10 hours ago, gregdemon said:

Jvr cost us the game.  

Bit rough given the utter garbage served up by our leaders for most of 100 minutes of football. How about we start there instead of pinging the 6 gamer?

5 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Spot on .. how about Goody play his best mids then rest them when we have the game won! Embarrassing to the best 2 rucks yet getting smashed in clearances in a number of games this season 

That worked well last year. They were all banged up through the second half of the season. 

Terrible tackling 20-30m out from their goal

Viney, JVR main culprits

Very poor

23 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

That was the biggest howler for mine! What the actual hell, how can that not be paid??? It was unfathomable, I was going berserk.

Umpiring was pathetic but can’t win games playing 1qtr ..  our clearances are a real issue … play ur best players these rotations & trac not starting isn’t working   

Inexcusable lack of effort in the first half. Gus is too slow for the midfield. Gawn is still injured and can’t jump for his marks. Kozzie decided to have a night off as did ANB. JVR needs to be told some home truths. We missed Sparrow and Petty.

Edited May 19, 20231 yr by chook fowler

34 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Sums up the Afl, we play the cats 2 seasons in a row away .. what’s so hard to play 1 year home & next away???

Because we are making up the numbers for the clubs that never or rarely play there eg; the Pies, Tigers, Bombers and Blues.

It's a fixture not a draw for a  reason.

The outcomes are massaged and controlled by the ring master to try and boost certain club's chances of making finals and GFs and thereby max out broadcaster ratings / advertising revenue etc.

Unfortunately we are at least 5th (or worse) on their priority list at a Victorian level & considered as fodder to be toyed with as they please vs the four mentioned and in a travelling interstate sense.

It's no coincidence that we're the biggest travelling Vic club this season and the club that's ended up at Kardinia more than anyone else over the last 15 years or so.

Edited May 19, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

I thought we missed Sparrow's physicality. I know many don't rate him but he adds that extra hard edge to our midfield which was missing last night.

Jordon did not much when he came on again, I would give him a decent stint at Casey, it can't be good playing a quarter of a game most weeks.

Our pressure and tackling was horrendous last night except for that patch in the 3rd. I don't know if that made it worse because they showed they could do it when they could be bothered.

Umpiring was atrocious and not just in the last quarter. I hate whinging about the umpires but fair dinkum it is just so amateurish, it frustrates and aggravates you watching the game when ticky touchwood frees are going their way and blatant ones are missed the other way. It breaks momentum and I have no doubt it was a contributing factor to our inability to get going in the first half. When we did get that run on in the 3rd surprise surprise, some free kicks started going our way! It has far more of an impact on the flow of the game than many give credit for.

4 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Because we are making up the numbers for the clubs that never or rarely play there eg; the Pies, Tigers, Bombers and Blues.

It's a fixture not a draw for a  reason.

The outcomes are massaged and controlled by the ring master to try and boost certain club's chances of making finals and GFs and thereby max out broadcaster ratings / advertising revenue etc.

Unfortunately we are at least 5th (or worse) on their priority list at a Victorian level & considered as fodder to be toyed with as they please vs the four mentioned and in a travelling interstate sense.

It's no coincidence that we're the biggest travelling Vic club this season and the club that's ended up at Kardinia more than anyone else over the last 15 years or so.

Spot on Port played the saints for the 1st away since 2013, swans hadn’t played at the G v the pies in 8 seasons , saints played 6-8 in the first 8 rounds at marvel .. we’re is the integrity in this marketing ratings competition 

10 hours ago, Flower Magic said:

Not so sure about that. Dixon and Marshall missing tonight. Horne-Francis and Butters are dead-set guns. Can see them staying in the top 4.

yes they will take our spot

17 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I thought we missed Sparrow's physicality. I know many don't rate him but he adds that extra hard edge to our midfield which was missing last night.

Jordon did not much when he came on again, I would give him a decent stint at Casey, it can't be good playing a quarter of a game most weeks.

Our pressure and tackling was horrendous last night except for that patch in the 3rd. I don't know if that made it worse because they showed they could do it when they could be bothered.

Umpiring was atrocious and not just in the last quarter. I hate whinging about the umpires but fair dinkum it is just so amateurish, it frustrates and aggravates you watching the game when ticky touchwood frees are going their way and blatant ones are missed the other way. It breaks momentum and I have no doubt it was a contributing factor to our inability to get going in the first half. When we did get that run on in the 3rd surprise surprise, some free kicks started going our way! It has far more of an impact on the flow of the game than many give credit for.

Our tackling intensity in the middle of the ground is sub par lately. Can't get a glove on anyone.

Not to worried about the loss, i'm happy for us to idle away in third/fourth place going unnoticed. I know we will hit our straps soon and show our quality later in the year. I tipped us losing this one several weeks ago in the ladder predictor. What is concerning though is that we lost to a side with essentially their best forwards out in Dixon, Marshall, Rioli... I wouldn't want to play them in finals on their home deck. Definitely a dangerous team right now. 

Can we all put under our avatar in the info section what we all expect out of the season so we can categorise A) The people who want a top 4 finish and another shot at a flag B) The people who are happy with top 8 C) The people who got their flag and are happy even if we lose every game.

It would make conversations in this thread easier and people will then understand why the A people are so hell bent on not dropping too many games for instance.

9 hours ago, Mel Bourne said:

Marks get paid a little more liberally in wet weather. Visibility is low and efforts are rewarded a little more than usual. 

For some

Port had a bunch of best 22 out (Marshall, Duursma, Dixon, Jnr Rioli, Fantasia) and Boak subbed off with half his ribs still stuck in Viney's shoulder.

Short of Petty, that was arguably our best side

20 mins of good footy out of 100

Wasting the best list we've had in nearly 60 years. 

21 minutes ago, Stiff Arm said:

Port had a bunch of best 22 out (Marshall, Duursma, Dixon, Jnr Rioli, Fantasia) and Boak subbed off with half his ribs still stuck in Viney's shoulder.

Short of Petty, that was arguably our best side

20 mins of good footy out of 100

Wasting the best list we've had in nearly 60 years. 

That’s true. We are wasting a good list.

So twice now we've failed on the big stage against 2 teams we'll be fighting for a top 4 spot or probably have to play in September. 

People have said wait to we get them on the mcg. Well depending where we finish we may not get home finals. 

Why do certain players always seem to have their best games against us?

If you look at Butters last night, who was the match winner for them, we just can’t seem to clamp these guys down, Dominated all night, and caused us alot of damage with seemingly no one on him?

If someone has goodys number can you let him know it's OK to deploy a cooler if one of thier blokes is getting off chain.

9 hours ago, Webber said:

Read the question Jaded. They’re not to blame for any of that. They are to blame, under the auspices of the AFL, for making our great game growingly unwatchable. Umpiring of AFL football in its present state is an outright shambles. 

With that I can’t argue. The AFL is a pathetic organization and without Melbourne in the competition I wouldn’t watch a game or spend a dime of my money on it ever again. 
The umpiring is a consistent problem.  It’s always bad. Sometimes it’s diabolical and sometimes it impacts the result. 
It definitely went our way early and then Port got it all going their way. 
Still, play better in the first half and we win. Umpires or not. 

Interesting in Goody's presser he said they chose to not make Butters accountable after half time once we hit our purple patch in the 3rd. Yet Butters still had 18 in the 2nd half, incl 9 contested, and kicked 2 goals

Had he been shut down we would've won

Dumb, stubborn coaching

Edited May 20, 20231 yr by Stiff Arm

19 minutes ago, Stiff Arm said:

Port had a bunch of best 22 out (Marshall, Duursma, Dixon, Jnr Rioli, Fantasia) and Boak subbed off with half his ribs still stuck in Viney's shoulder.

Short of Petty, that was arguably our best side

20 mins of good footy out of 100

Wasting the best list we've had in nearly 60 years. 

Yes they had names out but in any game ask would they have played better than their replacement? Would Lord who kicked 2 valuable goals have played if Dixon & Marshall were playing? Would the wet weather have suited the latter 2? I doubt it. Would Butters have had 40 touches if Rioli was playing? Fantasia struggles to get into their best team.

Who would have thought that St Kilda with their injury list would have won as many game? Over the course of the season, Melbourne will have players unavailable and I hope the players we bring in will play their role and minimise the impact of their absence. We know May, Clarry, Trac & Max are indispensable but one hopes someone will step up in their absence.

They hit us hard and often they stuck to their game plan and outworked us in the first half. We struck back in the 3rd and most of the last but in the end their weight of inside 50’s ended up swamping us in the end. They had 6 of the best 9 players out there and their marking and disposal in [censored] conditions showed us up a bit. I felt that we had to many players that were basically outplayed and out pressured on the night. Centre clearances killed us and I felt like the 4 point loss flattered us but maybe it shows that our System held up despite the opposition swamping us.

7 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Why do certain players always seem to have their best games against us?

If you look at Butters last night, who was the match winner for them, we just can’t seem to clamp these guys down, Dominated all night, and caused us alot of damage with seemingly no one on him?

I know he has some issues at the moment but Harmes has often been called on to play that run with role. He and occasionally Viney will play that role. The same against Gold Coast, Anderson ran riot and no one could run with him. Port played man-on-man footy and broke up our defence with precise short chip kicks. Our disposal was ordinary at times. 

Just now, Older demon said:

Yes they had names out but in any game ask would they have played better than their replacement? Would Lord who kicked 2 valuable goals have played if Dixon & Marshall were playing? Would the wet weather have suited the latter 2? I doubt it. Would Butters have had 40 touches if Rioli was playing? Fantasia struggles to get into their best team.

Who would have thought that St Kilda with their injury list would have won as many game? Over the course of the season, Melbourne will have players unavailable and I hope the players we bring in will play their role and minimise the impact of their absence. We know May, Clarry, Trac & Max are indispensable but one hopes someone will step up in their absence.

The best answer to that is: almost certainly Hinkley would've played those guys missing from last night's game if they were fit/available. They make Port a better side

I'll preface this by saying...I know I have an optimistic outlook.

 

I'd argue that every single team that concedes a goal, every single week (let alone loses the match) will lose out to  a single or multiple high pressure acts and the loss of a contest, that's the nature of the sport.

Cliches abound. Including mine - 'You are never as good or as bad as you think'. The narrative would have been different if we'd got up by 2 or 8 points... "found a way etc etc..."

I guess I think about what is a realistic expectation for me to have around, how long can our players keep up the effort quarter to quarter, and match to match and month to month. What's the expectation, is it 100% all time and if not, what is acceptable? And is it appropriate that players give 'less effort' and we win? Or is it only a problem if we lose. Again, is it realistic for me to think a player (or multiple players) will be up and about and on quarter after quarter after quarter after quarter.

Another thing I like to think about is.... Are there any appropriate losses for Narrm to have along the way to a finals campaign?

Do I feel that, If we lose to a team above us - we're making up numbers and...If we lose to a team below us - we're just not good enough. My, that's a pretty catastrophising response EO 😇* apols if that's condescending as [censored].

 

Anyway...another 3.5 months of football to go... that'd be another 13 matches.

*what I’m saying is that it is not psychologically or physiologically to be up or on each week or quarter to quarter be it for an individual or a range of individuals. Once we start to understand that, due to the demands of a sport that are collision based and the fatigue that comes with that, perhaps our demanding entitlement as supporters might change a bit. 
 

No other sport in the world goes for as long throughout a season with the amount of impact physiologically and thus psychologically, as this one.

Edited May 20, 20231 yr by Engorged Onion