KingDingAling

6 hours ago, Stiff Arm said:

Sounds like it might have been more than one punch, according to the restaurant. No doubt there will be some vision and more detail coming out when the press dig deeper into their pockets.

If May said what has been reported, it was cheap and about as low as you can go with a team mate. That he was drinking when he should not have been speaks volumes.

However, posters saying a punch by Melk was justified should spend a Sat night in a hospital ER. A single punch can kill. A punch delivered by a once talented amo boxer with a few drinks under his belt even more so. Not to mention May's concussion

Its dumb all round

If I read correctly earlier 6-7 were drinking. I’m blown away by this. If true, I find that more troubling than the incident itself: I expect May to do this. But I don’t expect 6-7 of the starting 18 to be on it. Is there such little self awareness. I want to know if Trac, Gawn, Oliver or Brayshaw were there. We know Viney wasn’t, and can imagine what would’ve happened if he was. Steven May now should be stripped of any leadership role, and should be made to adhere to any standards Bowey sets down back. That will keep May humble, hungry, and he’d respect a professional like Jake Bowey. As a really passionate Dees man, I feel so thankful that we have Goodwin right now, because I know he will be furious. 

2 hours ago, gs77 said:

Goodwin in his presser said when asked that TMac had some soreness in his foot/ankle and that he was going for scans this week. Journalist mentioned lisfranc injury but not confirmed by goody. That would be a 3 month plus recovery if true i believe, but Goodwin's mention of "going for scans" is inconsistent with the rumour that he'd already had scans and was going in for surgery. Could be a smokescreen or the rumours are misplaced - time will tell. I did get the vibe that Goodwin is expecting TMac to be out for some period though - there wasn't the usual "he'll play next week" kind of comments.

If he is done for the year he'll be sorely missed going on the form of our other tall forwards. Fingers crossed it's a better outcome than that.

Second opinion maybe? Scans may show the injury to be bad, but TMAC mightn’t feel it’s that bad. Maybe a second round of scans to clarify, just a guess. If TMAC is out definitely opens up the door for JVR. Plays a similar role in the VFL, as TMAC plays.

Gawn

Oliver

ANB

Brayshaw

Fritta

Jordon

The bottom 3 could be in any order I couldn’t split them. 

4 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Would love to see Bedford get a bit more game time.

We lack some serious speed and far too often fail to finish in front of goal when we get on the end of some good work up the field.  Bedford offers speed and the ability to finish off the work.

Problem is who makes way.  Sparrow maybe?  Seems to have had some fairly ordinary moments in the last few weeks or am i being to critical? (overlooking the good bits?).

Sparrow can go back to the VFL and focus on becoming more efficient by foot. 

8 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Yeah, Fritsch was our only designated forward to kick any goals against Sydney. And here's what trouble's me most about that - if he can get them, then they are possible. So why did Brown and Brown, combined, had seven kicks and six marks?

Meanwhile, our fleet of crumbers simply weren't getting forward to put enough pressure on to cause the rushed rebound-50s that are so crucial for our intercepting and counter-attacking game.

 

BBB needs a stint in the VFL.

It’s not just the forwards it’s also our midfield. We applaud blokes like Viney who win the tough ball and do the hard stuff, but we ignore the times Viney hacks it forward and doesn’t give our forwards a chance at all. McCartin brothers just mopped up. If you hack it forward then the more Viney gets it the worse we’ll be, unless he a) composes himself, or b) gives it off to a link player who is in a better position to execute. It’s not just Viney either. It’s all our mids excluding Petracca, and I only exclude Petracca because to butcher the ball you have to find it and Petracca is not willing to do that. So why are our midfield butchering it against the better sides? Opposition midfield pressure. Sydney were great at that today, and it’s also a weakness of theirs we couldn’t exploit because our midfield didn’t work both ways. The solution is to work better defensively, and spread from the spillage or free kicks, giving us space to execute. And if we primarily have possession of the ball we need a link player who can execute going inside 50. That would be Kossi, Bowie (now Salem is down back), Harmes (is capable needs to compose himself and focus on effectiveness and no Viney “hack it on the boot” style), maybe even Bailie Laurie. The idea of an effective midfield is to clear the ball efficiently going inside 50. We aren’t doing that and we are getting beaten in the middle and up forward. 

1 hour ago, Webber said:

The uncomfortable truth is that this year, that’s yet to be established. Freo, Swans done, Brisbane, Geelong, Carlton to come. Not looking good from where I’m standing. 

Bulldogs our biggest threat.

Gawn and Oliver carry this club on their backs. 

Petracca up forward, Kossie in the middle, Beford on, ANB perhaps in the middle - as he was going well today. Brayshaw in the middle? I’d have moved sparrow out, Viney out and obviously Petracca out. Be interesting to see whether Petracca is dropped now. Didn’t chase all day. Two weeks in a row now. We need to be more efficient going inside 50, so whoever can do that as a mid step on up put them right in under Gawn.

5 minutes ago, layzie said:

Calmed a little slightly, sorry about before. 

We are a great side but the gap is not as big as people thought. We will get scrambled if we play like that again. This defence can simply not cover for May when he's missing, he brings way too much more than just his play, I'm confident they would have had 2 or 3 less goals if he was there. When he's out and Petty gets banged up then Lever has to play one on one which to put it bluntly, he's [censored] at. The whole thing goes to water, with May back in you will see the intercepts rise again. But then there is using the footy which is another story. Don't underestimate the off the ball work Tom McDonald does. Without him we can't any God damn separation up forward and we just bomb over Baghdad constantly. It was awful to watch. We need space to operate.

There is a perceived gap based on our best VS the rest. That is where we should be. Our best isn’t achieved often enough. Our average leaves us a game clear. We are the best side on our best day.

We played like crap and still should’ve won. I think we would’ve went close without the umpires stepping in. Mentally, we aren’t where we were last year. Last year we were so strong mentally that we could win despite bad umpiring decisions against us.This year we are back with the pack now. And, no team In the league should even need to play against the umpires. But that is the way of the game. Australian Rules football in the modern era is largely a game of momentum swings, and resiliency against that breeds grinding wins. We are grinding out. The AFL has ruined the game of Australian Rules. So the best thing we can do now is mentally strengthen our players to be able to withstand mental warfare. Because that is what every week is. I feel it as a fan, and can only imagine how mentally drained these players are, in all sides. Hopefully the club can see this is steer us towards some psychological resilience training, much like Lomachenko does in boxing. As a fan of Australian Rules, tonight is just another bad night. #DropPetracca.

1 minute ago, Colm said:

Assume Viney was having a chat about the 4 wacks we took after marks when 50 wasn’t paid 

Smart enough to do it after the siren.

Shocking umpiring. Petracca needs a big last quarter or should see VFL action soon.

On 5/27/2022 at 7:51 AM, Whispering_Jack said:

Bigfooty’s Davo-27 has updated his top 50 Rankings following the Academy game -

1. George Wardlaw - Oak - 182cm

2. Will Ashcroft - Sand - 180cm (Brisbane F/S?)

3. Jhye Clark - Geel - 180cm

4. Elijah Tsatas - Oak - 188cm

5. Elijah Hewett - Swan Dist - 186cm

6. Adam D'Aloia - WWT - 181cm

7. Jedd Busslinger - East Perth - 197cm

8. Anthony Munkara - West Adel - 190cm (Essendon NGA?)

9. Tom Scully - West Adel - 204cm

10. Oliver Hollands - Murr - 183cm

11. Mitch Szybkowski - Dand - 186cm

12. Harry Sheezel - Sand - 184cm

13. Harry Lemmey - West Adel - 199cm

14. Luke Teal - Oak - 191cm

15. Olivier Northam - Geel - 195cm

16. Aaron Cadman - GWV - 194cm

17. Jackson Broadbent - Peel - 201cm

18. Kobe Ryan - West Adel - 183cm

19. Lachlan Cowan - Tas - 188cm

20. Brayden George - Murr - 185cm

21. Isaac Keeler - Nth Adel - 197cm (Adelaide NGA?)

22. Henry Hustwaite - Dand - 194cm

23. Max Clohesy - Murr - 179cm

24. Bailey Humphrey - Gipps - 184cm

25. Jed Hagan - East Frem - 175cm

26. Seth Campbell - Tas - 182cm

27. Matthew Jefferson - Oak - 195cm

28. Kane Bevan - West Perth - 192cm

29. Taj Campbell-Farrell - Dand - 185cm

30. Jaspa Fletcher - Bris A - 184cm (Brisbane F/S +A)

31. Ted Clohesy - Geel - 182cm (Geelong NGA?)

32. Charlie Clarke - Sand - 182cm

33. Josh Weddle - Oak - 192cm

34. Max Michaelanny - Norw - 190cm (Adelaide F/S?)

35. Lewis Hayes - East - 197cm

36. Al Davey Jnr - Oak - 181cm (Essendon F/S)

37. Jaxon Binns - Dand - 182cm

38. Jonti Schuback - Gipps - 183cm

39. Rye Penny - Cald - 185cm

40. Luke Lawrence - GWS A - 183cm (GWS A)

41. James Van Es - GWV - 196cm

42. Cam MacKenzie - Sand - 187cm (St Kilda NGA?)

43. Blake Drury - Oak - 178cm

44. Will Dowling - Nth Adel - 187cm

45. Mattaes Phillipou - WWT - 188cm

46. Luke Michael - West Perth - 186cm

47. Cooper Harvey - North - 180cm (North Melbourne F/S)

48. Harry Barnett - West Adel - 202cm

49. Nick Madden - GWS A - 204cm (GWS A)

50. Steely Green - Sth Frem - 178cm

The question marks? In the case of father/sons, these won’t be confirmed until closer to the national draft. In the case of clubs outside the four “northern states”, they can not match bids for these players within the first 40 selections in the national draft.

38. Jonti Schuback. 
 

I’ve never seen this guy play. But he is the son of the best player I’ve played against. His old man was an absolute dominant junior. Would’ve went well if drafted by a Vic club. Good luck to Jonti. 

5 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Its not about the draft pick number. Its about ability, development and progress.

I'd like to see Sam as desperate as Bedford when he gets a chance to show his wares. Sadly he has rarely shown that desperation or any attribute that the club can utilise in any consistent way. 

 

Not many players are as desperate as Bedford. It’s what makes him so good. Watch VFL and Bedford is clearly pushing his case every single week.

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I assume there's something about Mitch Brown's game that both Essendon and Melbourne have observed that stops him from getting regular game time. We know he's an excellent kick and that he regularly scores goals when given the chance. I assume, therefore, that there's something else that negates those positives. I don't wish to disparage him unnecessarily, but surely there's an aspect that we can't see?  

He was good at Essendon. Not sure why they offloaded him, but in hindsight it was a mistake as he’d currently be their best forward. This is the same club who gave Cale Hooker time up forward ahead of Mitch Brown. They are a basket case for a reason.

Different story at Melbourne as he’s actually behind two reasonable forwards in BBB and TMAC. Not sure how much longer we’ll persist in playing Weideman. He doesn’t work overly hard on the defensive end. Mitch Brown would at the very least be an improvement in that regard.

1 hour ago, layzie said:

A couple of days to process this and also time to grieve for Liverpool's defeat in the Champions League Final. Let’s get back to business.

Did Freo come up with the blueprint on how to beat Melbourne? I don’t believe so, they brought so much effort and work rate that they absolutely deserved this win but there were also a series of circumstances that allowed this to happen and to Justin Longmuir’s credit he pounced of them, great coaching.

I watched all the shows, I knew they were going to deep dive on this game and a story like this is like xmas day for footy analysts so I wanted to see what everyone had to say and graded their performances. First crack showed Freo bringing so much pressure and double or even triple teaming Melb ball carriers at centre clearances, although the footage was very well edited and impressive I could not help but think this would be tough to replicate and surprisingly David King agreed. Petracca banged up and Oliver being sat on by Aish allowed them to do this but on another day I can see Freo or another team for that matter bringing 2 or 3 to the ball carrier and us handballing over the top to the open man. Speaking of Aish, a brilliant job he did but Oliver still ended up with 36 possessions. Nullified him for sure and played his part in the big win but on more days than not a day like that from Clarry contributes to a Melb win.

I’m not trying to downplay Freo at all and what they did but I do believe sometimes when you’re down at half time in a game like that, you throw a few things into the mix that you wouldn’t usually do. I do wonder if Freo would have sacrificed in midfield had the game been level at half time. Sometimes it’s the unpredictable stuff that gets you, could Melbourne have done more to stem the bleeding? I’d have to watch again but it didn’t seem like we were prepared to match the running and defensive work rate of Freo once they got the head of steam up.

Individual brilliance from their small forwards Frederick and Shultz, if you’ve got some small forwards who can kick goals like these you’re in with a show. If there is one secret sauce it is moving the ball quick against us.

Injuries never an excuse but Ed Langdon’s ability to not only help with ball carrying attacks down his wing but his ability to track back almost like a sweeper when the backline pushes up. Missed it badly. Then there is May, losing him is equal to losing Virgil Van Dijk for Liverpool (apologies Soccer haters), the marshalling he does as the backline commander is underappreciated. A dozen times when there was a Freo kick to the point of the goal square you were just expecting that big fist but without him roles down back weren’t as defined.

I see this more as a pivot moment for us and the rest of the comp, a sliding doors moment if you will. Everyone takes stock and the road map changes slightly or dramatically, time will tell. Freo capitalised in the best possible fashion you could, they are an excellent unit and match up well on us, can’t wait for the return match at Optus that will be a ripper.

What does it mean for Melbourne? All things considered it is more likely to have a positive effect than negative. The winning streak to me was becoming a side show and frankly quite annoying. I said last week that I believed this team needed to lose as we were controlling games but also bringing a little too much Hollywood to the picture, honestly I don’t blame them. It’s hard to stay as motivated and hungry to improve when you are in this position, I’d even say it’s impossible to not get a little ahead of yourself. It also goes to show that no team is perfect and no team can run hard for 4 quarters, for 22 games a season. You do not need to be great for all of the season, you need to be great where it counts. I didn’t give a stuff about records, I care about what gives us the best chance for another shot at it all.

The magnifying glass will come out this week no doubt about it and these guys know what they need to do. Losing games is a part of following this sport and I know all of you will be confident we can get this back on track.

By keeping possession of the football, they were able to dictate the pace of the game, to one which suited them, and that blunted our momentum. We are largely a side that plays on momentum swings. Freo found a way to simply control the footy, the pace of the game, and were fortunate enough to convert their goal opportunities. We will need to make sure all our forwards are working hard on the defensive end next time around, so to prevent Freo having so much time and space down back. I’d also go back to having a defensive winger, and try and defend against the switch. I would be surprised if Fremantle’s game plan were conducive to finals like pressure. 

37 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Expand on this. In what way was Goodwin “terrible”?

We lost to a top 4 team with 5 premiership players out, May done after 10 minutes, Petracca sick and Petty limping. You think that’s one of Goodwin’s worst performances? You remember we finished 17th in 2019, right?

Sitting Oliver on the bench for 10 minutes after he started the game on fire, was pushing the play, and was benched twice during the game for longer periods than usual. Both times costing us momentum. Fremantle have no inside mid, and prior to coming off they had no answer for Oliver. Probably the worst move I’ve seen Goodwin make. Cost us the game. 

14 minutes ago, CYB said:

Jackson has been underperforming this year has had only a handful of good games by his standards so far.

I wonder whether the drop in attitude is anything to go by.

I dare say if he keeps this up I’ll be starting to turn on all of this trade nonsense.

Kid is in his third year, playing a role most third year players couldn’t, coming off of delivering in a grand final In his second season. He is the cornerstone or our future. It’s absolutely imperative we sign him. If we can help Jackson see the duration at MFC, we stay strong for the next decade. A good ruck goes a long long way. Many believe a good ruck is a useless player to have. But there’s no coincidence the reigning premiers are heavily aided by having the leagues most dominant ruck man. 

12 hours ago, poita said:

Nothing wrong with an occasional loss, but the manner of this one was very concerning. There was so little fight or willingness to compete after half time, that you hope there was some kind of illness debilitating the entire group.

I've been critical of our depth for some time, but I really disappointed with how little fight the replacements showed. Melksham was invisible throughout, Weidman half-hearted and disinterested, Dunstan insignificant and Bedford disappeared after half time. All four should come straight back out this week, and will drop well down the pecking order for replacements.

I said before round 1 last year that it needed to be B.Brown or Weideman, and McDonald or M.Brown. You can't play Weideman and B.Brown together because they want to win the ball in the same spots and get in each others way. Plus neither chases. Both were woeful, but I'd back Brown in 100 times before we bring back Weideman.

We've been playing russian roulette with medical subs for some time, and it finally blew up in our faces. You simply can't afford to have one dimensional players as subs, and that covers all of Bedford, Chandler and Dunstan. At least Tomlinson can play a few positions, or release others to do so. 

The decision to play Petracca, whether made by player, coach or doctor, was exceptionally poor.

I couldn't believe that we would play Spargo on the wing for the entire game when he had no influence, but to have him paired with Melksham for long stretches left us exposed on both sides of the ground. We should have tried Neal-Bullen or Bedford in the role, who are much better runners. Spargo is clearly the best inside 50 kick in the team, and our connection going forward clearly suffered by him playing our of positoin.

Finally why did we front up to centre bounces with the same combination for almost the entire third quarter? Petracca was a witches hat, Jackson didn't get a single tap to advantage in the game, and Viney and Oliver were both horribly out of position. We should have thrown Pickett or Dunstan or Weideman in there for something different. 

Looking forward to a much improved effort, with or without returning star players, this week.

It was a terrible coaching performance by Goodwin. One of his worst. But I half let him off the hook due to pressure. How much pressure it takes to remain undefeated, and is that even worth it? Ideally we’d love to breed this culture of absolute ruthless winners and never drop a game - but that’s unrealistic. Goodwin does make a point of teams losing eventually, like it was something he’d obviously been reflecting on. This loss, as bad as the media make it out to be, will relieve a lot of pressure. We still sit on the top of the ladder a game clear, we still look like the team to beat, and we are also in a better position than we were last year. I expect to see our players now play with even more freedom. Which is good, because on the weekend when we did that - we were too much for Fremantle, and all going well (injuries), we are far too much for Fremantle, who aren’t the best side in the comp or even close. Everyone knows our game plan, we now know Fremantles, and we get to see how Brisbane approach Fremantle. Many sides have had a crack at us and came up short. Let’s see Fremantle defend their game style, which isn’t at all conducive to finals like pressure. Ours is.

You definitely make a great point about Brown and Weideman in the same side. I see that too. JVR also plays similar to TMAC, although may not be ready just yet but should get his chance in the back end of the season. Mitch Brown is underrated and should probably get a go at it soon. He was great at Essendon, has been very good at Casey, and just continues to get overlooked. 

10 hours ago, willmoy said:

By the way Oliver's tag wouldn't have happened with Harmes in the side. I also think there were a couple of other flow on effects in that game against Freo which we had the "inside info on" but didn't use it.

Harmes, the most underrated player since James McDonald 

38 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

The Oliver tag wouldn’t have had an impact if Trac was at 100% 

Oliver sat on the bench a lot. The Aish tag is overrated, as Oliver was benched for 10 minutes after his great start, then benched again later on for a more than usual amount of time. When Oliver was up and about could Aish have stopped him? No. 

Oliver 

Daylight 

Jordon

Viney

Pickett

Dunstan is just limited in general. No foot skills, no urgency, and not much pace. He is exactly what we do not need. I watched him in the VFL and was surprised he got a call up. He just doesn’t add anything to our side. Harmes will be a big IN when he comes back. 

We haven’t been playing good footy. The Saints win was good but most the other games were ordinary. We sit a game clear with the bye coming up and players coming back in. We are in a great position.