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3 hours ago, Pennant St Dee said:

a) Players clearly shot confidence wise, Goody ain’t going to come out and slate them in the press conference just to twist the confidence knife

b) The players got a fair rev up after the west coast performance, it doesn’t work repeatedly

c)A 6 goal win based on what exactly players out, have you watched Collingwood since Round 3 it’s a game plan they are invested into  it’s not about who is in or out it’s a process and backing it

d) We tried to change how we play because the FD hit the panic button after 2 finals straight set exits, they threw the baby out with the bathwater and went to far away from our DNA, and IMO players lost confidence in that style of play being to foreign from what they were used to.

There’s also the other issues of Smith, Oliver and Brayshaw’s retirement.  I think we got an early them against us boost from Oliver returning but that well has dried up

This is it for mine, by a country mile.

39 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

I'm just disappointed

Yep. 

 
4 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

Great analysis

In a nutshell ...  many teams better at getting the benefit of Max's efforts.....than we are.  Take a bow Melbourne 


5 hours ago, rolling fog said:

 

Yes! I’ve thought for weeks now that no one looks particularly happy to be there and glad to see it’s not just me thinking the vibes are stagnant.

This was writ large yesterday.

 

But why though? What has changed since the beginning of the year, when the team looked full of zip, energy and fun?

4 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

Anyone listen to SEN morning with Garry & Tim? Interesting hearing that Tim Watson said he watched May quite closely and said he looked disinterested and lazy at times. He basically said he doesn’t seem to want to chase a leading player, doesn’t like playing on anyone mobile and just wants the ball in long so he can intercept. I find this really disappointing given he supposed to be a leader of this club.

With Champion Data rating his season as his lowest ever, I wonder if the cliff is now for him? Anyone know when his contract expires?

There’s also the consideration that he knows clubs are trying to run him up the ground where he can be less influential as an interceptor, which without Lever to cover is amplified. So is he hesitant in thinking I know what they are trying to do, is this a position I need to run to?. Can my opponent hurt us if he marks the ball that high up the ground 

7 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

There’s also the consideration that he knows clubs are trying to run him up the ground where he can be less influential as an interceptor, which without Lever to cover is amplified. So is he hesitant in thinking I know what they are trying to do, is this a position I need to run to?. Can my opponent hurt us if he marks the ball that high up the ground 

He has been beaten more this year than I can remember. Is it worth trialling swapping him with Petty for a few weeks to at least pump up Petty’s trade value a bit? He is far more confident as a defender and May played forward as a junior I think.

 

No coincidence that JVR played his best game of the year WITHOUT being in the ruck. He is good at it, but he looked so much better just settled in the one position and not burning tickets playing through there. Surely we want him focusing on being the best forward he can through the week at training and not having to worry about ruck craft too? 

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1149882/catch-em-if-you-can-is-footys-boldest-weapon-back-in-vogue

The round's final game saw one of the tightest tagging jobs of the lot, with Demon Alex Neal-Bullen going straight to Collingwood matchwinner Nick Daicos from the first bounce. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin declared the match-up pre-game and saw his midfielder go with Daicos until the Magpie was substituted out of the game in the last term with a shin injury. 

To that point, Daicos and Neal-Bullen had been locked in a battle for 81 minutes, seeing Daicos gather 14 disposals, six uncontested possessions and a goal – down on his average of 32 disposals and 17 uncontested possessions.

Neal-Bullen's Demons were the only team of the four to deploy hard-line tags not to be winners in their respective games, with the cost-benefit, such as midfield structure and the defensive running of other midfielders, always needing to be taken into account by clubs who decide on the tight-checking roles. For instance, with the focus on Daicos, teammate Jack Crisp played one of the best midfield games of his season.


23 minutes ago, roy11 said:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1149882/catch-em-if-you-can-is-footys-boldest-weapon-back-in-vogue

The round's final game saw one of the tightest tagging jobs of the lot, with Demon Alex Neal-Bullen going straight to Collingwood matchwinner Nick Daicos from the first bounce. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin declared the match-up pre-game and saw his midfielder go with Daicos until the Magpie was substituted out of the game in the last term with a shin injury. 

To that point, Daicos and Neal-Bullen had been locked in a battle for 81 minutes, seeing Daicos gather 14 disposals, six uncontested possessions and a goal – down on his average of 32 disposals and 17 uncontested possessions.

Neal-Bullen's Demons were the only team of the four to deploy hard-line tags not to be winners in their respective games, with the cost-benefit, such as midfield structure and the defensive running of other midfielders, always needing to be taken into account by clubs who decide on the tight-checking roles. For instance, with the focus on Daicos, teammate Jack Crisp played one of the best midfield games of his season.

Nibbler did a great job shutting down Daicos but we missed him offensively IMO. 

Great profile pic 🤣

26 minutes ago, roy11 said:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1149882/catch-em-if-you-can-is-footys-boldest-weapon-back-in-vogue

The round's final game saw one of the tightest tagging jobs of the lot, with Demon Alex Neal-Bullen going straight to Collingwood matchwinner Nick Daicos from the first bounce. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin declared the match-up pre-game and saw his midfielder go with Daicos until the Magpie was substituted out of the game in the last term with a shin injury. 

To that point, Daicos and Neal-Bullen had been locked in a battle for 81 minutes, seeing Daicos gather 14 disposals, six uncontested possessions and a goal – down on his average of 32 disposals and 17 uncontested possessions.

Neal-Bullen's Demons were the only team of the four to deploy hard-line tags not to be winners in their respective games, with the cost-benefit, such as midfield structure and the defensive running of other midfielders, always needing to be taken into account by clubs who decide on the tight-checking roles. For instance, with the focus on Daicos, teammate Jack Crisp played one of the best midfield games of his season.

the biggest issue with anb and pickett playing more midfield minutes is that we have no one providing any defensive coverage in the forward half of the ground

 

25 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

No coincidence that JVR played his best game of the year WITHOUT being in the ruck. He is good at it, but he looked so much better just settled in the one position and not burning tickets playing through there. Surely we want him focusing on being the best forward he can through the week at training and not having to worry about ruck craft too? 

Umm he played his usual share in the ruck and was very effective. 

Goody let him be our deepest forward at times which looked good and he brought Fritsch up the ground.

16 hours ago, Bowserpower said:

I'm disappointed that we didn't go after Maynard more. Do they even remember who Gus is anymore?

Go after him? We were grinning and slapping him on the backside.  Then he tried to bury Fritsch under the forward pocket.  

I have no idea why a Melbourne player would think that's ok! Bewildering 

6 hours ago, Superunknown said:

Why are we talking about?

Oliver got incredibly ****ty at Rivers for not short passing it to him, Oliver was basically stationary 15-20m in front, he was spewing about it. 

 

Not sure if the game plan is to pass short to the 50 or not when we are slow playing it but he was very disappointed he didnt get the ball.


6 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

I think our game plan has become archaic

Crash n bash takes a huge toll on an ageing body

Look at Freo - they refused to engage with the pile on and ran and ran and ran and ran red rum redrum redrum

You mean being "crashed and bashed" takes a huge toll? 

I haven't seen us do any meaningful bashing or crashing since the cats game 

During the depth of yesterday’s loss I had one completely sane & normal football realisation -
 

I hate Maroon5 not only for their music but because the lead singer looks vaguely like Jeremy Howe

 

as I said - completely sane & totally normal 😂

3 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

You mean being "crashed and bashed" takes a huge toll? 

I haven't seen us do any meaningful bashing or crashing since the cats game 

Not sustainable

Bodies are shot

5 hours ago, Pennant St Dee said:

d) We tried to change how we play because the FD hit the panic button after 2 finals straight set exits, they threw the baby out with the bathwater and went to far away from our DNA, and IMO players lost confidence in that style of play being to foreign from what they were used to.

I agree with this, and your entire post, except that I wouldn’t say it was hitting the panic button. 

The majority view on here after last year’s finals was that we needed to change the way we play because the repeat inside 50 forward half press wasn’t going to get us a flag. 

I don’t think the FD panicked. I think they correctly identified that some changes would make us better. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t worked and, as you say, we’ve stripped our players of their identity in the process. 

still feel gutted, and so let down by their performance. our potential window of opportunity of winning multiple premierships has well and truly gone. i do blame goody for for some of this, us exiting the finals so early in the last two years especially. he has shown a great reluctance to change things up even when things are going badly. i really dont see him as taking us to another flag, but he will be someone who will keep his job based on one year when we were truly good and other teams did not know how to play us. other teams have recruited young players that have slotted straight into their line ups. all of our recruits are spending their time at Casey, and all most people say is that they need to spend more time at Casey to get up to speed. which tells me we probably did not do so well at recruiting.


21 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Because, hate them as much as we do, one thing is undeniable - Collingwood is a club that has what we lack in spades, heart, pride and a winning culture. They have so many first choice players out yet they will always compete and play as a team. We would do well to look across the road and learn a thing or two from them.

I am disgusted with the game today, absolutely disgusted.

They certainly play the game hard. Even if they bend the rules.

And even when they play within the rules they take no prisoners.

Maynard tackled very hard yesterday with six of them being very strong.

Even Moore the captain plays on the edge. I didn't think going into that pack with his knee going in first was necessary but it was totally legal 

Often times that will leave most players sore or ruing the fact they put their body on the line.

I can't say if it was intentional but the result left one of our best players hospitalized.

Their tackle count was much higher than ours and we seldom broke them like they did with ours.

I can't imagine Daicos having his career completely ended by a demons player and then pies players not responding to him in the next encounter. Rightly or wrongly they would target him at every turn. They certainly wouldn't shake his hand.

There is nothing wrong with tackling players hard or bumping them as long as it's within the rules . And in the case of Maynard certainly justified. He's an enforcer for the filth. That's why other clubs go after him.

Why shouldn't we. We just don't have that mongrel in us.

Maybe we are better for it. Maybe we are gentlemen. I mean as much as I've advocated for Maynard to be roughed up , I don't want us to become like the filth themselves.

But this is different imo.

 We have a beloved player and great contributor removed from the game.

What's three or four bone jarring tackles back in response to that. I mean at the end of the day, it's not really a gentlemen's game.

Maybe next time.

It's probably not going to happen.

 

1 hour ago, At the break of Gawn said:

Umm he played his usual share in the ruck and was very effective. 

Goody let him be our deepest forward at times which looked good and he brought Fritsch up the ground.

4 ruck contests yesterday, one centre bounce, compared to his last game where he had 14 ruck contests and 6 centre bounces

Yesterday could be suumed up as such :

They know how to play the game....

We don't .....

 
6 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

Anyone listen to SEN morning with Garry & Tim? Interesting hearing that Tim Watson said he watched May quite closely and said he looked disinterested and lazy at times. He basically said he doesn’t seem to want to chase a leading player, doesn’t like playing on anyone mobile and just wants the ball in long so he can intercept. I find this really disappointing given he supposed to be a leader of this club.

With Champion Data rating his season as his lowest ever, I wonder if the cliff is now for him? Anyone know when his contract expires?

May was a one may wall late in the first and through the 2nd when we actually had the game on our terms (aside from the no scoring bit). Not at all disinterested or lazy. But he is struggling with trying to cover a man and trying to cover everyone else. It's pretty common stuff in a team which can't get consistent pressure on the ball. 

Same thing happened with Tom Stewart against Sydney for example.

Tim Watson's about as lazy a commentator as it gets so I wouldn't put much notice in to him

Not sure if it’s been covered already but May clearly looks hampered by his rib injury still, saw him grimace twice with contact yesterday, he was also battling a groin issue at the start of the year which I’m sure would still be lingering 


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