TeamPlayedFine39

We would have lost all of those matches if we had Lever and May in the team. In fact the one match that May played was our biggest defeat of the season. Modern AFL is about team defence and that is what we are currently not doing well enough. We aren’t locking the ball into our forward 50 and the opposition is clearing it without pressure or harassment. We aren’t pressuring the opposition ball carrier delivering it into their 50. They have time and space to select an option and deliver to their advantage. We aren’t filling our defensive 50 with numbers to man-up, then our number their forwards. One on ones at best; rarely a third man up or an intercept mark. Ayres, Doull, Scarlett and Jakovich couldn’t defend alongside our team defence.

Seems as good a place as any to post some of Max’s article from the HS: "The truth is, we knew there were no guarantees. We knew that just because we made a preliminary final last year didn’t mean we were going to cruise through this season. We knew that we couldn’t automatically pick up where we left off. We knew that every year that teams improve. But what we didn’t know was that we would be 1-5. This isn’t the start anyone wants. Losing hurts. It hurts even after you’ve won 21 in a row. I was drafted in 2009 in perhaps the most unsuccessful era in Demons history. Yet somewhere, somehow, I fell in love with the red and blue. I am an avid Demon supporter. I hurt when you hurt, I celebrate when you celebrate and I will listen to your feedback when things aren’t on track. What hurts the most is the fact we are just not playing the way we know we can. We have somehow gone away from playing a brand of footy that we started building since 2015. The players are hurting, the coaches are hurting, the staff and volunteers are hurting, friends and family are hurting and most of all you guys, the Demon faithful, are hurting. But we aren’t quitting; there is no way that we will quit. This theory about us not being fit enough is a myth. Along with most teams across the competition, we had the majority of our group, including myself, post PB’s in our pre season time trial. Yes, we had some key personnel out after surgery, but so does every team. It’s on those guys to get back to the fitness required, which they did. --------------------------------

Hindsight. The market placed DeGoey's value at pick 5; Jarrod Pickett was taken at pick 4. The best players do not get picked first; it's an educated guess. Paddy McCartin went number 1... he is far from the best of the draft.

I'm not sure I get the love for Patton on here. If he were going cheap, maybe.... very maybe He's a power forward in his 8th season who has only kicked 130 goals in his career. He's had three knee reconstructions and last year only managed 10 goals from 12 games. He's played 89 games in 8 seasons and only made 149 tackles in his entire career. He's big, slow and doesn't influence games consistently.

Yeah- would have to be a half forward role. Petracca to the midfield for Viney, Sparrow to half-forward for Petracca.

Saw Sparrow was an emergency for the Richmond game which suggests he’s still in the coach’s mind for a call-up. Seems a likely inclusion at this point.

Would love to see Sparrow, Baker and Petty’s form demand selection before the bye. If two of these three could play out the year, that would be a big plus in a pretty dark season. Would also like to see ANB tried down back. Tackling, running and 1 percenters are a strength of his game; give him a job and a man to follow.

Not defending our woeful season to date... but every team that has beaten us is in the top 8. We’ve had a challenging fixture to start the season. Our 1 win has come against the only team we’ve played currently outside the 8. More wins will come.

I don't think this is the solution to our issues; we'd be trading an immensely talented player and getting his lowest return. He'd net a top five-ten pick every other year of his career to date; this would be selling our stock at its lowest value. I would rather see the players and coaches put a rocket up him like the Geelong group did with Ablett Jr at the end of 2006. He has enough talent to tear the game apart, but he is not working hard enough to reach that potential. He needs to commit 100% to football, the club and himself. With that said... would I trade him for a pick? No. Would I trade him for a player? Possibly. But again, we're not going to be trading him for a great, in-form player (Whitfield, etc.). The best we could hope for in a trade is a similarly talented player who is not reaching his potential, a good player with only a couple of years of top football left in them, or a solid role-player type, who won't win matches of their own boot but can play consistent football through the year.

He still has the potential to be a very good footballer. He has struggled for for continuity in recent years, which can make any player look average.

Huge loss, big fan; but it's not enough.

Agreed - there is definitely something NQR about the place at the moment. I have never seen so many very good, good and capable players so desperately out of form and confidence at the same time. There will definitely be an end of season review and, in my opinion anyway, I hope it's led by someone from outside of the club. When these reviews take place, there's rarely mass sackings as the outcome, but it usually comes down to communication and role definitions within the club as a whole. Last year was not a one-off or a fluke as some have been spruiking; it was the gradual progression that has been building since 2014. We have gone from: 2014: 4 wins 2015: 7 wins 2016: 10 wins 2017: 12 wins 2018: 14 wins (+ 2 finals) To then go 1 and 5 says that something significant has occurred behind the scenes that we haven't got wind of yet.

Jesse Hogan decided.

You mean where Essendon found All Australian Michael Hibberd, before taking him in the pre-season draft..?

Tomlinson is a free agent this year. Versatile with excellent disposal. Would play Fritsch’s current role much better and would only cost us cap space.

Something is rotten at the club.

That’s been the standout for me tonight. There have been countless times where a Melbourne player has worked to primes position only to be spoilt by a teammate crashing the pack at the last second.

If I’d been offered 8 points down at half time 90 minutes ago, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. We’re starting to play a more familiar style of football and applying pressure that has been absent so far this year. We’re in the game. Now gotta win the game.

Without being a killjoy, I’d say with the ten thousand things the umpires are looking for on the field, some blood on jumper was probably accidentally missed. In fact, as was the case with Gawn last year, it often takes opposition players to point it out to the umpire so that player has to leave the ground. As they are both important players to their team, perhaps no one wanted to draw the umpires attention to it.

Melbourne by 18.

Anyone know how the draft order for the mid-season draft is set?

We drafted Oliver that year. He is significantly better than all three of those players.

How did he break Mitch Clark’s navicular and give him depression? If anything, Clark returned to football after his foot injury, it was his mental health that led to his retirement.

Just out of curiosity... who are the 'multiple players careers' he has wrecked? Is there a club in the AFL that has not had players retire due to injury? What should the players do when they turn up to training on Monday..? Should everyone who is planning on leaving the end of a year (Roos, Jackson, etc.) resign immediately? (people are really struggling with who to blame now that Oscar has been dropped)