3 minutes ago, Coobs said:

Same Old Melbourne

Killed on fast transition 

Dumb field kicks into center 

Cant kick straight when it matters.

 

If we can't beat GWS sans so many of their best we can't at all

Many of their best being Hogan and Briggs. Meanwhile we had Pickett and May and didn’t get to have a hit out last week.

Plenty of promise in today’s performance. But the reality is we’ve got a stale midfield and added 6 debutants (5 afl debutants).

Crazy to expect drastic changes until we make them to our midfield and give the new guys time to settle 

2 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

No, the bump was a dumb act and he needs to own it. There was zero need for it at the time and the start of our season was impacted by it

Completely disagree

Kozzi throws himself around all season, Terrifying defenders. The bump was completely fine. Ludicrous decision by the MRO. I hope he does not slow down his attack or change his style 

* previous suspensions have been poor by Kozzi but this was an MRO Error

9 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Frustrating loss

We clearly match up very well with GW$ - or they match up well with us - as it’s always a thriller

I understand why they’ve made the move, but I really don’t like Fritsch as a high half forward; he’s our best goal kicker and having him outside the f50 is a waste

I’ll counter that with our goals from forward pressure do not occur if Fritsch is there. GWS got a goal from rebound today when Fritsch is running at a lose ball, granted he is further away than his opponent but they get there the same time. Fritsch takes neither ball or body in the contest, which is a non negotiable. He put out a token arm but it’s not enough and it’s those small things that hurt

I thought there was a lot to like about this game , despite the loss. Petracca looked good . Our debutants performed well. We were never out of it . They are Premiership contenders and we had three top layers out viz May, Pickett and McVee

 

Edited March 16Mar 16 by FabDemon

God we need a #1 KPF, because the way JVR goes about it he ain’t going to be it I’m afraid. Fritsch and Chandler really need to think about whether or not they want to be footballers, wasting so much talent. Kozzie’s absence REALLY hurt (no it wasn’t worth 3 weeks suspension, but what good is he if he’s not out on the park?)

1.2 to 3.4 in the last. They just wanted to score more, whilst we went in to our defensive shells. 

I know it was wet, but their skills really embarrassed ours.

We really miss Hibberd, don’t have a single decent lock down midsize defender.

 

on to the positives

our KPD’s did really well.

We have one in XL, and I thought Henderson did some nice things.

 

 

6 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Tbf we were missing Kozzy and McVee.

And May and Melksham and Kolt and AMW.

9 minutes ago, bobby1554 said:

Agree. The fluffed kicks, taking the wrong option, Johnson sprays his kick, GWS clean, untouched to Keeffe who hammers it over the goal umpires head. So typically Melbourne. Our skills are sub standard, we are a mile off it.

 

7 minutes ago, bobby1554 said:

What? How can you be out of gas in round one?? 

Genuine question, are you trolling?

A mile off it? We just lost a game by 3 points to a serious premiership contender in a game we should have won.

Also, If you don’t understand the fitness advantage of having already played a home and away game this year prior to today’s game, then there’s not much that can be explained to you. 

Once GWS got to within 2 points it was obvious we were going to lose.

I've seen that movie too many times.

Both disappointed and proud. Strange mix of emotions.

So much to like about our debutantes. AJ and Henderson didn't really look AFL ready. Jeffo brilliant and poor. Sharp was very good. XL was great. Langford - I have no idea.

GWS spreading wide and having runners from behind killed us all day, even more in the final quarter.

Green and Green monstered our mids in the last quarter. 

JVR unfortunately back to the worst version of himself today (ball hitting hands and going behind him), and Fritsch also looks a mile away. 

Petty, Bowey and Salem - take a bow, wonderful.

Our skills still need some polish - I feel we lost it rather than them winning it.

I actually feel that there is a lot to like. We matched them or even beat them when contesting on the ground or in the air for most of the day.

 

Lindsay was A+. Great pickup. What was wrong with Langford? I thought he'd be fresh but looked laboured.

Smart, Henderson were servicable and AJ had the option to seal the game and failed to convert. Hopefully he learns from that. But he'll be a good backup ruck for Gawny throughout the year.

Out of all the transition teams, the Giants are easily the best. We should have been ready for that last goal so it was a noble effort.

Our forward line didn't look great at all. We got a number of lucky goals based on Giants mistakes, but our slow ball movement just doesn't give them a chance and our talls are just witches hats when the ball hits the deck. 

Giants looked very skillful and slick with ball movement. We should have done everything to try and get Callaghan - the kid will win Brownlow's.

Great effort. Ran out of legs in the last. Really good game from TMac, Petty showed good signs down back too.

Lindsay sensational debut.

Great to see James Harmes among the Demon faithful after playing for the Dogs last night.

5 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I’m fairly comfortable saying the biggest difference wasn’t Toby, or accuracy, or our missing players. 

It was fitness.

They ran all four quarters out better than us. I’m sure it was because they played last week. Their last goal occurred mainly because we were gassed (although we shouldn’t have let them through the middle).

We did so much right for so long, but just couldn’t close out quarters. Combined with too many turnovers and them finding goals from Greene and Coniglio at exactly the right moments, meant we just couldn’t get a big enough lead to hold them off. 

We’ve clearly found one in Lindsay. Unbelievable debut. I reckon AJ looks promising, Henderson too, and Jeffo can at least kick straight. 

Real issues though with our small/mid defenders. Really missed McVee, and whilst Bowey played his best game in years, we felt really vulnerable in that area. Plus we of course also conceded a stack from turnover, but many sides will vs GWS this year. 

We showed real grit, a clear desire to want to move the ball, and good pressure. Plenty of reason to believe we can contend this year. But in a season where the fight for the top 8 is going to be brutal, we’ve just let 4 points go begging. 

Giants looked great in their first game too so i don’t think we can say we weren’t fit enough due to them playing last week

How are they fitter than us when we’ve had an extra month preseason??

14 minutes ago, Demonised said:

I could be wrong, but I counted seven set shots with a total outcome of 1.1.

Yep. Not enough polish in front of goals.

And not enough forward pressure to keep it in. Giants ran it out to easily

Spewing we let that slip. That was ours for the taking.
I copped it on Facebook saying x Lindsey looked more ready and comfortable on the field than Langford but seems I was correct. Langford looked out of gas 2 minutes in to coming on. Selection mistake but the rest was good!

 

3 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Most of their scores came from Finn Callaghan breaking lines. Just arches his back and away they go, zone broken. Phenomenal player. He was the reason for the last score as well. 

XL went well and I was particularly pleased with Bowey, as I have been very critical of him over the summer. 

Langford could barely move despite playing only one quarter. Especially when defending. He still found the ball ok but his stuff without the ball needs a lot of work. 

Fritsch played a pretty pathetic game. JVR couldn't take a grab either. But they played on Taylor and Buckley who are nigh unbeatable as a duo. 

Missed a few shots but so did they. Either result would have been fair...they happened to get in front at the right time.  

Interestingly Fritsch was playing a defensive role a bit. I noticed in the last stoppage of the quarters he would sprint all the way to defence and we would have two spares.

28 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

[censored] forward line still here.

Not too sure what you expected with rain most of the match 

1 minute ago, Stiff Arm said:

Yep. Not enough polish in front of goals.

And not enough forward pressure to keep it in. Giants ran it out to easily

If Harry Sharp had the name Billings he would be getting blasted right now

Unfortunately he is a poor kick

6 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

So Darcy Moore didn't slide to the ball? So being at least reckless?

Did he elect to bump yes - that’s actually the end of it

Did he hit him high - yes

Don’t bump and expect sympathy when you hit them high and had the option of going low at the footy 

28 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

surely we should be able to defend in the last 30 seconds?

 

fitness, skills or coaching? 

Seems that we tired in the last. The game that GWS played last week helped them 

One another note, the scoreboards at the ground now have a giant windscreen wiper that wipes them when they get wet. It's the most amusing thing ever.

 

6 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

We really miss Hibberd

Ummm… 

The debutants were great today, especially Lindsay however I was also impressed with AJ’s G&D and Henderson's smarts.

We tried bloody hard to win that game against a very good opposition. A lot to like but also still some areas that haunt us - basic skills and closing out games.

11 minutes ago, Coobs said:

If we can't beat GWS sans so many of their best we can't at all

May, Kossie, McVee

14 minutes ago, Stevienic23 said:

Honourable loss - which is a term I hate. 

Kids were good. XL, like the duke last year, has the early doors signs of a smart skilful player. 

AJ was good. Physical.

Trac and Clarry will be better for the run too.

Didn't lose anything down back with May out. 

Fitness must be pretty good for both teams. Heavy ground and no pickle juice in sight.

If this is the benchmark for our season, we'll be alright 

 

i might have this wrong, but i thought we lost out when AJ was rucking. it protects JvR, but he gave away frees and had 5 hitouts.

1 minute ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Did he elect to bump yes - that’s actually the end of it

Did he hit him high - yes

Don’t bump and expect sympathy when you hit them high and had the option of going low at the footy 

So Darcy Moore can be reckless and all the responsibility falls in the only player that is actually playing by the rules and has the chance to contest for the ball?