SaberFang

I hope Hird is delusional enough to tank the season, thinking he's doing his team a favour. He knows his days are numbered and his team will need a complete re-build thanks to his actions, so he might be getting on the front foot. Of course, we know what happens to teams that tank, and it ain't pretty. Hird's also far too much of a narcissist to actually put others before himself, so I don't buy it. He looks hopelessly inept in the coaches box though.

He's not going to be dropped just because of the weather though. From memory he performed well against the Tigers.

Similar to our wins really. We never get credit, the fallout is always about how bad the losers were.

I've felt anxious all week thinking about this match. It's the exact type of match Melbourne always loses; the one where every cosmic shred of sense dictates we should win but they find a way to break the hearts of supporters. One need only remember Zaharakis's goals in the dying minutes of last year's match to know how dangerous they can be. If we only win one more game this year, please be this one.

Bizarre. Saints will get up. Maybe Greene can spit on Bruce this week?

He's played 17 games since 2011.

I hope so. Useless.

Apparently Purple said he's "gone for the year"?

That's newsworthy? It'd be more newsworthy if he wasn't. Found the revelation about Greene and Miles not being friends far more interesting. Pathetic stuff from Cameron and, as usual, the MRP.

Maybe we'll finally get that tell-all interview where he says how much he loves us and how hard it was to leave for greener pastures? Or announce he wants a trade back to the Dees after Geelong's embarrassing loss a fortnight ago?

Standard MRP. Useless.

It demonstrates that they were basically playing a man down on Sunday which goes a long way to explaining the magnitude of that loss.

Probably equal to the number of times I've seen spuds and first gamers tear us a new rectum when we expected a walkover. Our team must be responsible for the most opposing team Rising Star nominations of any in the league.

Agreed, this ISN'T good news for us. The less changes their team has the better. The reason Hird is such a bad coach is that he's arrogant and stubborn, refusing to listen to others despite his plans being horrendously wrong. The 100 point loss MAY force his hand.

Good to see the club aware of fresh legs being imperative. Remember that even though the Bombers had a 6 day break, they were basically in a jog for half the match Sunday and will be relatively fresh by Saturday (assuming Hird doesn't finally swing the axe on all his dud players seemingly only getting a game due to his inability to separate coaching from personal relationships). One forgotten advantage for us is Goodwin's influence and knowledge of what Hird might try to pull out of the bag. This is definitely a match where you'd want to see Goody really step up in the coaches box and advise Roosy on potential intel.

The Bombers fans on BF seem to think he should appeal and get the charge down to "reckless" (fine rather than suspension). We'll find out today if he accepts the penalty. Either way, going up against teams with key injuries never gives me comfort; should've learned that lesson after the Saints game last year. We were monties because of all their key outs yet we lost. Similarly, in the reversed situation we played a very undermanned side against Geelong and pulled off the win. Besides all that, we'll never truly improve as a team until we're beating the best teams with their best players all in. A victory against witches hats is a hollow one.

I'd hope the club reviews the paleo diet at the end of the season. I'm yet to see a radical improvement in our stamina versus last year's season. If the wheels fall off again after the bye like last year, questions definitely need to be asked. A loss to Essendon will probably have the pitchforks out.

It's hard to work out what happened on Saturday. Was it Ablett? Was it the Suns being resilient after an awful week? Was it North Melbourne not bothering to turn up, or just being found out? I suspect we'll have a clearer idea in a few weeks.

Can't get much of a better footy apprenticeship than working under all the coaches he has... well, barring Hird. But arguably he learned a great deal from that, too.

Ugh, all the media focus on Essendon tonight is making me very concerned. I reckon they'll come out breathing fire on Saturday, and the wet weather will make kicking accuracy a huge challenge for us. Not to mention coming off the Darwin heat; the players completely ran out of gas in the fourth. I reckon we missed the absolutely ripe moment to play the Bombers; right off the back of a Hawks loss they were expected to lose anyway, so no media spotlight nor pressure on Hird or the players. Don't forget the Saints put on immense pressure to get the Bombers demoralised. They were harassing and tackling with intent the entire day long. The media are highlighting all the problems with Hird's player selection and gameplan, giving them every chance to correct their mistakes against us. They'll be desperate for the win, especially when losing to us is, rightly or wrongly, still viewed as the most embarrassing loss imaginable. The Bombers would be patently aware of what happens when you don't turn up against the Dees and will be drilling that into players now. They'll likely make wholesale changes to their team and play lots of kids with hunger (Laverde). We need to be switched on from minute one, because the only way we replicate the Saints' impressive win is if Hird has actually lost the players. I'm not fully convinced this is the case, so I expect they'll have a renewed passion this weekend to make amends.

Yep, teams have a habit of coming out the week after a thrashing trying to reinstate some respect. We only seem to nab wins by surprise and always drop the ones we're expected to win. Frustrating but it's an ongoing theme for us. The fact that we're favourites in the betting sends a shiver up my spine.

I'd say he won't play based on that, upsettingly.

You can't trust anything you read on BigFooty but there's lots of chatter that Hird lost most of the playing group after his little escapade to Europe during the bye. Also that many players were snickering and rolling their eyes during Hird's halftime address. If he's finally lost the playing group they'll continue to perform like garbage until the club ditches him. They are capable of far better than their pathetic display today.

As the matches wear on you'd be forgiven for thinking their players have stopped caring altogether. Only Heppell put up a yelp.

We're odds on favourites for next week. Kiss of death?