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Chris Scott made the comment last night that the missed goal should not diminish the excellent play of Cam centering the ball and Max taking such a great, contested mark. He made the same comment about Menzel's great mark just before he missed his even simpler shot on goal. Said we too often forget about the great things the players do in the heat of the not so great moments. (Gotta admit, Chris Scott has some good things to say. His comments about the cricket debacle were also well put...)

Having digested Sunday's game over a couple of days, sadly I reckon this year's version of the Demons might have some significant problems. Inevitably we compare to last year to see signs of evolution, but such a comparison so far is worrying. Maybe the biggest flaw in our overall game last year was that we were consistently outmarked. Ends up that in 2017, we were 15th ranked for marks. Sunday gave me no reason to think this has been in any way corrected. Teams who can control the tempo of possession are going to expose us in the air in attack, and frustrate our marking efforts in the front half. Having no Tom McDonald, one of, if not our best marking target, doesn't help. Our best football last year relied on a fierce ascendancy at stoppages. Thus by controlling the ball at stoppages and by sheer weight of attack we were able to find a way to goals. However, we lack efficiency when the ball is ours, and are prone to turnovers. Being consistently dominant at clearances is much harder way to win games of footy than being better organised and better users of the ball. Psychologically it also requires key figures who can lead a team dynamic. Teams know that we are inevitably prone to lapses, and that we are more vulnerable without Jack Viney's lead from the front influence. Defensively we are too brittle, for periods that last too long. The second quarter was a reminder that teams can open us up when we lose defensive accountability. This is in part of function of the above, and that we struggle to regain possession when our high demand pressure game drops off. Selection. It doesn't matter how much Simon Goodwin says he picked Sunday's team on preseason form, any of us who have followed pre-season know that these are 'alternative facts'. How either Dom Tyson, Angus Bradshaw, arguably Billy Stretch and even Tom Bugg were not preferred to Corey Maynard and Josh Wagner (no slight on their efforts) rightfully had most of us baffled. The concern is that this is driven by a mysterious agenda, or at worst that there are personality or political issues at the club. I know barring a shoelace's influence, Max would've kicked that goal on Sunday, but that would have done nothing to alter my thoughts as above. It's hard to see us beating a hometown Brisbane this week, who showed last year that they can match it with us. On the other hand, we had at least half a dozen players on Sunday who were well below their best, and will hopefully wake up. Based on one telling game though, I'd say we're going to need some luck to make the eight, and some inspiration, and top four is at this stage fantasy land. Too soon?

Just as concerning is that 70% of kicks are mindless long bombs to the top of the square.

You're reading way too much into one game. And especially the first game. They'll learn much from this game, which is the first bit of relevant evidence they've been able to dissect for 6 months.

Gawn put himself in a position to mark the ball and give us a chance to win. Good on him. Sometimes things go your way and other times they don't, but at least he had a dip. Many players wouldn't have wanted that ball. Fair play to Max.

Hunt hasn't progressed over the last year and is a concern for me at the moment. Probably has really struggled since that big whack against Adelaide. That and opposition teams have worked him out and over a bit...

I think Lever needs to develop more dimensions to his game. In many ways, it's a credit to him that a team would work so hard to negate his influence at such a young age. I think Oscar is going to develop into a good KPD, but he will never be Daniel Talia, so there's no point waiting for that to happen. However we have enough quality down there for a very good backline with Lever, Hibberd, Jetta, Hunt, etc. Perhaps this means Frost plays? Perhaps Hibberd needs to offer more coverage? Perhaps Lever needs to focus on the fundamental role of a defender and beat his man? He has to learn to adapt to this challenge (with the help of the coaching group of course). One thing that was apparent to me on the weekend was that it was clearly the first time our defensive unit had played together in the heat of an AFL match. They lacked synergy and awareness of each other - that will come, as the quality and talent is definitely there.

No Oliver is just ridiculous.

We could've have Glen Jakovich, SOS Silvagni and Sean Wight playing in our backline and they all would've struggled in that first half, thanks to the ease the ball was coming in. When our mids and half forward flanks put more pressure on after half time, our backs restricted them to 2 goals in 2 quarters. Dorkins was soundly beaten by Oscar, and other than two reasonable contested marks, Menzel continued to get rewarded for being a soft, lazy, unaccountable, outside player. I noticed they highlighted the dropped mark that Jake let go in the last quarter (I think it was). I was up that end - the ball was kicked in high, he had to run back with the flight of the ball, and the wind was swirling the ball all over the place. Muppets that commentate from the wind-free commentary box, and the equally bigger muppets that no doubt cringed from the comfort of their couch, would've had no idea the degree of difficulty that mark was. The biggest error for the day that I saw Jake make was in the first quarter when he was outmarked/smarted by Menzel. Other than that, he was very good, and in the last quarter in particular, you could see (from behind the goals), just how much work he does with positioning of himself and his teammates.

All this talk of "blazing away" is nonsense. Nothing better for a forward than to get the ball in quickly. Our forward setup is based around key forwards bringing the ball down and crumbers picking up the pieces. When we win, ANB, Harmes, Melksham, Garlett tend to all have a contribution. Pederson and Hogan both played their roles. Our small forwards didn't. We went forward, Geelong swept it out, went forward, and scored from a fairly empty forward line. It is as simple as that. That's where we lost it. Throw in poor defensive efforts from our midfielders, and minimal two-way running, and you have the second quarter. If your small forwards aren't pressuring and scoring from contested packs, you'll struggle to win, regardless of your opponent.

Honestly wish the club would minimise media contact. Seems every time a senior player makes a public statement we singularly fail to back it up in our next game

Lighten up buddy. The man can have an opinion.

That is a disgusting allegation directed towards our captain - I'm somewhat surprised the moderators have allowed it to remain the way it has been worded. Just because your opinion differs from an answer he gave to a question - As a supporter base, we cant expect respect until we can display respect as a supporter base. However, I'm sure you are prepared to come out from your anonymous "keyboard warrior" status and direct the allegation direct to his face - but then again I won't hold my breath.

He appeared to say " you are f...ing joking". To me that is not a 50. It is not like saying "you are a f...ing idiot". It is in the heat of battle and that is surely not personal abuse. Yes he shouldn't say it, but umpires have got to be better than that. The umpire could simply say " no I am not and the next thing you say will be 50". Players mouth off all the time.

There is something to this. As I’ve been going on about we just aren’t a clean team. That is we fumble, run over the ball and get stuck in contested situations. Most of our goals come feel like they come from sheer grunt and not necessarily great skill or system. This style of play is taxing and could explain the big lapses during games.

We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that he'd played a huge game to that stage. Hopefully set for a monster year. 9 Coach's vote aint too bad.

This camp thing seems like b-s. If Tyson was up to scratch, and could help us win, would Goodie really not pick him? What sort of internal culture would that create? On the flip side, if there were internal metrics (that keyboard warriors cant see) that determine if he was doing what was required to get the role, then the guys who were ahead of him should be upset if he was selected on last year’s form and not against preseason form (relevant NOW). If we had 30 players who were good to go, how do you select who plays? How do you know how close he was? I bet if we won the conversation would have a different tone. And if the camp was B-S, I’m glad it was cancelled. At the wrong time this macho ‘endurance’ weekends actually harm performance and negatively impact culture. Can the media and dyckheads here just get over it?

Garry probably plucked that theory straight off of demonland....

You know what, I blame this piece of play for our loss. Gawn, Oliver, Petracca missed but that happens a dozen times a game. Using that logic you could say Menzel kicks a couple extra goal that he missed down the other end and we lose by 15 points. This "senior" player, in a "leadership role" gave away a 50m penalty and nearly certian goal over words that came out of his mouth towards an umpire. Words. I know he played a good game and white line fever/heat of the moment but because of his use of the English language he handed the opposition a goal. To me this is completely unacceptable, let alone from an on field leader. No excuse.

Don’t worry, just a minor niggle. Back this week or the next, if not, then the week after that and so on. Should be cherry ripe for round 23 at the worst.

We have lost every match!

I reckon it's really difficult to make meaningful changes until the main break when you're leading at quarter time. You can make positional changes, but this was a team defence issue across the entire ground, not just a Jake Lever issue. You spend six months planning for one game. And it's a game that you don't really know how is going to pan out. You know what you're trying to do, but don't know how well your players will implement it and while you have an idea about the other side you don't know exactly what their plans are, what structural changes they'll make, or how their new players will effect the game. There are so many unknowns in round 1. We now have 120 minutes of footage that they can analyse to within an inch of its life. They will learn a heap from this game. And they'll keep learning over the next few rounds. We lost a game that statistically you win 95 times out of 100. The overreactions on here have been a sight to behold.

The door ? is over there ?

Curnow shouldn't be on the list. He's judged on what he will be and not what he's done, which is minimal. Prior to Thursday night he'd never kicked more than 2 goals in a game. I know he plays more of a utility role often, but he's overhyped on his present output.

Nathan being on the show the week after the cancelled boot camp was raised in the season opener was no coincidence. The club is being proactive and I believe there are a lot of people that want to see us succeed and quite a few involved in that show, but there's definitely blood in the water with this story. He was able to swat the questions to the boundary relatively easily (not that his surfing buddy wouldn't have let him know what was coming). There's an issue here, but it's manageable and it shouldn't define our season. My fear like all Melbourne supporters is that somehow the club will once again find a way of stuffing this up. The concern for me on the weekend was a lack of cohesion in defence and our lack of forward pressure. ANB, Melksham, Garlett and Hannan had 5 tackles between them. Fritsch had 5 by himself. Nev looked uncharacteristically lethargic. Tyson and Brayshaw's non-selection (assuming that Gus was true to his word and was fine to play on the weekend) may have had a role to play (not saying it was deliberate, but players subconsciously can be put off by perceived injustices). I wouldn't say it was a lack of intensity, but quite a few just didn't seem switched on. This looks like being another test of Goodwin's leadership. It would be rare for any leader not to be challenged from within, and they are the most dangerous of challenges, because while outside threats can unify, internal dissent is all about disunity. He needs to be measured,consistent and fair. Peter Jackson should be reminding him that list management decisions are made at the end of the year not at the start.

Giving up 80 points in a half was what did it. Defensive efforts in every zone were not up to scratch. I felt the cats handballed more than we did - we blazed blindly to outnumbered positions to be easily outmarked.

Can everyone please calm down, and can someone give a tl;dr summary of the interview and statements Jones made? FFS....

He lied through his teeth about the camp as well, notably the player involved in the coalition against it. Anyway, what do you expect? He's the captain, they're media trained, they're not going to say anything controversial on TV if it means getting a teammate in the [censored].

Lack of defensive pressure cost us. Too few players chipped in when needed

I wish you would.

Name 3 good things about yesterdays game/result. Just a fun way to stay sane & optimistic during this long season ahead. If anyone has been supporting this club more than 3 years you will know one thing: They can do your head in. Jarring disappointment followed by glimpses of brilliance. The season ahead is long. After Round 24's devastation we had yesterday's disappointment. 21 games remain. Demons supporter PTSD is a real thing. We suffer anxiety during games, depression after losses, bad dreams and cold sweats (I actually awoke at 2am last night and my first thought was the game). Given the perennial disappointment we have learned pessimism. To counter this we must learn optimism to get through this season with our heads in tact. It's the only way. The good thing studies have shown is optimism can be learned. It's so easy to look at yesterday & say "We have probably cost our selves a spot in the 8 again" or "what a disappointment". But you could also equally say "We took a top 4 team to the very last minute of the game & nearly won". The latter is actually far more accurate a statement and a lot easier to live with. Based on this I suggest we come up with 3 good things about yesterdays game/result. Here's my go: 1. We have the best percentage of all losing teams 2. We took a top 4 side from last year to the brink (& lost to them by less than we did last year) - all a sign of improvement. 3. Mark Neeld is no longer our coach Your turn. Cheers

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2018/03/26/plough-outlines-why-demons-lost/ We handball too much. “I think Melbourne could have won the game by three or four goals, and not waited for the Max Gawn kick,” Wallace told SEN’s KB and The Doc. “The top-three possession winners for Melbourne don’t kick the ball enough. “They over hand pass the ball and don’t kick it enough." Do you agree?

PLayed a bog-ordinary second quarter and wasted a shed load of inside fiddy’s. Fix two things only and we’re a 6 - 10 goal better side. 1.7 in the last!! We’ll be fine.

Its was his first game under real premiership point heat yes Jake struggled first half as did the rest of the back 6. He is still learning the system of the back 6 and to the teams credit fought back incredibly well. We looked rusty and lacked composure forward of center going into our forward 50 bombing it straight into 1 on 3 and 2 on 3 situations incredibly frustrating this should all smooth out with ongoing match fitness and conditioning. Keeping the faith.

Fair enough, I’ll take on the feedback and move forward. My apologies Ash35

I am part of this forum mate

He's our best under 23 player by a mile.

Not totally correct boys...although I do agree with the forward pressure comments but a big part of that problem was the structure which was all a... up. Hard to put on pressure when your 1 on 3... The "blazing away" talk isn't nonsense. Yes, forwards love getting the ball in quickly but that's when they have a one on one contest and even better when the ball is kicked to advantage. Not sure whether either of you were at the game but when we moved the ball forward our structure/set up was all wrong. We were out numbered and kicked to the advantage of our opposition. Our small/mid forwards were sucked to far up the ground and didn't get back quickly enough. For some reason we seemed to have everyone between the 50 metre arcs..not forward and not back. Geelong built their dynasty on the back of teams falling for this type of thing and although their star defenders have moved on we made it so easy for the incumbents. Even Nathan said last night we will need to look at our forward set up...this comment went a little under the radar but it was illuminating. To me it said Goodie (they had discussed it) realised we got it wrong here which is a good thing. Let's hope he fixes it... It's been a problem for a while.

Agree. To an extent. As buck says our defensive efforts all over the ground were poor in the first half, partic in our forward line which enabled the cats to sweep the ball forward quickly. Sure the defensive unit, with one obvious exception, were down but as i said a bizzillion times last year stats like one on one marks and scoring to inside 50s ratio are largely a function of the pressure applied (or lack thereof as the case may be) by our mids and forwards, which is true of all sides, but even more so for us with our aggressive high press. No better example than the first half on sunday. Jetta and lever were exposed in the air because of a lack of pressure on the kick inside 50. Which touches on where i slightly disagree with you praha. I agree that kicking the ball in quickly to our forwards can be effective and is clearly a key strategy. However players still need to assess when it is the right option and too often get this wrong. This occurred a number of times on sunday where we kicked to an out number, were outmarked and the spare ran it out. The other issue for us is critical. We have too many woeful kicks who dont have the basic skill of putting the ball to a forwards advantage. Drives me nuts. Footy 101 and it must do Hogan's head in. Geelong won that game because they could execute that basic skill.

I think you missed something during the trade period... But I do like your optimism: Game 1 of 25!!

It’s not as bad as it has been (the ratio) but Wallace has a point.

Then you could also say that our loss was Fritsch's fault. His smothered kick, by not going back over the mark properly, led to the ball being kicked to the 50:50 contest, which led to the free kick, the 50m and the goal. Attributing the loss to one specific event is so difficult. That being said, agree that you want your leaders to show passion - in the right way. Vince in the 3rd term in a contest was a good example - Lewis not so much.

My 2 cents in reverse order of disposal count: Jake Melksham: I was pretty underwhelmed by Melksham's performance yesterday, especially in the final quarter. Looked cooked - no run, no dash, couldn't deliver any of his outside 50 on the run darts I've come to expect from him last year. Looks like he needs to hit the track again. OUT. Jeff Garlett: Had a bad game, being our leading goal kicker last year, my vote is keep him. Especially up against a Brisbane side full of young defenders with small bodies that he can out manoeuvre and out contest. Zach Tuohy and Harry Taylor are elite, big bodied backmen. IN. Mitch Hannan: 1 Goal 1 Behind, 9 disposals. A solid warning here, not his best game but still young, has the potential to perform well against a Lions side of youngsters like himself. IN. Jake Lever: Just a case of noobishness for him - first game with a new team who play completely different to Adelaide. Will find his form again, maybe played off HB where he started last year with Adelaide? IN. Bayley Fritsch: Performed exactly how I'd expected him to perform. Young, I think we should rest him this week though, so we don't cook him for round 3. OUT. Neville Jetta: Out marked just about every time in the second half. Looks like he's lost his leap and spoiling ability that showed so strong last year. Could just be a poor game for him, stellar performer in just about every game last year, performs are vital role and can lock down some of the best forwards in the game. IN. 1st Warning. Oscar McDonald: A lot has been said about O Mac, so I'll say this: Still obviously a young player, showed some strong form and looked improved over last year at times, only to disappoint again when its counted. Could excel against a young Lions side, IN for now. Christian Salem: Laid some solid tackles, but as some others have said, 12 disposals isn't enough footy for a Mid. He can play some beautiful footy, and has a beautiful kick. Needs to start on the bench rather than as a dedicated Centre. Can rotate him out of the Mid and HB. Unlucky OUT. Cameron Pederson: Suffered from a case of over utilisation I think. Up forward, down back, at the contest as a Ruck, as a Mid. I know he's a designated utility but when we played him forward last year for a spell I feel like the position clicked for him. A Ruck/HF mix for Cam I think will see him return to form. IN. Alex Neal-Bullen: 2.0 at games end with 15 disposals. A decent day for a youngster of 35 games against an experienced and bigger side. Whether I'd keep him at HF is another thing though. Like Salem, should start on the bench for depth and rotations until he's more experienced. IN, with a Warning. Josh Wagner: So much improvement in this guy - some less than stellar moments but I stopped cringing by the 4th quarter whenever he went near the ball, cause it wasn't the instant turnover I'd come to expect - close to a 60/40 split effective use/turnover ratio which is big for Wagner. Laid some outstanding tackles, and generally used his body well. That being said, playing him in the Mid was a mistake, needs to go down back again. IN, with a warning. Corey Maynard: Dig a good job for a quarter on Gaz - not bad for a kid in his second game. Ran out of legs in the end I think, but to lay 7 tackles for a game is a solid effort. Should be rested this week though, no need to over-cook him, we have the depth. OUT. Jesse Hogan: Was it just me or did Jesse appear down back way too often yesterday? Took him away from where he plays best for too long, Jesse was nowhere near goal too many times - he has the body, with the endurance now, to play as a mid/rover but still excels as a Full Forward. Play him as that or don't play him at all. Let's hope he can kick a bag against Brisbane again. IN. Bernie Vince: STARTING HIM ON THE BENCH!? Anyone else think that was ludicrous? He is a starting C/F if he's playing, end of story. Didn't have the influence on the game as we'd come to expect - may have done a better job as a tagger from the outset - definitely if played as a defender on their talls. Poor game from a solid contributor, we still need his experience. IN. Jayden Hunt: Had some good run and carries but looked like Geelong were counting on us using that as part of our game plan and planned to limit it accordingly. Just a poor game from a solid contributor. Tough game took it out of him at the end, as we saw last year could've made the torp from outside 50 but tiredness, pressure and being rushed made him fall short. IN. James Harmes: Poor game from a solid tough nut, who can lob darts at goal most games. Unlucky to be 0.2 at the end of the day - as with the whole team, needs to be able to handle expectation and pressure. IN. Max Gawn: Seriously unlucky to miss that goal - but as an article I read today pointed out - Gawn regularly misses shots from that exact position, so he was just true to his form (laughs). Will bounce back, and an obvious IN. Michael Hibberd: Below par game for him, had some stellar moments especially at the end but I feel like our back line just haven't gelled with Lever yet, but it will come. IN. Jordan Lewis: Undisciplined at times, which was poor. Could see him attempting to marshall the defence in the second half but maybe players didn't hear him? IN for now until he cops a suspension, then drop him a few games after the suspension to cool his jets. Christian Petracca: Missed some crucial goals, but can't really say anything else, obvious IN. Clayton Oliver: Match high of ten tackles, plus a goal, plus being our second best ball getter. Enough said, IN. Nathan Jones: I was worried about Jones after watching the JLT series. He looked cooked at the end of both JLT games and I'm aware he was having back spasms during the pre-season. Combine the two and I was worried he was not going to be up to standard - but this is why he is our Captain. Didn't deliver any seriously uplifting plays like he's capable of (back soreness still maybe?) but a solid contributor with no question of retention. IN. So where does this leave me? Well, this is what my 2 cents worth thinks we should take on Saturday: B: Hibberd, O-Mac, Lever HB: Hunt, Wagner, Jetta C: Jones, Lewis, Tyson HF: Petracca, Pederson, Hannan, F: Garlett, Hogan, Bugg/Kent I can't decide who should be given a chance here. zzzzz FOL: Gawn, Oliver, Vince I/C: Harmes, Frost, ANB.

he most definitely said F to the ump.. i am not annoyed at lewis in the least. leaders have tempers too and this call was bullshyte. he was going for the ball and making the cat accountable. i beileve that lewis genuinely was flabbergasted at the call and realised it was a key point in the game. he lost his temper and no doubt regrets that, but i'd rather have a guy like him out there than a stoned-looking defender with seemingly no worries.

The Game v Geelong Our team is not a bad football unit and has come a very long way from the depths it plumbed 4 or 5 years ago. That we were unable to do the business with Geelong, does not at all mean we are a poor outfit. It means we still have a lot of learning and development to do. Each loss is another lesson as to what it takes to be the best at this level, painful as that may be. There would not be a person here that didn't want a win. However, many here could see the haphazard entries into the forward 50 became the root of our undoing, allowing easy and controlled entry into Geelong's forward 50, and goals to them, of course. That we get a wake up call so early in the year, may be a blessing in disguise. Both some players and many posters here, saw the task as easier than it proved to be. They cast Geelong as a shadow of its former self and that our "depth" would see us win comfortably. The Game v Lions We are now all on notice, there is no such thing as an easy AFL game. That will hopefully stand us in good stead for the game against the Lions this week. We should have learned that body strength is something we lacked in every line and that the team selected was very one paced. Ins for me are:- Tyson, Frost and Brayshaw. Outs for me are:- Maynard, Wagner and Harmes. We had way too many same sized same paced half back flankers last week. We could have used an extra variant, a strong, fast, tall. Frosty can be that person but needs a lot of guidance to lower his eyes and not to take on more than he should. This would allow Lever to be an intercept player, not a 1 on 1 (a role not asked of him at the Crows). Wags improved from a terrible first half, but offers nothing that Jones, Vince, Lewis or Salo could do at half back. These 3 or 4 will be retained, so Wags gets it, although he was not our worst player, just a type that we have too many of. There is competition for spots and tough calls to be made. We were unable to make good use of Max's premier service to our mids. Young Maynard whilst a tough nut, butchered the ball and coughed it up to the opposition just too often. We cannot afford that. Tyson has questionable foot skills but better hands and a little more nouse. Maybe Corey's time will come, but not just yet. The 3rd change would be either ANB or Harmes who play similar mid/high half forward roles. I think ANB will hold his spot so Harmes makes way for Gus who can deliver the ball forward far more precisely and hit a leading target. We lacked precision (and leading targets) against the Cats and need to remedy that ASAP. Without under estimating the Lions, adding some polish to the list will improve us from last week. Hopefully Goody can see it in his mind that we lacked versatility and a bit of experience.

The thing I don't understand is that I thought this year was not about development, it was about finals and going all out to win. Why then, did we play a 3rd gamer on Ablett? I don't have a problem trying kids and giving them a go, and thought Frisch was very good. But if you are serious about winning, you play Tyson or Brayshaw, hell you play Stretch before you play Maynard. This is not a knock on Maynard, who I think will be good, but not only is he a kid, he also doesn't have a footy background. You are asking a lot of him, and we needed to win this game! We lost by 3 points, and I can't believe that there is a single person on here who doesn't think Tyson in Maynard out doesn't give us that 3 point deficit back. 4 crucial premiership points down the drain. This will be another close season, and this loss may not be the difference between finals or no finals, but maybe it will be the difference between top 4 or a home final. If we've learnt anything from last year, is that we cannot blow opportunities like these! If we don't come out and absolutely demolish Brisbane and North, then it shows me that we have not matured at all after last year's disgraceful effort!

Oh cry me a river you spineless yellow bellies

As a football supporter you have to be prepared that reaching that type of ongoing dynasty level like that Geelong side experienced may never happen. Since the turn of the century there's probably been four teams that were clearly stronger than the rest. In many season there hasn't been a standout side, the last few years included. This isn't an issue only for Melbourne supporters. Honestly mate, we all want to win a flag and watch our team dominate. The feeling of winning is truly addictive, that's why some people go mad seeking it (see: Australian cricket team). Just don't attach your mental health to this team's success or otherwise you will suck all the fun out of it for yourself.

It's football. Your team disappointing you comes with the territory. Every single team, even whichever team wins the flag, will have moments in the season where they suffer massive disappointment. And I would have thought this loss, for a Melbourne supporter who got to enjoy the early half of the Bailey era and the entire Neeld era, this one was a pretty moderate pain to endure compared to the past. Despite the overwhelming disappointment, I really enjoyed the actual game of footy.