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Maxi

A great article on Neville Jetta and his transition to coaching: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1135106/coaching-playing-caring-why-neville-jetta-still-gets-a-kick-out-of-footy I hope he comes back to the Dees one day - one of my all-time favourites and just a great man!

Its almost as if goody was not joking when he has repeatedly said our goal is to be playing our best footy come September or that the team who improves the most during the season are the ones contending at the pointy end of the season. I mean, I guess he might have some evidence to support that supposition. Like the blues and swans last year. And the lions too for that matter, who were 6-4 after 10 games and were flogged by thr hawks, who finished the season in 16th (and beat the pies in round 21), in round 10. It's almost as if goody has done some analysis of why we went out of the finals in straight sets the last two years and what other clubs that have done well have done.

I'm sure getting our asses kicked by MethCoast wasn't part of the grand plan

Chuck it the bin and revert to 2023 with a dash of composure. We won 7 of our last 8 home and away games, with the one loss decided by an inconclusive goal umpiring call against a prelim finalist. Dominated the inside 50's by +32 against the Pies in week 1 finals which is surely a win in 99/100 occurrences; Outscored Carlton by 8 scoring shots in the semi final which in anyone's language is a 3-5 goal win any day of the week. The game plan didn't provide for Max Gawn missing a critical shot from the point post. This year we are all over the shop. We're showing wild inconsistencies within games. We're losing stats we otherwise would usually win. We're letting opposition mids waltz out of the centre. And most recently we got outscored on turnovers by about 70-14 which we're told over and over again is a critical stat for success. On what basis does a good game plan allow for that kind of disgraceful discrepancy?

I don't think Goodwin is single focused on any one week or even the 2024 season, i think his goal is implement a game style that's consistent and has us there abouts year in year out, and keeps us towards the pointy end as long as we can. On the weekend we had Kade Chandler (24) Harry Petty (24) Tom Sparrow (23) Kozzie pickett (22) Caleb Windsor (18) Judd McVee (20) Jake Bowey (21) Trent Rivers (23) Blake Howes (21) Taj Woewodin (21) I personally think it's pretty impressive when nearly 50% of our best 22 is 24 and under and we're playing at the level we are, it's a good indication that the team is not only going to be hard to beat now, but will continue to get better. Our profile, age wise wasn't too dissimilar to West Coast on the weekend, a lot of youth and some good senior players. Normally we'd also have Turner and Van Rooyen in the side, so as long as we're playing a team that's anywhere near the 50% mark in terms of youth, we will be at times inconsistent, we will have down days and they'll find it harder to handle the pressure of big games and moments than senior players will, this is clearly a conscious decision by the footy department to go down the live re-set path.

Sheesh, as if calling ourselves Narrm has any impact on how well we play. Correlation does not imply causation.

what other clubs have haggled and traded aggressively to bring in a gun key forward? bears - joe daniher as a free agent puddy tatts - cameron for the 3 first round picks they got for tim kelly (plus a nice farm to call his own) tiggas - tom lynch as a free agent key forwards don't grow on trees by the by, we traded one in - ben brown, for the pick we got for brayden preuss for gw$, effectively - and won a premiership

As he gets older make sure he has his own easy chair I have had this chair nearly 50 years and 3 faithful mates have called it their spot

Maybe we are being punished for racial appropriation Just stick to Melbourne I say. I love the indigenous round and the jumpers, celebration etc but I reckon changing the name is going too far (I wonder if it's possible to express an opinion on this topic without having my head bitten off, let's see)

Geekout: Our evolutionary focus on pattern recognition, a key to our survival, is not always correct. The brain excels at finding meaning in randomness, a skill that once helped us anticipate threats and opportunities. However, this can lead to confirmation bias – we overemphasize coincidences that fit our existing beliefs. It's a fascinating paradox: our very strength in pattern recognition can create psychological vulnerabilities when faced with the randomness of life.

are you suggesting Simon Goodwin the AFL premiership coach might know more about what he's doing than some of the fans on Demonland!?! outrageous

Only if we can keep up with the payments. Otherwise we might get repossessed.

Cuter than any baby that’s for sure 🐶

I’ll keep calling this out every time I see it. It’s simply not true. We were the best side throughout 2021. We beat 16 of the other 17 sides, including all finalists. We were top 4 all year. Project your grumpiness elsewhere.

Tracc can bullet the ball 60m and create great scoring chances from nowhere, but he’s hit and miss. The thing Nibbler does is play on or receive the ball in space, run with the ball, balance up and hit a target. He’s predictable to leading forwards. And his run at a good speed combined with his ability to be patient and take a late hit if needed creates the targets he missed regularly earlier in his career. Move quickly, with a purpose but without rushing is the lesson from Nibbler

I have the name breaker that will lift the narrm curse. Melbourne.

Our game style wasn't really an issue IMO. As Hoyne pointed out, if it weren't for inaccurate goal kicking (and we kicked to average), we would've won 3 of the 4 finals. He said in a 2023 review podcast that despite going out in straight sets, we were the form team of finals ironically. All we needed was to kick straighter for goal when it mattered. That's it. If we went at average, then we're premiers in 2023, and would've made the prelims in 2022. That's even considering the injury riddled forward line we were stuck with late in season. I expect that due to the pressure of straight set finals exits, we've over-corrected on a gameplan that wasn't broken. If we simply reverted to what we were the past 3 years, we'd likely be second on the ladder at present. Hopefully we just revert and see what happens. Our issue is personnel IMO. We need forwards who can convert if given the opportunity. Fritsch is the only reliable one in front of goal.

And here I thought you were a nice person ☹️ *deletes Ted Lasso from her Xmas card list*

Wowee,so much angst after 1 loss (a bad one no doubt)…or even based on the last 2 games. im going to support the boys no matter who is picked. They are my team regardless if i disagree (from my seat up in the stands) with selection. We have some interesting scenarios to play out, a lot of upside to find, but we ain’t done yet… GO Dees

We are one game out of the top 4 with half a game and % to the two teams in between, which we haven't played yet, along with at least three further games against those ahead of us. They also play each other a bunch of times. Destiny is still well and truly in our hands.

Presuming you’ve calmed down sufficiently, can you do something for me, can you re-read your post (above) then convince me that you’re not three years old. Geez Louise, talk about a toddler tanty 😂

I suspect that many are overlooking that we've lost one of our key mids/on-ballers in Brayshaw. Also, a heart and soul player who lifted those around him. Bigger loss than is being acknowledged I feel.

Ok looking forward for the rest of the season. It’s not a terrible draw, we only play 5 games with clubs ahead of us on the ladder. (Right now it’s Pies, Port, GWS, Essendon) We don’t play Geelong or Sydney again. So here’s the run from here: Saints Freo (home) Collingwood North Brisbane (Away) West coast (shivers… home) Essendon Freo (Away) GWS (home) Bulldogs Port (home) Gold Coast (away) Collingwood. 13 games left. currently on 6 wins. We HAVE TO beat: Saints, North, west coast. No excuses with these games. We shouldn’t drop any of these games if we want to finish Top 4. These are the easiest games So there’s 3 wins we should bank. Takes us to 9 wins. Less easy: Gold Coast/Bulldogs We should beat both these teams. Bulldogs finding some form and Gold Coast scored 164 points against Geelong. We play Gold Coast away and they almost beat us last time up there from memory… so let’s say we drop that game but beat bulldogs. Takes us to 10 wins. 50/50 games: Freo (twice)/Brisbane/Port That’s 4 games. Brisbane have the wood over us, Port will want revenge and can win during the season and Freo… not confident of winning both encounters. Can afford to drop 1 of these games. So let’s say 3 wins out of 4. Gives us 13 wins Hard games- Essendon GWS Collingwood (twice) Soooo, Pies are back and just as flukey as ever, can we beat them once? GWS are in a lull, but they did this last year about the same time and romped home. I expect them to do that again. They’re a bloody good team. Essendon are 2nd on the ladder after 10 rounds. The nightmare is real. Let’s say we win 2 (big if) of these games. 15 wins. last two seasons that places us: 4th in 2023 or 5th or 6th in 2022. We basically have to beat: North, West Coast, Saints, Bulldogs, Gold Coast, Port, Brisbane and both Freo games. And 1 win out of Pies (play them twice), Essendon and GWS Thats 16 wins in total for the season to guarantee Top 4. It’s an even spread this year so 15 wins might also get us in. Hopefully it’s a crazy season and 14 wins get us in but I wouldn’t hold my breath. essentially 4-5 losses and we don’t make Top 4. This loss to West Coast has really [censored] things up. A lot harder now to make Top 4.

The amount of pressure the fans put on JVR, and now Jefferson is a bit silly. Jake Waterman has exploded as one of the games best forwards only now, after years being a middling prospect. Patience is required.

He played a one off game for Corowa Rutherglen the other week the nuffy fan boy in me had to go and watch obviously. He hasn't lost any of his touch and still dominated. Too some him up around his character he played the one off game with no match payments.. just wanted to help a mate out. All class.

I actually think it would be detrimental to Jeffo's development to play him in the seniors atm. He is starting to find consistency at VFL level and kicking goals. Moving up to AFL level is a huge jump up and may kill his confidence. Would rather he keeps kicking bags at VFL for a while. I will say I'm feeling positive about him long term after watching his last few games. Great mover and a natural forward, just needs to keep building his body and tank. He is too inconsistent throughout games atm.

People forget this too quickly. Pretty sure his 3 goals in the GF were all contested marks and set shots too.

@binman might argue that the Narrm rounds happen at the same time each year (late-May), when the club is putting certain efforts into fitness…

Indy also made his debut earlier this year and says hello. He's Havanese, and doesn't mind if you spell his name as InDee. For @joeboy and all the other dog-lovers out there, these guys have got a great range of quality MFC gear.

This is best kick into 50, as measured by % retention - Nibbla’s had 20 kicks into the 50, 65% were retained by us (not turned over).

2 month old golden retriever

Agree with everything you have said Dazzler. Don’t worry about the stats, the naked eye tells you everything. That first half against Richmond was utter garbage. Couldn’t hit a handball under zero pressure against a bog ordinary side. Then that effort against West Coast. Backline has been great and has saved us. Midfield has gone backwards and our forward line and mids to forward connection has been a construction zone for years. We have regressed this year. Be less pressure on us and I believe better chance of success if we finish bottom half of ladder and have to play a final away from the MCG which we are every chance to do. We have failed the test there over the last two years. Unfortunately teams are going past us, not necessarily giving us windburn but I genuinely can’t see us challenging. Genuinely hope I am wrong there though. I will always love the Melbourne Football Club that will never change.However I really struggle to enjoy watching our game style. I seriously question whether the players actually enjoy executing or attempting to execute it on a weekly basis. If it’s not fun to watch, is it fun to play.

you're probably correct, but we signed ben brown instead

I haven't listened to his slot yet (but will), but if that's what he said i wholeheartedly agree. In fact it is basically the same thing I have posted on a number of occasions- ie implement a less bruising, less physically taxing method during the home and away season and transition back to our normal forward half model come finals (which is basically what the pies did last year). The key learning fron 2022 and 2023 is that playing the brutal model we have used since the start of 2020 is not sustainable for 23 rounds plus finals as evidenced by the contact and other injuries that decimated us come finals the last 2 seasons. It's funny, many posters made that exact argument inthe last 2 seasons (ie an unstainable model for a fill season). And they were proven right. Anyone who made that argument should be well pleased that their advice has been heeded. The downside to goody having done so is we are going to lose more games this home and away season than in the ladt three seasons.

It’s nice in theory, but we’ve held similar theories the past 2 years when things have looked wobbly mid-year. We’re scoring less than the last three years, taking less marks i50, opponents are scoring about the same but taking more marks i50 (which will get worse over the next month without Lever) and for the first time in 4 years we’re losing i50s which with our forward line conversion isn’t great. Now trying the same thing over and over and getting the same result is not recommended so I acknowledge Goody and co are trying some different things, that might have us flying by September but I’m really only going to believe that when I see it. On the plus side we’re 6-4, we were 7-4 last year and turned that into 16-7 so all is not lost but we need to start winning imminently. 2-1 from the next 3 is required, no single game is a litmus test as you point out on the pod but 7-6 puts the double chance out of reach I would think.

Yeah maybe, but whilst I will concede Clarry is not operating at the same "Stellar" levels as previous he STILL is playing very good footy, not exceptional but still very good! I'll double down on Laurie and say he won't cut it. FWIW I rate Woey as the big improver as he travels the journey!

The context to this quote is that he was arguing that we’ve tried playing a different way to 2022-23, it isn’t working well enough to win the flag, but it’s not too late for us to adjust back to something which more closely resembles 202-23, which he expects we will do.

Yep and we also (STILL) don't deal with expectations very well it seems. I'd love to see the W L ratio in games where we are odds on fav to win like Sunday. I doubt it would be very pretty. There's still a problem in the upstairs dept alot of the time. That shows in the way we open matches too. Far too meek and mild. There's no manic white line fever across the board of late with this group bar a few usual exceptions that comtinue to fly the flag. The hunger for the attack and manic pressure for four quarters (across the board) is no longer happening for whatever reason. A fair amount of complacency appears to have set in to this group so far this season which is a real worry. Possibly the lack of depth on this list and pressure for positions in general? Re-signing the likes of Schache, the failed Grundy experiment i(nstead of going after another quality mid) and extending fairly lengthy contracts to those who are barely just fringe players couldn't have helped surely. To be fair we were cruelled with late season injuries in 2023 which derailed our finals campaign. However the ruthlessness Goodwin preached (that was needed throughout the club) at the end of 2020 and became apparent through 21 and much of 22 & 23 doesn't feel all that apparent in 2024 for mine. Not across the board anyway and for four quarters anyway.

I've had a change of heart I'm not dropping Clarry I'm giving him another chance. B: Petty, May, McVee HB: Howes, McDonald, Rivers C: Windsor, Petracca, Langdon HF: Sestan, van Rooyen, Neal-Bullen F: Pickett, Fritsch, McAdam FOLL: Gawn, Oliver, Viney IC: Woewodin, Salem, Sparrow, Chandler SUB: Tholstrup EMERG: Laurie, Fullerton, Moniz-Wakefield IN: Langdon, van Rooyen, Sestan, Tholstrup OUT: Bowey (inj), Lever (inj), B. Brown (omitted), Billings (omitted) Hopefully the news of Sestan debuting comes to fruition so Billings doesn't play.

I'd rather be blooding Verall first personally.

Seems like the adoption of “Narrm” as our name during the indigenous round has coincided with abysmal performances that have been a negative turning point for our season year after year. Maybe we can change to Kulin or Boonwurung, maybe some kind of exorcism but heck we’ve got to break this Narrm Curse

20 years old and not even 2 seasons in. The kid isn't ready, and doesn't have the build like JVR to hold up at AFL level.

I'm just going to do my usual and put money on the Pies to win by under 10 points I won't enjoy them winning but my account enjoys it

Not just losses, but losses against the flow, unexpected losses which led to a run of bad form

Well in 2022-23 we were flying along nicely at this time of the year before injuries and poor goalkicking cost us We are still four months away from the business end of the year

How magnanimous of you.

Anthony Edwards…..

Haha good god no, the kid would be crushed, physically but mostly mentally. He seems to be slowly turning the corner a little at Casey, that’s where he needs to stay.