final.

I was that positive that instead of going home I turned right to go to WA thinking there was a real chance that we could win the big one. (I was also thinking what a [censored] I would have looked like if we failed and I travelled all that way to see them lose).

I was that positive (and privileged and lucky) to see the Mighty Dees crush Geelong and then Footscray).

I’m still positive this year and am hoping for big things.  Trust me, at year end if we don’t win the big one I’ll once again be miserable….I’ve had plenty of practice. I am positive but I am also a realist, it is going to extremely tough to win back to back but I feel that we are still a realistic chance.

It can be argued that me being positive doesn’t help the Dees one ounce.  Nor does it bring negative.

So on answer to your question about what I would be satisfied with at year end? Another premiership, simple as that.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, each to their own, I just hope the players don’t read too many of the full on negative posts because I need them to be positive!🤩

I appreciate your positivity and your post. I wish I could be more like this. Just give me today to get the negative out and will try to return to upbeat this week 😀

Sydney excelled at isolating our defenders and making them accountable.  We lost a lot of 1 vs 1 in our d50 be it to marks or 'panicky' frees. 

Not sure what the intercept stats were but I doubt they were at our 'normal' levels.

Reid kicked 3 of their first 4 goals on Tomlinson, in a 20 minute time frame.  Momentum swung their way and Sydney didn't look back after that. 

Tomlinson was poor.  He doesn't read the play at all well so doesn't position himself to outbody/outmaneuver his opp allowing an easy mark or gives away a free, some a bit soft but they are there.  And he sulks every time his opp beats him.

Thankfully, May will be back next week.

  On 04/06/2022 at 23:09, Undeeterred said:

Frankly I suspect the club knows most of the city has COVID or the flu and is extremely unlikely to venture out on a freezing cold night in June.

But go for it!

Give me a break

If Weed was in form and making the most of his chances he would be in the team, but he is not , So he can’t complain. Then again With TMac out and Ben Brown being in such putrid form do we have any other option?

Going by Goodies presser he is more a fan of Mitch Brown, so we might see a Weed , Mitch Brown combo next week.

Bedford on the other hand has made an impact every time he gets his chance, so it’s probably time to give home a longer block of senior games.

At least I’ve seen them win the flag in my life. It won’t be happening this year that’s for sure. 

  On 04/06/2022 at 23:36, Lucifers Hero said:

Sydney excelled at isolating our defenders and making them accountable.  We lost a lot of 1 vs 1 in our d50 be it to marks or 'panicky' frees. 

Not sure what the intercept stats were but I doubt they were at our 'normal' levels.

Reid kicked 3 of their first 4 goals on Tomlinson, in a 20 minute time frame.  Momentum swung their way and Sydney didn't look back after that. 

Tomlinson was poor.  He doesn't read the play at all well so doesn't position himself to outbody/outmaneuver his opp allowing an easy mark or gives away a free, some a bit soft but they are there.  And he sulks every time his opp beats him.

Thankfully, May will be back next week.

Interesting because last year before he got injured he was the leading contested marks player in the AFL Perhaps he needs more than one game to get back up to speed 

  On 04/06/2022 at 23:44, Phil C said:

At least I’ve seen them win the flag in my life. It won’t be happening this year that’s for sure. 

Oh ye of little faith. 

I said at the start of the season i expect us to make a prelim. when we get there i hope we're healthy. If we are then we're every chance of going back to back

  On 04/06/2022 at 22:23, Lucifers Hero said:

Sydney may have had a slight edge in the umpiring but we can't blame the umpires for losing the tackle count 75 to 58?  Maybe if we had tackled more or better we would have had more frees...

Simply put the tackle count is work rate and effort.  No skill or system required to tackle. 

We were outworked.

And really, the scoreboard flattered us 23 scoring shots to 16 for the same number of i50's.

The tackle issue is legitimate, but I'm less concerned about the scoring shots one.

They outscored us by 7 shots, which is the result of the second quarter (they kicked 5.4 to our 2.0). And that in turn was in no small part due to Petty being off getting his shoulder fixed.

In the third quarter, for example, the favour was returned, but we kicked 1.5 to their 0.2. We should have turned our third quarter dominance into 4.2 or better, and then the fourth quarter could/would have looked a lot different (going back to your earlier post on how we approach fourth quarter leads and how we play).

  On 05/06/2022 at 00:04, BDA said:

Oh ye of little faith. 

I said at the start of the season i expect us to make a prelim. when we get there i hope we're healthy. If we are then we're every chance of going back to back

Stop it, your talking sense!

 Can’t you tell - The sky is falling…..

I looked at the ladder turned my phone upside down and we’re on the bottom!

Yes, we’re playing average football and still only just got beaten. Last two goals were from putrid frees, and Fritsch doesn’t not score from that shot in the last very often!

Prelim and healthy is the aim!

It's the pressure that's missing. Sure we miss May and Petty on one leg is not helping but it's up the ground. We would normally have 15/20 more inside 50s and the ball would come to ground and stay there. Now it's straight back out and that puts extra pressure on the back line. Number of times the Swans marked unopposed was concerning as was the number of times we choose the wrong option going forward. 

Last year we were trying to prove ourselves and hunting teams with intense pressure.

This year they are want to measure themselves against us , bringing the intensity and tackling pressure, against us.

We have to change our mindset and go after these teams,( especially the ones in the 8), with manic tackling pressure like we did last year.

The rest will take care of itself , and when the general May returns, we will be right, but we have to bring the intense pressure, because just cruising through games without the mongrel hunting mindset will get us caught out against the better teams

Edited June 5, 20222 yr by DeeZee

It took Fremantle back-to-back losses to wake up. They didn't treat their GC loss properly, tried to write it off as a one-off, and paid the price the next week.

We weren't as bad against Sydney as they were against Collingwood, but perhaps similar principles here - maybe we thought the Fremantle loss was a one off due to the injuries/players missing, and now realise there's a bit more to it?

  On 04/06/2022 at 22:02, Roost it far said:

Do you actually know if we’re loading?

Nope.

But Burgess is famous for his belief in it. We went through a very very similar flat patch at the same time last year. And looking at the players the last 2 weeks they are looking tired, skills are flat, ability to cover the ground is diminished. You could also make a case for that being part of why Salem came straight back in.

So no, don't know it as a fact, but going off evidence it's what I believe.

  On 04/06/2022 at 18:36, bing181 said:

Hopefully May back next week. The back line needs a general to knock it into shape onfield -  or a second general, it's too much just for Lever. Also need May's lockdown so that Lever can play the third man up - Lever has never been great one-on-one, and has never been a great disposer either.

Thought Petty played a better game, or at least a second half, so hopefully if we can get the band back together with May back in, the backline will start to resemble the all-dominant machine it was last year.

We’re asking Tomlinson who hasn’t played for a year, an out of of form and probably still sore Lever and a busted up Petty to be our key defenders. It’s temporary, but it’s no wonder Logan McDonald and Sam Reid got off the chain. If the mids worked harder it wouldn’t have flown in so much or so quickly.

 

Intense training block reloading for the second half of the year and beyond, seen this movie before.

Edited June 5, 20222 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

  On 04/06/2022 at 23:36, Dr. Gonzo said:

Give me a break

I think ‘livid’ in the original post I quoted was a slightly hysterical assessment of the club’s probable view of crowd numbers in the last two weeks. 

My biggest concern is the health of our list

T Mac done for the year

Petty isn’t right

Lever doesn’t look right, due to lack of preseason or just form?

Salem missed half a year

Petracca hasn’t looked right for a month

we haven’t had a settled backline all year and this is critical to consistent footy

 

  On 05/06/2022 at 00:46, titan_uranus said:

It took Fremantle back-to-back losses to wake up. They didn't treat their GC loss properly, tried to write it off as a one-off, and paid the price the next week.

We weren't as bad against Sydney as they were against Collingwood, but perhaps similar principles here - maybe we thought the Fremantle loss was a one off due to the injuries/players missing, and now realise there's a bit more to it?

Agree with this. It’s a shame we do not travel interstate next week. We have travelled well in recent times and we seem to really get up for interstate games…could have been a real re-set.

Glad that we don’t play until Monday. That will help a few of our banged up players. I thought we were average last night but clean up kicking into the forward 50 and we would have won the game easily.

We are very close to re-gaining our form

  On 05/06/2022 at 01:13, The Swimming Dee said:

We are very close to re-gaining our form

Wow. All the evidence is to the contrary. Not saying it won’t happen, but at the moment this couldn’t be further from the observed reality. 

  On 05/06/2022 at 01:04, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Intense training block reloading for the second half of the year and beyond, seen this movie before.

I said last year at this point of the season that the footy world seems to have collective amnesia, in that every season we reset and forget what had happened in previous years.

Teams have been loading for years. It is standard football practice.

You could write a thesis on why it is people want to ignore that fact.

The thesis would have a chapter on why current players and coaches reflexively deny loading happens (it is apparently a great evil to offer up any reason for poor performance, lest you be accused of the greatest sin - making excuses). 

And another chapter on why ex player who know loading happens don't talk about it.

Everyone could save some time and repost all the comments about our fumbles, lethargy, forward line connection, we are just not that good, fans getting ahead of themselves etc etc from this stage last year.

  On 05/06/2022 at 01:08, DubDee said:

My biggest concern is the health of our list

T Mac done for the year

Petty isn’t right

Lever doesn’t look right, due to lack of preseason or just form?

Salem missed half a year

Petracca hasn’t looked right for a month

we haven’t had a settled backline all year and this is critical to consistent footy

 

Spot on Dub. Particularly with Trac. He seems to have lost his explosive run out of congestion and seems to be now hesitant, fumbly and just looks banged up. I thought he would bounce back last night but unfortunately no.