Four finals losses in a row - ‘D is for Devastated’ 😞

Never genuinely thought we could do it this year….

Looking forward to seeing my baby daughter’s smiles in the morning.

Edited September 15, 20231 yr by OhMyDees

5 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Hmm, if we hadn't finished top 4, and only lost one game to be knocked out, would that still count?

West Coast - knocked out of elimination finals by 6, 8 and 7 goals in 2002-2004 before then playing in consecutive grand finals and winning a premiership.

Port Adelaide - 2001 knocked out winless, then 2002 and 2003 won only semi-finals for a 4L 2w record. Then won the premiership in 2004.

Richmond - 2013/14/15 knocked out in elimination final each time, including once against a team that didn't even finish top 8! Were a definite laughing stock with an old stale list. Reset in 2016, recruited aggressively to supplement their mature list, and played in the next 4 grand finals for three premierships.

Essendon - Top of the ladder on a seven game winning streak, coincidentally, massively choked and lost by a point against Carlton in 1999, then came back and had the best single season in the AFL era in 2000. Also, just for fun, please remember that Essendon have now lost six consecutive elimination finals with an average losing margin over ten goals. Not sure if that is relevent but it always cheers me up.

Geelong - in a four-year run from 2016-2019 they finished 2nd, 2nd, 8th and 1st on the ladder, yet never won more than one final in a season and clearly were far too old to go on.

Hawthorn - Unexpectedly won a premiership in 2008 then slumped horribly, missing finals, then knocked out in an elimination final in 2010 before 2011 coming into the 2011 prelim final the long way via a semi-final. Led at every change before choking out by giving up the lead in a five goal to 2 final quarter when the opponent had only kicked five goals in the entire game to that point. Hawthorn then played the next four grand finals for three premierships.

Brisbane - 2019/20/21 Brisbane entered finals in the top 4, including twice earning home finals, and played six finals for a total of one win.

Now, Brisbane are the only example from this set who has not gone on (yet) to win either one or three premierships in the following years, and it includes a full range of age profiles.

We finished this season in a miserable way, with injuries and poor form stacked in the particular area of the ground where we were weakest to begin.

Along the way, these last 8 days have done real damage to my entire 'relationship' with Australian football.

But there's no reason to believe Melbourne won't be up in the contenders again in 2024 and with just as much a shot as any other top-4 side.

Meanwhile, I'm glad our women's team is stomping everything in sight because I don't know if I'll even be bothering to watch the rest of the men's finals. It's all just damp ash.

I'm sure there's a way we can outdo Brisbane on that list. Top 4 next year and 2 more choke jobs and we'll be the standout anomaly on another list!

16 minutes ago, Wilson7 said:

 

I wish someone could ask why no ruck contest in our f50 On 4-5 occasions??? Can he explain the disaster of the Grundy trade & why he wasn’t played whilst T Mac blew up & a fresh Shache  sat on the pine, thanks for another unwanted record of 2 back to back straight sets exit!

4 minutes ago, picket fence said:

STAFFORD goes can you believe having a hack ex ruckman as our forward coach!??

This. Surely something needs to be done here. 

1 hour ago, layzie said:

We won a flag in 21 sure, but man we look like a snakebitten club sometimes 

That's part of it! We broke the drought interstate while we couldn't leave Melbourne in front of a rentacrowd. It's all part of the curse.

Im hoping this is the wake up call we needed. Our game plan is trash. 

Just watching the ch7 coverage from earlier & Max was flat flat flat as you'd expect 

That was exactly the Tom Sparrow game that I've been pleading for. He was pretty much our best mid all night and I hope now he uses tonight game as a stepping stone into next year.

If he plays like that regularly each game next year then our midfield will be okay. Stick lacks quality depth but it's guys like Sparrow that we really need stepping up next year.

Also quick shout out to McVee. Did not one look overawed in the occasion in this year's final series and certainly embarrassed his more senior leaders around composure and being calm in the crisis. 

25 games this year is a great development year which will only hold him in good stead over the next few years 

A future 150-200 gamer in the making.

 

Just now, everythingsablur said:

This. Surely something needs to be done here. 

Who’s responsible for the Grundy disaster trade?? We had no ruck contest 4-5 times how was Grundy any worse than t Mac?? 

Gameplan needs tweaking. This near enough is good enough but we missed too many shots at goal stuff is trash.

The frustrating part was we kept Curnow to only 1 goal.

19 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

The string of deliberates was insane. Saad’s was blatantly deliberate.

We copped the raw end of the umpiring stick all night. Add it to the list of what went wrong. 

I thought it was but I watched the replay and Saad pulls up and the ball hit his leg, it was the correct decision 

55 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

well, that managed to both suck and blow simultaneously

Thanks for that. Can’t  sleep but that made me laugh.

24 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Bringing in Hunter (shame he was cooked, should’ve stuck with our poor kick plan and gone for Acres, the most Melbourne player to never play for melbourne).

Drafting: Rivers, Bowey, Laurie, Howes, McVee.

Attempting to move Harmes. Seemingly not been all that keen to keep JJ.

Training 3 second or less ball movement all summer.

Switching a lot more this year and even attempting more corridor kicks.

I think they know exactly what’s wrong but there’s no point throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Contested footy still dominates finals and neither side had more than moments with a fraction of space tonight.

Last week was our big chance and we made too many errors when we had options to open space and convert. 

Tonight we gave absolutely everything and had a disgraceful amount go against us and did everything but win. 

Healthy key forwards, a sprinkling of class and some fresh legs in the running players and the balance of the game style will correct itself a lot, whilst keeping our strengths. 

Some comments here have nothing to do with my concerns. 

And some I just disagree with. 

We need more than a sprinkle of class in through our team. 

We clearly see it differently, I don't think we made enough change on the fly this season. Even someone like Salem could be utelised at half forward or on ball more and isn't. 

I think this draft needs to be a top one for us. Aim for three picks inside 15 and two inside 10.

Thought Sparrow was immense tonight. Time to break out into top line territory 

Impressed with Joel Smith’s set shot  accuracy tonight and for the season. He was up to the pressure tonight.

I don’t think he’s missed a set shot since Kings Bday.

24 minutes ago, Wilson7 said:

 

Nice of him to assure us that we'll focus on getting better. 

So, Josh Schache.  Played 2 games this year:

Round 7 against Nth Melbourne
Round 23 against Hawthorn 

10 disposals, 1 goal, both games combined.

But we bring him in as the sub for the do or die final - yet we’re paying Brodie 6/700k, we had no ruck contest for 4-5 times in the f50 …. Unbelievable 

ALMOST started a Charlie Spargo appreciation thread but thought It would be open slather as I have bagged him a lot over the journey! I have to say I thought him OUTSTANDING Tonight , kept us in it and he was inspirational! So as result there will be no more Charlie Bagging from me! EVER!

I am more upset about last week than this evenings game. I was angry when we lost to the filth but more of a shrug your shoulders this time. Poor kicking is poor football. Also the [censored] umpires stank.

It’s just a game, it’s just a game, it’s just a game, I say as I cry myself to sleep.

14 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

For those playing at home

Rivers, Langdon, May, Lever, Fritsch, Gawn, McVee

May Lever and McVee are not why we lost. In fact our backline once again must be fuming. Work so hard to keep the opposition to a low score and then watch our forwards butcher their chances. Incredibly frustrating. 
 

Fritta had a finals campaign I think he’d rather forget. And Langdon a season I think he won’t be happy with. 

Something weird going on with the ticket allocations tonight. I sat in M55 which was a Melbourne bay party filled with Carlton supporters and had three bays of entire Carlton either side as well. Are clubs with huge "memberships" just selecting our allocation when they can't find any left under their own? 

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

That was exactly the Tom Sparrow game that I've been pleading for. He was pretty much our best mid all night and I hope now he uses tonight game as a stepping stone into next year.

If he plays like that regularly each game next year then our midfield will be okay. Stick lacks quality depth but it's guys like Sparrow that we really need stepping up next year.

Also quick shout out to McVee. Did not one look overawed in the occasion in this year's final series and certainly embarrassed his more senior leaders around composure and being calm in the crisis. 

25 games this year is a great development year which will only hold him in good stead over the next few years 

A future 150-200 gamer in the making.

 

I’ve watched your criticism of Sparrow all year, which I’ve thought was over the top and unwarranted. Shown enough glimpses over the last 18 months. He’s going to be a good midfielder and have thought so for a while. In 12 months time Trac needs to be playing more time forward and Sparrow starting mid

30 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

I think they know exactly what’s wrong but there’s no point throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Wonder how anyone can think this? We have had similar game plan issues for two years and failed to fix it.

People can cry poor about injuries all they like. At the bye, Petty was playing predominantly at FB (bamboozling coaching) and Melksham was in the VFL. JVR was sent to the twos not long after for a spell. 

Tonight's forwardline wasn't far away from rd 1.