2 minutes ago, layzie said:

Yep, all about taking the wins at this point. Expecting 100 point wins is silly.

I agree completely. I think the majority of the frustration comes from the fact that it seems that with a bit more polish that is a 100 point thrashing still happy with a pretty solid 50 pt win.

22 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Happy with 90 points. Happy with 54 points. Happy seeing us win regularly and well.

What does my head in is unpressured sloppiness from a skilful list. Trac Viney Kozzie & Sparrow often fumble at their feet and over run the ball. Now Fritsch is doing it as well. And when we do pick it up our handballing is full of errors. Some are pressured, but many are not.

Yes,  the errors are frustrating. Losing is worse. Have a glass of wine. Does wonders.

7 minutes ago, layzie said:

Yep, all about taking the wins at this point. Expecting 100 point wins is silly.

Melbourne have only had five 100+ point wins in my lifetime and I only have recollection of the last 2. A very rare gift in my life. I will happily celebrate any win over hawthorn tho, whatever the Margin 

 

 

41 minutes ago, GBDee said:

With about 3 minutes to go in the 4th Fritta made a half-hearted challenge inside 50 and I was cursing him - they broke away but coughed it straight back and 20 seconds later Fritta pops up with the classy finish from Petracca’s handball. Kinda sums him up.

I reckon internally they'll be roasting a number of his half hearted chases today. It'll be a tough balance, because he's clearly low on confidence too, but no doubt it'll be framed something like get back to doing the simple things well.

9 minutes ago, Redlagged said:

Yes,  the errors are frustrating. Losing is worse. Have a glass of wine. Does wonders.

I love a good Shiraz, but don't need one tonight. And I don't enjoy it for what it "does". I enjoy the taste, the experience and the conversation over a good wine. We won, only it was in a frustrating manner. 

What I liked.

Dynamic first quarter. Upped the pressure and Hawks folded.

Petty looking like a CHF.

Tracc creative but brutal.

May unpassable. Only time Lewis won a one on one was a massive push in the back.

Backline worked well particularly in first half. Hibbo was particularly good against Breust.

Hunter looked much more physical this week.

McVee again.Such a smooth mover who does everything at speed.

Dislikes: Langdon is struggling. Maybe injured.

Kozzie, yet to really break a game open. He threatens.

ANB's fumbling.

1 hour ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Well picked up Steve.

 

I’m a stats man. 

4 minutes ago, McQueen said:

I’m a stats man. 

I can see that Steve!

8 minutes ago, dee-tox said:

What I liked.

Dynamic first quarter. Upped the pressure and Hawks folded.

Petty looking like a CHF.

Tracc creative but brutal.

May unpassable. Only time Lewis won a one on one was a massive push in the back.

Backline worked well particularly in first half. Hibbo was particularly good against Breust.

Hunter looked much more physical this week.

McVee again.Such a smooth mover who does everything at speed.

Dislikes: Langdon is struggling. Maybe injured.

Kozzie, yet to really break a game open. He threatens.

ANB's fumbling.

Thought Langdon was good.

43 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

He is. I can’t say anything more. 

Is it something that is likely to get better as the season progresses or not?

11 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

I love a good Shiraz, but don't need one tonight. And I don't enjoy it for what it "does". I enjoy the taste, the experience and the conversation over a good wine. We won, only it was in a frustrating manner. 

Wonderful.

1 hour ago, leave it to deever said:

Special bird comments.

 

I think a lot of people are missing something about games like today. Watching it very close to ground level in AFL Members, the Hawks pressure and spread in the second half was intense. We still won by 10 goals. In literally any other decade, a 10+ goal win is a "belting". We belted Hawthorn today. They gave it their all. At their best, we are still a 10 goal better team. Which is as it should be between top 4 and bottom 4. No one team at their best is 100 points better than any other team at their best. It's an anomaly. If people think a 10 goal win is "uninspiring", then I'm scared for the league for when we are 100% switched on.

I have two key take aways from today and they're not even team based, they're player based:

1. Hibberd oozes professional and football smarts. He and May in the same backline is key to us winning a flag. Lever, Rivers, soon Salem, McVee, Bowey are all intercept and zone players. Hibberd and May are our 1-on-1 lockdown defenders. It's so good having Hibberd back and playing well. The definition of "experience down back".

2. Langdon is beyond simply being "down on form". I watched him closely today. He is unaccountable, points fingers a lot, avoids tackles.. teams are targeting his space and exploiting it. He is a liability against good teams. Going to be a very interesting month for him to see how he performs.

May was back to his usual self… looked to be moving much better today/tonight. 

Grundy and the connection to the midfielders is still an issue for mine. Gawn had to spend a bit too much time in the middle. I noticed that he elected to grab and kick it in multiple occasions - perhaps suggesting a lack of confidence on our stoppage work?

thought bowser covered the ground well today and worked well with Hibbo and Riv on the rebound.

 Still feels like we are in 2nd gear, which is ok at Round 9 I suppose - just as long it’s not a 2022 2nd gear scenario. 

6 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

Thought Langdon was good.

He gets easy possessions and lets teams waltz it down the wing. He is unaccountable. Badly needs to improve his defensive game.

4 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Is it something that is likely to get better as the season progresses or not?

It’s expected to be but if it doesn’t it won’t be for lack of trying, that’s for sure. 

36 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Seems odd bin. I reckon Petty took more ( I don't know the stats) marks in that half he played than any other forward this year.

And I just listened to the presser and goody was pretty clear he's staying there for the foreseeable future. 

But I just think as well as he has been performing forward we will need a third elite tall down back come finals against rhe best teams.

1 hour ago, Hopeful Demon said:

Just one of those typical games where you take the four points and move on. Hawthorn threw everything at us in the second half but we still ended up with a 9 goal win.

Our midfielders (Oliver, Petracca and Viney) were easily our best. Rivers was good again too.

And Max

Not one journalist wanted to ask Goody about Trac??? 
Sounds like Petty is precautionary and will be assessed during the week. Good chance to play Friday night. 

1 minute ago, binman said:

And I just listened to the presser and goody was pretty clear he's staying there for the foreseeable future. 

But I just think as well as he has been performing forward we will need a third elite tall down back come finals against rhe best teams.

Yes. Unfortunately he can't play at both ends bin!

5 minutes ago, praha said:

He gets easy possessions and lets teams waltz it down the wing. He is unaccountable. Badly needs to improve his defensive game.

Langdon is unaccountable? [censored]. But he hasn't been at his best this year. Long way to go.

3 minutes ago, binman said:

And I just listened to the presser and goody was pretty clear he's staying there for the foreseeable future. 

But I just think as well as he has been performing forward we will need a third elite tall down back come finals against rhe best teams.

If Hibberd stays fit, then him, Lever and May is a sufficient backline alongside McVee, Rivers, Bowey, and eventually Salem.

1 hour ago, Stu said:

In 2021 we were a turnover team until Round 20 when we started to score from stoppage, and we saw the effect of that in the PF and GF. I think once we get the centre clearance chemistry right - be it through exposure for the rotating players, or by allowing the big 3 more time there later in the season - teams will have to contend with multi ways we can score against them.

Would love to see center clearances for this season when Max is in the middle vs Grundy.  Can't be sure but gut feel tells me the chemistry is a fair degree better (along with Max's general tap / ground ball work) when Max is in there.

Still not convinced the Grundy option is working for us (at center bounces)

felt like a professional win to me

our centre clearances when the core three - oliver, petracca, viney - were in there didn't seem to be working very well

Good turnout from our supporters tonight. I thought we outnumbered the emergency services people 70/30.