A nice day at the footy. Boys had a dip. Young players showed their class. Premium members seating and rooms at Docklands are very nice.

Happy days.

It’s telling that we kicked so accurately when the opposition pressure plummeted from half time so much so that it became a training drill effectively.

To me it shows we struggle to stay composed when the pressure is on, but it’s not fundamentally a skill based issue. Also had more shots from IN FRONT OF GOAL.

Saying that, you can only play what’s in front of you and we slapped em’.

Backline a bit of a worry today, Eagles punched a lot of holes in our defence.

Culley grabbed his chance which is great to see!

I thought there might be some earlier calls on Harry P's game, at least relative to his recent ones.

AND as a forward!

Re Cully, he really had to earn his first game. While developing at Casey, at times he would lumber around and be a bit slow to react. A period of steady progression, followed by some strong performances in big wins made his selection today based on form. Looks strong.

Oh and push in the back… one of my pet peeves about AFL for the last 15ish years.

I’ve said it before and I’ll bloody say it again, if push in the back had been applied properly during Tom Hawkins era, he would have 100+ goals less in his career. Did it every game and it was infuriating.

@binman 22 tackles in forward50. Much better pressure.

Although love to get another quality small fast forward pocket crumbing goalkicker into the team

First half was pox but the team did what they had to do in the second half. Can’t whinge about 83 points.

If Langford can become more of an aerial threat (not seeing it yet) then he could become a Top 5 player in the comp. He’s going to be a gun either way, in fact he already is. Was also not expecting Culley to look that good! And of course who would have thought playing Windsor in the guts would bring out the best in him.

Clarry’s best game of the year too.

We can’t be expected to win a game from year so it will be interesting if Goody has done enough to save his job. I still say no, but wouldn’t surprise me if it goes the other way.

11 minutes ago, Devil In Disguise said:

Culley with 7 marks & 2 goals was impressive. Why did we have to wait so long before seeing him in the seniors?

We developed him at Casey very nicely imo.

His form was poor early days but he started impacting games and got his chance at the right time to perform well at AFL level

12 minutes ago, Devil In Disguise said:

Culley with 7 marks & 2 goals was impressive. Why did we have to wait so long before seeing him in the seniors?

Apparently Spargo is better with multiple injuries, no fitness, no pre season and standing at 4 foot 5 inches. 🙄🤨(in high heels)

Edited August 2Aug 2 by Nietaphart

3 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Re Cully, he really had to earn his first game. While developing at Casey, at times he would lumber around and be a bit slow to react. A period of steady progression, followed by some strong performances in big wins made his selection today based on form. Looks strong.

True

He started showing something in the last three or four matches. He has a strong body and is very solid in the marking department.

Not sure he has the speed to make it longer term but worth a look

An 83 point win - albeit against an inexperienced WCE - but still our biggest win for ages and a great response to the embarrassment of the 4th quarter fade out against the Saints last week.

Thank you MFC players for responding!

Jai Culley - great debut. Times his run at the ball and took a number of great grabs and kicked at least a couple of great goals. Has a look and has good kicking skills and finds a team mate. IMO the best debut by a MFC player that I've seen.

Fritsch kicked 4, Petty kicked 3, Langford kicked 3.

Team kicked more goals than points for a refreshing change.

Good 4 quarter effort this week.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - PUSH IN THE BACK is BACK! Finally. (Hopefully!) Today, during marking contests, the umpires protected the player who got in front. Each time the player behind pushed the player in front of him in these contests, the umpires consistently paid a free kick for push in the back. Irrespective of team. So refreshing. And so good. It's the way Aussie Rules should be played. Man in front needs to be protected. Thank you umpires!

Need the same next week against the Dogs.

Go Dees!

Edited August 2Aug 2 by Lou C. Fur
Forgot to mention how happy I am to see push in the back being paid today!

My only knock on Langford, who looks an absolute beauty, is he is very one-sided.

Got caught a couple of times trying to get onto his left side. Teams will work him out unless he can learn to kick decently on his right

Aside from that he is unbelievable for a first year player. Number 1 pick quality.

Culley looked very solid first game back.

Should probably drop him.

Gosh I’m glad I don’t go for West Coast. Essendon with a team of ring-ins in 2016 were better than this.

10 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Absolutely. I’m still angry that we subbed him off last week.

I didn’t mind trying him at half back, as I can see the logic, but we tried it for too long. He’s clearly a midfielder and his ability to hit the contest at speed is very much something we need.

Was also great to see a different midfield mix at every bounce. Not the usual Viney Trac and Clarry. Viney and Clarry had great games, but we are better off when they are feeding the ball to Kosi or Windsor than we are when they are feeding the ball to each other.

Possibly talking up Windsor a little. 7 disposals to 3 quarter time rotating through the middle. Disposal is questionable at times, but he does have X factor. His last quarter was fantastic when the game was over (but with us, the game is never over, even when the siren sounds)

Just now, Nasher said:

Gosh I’m glad I don’t go for West Coast. Essendon with a team of ring-ins in 2016 were better than this.

Mark Neeld era was/is better than them.

Can I just say that I have been downgraded from Extremely Angry to Very Annoyed after this win.

Followup with a competitive performance against the Dogs

Ruthless….. and welcome back! To the demonland podcast.

Just now, Nietaphart said:

Possibly talking up Windsor a little. 7 disposals to 3 quarter time rotating through the middle. Disposal is questionable at times, but he does have X factor. His last quarter was fantastic when the game was over (but with us, the game is never over, even when the siren sounds)

Let me be happy about something!

8 minutes ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

First half was pox but the team did what they had to do in the second half. Can’t whinge about 83 points.

If Langford can become more of an aerial threat (not seeing it yet) then he could become a Top 5 player in the comp. He’s going to be a gun either way, in fact he already is. Was also not expecting Culley to look that good! And of course who would have thought playing Windsor in the guts would bring out the best in him.

Clarry’s best game of the year too.

We can’t be expected to win a game from year so it will be interesting if Goody has done enough to save his job. I still say no, but wouldn’t surprise me if it goes the other way.

Spot on BBB. I mentioned at half time in the game day thread that it was the worst game I've seen all year. 2nd half was much better, and Petty actually got in front and held onto his marks. Much better half by him. All we need now is for concrete hands to start taking grabs (in 2 hands be nice) and have a good last few games to set him up for next year. All in all a good performance and hardly had a poor player.

Just now, Jaded No More said:

Let me be happy about something!

Haha, take your happiness to the bank Jaded. Windsor showed a lot today and should be utilised in this way moving forward

a lot of gnashing of teeth this week so we won't complain about that win

nice debut from culley and the youngsters continued to show plenty of promise

it not all doom and gloom

and i almost feel sorry for the Eagles

almost

5 minutes ago, DubDee said:

My only knock on Langford, who looks an absolute beauty, is he is very one-sided.

Got caught a couple of times trying to get onto his left side. Teams will work him out unless he can learn to kick decently on his right

Aside from that he is unbelievable for a first year player. Number 1 pick quality.

I would’ve thought that this generation would have been expected to be at least proficient/confident on both legs?

9 minutes ago, CRomey said:

Culley looked very solid first game back.

Should probably drop him.

Spargo has had a week of training.

In - Spargo (to play FF/Ruck)

Out - Culley

We did what we had to do & I'm glad we just didn't grind it out to a 5 goal win, we put the foot down after half time & ran away with it