8 minutes ago, picket fence said:

As a key forward JVR has not kicked a solitary goal in 4 matches, surely he must be dropped?? Has reverted back to running under the ball again. Needs to go back to casey and play CHB!

He kicked one against Gold Coast

34 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Petty is Petty. I know I'm in the minority on here, but you're effectively playing without a man with him on the field. He's one of the softest big-men I've seen play the game. I was hopeful a return down back would rejuvenate him and get him back to his 2021 form but this just hasn't eventuated. He's lost; he's not a backman, nor a forward and he needs to be more than a secondary stop-gap as a ruckman.

McDonald was another who was taught a lesson. I'm a little bit on the fence with that to make of it, but I think it's fair to say the passage of time may be catching him.

I still think there's a backman in there, took 3 contested marks on the weekend so can do some good things. Would like him to have a run of games where he's in the D50 only.

McDonald a little out of sorts at the moment last 2 weeks, are we lacking May's voice/leadership at the back?

57 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

I've sat on the fence about posting since the game finished, I can't say I really have much individuality with my insights and I likely echo a lot of what's already been posted, but here goes.

The result on the weekend was almost inexcusable; not that we lost, but the manner in which we did. I always genuinely felt it was a danger game, and I texted a mate beforehand and said I had a bit of a feeling that Essendon might knock us off. Their improvement against the Doggies in the last three quarters was palpable, and I thought the signs were there (albeit, not on the scoreboard) that they could probably extend that form and knock us off. Essendon's intent at the contest, will to move the ball with precision, speed and rigour, and their desperation to just win was a stark contrast to Melbourne.

Disappointingly, we never really looked firing a shot which at least based on the limited form we've seen under King, was not what we should expect. I'm really hoping this game is an aberration and not the beginning of the norm.

In terms of outs, well, you could probably put on a blindfold and throw darts at names and you'd be justified in the outcome.

Lindsay's form is concerning. Yes, he's young. Yes, it's his second year. But he looks lost and lacking in confidence. Personally, I feel that he also seems to lack the intensity at the contest he had in his first couple of games for us, up until he injured himself in a marking contest against GC in R3 last year. He just doesn't seem to have the confidence that he did in those first couple of games IMO. Potentially, he's not overly suited to the role he's playing or he's struggling to adjust to the new speed. I don't know what to make of it.

Windsor continues to mystify. Yeah, he has pace; but his disposal is woeful and once again he's not impacting games at all.

Petty is Petty. I know I'm in the minority on here, but you're effectively playing without a man with him on the field. He's one of the softest big-men I've seen play the game. I was hopeful a return down back would rejuvenate him and get him back to his 2021 form but this just hasn't eventuated. He's lost; he's not a backman, nor a forward and he needs to be more than a secondary stop-gap as a ruckman.

JvR played an absolute pearler in R1 and I thought the signs were beyond impressive in the preseason, but what he's displayed from R2 - R5 show that R1 JvR is a pipedream and aberration.

Culley failed to look anything like an AFL footballer on the weekend, though I largely like what he's produced previously. I'm also pretty firm that we're not in a good position if Salem is still a walk-up start in the 23 end of year.

Melksham didn't look right at all. We all know what he can offer and I think we should rest him if he's not right for this weekend. McDonald was another who was taught a lesson. I'm a little bit on the fence with that to make of it, but I think it's fair to say the passage of time may be catching him.

I suspect we'll go again with JvR and Mihocek, thought I wouldn't be at all disappointed if JvR was out and either Kentfield or Jeffo is given a run. Personally I'd role the dice with AMW and bring him in for Lindsay. I really think you could make about six changes based on the output from the weekend, but I'm trying to be a little balanced between what I'd like and what I expect.

Strangely, I'm more confident we'll get a win this weekend against Brisbane than I was heading into the Essendon game. I'm backing the effort to return and here's to hoping that the Essendon game is an outlier, as disappointing and aggravating as it was.

Spot on. You nailed it all.

I think it will be hard to see JVR keeping his spot and with TMAC and Lever down back we have a backline without confidence.

So Salem, Melksham, JVR and TMAC are out for me.

AMW, Kentfield should come in, not sure on who else.

4 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

That's when I was angry at the performance

Why get angry? It's a game of footy.

Edited yesterday at 03:351 day by lorn

If JVR gets a game this week I'll self destruct!

46 minutes ago, lorn said:

Why get angry? It's a game of footy.

Some fans clearly would endorse former Liverpool soccer manager Bill Shankly's famous comment that "football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that".

We talk about bid men being soft due to lack of tackles. (subject to personal view). Compare GRUNDY 36 hit outs , 7 tackles SWANS 97 to SUNS 52 tackles. GAWN 34 hit out 2 tackles

Petty 2 tackles DEES 54 to BOMBERS 45 tackles. Is it lack of tackles that make us weak or is this the style of footy we play ? OR Both. Cannot wait to see the axe falling or if you prefer the guillotine. On a note ... Hopefully King has b.lls to drop players, not to keep his favs in , like the previous coach.

30 minutes ago, Coolx2 said:

We talk about bid men being soft due to lack of tackles. (subject to personal view). Compare GRUNDY 36 hit outs , 7 tackles SWANS 97 to SUNS 52 tackles. GAWN 34 hit out 2 tackles

Petty 2 tackles DEES 54 to BOMBERS 45 tackles. Is it lack of tackles that make us weak or is this the style of footy we play ? OR Both. Cannot wait to see the axe falling or if you prefer the guillotine. On a note ... Hopefully King has b.lls to drop players, not to keep his favs in , like the previous coach.

Against GC we had 59 tackles (+5);

Against Carlton 82 (+28);

Against Freo 55 (+10)

Against Saints 42 (+1).

We've won the tackle count in all our games, so I don't necessarily think it's lack of tackles per se that has us losing games of football. We had atrocious efficiency inside F50 on the weekend despite only losing the I50 count by two. We went at 38.5% compared to Essendon's 51.9%. We got back to utilising the dump kick forward on an unbelievable amount of occasions which allowed many intercept marks from Essendon. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't the only difference.

Essendon had intent in their spread and were able to move in a deliberate manner which allowed them to catch and roll into their forward 50.

I agree I'd like to see the axe being swung, but I don't subscribe to the notion that it's a lack of tackles which make us weak.

4 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Against GC we had 59 tackles (+5);

Against Carlton 82 (+28);

Against Freo 55 (+10)

Against Saints 42 (+1).

We've won the tackle count in all our games, so I don't necessarily think it's lack of tackles per se that has us losing games of football. We had atrocious efficiency inside F50 on the weekend despite only losing the I50 count by two. We went at 38.5% compared to Essendon's 51.9%. We got back to utilising the dump kick forward on an unbelievable amount of occasions which allowed many intercept marks from Essendon. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't the only difference.

Essendon had intent in their spread and were able to move in a deliberate manner which allowed them to catch and roll into their forward 50.

I agree I'd like to see the axe being swung, but I don't subscribe to the notion that it's a lack of tackles which make us weak.

Agree, method going inside our forward 50 will be one of the major reasons we succeed or fail with our current forward options. None of Mihocek, JVR, Fritta are likely to take many , if any, contested marks from high dump kicks forward

Potentially missed this on the previous pages, but Zorko will miss our clash.

3 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

He kicked one against Gold Coast

So ok 1 in 4 games? Pfft!

4 minutes ago, picket fence said:

So ok 1 in 4 games? Pfft!

I’m not using it as an argument for him to stay in the side, he shouldn’t, just stating that your fact is wrong

4 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

There’s need on both sides.

Maybe it’s just me; I don’t see the point in not attending a game because of the result of the previous game. Well, actually it’s not just me, the entire DA feels this way. Maybe my way of thinking is contrary to the general fanbase 🤷‍♀️

PS: I love your work, too. It’s the first thing I read on the train/plane home after every game. Sometimes it’s the only thing I read on the way home.

Come on Ghosty, I know you read all my posts and love them and me.

Edited yesterday at 06:471 day by Redleg

6 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Essendon fans turned out in force and they were on a 17-game losing streak, AND they travelled to Adelaide. Carlton fans, Richmond fans, they all turn up. Yes they have bigger fanbases but this is more of a reason for our fans to turn up to every match regardless of ladder position or recent results.

If I had a dollar for every time one of our players says they love hearing us fans I’d be a rich b!ttch.

It matters to them.

Agree GW. We were sorely outnumbered and it felt like a genuine interstate game rather than the idea of a neutral game that Gather Round provides.

Small sample space but it appears as though the players have this year embraced and love playing at the MCG with the crowd behind them. However there appears to be motivational issues on the road and potentially at Marvel where we’ll play 2 away games (and 1 home)

1 hour ago, BLWNBA said:

Against GC we had 59 tackles (+5);

Against Carlton 82 (+28);

Against Freo 55 (+10)

Against Saints 42 (+1).

We've won the tackle count in all our games, so I don't necessarily think it's lack of tackles per se that has us losing games of football. We had atrocious efficiency inside F50 on the weekend despite only losing the I50 count by two. We went at 38.5% compared to Essendon's 51.9%. We got back to utilising the dump kick forward on an unbelievable amount of occasions which allowed many intercept marks from Essendon. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't the only difference.

Essendon had intent in their spread and were able to move in a deliberate manner which allowed them to catch and roll into their forward 50.

I agree I'd like to see the axe being swung, but I don't subscribe to the notion that it's a lack of tackles which make us weak.

Excellent point @BLWNBA and the data backs you up. Melbourne's tackle count isn't the problem. We're averaging 58.4 per game and our differential is +10.6, third best in the competition. We're out-tackling our opposition by a significant margin every week, so anyone arguing we need to tackle more is looking at the wrong number.

Where it gets interesting is that winning the tackle differential doesn't seem to be saving us either. We're 3-2 despite being one of the best tackling teams in the comp by the metric that actually matters.

Which brings us back to your point about F50 efficiency. If the pressure is genuinely there but the scoreboard isn't following, the problem is further up the chain. We're creating the contest. We're just not converting it.

The tackles aren't the issue. What happens after them might be.

9 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Agree GW. We were sorely outnumbered and it felt like a genuine interstate game rather than the idea of a neutral game that Gather Round provides.

Small sample space but it appears as though the players have this year embraced and love playing at the MCG with the crowd behind them. However there appears to be motivational issues on the road and potentially at Marvel where we’ll play 2 away games (and 1 home)

Yeah before the game I knew there were a lot of Essendon fans in attendance but in the second half when they found their voices it showed that they were there in huge numbers. They sounded incredible. It’s hard to match that when there’s just not enough of us.

3 minutes ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Excellent point @BLWNBA and the data backs you up. Melbourne's tackle count isn't the problem. We're averaging 58.4 per game and our differential is +10.6, third best in the competition. We're out-tackling our opposition by a significant margin every week, so anyone arguing we need to tackle more is looking at the wrong number.

Where it gets interesting is that winning the tackle differential doesn't seem to be saving us either. We're 3-2 despite being one of the best tackling teams in the comp by the metric that actually matters.

Which brings us back to your point about F50 efficiency. If the pressure is genuinely there but the scoreboard isn't following, the problem is further up the chain. We're creating the contest. We're just not converting it.

The tackles aren't the issue. What happens after them might be.

Do they grade the effectiveness of the tackle, because if you tackle and still let your opponent get the ball away to a team mate, it would have to be an ineffective tackle.

On 12/04/2026 at 13:27, picket fence said:

Inns

Moose, Jeffo, Kentfield, Rivers, Taylor, AMW

Out JVR, Chandler, Latrelle P, T.Mac, Salem, Melksham (managed) injured

B Lever, Petty, AMW

H. B Rivers, Disco, Howes

C Langdon, Langford, Windsor

H.F Sharp Kentfield, Culley

F Mihocek, Jeffo, Fritsch

R Max, Kozzy, Steele

Inter Lindsay, Moose, Tholstrup, Taylor, Sparrow

Sorry, but that many changes will never happen...

Rivers AMW Kentfield

TMac Salo JVR

either play petty back or not at all.

Tholstrup, Culley, Howes in the gun as just not offering heaps but theres nothing underneath them so we roll on.

If Rivers isnt ready then maybe TMac holds (as long as petty plays back too) or XT comes in

the big move has to be windsor to the outside langford inside this week, we need a response tho lebba

4 hours ago, picket fence said:

If JVR gets a game this week I'll self destruct!

Haha fingers crossed.

8 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

He's close but he only kicked 2 but if Melksham isn't fit enough Jefferson is in my team. First emergency ATM but as I said if Melksham is deemed unfit then he is in and Henderson comes in as an emergen

8 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

Is the direction of the club clear this year yet? Is King trying to contend? I’m not interested in players like Melksham, McDonald, Salem and Lever continuing to play to help drag us to a wildcard final. What’s that achieve? We clearly won’t win the whole thing this year, those players aren’t going to be in the side in 27’ and 28’, so it’s time to accept there may be a couple more losses and start playing their replacements NOW, to fast track the future. Kentfield, Jefferson and Taylor are the ones I’ve got my eyes on.

I agree that youth has to be the priority. However, we can't cut all the experience we have. I just feel more scrutiny should be put on senior players at the selection table. They need to lead by example, many of them do consistantly, some however don't...

Said before the game last week the balance of the fwd line in particular was off, firstly not sure why Petty is down there if he doesn’t have a spot down back, one of him or McDonald need to make way if we don’t need the extra tall down there. In the same vein it makes no sense having Culley, Melksham and Fritsch all as undersized marking targets one of them also has to go out for balance and not just to bring in anther tall. I also feel like we need to go past Salem but not really sure we have the talent knocking the door, Rivers if fit is the only one no idea who the other two should be.

I've been a critic of Petty but he was the only forward that contested on the weekend.

JVR was hopeless and Mihocek was a non factor.

1 hour ago, Turner said:

the big move has to be windsor to the outside langford inside this week, we need a response tho lebba

Langford has been working wonderfully in his new role, I would not change what he is doing for that alone but also because we can’t play him, Steele and Sparrow together in their, 3 of that type simply doesn’t work. Our mid is basically Pickett, Steele, Windsor and Sparrow. Steele and Sparrow being the like types Langford could come in for.

This was always going to be a year of learning and Windsor is the long term best choice we just have to stick with him as we don’t have any better like types either