Jackson was off the ground nearly as much as he was on it tonight. Brown spent a fair bit on the pine as well.

Melksham has always been average on his set shots. He should have taken them around the body tonight. If TMac is fit next week get him in.

This makes more sense when you accept that we just don’t move the ball forward well, certainly not like last year even before the finals. This scrappy patch work forward line is fun to root for but it is not in the top 6 forward lines in the game, and they are t helped by our inert style.

Melksham is nearing the end and was fine if he could kick straight. ANB is not a forward and plays like it, he does so much work for the team (but can Chandler or a Bedford do that next year), Brown is playing manfully but asked too much, LJ and Gawn are a sitcom in the forward line, and Spargo, Fritsch and Kozzie can go for a half and not see it and they are our actual forwards with great forward craft and movement.

That’s the realisation we all have to get to - just enjoy that ragtag group.

The less enjoyable is how boring and inert we are in transition. Sydney showed us what we were like last year, hands after a mark, overlap running. We have turned it on for a quarter or a game (usually against the Lions) but we stick to a real battling slow movement game and to a forward line that needs quick delivery because they can’t compete against the best defences when they are setup.

Sydney were great, they pressured us and then suffocated us but that is something we fell into. Unless we can find our drive, flair, and dare - we are not going anywhere this year and it is not the blame of our forward line alone.

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.

Steven May you are a Legend,kicked Buddy's A$$

 

Luke Jackson is absolutely useless,shocking year,cannot ruck,drops 90% of marks,Freo will pay how much? Idiots!!!

 

If Tmac is ready,he comes in for Jackson who's Heart is at Freo,he won't sign with us,he's dropped for Tmac who bleeds Red & Blue

 

It's a hard road now but we'll make the prelim at least.

 

Out-Jackson,ANB,Spargo,Melksham,Brown

Edited September 2, 20223 yr by Jack7

4 minutes ago, leucopogon said:

ANB is not strong enough in any contest and kills our momentum 8 times out of 10 when he goes near it 

He's hard at it, but not super strong so he's been caught a lot all year. My bigger frustration is when he has the ball. Handballs to feet, handballing back into traffic,  kicking over player's heads, choosing the wrong target, no natural goal sense when he does get a snap chance. But hes always running out games, vital to our defesive set ups and linking up so its a tough one.

Game of missed opportunities and mistakes tonight across the field.  

3 minutes ago, layzie said:

This album has a beautiful calming effect on me!

Same, but I say that for metal in general.

Just now, mo64 said:

You clearly missed the point of the loading debate. Nobody denies that loading takes place. It was the nonsense that we were losing games due to it, and we would peak come finals time.

I've seen several posters deny loading takes place, and almost none who seem to grasp what loading actually is. my inbox is open if you'd like to discuss this further, i'd rather not derail the thread 

13 minutes ago, praha said:

If anyone thinks we're a sure thing against Brisbane you're delusional.

They will be primed and fierce. 

Losing 2 games and being bundled out of finals scares the [censored] out of me. This team deserves more than that for this season.

3 minutes ago, Mr Steve said:

Jackson was off the ground nearly as much as he was on it tonight. Brown spent a fair bit on the pine as well.

Brown played 73% game time, he just didn't do anything.

 

Hunt and Melksham have been great in the last 5 games but putrid tonight.

We just can’t handle that intense pressure .

Nibbler was absolutely terrible.

Salem was no where to be seen

Without Oliver and May we lose that by ten goals plus.

We are very Suspect under pressure .

Edited September 2, 20223 yr by DeeZee

10 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

May was sensational BUT he also killed our momentum because he can’t control his brain or his anger. As a leader he needs to be better. 

100% agree - I think it's his ego. Franklin played him and the umpire.

Just on Sydney, you've got to admire them. They're incredibly well drilled and disciplined. 

They're not a team full of superstars but they have everyone buying into team defence and structure and simply get the job done.

They have some impressive youngsters coming through. They're set for the next few years.

I really hope they win the flag over Geelong/Collingwood. 

What about the 50m penalties… very undisciplined by the team. 2-3 goals from there made the end margin more than it ought to have been. Obviously the Franklin one wasn’t there but still.

11 minutes ago, Tom Dyson said:

Something about Sydney and Collingwood, our system goes to absolute tripe against these two clubs.

So disappointing we continually serve up absolute rubbish against the swans. 

Both almost concede contested ball and pressure us on the way out...works well when we don't apply the same level of pressure back. It nullifies our biggest strength. 

26 minutes ago, Darkhorse72 said:

You have to acknowledge Sydney pressure and desperation and positioning around packs was huge.

But 3 goals from 50's in a final and missing sitters and stuffing up a certain goal, I can say 3 are directly linked to Melk's.

We didn't play with any run or speed across the ground, whether that was deliberate or Sydney structure I couldn't tell on tv.  

Many players had their worst game of the year.  Trac after his knock didn't look right and we fumbled too often

We have 1 week to regroup but luckily got lions at the G ready to face Pies/Cats in the prelim.

We're taking the long road this year, but there's no travel.

 

 

The best outcome at least. Any other games all at the G.

I feared meeting swans in a pf. At least we dodged that. I cannot believe we won't take care of lions nect week.

Ok, all I’ve been hearing and reading all year is “they will flick the switch!”

Can some one check if the [censored] thing is plugged in???

8 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Gee wiz.. where do you start?

I was waiting for our senior leaders and stars to stand up but yet they just went missing. Petracca, Viney, Lever, Brayshaw Salem, Gawn were all terrible tonight. Brayshaw looked completely cooked with that knee bandage and Salem was scared of physical contact.

Gawn and Jackson got absolutely smashed by a ruckman that's been a battler throughout his career. Gawn paid no respect tonight which was disappointing and Jackson was a witches hat out there.

Nibbler was god awful, in fact he was genuinely terrible. I'm sorry but he can't be getting games next year. He's been ordinary for the last 7 weeks and yet we continue to persist with his momentum killers and ability to somehow [censored] up every transition chains. 

You look at the way Sydney's half forwards operate and they're so much cleaner with the ball. A gun small forward should be high on our list come the trade period.

Thank you for your time and effort Melky. Enjoy retirement. 

Rivers, Sparrow and Brown were fumbles galore.

Where the hell was Pickett?? Our forward line is still an obvious mess and we've had all year to rectify this by getting the right set up. The Gawn up forward experiment simple has to cease, he's not a a forwards [censored] and never will be.

A few could hold their hands up high. May and Oliver especially were our two best and Oliver especially tried to will the team on his back but unfortunately he had no support whatsoever. 

I thought Harmes was good on his wing. Did a lot of defensive chop out down back and that's all you can ask.

Unfortunately we looked completely cooked and banged up. Guys with knee bandages tonight looked so poppy and unfit.

Onto next week we go.

Hickey always plays well against Max

No thanks, I don’t want Grundy if it means I have to watch Max kick for goal 

29 minutes ago, Return to Glory said:

 

Edited September 2, 20223 yr by Superunknown

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Just on Sydney, you've got to admire them. They're incredibly well drilled and disciplined. 

They're not a team full of superstars but they have everyone buying into team defence and structure and simply get the job done.

They have some impressive youngsters coming through. They're set for the next few years.

I really hope they win the flag over Geelong/Collingwood. 

Yes, they did their homework on us. Nullified Max and Dogga, got on top of our midfield and made our forwardline look useless

Will dumb it down for everyone. Weaker team won. Why? Better coach, coaching panel delivered on their plan. 

We can’t afford for Adem to go!! 

21 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

 

Our best is the best, you could see it tonight in those outburst of goals, we couldn't sustain it though 

We look spent from midway through the third and that has been the trend in our losses, I’m really questioning our fitness.

3 minutes ago, KysaiahMessiah said:

No thanks, I don’t want Grundy if it means I have to watch Max kick for goal 

Agree. Three times he looked awful and got the other one !! Who thinks he’s a forward ??? He’s our ruck who can 15-20% forward. Grundy to Dees is a 🤮🤮🤮

One of Pickets worst games for us. Out tackled badly. 5 of the 6 best trackers were swans.