I haven’t seen an umpire call players back into the Centre after a 6–6–6 rule free kick before. The only rule I can see is that a 50 meter penalty can apply the 6–6–6 is adjudged to be deliberate.

Either way, I can’t believe that they obviously haven’t looked at the 6–6–6 scenario.

1. Marking players and tall defenders go deep in defence.

2. Wings, Mids and half backs go towards half back.

3. Tag dangerous midfielders.

Pretty sure we never had a rule to not turn your back on play – thought that that was pretty self evident.

Bowser was actually the only one in the right place, until he turned around and jogged back to the others.

2 hours ago, 48 Year Now said:

Is it possible we have never practiced a 666 infringement / free kick. All said and done, thats all it was. Have a man on the mark and defend either by man on man or tight zone.

Too busy playing soccer to worry about that sort of stuff....

The main problem to come from this is that we could be 10 goals up in the last quarter of a final, and the opposition would still think they are a chance and will not lie down under any scoreboard pressure whatsoever.

Go and read Gawn's comments on Triple M from this morning. Has complete blind faith in Goodwin. Says he is the best coach. Says he is tactically smart 🤥. Max, you seem brainwashed. You might be mates and enjoy a beer together, but if you belive that, then it is no wonder we are where we are. Nonsense. 46 pts up man! Dumbest quarter of football you will see. All 32 minutes of it.

When was our prior 6-6-6 infringement? We must have already had the warning.

And what precisely was the final infringement?

We are simply the dumbest FC ever in the history of Footy

Oliver missing from in front and Petty fumbling the ball on the line was comical

Disgraceful.

We had it on a platter and served that up in the last. All coaches need to be fired and some players too.

We are a loser team. Blame everyone but ourselves. Leadership on field is pathetic and off field we dont have a CEO for months. Just a laughing stock

11 minutes ago, SthSea22 said:

We are simply the dumbest FC ever in the history of Footy

Oliver missing from in front and Petty fumbling the ball on the line was comical

There was more than that - our 'leaders' are letting the kids sink

They know who they are

The players not defending in those crucial 8 seconds have nearly 1,000 games of AFL bertween them

Just let that sink in

18 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

When was our prior 6-6-6 infringement? We must have already had the warning.

And what precisely was the final infringement?

Apparently we had an extra in OUR own forward 50. Which is laughable if true. I could understand us panicking and having an extra in the Saints F50, but jeez.

At three quarter time my wife checked the scores and said “you’re going to win”. I replied “I don’t trust them”. For good reason….My issue with footy now is l just don’t understand the rules any more. I’ve followed the dees for 60 years and gone to a lot of games. But these days when the umpire blows his whistle l have no idea who will get a free kick or why. And l was mystified when the 6:6:6 thing happened. I don’t think this is good for the game.

6 minutes ago, SFebes said:

Apparently we had an extra in OUR own forward 50. Which is laughable if true. I could understand us panicking and having an extra in the Saints F50, but jeez.

God it just gets worse and worse.

It was a Masterclass of incompetence

11 minutes ago, SFebes said:

Apparently we had an extra in OUR own forward 50. Which is laughable if true. I could understand us panicking and having an extra in the Saints F50, but jeez.

Goodwin said in the press conf we had an extra fwd.

This morning on MMM Max said he thought it was an extra fwd and tried to bring one into the square when he had a few seconds to do that but in fact it was an extra defender.

Not sure who is correct. But it doesn't matter. We messed up for the whole quarter and that was just another blunder.

i think this has a lot to with the mental thing aswell and the preparation- our pizz poor starts, it’s not a coincidence that we took the pies to a point which should we should have won, pushed the crows and port to the end at home and lost on goal kicking, we smashed freo, won against lions at the gabba, should have won against gws grrr, hawks aswell and should have won against gc the second time even after we gave them a 40-0 head start. these are all the top 8 teams…

12 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Billings, Bill & Woewodin weren't world beaters either but looked to be a mile ahead of Spargo

Spargo was fine at Casey. Woey is injured, Laurie’s just going at Casey and has never done anything at AFL level in his entire career which leaves Billings, who is playing decent footy in the midfield at Casey.

If we knew our midfield was going to fall apart he would’ve been more use, but fresh legs to play half forward to mitigate the Saints run was still the logical choice. As is picking a guy who we need to make a contract call on in Spargo than a random Billings game.

I know the last moments were thrilling and grotesque. From a media perspective, they are morbidly fascinating and fun to pick through. I don't really blame anyone for concentrating on them. But I desperately, DESPERATELY hope the club doesn't focus on them alone.

If they think the problem with that game was communication and logistics in the final fifteen seconds - or even the final fifteen minutes - they are pathologically deluded.

The reason we had eight consecutive goals kicked against us in the final quarter of a game we thoroughly dominated is infinitely more important than how the ninth consecutive goal came about. The cartoon incompetence of the last fifteen seconds is sound and fury. Ok, it doesn't signify nothing. But it shouldn't distract us from something less eye-catching but way more important: the midfield that Goodwin has unwavering faith in going to water over and over again for long periods in games when we desperately need them to break even.

EDIT: I should add, when I say "going to water" it sounds like I'm saying the only problem is these four or five players and their flaws. I don't mean that. At least not that alone. I mean that the entire midfield system has been broken for a very long time and showing cracks even BEFORE 2021. Individually, these are very good players - albeit three now a long way from their best. But the sum of the parts - the how of centre bounce tactics, craft and combination, not the who - hasn't been as good as it could be for ages. The extravganza that was the second half of the 2021 Grand Final has lived too long in too many memories of people who aren't paid to be nostalgic or sentimental.

Edited July 28, 2025Jul 28 by The Taciturn Demon

While the blowtorch should rightly be applied to Goodwin and co, unfortunately we are also seriously lacking in onfield leadership

I love Gawn and Viney, they lead from the front with their actions, but Jesus they are as dumb as a bag of bricks when it comes to game management

What did they do to slow the game down when Saints started to get a run on? Where was the direction at centre bounce to stop them waltzing it out of the middle? The last play typified all of our problems with decision making and on field organisation, but it should never have gotten to that point

Ditto for our other leaders/senior players in Trac, Salem, Oliver etc

We have a dearth of on field leadership and decision making skills - it’s been a problem for years now and it won’t get better until we start to move some of these players on (or at least out of leadership positions) and start rebalancing our list

It’s almost at the point that we need a Jordan Dawson type to come in and fill that void like happened at Adelaide

47 minutes ago, Hiram Cowfreak said:

At three quarter time my wife checked the scores and said “you’re going to win”. I replied “I don’t trust them”. For good reason….My issue with footy now is l just don’t understand the rules any more. I’ve followed the dees for 60 years and gone to a lot of games. But these days when the umpire blows his whistle l have no idea who will get a free kick or why. And l was mystified when the 6:6:6 thing happened. I don’t think this is good for the game.

This is the damning truth: How many of us were saying exactly the same thing? I'm a terrible watcher of footy on TV - at the ground is fine, for some reason - so I went to the supermarket at 3QT, because I just feared we'd blow it. (My Dees supporting kids think it's completely irrational, but I just cannot trust this side). Had a quick peek at the scores: still 40 points up; Few minutes later in the freezer aisle a text from my son: 'Same old Melbourne': 17 points up; walk back into the house after estimating time left: 6 points up; TV is now off in the house and kids refusing to look at the scores - I take a look: Scores level, time is up - fury ensues; One minute later: goal after the siren...you know the rest.

And here's "the explanation" from Max:

13 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

And here's "the explanation" from Max:

“Excited” pretty sure I heard him say he was excited after another flogging a few weeks ago. I’d prefer him to be pretty bored with us winning.

Max believes Goodwins spin.

26 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

And here's "the explanation" from Max:

That would have to be the biggest load of 💩 I've heard in a long while.

Max, mate, you've just lost me.

Work colleague: What happened to the Dees yesterday?

Me:

47 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

And here's "the explanation" from Max:

The moral of the story is when the other team gets momentum it can't be stopped. Even when you're 46 points up, you always get chased down.

Edited July 28, 2025Jul 28 by layzie

Legit question, what do people expect or want Max to say.....? Surely the captain cannot throw goody under the bus whilst he is still coach.