24 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

So 5 losses for the year - Freo, Sydney, Collingwood, Geelong and The Dogs.

If I’m remembering correctly I think we’ve lead by 20 points or more in all those games except Geelong? We’ve been massively out scored after half time in the last 8 rounds. It’s not a coincidence, in fact it’s eerily similar.

I’m feeling pretty confident about where we sit. I think our boys know what won them the flag last year. As Goodwin told the players in the Grand Final ‘Trust in your fitness’.

I think that is becoming our Achilles heel atm. We are being run over late, in games we were ahead in.

The fixture and fitness seem the culprits.

I am not convinced we will suddenly be fitter than our rivals.

The one thing I was hoping for, is that we stayed top 4 and played our first final at the G, where there would be no longer break advantage, or home ground advantage, to our opponent.

That is now looking somewhat unlikely.

Can someone explain to me what the role of Petracca was last night?  Seemed to be everywhere but nowhere.

Would have thought he might have played more time as a HF but we seemed to allocate that role to Harmes who is badly out of form at the mo.

Just sack the channel Seven camera person "just in case"  and move on. 

Season is looking very similar to last year, we have just played a better class of team in our down period. 

We are half a win behind this time last year.

15 minutes ago, Redleg said:

I think that is becoming our Achilles heel atm. We are being run over late, in games we were ahead in.

The fixture and fitness seem the culprits.

I am not convinced we will suddenly be fitter than our rivals.

The one thing I was hoping for, is that we stayed top 4 and played our first final at the G, where there would be no longer break advantage, or home ground advantage, to our opponent.

That is now looking somewhat unlikely.

It's simple from here. Hold onto fourth, play cats in a home final at the G.

It wasn't a surprise to me that the Doggies won - they turned a corner last week and my gut feeling, once both Brown and Lever were ruled out, was that we might get done (and potentially badly).

However, the huge surprise was the scoreline - it looked like we decided to go full throttle, but unlike last year, we were unable to able stem the scoring of the opposition, and signals to me that our fitness continues to be our number one concern heading towards the finals.

It needs to be pointed out our draw since round 10 has been insanely difficult, and doesn't stop with 2 x top four sides (away) and 2 x top 8 sides (both who we have lost to this season/pre-season). There is no respite, which makes it possible that we will lose all of the next 4 games (don't think we will, but we won't win them all - that's for sure).

Above all, the most concerning factor this season has been our fitness in the second half of the games, as compared to 2021. We have been in the game, or ahead, at half time of all the games we have lost, but have looked noticeably fatigued and unable to stem the flow of scoring by the opposition in all of those games. 

Personally, I feel like we are hoping to get a top four spot, take the week off, and then launch. If we don't make the top 4, our fitness suggests 4 x wins in a row will be too much to ask.

The season remains a mystery in terms of predicting what Melbourne will do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the start of the season I would have taken 13 wins from 18 rounds  and been happy with it

9 hours ago, Macca said:

Salem needs to regain that quick 2 step he previously possessed that created time for himself to deliver the ball without being under undue pressure

Since having that injury he's often looked slow and rushed.  Those penetrating kicks of his into the forward 50 are virtually non existent

But he's not on his own in that area ... a number of our players just aren't playing to the level that they were last season

Tonight we kicked 1 goal in the last quarter when the game was up for grabs.  The opposition ran out the game and looked fitter and faster as the game went on

As someone else mentioned here earlier, that's now 5 games where we've been overrun in the 2nd half.  Over an 8 game stretch

Big game next week.  It will be like a final with a lot riding on the result.  If we don't win we're in trouble

 

It takes 4 weeks to come back from a major injury like he had.

I am not so worried about his ability to regain form, more his role. Is Gus doing some of his role? As Nev said, as a team we are losing out with the Salem, Brayshaw, JJ roles :- need to tinker! 

We had the game in control and couldn't finish off by missing quite a number of set shots. 

1 hour ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Yeh i havent seen us set up with front and square players very often.  It's just not in SG's / our FD's DNA or hasn't been till this point.  So the multiverse alternative just felt perplexing to me when you mentioned it.

If you watch a Blues match Kev, you can see that Vossy has them structured up for this, even around stoppages, so that if the ball gets hit either side they often have a sweeper ready to pounce.

Same at the drop of many contested marks including one sitting out the back much of the time for the ball that slips over the back.

Walsh one of the main culprits who works his [censored] off across HF to try and present here.

Some of the worst vision for me last night was when our blokes run towards the arc from the skinny side... there is sometimes a player they could hit up fat side with an OTT HB or even a kick to a lead coming straight out of the goal sqaure.

Instead, much of the time (not always ... Spargo to Weid one exception) they either dont see them or are on auto pilot and just kick blindly to a general area in the pocket and hope for the best.  This is partly why i question our forward line coaching.  Our forward craft just lacks cohesion and finesse.  It's basically non existent unless Kossie gets hold of it in space and creates his own magic.

And then there's the pressure factor.  To lay zero tackles inside 50 last night.  Well that says it all.  We aint playing in a PF let alone a GF if we're playing at that level.

The other pieces of vision that were damning last night.

We failed ro cover the Doggies fat side outlets.  They exploited us here which allowed them the corridor far too often.

Lastly, after a scrap at HF for the Dogs, early on in that scrap i believe (but could be wrong) you can see what i thought was ANB running close to Treloar (loosely).  He then switched off, drifted away, and allowed their most dangerous mid/forward (in terms of goal scoring) to get free on the fat side (roughly on the arc) for the easy receive out of congestion and goal on his favoured right side from about 45 out.

Now you are not going to be able to cover VG to great players 100% of the time in match i realise.  Especially early in a game where the heat / pace.is on.  But this was.much later into the game and if the player in concern (ANB?) was truly switched on in a defensive sense, he would have stayed with Treloar and not allowed him to slip out for a bread and butter goal (for him).

Worrying signs last night against an ordinary mid ladder opponent.  Too mamy star gazers.

Crap forward line that kicked 11.4 in 1st half!

11 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

Rubbish. Absolute and utter garbage. We are so far from lazy it makes my blood boil. Take a look at our draw. We keep coming up against sides with less rest and more favourable conditions.

I was at the ground tonight. The players tried their absolute guts out. It’s not about want, or skill. We are exhausted, with a full day less break plus interstate travel and missing 2 of our most important structural players. The Dogs played out of their skin - but Ugle-Hagen may never kick 5 goals again in his life. He had a day out where he could do no wrong. Fair play to him but it’s not a reliable game plan.

Our team is trying so incredibly hard and fronting up against a lot - and the footy gods are not smiling on us at all. You need a bit of luck, and instead we keep getting injuries and a lack of cohesion.

I can’t cope with people putting down our players any more. It’s pathetic. These boys won us a flag and are doing everything in their power to go again, and a lot is going against them. 

Frankly they’ve been incredible.

Sorry I offended you and made your blood boil. If I knew it was rubbish,  absolute garbage and pathetic I wouldn't have posted it. Not all of us can get to games but obviously those who do have a much better understanding of what is going on. It just looked that way on the TV. 

9 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

It takes 4 weeks to come back from a major injury like he had.

I am not so worried about his ability to regain form, more his role. Is Gus doing some of his role? As Nev said, as a team we are losing out with the Salem, Brayshaw, JJ roles :- need to tinker! 

Salem will regain his best form, he's just not there yet

Nothing to do with his role because what is missing are his first 2 steps.  Right now he's a bit slow out of the blocks

It's a problem right across the team ... in various games this season we've looked a bit slow & tired

But not always of course.  I don't believe in excuses but I do believe in reasons.  In simple terms the team needs to rediscover it's best form

Teams that play that manic style with 2-way running from all the players will eventually run out of steam

What did happen last night was that the Bulldogs finished full of running and we didn't ... same story when we played Freo, Syd, Pies & Cats

And all that has happened in the last 2 months

 

 

8 minutes ago, D4Life said:

Crap forward line that kicked 11.4 in 1st half!

Nah you missed the whole gist and reason behind this ongoing thread with Kev mate.  Might wanna do your research before bleating next time

Backline was way too loose. Conceding late goals was killing us & the Sunday Footy show just highlighted how bad we were in that last quarter when it came to manning up a player in their forward line. No Lever really exposed some holes down there.

7 minutes ago, dees-picable said:

Sorry I offended you and made your blood boil. If I knew it was rubbish,  absolute garbage and pathetic I wouldn't have posted it. Not all of us can get to games but obviously those who do have a much better understanding of what is going on. It just looked that way on the TV. 

It’s all good. I was annoyed last night. The boys really left it all out there in that game. I really don’t think the Dogs could have played any better, and they only just got us. 👍

9-0 tackles inside 50 to the dogs

our pressure was off. Team defence was off

57 minutes ago, Wylie D said:

I

The season remains a mystery in terms of predicting what Melbourne will do. 

It really isn't 

In fact i predicted this very pattern ie we will struggle between round 11 and round 19.

I even predicted in the game day thread how this game would pan out, And bar the final result, I got it right (i had us just holding off the late surge).  

As you note, we have clearly not been running out games in the ladt two months. That is obvious- to both the eye and the numbers

Some posters are now starting to try and explain that by suggesting we are not fit enough, inferring Griffith has not been as effective as Burgess, even though the pattern of the seson has almost been identical.

And perhaps they are correct. 

If they are, then this season is toast. If we are not fit enough now, there is zero chance we are going to be fit enough, relative to the other premiership contenders, come finals. 

But, fortunately they are in all likelihood wrong.

Believe it, or dont belive it. But i have zero doubt, just like last season, are fatgued because of the loading phase. 

And we will see as soon as next week whether I'm right.

If we are not fit enough, there is no chance we stick with freo, one of the fittest sides in tbe AFL.

But i predict we will come and apply sustained pressure all game. We will be energised and 'running on top of the ground'

And we will be too strong and too much for freo to handle. Freo will simply not be able to go with us.

The supposed fitness issues won't get mentioned again for the rest of tbe seaon.

And the turn around won't be because we - insert your favourite magic bullet here (my favourite is found our 'hunger'). It will because we are in the tapering phase of our periodisation program.

In the last couple of months we have been at our mid climb camp tinkering with our equipment and getting our preparation right for the push to the summit.  

That push starts next week.

Go redlegs.

 

 

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by binman

3 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Nah you missed the whole gist and reason behind this ongoing thread with Kev mate.  Might wanna do your research before bleating next time

You missed my point.

Also perhaps look at how Demons play and watch last years finals! Our starting point is defence, listen to pretty much every Goodwin press conference last two years. How we attack is influenced by how we defend across the ground.

It is obvious our attack can be better as Demons playing at about 80%, but if our defence is on top and ball is coming out of middle as it did at times yesterday we can score.

I wake this morning and we are still second on the ladder. We played well in parts but our pressure was way off and finishing off games is a concern. In our past three games we have conceded 3 or more goals for none scored late in games. Positive signs there for further improvement and looking forward to the Freo game.

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by John Crow Batty

Just watching the sunday footy show & they are showing Tim English highlights. They just showed him take a mark between gawn and Jackson. I mean Jackson should have been running rings around him.

Who thinks we need a roving Max minder, [censored] for tat, spread-eagle pack? This is what is making blokes jump early for marks, and then dopey maggots call not realistic attempt. Happening more often.

Best way to do it would be come in from side because people in packs don't like it.

2 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

respectfully beg to differ @kev martin. Reading through the posts on this thread, I am transported to an alternative universe. Some posters:

The discussion was more about a change in structures in our forward-line.

I expressed in an earlier thread that there may be a bit more of our smalls getting some goals after watching some drills at training and that BBB was out.

Our set ups remained generally the same.

As @Demon Dynasty expressed, it would prove an alternative universe exist if we change our methods. 

He was right and as he said in a reply, we cannot even play some 'take it on' footy by switching, and we don't seem to value protecting the open spaces. Makes for predictability and allows the opposition to take a gamble.

Addit: Saw that BBB was in the coaches box. Expect him to come back.

 

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by kev martin

1 hour ago, dees189227 said:

Just watching the sunday footy show & they are showing Tim English highlights. They just showed him take a mark between gawn and Jackson. I mean Jackson should have been running rings around him.

Based on what? English is a very good footballer and far more consistent than Jackson.

13 hours ago, OhMyDees said:

So Brisbane and Geelong both get challenged and manage to win. 

Melbourne lead for most of the game and then chuck it. Give it up. We’re not doing anything this year but making up the numbers.

Ohmydees we didn’t chuck it in or give up and I don’t think either of those teams played in NT LATE LAST SUNDAY AVO. 

THANKS AFL FOR SCREWING US OVER WITH THE FIXTURE.

FMD THEY [censored] ME OFF. 

 

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by DemonOX

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

9-0 tackles inside 50 to the dogs

our pressure was off. Team defence was off

U watch we will rectify it and win against Freo on Friday night.