Nice not seeing Kozzie suspended for next season, would have been three seasons in a row. Only good news from last nights game.

Wish we could move the ball well with foot. We are bad kickers.

Felt nice when we were handballing forward like in the third.

Only ones I feel comfortable kicking if kozzy and bowser. Every else just lofts it forward

Petracca was ignored all night

Apologies if this has been posted earlier

Keep Clayton Oliver. He is on the way back....Showed a lot of the old fire last night.

First game watched ‘live’ since KB. Diabolically the same result. Demons’ performance reminiscent of a Robert Louis Stevenson gothic horror novel. Steven May’s cameo of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde character certainly provides some guidance for the coming off season summer holidays pantomimes.

Given the calamities of the football year according to the the Veil of Negativity sect. (A thorough read thru all this thread is not recommended). Some buoys still floating defiantly in a sea of gloom. Congratulations!

Perhaps last night’s performance is better reflected by ‘A Tale of Two Teams’ Collingwood the antipodes equivalent of Eastenders. Think Abbotsford and environs.

Demons… calls for sack the coach(es), delist trade out players, storm the AGM, off with his or her head, poison pens in the AFL press etc give an air of instability, revolutionary upheaval. To the Dickens with it!

The third quarter performance should be encapsulated. Added to the powerful Saturn rocket of the incoming senior coach and launched into the 2026 season. Leaving the disappointments to fall back to Earth in 2025.

As we leave Earth orbit, have enjoyed the insights, good humour and banter of the ‘true believers’ on Demonland this season past. Stick fast TC.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Tarax Club
An ounce of positivity edit

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

My thoughts too.

The last 2 weeks at the G it’s felt like supporting an interstate side, such was the lack of noise after a goal. It got a bit better in the second half last night, but the supporters have unsurprisingly called it a day the last fortnight.

Exactly so. Sitting on second level northern stand I scanned the rest of the level with binoculars at 3/4 time and could only see b & w. Where I was (MCC section 42) there was a Dee presence but elsewhere it looked totally occupied by the opposition.

6 minutes ago, pitmaster said:

Exactly so. Sitting on second level northern stand I scanned the rest of the level with binoculars at 3/4 time and could only see b & w. Where I was (MCC section 42) there was a Dee presence but elsewhere it looked totally occupied by the opposition.

That’s some serious footy watching right there - it was a Pies’ home game and they have a gazillion members

What’s your point?

I did like a lot of comments in the thread. Disliked the loss and did like the effort of the players its a pity we didnt show that same endeavour last week and actually affect the make up of the finals. Beating Collingwood would have been a great bonus.

After a season of disappointment I am still with many dlanders that there is much to look forward to. Sure we have to make some changes but I do not believe a wholesale cleanout is needed.

I still maintain that better use of the squad to have the best team against the opponents would turn our results around . Resting players and exposing the second tier can be beneficial.

Recognising that older players may need a different playing and recovering program, playing older stronger bodies against tougher sides, playing faster players against slower opponents and not expecting Trac to win every contest every game, HE is a burst player who can win Norm Smith style. Clarry has improved from a poor start but is an extractor and so valuable every other side wants him. Both must be kept and complement the next generation coming through. Viney cant be expected to play his physical impact style every week, he needs to be managed to play that role when needed . He has been a good player for us. May and Tmac could quite easily replace each other to manage their output, again matched up against specific opponents. our next generation can learn plenty from them. I of course hope we keep JUdd.. I like Langdon and hope he can keep up running on the wing. Windsor has so much upside Langford obviously could be anything. Culley has also shown a bit but like many of the squad may need to rotate back to VFL to refresh and build skills and confidence. I also like JVR but would like him to be schooled in more forward craft and used by the others in the team, Jeffo and Fritsch both play a similar game and can be rotated to get the best out of both.

I do think that so much of the game is in the mind, Collingwood know they will receive ths best of umpiring decisions , get the soft ones and not penalised , Demon players know they will rarely get a soft free and certainly not in a close critical place. This not only produces confidence in the Pies but frustration and difficulty for our players. In saying that we got a good run from the umps for some of last night, very confusing. A few soft ones paid to pies at critical points and no soft ones paid to us in critical points.

I could go on but life intervenes. I will continue to watch and enjoy other games, Our Beechworth boys have made the finals and have had some similar results based on injuries and being able to get the best side on the ground. EVeryone in the squad has supported the regular stars and have contributed to what could be an outstanding season. I cant see them tomorrow coz im playing intertown squash. WE will get smashed by a more talented bigger club bit we will field our best side all year and will have a great game and all improve.

I will continue to support the DEEs and hope to see you all next season with revived hope and enthusiasm

And so ends the soccer ball error. The training with soccer balls when our kicking is so poor highlights the lack of leaders in the playing group and administration. No one had the guts or authority to tell Goodwin to put the ..... things in the bin.

Was really impressed with our centre clearances and how we moved the ball through the centre in the second half.

I thought there were a few players contributing to that, but most notably Max and Rivers.

Generally thought Rivers played close to a blinder, but the one chip I'd put on his game was that he seemed too indecisive when running through our attacking 50 and in positions to kick a goal. He's Generally a great shot for goal from that range and on the run, so in most instances I thought he should have just had a ping. Ironically the one shot he had was towards the boundary and which could hive iced the game for us, he missed.

2 hours ago, sue said:

I woke up this am and started reading this thread. SO MUCH NEGATIVITY. I couldn't bring myself to read through all the posts.

But I wonder if I'm in the same universe as some of you. We all expected to be absolutely flogged after the year, the Hawks match and playing a team desperate for a double chance. And yet we matched them, almost won. All the carrying on about we don't know how to defend a lead - may be true but lots of matches are won by a team only 10 points behind at 3QT. Why focus on that when we expected to be flogged?

So yes, there are a LOT of things we need to fix but why can't some people take some pleasure from how we played last night. I know I did.

(I presume some of the posts which I skipped may have said similar things.)

We were 3 goals up with just over half a quarter to play and not one Melbourne supporter would've been confident of a win. Thats why the negativity because not only did it happen, we've seen the story a million times before. We had the chance to at least go down swinging and cost an arch rival a double chance and we bottled it. Same old story.

2 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Was really impressed with our centre clearances and how we moved the ball through the centre in the second half.

I thought there were a few players contributing to that, but most notably Max and Rivers.

Generally thought Rivers played close to a blinder, but the one chip I'd put on his game was that he seemed too indecisive when running through our attacking 50 and in positions to kick a goal. He's Generally a great shot for goal from that range and on the run, so in most instances I thought he should have just had a ping. Ironically the one shot he had was towards the boundary and which could hive iced the game for us, he missed.

Yes, he really looked good. Want to see a player leading when he gets the ball.

6 minutes ago, dpositive said:

I did like a lot of comments in the thread. Disliked the loss and did like the effort of the players its a pity we didnt show that same endeavour last week and actually affect the make up of the finals. Beating Collingwood would have been a great bonus.

After a season of disappointment I am still with many dlanders that there is much to look forward to. Sure we have to make some changes but I do not believe a wholesale cleanout is needed.

I still maintain that better use of the squad to have the best team against the opponents would turn our results around . Resting players and exposing the second tier can be beneficial.

Recognising that older players may need a different playing and recovering program, playing older stronger bodies against tougher sides, playing faster players against slower opponents and not expecting Trac to win every contest every game, HE is a burst player who can win Norm Smith style. Clarry has improved from a poor start but is an extractor and so valuable every other side wants him. Both must be kept and complement the next generation coming through. Viney cant be expected to play his physical impact style every week, he needs to be managed to play that role when needed . He has been a good player for us. May and Tmac could quite easily replace each other to manage their output, again matched up against specific opponents. our next generation can learn plenty from them. I of course hope we keep JUdd.. I like Langdon and hope he can keep up running on the wing. Windsor has so much upside Langford obviously could be anything. Culley has also shown a bit but like many of the squad may need to rotate back to VFL to refresh and build skills and confidence. I also like JVR but would like him to be schooled in more forward craft and used by the others in the team, Jeffo and Fritsch both play a similar game and can be rotated to get the best out of both.

I do think that so much of the game is in the mind, Collingwood know they will receive ths best of umpiring decisions , get the soft ones and not penalised , Demon players know they will rarely get a soft free and certainly not in a close critical place. This not only produces confidence in the Pies but frustration and difficulty for our players. In saying that we got a good run from the umps for some of last night, very confusing. A few soft ones paid to pies at critical points and no soft ones paid to us in critical points.

I could go on but life intervenes. I will continue to watch and enjoy other games, Our Beechworth boys have made the finals and have had some similar results based on injuries and being able to get the best side on the ground. EVeryone in the squad has supported the regular stars and have contributed to what could be an outstanding season. I cant see them tomorrow coz im playing intertown squash. WE will get smashed by a more talented bigger club bit we will field our best side all year and will have a great game and all improve.

I will continue to support the DEEs and hope to see you all next season with revived hope and enthusiasm

Lots of things a new coach should be able to improve quickly.

2 minutes ago, 48 Year Now said:

Lots of things a new coach should be able to improve quickly.

Let's hope so

5 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Let's hope so

Give you an example. Sidebottom was front and square when he could to high balls going to Petty and JVR. He knew they would likely spill the mark. He took the ball away easily on two occasions i saw. Teach Chandler and co to do this effectively.

2 hours ago, sue said:

I woke up this am and started reading this thread. SO MUCH NEGATIVITY. I couldn't bring myself to read through all the posts.

But I wonder if I'm in the same universe as some of you. We all expected to be absolutely flogged after the year, the Hawks match and playing a team desperate for a double chance. And yet we matched them, almost won. All the carrying on about we don't know how to defend a lead - may be true but lots of matches are won by a team only 10 points behind at 3QT. Why focus on that when we expected to be flogged?

So yes, there are a LOT of things we need to fix but why can't some people take some pleasure from how we played last night. I know I did.

(I presume some of the posts which I skipped may have said similar things.)

Agree with alot of what you aresaying.

I think there is still a fair bit of stuff to take out of our season. Our percentage is one of the best of the sides finishing outside of the 8 and we pushed or beat quite a few good sides when they were up and about. To me, together, with some great young players says we've got alot to work with for the next seasons ahead.

But I'm not really happy with that. Don't want to accept mediocrity. We need to win most of those close winnable games, play and win finals and more flags. Alot of what happened between 2020 and 2021 was about having that ruthless mindset and we need it back.

17 minutes ago, 48 Year Now said:

Lots of things a new coach should be able to improve quickly.

Maybe something the coach(s) can educate players on is better thinking.

Now I'm not going to lay the loss at Milky's feet but I will lob a brickbat his way.

He wasn't that far out on a non problematic angle and he like many others these days chose to kick 'around' the corner. For mine at that location is a dumb choice. He missed. He's missed a few from similar spots. Later he had a shot.. further out.. similar angle... DROP PUNT.... goal !!

Can we please make better choices kicking for goal

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by beelzebub

23 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

We were 3 goals up with just over half a quarter to play and not one Melbourne supporter would've been confident of a win.

Its my fault. I turned the telly off at 3/4 time. I was 100% confident that we were going to lose.

The result makes us look like chumps, again. Media full of gloating pies.

Depressed and upset but gee that Langford is a beauty.

2 hours ago, SPC said:

One thing I noticed was how poor our defensive setup was. We played well in front and allowed Collingwood to get out the back goal side so many times. We tempt the kick, but can’t stop it.

Bassett is [censored] house,turned our defence into a complete rubble

14 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

Also Harry Sharp played the worst game i've seen all year last week, got to be sub this week and was a negative influence.

I understand not disrupting Casey but I had one ask for selection which was please don’t pick Sharp.

Then I thought, well he’s fit and he’s made a good impact as sub, how much damage can he do?

Turns out it was a lot.

His entire recruitment is a perfect reflection on how bad our recruiting has been. Buying 2 lemons from Brisbane in a row is really staggering. Especially when there wasn’t anything special about either of their games at Brisbane.

Not only did we push good sides, it's easy to forget that we beat last year's grand finalists in successive weeks.

Those calling for a wholesale clean out, in my opinion, would be dooming us to several years of failure, the hope that by the time Gawn , Petracca, Oliver, Melksham have gone, we will have a side capable of winning a premiership. I completely disagree. We are so close to such having such a side right now, we just need a coach to polish it off. I know it's an unpopular view, but I think Goodwin was completely right in saying that we are that close. And I never believe in 5 year plans. They rarely work. We should aim to win the flag each and every year that we play. To me, that is 2026 and beyond and I believe we can do it.

Of course, I am no doubt a self-deluding fool in the eyes of "supporters"(which try are not) who think our team is a bunch of "spuds". Like the poster who used that word to describe Trac, Clarry and Viney, which is sooooo unbelievably disrespectful. And wrong.

8 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Maybe something the coach(s) can educate players on is better thinking.

Now I'm not going to lay the loss at Milky's feet but I will lob a brickbat his way.

He wasn't that far out on a non problematic angle and he like many others these days chose to kick 'around' the corner. For mine at that location is a dumb choice. He missed. He's missed a few from similar spots. Later he had a shot.. further out.. similar angle... DROP PUNT.... goal !!

Can we please make better choices kicking for goal

Was that the one where Maynard took a boxing type stance on the mark and put him off.

Again a close game & again not a lot of leadership in the end.

On the other hand you watched pendlebury will his team over the line when he took it upon himself to kick out from full back & set up a couple of Collingwood goals to get them back in it. They just owned the corridor & we couldn't go with them.

Also whoever was on DeGoey need to look at themselves to

It was always going to end like this

Narrow defeat clutched from the jaws of victory and handing the most despised pack of deadbeats a double chance which frankly I don't think they deserve.

My only solace is that despite them making finals I can't see them doing much other than filling the coffers of the corrupt AFL

Any new coach worth his salt should be able to tweak this emerging game style and hopefully restore some semblance of confidence amongst a number of senior players that clearly have totally lost any idea how to win games

A few months no doubt will restore my broken faith in this club - we have been here many times before

Our list still has some glaring holes - I haven't seen much evidence in recent years of us being able to add recycled talent to make a meaningful difference - hopefully that's all about to change

Should have added that of course we still have Casey and the AFLW to look forward to. Hope they can overcome the mood of despondency and gain some confidence.