13 hours ago, von said:

So because you want more flags anything less says the club is inept? Disregard all the other good clubs who also want flags and how difficult it is. How you need form, injuries etc to all go your way in periods when your list is in the right position.  Geelong only won every second year in their dynasty, Richmond lost one in amongst theirs. Great sides. This league is hard. We’ve had issues this year and we are still contending. Calm down and enjoy having a side filled with stars. It’s not all about flags it’s about the journey your club takes you on. This journey is a great one. And it’s for years to go.

Read. 
 

Then contextualise. 

2 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Read. 
 

Then contextualise. 

You don't think our culture has improved? 

21 hours ago, A F said:

And yet we'd be two wins off a flag and a big shot against Geelong on the MCG.

Ah yes I can read the history books now!

"While Melbourne was statistically the worst top 4 side in history vs the other three teams making up the top 4, they got within two wins of the Grand Final, and *were* a big chance against Geelong but didn't win. So all good."

11 minutes ago, praha said:

Ah yes I can read the history books now!

"While Melbourne was statistically the worst top 4 side in history vs the other three teams making up the top 4, they got within two wins of the Grand Final, and *were* a big chance against Geelong but didn't win. So all good."

My point is it's not over and if we beat Brisbane, we're a big shot against Geelong...

21 hours ago, von said:

So because you want more flags anything less says the club is inept? Disregard all the other good clubs who also want flags and how difficult it is. How you need form, injuries etc to all go your way in periods when your list is in the right position.  Geelong only won every second year in their dynasty, Richmond lost one in amongst theirs. Great sides. This league is hard. We’ve had issues this year and we are still contending. Calm down and enjoy having a side filled with stars. It’s not all about flags it’s about the journey your club takes you on. This journey is a great one. And it’s for years to go.

🙏❤️💙

3 hours ago, A F said:

My point is it's not over and if we beat Brisbane, we're a big shot against Geelong...

Don't disagree mate. Just highlighting what a loss represents. I think we're a good shot against Geelong as well. 

On 9/4/2022 at 10:47 PM, titan_uranus said:

Luck isn't the sole reason for those 5 losses.

But in four of those losses we led by at least 16 points, and in three of them we led by 20+.

We were on the wrong side of two close games (first Sydney, second Collingwood) and we did enough to put ourselves in a winning position in the other two, plus honestly the Geelong game.

What concerns me is less that we're 0-5, more that each one's been similar - starting well, fading mid/late, and in all bar the second Collingwood game unable to press far enough in the fourth to stem the tide or score enough to win. In those five games, we kicked 6.10 in the fourth quarters compared to 20.13. 

I fully believe we're capable of beating Brisbane, then Geelong, then (likely) Sydney to win it from here. But it's going to take a concerted effort to not be run over in the fourth quarter as we have been each time we've played a top 4 side this year.

It is hard to ignore just how damaging in-game injuries have been in games against top sides this year.

- First Sydney game - Steven May not playing (concussion), but in-game Harry Petty sustained injuries in Q1 & Q2

- First Collingwood game - Steven May not playing;  in-game, Harry Petty off for a period for concussion protocol, Daniel Turner concussed and subbed for a mid, Max Gawn back injury off for 20mins and unable to be subbed so played hampered

- Geelong game - Clayton Oliver fractured thumb when game was in the balance, hampered for the remainder of the game

-  Sydney final - Christian Petracca hairline fracture of fibula and corky in Q1, and played out the game severely hampered leaving us effectively a man down in a pressure game due to not being subbed. 

Clearly multiple things contributed to these losses, but the above certainly did not help when each game was close late. Use of the sub, and versatility of the selected sub, are areas we will hopefully improve in the future.

Anyway, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the remainder of the finals, and if we win against Brisbane then the weekly news/supporter cycle will look different than this week.