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PREGAME: Rd 05 vs Essendon

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22 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

He offers nothing defensively in the middle and I’d rather he have fun at Casey than be subjected to this slop. At least until we get more balance in the team. Great game last week, no influence after half time this week on the back up.

If he plays more than about 10 games this year it won’t be development it will be just mindlessly playing.

I remember playing pennant golf off 6 at number 1 position playing opponents off 3-5 and way longer than me. The challenge made me play better - often 2-3 shots better: shooting mid 70s.

I’d play him and tell him it’s going to be hard and [censored] house losing probably every game but treat this as a learning year and cut sick . Keep to team rules of course but cut sick.

I’m not an afl coach or psychologist obviously

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    9 hours ago, Pirlo said:

    Could have stopped there.

    6 hours ago, stinga said:

    Forget all the [censored] about turnovers, pressure, midfield and defence. Most of that we are as good or bad as any other. It just shows up more because we can't score and the ball keeps coming back multiple times. At the start of the year I asked where our goals were going to come from and said we had to score 15 goals a lot of the time. But we struggle to kick 6. Turner will occasionally kick 2 and the same with JVR and Fritsch. Langford and Petracca are the only midfielders who kick goals. Kossie on ball robs us of small forward goals. None of the other smalls are going to kick multiple goals. Chandler is brilliant at pressure and getting up the ground, but will only kick multiple goals 1 in 5 games. JVR has concrete hands, and generally finishes up lying on the ground. Turner is just not tall enough for how he plays. We don't have a 200cm forward, and for the reason there is nothing else available, we need to see what jefferson (who has good hands and height) and Fullerton who has height, can do. Leave them there for a month to see if they develop. You can't have 18 marks(opposition) to 5marks (us) inside 50 and expect to get a different result each week with the same personnel. The season has gone so we need to see what we can develop. As much as I like Melksham and TMac there's just no point in playing them as the season is gone. Forget about winning games - it ain't going to happen. If we don't win another game which is on the cards we will finish up with picks 1,2 and 19 - so develop our younger players now. So with Windsor, Tholstrup, Lindsay, Langford and the 3 mentioned and Kalani White, you have 8 high draft picks as a core to build a side around.

    Goodwin is coaching to save his career, he should be promoting youth at every corner but he ain't going to do that now.

    This could get ugly similar to the North game. Essendon can score quickly. They suck defensively but that doesn't matter against us. They scored 100 points in a 10 goal loss. Very concerned about this, more so than I was against Geelong and even Gold Coast.

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    Interested in opinions from those who are closer to the Club than I am. If Fullerton comes in do you expect Goody to twink the game plan or does he have to follow the game plan in replacing another tall. What I’m getting at is do people think our plan lets individual player skills to be used effectively. For example having Fullerton get to the forward pocket/ half forward rather than compete front on in marking against big bodied defenders.

    18 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

    Easy !!

    Lever in.

    Fullarton in Let’s see what he can do

    Sestan in (Need to see what Sestan can do and he can’t, then at least we gave him a go )

    Woey jnr (Give him a go and as a starting role Tell him not to stop just run run run at all times If he’s not up to it, then at least we gave him a go )

    Petty out !! Get his confidence back

    JVR OUT !!! See above

    Spargo out Can’t run Can’t tackle Can’t jump.

    Melksham is done

    Please no more games to Billings, Spargo or Laurie

    V bummmers

    Lever May Salem

    Bowey McDonald Riv

    Windsor Viney Langdon

    Chandler Turner Trac

    Kozzy Fullerton Fritsch

    Gawn Oliver Langford

    Int. Sparrow Sestan Woey jnr Henderson

    Sub. Sharp.

    only changes i would make to your side is I would have Petty as sub. he can play forward or back and JVR on interchange, would prefer he only play forward but as i/C can give Max or forward a chop out.Id get Viney to tag and tell Trac Kozzie Oliver Langford and Sparrow to go to work. River to rotate with Sestan and mid


    On 04/04/2025 at 22:13, Return to Glory said:

    Petty should be dropped. Rarely have I been so disappointed in lack of effort

    Agree 100%. Petty clearly has ability but seems to be weak mentally. He continues to underperform week after week but still gets rewarded with a first team spot by Simon Goodwin and his leadership allies. His game against Geelong was completely unacceptable. Although Essendon appear to be in somewhat of a rebuild, they will turn up focused and hungry. Who knows what kind of Melbourne team shows up?

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    On 04/04/2025 at 23:23, Flowergirl said:

    Fullarton kicked 5 this week and 3 last week at Casey. Give the man a go. Drop fritta or JVR for him. Both could use a game at Casey to gain some confidence.

    I don't have confidence that Lever will be ready based on Simon Goodwin's body language and answer during the presser. Could Jed Adams be a shot? Was he an emergency this week?

    Agree. JVR looks immature and lost in the headlights at AFL level at present. Absolutely nothing to lose by dropping Fritsch as well. Sorry but unless he can regularly kick goals again, he is a yesterday man.

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    19 hours ago, stinga said:

    Forget all the [censored] about turnovers, pressure, midfield and defence. Most of that we are as good or bad as any other. It just shows up more because we can't score and the ball keeps coming back multiple times. At the start of the year I asked where our goals were going to come from and said we had to score 15 goals a lot of the time. But we struggle to kick 6. Turner will occasionally kick 2 and the same with JVR and Fritsch. Langford and Petracca are the only midfielders who kick goals. Kossie on ball robs us of small forward goals. None of the other smalls are going to kick multiple goals. Chandler is brilliant at pressure and getting up the ground, but will only kick multiple goals 1 in 5 games. JVR has concrete hands, and generally finishes up lying on the ground. Turner is just not tall enough for how he plays. We don't have a 200cm forward, and for the reason there is nothing else available, we need to see what jefferson (who has good hands and height) and Fullerton who has height, can do. Leave them there for a month to see if they develop. You can't have 18 marks(opposition) to 5marks (us) inside 50 and expect to get a different result each week with the same personnel. The season has gone so we need to see what we can develop. As much as I like Melksham and TMac there's just no point in playing them as the season is gone. Forget about winning games - it ain't going to happen. If we don't win another game which is on the cards we will finish up with picks 1,2 and 19 - so develop our younger players now. So with Windsor, Tholstrup, Lindsay, Langford and the 3 mentioned and Kalani White, you have 8 high draft picks as a core to build a side around.

    Your comments make sense. The so-called dynasty is over, and the club needs to take a long hard look at every player. But here are some of the typical problems with how Melbourne FC views its playing list. As much as I like Jack Viney, at 30 years of age, a renewed contract until the end of 2028 doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly when the game continues to evolve and a player like him doesn't seem able to adapt or adjust to new and/or modern techniques. The same can be said of Tom McDonald. Good player but very one dimensional. But, for some reason, Demon leadership don't see it that way. A good time to be playing for Casey right now methinks. A real opportunity to stake your claim, if you regularly exceed at your craft. Or at least that's how it should roll.
     
    15 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

    Fullarton kicked five but he spilled an easy overhead mark on the outer wing that resulted in Geelong kicking the sealer to win the game. Like one or two others being suggested we'd only be promoting him to the seniors because the current incumbents are no good.

    That is incredibly harsh. It wasn't the sealer as there was another 10 minutes to go. And it wasn't an "easy overhead mark". He had pressure from Pike, thanks to a predictably panic sky high kick from Howes. Sure, Fullarton made plenty of mistakes throughout the day but he also did plenty of good things including his purple patch of 4 goals in Q2. Played on a decent defender for much of the game too in Kreuger.

    Time for Goodwin to finally give the bloke a go. He can be no worse than Van Doofus or Petty on current form.

    Edited by dice

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    45 minutes ago, Van Demons Land said:

    Agree. JVR looks immature and lost in the headlights at AFL level at present. Absolutely nothing to lose by dropping Fritsch as well. Sorry but unless he can regularly kick goals again, he is a yesterday man.

    If you're not afraid of losing your spot, you won't be compelled to play better.

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    Saturday night has the potential to be one of the lowest points for us in some time

    the bombers beat us. 0-5

    Not sure i’ll be able to even watch it

    Haven’t the calls for Viney to played fwd gathered some momentum, he struggles for pace and struggled getting boot to ball on Friday night.

    Edited by Bombay Airconditioning

    12 minutes ago, DubDee said:

    Saturday night has the potential to be one of the lowest points for us in some time

    the bombers beat us. 0-5

    Not sure i’ll be able to even watch it

    If a loss speeds up the process of Goodwin moving on then it can only be a good thing.

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    5 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

    Viney to move to a tagging role ? Thoughts. Get him to Merrett early and see how that goes. Has he got the tank ? I think so.

    Pressure forward. No point wasting a centre bounce spot on Viney. More CBA's for Rivers, Langford, Pickett please.

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    Just bring in Campbell or AJ for a few weeks to help max with the ruck.

    I still have nightmares when draper destroyed us years ago. I know max wasn't there but I worry draper's going to be to quick & agile for max

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    2 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

    Just bring in Campbell or AJ for a few weeks to help max with the ruck.

    I still have nightmares when draper destroyed us years ago. I know max wasn't there but I worry draper's going to be to quick & agile for max

    I believe Campbell injured his hammy at Casey so it would have to be AJ who at least you know will give 100%.

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    6 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

    Just bring in Campbell or AJ for a few weeks to help max with the ruck.

    I still have nightmares when draper destroyed us years ago. I know max wasn't there but I worry draper's going to be to quick & agile for max

    Hasn't Draper been playing as a forward lately? I don't think he's in that great a form.

    35 minutes ago, DubDee said:

    Saturday night has the potential to be one of the lowest points for us in some time

    the bombers beat us. 0-5

    Not sure i’ll be able to even watch it

    Rock bottom will be going 0-8 after losing to Richmond and West Coast in consecutive weeks.

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    We are so stale, boring and uninspired at the moment it’s actually embarrassing. We’re devoid of any confidence and are skills are arguably the worst in the competition. The quick ball movement has been around for a few years now and we have remained motionless why everyone has passed us by. A few weeks back we fell for the easy draw, great drafting and the fact our stars were back, four weeks later its season over. Pay Goodwin out and let’s all move on.

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    3 minutes ago, Flowergirl said:

    Hasn't Draper been playing as a forward lately? I don't think he's in that great a form.

    Draper’s kicked 6 goals which is two more than our leading goal kicker who has 4 despite Draper playing one less game than us.

    Can see him causing all sorts of problems for us next week.

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    52 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

    Draper’s kicked 6 goals which is two more than our leading goal kicker who has 4 despite Draper playing one less game than us.

    Can see him causing all sorts of problems for us next week.

    Yes, but he's not playing ruck, which was the OG post reference.

    1 hour ago, dice said:

    That is incredibly harsh. It wasn't the sealer as there was another 10 minutes to go. And it wasn't an "easy overhead mark". He had pressure from Pike, thanks to a predictably panic sky high kick from Howes. Sure, Fullarton made plenty of mistakes throughout the day but he also did plenty of good things including his purple patch of 4 goals in Q2. Played on a decent defender for much of the game too in Kreuger.

    Time for Goodwin to finally give the bloke a go. He can be no worse than Van Doofus or Petty on current form.

    Pot, kettle?

    FWIW I agree that if Fullarton's stepping up at Casey, it's increasingly harder for Goodwin to ignore him.

    But perhaps if you want to go into bat for him, you shouldn't dish out needless insults against others. JVR's out of form, no doubt, but playing as a key forward in the MFC forward line in 2025, particularly when your senior coach allows Geelong at GMHBA to have a spare defender, is an incredibly difficult role.

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    1 hour ago, adonski said:

    Pressure forward. No point wasting a centre bounce spot on Viney. More CBA's for Rivers, Langford, Pickett please.

    You don't tag at centre bounce. You tag around the ground as there are for more stoppages in the game.

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    1 hour ago, DubDee said:

    Saturday night has the potential to be one of the lowest points for us in some time

    the bombers beat us. 0-5

    Not sure i’ll be able to even watch it

    This won't be the lowest point.

    Richmond on ANZAC Eve, followed by West Coast, is where that point will be.

    Even if we beat Essendon, if we lose one or both of the Richmond and West Coast games, that could (should) be tipping point.

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