Simply, we were not good enough this year. We all thought that we were better than that, but we really weren't. There is no shame in that.

What would be shameful, given our player base, would be if we cannot, during the season review, determine what went wrong, and how we can dramatically improve next year. It's obviously not just a player problem.

 

 

If you were a betting person and you decided to place ten dollar on which ever team Melbourne was playing this year you would have looked very silly after round ten, but at end of year you would have been well in front.

There was such a sense of disorganisation and panic this season, it’s not surprising we bowed out like this. Relationships between players also seemed strained at times: more than a few selfish acts in front of goal and seemed to be far more teammates spraying each other.

We seemed so far off in the end, that it doesn’t even feel like we missed a golden opportunity at a Premiership. We just weren’t good enough this year and in some ways that makes it easier for me to accept what happened.

Goodwin held it together after 2018, and while we were forced to endure two more disappointing seasons, there was clearly a plan in place.

As inflexible as Goodwin seemed throughout the season, he’s thankfully quite proactive in the off season. He’ll realise the bones of the side are sound, and hopefully set about addressing our forward line and ruck problems.

7 hours ago, Tracca said:

waste of a season?

 

we finished 2nd and played in 2 finals...... you arent a bloody true supporter of this team if you think its a waste of a season.

we limped to the line due to bad coaching decisions and injured players, albeit with a shortened pre season too.

sorry, but you can be angry, without this bs post.

I’m a true supporter and it’s a wasted season

 

Not good enough 

45 minutes ago, Mr Steve said:

If you were a betting person and you decided to place ten dollar on which ever team Melbourne was playing this year you would have looked very silly after round ten, but at end of year you would have been well in front.

It’s been a very profitable back end of the season backing against the dees 

 

(don’t sook about it - money doesn’t have feelings- you know who you are, I don’t need any PMs thanks )

 I see all the hysterical schoolkids have been let out to play.

Started year 10-0, only to go out in straight sets.

The fact that teams cottoned on to how to play us and that we had no plan B or C and only became more stubbornly reliant on an ineffective style is an indictment on the entire coaching team.

A wasted season indeed.

8 hours ago, Tracca said:

waste of a season?

 

we finished 2nd and played in 2 finals...... you arent a bloody true supporter of this team if you think its a waste of a season.

we limped to the line due to bad coaching decisions and injured players, albeit with a shortened pre season too.

sorry, but you can be angry, without this bs post.

A true supporter is honest with themself. A lot of our players busted their guts for 6 months to snare a top 2 spot only to fall short in a demoralising manner.

The coach has a lot to answer for. Gameplan, player management and forward setup all hopelessly inadequate. By midyear we could see the team was starting to lose steam as players got more banged up and worked painfully hard to enforce a taxing and (at times) counter intuitive gameplan.

We can't even say we blooded some promising up and comers to give them some momentum into the pre-season.

It was an utterly wasted season in the end.

The last two weeks have left me feeling a lot more [censored] off than when we could not beat time with a stick a few years back. The thing that annoys me the most is that after  Tmac was injured  we were struggling for KPF's  but we just keep using the same not good enough players week after week. Our team barely changed week after week.  We needed forwards who could mark the ball. Why not move the players around a bit. Why not try Petty as K P forward, he played a few time there in his first few games and gave creditable performances. Then we get to the two finals games why not try JVR and why did we not play Tmac last night. What were we waiting for? Either had to gives us  more than Milkshake. After the game against Sydney we did not make one change in spite of the fact that many players had put in poor performances for the last 6 games.

We just kept doing what was not working.

The coaching panel did nothing to suggest that they had more than one idea.

Look at how quickly the Dogs fell after their GF win. If we keep this up next year similar could happen to us.

For God sake get some new ideas!

Edited September 10, 20222 yr by old dee

I've thought about this really long and hard, sort council and checked with the accountant and I've come to the conclusion that this thread is a pile of crap. 

51 minutes ago, drysdale demon said:

 I see all the hysterical schoolkids have been let out to play.

Ok PP we have just been dumped from the finals in straight sets barely giving a wimper in the second half of both games. Please don't tell me you think we showed good form at the business end of the season.

Well .... We all wondered whether 2018 was an aberration.
Now we're gonna find out if 2021 was one.

As for Goodwin going to work on our forward entries during the off season don't hold your breath.
We've been punching out poor conversion rates for years and he's done nothing.
And yes ... Even last year.

 

Edited September 10, 20222 yr by Fork 'em

The reality is that all the teams left bar one (who ironically rolled us when it counted) had the wood over us convincingly throughout the season.

In that context it’s less of a wasted season, because it’s tells us we weren’t good enough, and more of a sign we have a lot to work on. We essentially finished fifth because we aren’t good enough to be top 4.

I think that’s more meaningful for the football department than us feeling like we just had off nights when it mattered. It will force us to try and get better, and not just put our head in the sand.

12 minutes ago, old dee said:

Ok PP we have just been dumped from the finals in straight sets barely giving a wimper in the second half of both games. Please don't tell me you think we showed good form at the business end of the season.

Some people don't really have an end game with their comments. It's all just about ripping people for the slightest ounce of criticism, hopefully they will eventually outline what it is they expect from our club rather than just bully people into being positive all the time but you can't teach an old dog new tricks. 

It's only the beginning.

Why is the word 'disgrace' tagged in the thread title. That's a bit much isn't it?

5 minutes ago, layzie said:

Why is the word 'disgrace' tagged in the thread title. That's a bit much isn't it?

Debateable.

12 hours ago, Tough Kent said:

For me, this is not about being bitter or angry. I love this team. They will forever be my sporting heroes. This is just my own honest assessments and views on our 2022 season.

 

I started to worry after the trade and draft period. We brought in a one player, a fringe player from St. Kilda who could potentially crack our 22. “Don’t worry. The improvement will come from within!” we were told. Teams don’t stand still. That Geelong side we beat in the prelim are an 8 goal better side this year due to changes in personnel and a tweak in their game plan. I believe that we just thought incremental improvement would happen.

 

Into the season. We were winning, but there were worrying trends. Failure to bury teams. Drop offs in games. Lack of cohesion going inside 50. Scoring was labour intensive. “That’s okay. We’ll click when it matters” we all thought.

 

Then we started to play the good teams. Teams that were ravenously hungry. Teams that had studied us intensively for 2 years and had worked us out. Teams that out-hunted us, and ran across the top of the ground a lot better than us. Teams that knew that if they stayed in games against us, they could run over the top of us. Did we have a Plan B for such occasions? I’m not sure.

 

The football world could see the issues. Lack of skill execution under pressure. Lack of cohesion going forward. Lack of reliable focal points in attack. Drop off in our pressure game. What was done about it in the second half of the year to buck these trends? Nothing. Goodwin was stubborn. He backed in his game plan. He backed in his core group of players. And by the time it got to last night, we were forced to play banged up players and players in questionable form because it was too late to bring in options from Casey.

 

I am glad the season is over. Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy the year at all. My heart was telling me we could win the thing, but my eyes and brain were telling me something different. The players said all the right things about being hungry, but Sydney showed us last week what it means to be truly hungry for 4 quarters. It is so hard to go back to back.

 

Am I excited for next year? Bloody oath! We finished 5^th in a year where our forward line was broken. We led in 7 of our 8 losses by 20 plus points. When it mattered, our important players were banged up and not at their best. I believe that with a few changes to 22 after an aggressive trade period and some adjustments to the game plan, we can challenge again in 2023.  

Solid post but the last bit might not be that easy either.  Keep in mind the Hawks under Clarko won their first in 2008.  Took them another 5 years to crack the next one.

Edited September 10, 20222 yr by Demon Dynasty

4 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Debateable.

Come on Fork 'em, disgrace is something you'd reserve for performances where the players didn't even try. We did what we could, it definitely wasn't good enough. Maybe a case can be made that the season has been squandered but a disgrace? Surely not. 

Reading this forum, I notice that a lot of posters think we have the AFL’s best list. I think that’s because we’re so familiar with our players.

Here’s how I would group last Friday’s 23 on this year’s form:

Great season: Petracca, Oliver, May, Petty.

Good season: Viney, Langdon, Lever, Fritsch, Brayshaw, Gawn.

Average season: Pickett (occasionally good, but too often missing or undisciplined), Harmes, Hibberd.

Disappointing season: Brown, Melksham, Neal-Bullen, Spargo, Salem, Jackson, Rivers, Hunt, Sparrow, Smith (although often injured).

Not everyone will agree with me, of course. But as I see it, 10 of our last game’s 23 had disappointing seasons. I can’t imagine that would be the case for Geelong, Collingwood or the Swans.

It’s not surprising that we didn’t perform in the finals when we rely on so few. We have some top players, but hardly the AFL’s best list. 

 

 

1 minute ago, layzie said:

Why is the word 'disgrace' tagged in the thread title. That's a bit much isn't it?

Agree, disgrace is taking it too far. A wasted season, yes. Embarrassing, well that’s on the coaches refusing to change things up, imv. But never a disgrace. If anything, our season’s end only highlights to me how rusted on a supporter I am. It hurts only because I care for this footy club so much. The beauty of footy is that we get to go again in 6 months time.

Luckily I am still young enough that I should still be around to see our next premiership, though hopefully it won’t take another 56 years. My heart will forever continue to bleed red + blue til the day I die.
 

MFC forever.

6 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Solid post but the last bit might not be that easy either.  Keep in mind the Hawks under Clarko won their first in 2008.  Took them another 5 years to crack the next one.

I could wait another 4 if it meant I got to see another one. To be honest, so long as I get to see another premiership, I don’t really care how long it takes.

16 minutes ago, layzie said:

Come on Fork 'em, disgrace is something you'd reserve for performances where the players didn't even try. We did what we could, it definitely wasn't good enough. Maybe a case can be made that the season has been squandered but a disgrace? Surely not. 

Dunno man.
That was a pretty Melbourne like result.
Spent the year swanning around as reigning premiers and then bundled out straight sets after squandering leads .... Again.
Not gonna shake the mentally weak tag continually doing stuff like that.
 

2 hours ago, Superunknown said:

It’s been a very profitable back end of the season backing against the dees 

 

(don’t sook about it - money doesn’t have feelings- you know who you are, I don’t need any PMs thanks )

This is my theory. Win and take my money or Lose and pay me. Taking the line I can sometimes have both options, win and get some cash. I don't think we've wasted this year we made it to 2nd spot not being at our best and the teams we played just got us at the right time. It ain't nice losing to intestate teams on the Mcg. Happened too often this year. I'm happy in the fact we're winning games playing Finals and not getting pummelled and wanting to leave by half time. 

1 hour ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Reading this forum, I notice that a lot of posters think we have the AFL’s best list. I think that’s because we’re so familiar with our players.

Here’s how I would group last Friday’s 23 on this year’s form:

Great season: Petracca, Oliver, May, Petty.

Good season: Viney, Langdon, Lever, Fritsch, Brayshaw, Gawn.

Average season: Pickett (occasionally good, but too often missing or undisciplined), Harmes, Hibberd.

Disappointing season: Brown, Melksham, Neal-Bullen, Spargo, Salem, Jackson, Rivers, Hunt, Sparrow, Smith (although often injured).

Not everyone will agree with me, of course. But as I see it, 10 of our last game’s 23 had disappointing seasons. I can’t imagine that would be the case for Geelong, Collingwood or the Swans.

It’s not surprising that we didn’t perform in the finals when we rely on so few. We have some top players, but hardly the AFL’s best list. 

 

 

I think this is a relatively fair analysis of the players. It’s interesting to note that the vast majority of your disappointing season players are either at the end, or the beginning, of their careers. I think it’s fair to say most of our young guys played well above expectations last year, and couldn’t go again this year.