1 hour ago, AmDamDemon said:

Man, was this a journey

Thank you, thank you 😁

I don’t think you can argue we didn’t try to score differently in that game. We tried to get out the back more so than I’ve seen us do for 3 months. It wasn’t all long, high and slow to the pocket.

Melksham on a mission. Pickett exquisite. Tough win. Being saying it all year.The bloody draw from hell. Whoever walked up this draw with umpires who aren't carrying out the rules. No one seems to know the out of bounce rule the dangerous pushing rule.

6 minutes ago, willmoy said:

Melksham on a mission. Pickett exquisite. Tough win. Being saying it all year.The bloody draw from hell. Whoever walked up this draw with umpires who aren't carrying out the rules. No one seems to know the out of bounce rule the dangerous pushing rule.

I know it's late but you may want to tidy that up a bit before someone reads it...........

1 hour ago, mauriesy said:

Low to mid-20s. Not exactly Darwin or Cairns.

At 5:00pm Alice Springs 22.9*C Humidity < 10%  Darwin a pleasant dry season afternoon of 25.0*C Humidity 38% not uncomfortable considering 1500 km further North and given maritime rather than continental influence. But a world away from chilly Melbourne.

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by Tarax Club
Cricket season in full swing

6 hours ago, Demonland said:

If you are an Aussie at heart then this is one beautiful photo.

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by David-Demon

22 minutes ago, faultydet said:

I know it's late but you may want to tidy that up a bit before someone reads it...........

Thanks faulty, didn't know a lot of people took notice what I say. Good to know, however I got interrupted.

Loved everything about the win apart from Fritta burning a team mate AGAIN, and Lever doing his AC.

I am worried about Fritta as this is the fourth week in a row he has done it and id be amazed if it hadnt already been addressed. 

10 hours ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Streaky would be the best way to describe that win. We turned on enough devastating bursts to put enough distance on them. However, you couldn't call that a four quarter performance by any stretch of the imagination.

I could not put into words how stoked I was for Kozzie to get that bag. The bloke is a constant ball of defensive pressure and harassment. His effort is sensational week after week. Alas, playing as a forward pocket is always tough as the amount of looks you get will always be limited. Today, the ball finally started to drop in his favor and his ability to press his luck, get his hand in and break for speed got him six (he should have gotten seven had Sparrow not cut off that lead of his).

You could tell that he was absolutely wrapt with his game. The crowd were very much behind him and I was delighted to see him have that moment.

Maxy and Dogga have more to give and plenty of rust to shake off. I thought that the ruck would be a natural strength of ours today with Port not playing a specialist ruckman, but it was not to be. Maxy was much better down the line today, but his bailiwick of ruck contests and getting 15 to 16 possies hasn't gotten back to where it should be.

I was also happy with the game Hibbo had. If anyone thinks that this is his last year, I'd say that might be something to reconsider. He isn't the power running defender of 2017 these days, but his core strength, ability to read how the ball will drop and knowing when to throw his body into packs could see him play for two more years should Father Time and the injury gods smile on him. 

Lingers was unreal. There was one moment in the game where I saw him run from the half back flank to the half forward flank and take two possessions in our chain of play. The bloke didn't break stride once. This might I add was in 26 degree heat! Unbelievable stuff.

I also think the Tomlinson and Petty conundrum should be solved from next week. Play Tommo in Tomald's spot, and Petty down back. It would be a bloody shame for Tommo to be dropped after what I considered a very solid game. McDonald's spot is largely structural and if Tomlinson can run and make space, I'd put him in there.

We are just doing enough at the moment to get over the line against mid range teams. As far as I am concerned, we don't want to be peaking now. September is the time. We've got much improvement in us for sure, but I am going to stay optimistic!

Would be better to give Petty a try up forward and leave Tommo in defence as he played well today. Jake May be out injured so English will present a problem also Bruce is back. 

Pressure on their mids is essential. 

2 hours ago, 58er said:

Pressure on their mids is essential. 

Totally agree

We don't usually negate well, it's all or nothing. I thought Harmes did well yesterday playing mid and pressuring around the ball (8 tackles, 26 pressure acts) - should persist with more of him in there

13 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Hot garbage. 

Kosi magnificent. Hibbo and the defenders in general superb. 
Midfield an epic let down. Bring back Oliver!

Glad someone mentioned Hibberd, thought he was fantastic, never gives up &  has been great since returning from injury 

Great win Dees against an inform team with more to loss and good to conserve your energy in the last dying minutes when the game was won. (I think?) As for Melk's run down, good to see him keep going even though my own grandmother could have kept up with that Port player

32 minutes ago, Billy said:

Glad someone mentioned Hibberd, thought he was fantastic, never gives up &  has been great since returning from injury 

Hibberd has been magnificent of late. If there was a B & F for our backline for the last month it would be him. 

Fritsch copping it in the media again.. and rightfully so.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/melbourne-demons/afl-news-2022-bayley-fritsch-ignoring-teammates-selfish-doesnt-kick-it-to-charlie-spargo-video-melbourne-demons-win-over-port-adelaide-power/news-story/7f2541db16c827aed12272613e82834a

Yes, Fritta has burnt teammates the last couple of weeks. I’m just wondering if Tom Papley has been given a nickname or copping regular bakes for ‘burning’ teammates. Papley literally pushes his own teammates out of the way when streaming toward goal and has missed more than his fair share ignoring better options. 

Singularly Pickett's performance on display yesterday was nothing short of extraordinary. Everything on display. Best for technical brilliance puts him in a class of very few in their heydays

1 hour ago, Dido said:

Great win Dees against an inform team with more to loss and good to conserve your energy in the last dying minutes when the game was won. (I think?) As for Melk's run down, good to see him keep going even though my own grandmother could have kept up with that Port player

Go Granny

1 hour ago, Dido said:

Great win Dees against an inform team with more to loss and good to conserve your energy in the last dying minutes when the game was won. (I think?) As for Melk's run down, good to see him keep going even though my own grandmother could have kept up with that Port player

Selling Melk short there.

Some are looking at this as great because it's something he would not normally do, but it's even better than that. It would have been a fantastic chase down even if one of our best defenders did it.

Kudos Jake. Thats how you go about playing in finals and shutting certain mouths about being a "reserves player"

Fritta critics take note - watched highlight reel. 
 

Handpass to Kossie goal

Handpass to Jacko goal

Handpass in busy forward pressure play that led soon after to yet another handpass to Kossie (free) goal

Kick to advantage - running Meilkshem goal 

That was in 13 minutes 

The kid arguably booted our most vital goal in 57 years and backed up 28 seconds later. 
 

 

1 minute ago, radar said:

Fritta critics take note - watched highlight reel. 
 

Handpass to Kossie goal

Handpass to Jacko goal

Handpass in busy forward pressure play that led soon after to yet another handpass to Kossie (free) goal

Kick to advantage - running Meilkshem goal 

That was in 13 minutes 

The kid arguably booted our most vital goal in 57 years and backed up 28 seconds later. 
 

 

Thats all great, but none of it eliminates the absolute torching of team mates while being a goal-hog.

It's a blight on his game and must be removed altogether.

Yeah the Fritta pile on is ridiculous. So he burnt a teammate. He is also our most reliable goal kicker and regularly kicks a lot more goals than he’s entitled to given his height and how often he’s triple teamed and dragged down in contests. 
I rather he goes for goals he reasonably thinks he can kick than we keep stuffing around with the ball inside 50 and make a meal of it. 
He is an elite medium forward and had like 10 score involvements yesterday. 
But let’s drop him so we can have an even more dysfunction forwardline 🙄

1 hour ago, Dido said:

As for Melk's run down, good to see him keep going even though my own grandmother could have kept up with that Port player

Never ceases to amaze me how some people can find fault in pretty much anything. 🙄🙄🙄

9 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Yeah the Fritta pile on is ridiculous. So he burnt a teammate. He is also our most reliable goal kicker and regularly kicks a lot more goals than he’s entitled to given his height and how often he’s triple teamed and dragged down in contests. 
I rather he goes for goals he reasonably thinks he can kick than we keep stuffing around with the ball inside 50 and make a meal of it. 
He is an elite medium forward and had like 10 score involvements yesterday. 
But let’s drop him so we can have an even more dysfunction forwardline 🙄

Yep the pile on a bit over the top, i get Fritsch burning team mates isn't a great look but personally i don't mind a selfish streak in a forward. 

As you and others have stated he's consistently contributing with score involvements/goal assists so dont mind the old shot if he's backing himself in.

 

Not normally a fan of players coming off after a goal but Meilk’s 2 efforts yesterday - chase, then running goal seemed to leave him gassed. 
 

Maybe no energy to run to bench. 
 

Wonder how many games he played alongside Hibbo at Essendon?

12 hours ago, mauriesy said:

Low to mid-20s. Not exactly Darwin or Cairns.

I saw that it was 24 deg. The commentary said that it was hot and humid.

Regardless - and the point of the post - we are playing one of the best clearance teams in the comp off a 6 break.

 

Our clearances have sucked the last 2 games