Just now, dazzledavey36 said:

Someone will miss two weeks in a row becaude Case have a bye next week..

13 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

So who's going to marvel on Sunday?

I'll be there, but gee it could be a dull game. See what plans Ross has for us this time.

At least there's no dan butler.

Need kozzie to fire this timeto

At least you get to watch NWM, he will cut our mids to pieces

54 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Incredibly disappointed that we dropped Jefferson. Petty could have played down back instead of May.

We are supposed to be finding new ways to win but we keep playing the same players in the same roles.

Not as incredibly disappionted as the player himself I would imagine! Great confidence booster is S.G

8 hours ago, sue said:

Why do you and many others assume that not playing such players is proof that Goodwin is just trying to save his job? Surely given where we now are, playing them would be just what would be expected of a coach. And thus what a coach desperate to hang onto his job would do. Another win or 2 clearly won't do much to help him keep his job.

So you could equally assume the coach has good reasons not to play them rather than that he is just trying to save his job.

Of course, earlier in the season when there was some remote chance of finals it might be reasonable to say he is just saving his job by not playing them. But imagine if we lost what could have been season defining games and the new players had played badly. The pile on would then be 'why did we play them - they were not ready and now the season is down the toilet'. A coach can't win.

Some coaches do thsts the point sue

This guy is washed up and desperate

Should go at seaons end and

retain some integrity.will never get another coaching job I'm my view

Lacks the interlectual capacity to see where to take this group and certainly could rebuild a team

Thank you Simon

Good to see Howes get another run

He’s been knocking down the door for weeks

I’m guessing the selection panel don’t believe it’s “deck chairs on the titanic” time. We have lost a lot of games but let’s not forget that apart from a couple of insipid starts we were in most of them… Against some top sides. 2020 we hit our straps late… I’m not expecting the same but I also have a memory. I don’t understand the club bashers sometimes.

3 minutes ago, Strawberry Fields said:

2020 we hit our straps late…

We went in hot favourite against Freo and Sydney who were both very average in 2020. We lost to both and then had to rely on % to make finals. Again. Which we didn't. Again.

Sometimes reading the pregame thread saddens me, because there is not much balance, and an abundance negative comment. This is one such occasion.

I understand why people are mad about dropping Jefferson, but if you want selection integrity, he had to be dropped. Played one OK game and it was against North.

Needs to get stronger in the offseason and find some urgency in the way he plays. His set shot kicking is ridiculous for a bloke his size too, barely makes the distance from 40m out.

1 minute ago, seventyfour said:

I understand why people are mad about dropping Jefferson, but if you want selection integrity, he had to be dropped. Played one OK game and it was against North.

Needs to get stronger in the offseason and find some urgency in the way he plays. His set shot kicking is ridiculous for a bloke his size too, barely makes the distance from 40m out.

That’s fair but how did Petty, Spargo and Sparrow go last week?

v Saints

In:

Charlie Spargo, Well he’s Goodys favourite boy so even a barely satisfactory game at Casey means enough for him to get promoted

Blake Howes, Yes in good form at Casey and unlucky to miss the last 2 weeks after passing concussion protocols

Harrison Petty, Yes good to see him back and will play forward

Tom Sparrow. Hope he’s recovered I thought he might need another week , imv I think he starts as the sub

Out:

Steven May (concussion),

Kolt Tholstrup, Needs a block at Casey across half forward where he must show ability to put in 100% and kick goals

Matthew Jefferson, Needs to mark above his head and not on his chest. Needs a pre season on protein and gym work

Harry Sharp, Needs to play in the middle and run run run all day to get 25+ possessions, use his weapon , his run and stamina

Nothing wrong with the outs. Jefferson has just been exposed to AFL for 4 consecutive games. Nothing wrong with him going back and working hard at Joie next opportunity.

Howes is deservedly in but Spargo over any of Billings, Culley or Laurie and Petty forward vs AJ or Luker.

You need to reward players for current form not historical value.

14 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

Sometimes reading the pregame thread saddens me, because there is not much balance, and an abundance negative comment. This is one such occasion.

I reckon the perennial misery-mongers are in the minority on here, it’s just that they’re the most vocal and because they repeat themselves to the point of distraction there appears to many more of them.

The overwhelming majority of people who read this site don’t post but I’m guessing many of them are optimists who dare not post lest they’re brought down by the belligerent usuals. I say this because I’ve received PMs from quite a few ‘lurkers’ and/or folks who rarely post over the years expressing appreciation for standing up to the ‘Congregation of the Miserable’ as one such poster put it.

Sadly, it’s only gonna get worse.

Edited July 25, 2025Jul 25 by Ghostwriter

38 minutes ago, praha said:

We went in hot favourite against Freo and Sydney who were both very average in 2020. We lost to both and then had to rely on % to make finals. Again. Which we didn't. Again.

Fair enough… I guess I try to think of the positives. If Goody is coaching for his career, then I would have thought he’d want to win. For those Goody haters I assume they’d be happy for a loss to hasten his departure.

Either way I find the aggressive criticism confusing.

Is Culley being Dunstanned?

14 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

I reckon the perennial misery-mongers are in the minority on here, it’s just that they’re the most vocal and because they repeat themselves to the point of distraction there appears to many more of them.

The overwhelming majority of people who read this site don’t post but I’m guessing many of them are optimists who dare not post lest they’re brought down by the belligerent usuals. I say this because I’ve received PMs from quite a few ‘lurkers’ and/or folks who rarely post over the years expressing appreciation for standing up to the ‘Congregation of the Miserable’ as one such poster put it.

Sadly, it’s only gonna get worse.

So it should Ghosty, whilst Goodwin is at the helm we are in a ghost train ride with NO END in site and NO handbrake!

Jefferson I have seen enough of.

The other selections are fine too - selection integrity is a laughable idea at AFL level to begin with but arguing over the comparative performance of players in one uncompetitive VFL game is as rich as it is stupid.

28 minutes ago, WERRIDEE said:

Considering there is no mention of debutants I expect Adams and Culley are not playing. I expect Jefferson to be dropped because he's a spud and Petty to come in.

Unlike most, I don’t mind the changes. The only surprise is AJ missing out after his BOG last week. I thought Spargo was good for Casey and Howes had to get a game.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

🤔 interesting. You do realise there are Dees fans other than those on Demonland, right?

Besides, how deep are these depths of despair about which you speak? Coz the supporters to whom you refer likely predict oppo wins every week.

I would be very confident that if you conducted a survey of 10 MFC supporters on the train to Marvel on Sunday, at least 7 of them would predict St Kilda to win.

I truly admire your optimism, but we’ve burnt far too many bridges since mid last year for many MFC supporters to be confident of an even money game such as Sunday.

1 hour ago, Doug Reemer said:

Bringing Petty in for kicking 2 goals is going back to the well and coaching for your job.

Same as bringing Spargo back in. Can’t wait for his 6 kicks at 90% DE.

But we really need him hitting 20m kicks twice a game!

Edited July 25, 2025Jul 25 by demoncat

17 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

Is Culley being Dunstanned?

Culley is being Lauried (who is being Dunstanned)

21 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I would be very confident that if you conducted a survey of 10 MFC supporters on the train to Marvel on Sunday, at least 7 of them would predict St Kilda to win.

I truly admire your optimism, but we’ve burnt far too many bridges since mid last year for many MFC supporters to be confident of an even money game such as Sunday.

You know what? Ima do this on the train to Marvel on Sunday. 😁 Seriously, I’m curious; I reckon seven out of 10 would predict a win (for us). Understandably it’s pointless publishing my ‘findings’ if I’m closer to the mark because my honesty would undoubtedly be questioned. But if your estimation proves accurate I’ll happily post it on here. No perfume or whiskey on the line with this one though. 😁

The selection for this game is an utter disgrace. I'm not Jefferson's biggest fan (not that I don't like him, I'm just not sold) but for Christ's sake you have to play him. At least he's getting to the footy! Play him now when we have nothing to lose to let him get settled, gain experience, build synergy etc

Goodwin has lost the plot.

3 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

We are supposed to be finding new ways to win but we keep playing the same players in the same roles.

Melbourne under Goodwin

55 minutes ago, demoncat said:

Culley is being Lauried (who is being Dunstanned)

Laurie has had more than enough chances, whereas Dunstan was never even given a game? Although it was understandable at the time, given the plethora of inside mids and we were contending.

But with the season done n dusted and a need to bring in the next generation, how are we still kowtowing to the same senior players and not debuting more players? Get the feeling there are some big ego's in the club that are running the joint to the detriment of future development of the rest.

Edited July 25, 2025Jul 25 by John Demonic