8 minutes ago, Lou C. Fur said:

Performances like that make you wonder whether you renew a membership...

Because membership and loyalty to the club is inversely related to games we win? 

We're all hurting atm, don't add to it.

2 minutes ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Oliver’s lack of preseason, Tracc down on midfield form and Viney’s continue ball butchering makes our midfield unthreatening. 
 

the selection committee also has much to answer for. Brown is washed. Billings is terrible. We left out Fullerton and Hunter. If you were ever going to try Fullerton this was the chance. 
 

we now are without Lever next week. Langdon is at a wedding in London, supposedly: 

Long way to go in season to miss a potentially top 4/finals shaping loss. I hope he at least ended up with the beef

We miss Angus so much 

This Club is just not Hungry enough 

2021 is a distant memory now…

Losing Gus, Harmes and Jordon means we have no depth in the midfield and have actually gone backwards with guys like Billing’s .

Sparrow is no A grader either, and as much as we hate hearing it the forward line is always a work in progress, but now it’s getting too late to fix.

But it’s the lack of intensity that really worries me, we just don’t seem to have that hunger we displayed three years ago.

Honestly, what the [censored] was that?

But also,

Where's our teams accountability?

The only time we seem to make changes to the side is injury, personal leave or suspensions? 

Players that should've been sent to the VFL in years past continue to get games, so there's no punishment for playing bad anymore?

Also

Is there any mechanism available to club members to get a petition going to remove an assistant coach? Greg Stafford is an atrocious forwards coach and needs to go. If we don't improve after a year then Goodwin needs to go. Honestly the game against Brisbane, the first half against Carlton and tonight are the worst games I've seen Melbourne play since 2020 and beyond. We're a joke and we're not winning a flag this year unless we make some changes. 

Ok that sucked. We just didn’t have any legs. Couldn’t keep our shape. They had players out everywhere all game. Out worked and out classed. 
Only thing I can think of is we thought this was a gimme and used the 10 day break as a tome to put in a big training load. 
If we did it shows lack of respect to our opposition and we got it wrong big time. 

That took me back to the bad old days of Subiaco oval. 

Eagles with their old brigade fit and firing and Waterman and Reid playing out of their skin aren't a bad side tbh. It's a long season. 

 

Go Dees

I don't understand the rules anymore.

Fork in the road.

It hurts right now but what happens next is what counts.

1 minute ago, Lou C. Fur said:

Thats the spirit. Need diehards like you to keep me on the straight and narrow. But geez - what a disappointing performance. After a 1 point loss to the paper baggers I thought our performance would've been better tonight. 1st time I've reconsidered my membership. Might not chuck in my membership just yet - thanks to you and your post, and my reflection on what I wrote. But I did think about it before your reply. Thanks THBT.

I get the frustration! That was as weak a performance I’ve seen from us for years. I kept waiting for the response, and we just looked like we couldn’t be bothered.

Let’s see where we sit in a month. Long way to go for us yet.

Absolutely deserved what we got.

Arrogance and questionable team selecting bringing in underdone players. Oh but don't you ever dare to question the team selections on here 😅 because the coaches always know right hey?

I'm actually not surprised by this loss. Mids have been awful last few weeks and to see an 18 year simply just bully our senior and more experienced players around stoppages shows how much they're starting to fall off the cliff. Viney and Oliver are simply shadows of their best, Sparrow is an embarrassment, Salem can barely hit a leading forward.

Defence got absolutely exposed tonight. May and McDonald were genuinely awful, Howes is just so weak in the contests, Bowey is another who's just a shadow of what he's previously produced. Rivers is a turnover merchant.

Brown can retire on the spot. No more please. Forget the good citizen stuff, he simply cannot play for us anymore based on that performance. Petty can go back to defence, he was just as bad. McGovern and Barrass embarrassed both of them on the spot.

Last but not least, coaching tonight was awful. Not once did we try anything to mix it up. Our mids was getting smashed and not once did we try Rivers in there or leave Pickett there for significant time after he looked dangerous earlier on. Defensive set up was completely obliterated and of course we make Darling look like Wayne Carey tonight after he hasn't had a kick in 2 years.

Some serious soul searching from this performance. 

 

 

I was at the MCG when Melbourne lost to Sydney that had lost i think 26 games in a row. They walked all over us. 

 

We have a history of playing like [censored] against teams we should annihilate. 

4 minutes ago, Jerry Lundergard said:

May was on Waterman and couldn't go with him

It was TMac. Not May. Either either they had fantastic delivery by a much better, agile, faster and creative midfield.

2 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Well, the good news is I wasn't able to watch and so had planned to set aside 2 hours tonight to watch it on delay - but having followed along online, I've been able to save myself 2 hours.

Having seen none of it it's hard for me to comment but I only need to see that we conceded 105 points and 25 scoring shots to know it was bad. I see we were again beaten in CPs and clearances, and again our key forwards barely troubled the statisticians, let alone the scorers.

There are some classic Demonland reactions though. Yes, West Coast barely won a game in 2022-23. But if you think that has any reflection what they're doing in 2024, you're not following football. They are miles better this year, and already had been prior to this game. They are a difficult proposition at home.

But if we can't stop West Coast, a mid-table side at best (and still probably a bottom 4 side) from scoring 105 points whilst holding us to only 70, something isn't right.

Come on a real contender doesn't lose this bad against a rebuilding team.

It's not the loss as much as it is the way we lost, which started at selection.

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Stop the asterisk BS please, I already have to hear it everyday from filth supporters.

The flag was won fair and square, full Qtr and played in front of crowds.

We should do a small rebuild this year, and again I would ask if we really want Goodwin to lead the new team from 2025 onwards?

It'll be 8 years.

Good years 2017, 2018, 2021

Bad years 2019, 2020

So-so years 2022, 2023

2024 is looking like it will fall in a So-so at best.

as a supporter since the 80’s I would have given my right nut for a ‘so-so year’ back then. finishing top 4? party time

so many bottom 4 finishes. 

the good thing about footy is we have no idea what will happen next. GWS and the Blues were 14th and 15th last year with their fans begging for their coaches to be sacked and then they were so close to the GF

11 minutes ago, YearOfTheDees said:

I would like to think that this will wake them up but I fear it 

I think we are in trouble. Now we're only in the 8 by the skin of our teeth. Losing those games ultimately means the Dees must win remaining games against the top sides to make top 4.

Cannot decide which is worse … losing on a Thursday night and spoiling the weekend, or losing on a Sunday night and spoiling the week?

Was always a danger game I guess, but I’m in a bit of disbelief as to just how well we were beaten.

Premiership window closed , look at our recruitment from 2022, trying to turn defenders into fwds, yet WC have better fwds, schache, Hunter, billings Grundy, yet we gave up Jordan & Harmes  extended Goodwin contract twice! 

Edited May 19, 20241 yr by Demonsone

Just now, layzie said:

Honestly, the one thing I can't get out of my head right now is which way will we go after this?

Could be fatal or the making. Fork in the road

Don't disagree, but not sure how we improve, or improve enough. I just don't see we have any cavalry coming over the hill to turn it around, especially up forward. BBB is cooked, Petty has spent too much time injured/out of the game, Jefferson nowhere near it, JVR "emerging". We're still too reliant on Viney/Oliver around the ball, Sparrow hasn't taken the next step and there's no-one in the wings ... etc etc

Might as well cherish the one we managed in 2021, also being competitive across a few seasons, but surely we have to face up to reality.

Another season, another wasted year of this list.

I'll never see us win a gf at the G

Why Sparrow has been preferred to JJ is a mistake. 

 

3 minutes ago, BDA said:

Our tackling and pressure were pathetic. We just bounced off Harley Reid all day.

what about that kid though. I’ve never seen such a strong first year player. An absolute beast.

He has the core and glute strength of someone who’s been in the system for 6-7 years. Both Tracc and Rayner had lower body strength at a young age, but they carried it in a way that made them look bottom heavy, until they filled out. Reid is thick through his whole body already.

That kid has the body of a 25 year old pro athlete. He’s a genetic freak.

I don't consider myself a ranter, but boy am I tempted tonight. We are simply not good enough. With this list, I cannot believe I am concluding this but the evidence is clear. 

The Premiership window looks now like a rear vision mirror, and our current list is performing badly across the ground - forward, defence, midfield. Our generational midfield is being beaten weekly at ground level, in the body-on-body contest, and on the spread away from stoppage. Our defence has a good system but gets exposed in one-on-one contests. 

I don't think we do a player dump and expose young players who are not ready, but BBB, Billings and Howe must be under the spotlight, and Petty needs to be dropped to find form.

But my main rant is reserved for our kicking skills. Watching professional players get a ball at half back or wing, run a few steps unpressured, only to hit an opposition player on the chest over and over and over again. And if we do hit a target, the next kick inside F50 hots targets about 25% of the time. 

Just now, DubDee said:

as a supporter since the 80’s I would have given my right nut for a ‘so-so year’ back then. finishing top 4? party time

so many bottom 4 finishes. 

the good thing about footy is we have no idea what will happen next. GWS and the Blues were 14th and 15th last year with their fans begging for their coaches to be sacked and then they were so close to the GF

I understand that, and sorry you had to endure the dark years. 

But with this list straight sets exits two years in a row is mediocre tbh.

GWS and Carlton have better weapons up forward unfortunately. And I am afraid that maybe even better coaching.