13 hours ago, Demonsone said:

How many seasons did Oliver, Trac take before they started dominating ??

Do I assume you're new to football or the MFC ?

Oliver won a best & fairest in his second year playing most of the season as a teenager.

29 minutes ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

Our backline was a disaster at the start.

It's fair to say the way Freo transitioned from our fwd line right through the middle and delivered the pill at speed didn't help.

Nor did losing our best defender in Disco.

And Bowey is certainly missed.

But other players in Lever and Petty were lost in the first quarter when Freo alrrady kicked about half a century. I dont think Petts even touched the ball in the first quarter.

I'm concerned that Goody in his infinite wisdom playing Petty as a fwd for almost 3 years may have impacted his craft of defending.

Lever ...just don't know. He's only 30. A year younger than Sicilly . Jakes intercept marking used to be stalwart of our defence but now its a different story. To be fair he only played I think about 8 or 9 games last year, so that would have an impact. But losing Disco really exposed us. I did think Lever got better each quarter. That may have been the bourban though .

Once again the wrong day to try and give it up.

Did we err in delisting May? He wasn't that bad. His ground skills had deteriorated but he was still holding marks and a big strong lad to keep opponents in check.

Maybe there were issues around him I'm not Privy to, that sealed his fate.

But we need to do something. What exactly, I don't know. Can J.C. play as a defender?

We seemed to be back in the game for a brief moment when Petts made a shocking handball that turned it over and caused a goal for Freo and then they went bang again.

Petty has made a few of those hanball clangers. Maybe he should be given instructions to slways sink the slipper when he's within 25m of the big sticks.

Anyway it wasn't pretty. Nor was voss making crybaby gestures referencing the time poor Petty was emotional about his mother. What a classy bloke is that voss. Not.

Neither was Jvrs game after a premature celebration dance by myself last week. I hope it wasn't.

Clearly the guys a talented forward but consistent scoring is the important hallmark over occasional big bags.

Kp was quiet the first half. By his standards.

I thought Chandlers first half was very good. And Max Gawn's entire game was above and beyond. Given he played almost the entire game last week with a few minutes respite and yesterday was double teamed.

Max is a supreme athelete who runs on 10 percent stamina and probably 90 via heart.

Not a fan of Sparrow. I don't feel he ever gets enough of the ball but credit to his tackling efforts even if the umps hardly ever acknowledged all of ours.

Langers was good as too was the Kolt who should wear number 45.

So a few positives and we didn't throw in the towel either.

It's early days so hard to gauge what yesterday means in the big picture.

Never easy flying across the continent after a six day break. I think that short break in the beginning of the season has more impact.

Maybe not. Perhaps I'm just looking for excuses being the Panglossian that I am.

Ain't all Mfc supporters?

So we reset and smash the blues next week.

I think your assessment of Lever is spot on.

He did work his way into the game but his last two 1st quarters have been disappointing.

There have been a number of times in our system under Goodwin where we would drop a game because May, Petty, Tomlinson, Turner, * insert 1v1 defender * weren't playing and Lever had to take an opposition key forward. We gave him the pass because we knew when the system had all personel that Lever would play at his best.

Well the coach got sacked like a lot of people wanted, the system was removed and the broom came through to wipe the slate clean, along with that May retired. Due to this I don't think we can look at Lever the way we did in the past.

We don't play with an extra back anymore. We are rebuilding the backline and if Jake was really was so disappointed at being dropped last year and not wanting it to happen again then he would understand that he now needs to do some 1 on 1 defending occasionally. Clayton Oliver was told to evolve or move on (amongst other things yes) so it kind of surprises me that Jake is allowed to stay exactly how he is with exception?

I love the guy but this is an adapt or die season.

13 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

I maintain that it’s unreasonable to pile on those three kids. Langdord and Lindsay have barely, if at all, played 20 games whilst this was Windsor’s second game as a centre bounce mid.

Are you suggesting that there shouldn't be any scrutiny or that young players are beyond being critiqued ?

Or that if you do critique them you must have an addendum at the end of said critique that references their age or lack of experience ? So, every time I assess their output I need to end my commentary with said addendum ?

37 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Was always going to be that kind of season.

Enjoy the ride, if not…don’t get on.

Top post and I need to temper my expectations.

Either way, it will be interesting.

13 hours ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Tell you what - Xavier Taylor can't come on quick enough.

On yesterday’s effort at Whitten Oval best you don’t hold your breath. Plenty of gym hours needed there.

13 hours ago, picket fence said:

and KING Punted him

Nice slogan 'pick' but the evidence is in.

It wasn't King, he was gone before King got in the door.

If you want to blame anyone maybe it should be the list manager, CEO or board.

3 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

I didn’t watch the game but when I looked at the MFC website this morning I noticed something doesn’t add up…

The Melbourne goals add up to 12, not 10. Just wondering if Sharpie really did kick three goals.

Stats probably written up by the same Umpires officiating the game. I've had a gutful.

we got another game into our youngsters

stemmed the bleeding after quarter time. could have got real ugly.

i think a 50 point defeat is about par given where ourselves and Freo are. no need to be disheartened at all

carlton are very beatable. If we get our hands on enough ball i reckon we can turn them over

25 minutes ago, Gator said:

Do I assume you're new to football or the MFC ?

Oliver won a best & fairest in his second year playing most of the season as a teenager.

And in his prime age plays like an overweight second year who likely won’t make the grade.

Showed some fight, the journey is long and filled with pain.

Having a sneaking suspicion Gawn will leave a hole when he retires.

In the main our kids were average.

You know you are in toruble when Chandler and Fritta have drifted down to half back to help out.

Scoreline at times suggested a 10 - 15 goal win for Freo so I will have that loss.

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Why?

Big issues between the two since 2024.

13 hours ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

He'll get another gig somewhere else and that club will be making a spectacularly bad mistake.

So…you’re saying that he’s coming to the Dees then?

10 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Showed some fight, the journey is long and filled with pain.

Having a sneaking suspicion Gawn will leave a hole when he retires.

Of course, literally impossible to replace the greatest of all time.

1 hour ago, Engorged Onion said:

Thanks @Willmoy1947 - ill be up in Cairns later this week I'll either hit https://www.flamingostikibar.com.au/ or https://macalisterbrewingcompany.com.au/ to watch the game :) Maybe see you there!

Thanks E O, shall get back if I can.

Stay well.

1 hour ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Was having a laugh bud

Sorry. I misunderstood.

12 hours ago, waynewussell said:

I think we need to be balanced in our criticism, but a few observations are warranted…

Langford has been disappointing in the first two games (his intensity is lower than 2025). His positional role is very similar to last year, so that’s not the reason. For those wanting to see more of him in the middle, that’s what I had hoped, but he has to do more to earn that right.

I have also been disappointed with Lindsay so far. He needs to come back to the wing or half forward. He is trying, but is often left to defend bigger opponents.

Lever is not functioning at the level we need and expect from a key defender. He is not at the level he was consistently at in his first years with us.

Petty is inconsistent. His best is very good, but his ‘downers’ are way down!

McDonald is still more reliable and consistent than both of them.

On that theme, selection is already an issue. This had to be the game to play Heath. I’m not saying he is Justin Madden, or Jim Stynes, or Peter Moore, but he is the best chop out for Max that we have at the moment. He is very competitive in the middle. He has good hands. He is young and fit. He did well again today for Casey. In today’s situation where Disco got injured, and where Freo had tall forwards taking a huge toll on our backs, you could swing Heath back for a while. He can also give us a target when forward. Once again, I’m not suggesting he is Stephen Silvagni or Kelvin Templeton, but he does make things difficult for opponents with his excellent reach and agility. Today against a side with two rucks, a giant at full back and a high marking full forward Heath should have been in our 23.

That’s enough from me…

There are times when it looks like the defensive rotations are almost trying to hide Lever. They don’t want him too far on the ground but also can’t have him too deep with a smaller faster opponent. Last week and this week he looked horribly off the pace

39 minutes ago, Gator said:

Are you suggesting that there shouldn't be any scrutiny or that young players are beyond being critiqued ?

Or that if you do critique them you must have an addendum at the end of said critique that references their age or lack of experience ? So, every time I assess their output I need to end my commentary with said addendum ?

No, but if your commentary reads like you don’t appreciate their experience/age nor any of the other context (Round 2, 6-day break, trip to Perth, hot weather, opposition is in flag contention with a far more talented and mature midfield), then be prepared for someone to disagree with you.

We need some patience all

Game 2 of a mini rebuild and complete game style shift!

We will get beaten by the better teams and we’ll win some games when we are underdogs.

Freo away is arguable the toughest fixture in football

13 hours ago, picket fence said:

Oliver took 1 Game!! And 30 odd possesions today and a goal and KING Punted him., yeah right!@

You really ARE the ‘king of knee [censored] reaction’… can you honestly, hand on heart, tell us that Oliver was performing up to standard over his last couple of seasons with the Dees? He was not invested at all, and yes, he has done well at the Giants (as has Trac at the Suns), but that’s not really a surprise, as it’s far from unusual for players to be reenergised when they move to a new environment.

Windsor, Langford and Lindsay will improve, but to expect them to contain midfields of the like that Freo, Sydney, and even Carlton have, is a little unfair. We are lacking in midfield depth, yes, but I’m happy to see these guys given games and a chance to develop against the best. As for next week, I have no idea what changes are likely to be made, but it will be interesting to see whether Jiath and Latrelle Picket survive the cut… Jiath may make way for AMW, and Latrelle for ? (probably too early for Mathews to get a run).

32 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

And in his prime age plays like an overweight second year who likely won’t make the grade.

What has your post got to do with my post ?

We're a bottom 6 team and Freo are a top 6 team and we were playing the Dockers away from home. They were favoured for a reason

Before the game, the biggest predicted mismatch was in the midfield, and that's how it played out

Plus, we've got a revamped team with a new game plan that has no resemblance to the old game plan. We need time and games under our belt, regardless of the results

But if we were to predict which games were winnable, a punchers chance, or difficult to win, it might look a bit like this (in the first 10 games)

• Saints (MCG) ✔️

• Freo (WA) ❌️

• Blues (MCG)

• Suns (MCG)

• Bombers (SA)

• Lions(MCG)

• Tigers (MCG)

• Swans (SCG)

• Eagles (Docklands)

• Hawks (MCG)

• *Green - Quite winnable (60/40)

• *Blue - A 35/65 chance

• *Red - A difficult assignment

So instead of 0 & 2 we are 1 & 1 (and we could be 3 & 2 after 5 games)

But we all know that results never go as predicted in the AFL, so the above is only a guide

Edited 44 minutes ago44 min by Macca

10 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

No, but if your commentary reads like you don’t appreciate their experience/age nor any of the other context (Round 2, 6-day break, trip to Perth, hot weather, opposition is in flag contention with a far more talented and mature midfield), then be prepared for someone to disagree with you.

In other words, you do have to reference their age/experience every time you reference them.

That's utter nonsense.

I suspect I'm different to 99% of Demonland posters. Langford has lacked intensity his entire, albeit small (just for you), career. He's nowhere near hard enough at the contest and never has been. And you don't need age or experience for that.

41 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Showed some fight, the journey is long and filled with pain.

Having a sneaking suspicion Gawn will leave a hole when he retires.

Drop him at ff and bomb it on his head! We are practiced at that.

2 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

Post 2020 Jason Taylor’s been pretty average. The guys we’ve picked with first rounders are no where near as good as they need to be to turn the club around, like Petracca Oliver and Brayshaw did. The strategy to trade all our second and third rounders to get another first is looking very ordinary, the cupboard’s pretty bare at Casey. With JT’s reputation, why can’t we pick guys like Joel Freijah and Logan Morris in the second and third rounds? Nail those picks AND your first rounders and that’s how you build a solid list

Unfortunately this is correct

Even with Windsor we reached for him whilst the likes of Dan Curtin and Nate Caddy were still available.

Watching Murphy Reid do his thing last night also hurt.

I copped heat last year for giving Tim Lamb [censored] for some of his list management decisions which I still stand by and now Jason Taylor needs to cop some heat as well.

How the hell can Freo pluck such an exciting SPP prospects in Isiah Dudley and Christian Scerri who mind you dominated last night on debut with his speed and zip alongside his 20 possessions yet we continue to add scrubbers like Henderson and McAdam.