Leaderboard

Goodwin banged on that Harley needed to work on his defensive pressure. Melksham 3 disposal 0 tackled Hunt 4 disposal 4 disposal 1 tackle.. We are a garbage football club. Something is rotting at the football club. We have the talent on paper, but our coaching is a shambles.

Hibbered and Tracca were the only positives. And an even special shout out to Hibbo. Bloke has been through the hell the past 3 months and his last 2 weeks have been fantastic. Lever, Smith, Oliver, Viney, Hunt, Melksham can all GAGF

I watched some of the second half through the fence, was difficult to see what was going on at times but saw Weid kick at least two, one from a smart lead and nice hit up by ANB and the other from a well judged contested mark. Harley Bennell looked a level above and looked as though he was barely trying. Skills and running patterns were elite. The other stand out for me was Kyle Dunkley who looked really good in the middle and in the clinches around the ground. Can't offer much more than that unfortunately, except that I stood in dog [censored] as I was walking back to my car.

Went down and peered through the cyclone wire fence on Punt Road. Got there early in 2nd quarter. I’m not a training reporter like the more storied contributors here, but in the absence of other reports I guess it’s better than nothing. It was a relatively free flowing affair, not with the same level of contested-ness as you would see in a game for points. However, individual contests for a contested ball were still fought keenly. They seemed to have a “time out” in the middle of each quarter for a quick huddle with coaches. Richmond had Soldo, Pickett, Stack and Bolton going through the midfield, which is a high quality outfit at VFL level, and is worth bearing in mind when assessing the form of our mids. Harley was in another postcode in terms of class as he roamed the field getting possessions at will, having loads of time and using the ball well. A pleasure to watch. When I got there LJ was doing the rucking, and Preuss was forward with Weid; Preuss didn’t play after half time, and Oscar came on. Brown was playing in the backline early, then went forward after half time. Bradtke was in the ruck in the 2nd half. The best bit was that while Soldo and co pretty much monstered our rucks, our mids were excellent. JJ was in great form - good in the contest, working hard on the spread and smart and precise in delivery; went to half back later in the game. Dunkley also very good, with similar comments to the ones on JJ. Oskar Baker seemed to work his way into the game well after being quiet when I first arrived. Tom Sparrow was busy, and Corey Wagner was useful, including a purple patch where he was finding it, linking and breaking lines - several score assists. Nev was Nev and Nibbler was NIbbler, both being good contributors; Spargo was quiet from what I could see. Bradtke was at a disadvantage strength-wise against Soldo but he is good at ground level. Brown and Weid kicked a few each as I recall. Neither was dominant, but Weid was useful and provided a mobile target in an open game; there were intermittent showers, so the ball was not ideal for marking forwards. LJ was also a forward target in 2nd half, and was good at ground level on the occasions he was in the play. As I said, best bits were Harley and the mids in general, especially the young ones. And their head to head performance against more experienced opponents was excellent.

The positive (note the singular): A big shout out to Michael Hibberd. The guy is under way more duress than any other player in the team and still managed to shine.

It's an actual talent to take Oliver, Petracca and Brayshaw combined with Gawn and be useless. On paper that is the most talented starting midfield in the league, in practice on the other hand ?

We can play when we choose to. It is frustrating as all heck. May and Hibberd huge in the second half. Hibberd might be a bit of a butcher but his efforts are crucial. Petracca is a star. If Oliver wants to be one he needs to fix those kicks under no pressure and do it yesterday.

Look at this... Viney with the ball kicking inside 50. Left to right he has Hunt running to space, McDonald on his own with no one near him and Langdon on his own with no one near him. Where does it go? Long bomb to Fritsch in a 1v3 That not a problem with the forward structure. It's just taking the wrong option when going inside 50. Much as I like Viney, he is one of the worst offenders.

How lovely it was to come on to the site after a pretty deflating loss, and find this thread. Lovely in the fact that there is no anger, just acceptance of the inevitable of the cycle of this club. I cannot be bothered to dissect individual players, critique Goodwin and the FD, or even analyse the game plan. It genuinely genuinely genuinely feels like we've gone back 8 years. Not that anyone knows me, or care really, but I'm opting out of the rest of the season, and the reason I am expressing this, is that I dare say I will not be the only one. Are we at our lowest ebb? Probably not, but jeez, as a country member who has only a few links to the Melbourne City itself... I seriously need to ask myself why would I choose to continue to fund an entity that gives very very little joy.

The board should ask for financial assistance from the AFL now if they think the members are going to fork over $700K watching that rubbish then they’re living in fairy land

Execution, execution, execution. That Oliver turnover in the last minutes summed it all up. Nothing to do with Goodwin or the coaches, nothing to do with the system, everything to do with the players' failure to be able to execute even simple kicks/handballs, yet alone under pressure. Petracca one of the few exceptions.

Hibberd has actually been good since coming back into the team

The only meaningful contest today will be doomsayers versus turd polishers in the post game thread.

I appreciate that you’re being positive but we’re a bottom two side.

Forget sending the team to the hub. Lock them down in the housing commission towers so they can get a taste of real life. They are living in fantasy land if they thought they played an AFL standard game.

Sugar coat that one biatches VDB done Smith never to be seen again. Cost us at least 5 goals Lever - what a mistake Oliver - overated lair that can't kick or handball Brayshaw - turnover merchant who goes missing Viney - courageous but limited footballer who excels at hitting up opposition players TMac - Is it possible he is worse than his brother? Half way through the 3rd qtr there were 9 Melbourne players with 3 disposals or less. Hibberd best game in 2 years Trac hold your head up.

Ugly and embarrassing. melks had a player running to his right, tries to get around man on the mark and gets tackled. Brain fade. Tomlinson backed out of how many contests. Chipped it inside 50 to someone with players right on his [censored]. Might as well boot it closer to goal. May kicks it to a player with 3 tigers on him in the middle of the ground. a lot of these things you can’t coach but you know what you can do as a coach? Not put up with that and have that type of player in your team. Discuss those things with that player and make them earn a spot. goodwin changing absolutely nothing. I never see him on the phone. Hardwick was going nuts in the box at one stage. Good! He expects more!!! smith wtf??? I just can’t. But hey, goody will keep him in for the rest of the year. Why not! It’s the goody way. tmac was our second forward option in 2018 and had the second best defender hence why he was fantastic. Either put him down back, bring a big tall in or p**s him off. I just can’t deal

So disappointed, and increasingly fearful for the Club. It seems we’re headed for another down period. I don’t like the chances of supporters staying with the Club this time. There’s a limit to the number of times you ask people to believe only to disappoint them.

It's unbearable watching us make the same mistakes every week. The two key issues we've had since Goodwin took over are poor remain. We can't hit targets and we turn it over at crucial times. The negative comments about Lever in this thread only serve to highlight the almighty prejudice Demonland has against the obvious whipping boy of the club. If you're focusing on our defensive structure/setup as our problem, you don't get it. This is all about turnovers in the middle and, worse, across half forward. This is about playing all of Melksham, Hannan, vandenBerg and Fritsch and having only two of them (the latter two) show up (and even then, Fritsch's kicking was appalling). This is about Oliver failing to chase and turning over all of his kicks. This is about Viney showing us he's most likely incapable of changing how he plays and continuing to bomb the ball without looking. This is about Tomlinson kicking to Langdon on a tight angle when the game was there to be won. Hibberd was excellent, right back to his best and with good kicking to boot. Gawn was, again, good, as was Petracca, but we say that almost every week. Gawn plays well, one of the mids plays well, we generate a stack of inside 50s, but we can't score. We need a second tall forward to give us something to aim at. And then we need 90% of our side to improve their kicking. Until those things happen, we won't win games of football. And that is on both the players and the coaches, together. It's not one or the other. It's both.

After 2019: “We will bounce back and never be that bad again”. Melbourne 2020: “Hold my beer”.

Listened to the podcast with Glenn Bartlett during the week. Thought he was doing ok till he scoffed at the question about there being pressure on Goody considering our garbage record over the past 18 months. Came across as arrogant and dismissive of the growing anger from the supporter base. The excuse for last year was injuries etc. An aberration they said. With the best injury run I can ever remember we look to have given north a top 3 pick while managing to go backwards on even last years form. There is something unfixable about this club. Spent the day concreting and only remembered the game was on a few minutes ago. Realised the best way to spend my weekends was Demon free. Think I will take that approach every week now. The club has a mountain of a task to retain my 3 memberships next year. Im sure i wont be the only one.

Thank heavens for Corona! I t means I can’t watch this [censored] live and it will be a mercifully short season

Fritsch is so much better when played as a high half forward. The problem is that we still have not a single marking forward inside 50. Why they refuse to play Weid is beyond me.

Derm has his say. https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/afl/afl-2020-melbourne-loss-to-richmond-dermott-brereton-on-fox-footy-the-first-crack/news-story/3b4c413869d50ad8be639aca2bc5f81f?__twitter_impression=true

I used to get offended when commentators called us an irrelevant team. But that is exactly what we are. I can't ever remember an opposition laughing and smiling as much as i saw today. They simply don't rate us and nor should they. We are a laughing stock!

Geez it’s difficult supporting this club. They make it so hard to enjoy the footy. I wasn’t even upset or angry at the result because the MFC has conditioned me into expecting the worst and they deliver on most occasions. We are so frustrating and yet again another season lost, another season missing the finals, another season watching another team win the premiership and watching more teams go past us. Also to top it off this season we are handing over what looks like pic 2 to north. It really is frustrating and annoying to see this happen to a club I love and the worst is the nightmare doesn’t seem to be ending When will it ever change.

bing, this is a cop out we've been seeing on here since the Daniher days. Oliver had a brain fade and yes that isn't a grand reflection of Goodwin's coaching but the performance is ultimately symbolic of it. The pressure team's put us under, the structure, the transition, the defensive breakdowns are clearly, unequivocally a reflection of the coaching. Oliver had a bad game. That's fine and it happens. But let's not give Goodwin a pass here. And Oliver isn't the reason we lost.

Cotchin during half time interview: "I'm sure that Melbourne will look at a few things" I can almost guarantee that won't happen.

Just saw a dude wearing a Demons windbreaker at the Ainslie shops. I'm taking that as an omen that Vanders (The Pride of Ainslie) will have a big game: strong grabs, good ball use, and some crunching tackles. Also, on the walk home an old fella said "G'day digger." I'm not exactly sure how that relates to the Dees and omens but I'll continue trying to find a link. Dees by two goals.

We need to win this one or it's getting very close to goodbye finals. Unfortunately, my totally despondent and bitter self just does not see it happening! Last week's side could only manage an under 14's score. What has changed? This season has been [censored] up but that doesn't account for the fact that two problems that continually plague us remain. These are - The inability to play 4 ( even shortened) quarters of decent footy and the inability to turn inside 50's into scores. How or why is it going to change today? Bah! I'm so depressed, I can't even be bothered giving the maid a jolly good thrashing.

Pfft what can I day that hasn't already been said? We stink right now plain and simple. Can you explain what is wrong with us in a sentence? Not really, a complicated and confusing gameplan means a complicated and confusing explanation as to why we are the way we are. Intensity was there yes. Apart from some dragging their feet when we'd lose the ball I'd say general effort was there, but the 3 words I'd use to describe us are dumb, dumb, dumb. I honestly don't get it, rudimentary things that you learn in junior footy and showing that we are consistently inept when executing them. I can't remember the last time I would see us with the ball and a man free 20 metres away and not only do we not hit the simple target WE GET NOWHERE NEAR IT! I honestly can't remember this happening more in a game. I saw very little in Richmond today. They're a good side, they take their chances but they were beatable today and most of their goals came from our mistakes. So many moments where the 50-50 ball in the middle was there to be won and had we won it could have created something but we'd lose it and they would walk it in for a score. Oh did I mention stupid stupid errors? I don't care if I did already I'm going to say it again, if you are playing AFL football at this level being paid triple figures I don't care what Covid has done or if you need to get a flight after the game, a 5 metre handball is a 5 metre handball and you need to hit the target 9 times out of 10, not 5, not 7, at least 9. Please just get that through your heads if nothing else. I'd really had enough when we had clawed 2 goals back and then Clarry gathered it and handballed at Smith's shoelaces. You handball so darn much Clarry you should be good at it by now. Is our backline good? I wouldn't have a clue right now. They aren't bad but that doesn't mean they don't make some stupid defensive errors. They also aren't willing to work that extra 5% to help each other out. That last goal I thought May was doing everything to prevent us conceding yet we end up finding a way to fluff it, I really didn't think his effort deserved that but no-one wanted to put their body on the line at that monent. Guess it was the end of the game so who cares yeah? Nankervis got injured, they played some flub wingman in the ruck and we STILL couldn't get on top in clearances. We have a full side to choose from damn it. When the ball goes into our 50 and there's a rare occasion it doesn't come out the level of our output is just not high enough. If it's a stoppage we win we'll hack kick it down their throat for a mark, if they win the stoppage, they will hack kick it out and low and behold a guy is their to mark it. If these things don't happen they will just win the ball and run it out. On a case by case basis these instances just need to be better full stop. Get pressure on the kicker so they don't get that escape kick so easily and maybe we can force another ball up or throw in inside our 50. Fight for another stoppage, start getting the minutes inside our 50 up. If we are going to play this game style these are the 1%ers that need to start happening because it's all well and good to say oh well let's just get another inside 50, we're banging our head against a wall. I haven't even talked about the forward setup, and I won't. Good efforts - Petracca the only real player out there, Hibbo was important and is fighting for his spot with everything, Hannan at least tries to add to pressure and played well. Kozzie gives you hope in the 50. T-mac worked hard, hopefully he can keep working and inching his way back into form. Harmes is not being used properly and should be in the middle more. He is our best gut runner and we started rolling when he went in there. There's plenty more to say but I can't be bothered, I have a headache after the last 2 hours of watching, another grand old way to finish the weekend.

What does Goodwin do on GameDay though? Does Goodwin select the team on a Thursday? He is the one who selected Smith on Riewoldt and kept him there. He is the one who refuses to play a 2nd tall forward. He is the one who won't play Jones or Jetta whenwe are crying out for onfield leadership. He is the one who won't play Bennell when we are crying out for good ball users. He is the one who refuses to play Harmes in the middle and persists with Oliver and Viney though they are both one dimensional players who have had zero impact on games for 18 months. I could go on.

I can handle skill errors as frustrating as they are, every AFL player butchers kicks or hand passes and that is surely not the coaching staff’s fault because I’m confident they don’t say “Fellas, move it through the middle fast, and then shank one to the opposition so we are hopelessly out positioned and give up an easy goal.”. What I can’t handle are quick kicks from a won centre hit out in the 6-6-6 era going to an unmanned defender 40 out directly in front. The rushed kick ALWAYS goes there. What I can’t handle is three defenders flying and not killing the ball, and then other times no defenders flying and the opponent’s tallest player marking uncontested, or the opposition hitting up an unmanned teammate 40 out straight in front from a stopped play situation. Either the structures being coached don’t work, or the players aren’t doing what they are instructed to do. Or both. If the coaches aren’t stubborn (I have it on authority they do play favourites and are stubborn...) then they will know what is going on, and what they need to change. I’m not optimistic it will get sorted out.

I think I would make a statement and drop one of Oliver or Brayshaw and bring in one of the young mids, Dunkley, Jordan or Sparrow and we have to bring in Weideman, let’s see what he has got.

Vandenberg - rugged suburban footballer Hunt - skinny suburban footballer Viney - pack busting suburban footballer Smith - promising suburban footballer

I've been taking notice of Oliver, and to a lesser extent Braysaw over the last few weeks. Oli consistently flicks the ball off and when the ball leaves the area he stops. When Oliver has to tackle, often the tackle slips off. Allowing the opponent away. So many of Oliver's physical efforts at opposition are impotent. He has allowed his game and efforts since 2018 to just jog along, like he does. He needs a big attitude change.

Can we please agree that Smith needs to go and Oscar deserves a game as we need an actual defender?

Yeah look i am ready to pack it i to be honest. Not just the Dee's, but AFL in general. I got howled down on here back in March by the likes drysdale demon for refusing to buy a membership due to financial strain, and my brother battling cancer. We've had to do so many round trips each week to Melbourne from Albury just to see him. Now we are barred from seeing him unfortunately. This is on top of my Mrs losing her job over covid and trying to support a young 7 month old as well. I eventually bought a membership just to at least have some form of hope but also give back to the club during the difficult time. A part of me wishes I didn't buy a membership now... I'm beginning to lose interest in the game itself. I have other new hobbies that I'd like to invest more time and money into just to keep me sane. Bit sad to read all the comments to be honest. I only post on here because we are like one big family. We argue, we laugh, and we all love this club. But it's getting to the point where you do ask we'll we ever see success. I've always been someone to at least have some hope, but even now it's just slowly fading away. I personally also think footy will never be the same again.. the world itself will not be the same also. It scares me to think where will be in 5 years time.

The Club would be attracting very few new supporters. Why would any person choose to support MFC other than for family type reasons? And even then, some kids may refuse to support MFC because of the team's longstanding lack of success. The Club is a laughing stock. How many supporters, let alone members, will the Club have in 10-20 years time? I suspect that a high proportion of supporters/members are oldies like me. We may have dropped off the perch by then. Or be in nursing homes. I started following the Dees in 1968. Zero success until the John Northey years. And that success was limited. There were a few years where the Club could have pinched a flag, but sadly it didn't happen. I am a cheerful soul. I'm not angry, just slightly wistful. I am so jealous of Bulldogs' fans who saw their time just pinch a flag along the way. Something I'll never see. Excuse these ramblings...

Brayshaw was 100 million times better than Oliver today.

Melksham is supposed to be one of our key creative and clever players bringing the ball inside 50. Today he kicked two goals and a behind... and yet had one of the worst individual games possible. That was, apparently, all of his disposals. He also gave away at least one goal with a dumb free kick against. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last week, thinking he had been a bit unlucky, but the only gain from hsi performance this week is that we definitely have someone to drop when we bring in the second tall forward we so despetately need to make McDonald a little less predictable and to allow Fritsch to do what he is best at instead of being 'the' forward target.

Goodwin does not demand excellence, his teaching methods are not good enough. I am sure he wants the best, but he is not capable of achieving it We need an experienced Coach. ( We needed to have Roos for way longer than 3 years) This Club has been down too long

Definitely would have preferred to be out in the fresh air than the last 2 hours of viewing.

That was unacceptable by every measure. If the gameplan works, why do we only play it for short periods? Why do we persist with players who frankly cannot cut it? Why dont we show commitment to shut down opposition when they get going? Why do we make such appalling decisions and skill errors? Oliver should be dropped - he cost us at least 2 goals directly (handball to smith on his boots from 3 m away) and that woeful kick in the middle. He gets the ball and his panic release makes him a liability. Too many passengers, not enough pressure, not enough commitment to deliver on the plan. Trac was a gem, Hibbard best game in ages. It is really hard to feel anything good after that. It is a [censored] time right now, and it would be nice to barrack for a team that actually cared.

Urgh, I was screaming at my TV during this play. Seeing the image makes it worse. Immensely frustrating.

Just my opinion, but we are terrible and Goodwin has to go.

Oliver’s handball to Gawn then is why he will never be a great player. He chooses terrible options time and time again. He has got worse since he started.