19 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

He is falling in and out of games too frequently (his 1st half last week was poor) which he has never done due to his high standards. I hope it's only a fitness issue.

 

It's not. He's never been in the top runners at the club - his game never revolved around fitness. He's not ANB or Walsh (who without their superior fitness would be average players).

The absolute thirst and zeal he had for the contest and game has reduced - as I think football is no longer his no.1 focus. This is probably a better outcome for his health and life, but makes us worse clearly. 

He's still a very good player - but he's now a one or two effort player instead of a 3,4,5 effort, tireless, absolute will to win player. That edge was what made him so special. 

He played well tonight - but if the first or second ball didn't go his way I watched him quite a few times slow to a stop.

Largely, it's his defensive game, which was always underrated, which has fallen away. 

23 minutes ago, rufus said:

Yes. 10 players with 150+ games of experience and I feel for the coach...you just don't know what you're going to get from those guys who you should be able to bank on.

We've unearthed some decent young talent this year but are we just going to see those guys fall off a cliff as they hit their peak years as mostly seems to be the way at MFC?

We won a flag with a pretty young and promising list and their overall ability to execute in the contest has just been poor for 3 years. Commitment to applying pressure seems to just be when they feel like it...it isn't a non negotiable.

After trying to recruit players by spruiking that we see 3 or 4 flags in our short term future, there will likely be 8+ teams that have won at least a single final since 2021, and we won't be one of them. We are about to be passed by Hawthorn. Again. The fumbling of the whole thing by the whole FD is jarring.

And on the crowd thing, it needs to be a two way street. These guys continually find ways to let interstate sides come here and embarrass us on our home turf...and why exactly would people want to turn up and cop that?

Great post. The FD fumbling the window is pretty bang on - list management, fitness, playing injured players, game plan/bombing to pockets, inability to address goalkicking. Couldn't keep Burgess for even one more year. Couldn't keep Jackson after doing so much work to get him. Couldn't keep & develop Bedford, couldn't keep Jordon. 

The crowd ...

Collingwood vs GWS would have got 35k in that weather tonight. We're about half the membership base aren't we, in which case 17k makes sense.

It was absolutely icy, rained all day, half the train lines were down (no one EVER talks about this) and worse, we played like an EFL team in the west last week with statistically one of the worst midfield performances of all time. 

Plus, dees supporters are smart. Most (except the deluded ones) can see whats been happening for a little while now. 

3 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

Is it a personnel thing or is it McQualter? Our loose marking at stoppages has happened way too many times this year for it not to have been picked up. So are our mids simply falling asleep or are they being instructed to position themselves really aggressively (read, stupidly)?

McQualter has added absolutely f all to our Coaching staff.

Goody needs a new team around him, starting to become very stale.

31 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

He is falling in and out of games too frequently (his 1st half last week was poor) which he has never done due to his high standards. I hope it's only a fitness issue.

 

Of course its a fitness issue  back to best next year

1 hour ago, SPC said:

Oliver was putrid in the last quarter, let Green push him around like he was a first year player. Tmac looked like the tmac of old.., Have we won a close game since 21?? We buckle like a cheap seat from Anaconda 

Yes we have 

1 hour ago, BoBo said:

23 shots to 20. 
 

That’s the game.

Thats how GWS are winning their games.

On efficiency, less scoring shorts and Jesse Hogan. Not sure it’s sustainable in finals.

12 minutes ago, Bowserpower said:

He should be fighting fit by now. 3 quarters of a season is enough time.

That’s not how fitness works 🙄

Edited July 27, 20241 yr by Jaded No More

Caleb Windsor is going to a legitimate superstar. I don't think he get's a score involvement for when he flattens the GWS bloke that set up Chandlers goal of the week contender. 

I watched him closely tonight and thought his first quater was the reason we got off to a flyer his pressure, bumps, smarts and pace were something to behold.

There were lots of times tonight where we could have given it off to him with a 15m diagnal kick but ignored him. I'm not comparing him to Naicos (would be unfair because Windsor is actually hard at it) but we need to start looking for him all the time like Collingwood do Naicos.

1 hour ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Hope Petty was a cheap resign - just a deplorable season

How was that your take away from today? He's finally building back.

1 minute ago, Wrecker46 said:

Caleb Windsor is going to a legitimate superstar. I don't think he get's a score involvement for when he flattens the GWS bloke that set up Chandlers goal of the week contender. 

I watched him closely tonight and thought his first quater was the reason we got off to a flyer his pressure, bumps, smarts and pace were something to behold.

There were lots of times tonight where we could have given it off to him with a 15m diagnal kick but ignored him. I'm not comparing him to Naicos (would be unfair because Windsor is actually hard at it) but we need to start looking for him all the time like Collingwood do Naicos.

He was battling hard. I think he’s got a bit of a sore groin but his willingness to compete is something else. I love him. 

3 minutes ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

McQualter has added absolutely f all to our Coaching staff.

Goody needs a new team around him, starting to become very stale.

It's hard to know.

I think our transition ball movement in the first half of the year was him, but it didn't exactly work either.

It'll be telling what changes we make this off season.

given there were poor umpiring decisions, that is not something we can change. what we can change is manning up, and we certainly did not do that. In the last quarter we just did not try to move the ball quick enough at times in the dying minutes of the game we were kicking it from side to side as if we were in the lead and we wanted to waste time. and once GWS got the ball they had kick after kick to each other without a melbourne player being within range to spoil. no manning up, do they need explicit permission or instructions to do something so basic as that when you know the opposition wants to wind down the clock, definitely something wrong with their football thinking. Some players had bad games again missing kicking it straight to the opposition too often. season is probably done now. i would like to see us try a few other players as some of the players we are playing definitely need a rest, at least one probably need a rest.

35 minutes ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Surely the club isn’t wondering why their supporters aren’t showing up anymore? Tonight was a fine example for why

Losing by 2 points to a contender is a fine example of what? Ffs what a joke some of our supporters are. 

Just now, Jaded No More said:

He was battling hard. I think he’s got a bit of a sore groin but his willingness to compete is something else. I love him. 

From the last hit he copped? If so i'll be even more [censored] off. He should have got a holding the ball go his way 10 seconds before he copped it

Does anyone understand the rationale for the last centre bounce? I've watched it back 6 times now and can't figure it out. I don't understand why no-one is forward of the bounce, initially I was thinking they were trying to create space for Max to smash the ball into, but he hit it out as if there was a runner that was going to be there and with Oliver starting on the defensive side that runner turned out to be Tom Green. 

I wish we could get down the ground footage sometimes. Selwood or whoever it was was telling us to look at at the centre with Neal-Bullen pushing to the back side of the square but it wasn't even visable.

1-3 now in games decided by under a goal, the sole win being vs North where if the game had gone for a minute longer we probably would have lost.

In a season as even as this, just one of those games going our way could be the difference between finals and 12th. GWS are 3-1 by comparison.

We are not good at them. For one, the pressure late in these games does not bode well for our low-skilled players. But we also do some dumb things. TMac not taking the obvious switch option, twice. Pickett taking a minute to kick his goal. Rivers doing nothing for 10 seconds then kicking to a nothing spot (after he burned time vs Brisbane, he should have known better).

1 minute ago, Wrecker46 said:

From the last hit he copped? If so i'll be even more [censored] off. He should have got a holding the ball go his way 10 seconds before he copped it

No, he was holding his groin a bit tonight and at one point was limping and struggling to walk. He did push the doctor away tho. 
That last hit he hurt his ankle. Poor kid was in the wars tonight. He’s gonna be so special. 

What was frustrating was when towards the end & gws chipped it around, we had players just standing in the middle. 

You could see what they were doing & your own brain should tell you to man up on them

I wasn't sure who or when we'd sub Turner on, but as it turned out, I reckon that was a tactical error not playing him.

When Turner came on, and we went long to contests inside 50, we looked dangerous in the air with three talls.

As it didn't rain, I think we could have afforded ourselves the three talls. Perhaps we were worried about their run off us with three talls + Melksham and Fritta, but I think we could have stretched them more in the air when we had territory against them.

4 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Losing by 2 points to a contender is a fine example of what? Ffs what a joke some of our supporters are. 

If our supporters can't handle a loss to a good side then we really are the custard chuckers that everyone thinks we are. 

Too much sooking about the umpires in this thread.

Yes, they were poor, but when have they actually been good this year? This loss is firmly our own doing. We didn't take our chances when we were dominant early, and we switched off at the start of the fourth quarter.

4 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

usual inability to execute fundamentals under pressure

Yep. It comes down to some very basic stuff - TMac being far too close to Toby when taking a free kick, Petty dishing off a handball from a free kick to Rivers who was basically already mid-tackle at the time, players constantly over-running the ball (JVR), Nibbler’s lack of awareness. Lots of these small moments that add up to being all the difference. 

That and a distinct lack of urgency at times in the final quarter. The paddling around of the ball, with so much work to do in a short time, was deeply frustrating. 

38 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

It's been an issue for ages but because we've been winning it never gets bought up. Unless he has the ball in his hands he doesn't do much else

He (Fritsch) started on the bench tonight, surely that's a message. Someone mentioned he was close to getting dropped after the North game and seemed to put in for a couple of weeks but tonight was back to his worst in that regard. People overlook it when he bobs up and kicks 3 goals in 5 minutes but when you're not impacting the scoreboard enough it stands out like dogs balls.

Edited July 27, 20241 yr by Dr. Gonzo

Just now, Mel Bourne said:

Yep. It comes down to some very basic stuff - TMac being far too close to Toby when taking a free kick, Petty dishing off a handball from a free kick to Rivers who was basically already mid-tackle at the time, players constantly over-running the ball (JVR), Nibbler’s lack of awareness. Lots of these small moments that add up to being all the difference. 

That and a distinct lack of urgency at times in the final quarter. The paddling around of the ball, with so much work to do in a short time, was deeply frustrating. 

The ANB one in the fourth wasn't as bad as it looked - I don't think he had anyone to kick to in front of him.

Also the really slow manning up where they ate a minute off the clock, marked at its peak by Fritsch guarding grass.

1 hour ago, Fork 'em said:

Disco should've been on the ground all night.

Should the sub rule be removed for  next year, the biggest beneficiary of all AFL coaches will be the one and only Simon Goodwin.

He’s a brilliant coach but can’t utilise the sub rule to save himself.

Goodwin directly cost us the Carlton final last year due to his mismanagement of team selection, specifically not utilising a sub at his disposal on a warm night when we had no injuries.

44 minutes ago, layzie said:

What do you want us to say dude? Some of us tried.

As for the fight I don't know what you'd want us to say there either, two reasonable sides, one is a very reasonable side and did well when it counted and deserved to win.

Could we have pinched it? Sure. Over 80 minutes though we didn't do enough.

A bit of fight would be nice, some hunger. It sometimes seems like our fans are too nice.

We needed to win tonight and this was for all the money.