31 minutes ago, Monbon said:

After Quarter time - who is 'we', white man, it's them, the Melbourne players, 'we' had nothing to do with it - they- The Melbourne Football Club,

so we is them the MFC....and they are the MFC....you said it friend, 

As an aside, I never liked Joel Selwood as a player but must admit that he is an excellent commentator -  an obvious coach in waiting. Much better than Luke Hodge who is an empty vessel.

13 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

It’s interesting though, whilst they play different roles and have different runs on the board, compare the Demonland responses to Fritsch and Billings. 

Fritsch kicks his three and his first half is forgiven/ignored.

Billings misses his three and he’s been absolutely slammed on here.

Could Billings mark the ball like Fritsch did from the Oliver kick then turn and kick the goal? 
 

Look at the goals with context.

7 minutes ago, Stevienic23 said:

One thing to draft them. Another to develop them. Chandler and ANB have hardly been overnight successes.

3 hours ago, Axis of Bob said:

I didn’t say it can’t affect things, I said it is not important. This was especially so in a Melbourne context where it had no discernible effect on us last year. That was the whole point of the trend/noise discussion - umpiring variability can affect things in the very short term but, overall, it has such little impact that it’s barely worth thinking about. Certainly not the obsession that seems to be in this thread.

As for the metaphor, it is to help people understand what is being spoken about. The point had originally been made with noise and trend but this way was more inclusive for those who may not have understood the concept. As a recovering teacher, I usually prefer to help people access new concepts. If you already understood it then you didn’t need the help.

It’s also more fun.

I'm with you mate.  It's tiresome after a point.  It's a global phenomenon. 

It's pervasive through basketball, baseball, soccer, NFL, NRL, Cricket. Keep going.  You're telling me that every sport in the world the officiating is getting worse and worse and worse?  This is despite the evidence that the percentage of correct decisions is close to all time highs. 

Maybe all the actual data is wrong and the fan's human eye and biases are right.  My theory is that being 2024 we expect perfection and have simply got less tolerant of mistakes.

Every single supporter base would say their team get the rough end of the stick for umpire decisions (it's when and where you get them!) which is clearly impossible. Some days you're the bug some days you're the windshield.  

Have now had the chance to watch the game, I reckon we were so much better than those who have posted on here along the lines of "ugly win but we'll take it".

We were so well structured and defended the ground so well. Like last week, when they had momentum (Q1 and Q4) they couldn't generate easy scoring shots because of how well we got back and set up our zone.

To win a game like that on a 5-day break with Oliver and Viney both well below their best, and with Salem struggling too, says a lot about our team effort IMO. Trac was fantastic but a running theme this year is that we're getting just what we need from most of our 23. May, Lever, McVee and TMac behind the ball were all superb whilst Chandler, Sparrow, ANB and Howes all played their various roles. Even Brown was better than his meagre stat line suggests, with his leading, blocking and aerial contest work.

Brisbane will be a massive challenge next week but if we can win that and get to the first bye 5-1, that will be incredible given where we've come from and some of the challenges we've had in these opening five weeks.

2 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Could Billings mark the ball like Fritsch did from the Oliver kick then turn and kick the goal? 
 

Look at the goals with context.

The context has nothing to do with it. Fritsch was vital to us winning, undoubtedly. All I'm asking is whether, if Billings had kicked his goals, would the posts on here all have been "he was soft, drop him"? Bobbing up with critical goals at critical times means patches of poor performance (Fritsch was nowhere in the first half) can be overlooked.

We now don't travel again for 6 weeks (next game away from the G is Round 10 vs West Coast), and only have two games away from the G between now and Round 16 vs Brisbane in the last week of June. That's a relatively kind run given we've been on the road 3 of our first 5 weeks. It does, though, include difficult sides - Brisbane, Geelong, Carlton, Fremantle and Collingwood.

2 hours ago, Stevienic23 said:

Wigg before ANB was a bald selection

13 hours ago, Bluey's Dad said:

If you have the SEN app, they have a feature where you can sync their commentary to the video broadcast and even adjust the delay manually if it's not correct. Connect your phone to a Bluetooth speaker and you have Channel 7 vision with synchronised SEN commentary. Not a single wowee to cringe at all game. It's life changing.

The AFL should have an app that lets you sync any of the stations up to it the game. 
 

My kingdom for when fox get to call every game.

25 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

Wigg before ANB was a bald selection

it's a bit disingenuous tho - forgarty and wigg were both 'local products'  

 

3 hours ago, Stevienic23 said:

Not a current player, but let’s add Goodwin to that list just to stick it into the Crom a little deeper. 

2 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

The context has nothing to do with it. Fritsch was vital to us winning, undoubtedly. All I'm asking is whether, if Billings had kicked his goals, would the posts on here all have been "he was soft, drop him"? Bobbing up with critical goals at critical times means patches of poor performance (Fritsch was nowhere in the first half) can be overlooked.

No doubt there's a difference between being soft and good vs soft and no good. We look the other way if he kicks those goals. 

Missed goals and tackles aside, the moment that had me going berserk was with 5:48 left on the clock. We're 13 points up and Adelaide are coming. Hinge beats Trac on the wing and hits up McHenry in the middle of the ground. Billings half heartedly follows Parnell's run and is in a position to block his run so he can't run around and get the handball. Parnell gets the handball receive and fortunately for us he went short and it got cut off by Howes when it should have been a deep entry. 

Whilst this moment came to nothing, it could have led to a goal and left us defending a 7 point lead with 5 mins to go. Its either lazy or not having your head in the game. See Dan Houston's goal against us last week as an example of not having your head in the game

On 04/04/2024 at 22:38, Dr. Gonzo said:

It was a very professional win, so impressed with this side. Our senior players lead by example, our young players are exceptional. Max, May, Petracca all huge. Windsor, Howes, McVee, Sparrow, JVR, Koz so composed.

Agree - nutshell summation. Depth is about to become another strong asset, as well. 

Watching the game again and I think Billings was very unlucky not to be in the goals and I really like that he didn't stop trying to score. I hesitate to turn him into a whipping boy just yet.

I also noticed we're carrying a few injuries and the bye cannot come soon enough. I think Chandler, Oliver, Trac, Viney, May, Brown and Lever are all carrying niggles in urgent need of a rest. Am not going to drop my bundle if we lose to Brisbane. Obviously hoping for a win.

In better news - Tmac has turned the clock back years, even his field kicking and decision making seems sharper. Dylan Thomas comes to mind for our veterans Do not go gentle into that good night. Brown, and Melksham hopefully later look like they are not going to die wondering. And Brown definitely has fire in the belly even if he didn't hit the scoreboard his endeavour is there.

However watching Port dismantle Essendon (with a fit JHF and Mitch G) made it clear we really put some blood and sweat into that win. We are not that far ahead, there are a few teams where it will be fine margins. Oliver needs his hand, we want Petty forward, and we cannot lose an ounce of our pressure game. I also am not sure about Salem in the middle, something about his timing seems off, not attitude but I think he's better when the play is coming to him. 

Most urgent however is JvR getting his hands back, he's lost something with his timing on holding the ball, his attack is great, but either an injury or mental demons have really got a hold of him. 

Carlton (who I still do not credit as truly good) and GWS have some weapons to trouble us, is going to be a titanic season and have mad respect for the way the team is going about it.

14 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

, and we were coming off a 5 day break.

We did not have the energy to continue to attack and then run the other way to defend. Adelaide had fresher legs in the last, and at scoring quickly. They had the momentum in the first 10 .

Adelaide played on the Friday night night in Perth and flew back late. A 6 day break. No real difference to us on a 5 day break with no travel. 

11 hours ago, chook fowler said:

As an aside, I never liked Joel Selwood as a player but must admit that he is an excellent commentator -  an obvious coach in waiting. Much better than Luke Hodge who is an empty vessel.

Selwood is by far one of the worst commentators I've ever heard.

A prime example why a champion footballer should just stick to his lane and retire gracefully instead of making my ears bleed.

Saturday after another good win ( yesterday was not one of my best  so I am a day behind) enjoying the weekends footy after we have taken both the SA teams apart. I particular don't like the crows. I am reflecting in the glory of being 4 and 1. It's very early but I don't see a straight sets exit this year. Then last night the bombers get belted! Oh joy! Where was the hard edge? What a load of cobblers. 

Edited April 5, 20241 yr by old dee

4 minutes ago, old dee said:

Saturday after another good win ( yesterday was not one of my best  so I am a day behind) enjoying the weekends footy after we have taken both the SA teams apart. I particular don't like the crows. I am reflecting in the glory of being 4 and 1. It's very early but I don't see a straight sets exit this year. 

I'm very confident for the season as well OD. The resolve and grit we showed in 2021 is back.

15 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I think the whole team ran out of Gas last night.

We ran out of Gus. Still sad about this.

18 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but Crows fans still booing Ricky is ridiculous. In the six years since leaving them they’ve not played finals, and he’s now a Premiership player for us. Why would they want to routinely remind themselves of that?!

Just remind them he chose success over money 😉

What I found bewildering is they were booing Petty early in the game. Like, aren't they trying to woo him? Or are they going for the whole treat them mean, keep them keen approach?

 

Edited April 5, 20241 yr by Dr. Gonzo

16 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

 

 

.

Edited April 5, 20241 yr by Dr. Gonzo

7 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Just remind them he chose success over money 😉

What I found bewildering is they were booing Petty early in the game. Like, aren't they trying to woo him? Or are they going for the whole treat them mean, keep them keen approach?

 

You can't teach a South Australian about class.Or a Kiwi about Style.Or a Russian about humour.

5 minutes ago, Biffen said:

You can't teach a South Australian about class.Or a Kiwi about Style.Or a Russian about humour.

Or a Greek about humility (speaking from experience 🤣)