Thank you so much. It’s very heartening to hear that. I haven’t read a lot of this thread but from what I have read I tend to agree with @deegirl(above) in that according to DL, the crowd noise was the difference between winning and losing last night. I can’t comment either way as I only experience the noise level from the middle of the squad. But to hear feedback such as yours is SO welcome. I’m gonna pass it on to the DA OGs right now. 💕

25 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Spargo in hospital, scans on knees for Fritsch, Melk, Tracy according to Sam Edmund. We are looking a bit banged up after one final. 

And Tracc. Suspected hairline fracture of his fibula and contusion in his calf. 

37 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Charlie S is in hospital this morning. Copped a hit to the throat last night and has no voice this morning. 

Did @picket fencesneak into the rooms?!

Accidentally put this in the Game Plan thread.  No idea how I got there as I almost never read it.

 

There is a stark difference between rnd 23 vs Lions and last night.  In rnd 23 we switched play and centered the ball deep i50.  The result was we kicked a high score and were accurate. 

Reverting to the kick-down-the-line, into- the-pocket didn't look deliberate.  It was partly Sydney forcing us to play that way and partly when under pressure players/teams revert to habit.  We went back to what was most familiar.

It is a miracle Fritsch kicked any goals let alone 3.  When we got possession up the ground he was literally sandwiched between two Sydney players.  Fritsch's opponent would walk him into a the back of another Sydney player who was pretending to causally walk backwards and they sandwiched him.  Even when they separated the front player still stopped Fritsch getting to space.  That plus Max and BB not having anywhere to lead left us going to the pockets where the ball came to ground and our lack of pressure allowed Syd to move the ball out.

All that aside, what surprised me that we started the last qtr 2 goals down in a low scoring match.  Why oh why did we not switch to an attacking game?  There was no way we were going to beat Sydney playing our defensive/contested game from 2 goals down.  Attack was the only way to win.  Take some risks; play the corridor.  Hell we may as well lose my 6 goals as 1 point but at least give us some chances.

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by Lucifers Hero

Papley really does have a head you’d love to punch. So annoying that he kept torching us.

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Sydney had 11.4.70 from turnovers when I left with 3 minutes to go. 2 from stoppage. We had 5 or 6 from stoppage I think and only 2 or so from turnover.

Thanks mate! Appreciate you posting that.

We did so much work on our points conceded from turnovers the last few years, but it feels like tweaks we've made to positions this year have brought it back somewhat.

One win changes everything

So beat Brisbane and the mood changes completely (for the supporters at least)

But for the players & coaching staff the loss last night will serve as a lesson.  It's a wake up call

They will have all woken up today with a new resolve.  Part of that being that there can't be any more losses.  And the players will not have to be told that their disposal under pressure last night was not up to scratch.  Right across the board in all areas of the ground we were below par

We can only get better so we go out and beat Brisbane and we are back on track.  What lies ahead after that are teams that are not unbeatable

And pointing the finger at any one individual or another is not the answer either.  At club level, the talk will be about every player and the whole team (all at once)

Our destiny is entirely in our own hands. Bring our best and we can win and then keep winning

 

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by Macca

Anyone know how Charlie got the throat injury.

Going to hospital with it sounds similar to the injury that Dangerfield got when Toby Green charged him and got several weeks suspension for it.

25 minutes ago, Macca said:

One win changes everything

So beat Brisbane and the mood changes completely (for the supporters at least)

But for the players & coaching staff the loss last night will serve as a lesson.  It's a wake up call

They will have all woken up today with a new resolve.  Part of that being that there can't be any more losses.  And the players will not have to be told that their disposal under pressure last night was not up to scratch.  Right across the board in all areas of the ground we were below par

We can only get better so we go out and beat Brisbane and we are back on track.  What lies ahead after that are teams that are not unbeatable

And pointing the finger at any one individual or another is not the answer either.  At club level, the talk will be about every player and the whole team (all at once)

Our destiny is entirely in our own hands. Bring our best and we can win and then keep winning

 

Its true, every team has to win three finals to win the flag.  We are still in that category :)

1 hour ago, deegirl said:

After reading this thread the main theory seems to be we lost because the Mebourne fans didn’t make enough noise.  Not that Sydney’s pressure strangled us, not that they were cleaner, not that our bottom tier players were unsighted, but that the supporters didn’t make enough noise 🤦‍♀️

I never said that was the reason we lost, just that the lack of noise was pathetic for a close final.

Here are my thoughts from last nights game.

Swans knew our game plan very well and made the most of that.

Swans had cleaner hands.

Swans rucks kicked 3 goals and ours kicked 1.

Jackson played like his nickname

Good teams exploit Vineys lack of height in their fwd 50.

Oliver averages a goal once every 3+ games so after kicking 2 he is not due again till round 4-6 in 2023.  We celebrated too much.

We need a power forward and a lockdown small defender

Swans got 3 goals from 50 m penalties.

Free paid against Sparrow was an absolute disgrace

This guy needs to never play again.. He's better utilised at the local car yard then in our forward 50. 

Brown Melksham and need to go.  ANB should be very nervous

2 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

All that work for a double chance....we could be in a prelim but tge number of passengers was astonishing.

Kozzie....didn't even do much chasing or tackling.

Anb

Bbb

Jv

Jackson

Melksham...now I remember this guy.

These blokes hold all be dropped given what was at stake.

But we can't.maybe one or two.

Max tried but his disposal was shocking.

Harmes the same.

Tracca injured but has had a topsy turvy year.

Langers....fumbles a plenty

Gus worst game of the year for him.

Lever ...a couple of marks and that's all folks.

May...Fritta and Oliver the latter who was targeted all night.... hold your heads high.

2nd rate team that somehow finished 2nd.

Wow. How did that happen?

You need to re-read your own member profile!

11 hours ago, CYB said:

It’s not definitive whether he actually gets him high. I’m thinking it’s high chest / neck at the least it’s not actually clear… so it may rely on med report but we could site that it slipped up.

But the non-superstar tax is awaiting us at the MRO. 

 

It was chest

You cannot keep kicking wide to the forward pockets. Where is this even coming from? Coaches? As it happens a lot and has been happening for weeks. Its not even percentage football.

Sydney remind me of the young Hawks of yesteryear, build a team of competitors with elite kicking skills. Apart from Spargo, who just doesn't do enough, there arent too many who can hit up targets.

Ben Brown is cooked, his knee is done and KPF issues next year look grim. Van Rooyen will take years to be consistent.

Goodwin needs to stop persisting and thinking things will come right, sometimes you need to make tactical and positional changes. Our fitness all year looks well below where it was last year and we just cannot swing back momentum consistently, as soon as the oppo get a run on, we just wait until they stop.

Anyway, looking forward to Cats v Pies. Off to walk the hounds.

At least we know why Trac was ineffective for most of the game. I don’t think a rest will do much for recovery but he’ll definitely be playing with a jab. 

In finals you need a near fully fit team, a well functioning game plan and glowing confidence. Can’t say we are humming on all three right now. 

10 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

You need to re-read your own member profile!

The fact that I called out many of my favourite players means I being honest AS I see it.

You may disagree but being silly by telling people to read their own profile doesn't really mean much.

I'm disappointed in quite a few players.

Maybe your not. 

Maybe you think the players I called out played out of their skins. Good for you.

But in fact, I think you are really projecting.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion without silly responses.

Telling people do things is easy. There's a few I could tell you to do but I just don't go there.

Have a good weekend.

Cheers.

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by leave it to deever

If this isn’t cited for staging, NOTHING ever should be. 
The rule shouldn’t even exist. 

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by WalkingCivilWar

44 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Anyone know how Charlie got the throat injury.

Going to hospital with it sounds similar to the injury that Dangerfield got when Toby Green charged him and got several weeks suspension for it.

It was in a tackle he made I reckon, city end around HFF Shane Warne stand side. From memory he actually won the free but I remember seeing him reach for his throat almost immediately after the tackle.

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by Hellaintabadplacetobe
Warnie!

33 minutes ago, KysaiahMessiah said:

Its true, every team has to win three finals to win the flag.  We are still in that category :)

We had numerous players down on their best last night and very few winners.  Yet, we weren't out of the match until late in the last quarter.  And we missed some shots late in the game which might have made the scores even closer

By contrast, when we play well we might have 16+ players who either win their position or play to their best

Therefore, the whole team needs to be at their best (or close to it) in order for the team to excel and win well

Sounds quite simple but that's the logical explanation.  Now, if we didn't have an upside like that it would be easy to draw the curtains

Petracca being a possible out is a concern but we can at least beat the Lions without him

And once a team reaches a PF, anything is possible.  There are no invincible teams this season and that includes Geelong.  The Cats still have to get it done in September. 

The Swans on the other hand are a very well drilled team who are hard to beat.  But they are beatable, nevertheless. All the finalists are beatable

We need to be tougher this preseason, show Melksham and BBB the door.

If you hadn’t watched the game and didn’t know the score, having read this thread you’d be right in thinking we had lost by over 80. We arguably only had a couple of players win their position on the night, yet only lost by 22, less than 4 goals. As frustrating as last night was, we’re still in it. 

Our dysfunctional forward line can get the job done against sides 5-8 but not other top 4 teams, something needs to change. M. Brown and Weid are not an option so it's take a chance on underdone TMac or untried JVR. Too many of our forwards just don't get hands on ball often enough, Getting by on "pressure acts", well win the ball yourself then the opposition can chase you.

Kozzies 2021 finals games weren't great and he was ordinary last night as well , needs to impose himself more. Thought the backline mostly did their job need a lot more in other parts of the ground, too many down,

Kick it long down the line doesn't work against these better sides so we need to switch it up at least occasionally. would have to play really badly to lose against Brisbane but they will use the Zorko bullshyte as some sort of motivation so we will need to be on the front foot.

Forward 50 tackles.

Melbourne : 13

Sydney : 25

What a sloppy and undisciplined performance. Just disappointed to miss out on this opportunity. 

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by Optimus D
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