1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

C'mon, selection wouldn't have changed the result. We were completely outplayed in the 2nd half, same as last week.

I'm not talking about the past 2 weeks. We failed to address T Mac's absence. We had the chance to either experiment with Petty up forward or play JVR. Consistent performers at VFL level like Dunstan and Chandler weren't rewarded. We persisted with ANB and Spargo, when they were giving us little. 

The whole team seemed to lack energy in the 2nd half of the season. Some players were banged up. Maybe some fresh faces could have lit the spark. But the match committee and coaches stuck with the same players and game plan which continually failed against the better sides.

4 minutes ago, layzie said:

Its over 

A bit too quick though, layz

We were looking for next week but there's no tomorrow until 2023

Hard to cop and I reckon most feel the same way

11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

It was a whole lot more fun.

Shoot out games and leaky defence but bloody hell we could be unpredictable and pile on huge scores.

Lived in Melbourne that year and it was some of the more enjoyable games I've been to in years.

I remember distinctly being at the G' for that EF against Geelong, that was the game that cemented my love for the MFC and its supporters. Now Goodwin is killing that fire in me with this rubbish coaching and boring game plan.

37 minutes ago, rpfc said:

What do you want us to do? Round them up and smack their bottoms for every face palm of a post that noted how our pressure compared to last year was through the floor and I am on board… 

@1964_2 Get. My. Paddle.

Sorry you are upset. But this forum, got offended when some really smart posters questioned whether we were really a $1.22 chance. 

Just goes to show, doesn’t always pay to follow the majority. 

$4.3 for the lions was one of the greatest gifts all season. 
 

Has anyone thought that maybe we actually aren't a better side with Gus in the middle?  

52 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Worse finals series I’ve seen Viney play 

Hmmm he wasn't great but I thought he almost singlehandedly willed the momentum back our way during patches in the 2nd half.

I was genuinely shocked at just how far off it Rivers, Sparrow, Jackson and Spargo looked tonight. all 4 have taken massive steps backwards this year.  Rivers has become a liability down back ( gave away 2 goals by panicking ) and Sparrow a liability with his disposals. pickett. ( as much as I love him) gives away another 50 and 2 x down the ground frees fr late contact. where’s his head at? Jackson drops a critical mark and has almost zero impact. 

Hard to stomach the way we’ve been over run late and out coached. Season has to be seen as a failure now. 

3 minutes ago, Jerry Lundergard said:

Has anyone thought that maybe we actually aren't a better side with Gus in the middle?  

Perhaps playing our most balanced midfielder as a tagger instead of letting him play his natural game was an error...

46 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

Absolute disaster this year. No other way to describe it. 10-0 start, best list in the comp by a long way, and out in straight sets. Wasted 1 of our 3 best chances we will get in many of our lifetimes 

 

I actually don’t think we’ve got the best list in the comp. I think we have a lack of marking forwards, and elite distance kicking. It’s probably 3 players, but with them we would have an amazing list.

I’d also say Hibbo might not go around again and we are lacking a shutdown defender with him gone.

Genuine question. Has a team ever gone out in straight sets before, making no changes after the first final loss?

 

51 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

It's not the leaders you should be disappointed with.

This is 100% on the coaching staff. They've absolutely butchered our season by their inability to have a plan B in place and also being too conservative at the selection table.

Goody and the rest need a [censored] rocket.

So it was the coaches spraying the ball everywhere but through the sticks in the 1st half was it? The coaches were the reason Kozzie dribbles the ball into the post? The coaches the reason we couldn't win a one on one contest in the 2nd half, were outnumbered at the drop of the ball and didn't pressure the ball carrier?

Give me a spell.

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Hmmm he wasn't great but I thought he almost singlehandedly willed the momentum back our way during patches in the 2nd half.

He was horrific.

disposal efficiency in 2nd half - 42% included terrible turnovers, and inside 50 entries. 
 

Edited September 9, 20222 yr by 1964_2

55 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

Sounds like a swipe to the coach.

I don't think so, sounds more like he's saying we should've put the game away earlier.

55 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

best list in the comp by a long way

 

May want to re-evaluate that. We have a great starting midfield, a very good defence and a C-grade forward line.

17 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

Massive risk of becoming a team like the dogs post their 2016 flag unfortunately 

 

Unfortunately I can see us diving off a cliff in a few years. What the hell were they doing out there, the whole footy world watched as we embarrassed ourselves with May, Lever and Spargo raging like a baby with a tantrum. We are fake tough guys and everyone knows it.

Petracca almost best on ground with a fractured leg, we don't deserve him and Oliver. If the FD can't squeeze another 1 or 2 flags out of this group then it'll be a waste of talent.

We gifted a side who hasn't won a game at the MCG for 8 years and has an awful finals record a game to the prelim where they shouldn't even belong..

We will come back with a vengeance next year.

Unfortunately this team succumbed to being completely banged up. One dimensional coaching didn’t help…

Gawn hurt his groin in the warm up tonight and it showed. Sums up second half of the season really. 

8 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

Sorry you are upset. But this forum, got offended when some really smart posters questioned whether we were really a $1.22 chance. 

Just goes to show, doesn’t always pay to follow the majority. 

$4.3 for the lions was one of the greatest gifts all season. 
 

We’re all upset. And as someone who has been raising the alarm since even before the end of the winning streak, through the ‘loading malaise is a red herring’ months, and into the ‘we are struggling to move the footy’ month leading into finals; I can understand your frustration.

We are not what we were and a lot on here didn’t want to hear it. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

They’ll be better for the run, and be more understanding posters next year I reckon.

49 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

It's not the leaders you should be disappointed with.

This is 100% on the coaching staff. They've absolutely butchered our season by their inability to have a plan B in place and also being too conservative at the selection table.

Goody and the rest need a [censored] rocket.

Yup. The rigidity of the coaching and unwillingness to test players out of their position is first order what’s to blame. 
 

Petty being put up forward and almost winning the game… amazing what happens when we divert from Plan A and move players into other positions. 
 

We made a change to address our problematic forward line and bang, result. 
 

What could have been with more adventurous coaching in 2022. Oh well. On to 2023 I guess and for the love of God, can we PLEASE come up with a couple of 2nd or 3rd order game plans coaching staff? 

A stubborn Goodwin clearly missed the boat not making changes to last week's losing side. I would rather have seen Joel Smith & Bowey play down back & get rid of Rivers & Salem who were both ordinary again for the 2nd week in a row. No recognised CHF has killed us so we should have played either a half fit TMac or JVR as another tall marking option. And even selecting Weid would have been far better than watching another horrible performance from Jackson. 

17 minutes ago, mo64 said:

But the match committee and coaches stuck with the same players and game plan which continually failed against the better sides.

And in the end we were ousted by a lesser light who knew what we were going to do, especially with regards our forward 50 entries

We showed our hand in plain sight.  A predictable game plan that was picked apart by the good teams and then Brisbane

From early in the season our forward line was crowded, Brown was double teamed or even triple teamed and we had no answers

Default mode - bomb to the left forward pocket

As a result, as the season went on, our forward line woes stayed as it was

Hindsight tells us that we should have changed things up

Edited September 9, 20222 yr by Macca

Well at least we’ve got the death of a monarch and our longest serving head of state to distract us.
 

Too soon? 
 

(Long live the King!) 

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

May want to re-evaluate that. We have a great starting midfield, a very good defence and a C-grade forward line.

A way better list than been kicked out in straight sets. Simples. 

Edited September 9, 20222 yr by 1964_2

The AFL pretty much buried us this year with the draw we were given.

What i don't understand is the simple draw to success those feral trucks down the highway have been given.

Gawn, Salo, BBB, Lever, Riv, Jacko, ANB, Harmesy, Spargs etc. i could go on after R10 never the same.

No Forward structure for weeks and we leave it till the last 5 mins to try something different.

No key marking fwd for Half a season, i have an idea though lets through Petty fwd in the last 5 minutes and see what he can do and what do you know he takes a contested mark and kicks a goal.

Well [censored] me drunk.

A complete and utter waste of a year, Selwyn if i were you mate i wouldn't be going fishing anytime soon.

We are the epitome of "All duck, no dinner" (all talk no action)

Too much blabbing on about going back to back and learning from our losses, what a load of rubbish. We have given the whole comp a reason to [censored] on us for the way we've gone about things this year.

For mine, clearly the q4 fade outs are a fitness / desire issue. 

Maybe that is injury related or a number of other potential excuses (short pre-season etc).

The one thing that gets me more, is the mental fragility of suddenly stopping a winning formula when 15-20-25-30 points up in the first half. If this didn’t happen, we would have won at least half our losses this year.

How the same thing can happen, on repeat for a full season, with no signs of improvement is beyond me. 

When 20 points up, why not keep going, and get to 40 and kill the game??