POSTGAME: Rd 05 vs Essendon

[KLV 1,768]

24 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Melksham played as the 3rd tall forward and when we moved the ball he looked as likely as any of our key forwards. BBB struggles to stay upright in the dry, I’m completely fine with that change. Not sure why you’re comparing him with noted key forward 180cm Bill Laurie.

I wasn’t impressed with Tommy Mc and he’s just about impossible to pick again any time soon, but if Schache’s the answer we’re probably just as stuffed. His VFL form has been good not great and he’s still iffy at the contest. How long has been on an AFL list without getting a regular gig?

Totally agree on Disco, but the plan looked fairly simple. Use Tomlinson on the resting rucks. He towelled up Lobb, surely he won’t struggle too much with Phillips and Draper? That allows May to play full back and Petty to play as the interceptor. 

Disco also had 1 game back from a 3+ week lay off, it’s not unreasonable for him to play a second VFL game. For his own sake as much as the teams. His second ever AFL game going in underdone? That’s not a recipe for success. 

Stop being so sensible 

[dino rover 714]

2 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

People will hammer Tomlinson, but Steven May was a joke today. Took no responsibility when things got tough then lost his head in the 2nd half. Did nothing right.

Grundy and Petty were also pathetic, I don't care if Petty gets on the end of a couple in the wet or plays while hurt, weak early.

He is really quite hopeless below his knees 

his trick is to work his opponent under the ball

good kick good distribution but beyond that

[DeeSpencer 26,482]

15 minutes ago, A F said:

Agree with most of this, but surely Turner is depth for Lever. He's the interceptor that can play on a tall. Tomlinson, like May, panics when the ball hits the ground in D50.

Are you ready to entrust one of the most important roles in the side to a 2nd gamer on one ok VFL game? Petty was a good choice as the interceptor. Tomlinson made sense to use his height/strength on the resting ruck. 

22 minutes ago, A F said:

When Sparrow gave away that ridiculous free kick with the sling tackle, you could tell he was frustrated by his day/performance

Glad Gaz called that our for the big flop that it was tho.

[layzie 34,384]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

It comes down to effort. Essendon brought it and we looked like we turned up expecting a regulation win. If we bring effort we'll beat most teams.

We will but things that were once big strengths were weakened today. 15 marks in our defensive 50 shouldnt ever happen even without Lever.

Not a disaster but a little more than just a one-off bad day. Need to learn from it.

Edited April 15, 2023 by layzie

[I'va Worn Smith 988]

9 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Tricky one, definitely ducked and hung the neck in a bad position too, but it wasn’t a high tackle, it was as a clattering in to.

Probably ok with the free against, awful umpire not to halt play.

 

[Demonsone 2,050]

Looked like they were still in Perth and flat footed with no run….can’t take away from the bombers but  looked like they were cooked, not sure how 1 team does a back to back road trip from Perth inc 3 interstate trips vs 1 in the first 5 round and say there is no disadvantage ect ..  no excuses but as Goody said It didn’t look anything like them.. understand all teams will get there run of interstate trips etc but not sure why it’s so hard to run a fixture that continues to be so lob sided…. 

[dees189227 12,456]

Well the good news is we are getting some of our interstate trips out of the way early. Our next 2 games are at the G. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,357]

Is it correct that Clarry got 39 touches in the final 3 qtrs?

Be interesting if he gets in the coaches votes in possessions alone.

[Lucien 0]

I blame the umpires. One sided and big momentum swings as a result of critical decisions....

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

6 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Oh please. Oliver’s been the most prolific player in the comp all year and gets tackled without it constantly. Daicos plays without an opponent at half back and has been shifted on ball or forward to beat tags, he’s a receiver more than a ball winning in the middle too, he’s also just really good. 

Petracca’s been up and down. Playing a lot forward, it’s a very long year. With Tracc I’d like to see more improvement in ball use rather than caring about his ability to get in and win it.

Different roles and agree it’s harder to win the ball than to receive it. But he’s a kid in his 2nd year that continues to find a way.

Oliver is arguably one of the best in the comp and yet gets the ball twice in a quarter when it matters most. You usually see this once maybe twice a year.
 

He wasn’t alone today and our the whole teams defensive pressure was missing. Maybe there is something in that and the travel involved , but I want the Dees to make a statement every time we play and when the Bombers kicked the first 2 before kicking away again, I knew which Melbourne turned up. 

[homsar 431]

8 minutes ago, dino rover said:

He is really quite hopeless below his knees 

his trick is to work his opponent under the ball

good kick good distribution but beyond that

Am I right here that you’re saying May offers nothing beyond being a good kick? Just checking I am understanding this correctly, as it seems like a very interesting opinion to have. 

[At the break of Gawn 4,460]

1 hour ago, Hellaintabadplacetobe said:

55 tackles for a match in those conditions is damning.

They had 71 and clearly wanted it more.

The fact that we were the best tackling team so far this season and then to dish out that seems to me that the 6 day break and consecutive interstate trips had an influence.

In saying that, I think Goodwin and co. need to finally decide on what our forward mix is going to look like. Since round 1 last year it's been a revolving doors between Weid (now Schache), Tmac, Brown and now Petty. JVR has to be a mainstay, and so is Fritsch. We just need to stick with one and build the chemistry. I for one wouldn't mind seeing Shache have a go (pending how he goes tomorrow). 

[homsar 431]

1 minute ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Different roles and agree it’s harder to win the ball than to receive it. But he’s a kid in his 2nd year that continues to find a way.

Oliver is arguably one of the best in the comp and yet gets the ball twice in a quarter when it matters most. You usually see this once maybe twice a year.
 

He wasn’t alone today and our the whole teams defensive pressure was missing. Maybe there is something in that and the travel involved , but I want the Dees to make a statement every time we play and when the Bombers kicked the first 2 before kicking away again, I knew which Melbourne turned up. 

I think this is a rubbish take. Oliver tried and was well beaten for one quarter. Like the champion he is, he didn’t stop trying until the last second. Sometimes when this happens, you need others to lift around him. 
 

How many bad quarters has Oliver had in 151 games?

[John Crow Batty 8,886]

6 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Wow. It was obvious where this was going 30 seconds in.  zDid they think they could opine this one in?  The lack of effort in the contest was clear from the start.  Some real stinkers today - Tommo was a real negative standout today.  TMac low value, nibbler off, Spargo low value and Grundy was shaded. 

Hats off to: Petracca, Viney, JVR, McVee, Petty late and Oliver 2nd half.

Struggle street - the rest.. Mays worst game for the club.

Similar to the Brisbane game. We were off after the first bounce. Incredibly loose defence and disorganised forward line. Three great games mixed with two complete dud efforts. Something NQR upstairs. The contrast is perplexing. We are not ready to be considered premiership favourites yet.

[Orion 332]

You don't have to be playing your best football in the first half of the year.  Last year Geelong was 5-4 after nine rounds and seventh on the ladder and few thought they would win it at that point 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Orion

[Fat Tony 5,322]

I think May looks unwilling to go to full pace. Last week he let Darling win a ball on the boundary and gave him a 15m leg rope. This week he didn’t look to have any intensity and struggled in the air. 

[dazzledavey36 55,990]

41 minutes ago, adonski said:

Does anyone actually know what Sparrow's role is?

Doesn't win the footy 
Doesn't use his size to impact defensively - 1 tackle off 10 centre bounce attendances 
Isn't a link up player - 0 marks
Isn't a forward
Rarely hits above 65% time on ground
Is there any particular reason we carry him every week? 

Also - so much for Pickett & Rivers' added midfield minutes, Rivers had 4 centre bounce attendances, while Pickett only had 3. For context, Jordon as sub had 3.

Has done nothing since 2021.

Seriously have no idea what he adds to our team. If he's not in the midfield he's useless elsewhere. 

[BoBo 2,953]

16 minutes ago, I'va Worn Smith said:

FFS.  I give up.  In this current day and age, the head is sacro sanct.  The oppo player ran through and hit Spargs in the head with his hip.  That player did not have his arms in a position to tackle.  He bumped him in the head. 

It is sacrosanct but you can’t do what Spargo did and it be called a free against Redmann.

If that was the case, players could just duck head first into the everything initiating head high contact and get frees. 

Spargo put himself in that position unnecessarily. Had aeons to get rid of the ball but chose to duck like that and it’s clear that Redmann wasn’t trying to hit his head. 

[dino rover 714]

7 minutes ago, homsar said:

Am I right here that you’re saying May offers nothing beyond being a good kick? Just checking I am understanding this correctly, as it seems like a very interesting opinion to have. 

On tonight’s performance you are understanding this correctly 

amazing comprehension 

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

4 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

I think May looks unwilling to go to full pace. Last week he let Darling win a ball on the boundary and gave him a 15m leg rope. This week he didn’t look to have any intensity and struggled in the air. 

He does seem quite hesitant to commit- I agree. Not sure whether he has full confidence back yet. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,357]

11 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Well the good news is we are getting some of our interstate trips out of the way early. Our next 2 games are at the G. 

The constant travelling hurt us at the back end of last year and could be having an early impact this year.

We only travel twice in the last 8 weeks so that could be a major positive.

I was slightly surprised the club didn’t fly direct from Perth to Adelaide, and spend the entire week in Adelaide. Much like the Dogs are doing next week when they fly from Adelaide to Perth.

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

9 minutes ago, homsar said:

I think this is a rubbish take. Oliver tried and was well beaten for one quarter. Like the champion he is, he didn’t stop trying until the last second. Sometimes when this happens, you need others to lift around him. 
 

How many bad quarters has Oliver had in 151 games?

Why don’t you offer us your take then? He is a champion player, but didn’t even have a hard tag and yet got pantsed in Q1. I hate it, he hates it but the fact still remains he has two touches (12 in the first half) and wasn’t able to impact the game. 

[Waltham33 475]

11 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

The fact that we were the best tackling team so far this season and then to dish out that seems to me that the 6 day break and consecutive interstate trips had an influence.

In saying that, I think Goodwin and co. need to finally decide on what our forward mix is going to look like. Since round 1 last year it's been a revolving doors between Weid (now Schache), Tmac, Brown and now Petty. JVR has to be a mainstay, and so is Fritsch. We just need to stick with one and build the chemistry. I for one wouldn't mind seeing Shache have a go (pending how he goes tomorrow). 

Agree on both counts.  3 interstate trips in 4 weeks I al2asys thought would impact.  The forward line ain’t working righ5 now

[Jaded No More 68,976]

You could tell 5 minutes in we were not going to win this game. Sometimes we come out and we look disinterested. Today was one of those days. We expected to win off minimal effort. Played like millionaires and got beaten by a side that wanted to win, and worked hard for it. Not just expected it to happen. 
 

The lack of leadership, voice and aggression at the contest was completely unacceptable. Match ups down back we’re totally off. Defensive efforts were nonexistent. Forward of the centre was a mess. Selfish, dumb, lacking intensity. 
It was every bad Melbourne performance of the last year rolled into one. 
An unacceptable effort for a side primed to win the flag. 

The reality is that we have a very good list. But some of our best players are coming to the end. With an even competition and no real standouts, we blew a massive opportunity last year and we could well blow it again this year if we don’t start to take the competition seriously. 
To not win 1-2 more flags with this list would be a complete balls up to be honest. These types of premiership windows come around so so rarely. 57 years it took us to get here. Let’s not make it another 57 years. 

[Waltham33 475]

11 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

I think May looks unwilling to go to full pace. Last week he let Darling win a ball on the boundary and gave him a 15m leg rope. This week he didn’t look to have any intensity and struggled in the air. 

The lost contes5 to Langford in the third a prime example. Strange day today

Edited April 15, 2023 by Waltham33