accepting honourable losses

[DEMON WITHIN 0]

After attending todays game and then reading another post-match article with this quote...

"NEALE Daniher has summed up this AFL weekend perfectly for Melbourne, Richmond and West Coast fans, saying "footy sucks sometimes".

Daniher's Demons and the Tigers were outstanding in round nine, but agonisingly missed their first wins for the season."

my response is simply...who are we kidding? why are we being softened by 25 minutes of great footy...football that only last year, i came to expect my boys to play every quarter of every week. It was only 9 weeks ago that robbo said he was sick of just talking finals, he wanted to talk premierships...it was only 8 weeks ago that brock came out and blasted the team for losing matches they are expected to win.

i am not one to come out and kick the team when they are down...in fact, i still go on those weeks where the most you hope for is a courageous effort...but lets not be fooled by 25minutes of quality when the least we deserve as supporters is that level of intensity for the entire match (especially when you are 0-8). if anyone else who endured the first 3 quarters at the G today really thought that most of the players (there are always the usual exceptions) were having a massive crack and that they just didnt have the quality to match it with the roos, i will stand corrected.

danners, i want to hear you question the teams commitment and make them come out each week breathing fire. Then i will come home satisfied when we lose by a point. I dont want to continue reading [censored] week headlines like "footy sucks sometimes"...

WE DESERVE BETTER and if your not going to deliver, then for mine, lets find someone who will

[Nasher 33,617]

I didn't think we were outstanding today. We were utterly crapola for two quarters, average for one and outstanding for one. That averages out to roughly "okay" by my dodgy maths.

[Jaded No More 68,973]

Agreed.

The first 3 quarters today were as bad as I've seen Melbourne play all year.

If anyone is fooled by the fact that we lost by a point, they really are kidding themselves.

The media will pity us, and the criticism will subside because 'oh, they were so close again and oh, they have so many injuries'.

But the truth is, we were woeful, we struggled to hit a target and kick goals for 3 quarters and only bothered to turn it on in the last, then proceeded to stuff it up completely with less than 2 minutes to go.

We deserve to be criticised because we have been pathetic all year. Injuries are a valid excuse for losing against top teams, they are not a valid excuse for not hitting targets and for not turning up to play for more than half the match. If we played well in the second and third quarters, even half as well as we played in the last, we would have won.

[Rogue 585]

I agree that we shouldn't get carried away by a good quarter of footy as it was pretty ordinary for most of today. That said, I'm pretty sure we're the Club isn't getting too excited right about now. I imagine it's a pretty sombre mood around the Club these days, and another tight loss won't help things much.

However, a kick the difference in a few games and we'd have a few wins under our belt so while we're certainly not much chop it really helps no one to blast the players publically right about now IMO.

[45HG 1,559]

just frustrates me that when we were woeful, we were playing that ridiculous gameplan that none of our supporters (i assue none) want to see. and yes, we were shocking, and yes we should've been down by more, but in a way i'm glad that we were able to come from so far behind in the last quarter playing the type of game we did, as it will surely making the coaching staff wake up and realise that that is the way we should always play.

if a team is struggling with disposal, as we clearly are, the quick movement and long ball movement i think is the way to go because it doesn't require the precision that the chip game needs. we showed in the last quarter if we give our forwards half decent, quick entry into the forward line, they can do the rest. if we did that for four quarters, neita would've been able to shut up every one of his critics.

hopefully losing by a point shows our coaching staff the way we should be playing the majority of the time, otherwise it really is a useless loss

[CHAMP 347]

I didn't think we were outstanding today. We were utterly crapola for two quarters, average for one and outstanding for one. That averages out to roughly "okay" by my dodgy maths.

1 average + 2 crapola + 1 outstanding = 1 crapola

[Nasher 33,617]

1 average + 2 crapola + 1 outstanding = 1 crapola

It really depends on how much crapola, outstanding and average respectively "weigh", but now I'm getting a little anal.

[Gouga 570]

Said exactly what I'm thinking Jaded.

[praha 11,240]

It was so bad up to three-quarter time that I wanted to go home. There were far from outstanding. I think journo's need to do their job and watch the games before writing something like that. It makes Melbourne look good which they aren't.

[Jaded No More 68,973]

It really depends on how much crapola, outstanding and average respectively "weigh", but now I'm getting a little anal.

Those 2 'crapola' quarters were probably the most disgraceful quarters of footy we played all year.

Every week I go and watch us play, and every week I tell my dad "we can't play worse than this", yet every week they surprise me!

What makes it even more painful, is that we prepare ourselves for a loss, then suddenly a completely different side comes out and plays well and we get teased with a win. How can a team play so badly for three quarters, and so well for one?

When the final siren went today, I had to try hard to stop myself from crying. Not because I was upset that we lost (I saw it coming from a mile away), but because it was just so incredibly frustrating. The guys behind me just started yelling swear words randomly, they were that frustrated.

I swear I love being a Melbourne supporter, the fun just never stop!

[45HG 1,559]

i must admit that when we kicked a goal to bring it back to 29, i turned to my mate and said 'bloody melbourne, they always do this, they'll make us think they're gonna win then take it away from us, probably get done by a point'

hope that wasn't me sitting behind you with the choice words

[tess 19]

The roos kicking for goal was shocking. They easily should have been 8 goals up at three quarter time. That Leroy Brown will give roos supporters grey hairs.

[Gorgoroth 13,016]

i said the same, we will get in front then lose the game and didnt get excited until we got the last goal and then, stupidly, i got excited and dared to beleive

i must say i didnt get angry and i havent been all last night or today, im just numb, hollow and numb

[Pates 9,660]

It's no surprise that they had so much left in the tank at the end, it's not like we used much energy in the first 3 quarters!

I too am getting sick of "honorable losses", i was able to stand it when we had all our key forwards out and much of our core. But yesterday we had a decent team, one that showed how they can perform at their very best and very worst.

NO MORE HONORABLE LOSSES, LET'S JUST BLOODY WIN!

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

I didn't think we were outstanding today. We were utterly crapola for two quarters, average for one and outstanding for one. That averages out to roughly "okay" by my dodgy maths.

That averages out to "we lost again" by my maths.

How about four quarters of "red hot go" and one percenters.

[demonfanjezza 1]

I heard on the radio that when we where playing well in the last, the kanagroos may pay for not putting us away or something to that effect in the 3rd quater, and now we have the momentium.

But its a 4 quarter game as well all have said, and that is what is required

Please boys and ND- we are not asking too much

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

Stop the whining and listen up the Rev has spoken:

" We're feeling for our supporters. We're all in this together and, hopefully, they stick with us and come along next week against the Crows."

[45HG 1,559]

yep, totally behind the rev, and i reckon he's learnt from our mistakes this year and now we can go from there. to those who say his words fall on deaf ears, i hope you were watching our last quarter

[demonfanjezza 1]

Stop the whining and listen up the Rev has spoken:

" We're feeling for our supporters. We're all in this together and, hopefully, they stick with us and come along next week against the Crows."

Yep totally behind ND- Very good

Can see how he feels our supporter pain

[Deano74 156]

I think the Roos won rather than we lost, It all came down to the brillance of one play by Swallow.

[Travis for captain 0]

Yep totally behind ND- Very good

Can see how he feels our supporter pain

I like ND, think he has been great for the club. He can't be judged until we get a team together on the park for a continuous number of weeks. Yes we got some back yesterday but also lost 5 from the previous week. We couldn't even drop anyone from the West Coast game as the 5 changes made were all injuries. Colin Sylvia was starting to show what he can do but goes down again. The kid hasn't been able to play 10 games in a row since being drafted. Constant changes (forced) each week is not helping anyone!!!!

[praha 11,240]

Thank god we are playing Adelaide and not the Power or Freo this week.

Crowd estimate - 25-30k

If we were playing freo or port - 10-15k

It's the sad truth. Crows fans come out in droves in their caravans with their tea and blankets.

I can't be there because I'm working start at 1pm. Sunday was my last match before I go overseas. Leave the day of the Pies game.

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

I like ND, think he has been great for the club. He can't be judged until we get a team together on the park for a continuous number of weeks. Yes we got some back yesterday but also lost 5 from the previous week. We couldn't even drop anyone from the West Coast game as the 5 changes made were all injuries. Colin Sylvia was starting to show what he can do but goes down again. The kid hasn't been able to play 10 games in a row since being drafted. Constant changes (forced) each week is not helping anyone!!!!

He has had a rough year he has said he looks forward to the day when they can argue over the 22nd man instead of having to play everyone who is available as we have no-one left. The options have been few and far between however I think from here things can only get better

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

I can't be there because I'm working start at 1pm. Sunday was my last match before I go overseas. Leave the day of the Pies game.

Change your shift then

[45HG 1,559]

change your flight!! jokes

but to be honest, i've never looked forward to a game less than this year's qb match. really not looking forward to listening to 80000 pies supporters, knowing that even if we go 8 goals up, they only need to kick one to get on a roll.