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Not sure what all the fuss is about. We know how it plays out, we know that when we can win, it staves of the doubt for another 72 hours.. we lose and it confirms that the team doesn't care. And it feels like all the emotional effort put in is worthless (and some would argue it ultimately is anyway). Ultimately, it doesnt care about 'us', or 'me' Perhaps that's why I get so angry, because really, I am angry at myself. Where else in my life would I tolerate heartache like this...? So here I am on gameday, having an existential crisis. Of all my 41 years of being alive, these memories flood back Crying whilst on holiday into my banana milk shake when we heard on the radio Jimmy had run over the man on the mark... loving Ricky Jackson coming out of the locker and listening on vinyl to 'some forums' theme tune listening to the reserves reports of Darren Cuthbertson wondering how some freak goal kicking, marking machine couldn't get a a run of games (back injuries I believe) the sexyness of Steven Tingay... kevin Dyson thighs guy rigonis hair a hero called Allen, another called Garry. The anticiaption of a dynasty with David and David as the spine. The spruiking of The Reverend, The joy of Brad Green vs Carlton, The sadness of Troy, Brad Miller kicking 5 against the Saints for my first game back from living overseas, thinking, we've got a superstar here! yze goal square hanger in Geelong whilst we failed to win and merely draw The hollowness whilst present to watch 186, the inconsistency of the mid 90's- 2000's. the awful skills of 2010 plus Aussi Wonnameri vs Freo, First round draft picks...none of them superstars. Mark Neelds hard [censored] attitude as the saviour(!?) Jack Watts against Collingwood...as a first gamer Jack Watts against Collingwood with the titanic In bali for the first time, in some seedy bar going beserk when TMAC kicked the final second goal against WCE to start providing some long lost hope Dean Kent in the West Mitch at the G It's my football supporting life flashing across my eyes... and it's my Hotel California, unfortunately, whatever happens tonight.. I can check out, but I can never leave. Postscript... Here is my son..just now. I am still unsure whether I have consigned him to a life of misery..just look at his head...it hangs low. He knows how to do the Melbourne Supporter look well.

Unrelated to the win but very happy with how the Demonland server has held up post match the past 3 weeks. Changes made have been ?. Not missing a beat. Barely a lag under a heavy post match load.

The moment of the game for mine was Steven May in the third. Caught laird when Adelaide were out, and delivered a beautiful i50 to Fritsch, for a Harley goal. May was immense, and kept us in it until the 4th.

He fumbled a lot tonight but his positioning and run is critical. He does so much good work for us. He can improve on the fumbles, and by jeepers I'd like him to kick a bloody goal next time he gets a shot, but you're a long way off it if you think he should be dropped.

A strong finish made it a convincing win. Some of the worst umpiring I have ever seen. A real coming of age game from Jackson and a gutsy effort from a clearly unfit Max. Let's take the 4 points and see where can go from here. PS the fox commentary was equally as bad as the umpiring PPS Clayton Oliver FMD !!!!

I will be braving the winter cold tonight flying the flag in attendance tonight wish me luck fellow Dees. If we're fair dinkum about the coach and what we stand for as a club it will be 5-6 goal win tonight.

I don't know what to make of this game. We all said it had to be an 8 goal win, which is exactly what we did. But by God, did we stink it up for three quarters before we turned it on big time at the end. However, what we can't overlook is the fact that we beat up a very young side that hasn't won a game all season. If this was a Richmond, then you would be fist pumping. As it's Adelaide, it's more a sigh of relief. Oliver, Viney and Trac all stood up for us when we needed it most. In that last term when we would have been a bit nervous and the confidence still dodgy, they worked their backsides off to kill off the contest and get us over the line. And a special mention to Gus for his second half - where has that been? He was terrific and looked better than he has all season. But if those mids won it, then it was our backline that kept us in it during the first three quarters. May was fantastic and is showing exactly why we wanted to get him to the club. He made Walker look like a joke, he spoiled and took contested marks and backed up all the boys with some real aggression. Keeping them to five goals, and 1 in the second half, is a great effort even though it was against the bottom side. You still have to do it. We still have problems. Skills and decision making is a worry, as always, and we still have a few passengers. ANB and AVB gave us little, while outside of a class goal, Bennell couldn't get near it. We got smashed around the clearances in the first half and we are lucky we had our backline to save us. Umpiring was the worst I've ever seen, too. Just atrocious. But you know what? We are 4-5, which is almost hard to believe. Win this weekend and we are 5-5 with a game in hand, which is almost incredible. Enjoy the win and lets smash the Kangas on Sunday! P.S - Plus we need to persist with Weid and Jackson. Five goals, plenty of contests and some class from Jacko as well. They make a good combo!

This is the number one issue i have with Goodwin's decision making this season. It just beggars belief to be honest and is a big factor in me beginning to question if he is up to the job. In any normal season the most successful teams are the ones who know their system inside out, every player knows their role, teammates trust each other to play their role, things look automatic etc etc. This is not a normal season. Call me crazy, but i would have thought in a season where so much is out of team's control and the routines elite athletes and teams swear by are all over the place that sticking to the systems and structures you have drilled into the team over years (and all preseason) would be even more important. It is the one thing they can actually have measure of control over. Look at the tigers last night. Their system just ground down the lions. Relentless. Predictable. Machine like. Goody has talked for three years about the Melbourne brand, that dees fans need know what to expect week in, week out. But we have no idea what to expect anymore because of his bizarre selections and chopping and changing structures. Just crazy. You only need to look at our forward line. Start the season with two forwards, restart the season with one, swap back to two and when it appears that is working try three (in a big game against the top of the ladder team)! And then one week later go back to two and tell a media conference that the one game three man forward line experiment is dead. I mean seriously WTF?

We won all four quarters, and the fourth quarter was obviously everything we wanted at three quarter time. Gawn wasn't dominant at all but we worked into the stoppages/clearances as we went. But we have to bear in ind that our opponent is a basket case, and we had two extra days break. I'm loathe to read too much into that fourth quarter. So rather than team performance, there were some individual efforts that were super impressive. Oliver was incredible, and the key change he made to burst away from stoppages and get some distance from Adelaide's mids was really important and just what he needed to do. Viney stood up when we needed. Jackson showed a tonne of promise. He and Weideman worked well together, I thought. Lever and May were exceptional in the first half when we were making mistakes and Adelaide had pressure on. Hibberd was also good, Lockhart played his role, and I didn't notice Tomlinson which is probably a good thing. Still passengers galore though: ANB, Jones, Bennell, Sparrow, vandenBerg. Salem struggled, Brayshaw only came into it as Adelaide faded. As I said, I'm loathe to read too much into this. North will be a sterner challenge than Adelaide was, and I dearly hope we don't think tonight has fixed our problems. Finally, looks like vandenBerg is injured?

Eddie, Kingy and Derm whinging about taunting in the game, and they only show the Vanders example. Of course they don't talk about Max being targeted off the ball, including being repeatedly punched in the chest in the first quarter. Or maybe they could talk about McHenry going after May after the ball is gone. Biased umps and biased commentary.

Dear Glen Bartlett, If you want to do something to show this club is serious ask the AFL publicly to explain the free kick differential, and while you are at it ask them to explain the horrifically biased and one sided commentary we have to sit through as supporters. Enough is enough. Collingwood wouldn’t accept it, and why should we? Regards Every [censored] Melbourne Supporter

Brayshaw really lifted in the second half and boy do we look better when he is on.

Anyone notice the way Jackson does those cute over the shoulder handballs into space? Whens the last time you've seen a ruckman look so fluid and mobile the way he does. No wonder why we rated him so highly. He's an extra midfielder everytime we play him in the ruck. Will be elite, watch this space.

Brayshaw on the ball is a different player

This bloke is Melbourne's best recruit in the off season. Good on you Ben. Your videos are fantastic and you are not afraid to ask the tough questions. Keep it up

I'm pleased for Weid, bobs up for 2 goals a game...even in an inconsistent side. Coleman medal form. Imagine if he had decent service.

Brayshaw's second half was hard working and had an influence in the game when it counted in the last quarter. Hopefully now he might recognize how should be playing. Oliver is a super human magnet he just wants the ball in his hands at all costs and reads the game better than anyone.

Epic final quarter. Bring on the Kangaroo peasants. Shout out to the Weid, 10 goals in 5 games since coming back in.

Looking again at the teams I can't believe we dropped Hannan but kept Jones. At least Hannan chases, tackles, looks for targets and has a few goal assists. Haven't looked at stats, just trusting my eyes.

2020 goals Harmes 1 Landgon 0 Gawn 0 Oliver 0 Kick some goals tonight please.

So happy to hear Simon Goodwin stick up for Max. Has fired shots at the umpires for not looking after him behind play. It is very obvious that he gets belted behind play and in marking contests and never gets rewarded with free kicks. I tip my hat to Mr Goodwin for taking a stance on behalf of our skipper

Tomlinson back was fantastic. Clearly he hadn't played there much but hes a big body and can kick. His run was great as well. I'd love to see Goody persevere with him there. So much better than Oscar. And could play on tall or smalls

Who would have guessed that playing a midfielder (angus) in the midfield would actually allow him to play well! People need to cool their jets on angus at least for the moment, he showed glimpses of his 2018 self tonight. Clarry sensational and Lukey Jackson looks like the beginning of a star. I'll be wearing the dees jumper on the zoom meeting tomorrow! Go dees!

Clarry I love ya. Jackson is going to be special. Thank god for Steven May. Brayshaw strong second half when playing in the guts Go Dees.

23 frees to 11. Add all the ones we’re not getting. Worst I’ve seen in a long time and I am an expert at complaining about umpires.

Gold ?

The umps clearly got on the Crows at $3 just like I did. That umpiring was worse than anything I've seen in WA over the years, land of the home cooked umpiring. I reckon Weid is coming on really well. Pretty unconvincing win for me even for 50 pts - it was really just the last quarter the first 3 quarters were pretty rubbish except for Viney and Oliver.

6 to the genius in the box who thought of throwing Brayshaw on the ball for the last. FMD, it's only taken them 8 rounds to figure it out.

Rubbish opposition, but take a bow Clayton Oliver. Wonder if Lloyd still thinks we should trade him?

Oh well if nothing else we clawed back the entire percentage we lost last week. Jackson our first rising star nominee since O Mac?

I probably missed heaps of comments on this but... Leaver got 2 hands an a chest on the ball, it bounved off and was grabbed by Himellberg Paid a mark to Himellberg... WTCF!!

Steven May has been outstanding tonight. He’s a gun.

Yeah the umpiring sucks. But let's talk about us. We suck more. We're barely up in CPs and down in clearances to the 0-9 basket case whose biggest weakness is their midfield. Gawn isn't dominating hit outs, so maybe that's impacted our ability to get on top in the middle. Who knows. I can't stand vandenBerg's OTT faux aggression. His free reversal is inexcusable. ANB and Bennell are giving us nothing, and without Hannan and Pickett we have no forward 50 pressure. And WHY is Brayshaw playing? 4 touches, spending time on the bench. I just don't get it. What is the point?

Remember how we talk about how we're this 'competitive beast' team with too many inside mids? We're getting done in clearances by the worst clearance team in the league.

Agree on May only player who looks like he gives a Crap

Harmes pushed in the back. Play on. Can’t buy a free.

"Thought Tex went to ground a bit easily" Eddies best bit of commentary for the night

Its not only the midfield. TMac and Melksham seem more concerned on kicking the goals themselves than team play, even tho they are low probability shots. At the risk of releasing a great hue and cry against me: our ex-captains have been culprits for their whole careers. And that rubs off on the new arrivals setting off a new cycle of selfish play. The coach needs to find a circuit breaker once and for all. As an aside it sounds a bit like Bernie has gone in to bat for his mate.

I've been saying this for a while. ...but good to hear Bernie agrees. It's probably our biggest issue. ...and the coach needs to fix it. Our midfield play as individuals. Watch last nights game and you see 2 top teams where the mids work for each other. Forget the idea of one paced, all the same etc...we're not. We just don't help each other and it's a big reason why the disposal is garbage. Sure we have some out and out clangers but then we have too many rushed kicks/handballs as well because the players don't play for each other.

My gripe with dropping OMac isn't that I think OMac played well. He didn't. It's about structure. I think our best long-term plan is for OMac, or someone else who can play that role better than him, to be the "second" defender (May is the "first" defender, taking the opposition's best key forward, and Lever is "third", zoning off, intercepting, playing a little freer than the other two). We've seen plenty of examples of asking Lever to be the "second" defender which haven't worked. We've also seen examples of asking Frost or Smith to be the "second" defender: because they're both unreliable teammates, that hasn't worked well either. OMac has flaws, indeed some significant ones that IMO mean he can't be a long-term candidate for our best 22, but the structure with him in the side has had the best look to it. And our defence has been our best performing part of the ground for the past month with OMac in it. So I'd prefer us to be playing to our preferred structure, even if we're unhappy with OMac, unless/until there is a proper OMac replacement to play in his stead. And that is not Tomlinson (nor is it TMac).

Dropping Oscar doesn’t make sense to me, thought with him the team it allowed May and Lever to play their roles a lot better

That was 50 every time. It’s pure cheating.

Is McHenry the biggest germ in football? We are a disgrace make no mistake if Bartlett is worth anything he will sack Goodwin after the match we are going no where with him. The worst coach in the comp.

Am I the only one that can’t believe the umpiring effort at the moment. 15-6. WTF

My MFCSS still says we're one of the only teams that could lose to a team that is tanking.

Yep we’ve been producing nothing but [censored] for 60 years. Even when we made a grand final we managed to get smashed I reckon last week’s effort was as dismal a performance as I ever seen I’m still bloody depressed!

Underperforming/selfish players is still a coaching issue. Nice try, Goody and Bernie.

I'm still convinced the game style that we want to play, even when implemented correctly is unsustainable over 22 games.

That's a beautiful post. I'm a first generation Demon (since I got off the boat in 2006 - how [censored] is my timing?!) and my boy and youngest daughter are absolute one-eyed Demons, despite having mates who barrack for Tigers, Hawks etc. We can grumble all we like, but the kids don't see all the nonsense that we talk about - all they care about is big Max, Lockhart (my lad), Harmesy (my daughter) and Petracca smashing through to kick a couple of goals!

And just like that it's all but certain that Tex will kick a bag.