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Put aside the last 15 minutes. We ran out of juice, the Tigers are reigning premiers and they got some cheap goals. It wasn't similar at all to last weekend. But, there were some key moments tonight that contributed to the loss, and they were moments we are having too often to be a consistent side. The first one is our forward line and not taking our chances. In the third term especially we dominated for a large period and, while we did kick a few, it should have been more. We fluffed some chances, Hogan hits the post... we just couldn't put our domination on the scoreboard. They go down, get a cheap goal and it really hurts. The goal at the end of the third term was the one that hurt us the most - Lloyd getting a cheap goal out the back took their lead above 3 goals and we had nothing to show for our efforts. The second is the little things - too many people up in the contest, two players going for the same ground ball, fumbling in key areas, missing simple targets and so on. We do them too often. To be a top class side you need to pick the damn thing up, then spread and support. We CAN do it, we just don't do it often enough. It's our 'bottom six' that do it the most - ANB, Harmes, Wagner etc. They just don't do things first time. I don't think the scoreline reflects the effort we put in and the pressure we were able to apply. It's a shame, but switch off against a good side and that's what happens. On the positive side, I thought Gawn was immense, Hogan had another great night, Weideman showed some promising signs before fading (he did well in the ruck, too), Melksham kicked 4 and did a great defensive job on Rance, while guys like Salem, Oliver and Trac tried hard but didn't get enough support. I also thought O Mac and Lever played their best game together. I think Goodwin tried a few different things but, in the end, it wasn't enough and we fell back into the bad habits that are costing us games of footy. Until we eradicate those then we can't move forward. I think we can beat the Bombers at Etihad and I think we'll enjoy playing in conditions that aren't condusive to fumbling. We've played the Lions, Hawks and now Tigers in slippery conditions and struggled with it in two of them. I'll be interested to see how we go without it next week. Keep your chin up if you can, everyone. I think we can still improve from here and become the side we all want it to be. There is just lots of work ahead for the club to do.

Look, Richmond are a good side. Until mid last quarter, I was accepting being outclassed by quality, the effort had been there. We all know we’re not premiership quality yet. But to roll over and wave the white flag in the last quarter a second game in a row? I’m fucking furious.

Surprised that Weideman is getting the criticism. Was probably his best match for the club, and while that’s not saying heaps, he’s progressing while many of our other young players have seemingly gone backwards.

Mate you're a troll and have no idea what you're even talking about..

What? Jesus Norm, what a shocker of a post.

Looks like Saty owes an apology to the 'nuff nuffs'. Once again he is spectacularly wrong. Embarrassing stuff.

It was a 14 point margin 10 early in the fourth quarter. We ran out of puff one down on the bench and the best side in the comp got a run of goals on, but the issue isn't the last 15 minutes. The issue is that we have now played 5 straight games with the same problems each week. For the first 16 minutes of the third quarter, Richmond had one possession in their forward half. One. Inside 50s were 12-1. But we'd only kicked 2 goals when we should have kicked 5. We lifted our effort for those 16 minutes, we dominated general play, but we continue to stuff it up inside 50. Same problem in Q1 - the first 10 minutes was predominantly played in our forward half but we kicked 1.6 or something and didn't put any scoreboard pressure on. A few things are apparent. The first is that opposition sides know how to set up against us and it's the same every week - an extra defender behind the play. I'm embarrassed that we can't work out what to do to get around this tactic. Literally every side has used this against us to their advantage. What is also apparent is we have far too many NQR players who aren't good enough: ANB, Wagner, Stretch, Harmes, Vince, Hunt, Tyson. Our reliance on NQR players leads to too many going up and none staying down, momentum-killing turnovers, selfishness creeping into the better players (Gawn a prime example), wasted inside 50s. Too much is being left to too few. Oliver and Petracca are expected to be leading the club but they have no support. Gawn is dominating the ruck but we can't buy a clearance. There were positives: the back 6 was markedly better this week. Eventually the toll of our awful forward line/midfield was too much, but for much of the game our backline held its own. OMac and Lever are improving, Lever's best game. Hibberd and Jetta also played much better. But if the coaches can't work out how to get the side to score when the opposition drops an extra behind the ball, we're not going to get close to the finals. It's simply not good enough.

Me if we win....

Richmond have beaten the two bottom of the ladder teams in Brisbane and Carlton and have beaten an up and down Hawthorn and lost to an injury depleted Adelaide. Grow some nuts, Melbourne by 64.

Before we start jumping off the West Gate, again, let's wait and hear from a trusted source about issue first. Right now all we know, from a rumour, is McCartney will be on the bench instead of the coaches box. We know nothing else, regardless of what someone like Tom Morris (who has come up with some absolute shite this year) has to say on the matter.

Worst skilled side in the AFL. Effort has been fine. Game plan putrid. Refuse to switch. They have no idea what they are doing. Evert kick is to a pack. Putrid football.

Dazzle is in no way a troll. You were just caught out making stuff up as you go. Cop it on the chin.

He developed a group of Premiership players that Beveridge was the beneficiary of!

As usual....rain forecast for our big home game. Bloody Watts!

So Saty is “ On Track “ again with the below.

The biggest issue is the game plan! I feel like a broken record saying it. I find it hard to judge the players when clearly they've been told to run together in a wave. Yes, they seem to win a lot of the contest. But everything is rushed. They bang it on the boot inside 50, they handball to a teammate in danger. Then when it's lost the opposition gets out far too easily because they were all in or around that wave. It is just so incredibly inefficient. The inefficiency is the cause of the fade outs. If it was one of two game plans fine, I wouldn't see an issue running with it for half a quartet at a time. But it's not. There no plan B. There's no spread. There's no hitting up the short chip or mid-range kicks. In fact they're very little kicking to a lead up man (because there was no spread in the first place). Yes we got out classed, but it was only because of a [censored] poor game plan. I'm sick of it. The coaching staff need to improve "their" game first and foremost!

Exposed for clearance ability and exposed for outside run by Richmond's bevy of small hard-running forwards. It's the first game I've seen this year where we've really missed Viney's influence and hardness around the contest and with Oliver and Petracca unable to win clean clearances it was good night Dees because our advantage was in the ruck and we again got no benefit from it and frustratingly for Gawny, the umps rarely look after him like they used to with Jimmy. Apart from Viney, the one player we really miss is an outside run type - no wonder there are already rumours that we are after Gaff for next season. Stretch came in to try and play that role tonight and sadly he wasn't able to get clean ball - it was slippery and Richmond are the night experts - they pick hardworking, quick players to go with their handful of genuine stars and it's working. It's easy to say in hindsight that in those conditions the last player you want on the field is Jeffy, but his no-show tonight makes it tricky for next week because Etihad will clearly suit him better and he is the first player that should be dropped on tonight's game. You could also easily make a case for rejigging our midfield set up - getting Vince back in there for instance - but Essendon isn't noted for their hardball players - it is more of an outside run team. Despite the loss there were plenty of positives IMO. Hibberd returned to his 2017 form and his courageous fly back into Riewoldt was unbelievable. Hoges showed that he can kick more than 50m on at least two occasions (this has been my main criticism of him) and his second half was brilliant. Lever was impressive, in fact most of our defenders were. It was only in the last term that under siege, the damwall broke. OMac second term was phenomenal and Wagner was great in first half before losing his way a little. Hunt's rabid attack on players was great, although his disposal again let him down. Jetta did a great job on a resting Dusty for much of the night and was another worthy of a pass mark. But he must play again next week. What we learnt tonight is that we are a fair way off the pace of the Tigers and probably a couple of other teams. The pessimists will say we won't make the finals, but there's very little difference between teams 4 and 13 - we just have to bring our best to the table regularly enough and ultimately the return of Jack Viney in Round 8 (hopefully) will determine how far we go.

Four marks and five tackles from a developing key forward is pretty decent. That is what we want to see from him. It would have been nice if he slotted that shot on goal, but it was a decent showing from him.

Well, it was an improvement on last week. Honestly, we took it right to them for three quarters basically through raw effort. I take that as a positive. The shocking gameplan was still there,especially in the second quarter. I also wonder if the chronic fumbles were due to the perceived pressure they felt they were under due to Richmond's reputation. Overall, I'm far happier with this than I was with last week's effort. It's also good to see a few players standing up who were looking cooked. Lever had his best game for the club (all five of them), Jetta seems to have thrown off whatever was bothering him and someone gave Gus a good kicking at half time because he came out firing in the second half. Also very nice to see Oliver nailing Dusty in a tackle, Jones playing like a leader and Gawn dominating. Melksham kicking four was quite nice too. Also, I don't get the bagging of the Weed tonight. He shanked that shot on goal, but he also made his presence felt, laid tackles, took some marks and showed some really good hands. On the negative, THE UMPIRES! Holy Hell they were biased tonight. That spear tackle into Jones' back? How was that not called? Is it only a push in the back if it's in a marking contest now? The same umpire that paid multiple HTB against us in range of goals refused to pay any against them, even when Dusty took on three tacklers and then threw the ball to a teammate when he was caught. Also agree with the comment previously that they throw the ball constantly. And trip! I saw at three trips not paid, at least one of which should be a suspension from previous cases. Wagner was shyte tonight. Kent has done a Hammy again. Stretch and ANB came to the club together and probably need to leave it together as well. Still, at least they looked like they gave a damn tonight. Maybe if Goody can bring himself to admit his gameplan is shot and get someone who knows how to set forward structures properly we could see an improvement. Oh, and we need to get a specialist kicking coach.

That's a Bullsh-t comment. I suppose you think we would have developed football skills and learned a decent gameplan at the 2 day camp.

It usually takes at least 24 hours for a post like this to emerge. You’re mostly right, but it’s hard to see/admit it right now.

I wonder if PJ is still offended by the criticism of Goodwins coaching because we have no game plan, no structure and we leak goals like a sieve. Garlett should never play again. Likewise Harmes and ANB - they are just substandard. This Club gives its supporters so little so often. I’m seriously disillusioned.

No change;) Why change a winning line up?

Again i wonder about the external communication by the dees. Add this to the growing list of communication blunders (the departure of watts, the camp, the silence after the round 23 pies game, the woeful website etc). I mean as if in the AFL fishbowl that exists in Melbourne someone was not going to pick this story up (and really it is unbelievable it was a person contracted by the MFC who ran with it). Sheesh. Comms 101 is to get ahead of stories, which could have easily happened in a casual, informal way. For eg mahoney booking a interview on the weekend and responding to the inevitable question about how we respond to last weeks game, with an answer like: 'We have looked at the game as an opportunity to improve all all aspects of how we go about things, including how we can better communicate key messages to our players when the opposition gets a run on. It is easy to forget how young our list is and we have two key leaders in TMac and Jack out so this week we are going to have Macca go back to his role that he played so brilliantly for the last 3 years as a key person communicating directly to players on the bench and conveying messages from the box' Do we do this? No, instead once again we are reactive and in damage control. And to be honest comments such as: 'That’s been the change and there isn’t much more to add to it than that.' begs the question 'well perhaps there is not much more to add but i'm really interested in the bit you are leaving out ' Amateur hour.

A great balanced post. Aside from skill execution we were well in the game until the last with the team touted to be the best around. The last was a major disappointment but the wrist slashing is over the top. We are not as good as pundits predicted so far this year. Nor were Richmond in 2017 but they made some tough decisions at selection and in style and got momentum in the back half with a run of no injuries. Our current state with our lack of mature leadership and the gap with Viney and T-Mac this is not surprising. We need to fix our forward structure (which was much better second half) including maintaining Hogan closer to goal with short grabs up the ground not vice versa. We need to trust that one person can get the ball in the stoppage and retain people on the outside for the first ball out. We need to stop having three up in a contest forward and back. We need to realise that spread is needed for 4 quarters. We need to remove most of those players who cant execute basic skills like Tyson, Harmes, Stretch, Hunt and ANB. We need to maximise our major advantage in Gawn and he needs to realise that every tap is important. We need to have a plan to get the ball out of 50 from a kick in that is not a bail out near the boundary to Hogan/Gawn. Once again nothing is as good or as bad as it seems. Left disappointed but can see it may start to come together if we make some adjustments and that is the most frustrating bit.

Weid showed great signs mate.

Hey come on guys, look on the bright side. We didnt lose by as much as last week...... They didnt double our score...... There were no injuries........ I mean, how many positives do i have to list before you accept we arent that bad ???? Brand Repair, MFC style. P.S. Goody and his defenders can GAGF. You think YOU were offended Jackson?? Ask the members how they feel after another surrender.........

Ahem: Hibbo is excused. Omac, Weeds and a few others had digs. Gameplan is straight up rooted. Any team with half a clue knows how to combat it. Have 1 or 2 spare off the contest, link up then Bam. Money for old rope. Goody either doesnt know or refused to adapt. HUGE worry. Where is Brayshaw, Salem etc? These are rookies anymore. No more excuses. Its not good enough. Get out the broom with guys like Harmes, Stretch, ANB etc. Gone. We dont have a genuine mid that has silk and speed. Yes, we have the grunt work covered, but we are so lacking pose. Vince is cooked. Offers nothing. Cant remember a game where we fumbled more than tonight for a long time. Painful. Well outside the 8 and % is sinking like a lead balloon. Worst of all its supposed to be in honour of the Anzac spirit. We showed none. Folded like a book when it was on the line. We are no where near finals. Not even close. Go and get stuffed MFC.

ANZAC Day eve. Listened to the Sunday rub on triple M and Jay Z Clark spoke about how this game is a little look at what the AFL want to do with the grand final and I couldn't agree more. This is fast starting to overshadow the Collingwood Essendon game tomorrow in my opinion. I think everything is primmed for us to come out breathing fire tonight and we need too. Hopefully the Weed gets a game and good luck to him. Weed and Lever could be book ends for the next 10 years. Speaking of which I think tonight Lever will show why we paid so much. BOG. Dee's by 2 points in a classic.

What does that have to do with it, other than clutching at straws? 2 goals, 22 disposals and 9 marks to this point. That's a terrific game by anybodies standards.

We've had 3 up and then 4 up. I'm going to watch this one out to see if we can get 5 defenders to fly for a ball

Weideman has great hands in close. Moves the ball like a midfielder from stoppages. Really promising start to this game for him.

You have my vote!

No mate, you didn't straighten it up, you dug yourself a massive hole and was proved utterly wrong. It's just a pity you're not man enough to admit your faults like we've all done here in the past. [censored] poor effort by you.

We are so unpredictable we could win by 50 or lose by 80 and everything in between

So one minute he is never in the box, the next minute he does both during games...? Why anybody listens to a thing you say or backs you up in anything is totally beyond me.

My view is that I saw McCartney standing with Goody on Sunday at the VFL. There didn't seem to be any ill feeling. I'd say that perhaps there has been some conflicting messages and goody wants control. I will see my club source on Saturday and will see what he has for me.

Game starts 2 hours earlier here in WA. Bonus.

What's the confusion? I thought he was never in the box?

We can still panic though, can't we? Can't resist a good panic. Don't waste the opportunity!

Morris just doesn’t have the runs on the board for mine so massive grain of salt. If you listen to the MFC podcast (actually a good listen as they do ask the hard questions) Morris mentions he was taken to task over the Freo “story”, that was one of my mates at work who really questions how Morris is going about things. PJ was on the last one (what a man!) and was really annoyed by a question about is Goody a good coach. I would not be surprised if Morris is no longer on the podcast come seasons end, or earlier even though I’m glad the club is not sanitising said podcast.

Sam has just started his third season and is still just 20 years old. I don't know if he will boot 5 tomorrow night but hes gonna be a bloody good player soon enough. Stick fat,. Bobby.

Anyone thought that maybe they were trying him back in the Coaches Box, but given what happened last week, they’ve moved him back down to the bench where he can get closer to the players?

I am so over hearing about season defining games, earning respect and rewriting narratives. Just play some decent F’ing football- for 4 if not 5 quarters