27 minutes ago, P-man said:

The Clarry interview was the best part of the night.

He doesn’t often get in front of the cameras but as long he isn’t being bombarded, he generally gives us an insight into his character. Funny, self-effacing , generous, and just basically  very likeable.

Also a rare props to Seven for not overtly probing into his mental health and “how he’s doing off the field”. Only he truly knows if he’s in a good headspace or not. But it certainly seems like he’s doing just fine.

Thought Abby Holmes handled the interview well.

Thank [censored] Luke Darcy wasn't the one that interviewed.  Would have gone as well as his Kane Cornes interview. 

 

16 minutes ago, Cassiew said:

Wow. Really enjoyed that game at the end.

Thought the game was sloppy for the first half. My brother thought it would be like that the whole game, but I had a feeling someone would push past. 
But wow. I didn’t expect to double their score or held them to their lowest since 1965. It was a delight how they played and totally dominated them. 
Thinking of not going to Richmond games (along with collingwood.) Their fans are so feral. Boo EVERYTHING that doesn’t go their way. I get umpire decisions, but booing just because the other team gets a goal?! Even with that sloppy play the got us that brilliant goal, didn’t have any accountability on how bad their play was. Just boo boo boo. I never boo if the opposition scores (unless it’s from a suspicious penalty.) Richmond along with collingwood just have this “boo out the other fans” mentality. So sick of this coming into our game. Seems to soccer-like.

Other than that, really enjoyed the game. Great putting tigers back in their place. Gawn back in form. Will admit I do feel for Yze as he was one of my favourite players and a really nice guy 

I always taught my kids to applaud good play by any team.

If you're going through the BS that is going to the AFL these days, you're doing it to see the best of the best play footy.

If an opposition team or player, does something spectacular, why wouldn't you acknowledge it. I don't mean cheering them on, just acknowledge good play.

Boooing is just plain dumb (unless it's Maynard)

As for those getting stuck into JVR, the kid has just turned 21. Apart from Fritta, it's been an incredibly up and down forward line and delivery is only just getting sorted out, let alone playing with the same blokes up forward week in week out.

Be patient, I reckon he's going to be a Coleman medalist for us once he matures and our forward line and systems doo too.

9 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

I don’t know much about Andrew Wu it his views on us but this reads like it’s laced with disrespect. 

Never mind that it’s Caleb, not “Jacob Windsor”, or that our ability to score in 2021 wasn’t confined to just the last two finals. 

He writes about Turner kicking goals as if it’s a bad thing, that it reeks of desperation. If it were Geelong who had found 3 goals from a kid, what’s the bet the commentary would be “they’ve found another one, how do they do it?!”.

And the gratuitous reference to “smoking them” at the end, when the article has nothing to do with May, or Collingwood, or anything related to that story, just to me feels like disrespect.

End rant. 

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Thought Abby Holmes handled the interview well.

Thank [censored] Luke Darcy wasn't the one that interviewed.  Would have gone as well as his Kane Cornes interview. 

 

Where can I see it?

9 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

What happened with the Marlon Pickett/Oliver incident? Just saw Oliver down on his haunches and Viney remonstrating with Pickett but of course no replay on the screen - anything on the TV for those playing at home?

Its on the AFL website:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1115007/scuffle-breaks-out-after-pickett-floors-oliver?videoId=1115007&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1713953453001

We got the 4 points, most of us have 4 days off. Plenty more betting to be done and time spent with family. Looking to McAdam coming in against Geelong and our mids getting back to form we showed against Port, and finally any chance we can open up our fwd 50. We often look so congested when going inside 60.

In my lifetime I have never been so meh about a 43 point win. I guess it is a good thing because for most of my Melbourne supporting life we have been poor. I don’t want to be the supporter that is just satisfied, I want more. I don’t want mediocre I want great.
 Defensively outstanding as a unit and occasional howlers aside individually Lever, May, McDonald were good and I thought Rivers was outstanding.

We started to win clearance in the middle in the 3rd 1/4. As we should though. We have a generational ruckman and AA midfielders we should be winning the clearance battle more often than not. 
 

But I am losing faith in our structure forward of the ball. Until it is sorted out we are not troubling the best teams in the competition. After years of this relatively stable coaching group we still do not know what our best forward line looks like. But more importantly for me is the structure. Our forwards all push so high up the ground eg Fritsch taking marks at Centre Half Back and the Back Pocket. He is a crafty forward one on one that is also our best shot for goal. We win the ball thru turnover and we can’t go quick because we literally have nobody to give it to so we have the go slow,chip, chip, chip it around. 
 Why can’t we structurally have two talls and a small stay in our front half to give us a quick release target and beat congestion in our forward line and give ourselves the best and highest percentage chance to score with clean looks on goal. 
 There is zero urgency in the offensive side of our game. We switch the ball and there is no urgency to spread and work to the fat side of the ground or spread for a quick transition into our forward line which should be relatively open. Yet the work their arses off to set up defensively the second we are not in possession.
 Our commitment and work rate to defend is absolutely outstanding.and I cannot be more effusive in our praise there.I had hoped with Mcqualter coming in that we would see a change in ball movement and a more connected attacking game plan. 
 That first half last night was garbage littered with skill errors and I believe that it is because we overuse the ball and I think it is the way we are set up that forces the overuse because of the congestion we create structurally. 
 It has been the same issue for years connection and forwardline. This group has had more than enough time to sort it out, they haven’t and I am started to get a bit over it. Can this coaching group please put some value on the offensive side of our game because until we do we are just making up the numbers. Our brand or gamestyle is not enjoyable to watch but the most important question is our brand or gamestyle enjoyable to play. If you were a forward at Melbourne I would say no.

Nice that we got the win against a bog ordinary Richmond side but Meh. 

Edited April 24, 20241 yr by Dee Viney Intervention

18 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Where can I see it?

On the 7plus app all the post match interviews are there. 

Edit: link without app https://7plus.com.au/melbourne?video-id=AFME-D0O9W-J75FP&autoplay=true

Edited April 24, 20241 yr by mpc

We cruised through that match didn't really get out of 2nd gear all night apart from a couple of bursts in the 3rd and 4th quarters....never in danger of losing even though it was frustrating to watch - bigger challenges to come in the next couple of weeks hope to see a lift in intensity and ball movement

 

 

23 minutes ago, Lou C. Fur said:

Its on the AFL website:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1115007/scuffle-breaks-out-after-pickett-floors-oliver?videoId=1115007&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1713953453001

Good to see at least JV7. Stood up to marlon,  he should get a week !

8 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

McVee was excellent on him whenever he looked dangerous.

How bloody good is Judd? 😍

Love our backline.

Knuckles McVee !

I thought Lever was very good last night and looked very "zippy"

14 minutes ago, mpc said:

On the 7plus app all the post match interviews are there. 

Edit: link without app https://7plus.com.au/melbourne?video-id=AFME-D0O9W-J75FP&autoplay=true

Thanks.

7 hours ago, Go Lordie said:

Embarrassing that half our goals came from a duo with less than 10 games between them.

Oh right, yeah, I hate it when young players play their roles really well and we win…

What effing planet am I on? We are 5 and 2 and just doubled a teams score while possibly unearthing a possible medium tall option that could answer a few questions in the short, medium and long term.

And we are obviously struggling to get our new gameplan focussed on back half turnover and quick movement from there because Salem and Bowey are missing and it can expose Lever, May, TMac more than we would like. 

I am glad we are persisting and not succumbing to what ‘better suits’ our defensive stars because it will benefit us in the long term, even if we drop a few games getting there.

10 hours ago, Skuit said:

Intentional / low impact / body = fine. 

Meanwhile, if you did that to somebody in public, it would be considered assault. 

True.  If a player assaults someone  on the field in an action which has nothing to do with the game, why can't they be arested by the cops?   Same goes if they assaulted a non-player.  Talk about setting an example to kids.

37 minutes ago, Brownie said:

I always taught my kids to applaud good play by any team.

If you're going through the BS that is going to the AFL these days, you're doing it to see the best of the best play footy.

If an opposition team or player, does something spectacular, why wouldn't you acknowledge it. I don't mean cheering them on, just acknowledge good play.

Boooing is just plain dumb (unless it's Maynard)

As for those getting stuck into JVR, the kid has just turned 21. Apart from Fritta, it's been an incredibly up and down forward line and delivery is only just getting sorted out, let alone playing with the same blokes up forward week in week out.

Be patient, I reckon he's going to be a Coleman medalist for us once he matures and our forward line and systems doo too.

This re JVR. Attention everyone he's a second player 21 years old trying to make it as a key forward. How many do you know of that dominated in their second year ? Some of the comments here are way over the top.

9 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

I'm not sure I agree with this mate, but why can we not continue with Howes, Woey, WIndsor and Laurie? I thought Woey struggled for most of the night and the jury is still out in general, but his intercept late in the game shows that he is slotting nicely into the back half and where he is supposed to be. 

High pressure early, he struggled, but let's give him some time. More VFL footy isn't going to improve that. He needs more AFL exposure and who would you play in place of Salem and Bowser? We need that extra small. For me it's Woey for now.

As for Windsor and Howes, they've been brilliant this season and did their jobs tonight.

Jury is out on Laurie too, but he was very handy when he came on.

Is it a lack of experience thing you're worried about?

I fully agree about getting games into them, and the club is doing it at the right time. Windsor is a lock, and I was glad to see Turner back in.

Howes, Laurie and Woewodin are good, and long term I can see Woewodin being at the club for a good long career. I can see the other two leaving for more game time with another club - like Jordon. However, at the current stage of their development they can show lack of awareness, iffy decision making, and all three are quite slow. I hope Bowey & Salem recover soon. If we go into the Carlton or Cats game with the same 5 young players, these weaknesses will be exploited. I am VERY happy to be proven wrong.

1 hour ago, mpc said:

After being frustrated last night with the game, waking up today I'm thinking how good is it to follow a team that plays a "bad" game and wins by 43 points. 

My father used to tell me " good sides find a way to win when they are not playing well". Having said that I didn't think we were that bad. Richmond gave it their best effort but ran out of steam in the second half when the cream rose to the top. 

Edited April 24, 20241 yr by old dee

Another Friday where my team has won another game. 5 wins from 7 games is a good start to any season. It sure beats 2 from 7 which was our performance for decades. Enjoy guys and gals. We dreamt of a team like this for seemingly forever. 

11 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Players come in and out of form at stages.  It's a long season.

But to have this many out of form, especially through the middle.  We simply have to get two out of the three amigos back to their best to have any chance against the Cats.

Then there's Petty.  He simply must take a spell at Casey to try and gain some match fitness and form.

At this stage i'd also look to bring Sestan in for Sparrow.  He probably isn't quite ready for a four quarter match but could come in as the sub with Laurie brought in to the interchange.

Agreed. I had the same thought with Petty as well. He looks like he just needs a short spell with Casey, just to get some touch back. I dont think it'll take much.

I read the game day thread before I was able to watch the match. Correlation factor about equal to our percentage gain. Good win and great to see older stars like Lever and May play well and possible emerging new talent on display.

Now that the knot in my gut from last night is beginning to unwind, and I have checked the gaps in my hair from pulling so much out, I can actually appreciate some of the good stuff from last night's game.

The 45 degree kicking. Yes, the skills involved were so poor, but we continued to attempt it. We took the risk, and often the switch/change of line was open and on. For so long, we went down the line from back to the forward pocket, caused a stoppage, and tried to score from that. I feel McQuallter has emphasised the reward over risk so we go for this more often. And I love it. It is just a shame that TMac, Woewodin, even Lever and Windsor stuffed it up so much last night. This is why we need Bowey and Salem. 

Still a work in progress, but our forward line is beginning to MOVE. So often, we are stationary. Turner and Fritsch were moving. Kozzie got on his bike. JVR led at times also. It didn't work all that well, but it was great to see this change. 

On top of those things above, we have the best captain in the AFL, and the best backline ever. 

You almost needed Benny Hill music playing whilst watching that first half.

Skills and decision making were deplorable. You would see better play watching suburban football.

I understand the argument 'a wins a win', but with so many entertainment choices these days, watching that garbage wouldn't be too high on my priority list.

1 minute ago, DeeMee said:

I read the game day thread before I was able to watch the match. Correlation factor about equal to our percentage gain. Good win and great to see older stars like Lever and May play well and possible emerging new talent on display.

You read the game day thread?