KingDingAling

McKay just plays for frees. Stops playing after contests just expecting free kicks. And gets them.

May Is a bully and he got chinned. Blokes like May understand and respect a biffing. He will now go back, keep his head down, and work tirelessly to be a better teammate. I don’t think there is any point banning him. He did this up the GC early on in his career, then went on to captain the club. He will walk out on the training track as a bloke his teammates know copped a hiding. That humbles a bloke like May. It’s the perfect response to a bully - to physically handle them in front of those they’d bullied. The public may not understand that, but bullying runs rampant in society now because without violence it’s never deterred, and keeps going. It’s why it’s a problem in schools (more than it ever has been). The risk for the players is they are supposed to be role models, blah blah blah. And as a result the AFL will probably be seen to dish out some sort of additional penalty, as to not be seen to endorse violence, which, to be fair, I’m not sure they can suspend players anymore than we have. In light of incidents like Franklin’s, where they act in a lenient fashion. Pretty happy with MFC’s response. It’s been appropriate. Both parties have been setback a long way for their actions that night. Melksham with his hand, and probably nearly be his year, as he’s a depth players and will now fall behind a few, and May has been publically humiliated in front of the players he was acting up in front of, and also the broader public.

Melksham should’ve taken it outside. That’s his only error here in my eyes.

Lack of execution. Viney needs to start lowering his eyes and hitting targets again, otherwise he is a liability. Gets it a lot and doesn’t utilize it as well as he should/can. I get he is hard at it, and I admire his will to win the footy, but unless he’s hitting targets, then I cannot have him in my votes. Jack once adapted his game, many years ago. Harnessed his aggression and when he did - he started lowering his eyes more. He is actually really good user of the footy (if poised), also has a pretty snappy side step. He needs to get back to that player. He is one of my favorites so if I could’ve fit him in the votes I would’ve. He’s certainly having a ripping year.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Smart enough to do it after the siren.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Harmes, the most underrated player since James McDonald