42 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

The difficulty we've been having is in wrestling momentum back from opposition sides - not momentum as in goals but momentum as in the way the game is played. Teams lock us down and pressure is around the contest and we have trouble winning that arm wrestle and putting it back on them so they are the ones taking possession under pressure. I don't know how we correct it either because we have built our game on winning that contest. We were sloppy due to this whole Sydney was clean.

People looking at the 50m penalties are looking at the wrong things I think - the difference was we missed the relatively easy shots (Melksham a main offender) while they were kicking them out of their arses, snapping from packs 40 out and hitting goals from 45 out on the boundary.

They rely on the centre clearance to kick start momentum. Longmire is no dummy and made sure they we had no easy outs. 
 

We go beat +10 or something in the end. It’s quite poor actually that we lost so badly with our 1 wood. 

1 hour ago, von said:

I was screaming my head off. Felt like a real feral and probably upset the children in the general area. No one around me had much to say. Felt very lonely. 

I’m with you and did pretty much the same and felt the same as 

I don’t think our players get the benefit of a home ground / crowd advantage  as other teams seem to get. Worse still, I don’t think it is going to change much.

It is such a shame. Such is life.

48 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Our whole tall forward set up this season and our forward play in general (aside from the odd individual cameos) has been piece meal at best since Macca went down.

The lack of structure, the constant bombing and/or kicking it to the pocket has never truly been corrected.

When you still have one of your key forwards screaming at two senior players in front to move out of the leading lane at this stage of the season .... well ....nuff said.

The present forward set up/system/methods/cohesion with mids/execution and in some cases individual player form/ability & consistency just isn't reliable enough to kick a winning score against the top line opponents.  We've seen / witnessed this pretty much all season aside from against Brissy.

Yep, we all just generally give way too much credit to the system / method / strategy. So many under 10’s style errors, just embarrassing.

 

It was an incredibly frustrating game against Sydney.

The Swans certainly have the wood over us.

Funnily enough before the game when it was spitting I was hoping it would rain more. This is because when we last beat the Swans we won a close one in the rain in 2021.

Anyway, I agree with others that the Swans outplayed us and definitely outcoached us.

The umpiring was pretty ordinary too. Franklin really sucked in the umpires tonight.

As for the Melbourne fans. It was quite bizarre some supporters were great barracking loudly while others only cheered when a goal was kicked.

There was certainly a weird vibe at the game too. Was a lot different to the finals series in 2018.

To be honest the Sydney/old South Melbourne supporters went pretty easy on us after the game. They were jubilant and pleased with their win over us. If we had lost to the scum at Collingwood we would of been made to suffer afterwards and the train ride home would of been a nightmare.

Anyway, we still have some fundamental issues we need to rectify with the team and I am hopeful that Tom McDonald gets his chance to get back into the Demons side.

The game against Brisbane next week now needs to be the sole priority and hopefully the team is "switched on" and has no further gastro outbreaks.

 

It would also be nice if the bloody MCC actually allowed us to train on the MCG! But I doubt that will happen.

Edited September 2, 20222 yr by Supreme_Demon

3 minutes ago, Wodjathefirst said:

I’m with you and did pretty much the same and felt the same as 

I don’t think our players get the benefit of a home ground / crowd advantage  as other teams seem to get. Worse still, I don’t think it is going to change much.

It is such a shame. Such is life.

It will change, but it will change slowly. We need sustained success over a decade for us to become relevant again. Consistently making finals and top 4 will see to that. 

1 hour ago, von said:

I guess the upside is we were average they were good, they got a couple of goals from very soft free kicks and they only won by four goals. Feels like we are miles off but we are still thereabouts in a lot of areas. 

Agree with all of this, and would take comfort from it if it was a H&A game. But it WASN’T. It was the first chance the players had to play a final in front of supporters (after winning the flag)

Kills me more than anything to admit it, but Dermott is correct. We are missing the killer instinct ingredient. 
 

35 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

Agree with all of this, and would take comfort from it if it was a H&A game. But it WASN’T. It was the first chance the players had to play a final in front of supporters (after winning the flag)

Kills me more than anything to admit it, but Dermott is correct. We are missing the killer instinct ingredient. 
 

I don’t think that at all. They left everything out there tonight. It wasn’t a lack of effort. I’m a broken record - I know - but our game plan in’s vulnerable to a certain style of footy. We are fast becoming the next Geelong. 
 

This season is out of reach bar a miracle. We must adapt to the new style of footy over summer. Funny but our 2018 game style would be handy right about now. 

31 minutes ago, CYB said:

I don’t think that at all. They left everything out there tonight. It wasn’t a lack of effort. I’m a broken record - I know - but our game plan in’s vulnerable to a certain style of footy. We are fast becoming the next Geelong. 
 

This season is out of reach bar a miracle. We must adapt to the new style of footy over summer. Funny but our 2018 game style would be handy right about now. 

I felt we had the game on our terms and won, until buddy sucked May into the 50. They got a sniff from that, and we didn’t put them away when we had the chance. 

Sure strategic, coaching and other issues. But we had a chance to put the game away early if we had the killer instinct. 
 

Real danger of going out in straight sets. Yesterday I thought we had great insurance playing the Lions if we lose, but honestly that’s as bad as we’ve looked all year and I’ve got real concerns that  Fritsch and Kozzy are going to save us again.

Weak as [censored].

Our bottom 6 players has expanded to 10.

We’ll probably beat brisbane. But won’t go any further. Should have blooded JVR when we had the chance. 
 

Brayshaw back to the wing. 

Waste of a potential dynasty 

2 hours ago, 1964_2 said:

Yep, we all just generally give way too much credit to the system / method / strategy. So many under 10’s style errors, just embarrassing.

 

Yep I rewatched parts of the 2nd half and we were abysmal with our disposal. I almost smashed may computer screen out of frustration.

On so many occasions. Brayshaw too slow to handball gets tackled, ANB absolutely butchering a simple kick i50 to Spargo over his head, Gawn with that pathetic embarrassing set shot in the last, Petracca bursting through with an epic ball win to completely miss. These are the times to step it up. It's cringeworthy 

Borderline embarrassing effort really, if we're a premiership team we certainly don't look it. Good teams capitalise on their chances when they're presented and we did nothing of the sort. Clarry was our best kick for goal, I mean seriously...

Edited September 2, 20222 yr by Deenooos_

1 hour ago, CYB said:

I don’t think that at all. They left everything out there tonight. It wasn’t a lack of effort. I’m a broken record - I know - but our game plan in’s vulnerable to a certain style of footy. We are fast becoming the next Geelong. 
 

This season is out of reach bar a miracle. We must adapt to the new style of footy over summer. Funny but our 2018 game style would be handy right about now. 

You're right. It only lasted 18 months. We have to take a long look at our gameplan over the summer because too many teams now have a style that comprehensively beats it, the talent in our group is keeping us in games, but Geelong, Sydney and Collingwood are overtaking us pretty quickly.

Can the FD make it work? Who knows but we can't let our list waste away over the next 3 years... 

The soft Franklin free and 50s impacted the momentum in the 2nd.

The soft 50 to Reid gave Sydney another goal.

Both of these really hurt at that point in the game.

Aside from a few moments not a great night for Demons, beaten in contest major problem.

Oliver, May, very good Petty, and Fritsch were good, rest not great, so significant room for improvement!

Very disappointing night, but we live to fight another day!

6 hours ago, wizardinoz said:

Umpire said Kossi ran into the protected area which was absolute garbage. 

Which hasn't been paid for 6 weeks. But gotta influence the result somehow. 

7 hours ago, 1964_2 said:

Agree. Weaker team, who played as a better team won, but [censored] me, the weapons we had on our side and wasted, it’s hard not to put it down to own goals as to why we lost. Largely strategy based, as to how a weaker team got the points. 
 

A weaker team with no passengers can easily beat a team with half a dozen champions. Unfortunately we had a lot of passengers.

Having had a chance to calm down and really think about, there's just no escaping the feeling that this has been a pathetic premiership defence from us. A few months ago you had multiple respected football people (including David Parkin) saying they may have never before seen a team so good and committed to each and to winning the contest.

Honestly, only at the MFC could the wheels fall off so completely so quickly. Despite our 'changed culture', we're getting beaten every time an opponent brings high pressure on us. And we seem to have no will to dial up the pressure in response. Just like 'old Melbourne', this season is going to return a result that is less than what it should have been. Although our opponents are stronger this year than last, this is still a weak period in terms of really high quality dominant teams. A massive  opportunity wasted by these guys.

So grateful for the flag in 2021. Had we not got over the line last year, this capitulation would be soul crushing. It's looking like 2021 was an absolute heist where everything went our way. We are looking like real flat track bullies right now.

And now we have massive pressure on us next week, against a side to whom we've given huge ammo to want to roll us. Brisbane are ordinary and we should beat them, but a win of any magnitude now tells us nothing about who Melb are. All it would do is again confirm that we are quite ok when playing on our terms (against a side that lacks physicality at a ground they don't play well).

8 hours ago, dees189227 said:

Ok so if may and harmes didn't give away those goals from brain fades Melksham kicks the 2 he missed and we kick that goal that we absolutely butchered we win. But hindsights a wonderful thing.

Not a fan of this reasoning. If all these things take place, then we are back to level pegging. So you're going to deny the opposition a chance to respond? And no doubt on a night like last night with their winners around the ground, Sydney would have responded and won it in a close one.

Edited September 2, 20222 yr by John Demonic

6 hours ago, 1964_2 said:

Dermott Brereton said we are missing the “un-sociable” elements to make us a dynasty team. At the moment, unfortunately he is correct and we are wrong. 
 

The Swans weren’t unsociable. They were tough and clean whereas we fumbled and butchered the ball

Dermie is a numpty

The sun is out, and we will beat Brisbane next week. JVR should come in. TMac won't be ready.

3 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

Waste of a potential dynasty 

Is that a direct quote from a Richmond fan after witnessing Mason Cox destroy them in 2018?

6 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

The most disappointing part of the game today was during the fourth quarter, some older generation Melbourne supporters felt that they were within their rights to have a go at a very young Melbourne supporting girl for wanting to watch the game up close on the fence. They quite aggressively argued with the poor mother that her daughter was getting in the way of their view and that because they had paid $100 for these tickets (everyone in the area did) that they were more deserving of being treated like royalty. The sense of self entitlement was disgusting, and thankfully quite a few of us surrounding Melbourne supporters stood up for the girl and her mother (both of whom were quite visibly shaken). 

Some of our supporters are very thin skinned and really do not help us in trying to shed the ‘elitist’ tag that we seem to emit. These are probably the same ‘supporters’ who won’t turn up to the SF next week, as it’s gotten all too hard again to support this club

That’s really disappointing to hear. I took my 9yo girl and we had front row seats on ground level Olympic stand. She stood up the whole game to see over the fence, waved her flag and accidentally hit people and they were all brilliant about it, just encouraged her to love the team. All were under about 55 so that may explain the difference.

8 hours ago, Return to Glory said:

Give Van Rooyen a game

Too late for that. Too late for a lot of things. The refusal to try a few things...and a few players...may cost Melbourne dearly. Our form over the past 3 months has been very ordinary and our record at home is embarrassingly bad. There's always been this sense that things would right themselves. They haven't. Makes this the game against Brisbane crucial. More than a touch of self-ingulgence about us this year. 

5 minutes ago, rufus said:

Having had a chance to calm down and really think about, there's just no escaping the feeling that this has been a pathetic premiership defence from us. A few months ago you had multiple respected football people (including David Parkin) saying they may have never before seen a team so good and committed to each and to winning the contest.

Honestly, only at the MFC could the wheels fall off so completely so quickly. Despite our 'changed culture', we're getting beaten every time an opponent brings high pressure on us. And we seem to have no will to dial up the pressure in response. Just like 'old Melbourne', this season is going to return a result that is less than what it should have been. Although our opponents are stronger this year than last, this is still a weak period in terms of really high quality dominant teams. A massive  opportunity wasted by these guys.

So grateful for the flag in 2021. Had we not got over the line last year, this capitulation would be soul crushing. It's looking like 2021 was an absolute heist where everything went our way. We are looking like real flat track bullies right now.

And now we have massive pressure on us next week, against a side to whom we've given huge ammo to want to roll us. Brisbane are ordinary and we should beat them, but a win of any magnitude now tells us nothing about who Melb are. All it would do is again confirm that we are quite ok when playing on our terms (against a side that lacks physicality at a ground they don't play well).

What was the story with our tackling? The Swans seemed to walk out of so many tackles, they just weren't sticking and it's not like they have a team of bulls.

Just now, Boots and all said:

What was the story with our tackling? The Swans seemed to walk out of so many tackles, they just weren't sticking and it's not like they have a team of bulls.

They have a team of bulls.