dazzledavey36

1 hour ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

On the contrary. It demonstrates how close knit they all were then. Gus was well loved and the camaraderie between players was at an all time high in 2021 and 22.

I know a few Melbourne player family members and they all say Gus was one of the most liked players in the club. Quite possibly the Mfcs cohesion imploding was no coincidence since losing Gus.

Of course the players were shell shocked. They saw their mate absolutely flattened and not moving for several minutes.

A mate they all knew had a history of concussion events and deep down they all were probably worried he could have some permanent damage.

I don't think that can be referred to as the team having " psychological errors" or whatever else your professional opinion would deem them to have.

No..... it shows to me a high spirit de corps that played it's part in finally breaking such a long voodoo.

Fair shake of the old sauce bottle Dd

Fair shake of the bottle of excuses you're trotting out.

Have a good Christmas.

1 minute ago, Demonland said:

May now jogging faster laps.

I am guessing this is more to do with fitness issue..?

Do we put any substance into the reason why we have brought Brian Cook in to help mentor Guerra..?

Hopefully they will upload the King video pretty soon.

25 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

He was simply bs-ing us

Honestly, I havent watched the videos yet so I'll get around to it, but if there has been a speed bump along the way then just tell us...

My opinion is, let's just get to Waverley for now until we can actually get a home. At least we will be all under the same roof for once.

Caufield is just a pipe dream it seems.

This is from a Paul Guerra article in the HS in October..

Melbourne’s move to finally confirm a headquarters at the Caulfield racecourse continues apace with more positive meetings in the last fortnight.

“All I would say is by the time the AGM comes around we will be in a position to give a really positive alignment.”

So.. what happend??

Just now, picket fence said:

Dazz, given this is Jeffo's last year in contract, how do you see it panning out?

Hes got big competition Pickett.

Whilst I like him, we're hearing more that Kentfield and Johnson are tearing up the track and would be ahead of him based on whats observed at training on form.

That's on top of still having JVR and Mihocek already ahead of him.

I have my doubts, but its only December.

Great signing!

43 minutes ago, old55 said:

You're picking up the slack.

It's funny, because I use to actually get you both confused with one another.

Both of you were as simple as a dead lettuce leaf.

I suppose every club has one...

27 minutes ago, Redleg said:

I am not buying into the flags argument, but I think you will agree that injuries early in a game, are different to injured unavailable players for the game.

You can at least plan for it and select another fit player.

Losing a very good player and on field leader early in the 2023 Q F affected us badly, especially when the result was a 7 point loss.

Gus went off very early in the first quarter, after having one kick and one handball and was replaced by Laurie who had one kick for the remaining 3.5 quarters. He was basically ineffective from when he came on.

I think Gus was on around 25-30 possessions a game at that time.

We lost him and fresh legs at the end of the game, where it might have made a difference.

The team was shell shocked and the Pies then jumped us ,until we settled down later in the game.

Yes we kicked badly and that didn’t help, but I strongly believe we would have won that game if Gus wasn’t knocked out.

I always thought the winner of that game would win the flag and that was how it turned out.

No guarantee we win the flag, but our chance to was severely affected by the Gus knockout.

Is that argument valid with Brisbane losing their number 1 ruckman in Oscar Mcinerney early on the 2nd quarter in last year's preliminary final and yet Brisbane still found a way as underdog to beat Geelong?

Or does that lense only suit when we have our red and blue glasses firmly tight.

Morale of the story is good teams still find ways to overcome adversity and win crucial moments.

You say the players were shellshocked? Well that to me sums us up the psychological issue of the players if they couldn't put that aside for two hours and focus on the game on hand.

You know what lost us the game against Collingwood 'Red'? It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact Brayshaw was out.

it was this 👇

We completely outscored them in the 2nd half.

The point is, is that we had ample of opportunities to win the game on hand well past the fact that Gus was out of the game.

Yet for some reason this is hard for @Previously known as LITD. to comprehend.

34 minutes ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

We came close by finishing top four.

Closer than.most clubs.

Yes as mentioned we fluffed the finals through the things I mentioned.

But you have to acknowledge the many wins we had to make those finals.

Big picture aside from the finals we had good seasons.

Settle down Dd. Quite a few of the players in 22 and 23 played their hearts out. Your bitterness and whinging can't take that way from them.

As if you could ever dream of playing as well as the ones who let's us down.

Plus as mentioned we wouldn't have beaten the pies if Gus wasn't knocked out. And more than likely one the gfs instead of a mediocre Cwood team.

If you can't see that we were incredibly close that year, then I suggest you follow a sport you can understand.

Delusional.

Finishing 4th is completely different to saying we were close to a 3 peat mate. You have

Once you finish top 4, finals is a completely different season and the staked go higher then a normal season.

I have zero care factor on the players played their little hearts out. This game is based off results.

No one ever remembers players from a losing finals teams. So realistically, its completely irrelevant.

48 minutes ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

Pies were lucky to win that Gf.

If Gus wasn't ko by Maynard that would have been ours.

Also Milkshake went down when in career best form.

Huge factors despite BBB and Tmac no show in their respective finals.

Gus and Jake were big factors.

Weak excuses.

What were Brisbanes excuse this year and last when they were hit with lengthy injuries to some of their quality players.

19 minutes ago, Somereset said:

Was referencing an old poster called Deeluded whose name was apt and who made PF look like a calm, wise sage

I miss him...

37 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

To be fair we lost 4 close finals, any one of which we might have won. Yes we lost them ALL and I get it… that’s all that counts. But I do think we were close in 22 and 23.

2022 we were cooked. We weren't even close. Goody [censored] that year big time by not managing players throughout the year when they were clearly sore and gassed and it bit us in the [censored] come finals.

2023 we couldn't even get the basics right and kick straight.

You can pretend we were close but reality is we weren't. We played like a team that got caught up in the moment once the heat was applied to us.

25 minutes ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

Well to be fair we came incredibly close to winning three on a row but injuries ( Milkshake) and BBB and Tmac having nightmare finals seasons and then Gus been almost killed.....we cold have made it imho.

The midfield really only started to implode i 24 and last year. Maybe in late 23 there were a few signs but nothing drastic.

Oliver from his last two years efforts won't be missed although in another environment he may reinvent himself as he's still young.

Tracca will do better in another club as I feel he has an attitude rightly or wrongly towards the MFC. So he will be missed.

Anb has moved on as well so it will be interesting to see how our MF goes.

But let's be honest, this last season it was in significant trouble.

Came incredibly close to winning 3 in a row!?

Haha what planet were you on at the time mate? we were not even close, at all. Couldn't even win another final let alone winning 2 finals in a row just to get to another grand final.

Talk about massive overreaction.

20 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Not offended, it’s just part of the issue he had with us. Minimising crazy actions and no accountability.

The guy is a genuine sook because once again he would have had to be sat down and told to pull his head in like he has a hundred times over his career

The guy will never learn, thank God he's GWS problem child to look after.

3 hours ago, GS_1905 said:

i disagree. He is above average for sure, elite in some cases, but wouldn't be talked about as much if he didn't play for Collingwood.

Lets see what happens when Pendles, SideBottom and DeGoey retire in the next year or two and he is surrounded by no names and is required to win his own ball.

Haha laughable.

Even with those guys playing Daicos still gets the number 1 tag and performs at an incredibly high level. What difference does it makes if they retire.

Hate Collingwood all we want, but the guy is a dead set star and its scary what hes achieved so far at his age.

3 hours ago, hank said:

Every body has their own opinion but I have no idea what you want from a captain. Max number one (maybe of all time)

Ha. He wouldn't even be in my top 3 of best Melbourne captains I have seen in my time supporting the Dees.

1. Garry Lyon

2. David Neitz

3. Nathan Jones

Max is an absolute champion footballer in every aspect from an on-field work. But that doesn't automatically mean you are a great leader, and Max aint a great leader.

41 minutes ago, DEE fence said:

Max's off field work with Trac, Oliver, MMM and everything else has been first class, he has a long media career ahead without doubt. I'm not sure the on-field role of leader is quite the same anymore, everything is about lines and roles, and leadership groups. Also I would ask are Gen Z+ are they really fussed about who is captain? (Genuine question, does it get a extra 2-3% performance out of the team). Captain has become much more about being a spokesperson for the club, which is a poison chalice at the best of times.. Max's public speaking ability is off the charts for a footballer, and TBH he really took some heat recently.

Once upon a time a hard nut like Viney would have been my first choice, but those days seem gone.

Really?

I personally cringe when Max speaks publicly to be honest.

Each to their own.

Albury lad represent!

Well done disco.

Never rated Max as a skipper and still dont.

In saying that, I think he will do one more year and then hand the bat over.

Daniel Turner would be my next pick, but keep an eye out for Xavier Lindsay over the next few years.

Rated internally highly for his leadership qualities at such a young age.