Hi all. 2 June 2024.  
Unbelievably after our 2021 premiership 🏆 and talk of a Demons Dynasty, the Dees have been smashed by Freo (by 92 points). Our 3rd loss in 4 weeks. We now sit 10th.  It was a humiliating loss. Beaten all over the ground. Zero winners.  Zero.  We looked slow and uncompetitive and incapable of successful transition of the footy. Our contested footy and stoppages are embarrassing.  Our forward line was led by two defenders trialling as forwards.  The loss comes two weeks after being beaten by 6 goals to cellar dweller Eagles.  Do we panic? Well we might.  But footy can be a simple game.  Simple.  We forget how sport can be over analyzed and players confident eroded by the lack of strategy and skill.  How do we respond ?  Here’s some easy thoughts from a humble 48 year supporter and former suburban footballer.  Memo to Goodwin. 
 

Step 1/STOP THE OVERHANDBALLING  Players are scared to kick it. We run it until it’s into trouble. Opponents are sweating on us to make the mistakes   It’s so predictable. Backline hardball mistakes are shockers. Easy goals. Players under zero pressure handball to players under pressure
 

Step 2/ KICKING.  AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL. Note to all. skills skills and skills. When free, use you CORRECT kicking leg.  Lazy foot skills often on display and turnovers.  Our skills under zero pressure have desserted us.  It’s horrible.  
 

Step 3/  STOP LAZY PLAY   STOP SLOW & WIDE & BORING FOOTY   Scared footballers take easy 15 metres sideways kicks , even when running through the midfield 

MOVE THE BALL QUICKLY WITH INTENSITY  BE BRAVE NOT SCARED!! 

Step 4/ STOP TURNING BACKS AND FORWARDS INTO MIDS (RECRUIT MIDS) 

The engine room is so critical.   It all starts in the middle.   Real quality mids are the stars.   Even with a generation champion Ruckman, our mids are losing big time.  No more Riv or Kozzy experiments. We need them doing what they do best. Kozzy kicking goals   Riv being courageous and defending for his life 

Recruit mids.  We have enough backs and forwards- talls mediums smalls.  Why are trying to turn small forwards into mids. Stop It

 

 Step 5/  our Premiership defence.  May.  Lever. Petty. RETURN PETTY TO DEFENCE. He looks a broken player.  He has lost confidence.  The forward experience is over. 

Step 6/ GOALKICKING   GOALKICKING  GOALKICKING  it’s so important but appears worse than ever  Players trying screw kicks on their wrong foot … why? why it’s horrendous !!! 

Step 7/ STOP GUARDING GRASS   The zone gets undone by ball movement and run and chip and mark footy   Freo destroyed the zone   Man up  Run to be accountable and responsible  

Step 8/ STOP RECRUITING UNNEEDED PLAYERS IN THEIR DECLINE   Hunter. Billings.McAdam. Schache. Why ? List cloggers.  Why? Hunter and Billings were taking salary cap dramas off other clubs   Stop now !!  

We attracted Langdon, Hibberd, Lever, May, Melksham. Find those players again.  Find the free agents.  Find the players with upside. 
 

Step 9/ TACKLING. TACKLING. STOP THE PLAYER.  MAKE IT COUNT. Too many games see our players failing to stop   Aside from JV7, our entire midfield lacks defensive pressure and shutting down opponents  

Step 10/ DISCIPLINE AND DESPARATION.  Dees have zero smothers zero blocks zero little extra non stats hard work showing out.  It’s a comfort zone.  The desperation is non existent.   Third efforts rare, very rare.  
 

The #Freo92 loss hurts.  Really hurts.   We are now seemingly over the chance of another premiership and one on the MCG.  The coach showed little emotion and little plan B.  Outsmarted and outcoached.  

But we can apply the simple things.  The fixes that start to rebuild.   
 

Go Dees !!! 

well thought out Spirit

I would summon the entire Football Department Staff for a meeting tomorrow morning. Everyone who works with the Players and Coaches to attend. 
there is disconnection between Players, and disconnection between Coaches and we have find the answers quickly. 
The entire team shut down today after 5 minutes, Why?

Everybody needs to talk it through, be honest 

There is a reason for our poor performances this year and it has to be laid bare. 
losing Brayshaw on the eve of the Season, is one reason I think has really effected the Core of the Club, but there will be other reasons as well. 
Today was unacceptable and we have to get to the bottom of it. 
The Big Talk is needed. It doesn’t have to be nasty, but it has to happen 

Everyone must attend and be honest….

Agree mostly 

if you play football, it should be sport and something you like doing and do it well and smile.  Enjoy yourselves 

at other times you need to be brutal, put the opposition down, legally of course but hard.  To do that you need to be hard yourself. 

for too long we have been mostly soft corks.

A rather brutal review I think is needed.

not many players after today could look them selves in the mirror and smile

13 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I would summon the entire Football Department Staff for a meeting tomorrow morning. Everyone who works with the Players and Coaches to attend. 
there is disconnection between Players, and disconnection between Coaches and we have find the answers quickly. 
The entire team shut down today after 5 minutes, Why?

Everybody needs to talk it through, be honest 

There is a reason for our poor performances this year and it has to be laid bare. 
losing Brayshaw on the eve of the Season, is one reason I think has really effected the Core of the Club, but there will be other reasons as well. 
Today was unacceptable and we have to get to the bottom of it. 
The Big Talk is needed. It doesn’t have to be nasty, but it has to happen 

Everyone must attend and be honest….

This meeting could take all day if necessary. It doesn’t matter, bring in the Pizzas and a few Beers 

Get people talking, lay it all on the table 

There are problems that many within the Club, may not have any idea about, they must be addressed 

If we are to be that Good Club, we have to have complete honesty after a day like today 

5 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

The coach showed little emotion

Thank god for that.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has promised a forensic deep dive into the biggest defeat of his time in charge and the inconsistencies that are hurting his team.

The Demons suffered a 92-point hiding from an inspired Fremantle at Alice Springs’ Traeger Park on Sunday to tumble six spots to 10th

They have now lost three of their past four matches, with the sole win in that period to a St Kilda side on track to finish in the bottom four. This result comes a fortnight after a six-goal loss to West Coast.

The key statistics told the ugly story for Melbourne, with the Dockers dominating the Demons in inside 50s (68-37), clearances (48-23, including 22-10 out of the centre) and contested possessions (138-96).

Fremantle still managed to out-tackle Melbourne by one, and took 46 more marks with an expert game of keepings-off that propelled them into sixth place.

Goodwin did not mince his words afterwards, admitting the Demons were “obliterated in every phase”.

 

“That’s about as bad a performance as you can get, and it’s one we certainly won’t tolerate,” Goodwin said.

“There are inconsistencies in our game and that trend’s been there for a little while now, and we understand there are elements within our method that aren’t right.“But the inconsistencies, not only from week to week, are concerning, and we’ll look into the ‘why’ because that performance is clearly completely unacceptable in where we want to be as a team – and I know our supporters would want more.”

 

Goodwin was also critical of his players’ execution, particularly the turnovers down back, including a horror Trent Rivers switch that gifted Fremantle one of their five first-quarter goals, after the Demons kicked the opening two of the match.

“Our contest was poor, our work-rate was poor, [and] our ability to deal with pressure was poor, so they’re all things we’ve got to work on,” he said.

 

“You put that together with our ball use, and it’s just nowhere near the level that it needs to be … [but] you have got to give Freo credit. They played a really impressive, intense game with high pressure, and executed with the ball incredibly well.”

Goodwin said the investigation into what was going wrong would be a “collaborative approach”, but that they would not wallow for too long ahead of a King’s Birthday clash with a Collingwood team equally in need of a win.

“We’re a proud team, and that performance will certainly hurt us internally, but footy doesn’t allow you to be hurt for too long,” he said.

“You’ve got to hurt, and you’ve got to respond – and that’s what we’ll be looking to do next week. This competition doesn’t wait for you, so we’ll go after what we need to next week. But in the background, we’ll keep looking at how we become better at what we do because at the moment, it’s nowhere near the level it needs to be.”

Melbourne 7.7 (49) v Fremantle 22.9 (141)

Edited June 2, 2024Jun 2 by spirit of norm smith
C

Watched the game live yesterday and in short this team simply has no mongrel or desire to want to be the best. I have never seen so many broken tackles or players unaccounted for, even Viney looked mellow yesterday.

I'm not sure if President Kate has the courage to make a decision that after yesterday appears closer to reality. Only a miraculous turnaround against Collingwood would change this perception.

 

Edited June 2, 2024Jun 2 by Jibroni

There are some glaring issues of onfield leadership and poor coaching. But one thing that is really obvious to me is that our list profile seems to be a long way off current trend. If you look at Hawthorn, Collingwood and Sydney- they have really dynamic, fast midfield/forwards with excellent skills. And they play such exciting football. I don’t enjoy watching us play this year, even when we are winning.

We a have not evolved and have not added to our list. We are playing a style of footy that doesn’t suit us and the style that suits us, doesn’t hold up anymore. 
Time to bottom out, cut the list deep and regenerate. Max, Trac, Kos, Windsor, JVR and McVee would be the only ones I’d say are not up for trade. 

36 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

Watched the game live yesterday and in short this team simply has no mongrel or desire to want to be the best. I have never seen so many broken tackles or players unaccounted for, even Viney looked mellow yesterday.

I'm not sure if President Kate has the courage to make a decision that after yesterday appears closer to reality. Only a miraculous turnaround against Collingwood would change this perception.

 

What decision would that be?

On SEN this morning Buckley’s analysis of our performance included the observations that in the aftermatch warm down he noted that body shapes of some players indicate they aren’t as fit as they should be and in general the team looked gassed during the game. He also believed such a poor performance and the demeanour of the players, lack of fight etc. tells him there must be off field issues at play. 

8 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

On SEN this morning Buckley’s analysis of our performance included the observations that in the aftermatch warm down he noted that body shapes of some players indicate they aren’t as fit as they should be and in general the team looked gassed during the game. He also believed such a poor performance and the demeanour of the players, lack of fight etc. tells him there must be off field issues at play. 

More guesswork.

20 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

On SEN this morning Buckley’s analysis of our performance included the observations that in the aftermatch warm down he noted that body shapes of some players indicate they aren’t as fit as they should be and in general the team looked gassed during the game. He also believed such a poor performance and the demeanour of the players, lack of fight etc. tells him there must be off field issues at play. 

He's bang on, look at Oliver, looks completely out of shape and one stage I saw him hunched down trying to catch his breath and he looked in terrible shape.

Selwyn and Goody need to come under close scrutiny. Bringing back underdone players has finally caught up to use. We simply could not keep up with Fremantles outside spread and work rate.

1 hour ago, Jibroni said:

Watched the game live yesterday and in short this team simply has no mongrel or desire to want to be the best. I have never seen so many broken tackles or players unaccounted for, even Viney looked mellow yesterday.

I'm not sure if President Kate has the courage to make a decision that after yesterday appears closer to reality. Only a miraculous turnaround against Collingwood would change this perception.

 

Lol you won't hear a word from Roffey.. she's gone MIA. You'll only hear from her when we've won a final and she's taking all the credit for the glory. Even after having thr off season from hell we heard nothing from her except her telling us we need to cheer louder 🤦‍♂️ Poor Gawny had to face the music all pre season.

Coaching department needs a complete overhaul at the end of the season.

Edited June 2, 2024Jun 2 by dazzledavey36

25 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

On SEN this morning Buckley’s analysis of our performance included the observations that in the aftermatch warm down he noted that body shapes of some players indicate they aren’t as fit as they should be and in general the team looked gassed during the game. He also believed such a poor performance and the demeanour of the players, lack of fight etc. tells him there must be off field issues at play. 

Almost a throwback to the horrible shape we looked in to start the 2019 season, always a step or two behind. 

Geez losses are taken well on here. Yes it was terrible but not a litmus test of our fortunes.

We'll beat the Pies and everyone will be happy again.

Expecting to be roasted but anyway.

There are losses and there are losses, this was the latter.

23 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

He's bang on, look at Oliver, looks completely out of shape and one stage I saw him hunched down trying to catch his breath and he looked in terrible shape.

Selwyn and Goody need to come under close scrutiny. Bringing back underdone players has finally caught up to use. We simply could not keep up with Fremantles outside spread and work rate.

Lol you won't hear a word from Roffey.. she's gone MIA. You'll only hear from her when we've won a final and she's taking all the credit for the glory. Even after having thr off season from hell we heard nothing from her except her telling us we need to cheer louder 🤦‍♂️ Poor Gawny had to face the music all pre season.

Coaching department needs a complete overhaul at the end of the season.

Agree Roffey does go MIA, and as a member hard questions need to be answered coz if she can't hack it then GO. I'm also CERTAIN Goody has run his race as coach of MFC. Stafford should also be given the short Shift!

1 hour ago, Clintosaurus said:

Geez losses are taken well on here. Yes it was terrible but not a litmus test of our fortunes.

We'll beat the Pies and everyone will be happy again.

Expecting to be roasted but anyway.

If we beat Freo we go to 3rd on the ladder, instead we slump to a big loss and drop down to 10th. So it's an interesting one to debate.  But even with some of our wins this season there have been questions

Things don't look right on the pitch at the moment. Is it the new game plan? Is it a lack of midfield depth? is it carrying too many NQR Players?

We've conceded 100+ points 5 times since 2019 I think, 2 of which came in the last 3 weeks. So something a little off, surely it can't just be the injury to Lever.

Edited June 3, 2024Jun 3 by roy11
error

Has one of the players imported from other clubs post 2021 established himself in the best 22. I can't think of one

Pre-season I had us tagged as a 6-10 club which is most likely correct.

The club has lost its way at the Casey level which doesn't help. (Recruitment of Casey listed players)

1 hour ago, Clintosaurus said:

Geez losses are taken well on here. Yes it was terrible but not a litmus test of our fortunes.

We'll beat the Pies and everyone will be happy again.

Expecting to be roasted but anyway.

It's less about one loss, and more about how we lost.

That was an un-Melbourne like performance. I was ok with the losses to Brisbane and West Coast, because the competition is so even and we were just beaten by a team that played significantly better on the day, and we at least managed to win back some momentum at times.

But to completely stop playing and get destroyed in every single statistic yesterday was unacceptable. -41 in contested possessions is Neeld-esque level putrid. 

We can't keep glossing over these performances and say they aren't a litmus test of our fortunes, because the loss and the massive drop in percentage yesterday may have just cost us a top 8 finish, let alone a top 4 finish. 

A good club with a good culture takes stock of where they are at, and are honest with one another. Burying our head in the sand will do nothing but continue the mediocre performances we've seen this season.

Edited June 3, 2024Jun 3 by Jaded No More

This side looks yired. Mentally tired. I am being polite here. It is like they have run into a brick wall and couldn't even be bothered to find a ladder to climb over.

Yesterday was a disgusting result.

3 hours ago, Jibroni said:

Watched the game live yesterday and in short this team simply has no mongrel or desire to want to be the best. I have never seen so many broken tackles or players unaccounted for, even Viney looked mellow yesterday.

I'm not sure if President Kate has the courage to make a decision that after yesterday appears closer to reality. Only a miraculous turnaround against Collingwood would change this perception.

 

Thing is, we may as well beat an undermanned Collingwood. But I wouldn't be surprised if we then go and lose against WC or North.

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Almost a throwback to the horrible shape we looked in to start the 2019 season, always a step or two behind. 

Well, Buckley was let go by Collingwood in the middle of 2021. They were a competitive team for the most part of his tenure.

After he had been there for what 9 years or so. It was the best decision they made. Look at clubs clinging to their underperforming coaches like Brisbane and Port.

This is Simon's 8th year. We could see something similar?

4 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

This is Simon's 8th year. We could see something similar?

We'd have a three year payout I believe. It would cripple our soft cap spending.

TBH I think Goodwin has the right or at least a better gameplan but he's two years late at implementing it at the Casey level and one year late at the AFL level

5 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Well, Buckley was let go by Collingwood in the middle of 2021. They were a competitive team for the most part of his tenure.

After he had been there for what 9 years or so. It was the best decision they made. Look at clubs clinging to their underperforming coaches like Brisbane and Port.

This is Simon's 8th year. We could see something similar?

I'm not going to say that performance was actually Simon's fault. But ultimately it's his responsibility,  and that of the club. 

That he essentially stood there at games end and had no real idea as to why is for me the greatest concern. Yes he described the malaise but seemed at a total loss. That summed up the game.....a total loss.

A lacklustre parade of disinterested,  uncollaborative disconnected players.  The absolute antithesis of a 'team'.

The elephant in the room has to be the Oliver effect and its knock ons. I'm not blaming him , he's  only one player but this year we don't look the same. 

You can tell when a group march in step.... 

If there was but one vibe a out that game...it was to me "why bother".

What brings a team to that crossroad ?

He didn't  day it but Goodwin might as well have uttered " well I didn't see that coming" 

That he didn't might give rise to the thought he wasn't 100% surprised. Annoyed yes, Unacceptable...yes...  but unexpected ?? 

He looked like a bloke whose worst fears just played out for all to see.

KB will tell us everything about this club...and it's future.

Go Dees.....somehow....