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I thought our midfield really lacked cohesion. As an elite player, Max has next to no influence in clearances anymore, except for the occasional flash (see the Langdon goal). Oliver constantly flies under the radar though. Thought his kicking was strong, two beautiful piercing 50m passes that I recall resulted in scores. 35 possessions, most contested possessions on the ground, at 80% efficiency. He completely runs our midfield. Without him we're stuffed. Lever, May and Tomlinson, against pretty ordinary opposition, were excellent in tandem. I think it was the best 3 KPD effort I've seen at Melbourne. Big call, but all three were excellent at intercepting and May's kicking is becoming such a weapon out of defence. I like our set play long kick to the centre square for Max and Jackson. It does something interesting. Because we used it so often, the opposition tried to predict it, which then left easy shorter exits, which we usually took. That was Tom McDonald's best game since the 2019 flash in the pan performance against Carlton. Thought he led and presented strongly. He missed two he'd normally nail, but kicked the harder one. Was impressed with Spargo's game again. He needs to keep working on staying in the game longer, but just about everything he touches results in a score. That's partly system and partly his game smarts. The young guys in Kozzie, Jordon and Sparrow provided some good tackling support with ANB, Harmes and even Spargo. Felt our forward pressure was really solid, we got the ball inside and got great looks at goal, but our goal kicking was woeful. Our defensive structures strangled Freo, particularly as they had little to kick to in terms of tall targets, especially after Pearce went down. The big issue for me is our midfield. I know we've had some issues with continuity and injuries in there across pre season and the early part of the year, but if Yze's having much influence there it isn't good so far. I'd love to see Rivers tried on a wing and Hibberd off half back, but I suspect Trent doesn't have the tank for it yet. Brayshaw and Jones on the wing signals to me that we don't really have a new plan for addressing our lack of run to support Langdon either. I'll take the win, but most teams would have pantsed us for our poor set shot kicking and lack of accountability at stoppages. Our midfield set ups were truly horrendous for much of the game and we were clearly murdered in the middle. We were fortunate they rested Fyfe forward for so much of the second half, because we just let him run free in the middle. Andrew Brayshaw was allowed to roam similarly free too. Hoping for a much better performance next week. And even though he's only a few days old, my son has 1 win from 1 game. Let's hope he's a good luck charm. I'd be happy to celebrate a flag in 2021 for him, even if he won't remember it.

Just checking out some of the less well-used stats. Steven May 578m gained, 5 intercept marks, 2 score involvements and won seven defensive 1-1 contests. Lever 6 Intercept marks, 2 score involvements Oliver 9 score involvements. That's nuts. TMac topped our forward 50 tackles with four, then Pickett with 3. Spargo had 3 direct goal assists and 5 score involvements.

*UPDATE* The girls are now jumping up and down on their bed singing Beastie Boys’ ‘Fight For Your Right’ at the top of their lungs. But I don’t give a [censored]! God I love footy.

For what? 2 goals 1, 2nd most score involvements, 6 marks, his pressure and contest work was all improved if not decent, nailed a couple of tackles. All against a very strong Freo backline. The breeze at the city end made set shots incredible difficult too. If Luke Ryan dominated the game like Lever and May did then you might have a case but that didn’t happen.

[censored] HELL YEAAAHHHH GO YOU DEE GRRRRLS! been refreshing the AFLW app following score , cooking dinner, feeding showering and bed timing kids . Said a dispassionate goodnight to the kids when Freo got up by 1 point, refreshed again and had to go back in for an extra kiss and cuddle, whispering them the final score. They smiled, said ‘go Dees’ and went straight to sleep! WINNING

This confuses me. Langdon played well. Ran hard all day. Is a lone wingman out there but provided good linkage and tackled well. Not the most dazzling performance of his career, but certainly a good game.

The biggest concern is still the clearances, we have the best ruckman in the game with some of the best clearance players yet opposition teams still walk the ball out. All of our players seem to just go for the ball, no one is blocking or providing cover. Thank god for Steven May.

Watching the replay this morning the performance was nowhere near as bad as many here are making out. Our touch was off which made things look worse than they actually were and the clearances were poor. Other than that we controlled the game, May, Lever, Jetta and Tomlinson controlled the backline and were a brick wall stopping the exits from our forward 50. They can keep winning clearances but if we're intercepting and rebounding it doesn't really matter. Plenty to like in the games of Pickett, Jackson, Jordon, Rivers etc We really missed plenty of easy shots at goal, convert even half of those and the scoreboard and I assume the perception of the performance changes dramatically. Yeah Freo missed a few easy shots too but really that should've been a 50-60 point win. Still got Viney, Weid and Brown to come back not to mention Hibberd and Melksham if they can regain some of their previous form - some better touch from our mids (particularly Trac, Oliver and Brayshaw) and we have plenty of scope for improvement. I loved Kozzie starting the square, gives us some real pace and skill which we sorely lack. His kicking is really good which helps cut the angles through the middle of the ground. Special mention to Spargo as well, directly created 3 goals (Kozzie in the 1st, Jordon in the 2nd and Fritsch in the 3rd) as well as getting on the end of one himself. Our best user with ball going inside 50 yesterday.

I'll go along with the "Mental" part of your post.

Was out for the day, watched it on delay so avoided Demonland - and boy I’m glad I did; the response to a win on here, and the first game of the season is genuinely sad. We were like 1-10 on clearances after the first, so won clearances for the rest of the game. Out defence was fantastic, and the transition out of it for most of the game was also great to watch - Rivers, Hunt, Langdon; even Spargo and Kozzie having decent runs. The link up will only getting better as the season goes. Yes there were fumbles, so did both teams - and so has every game so far. Yes we dropped marks and missed goals, but so has ever game so far in round 1; 29 behinds Tigers v Blues and 20 Pies v Dogs. Lighten the [censored] you sad miserable pessimistic old bastards, footballs back and we’re on the board!

33 degrees, headed in the 4th quarter and facing the normai %hitstoem reception of Deliverance town. One of the better wins in recent times by the Melbourne Football Club.

Not alone Petracca won't. Oliver is our Scott West, except better. He'll be among our best players week in week out and that is priceless - especially when we have so many inconsisent players in our midfield. He's the stable rock of of stoppages when everyone else is being mixed and matched and experimented with because none of them are proving reliable enough. I mean, seriously, Oliver's closest rival for clearances on the weekend was Alex Neal-Bullen who is simply not an inside midfielder.

My heart isn't able for this. superb win. What a joy to watch these girls play

With who?

I’m sick of Fritsch making people post dumb things. There you go, consider him scrutinised.

Good grief.

Because he played a Casey game on the wing and was bloody ordinary. You can’t convert a school footy athlete to an AFL player overnight just because you want to.

OMG this is amazing. And to think they used to be the most arrogant supporter base off the back of their 80s and 90s (and 2000) flags. Their spirit has well and truly been broken and I bloody love it.

Couldn't agree more. Any win is good. Doesn't matter how you get it done as long as you get it done. We bank the 4 points and agree Saints are there for the taking. We also need to realise you can't play perfect footy all the time so this win is vital. Ask Lions and Cats if they would have preferred to play like us and win.

People complain that we're a one trick pony and then complain when we win easily without using the trick. It's not same-old same-old in the midfield, Yze is trying some very different mixes which is great to see. Freo has a strong midfield with two time Brownlow, reigning Rising Star, Cerra and Brayshaw. It's worth noting that the maligned Goodwin-Mahoney team brought Lever, May and Tomlinson to the club. TMac and Spargo were pretty good too, eh? Lighten up and enjoy a solid win by more than a third of Freo's score going away in the last 20 minutes which we dominated.

It’s alarming that we didn’t address our lack of outside run and pace in the off season.

This post aged exceptionally well.

I counted at least 3 kicks inside 50 today by Spargo that hit a target, leading to a set shot goal. That is why he's in the team. I like him.

Wtf? Jetta was actually good today. He won a number of critical one on ones.

This thread is reaching new lows of Demonland pessmism. What's with the "it's only an injury ravaged Fremantle" stuff? It's not like we went in with a fresh first choice 22. AFAIK they were missing Walters, Lobb, Darcy, Acres and Hill (if he's best 22?). We were missing Viney, Brown, Weideman, Hibberd (plus Melksham and Lockhart, if you think they're best 22). They lost a player mid-game but the injury sub mitigates that impact. And it's not like Fremantle are a widely-tipped bottom 4 side. They're actually widely-tipped to be right around where we're likely finish. As to the match itself, we never really looked like being overrun after the first quarter. We won by 4 goals when not at our best, and but for some wayward fourth quarter kicking we'd have won by 6+ goals. We generated 25 scoring shots against a side whose foundation is its defence. There's no denying our skills at times were terrible (some of the kicking was just deplorable and almost everyone fumbled it at least once), and there's no denying we've got a number of weaknesses in the 22 we just fielded. But we also saw TMac's best game since 2018 (and probably Jetta's too), May and Lever were impenetrable, Oliver's workrate was better than it usually is, Harmes looked far more comfortable in the forward half of the ground rather than the back half, Jordon's debut was impressive, and Brayshaw found his touch as the game wore on. We were clearly fitter than them and ran the game out well, too. If that's all we've got for 2021 then we won't do much, but it's Round 1, it's our first game of 20 minute quarters on the MCG with new rules opening up the game, and by and large we were the better side for most of the match. The panic and disgust on here is ridiculously disproportionate.

I’m feeling somewhat responsible for the close result as I started watching halfway through the 3rd quarter when Freo started their run. Apologies to all. Super effort to hang on in the heat and away from home. The umpires were TERRIBLE. There’s no explanation for that free to Freo in their i50 in the last 30 seconds, and the with 11secs to go the umpire doesn’t call time back on for the ball up in the Freo attacking goal square. It’s a hard game to umpire for all the interpretation, but that was a joke. And lastly the Melbourne runner that gave away 50 metres for interference should be exiled forever. Great fighting win girls, you all did the jumper proud.

Great last ten minutes by Paxman. Gay, what a beauty, Great mark, after smart play by Daisy when she was awarded a 50. Finished with a much needed goal (last score for the game) to put us back infront. Back-line was good in that quarter, Tarrant, Birch and Colvin. Mcnamara all day, running in the heat. L. Peace, great endeavour all game. Also, took control of a stoppage with one minute go in the freo forward area.

Quite a lot. We didn't dominate time in forward half. We didn't dominate inside 50s. We didn't rely on clearances to generate momentum. We didn't bomb the ball as much as previously. We kicked far more than we handballed. We had a solid defensive half that was reliable. We generated scores from our defensive half, not relying solely on forward half turnovers. We won despite Gawn having a poor game overall. Neither passion nor desperation were lacking yesterday (55 tackles to 49, 15 inside 50 tackles to 7, 49 one percenters to 45) either.

I am struggling to understand all this Viney in and Sparrow out. Yes viney in the side but replacing Jones is a far better option.

Anyone who questions my loyalty to the MFC because I didn't attend the match yesterday - and in 15 posts states that this was a "disgusting performance", that I was "pathetic", "disgraceful", an "embarrassment" to the Club, full of "pissweak excuses", and that I should "take my head out of my [censored]" - needs to get down off his high horse, take a few chill pills and perhaps consider why so many members did not turn up. The 20K members who didn't attend the game certainly do not deserve to be labelled in such an appalling manner no matter what our reason for non attendance may have been. Giving us labels and name calling will not get us back to the G. Addressing the reasons for the non attendance certainly will.

Yesterday’s attendance of 21365 was the 4th highest out of a total of 15 occasions that Melbourne have met Freo at the MCG (3rd highest on a Sat aft). Here is the complete list. Year Result Attendance Day / Time 1996 W 15494 Fr (n) 1997 W 15036 Sat (aft) 1998 W 20365 Sat (aft) 1999 L 19178 Fr (n) 2003 L 17009 Sat (aft) 2005 L 21963 Sun (aft) 2006 W 23368 Sat (aft) 2007 L 16654 Sun (aft) 2008 W 19423 Sun (aft) 2009 W 13004 Sun (aft) 2011 W 19092 Sun (aft) 2013 L 13768 Sun (aft) 2017 L 27829 Sat (aft) 2019 W 20211 Sat (aft) 2021 W 21365 Sat (aft)

There’s something genuinely good about winning despite our woeful stoppage work yesterday. I haven’t seen the stats but I’d suggest we generated a fair few scores from the back half of the ground. For too long Goodwin has tried to make us a forward half only side, and we’ve struggled to turn intercepts into scoring chains. Yesterday we did that. There’s a defensive set up and system there that we were able to rely on when our clearance game was being blown apart yesterday that should, if maintained this year, keep us in good stead.

So do you review a 2nd year key talls draft standing on output or attributes? He has shown the attributes that validate why he was and should have been taken as a top 3 pick. The last quarter is an example of that. Other than Serong who I reckon has the lowest ceiling for the quality player he already shows he is who would you out of the below be more sure will be an elite player in 3-5 years time? Note that we took Pickett next who I will back over McHenry and Rivers who I would suggest has shown more than Ash or Young at this time. Ash, Stephens, McCasey, Young, McHenry, Flanders. His game is coming together but he shows things in his agility, aggression and contested marking as a second year that few can do. I would not even be surprised as a second year tall that he does not play all year but he is an outstanding package that will only get better.

I think he's being told to take more time and break into space...so many on here have criticised him for being too quick to handball in the past. I just don't think he has the balance right yet but will do and be a better player for it. Agree with 'A F' that he's key to our midfield. Tracc gets the glory but Oliver is every bit as important if not more so.

Gee what a draft that was for us. Jackson with real superstar potential Kozzie just electrifying Rivers tough as nails solid and super reliable

Did we not draft for run and polish? We by all reports tried to trade for Hinds but he chose elsewhere. It was pretty well reported we met with Philips (unsure who opted out) and wanted Smith but missed to the Cats. My view is we attempted to address it. We need to be fast tracking those that can like Bowey, Laurie, Bedford, Chandler as soon as we are confident they can play out a senior game.

If they see him fit enough to play then it's a very simple change, Viney for Sparrow. I'm really not sure what Sparrow adds to our side other then grunt. Hunt was simply poor. St Kilda have some quick forwards so he'll likely play again. Jones and Jetta I thought were great contributors. Jetta I was pretty hard on pre game but it was Neville of 2018 performance.

wait...he spells it with a capitol O? random...

An unbelievable result with only 22 rounds to go.

I don;t understand why people give Spargo such a hard time. No one better with ball in hand inside 50. He nailed a tackle on the wing that was a thing of beauty. This is his year. Lay off him folks.

Great debut. James McDonald presented him his jumper. So lovely to have him back at the club. A real Melbourne champion.

Steven May and Jake Lever were incredible really. As good as I've ever seen from a defensive duo in our colours.

21,365 Very disappointing after 580 odd days of no LIVE footy, perfect weather, Saturday afternoon and 40,000 signed up members. Understand that we were playing an interstate team but would have thought we could hit at least 25,000 if not a 1,000 or 2 more.

Watching this guy in the last quarter, I honestly believe that he is our next bona fide superstar. Quiet for three quarters, then someone or something flicked the switch. His marking became clean and precise, and his delivery by hand was perfect. He will improve his set shot kicking I'm sure, and will boot a few bags in the future.

We have an incredible retention rate of members. We've played finals once in over a decade and still putting up consistent membership numbers. Peter Jackson's aim for the club was to be a bespoke club that got a whole lot better at footy but didn't try to be bigger than it was. Pert's plan so far is to try to mcfranchise it like he and Eddie did at Collingwood. It's disappointing to get such a low crowd but for many Melbourne supporters the MCG and the way they go to the MCG is a decades old tradition. It is after all our home ground and always has been, we aren't tenants.

It's JordOn

Tommy will wind up on the wing using his aerobic capacity to cruise up and down the ground all day. He took some really nice contested marks today as the outlet from defence.

OUT: Harmes IN: Viney Sparrow lead our tackle count with 6. We need that to balance out the others sadly. ANB had some great looks inside 50 and had 5 clearances (second only behind Oliver). Craziness to suggest dropping him IMO.

So, I took a stroll on a fine Saturday through the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens to the MCG and caught up with some old friends. There also happened to be a game on. Bonus! I know some people stayed away because they weren't comfortable in crowds and that's understandable. But things ran smoothly and we took our seats in time for the show. And what a show it was. Yes it was frustrating at times, but that's Melbourne. Everyone was a bit rusty. I had a ringside seat to witness a flying Kozzie nearly emulate the great Jeff Farmer. Lots to look forward to from this young player. He had the fans screaming with excitement. Saw the amazing Maysie take strong mark after mark and together with Lever repel the Dockers umpteen times. Saw the big Mac kick a booming goal from the Southern Grandstand. Breathtaking. Trac and Tommy Mac must have had a bet to see who could break the goal post with their wayward shots on goals. Through the middle next time lads. When is holding the ball not holding the ball? Answer: when a Fremantle player is given an eternity to find a team mate to throw it to. Clarrie was closely tagged and once more not looked after by the umpires. No matter, Melbourne won, the song was played, people were smiling and we didn't have to stay home to watch it on TV while it was played in Cairns or some other place. Win all round.

Won that purely on talent rather than workrate. Clearances/stoppages and defensive running by mids still a massive issue. Lot to like about our next generation though, thought Jordon was great, Sparrow cracked in hard all day, Kozzy was a sparkplug, and Rivers and Jackson showed snippets. Lever sensational, as was his partner May. Great to see TMac find a patch of form too. ANB and Spargs leading the way for inside 50 delivery, but need their team mates to take notice. A front-running win.