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Can confirm, it happened.

I am, and will always be, a huge wrap for this current list of Melbourne players, but that was as lifeless a performance as we’ve put in for years. We got out coached and out worked across the ground, and we showed virtually nothing in response. I’m actually struggling to comprehend it. The Brisbane game I put down to emotion and context, but that performance I’m thoroughly confused by.

2:10 in Perth, don’t worry, I won’t post score updates and ruin it.

Breakfast?! We left at 4:59am. This is almost lunch. Incidentally, the woman who served us was easily 80yo, not even 5ft tall, white-haired and bent over and as we left the servo she yelled out, “enjoy yourselves now ladies coz you’ll be crying all the [censored] way home tonight, go the mighty bombers!” For that reason alone we HAVE TO SMASH THIS PACK OF [censored]!

I’ll have you know that I have the very important job of keeping the others awake. And I’m nailing it! Maybe nailing it a little too much, one of them just asked me if I’d like a pillow for when I doze off. 🤭 Not happenin’ anytime soon though coz… Rookie error, girls. Don’t let me loose in the servo. 😁

Bad day but flags are not won in April. Everything went wrong for one team and everything just fell in place for the other.

Today should be a regulation take the 4 points and move on game. We are contenders, Essendon are pretenders. If the weather turns out to be as ****ty as some are suggesting then that may prove something of an equaliser. Would be a highlight to see someone run over the "choirboy" Parish. Stringer can turn it on, but against us, he'll find it a difficult proposition surrounded by quality defenders. I actually don't mind Draper. Good ruckman and useful up forward so will make Grundy work. Tip. Kozzie to kick four in another 50 point win. PS. My sources inform that @WalkingCivilWar is currently in a horseless carriage and on route to Adelaide. Imagine being in the same vehicle for that journey! Poor bastards!

Great Modern Dynasties of football Brisbane 2001-2003 Geelong 2007-2011 Hawthorn 2013-2015 Richmond 2017-2020 Carlton Round 1-3 2022 Carlton Round 1-4 2023

Also, it pains me to admit it, but full credit to Essendon. Their pressure around the footy was unbelievable. They completely suffocated our ball movement and scoring ability.

People will hammer Tomlinson, but Steven May was a joke today. Took no responsibility when things got tough then lost his head in the 2nd half. Did nothing right. Grundy and Petty were also pathetic, I don't care if Petty gets on the end of a couple in the wet or plays while hurt, weak early.

Summary: Like every ‘Captain’s Run’, the mood was up-beat, and the skills (under no pressure) were precise. I loved the banter, I loved the ‘voice’ when things got a little bit more serious, and I loved the obvious camaraderie between the players. They were having fun, and so was I! My main (humble) take-always were: Kossi is primed. His skills and goal kicking were sublime, and he looked a million bucks (but I hope we don’t have to pay him quite that much!). On two occasions, I saw him and Goody embracing. Read into that, whatever you want. Based on positioning at today’s mini match sim, Petts will play back on the weekend. Chandler was doing some solo set shots towards the end. He nailed most of them from around 40m in a ’tricky’ cross wind. Looked good! He was also very vocal in the drills. Max isn’t too far away. He wasn’t involved in any of the drills, but was running and kicking at what I’d estimate at 75%+, before most of the others took to the field. No knee strapping was a good sign imo. Grundy is growing in fitness. Gee he was quick off the mark in short sharp bursts in the mini match sim. Hard to estimate who might be sub, but Lawrie looked really classy in the ‘easy’ going. FWIW, there’s been a bit of very light drizzle over the last hour where I am (about 5/6 km from Adelaide Oval).

It’s JJ’s 50th and 31 year old Melksham in probably his last year, has hardly played any decent footy this season and he is preferred to JJ. Wow! Are we determined to p-ss this kid off and drive him away in his FA year? Apparently so. Hope Goody has had a chat with JJ to explain the rationale of the selection. Well I suppose Melk can have a great game and justify it, but initially it seems hard on JJ, on a small milestone game.

Yay finally game day. Watch a dees win then off to date night with Mrs KikA, perfect evening!

Melksham played as the 3rd tall forward and when we moved the ball he looked as likely as any of our key forwards. BBB struggles to stay upright in the dry, I’m completely fine with that change. Not sure why you’re comparing him with noted key forward 180cm Bill Laurie. I wasn’t impressed with Tommy Mc and he’s just about impossible to pick again any time soon, but if Schache’s the answer we’re probably just as stuffed. His VFL form has been good not great and he’s still iffy at the contest. How long has been on an AFL list without getting a regular gig? Totally agree on Disco, but the plan looked fairly simple. Use Tomlinson on the resting rucks. He towelled up Lobb, surely he won’t struggle too much with Phillips and Draper? That allows May to play full back and Petty to play as the interceptor. Disco also had 1 game back from a 3+ week lay off, it’s not unreasonable for him to play a second VFL game. For his own sake as much as the teams. His second ever AFL game going in underdone? That’s not a recipe for success.

Melksham and Fritsch cannot play in the same side. The lack of tackling pressure that they both dish up most weeks is not good enough. I know Melksham kicked goals, but surely he's about done at AFL level? He has no presence as a forward in a game that requires tackling intensity. And I know it was wet, but I can't think of a more inconsistent senior player than TMac. Up one week, down the next. If it's wet, he's a liability. JVR didn't do a lot, but every time it came near him he halved the contest or brought the ball to the ground. His follow up work is then good. The same cannot be said of TMac. Again, you could see that it was a team wide intensity and work rate thing from the very beginning. I think we turned up thinking we'd walk it in. May was either playing injured (with a severe hamstring) or he was simply disinterested. To me, it seemed irrespective of injury, he looked disinterested. I'd like to borrow a line from that Freo supporter on BigFooty a few weeks back - he and the rest of the team looked like they were on heroin. Tomlinson should probably have played his last game for the club unless injuries allow him further opportunities. I'd be playing old mate Turner ahead of him. Petty was excellent in the second half. Clarry and Trac had their moments, Clarry in particular, but outside of his tackle count, the less said about Viney the better. Give Rivers more CB time though (0 CBAs apparently). I'm liking what he's bringing to the midfield mix, but felt he struggled a bit when playing behind the ball. Our failure to be clean at ground ball and our alarming lack of intensity and defensive transition, was equivalent to the Brisbane game IMO. So that's two games in five that the margin has flattered us and our mental side of the game has been completely off. Max's injury against Brisbane goes some way to explaining the alarming indicators against the Lions, but not all the way, and what's the excuse this week? Trust is important for footy fans, and our mob had built up such excellent trust with us (and each other) across 2021 and even the majority of 2022. The Brisbane loss really tested my faith in the group this year and this week's game has now put them in the territory of untrustworthy. Which Melbourne are we going to get next week against a very ordinary Richmond? I think it's clear we've got some major problems. No Gawn or Lever shouldn't see such a marked drop off in effort and/or organisation behind the ball. Captain Obvious, signing off.

Melbourne looked disinterested today. We were very flat and lacked urgency. We couldn't counter the Bombers fast overlapping handball chains to break lines. I think we were complacent coming into the game thinking we'd just walk over the Bombers. Looking forward to getting Gawn, Lever, Salem, Hibberd and Brown back soon. They are all key outs from our best side.

A touch too conspiratorial... But hey, I'm on board

We will smash them back on the G in September. That is all. Go Dees.

Flag favourites? Best defence in the league? All Australian ruckman? Essendon shouldn't score 64 for the whole game, let alone in a half. Maybe we just aren't as good as what we think we are. And don't blame Lever being out.

I hope you and Mrs Kika get to do what we will do to the Bummers

Unfortunately makes sense... Essendrug is not known for upstanding citizens

Kosi signed alot of Autographs along with the rest of the lads and was one of the last Dees along with Vines to hit the showers. I'll also add Gawny is not too far away with his injury, looks as if he is pushing for Anzac Day Eve but sensibly might get held back by the brains trust. What a magnificent Captain we have, after his block of training was complete he was signing and taking photos with teenagers, new born babies, Grown men and the like. Really privileged to have a pilliar of the community leading our club. Watching Richmond in person there is no rush whatsoever but the occasion. To the lads credit they were very polite and engaging well with the crowd, about 1500 attended the captain's run. Goody and Chocco were magnificent in engaging and getting around the suppoter base, really embracing the Demon spirit.

Sunny but windy this side of the Maribyrnong this morning. 30km bike ride already done and bacon & egg roll and 2nd coffee already demolished. Let's shake off the setback of our 2023 draft placings momentarily and focus on the red & blue buzz saw that will be adding Essendon to the wood chip pile this afternoon.

I think it’s time to start a Deathriding thread for Essendon. I know we don’t have their draft pick but I hate them so much!

Time to be serious now. The club needs to start making decisions some serious decisions on the likes of Melksham, McDonald and Tomlinson moving forward and how by giving them games benefits us at all moving into the future. Could not believe my eyes that we decided to bring in Melksham off the back of no performance last week over Bailey Laurie who was BOG by a length with 35 disposals. Is this the true definition of rewarding form? Why on earth are we continuing to gift games to Melksham when there are guys at Casey who are who are constantly busting their [censored] week after week with zero reward. People may think it's a joke bit you can't tell me there is some genuine bias by Goodwin here with this one. McDonald is genuinely a cooked footballer. Some got sucked in by his performance last week against a WAFL but no more from now on He should be purely for depth if we are decimated with injuries. This spot now should be between Schache and Brown. Again, we lose Lever and pick Tomlinson who's not even a like for like. If Daniel Turner can get games based on the blokes who plays a similar style to him (Lever) then when will he? What's even more of a joke was that selection committee had the audacity to fly Turner up as an emergency.. genuine pisstake? Now is the time where we need to start seeing whether Turner is up to it. I've really liked what the selection committee have done this year, I really do. But these 3 are simply not the future at all and can't be relied upon every single time a player goes out. The age is shoeing out in big games and it's costing us.

Stagnant and no spark and joy and The Engine (Spargo, ANB, Chandler) was impotent and hampered of course with injury. Even before the 50+ mins without a goal, we piled on in two flourishes and were trash around that. Look arrogant tbh. And waiting for someone else to do something. This is what happens when you are off, you get punished in this league.

Turned it off at half time knowing what the result would be. Terrible display of football. We are much better than that though. Hopefully a blip on the radar.

When May is out of the team Lever just takes control of the back line but when Lever is out May often looks lost.

That was the worst half of footy we have played for quite a while.

I'm dogsitting today, for the next few weeks... Which is perfect because my NBN at home needs a technician, but at my friend's place they have a nice and large TV screen with Kayo 🤩 perfect for our game!

The AFL need to get Hardwick to GC next year. He's done at Richmond and they're heading down the Hawthorn route under him, but he could make a difference at the Suns. I don't like him but then I don't like Clarkson or Lyon either and they are improving their new clubs. Longmire would be even better but why would he leave the young Swans who are on the rise? I don't think Simpson and Hinkley have a hard enough edge to fix what's wrong up there.

Nutritious breakfast WCW.

you’re keen David but i like it i hope we smash those delusional twats

Given a go ahead of who? Who would he currently be getting a game ahead of at Melbourne? We can’t even fit half the promising kids who are dominating at Casey. Good for him. Wish him the best.

IN: Lever, Brown, Gawn, Jordon OUT: Tomlinson, McDonald, Spargo, Sparrow SUB: Melksham

I was willing to call the Brisbane loss a blip on the radar. Today though was just concerning. Brisbane are at least a contender, especially at home. We looked lazy. 5 mins into the game you just knew it was done. It’s inexcusable 5 games into the season when we have everything to play for!

That was quite pathetic really. Credit to Bombers they dominated a flag favourite who appeared to roll over. Really disappointed. 2 very uncharacteristic defeats in 5 games so it's hard to know who we really are right now after looking unstoppable in the other 3.

Given a bath. The bounces went against us and they took their chances with some lucky goals but that’s not why they won, they won because they worked harder, wanted it more and were better coached. We came in arrogant and complacent. i hope we don’t sweep this away as a one off because other teams will beat us the same way if we continue to turn up expecting wins with lazy football. Pretty bummed after that.

Pathetic. Nothing else needs to be said. We have a lot of work to do to get back to the team of 2021 that was hungry and relentless. All the talent in the world means nothing if you turn up with half an effort and zero [censored] to give. We expected a win today. We were badly out coached and out worked. Lacked leadership and composure. Absolutely embarrassing.

All the AFL clubs have converged on Adelaide in South Australia for the Gather Round and the Demons are aiming to jump back into the Top 2 with a win over the Essendon Bombers at the Adelaide Oval.

This quarter alone has been such a let down, I expected a fierce response and it didn't happen.

17 points down and I'll take it. Probably should be 30 down. Don't blame the umps as, for the most part, we're second to the contest.

Back the Milkshake, never hurts to play against an old side.

Max Gawn and Ben Brown did a big running session this morning. Think it would suggest Brown will be a late out this afternoon because of the weather.

Gawn in for Brown 😂

Shooting fish in a barrel, BBO.. I did tell her we’d be stopping there on the way home and she said she won’t be working at that time but is willing to come in just to see me. 😳 Not gonna lie… she scared me a little.

I bet a fart slipped out as she bent over.

You’re sitting at the draft table in 2021 and you have a choice at pick 19 - Andrew or van Rooyen. What’s your choice?

We just have to thrash them. I don't want a close game, I don't want to see stringer kicking goals. Lets make there supporters afternoon miserable. Oh and Brad Scotts to.

JT and TL must have been watching this kid for some time Judd McVee plays with such awareness, skill and confidence that he continually surprises you when watching the game he plays like a top 10 pick.!!