2 hours ago, djr said:

Our "horrible brand of football" almost beat the 2nd and 3rd placed teams over the past 3 weeks. And this is with a banged-up team made up of youngsters.

This is exactly the sort of thinking that saw us go out in straight sets 2 years in a row and miss the finals this year.

Keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. There is a word for that. 

I went, the weather certainly wasn't an excuse like previous weeks so to me it doesn't make sense why at least those with memberships couldn't be bothered, I assume most watched it on TV, so makes little sense not to just go to the game if you have a ticket IMO

9 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

It was enough to win the game for Port Adelaide.

So much effort for no result…

I walked up to Ardeer (rail replacement buses on the Watergardens line) to catch a v-line service and when I boarded they announced that it was a 'football special' service that went express straight to Southern Cross in 15 minutes. It went right past the line of schmucks waiting for replacement buses at Sunshine station. It was also three quarters empty with nobody wearing any football colours onboard. 

MCG concourse was like a ghost town, just like the Giants game. We had our entire row in N53 to ourselves and no lines for anything inside the ground. It wasn't even cold as I sat in a jumper without a jacket for the entire night. Even the unavoidable replacement bus on the way home was full of sad sack Essendon supporters. It was a Kolt set shot away from being a perfect night. 

1 hour ago, BringBackTheDemon said:

This is exactly the sort of thinking that saw us go out in straight sets 2 years in a row and miss the finals this year.

Keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. There is a word for that. 

My comment was not an opinion, but a fact. There wasn't any thinking about it. I was stating what is true.

Edited August 11, 20241 yr by djr

So if were winning would more people be turning up or is the game style that bad that it turns you off completely? 

No wrong answers, but it would be good to know how many people feel like this.

3 minutes ago, layzie said:

So if were winning would more people be turning up or is the game style that bad that it turns you off completely? 

No wrong answers, but it would be good to know how many people feel like this.

The answer is pretty obvious considering we had big turn outs the last few years playing a very similar game style. 
If we were in the 8 currently there would be at least another 5,000 people there yesterday, maybe more. 

The reality is that our fans stop turning up when things aren’t going well, and it doesn’t matter how good we’ve been the last 3 seasons. Which is really disappointing, because I thought the unquestionable effort yesterday from our players, with illness widespread, deserved better support. 
 

It’s also proven that noise of affirmation is a real thing and influences umpiring decisions. So that we can’t get decent turnouts to games, especially against interstate sides, means we miss out on that advantage. 
I bet that round 24 versus the Pies will be well attended, despite both clubs not playing finals. And I bet the crowd will be heavily skewed with Pies fans despite this being our home game. 

6 minutes ago, djr said:

My comment was not an opinion, but a fact. There wasn't any thinking about it. I was stating what is true.

So youre happy playing boring football and dragging some finals teams down to our level for some close losses?  Close enough is good enough? 

Personally, [censored] that, id rather us get blown out some weeks by trying to score 100+ points ourselves, play some attacking football rather than this boring predictable death.

Straight sets twice into missing the finals completely isnt a premiership profile. It screams teams have figured us out.  

This thread is full of post hoc rationalisations

It's a question of mindset.

If you want to go, you'll find reasons to go

If you don't want to go, you'll find reasons not to go

 

48 minutes ago, layzie said:

So if were winning would more people be turning up or is the game style that bad that it turns you off completely? 

No wrong answers, but it would be good to know how many people feel like this.

Wouldn’t matter if we were winning. Even in our good seasons, the style of play and the ugly nature of our wins doesn’t appeal to anyone. Compare it to Hawthotn, who play completely free and attacking football, which has started to make them a side that is very watchable. No neutral would want to go to a Melbourne game. A boring system based game that is no longer relevant in 2024

45 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

The answer is pretty obvious considering we had big turn outs the last few years playing a very similar game style. 
If we were in the 8 currently there would be at least another 5,000 people there yesterday, maybe more. 

The reality is that our fans stop turning up when things aren’t going well, and it doesn’t matter how good we’ve been the last 3 seasons. Which is really disappointing, because I thought the unquestionable effort yesterday from our players, with illness widespread, deserved better support. 
 

It’s also proven that noise of affirmation is a real thing and influences umpiring decisions. So that we can’t get decent turnouts to games, especially against interstate sides, means we miss out on that advantage. 
I bet that round 24 versus the Pies will be well attended, despite both clubs not playing finals. And I bet the crowd will be heavily skewed with Pies fans despite this being our home game. 

It’s all about Game Style

The Coaches have suffocated the attacking side of our game 

it’s a bad watch

1 hour ago, layzie said:

So if were winning would more people be turning up or is the game style that bad that it turns you off completely? 

No wrong answers, but it would be good to know how many people feel like this.

Mourinho is only popular when he's winning. 

I actually thought we were pretty loud for 17k, but in better news I got [censored] on three separate times.

2 hours ago, BDA said:

This thread is full of post hoc rationalisations

It's a question of mindset.

If you want to go, you'll find reasons to go

If you don't want to go, you'll find reasons not to go

 

Yep, pretty much. I have the flu and had an operation on my toe and I was there, ready to be [censored] on by 6,453 seagulls.

Edited August 11, 20241 yr by Binmans PA

1 hour ago, Binmans PA said:

I actually thought we were pretty loud for 17k, but in better news I got [censored] on three separate times.

Wow, those Port supporters really are feral!

2 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

It’s all about Game Style

The Coaches have suffocated the attacking side of our game 

it’s a bad watch

And yet I bet you were happy to attend finals and cheered when we won the flag with the same game style. 

4 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

And yet I bet you were happy to attend finals and cheered when we won the flag with the same game style. 

How many goals did we kick during the ‘21 Final Series?

We are not playing the same game style

We had players running in waves either side of the ball carrier. 
 

 

2 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

How many goals did we kick during the ‘21 Final Series?

We are not playing the same game style

We had players running in waves either side of the ball carrier. 
 

 

Sure, but we were still a contest and defense first team. And we didn’t score highly during the season. We didn’t win by big margins either throughout the season. We were something else in finals, but our performances were an outlier. We had one of the best combined winning margin in finals in two decades. 
Look at how close most finals were last season. Including the grand final. 

3 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Sure, but we were still a contest and defense first team. And we didn’t score highly during the season. We didn’t win by big margins either throughout the season. We were something else in finals, but our performances were an outlier. We had one of the best combined winning margin in finals in two decades. 
Look at how close most finals were last season. Including the grand final. 

Defence is very important, but Goodwin and Co have strangled the offence too far. 
The Gamestyle is way out of kilter 

Edited August 11, 20241 yr by Sir Why You Little

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Defence is very important, but Goodwin and Co have strangled the offence too far. 
The Gamestyle is way out of kilter 

We tried changing the game style earlier in the season. It was very obvious we tried playing more attacking but we don’t have the players to play that style. And we lost the few quality ball users we had in Bowey and then Salem, plus Trac. 
We then reverted back to a contest and defense game style when it became obvious that we aren’t capable of executing a more attacking game style. 
I fully support changing the game plan and understand it’s important to evolve with the competition. But I also understand that we’ve been a bloody good team for 3 years now, and have given ourselves serious shots at multiple flags. 

I sat thru the Neeld years and I longed for the day that my side was competitive and a shot at finals. I didn’t care how we played, I just wanted not to be an uncompetitive embarrassment. And last night was a really good competitive performance. Regardless of game style, that is good enough for me to want to attend games. 

Just now, Jaded No More said:

We tried changing the game style earlier in the season. It was very obvious we tried playing more attacking but we don’t have the players to play that style. And we lost the few quality ball users we had in Bowey and then Salem, plus Trac. 
We then reverted back to a contest and defense game style when it became obvious that we aren’t capable of executing a more attacking game style. 
I fully support changing the game plan and understand it’s important to evolve with the competition. But I also understand that we’ve been a bloody good team for 3 years now, and have given ourselves serious shots at multiple flags. 

I sat thru the Neeld years and I longed for the day that my side was competitive and a shot at finals. I didn’t care how we played, I just wanted not to be an uncompetitive embarrassment. And last night was a really good competitive performance. Regardless of game style, that is good enough for me to want to attend games. 

To not have players who can play attacking Football is a blight on the Recruiting Staff and Coaches. This has been going on for Seasons now. 
If you are satisfied with last night’s standard of game, that’s up too you. Personally i think the Club has strangled itself over the last 3 years, and i hate seeing it. 
Last night we dragged Port down to a low level of game. 
Doesn’t satisfy me at all

I'll try a theory.

From my recollection, at the time of the introduction to night footy (friday), the MFC didn't get too many look ins. When we did get a night game it was in the middle of winter. My generation didn't get condition to attending and we saw most friday night games from the comfort of our own lounges. 

After the introduction of Saturday night games and the subsequent popularity to attend, did the night fixtures get going.

I also recollect that there was a delayed start to the broadcast, which encouraged attending.

We oldies are still prone to watch lesser attended games from the home, given cost, late finishes, and live broadcasts.

 

I go every week, and I love a win, but from an objective perspective last nights game was dull. 

You only need to watch 5 minutes of AFL to realise it’s entertainment first, sport second in the eyes of its administrators. I do hold concerns that our game style suits us, but only us, and it’s not our world we exist in. It’s the AFL’s. They aren’t going to make life easier for us if that’s what we deliver.

3 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I go every week, and I love a win, but from an objective perspective last nights game was dull. 

You only need to watch 5 minutes of AFL to realise it’s entertainment first, sport second in the eyes of its administrators. I do hold concerns that our game style suits us, but only us, and it’s not our world we exist in. It’s the AFL’s. They aren’t going to make life easier for us if that’s what we deliver.

But does it suit us? The Crowd numbers say no…

13 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

To not have players who can play attacking Football is a blight on the Recruiting Staff and Coaches. This has been going on for Seasons now. 
If you are satisfied with last night’s standard of game, that’s up too you. Personally i think the Club has strangled itself over the last 3 years, and i hate seeing it. 
Last night we dragged Port down to a low level of game. 
Doesn’t satisfy me at all

SACK THE COACH?