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A few thoughts on the game, and take this with a grain of salt because I am biased and have had a few. As for the overall game, Casy weren't bad, Coburgs game style and pressure just destroyed them for the first 3 quarters, but the extra fitness and hardness that AFL listed players bring allowed them to dominate the last quarter As for individual players: Weideman- kicked 3 goals 3, shoulda kicked 6 straight. Missed 3 relatively easy goals but did some amazing work in the aireal contest, and I mean took some unbelievably marks today, did some amazing running around the ground and I would not be surprised if he comes in to replace Hogan Maynard- He's form has been amazing, was easily best on ground and I'd expect him to get a senior debut this year. He is clean around the contest, hits it hard and has great speed. A great pickup from the MFC Brayshaw- wasn't as prolific as last week but is showing good signs he is coming back into his best, did make a few errors today but his gut running was outstanding Pederson- took some good marks and had a few great tackles but he butchered the ball a lot and if I were Melbourne selectors I'd choose Weideman over Pedo going off today's game Spencer- was great in the ruck today against a decent opponent, took some good marks and was good at ground level, fumbled a bit but might be an option if they want to tryout the Gawn/Spencer combo Keilty- continues to develope and build on his game, took 3 or 4 crucial contested grabs and attacked the ball at ground level well but also made a few mistakes under pressure, give Dec another pre season and he might just become a great key position player Other good players- Strech seemed to be big around the ball today and Wagner got onto a lot of loose balls and had a big impact. Dion Johnstone also had a huge second half, had a few great moments up forward and laid some big hits and tackles . Mitch King probably played the best game of his year, dominated the ruck and took some impressive marks The not so good- Good to see Hulett back in the VFL but was pretty quiet, I doubt he'll go on much further. Kennedy was also pretty disappointing today If I've missed anyone let me know and I'll try to answer your questions For the VFL listed players, Fristch was again outstanding today, missed a few easy goals but his hands for a shorter player are insane and do not be surprised to see him on an AFL list next year. Jack Hutchins was great as the general in defence today also, Ferreira had some nice moments Thays just my 2 cents

Doubled their score - a fair effort after such a slow start. Peter Jackson VFL 2017 Casey Demons 0.4.4 3.8.26 5.11.41 12.14.86 Coburg 1.1.7 3.3.31 5.5.35 6.7.43 Goals Casey Demons Weideman 3 Ferreira Johnstone 2 Fritsch King Maynard Munro Pedersen Coburg Kerbatieh Posar 2 Karpany McEvoy Best Casey Demons Maynard Weideman Brayshaw Keilty Gent Spencer Coburg Exon Hunt Posar Mellington Iacobaccio Conn Disposals Maynard 28 Gent 24 Wagner 22 Brayshaw 22 Weideman 20

Watts is on thin ice, two very weak efforts since his return.

Sam Weideman takes a big grab for another. His last half is putting him in contention.

I was absolutely seething yesterday afternoon... After a few beers pondering by myself around the fire pit outside I came to peace with it all. This year is just not ment to be our year, it never was but when you add in all the injuries, suspensions, health problems we have faced it seriously wasn't going to be our year. Yeah people will throw up "but it's an open year anyone can win it" truth is we aren't good enough yet, we are still young & in year ONE of Goodwin with the full reins... You look at the Dogs of 2015, we are probably about the same at this stage we make an elimination final & maybe we win, maybe we don't but this side is going places and if people can't see that I feel sorry for them. We've gone from an absolute basket case for 10 years, it just doesn't turn at the flick of a switch. This side is still learning and you gotta learn to walk before you run. Let's all just enjoy the fact that we are in with a more than good chance of playing in September, lets enjoy the ride for the last month of the season. It's the least we all deserve after the last decade.

Well, I had a crap day. The footy sucked. Blundstone Arena sucks. How good is it that there are seats where it's physically impossible for 7 year olds to see? And which quarter would you like to miss while you get food? Such a shit game day experience. Then Demonland crashed after the game. Brilliant!

Look forward to seeing the over the top reactions of some temper as the week goes on. We looked flat at times throughout the game and turned the ball over but North won this game. They played better for four quarters, had a better game plan with their forward structure and played the ground far better especially in the last quarter. They were so much more composed then us. Kudos given to North. This team is going to continue to drop games as they're still young, (missing some experience yesterday which might have helped). It's just a reality. I hope the team can move on quickly and realise they're every chance to beat GWS who looked shaky once again against Freo. I think if we can make the 8 this season it would be a terrific accomplishment. Clearly we not quite ready to have a greater impact. We can build from there for years to come.

Well, let's move on to this. I also think we are a sneaky show for this game. Out: Hogan, JKH, Trengove In: Jones, Pedersen, Vince

We have been in the top 8 for most of the season. Missing out will now be a big fail.

Guess I was watching a different game, as didn't think JKH was too bad yesterday. There were certainly plenty worse

I was a bit surprised TMac wasn't played in defense when we were going into the wind. We were playing tempo footy and basically trying to limit their scoring ability, so why not put your most experienced KPD on one of their 3 talls. Fair enough to maximise the wind advantage with him forward in the other 2 quarters. I thought it was a bit odd.

A few people calling for ANB to be dropped. He definitely had a poor game yesterday but he has played pretty consistently over the past few weeks. I think considering he's in our best 22 and has only missed 4 games this season it seems a bit odd to drop him in the most critical part of the season.

And because I love a positive: I think it's become very clear, if it hasn't already, that we probably have the best young player under 21 on our list in Clayton Oliver. Look at these for stats from a kid of 20 years of age: 33 touches, 12 tackles, 26 contested possessions, 12 clearances and 1 goal. The crazy thing is that he is doing this most weeks. This kid let's his football do the talking, and while he is still learning to mature and will have his moments, his year has been unbelievable for a kid of his age and I'm so stoked we have him at our club. I feel as though he is already one of, if not the, best players to walk through our doors in a very long time.

I've calmed down a fair bit from yesterday. Demonland being down probably a good thing to save us from severe overreactions. Thoughts on the game: Lost it at the coin toss. It was always going to be easier to defend a lead in that last qtr against really difficult conditions. The players were very tired in that last qtr and couldn't capitalize on the wind. Same thing happened the year before, it was a carbon copy just less goals kicked. That ground is a hole and Melbourne should petition not to pay there for a North home game. How about Etihad next time? Oliver was awesome and almost singlehandedly won us the game. 173 ranking points. Funnily, Jimmy Bartel on 3aw didn't give him a vote. Lewis didn't "go" in that passage of play. Maybe if he was wearing a Hawks jumper he would've. It was a tough day for forwards. Tmac easily the best for us. Watts wasn't that bad, still got 73 ranking points which is almost double what he got last week which was a shocker. Also had 3 tackles, one which was an obvious holding the ball against Thompson but not paid. He'll improve again next week Hogan's injury is a huge loss right when he was coming back to form. Pedo is a plodder and won't win us games off his own boot. Petracca didn't play on instinct and over handballed. Worst game for the club. Trengove is gone. No effect on game at all. Not sure what's up with Hannan. And lastly, umpiring was again in their favour. Heaps of bad decisions and non decisions.

You can say we're building and while its true, look around at all the other clubs re next year. Essendon are coming with a bullet, the pies will fancy themselves, Stkilda will have 2 x first round picks this off season, Hawthorn will improve, North will be better as will Carlton. To fall into " its ok because we're building" is crap. We have a golden opp THIS year and need to find the belief to really take it...who knows when an opp like this will come again. So, while I agree that we are buidling, lets do that by making the 8 and build on THAT. If we blow this chance its going to really sting the club.

Maynard puts the icing on the cake.

Didn't stick tackles, couldn't shake tags, didn't play the conditions smart enough, Ben Brown always kills us. That about covers it for me, we'll still be in the 8 at the end of the round hopefully so destiny still in our own hands.

Completely agree with tmac going back. Max as well. Why was jetta one on one against their tall forwards? Is he the only one that can read the play down there? We have had massive problems related to our inabilty to take contested marks around the ground. Especially coming out of defence and going into f50

Just put myself through watching the replay of the last quarter. Here is a not so negative take. Firstly with the wind we needed to have a marking forward staying deep, old style. The last goal we got was the kick from Trengove near the boundary, sailed 65m everyone misjudged the flight and McDonald took the mark and gaoled. This was the way to score. Secondly the last goal of the game was with 7 1/2 minutes to go - in retrospect the match winner by North - and it was a complete fluke. Brown lines up for goal from 50 close to the boundary, shanks the kick and it lands short in the hands of Simpkin. You know it was your lucky day when this is happening. Thirdly from then on we defended well, and North couldn't score another major. Fourthly unfortunately our forward 50 entries were poor, as noted above by SFebey. Often it came in rushed and flat with no prospect of a mark - and North were outnumbering us. We should have realised a forward 50 mark was like gold with the wind behind us - and also that the umpires were not paying marks unless 100% held, nor were they paying chopping of the arms. Infuriating. Then finally we had our moment -- Tom McDonald takes a good mark and centres to hibberd, directly in front only 50m out with a roaring gale behind him. 5 points behind, 2 minutes to go. This was the moment for Goodwin's favourite theme 'composure'. And the ball was in the hands of one of our senior players who is a good kick. Perhaps that is why none of our leaders felt the need the intervene and yell out "stop, go back and take your time". Unfortunately Hibberd plays on, misses and that was the final score of the day. THis was really a sliding doors finish, it could so easily have been different and we would have been describing it as a gutsy win. Disappointing but not disastrous.

Team update, Hulett is playing VFL seniors today, and Corey Maynard was the travellling emergency but he is back and will also play today

When you hit the front with a 4 goal wind behind you in the last quarter and lose that it attitude, we expected to win and the wind will do it for us. Then we get behind with 4 mins to go panic sets in, it turned real ugly, it wax already bad but that last 4 minutes of football was a complete disgrace Is Greg Stafford still ruck coach Max Gawn is a real concern, his tap work is off or mids not on same page and around the ground is having no impact

Some posters object to using the word putrid- so this is for them disposal - putrid attitude - putrid Garletts set shot - putrid Watts efforts - putrid the games of Hannan, ANB, Trengove - putrid umpiring - putrid Venue - putrid Norf - putrid Brad Scott - putrid

I understand where you are coning from, but we all have to stop finding excuses for insipid performances and waiting for next year Yesterday was shocking. At halftime we had them on our terms the money all those supporters spent to stand in the cold and watch that rubbish would be significant The MFC just cannot take that next step...17 losses in a row to Nought. Goodwin may not see it as important or relevant, but i do....

Flew from Melbourne, stayed in St. Helen's with family, took the beautiful 3.5 hour coastal drive to Hobart , life was good. Knew it would be a lacklustre bog ordinary game due to the wind, and sadly my thoughts rang true. I can barely remember half a dozen quality free flowing pieces of play all day. We got smashed in centre clearances at times which was surprising considering we gave been great and North have been ordinary all year We looked like a team that thought they'd done enough at 3/4 time. They outworked us in the last and deserved the win. I disagree with a few in here that we needed to lower our eyes more outside 50..... We needed to kick the bloody ball higher and let the wind carry it 70 metres , instead we looked for short pass options that often went to ground. We often read of young teams tiring in the last few rounds.... Sadly that's exactly how it looked yesterday. Considering what was at stake, we looked cooked, flat as a pancake. The 3 hour drive back to StHelens was not an enjoyable one.

Oh and thank you to Nasher as always.

I have said all year our defence leaks goals. Yet again we got taken to the cleaners. The elephant in the room are our key tall backs. Hibberd has had a great year. Jetta is outstanding, Hunt has done well but OMac and Frost while doing some good things have been toweled up by bigger bodied tall fwds like Brown, Roughhead, Walker, Daniher, Reiwoldt, Casboult, Hawkins etc We desperately need a Lever. Facts are: 1. teams score 53% of the time they enter our fwd 50 - last in the AFL 2. We lose 35% of defensive one on ones - last in the AFL You cannot win finals with a defence like that. In fact you will struggle to make finals. OMac is simply a liability. May become a footballer one day but gets outbodied regularly, has no urgency or intensity and frankly plays a lot of dumb football. He flies to spoil and either misses the ball or or hits it straight into a dangerous spot like the corridor. Plenty on here bang on about what a massive improvement he has made this year but I maintain if we had a decent tall back he wouldn't be playing. Frost has some great attributes but makes a lot of errors spoiling. leaving his man, fumbling and taking on more than he can chew. We cannot take a contested mark to save ourselves. We rank 17th in contested marks. Clearly we have had to move TMac to the fwd line and so rob our defence but the evidence is pretty clear that he makes a good forward and so won't be returning any time soon. Until we fix our defence we aren't going anywhere. Throw the kitchen sink at Lever.

3 goals and 20 disposals is a pretty good effort from the Weid

I was there ...agreed ..def lost the toss....we were just awful...4 points flattering ....a little like Adelaide today & for all those who bemoan the Darwin game ...I hope we never play in Hobart again ...it is a venue I never want to return too!!

Guys...I was there. We definitely LOST the toss! I was watching and hoping that we would win it!

Sorry i dont buy these poor umpiring decisions, we should have kicked with the wind in the first quarter, goodie chose the wrong side, goodie didnt make the right moves, past history shows we have not beaten north in over 3,998 days or whatever. End of the day we had one of our best teams on the field, we were close to top four playing a team ranked 17th. They came to play we did not. We had too many passengers, too many half hearted runs, tackles, poor hand passes instead of kicking, poor decisions to play on when they should have gone back and had a shot, etc.. we had more than enough opportunities but failed as we so often have done when we go into a game as a favorite against a bottom side. We have a sad history of loosing the games we should win and winning some that we should not. It would appear that some players go into some games paying too little respect to the opposition.

Kreuzer Wil probably get 1week

Lucky the site went down after the match because I lost the plot! With a top4/8 spot on the line, we lost to the 17th placed team who have been so terrible for two months that they're being accused of tanking. One of the most disappointing performances I can remember. The worst part was seeing how many tackles we missed or allowed to be broken. It was one of the weakest tackling displays we've served up in a long time. Our players seemed to tackle opponents standing still and still fall over or get brushed aside. Even guys like Viney and Petracca who should bury their opponents were getting brushed aside like ants. Was absolutely infuriating!

Agree. I think I posted after his first game with us he was my new favourite player. Thank you Jason Taylor.

I can't wait to hear the AFL's excuse for Dangerfield receiving a fine. The tackle was almost a carbon copy of McMarthy's tackle earlier this month for which he received two weeks suspension. This will show just how corrupt the AFL are.

Brown always kills us, surprised we didn't start TMac on him though once Hogan went off we didn't have that luxury.

TMac should have just stayed at the scoring end of the ground the entire game. Like Nasher, I was at the ground and thought Lewis played well. There was a demon supporter behind me who shouted out '[censored] off back to Hawthorn Lewis!' so maybe I missed the bad things

Yesterday was the most angriest I have ever been watching a game of football against a team that had lost 8 in a row f me.

I hope next time we play them Goodwin doesn't trot out the old "the history is irrelevant to this group, they're forging their own journey," rhetorical spiel. Because, they are now part of that history, the history of our club being North Melbournes b!tches for 17 games straight! Next time, how about owning the bloody disgraceful record and pouring the acid on the playing group, get them to fully acknowledge and comprehend that the opposition and the footballing public expect them to lose because "you're expected to because you're seen as North's b!tches." Try that for a change, Goody. If you need some help with the wording, please get in touch.

Kept hitting refresh thinking it would be fixed any second. Think I have repetitive strain injury in my right hand. Now I know how BBO feels.

3 words: That was embarrassing

Just when we thought Jesse's year could not get worse. Life just doesn't seem fair sometimes. Feel really sad for him. If he comes back to play this year it will be a bonus but right now I would just like the lad to have a bit of normality in his life. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Mate I'm concerned that loss cost us a spot in the finals full stop.

Thanks to all for getting DL up and running again. Normality returns.

12 wins is clearly a massive improvement and we are tracking upwards. However,. we must make the finals. Another year without them will be infuriating and so disappointing. The feeling of making it is like no other, and the week leading up to the game is so intense. Seeing all our talent on the big stage will be so exciting. FInals are what footy is all about and we need to get there THIS SEASON.

The last quarter was one of the worst I have seen by us. I'm not going to sit here and stress anymore when they put up a quarter like that, I rarely bag the team but goodness me. They need to wear this one and I hope it stings cause I'm over feeling crook in the guts. These cliches " We are not focusing on finals" and " the hoodoo against North doesn't get mentioned", maybe it's time to start talking and actually doing something about it.

what ever he says...just think the opposite

The umpire missed that dipstick Scott Thompson clearly incorrectly disposing the ball 20m out yet called it play on. Probably a certain goal to us.

This is a hard loss to cop given what was at stake. It shows we still have that soft underbelly. Too many passengers - Hannan, ANB, Trengove and even Petracca. Garletts missed set shot was terrible - made worse by the fact he seemed to find it funny. Watts is back to his insipid self. Hobart is a shocking place to play footy - a bit like Casey. Overall totally pizzed off.

A chance to consolidate a place in the eight and we lacked the toughness to beat a side well below us. We folded again when we needed to stand up - it was a really terrible/weak performance in a crucial game And to top it off ................... we make clown head look like Tony Lockett .....again! [censored] disappointing!