At the break of Gawn

1 hour ago, Hogan2014 said:

Just wanted to highlight... Since returning from Injury Watts has not touched the  ball a lot or impacted in his last 3 games.. Prior to his injury he's played well.. what's frustrating to see for a player who's never played finals & played in very poor sides . I can't see any apitite for the contest . I don't see any hard tackling or pressure acts as a Senior player we're is his leadrship? Surely the coaches can't accept this . I don't want him to be the whipping boy  but ffs opportunity to play finals!! need to see the hunger & aggression..

Going off that, the pattern after two 0 goal games and  a 1 is then a 3. 

4 minutes ago, Macca said:

If we can beat the Saints then we should then account for Brisbane.  The Pies game then looms large with that mob running into a bit of form.  13 wins should secure us a spot but we'll still need 1 loss from each of the Eagles & Dons (or beat them both out on percentage) 

The Crows should beat Essendon next week but they might be in a position where they can rest their good players (tank) in round 23 against the Eagles.  The Bulldogs tanked their round 23 game against Freo last season.

Looking ahead it wouldn't be a bad thing if the Pies reappointed Buckley in the next week or so.  The Pies under Buckley are terribly inconsistent.  Whilst he's coaching for his football coaching career they are dangerous.

I reckon we'll turn our form around but we now need a bit of help (elsewhere) to make the finals.

 

Giants will beat Eagles at Spotless stadium. There won't be Nic Nat out there kicking a goal with 5 seconds left. 

5 minutes ago, GCDee said:

I didnt see the Saints game, but I saw in the match report Steven was injured and Dunstan was reported... will they both be outs next week? 

 

If we don't turn up next week all hell will break loose... and our club will lose so much credibility.

Steven dominated in the last qtr with like 11 or 12 disposals. He's fine, unfortunately. 

Just doing the ladder predictor again... If we win all 3, then it comes down to 1 game...

Ess vs Crows - Essendon has to lose.

The alternative, Melbourne has to thump the Lions by 10 goals. 

27 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

JW would get ripped apart in September if we were lucky enough to make it

I thought QB after Half Time, but that was another false dawn

Big Job Goody ahead of you

Not if our midfield delivered the ball like they should. Melbourne has the lowest scoring efficiency for forward 50 entries in the league. Even Buddy Franklin would hit new lows playing in our forward line. The butchering of the ball is our ultimate downfall.

Why is it that Collingwood or Essendon don't have to play on these suburban grounds? Melbourne has played on 4 suburban grounds this year.

This club has got to stop taking [censored] from the AFL and request AFL venues only. Knowing our luck, we'll get Launceston next year as well as Hobart. 

It's no wonder our two worst performances have coincided with playing on foreign grounds that are highly susceptible to the elements and are very familiar to our opposition.

Next week is the ultimate litmus test.

14 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

So TMac must be playing in a different forward line to Watts. Perhaps he is just really really lucky each week. 8 marks and 8 tackles shows he works his butt off regardless of how the team is going ensuring that his poor games are never really that poor.

You realise 6 of those marks were probably taken in defence? Garlett, Pedo, Watts and Tmac kicked a combine total of 3 goals from those inside 50s so I reckon there's more of a story on the entries and the structure. Watts kicked 1 and set up 2 directly. Where's the thread for Pedo or Garlett?

1 minute ago, doc roet said:

Look at what the magpies are doing to north.Are we that bad? 

Would be a different story if it was in Hobart. 

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

People who defend Watts don't fully understand why he is criticised.

I'll leave it up to the club to decide if he needs to be dropped rather than listening to people such as yourself whom regularly pots him week in week out.

The whole forward line stinks at the moment and no one is in form that I can see bar maybe T-Mac. More fingers need to be pointed at Chaplin and Goody who are structuring our forward line.  

But back to Watts, he is definitely in the best 22 and I don't know if risking Weideman (who has struggled at AFL level) is the answer when we are still trying to make finals. I'd give Watts one more week to redeem himself, and if he gives little again, put him back in the VFL and tell him to have a big preseason. 

Just now, CBDees said:

Melksham got two goals and you want to drop him??Not sure what that is about? ?

Apparently he's likely to be suspended

Let our best team play on a proper AFL ground again. 

Out: Melksham

In: Hannan.

Tempted to drop Watts but a) Pedo was worse. B) Petracca, Harmes, Hunt have been equally disappointing the last few weeks. C) we need our best team in our park and he's in it. Dropping him will be conceding no finals this year and giving youth opportunity.

Lots of talk about Watts' form which has definitely been poor. But geez, he's got some mates. Petracca, Frost, Harmes, Melksham.

8 minutes ago, SFebey said:

Why the F does Watts go for one handed marks all of the time?????!!!!!!!!! Its a serious Fing issue!

Because he's fighting off his opponent with the other... Pretty standard.

Big Watts fan, but he needs time at Casey. 

Not 100% sure if that's the whole problem. Our goal kickers have been down the last 5 weeks. Forward structure and forward entries have been woeful. 

Troy Chaplin needs to go. Forward structure was better under his predecessor.

5 minutes ago, Deestar9 said:

Looking at weather chart ....similar wind conditions to Hobart? Haven't been to ground so don't know if wind had same effect as in Hobart....

This feels like last week all over again. 30-45km winds and at a ground that GWS have a great record on.

Team as a whole is going through patchy form and the stats from Rnd15 onwards compared to Rnds 10-14 (our best period) are pretty damning. Is it Gawn being back which is disrupting things? (as silly as that sounds) was it Jones missing? Was it a combination of Watts, Hogan, Tyson and Viney missing games? Who knows... but, a whole suite of players need to stand-up this weekend if we are going to turn the corner and make the finals. 

4 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

BUMP

2017 rnd 23 fixture is out http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-2017-luke-hodges-likely-farewell-to-kick-off-round-23-20170801-gxn6ei.html

We play pies on Sat @ 1.45 at the G.  Unfortunately it is a Foxtel game so no FTA.

But on the bright side if we make finals it gives us a good break for injury recovery until first final!

 

Another 6 day break. Thanks, AFL ?

I like Hogan but he doesn't have the athletic leap of someone like a Joe Danniher, Ben Brown or Tom Lynch. Hogan is more of your classic FF/CHF mould like Jonathon Brown. I have no doubt he's still going to be a star but he's not going to be in the same category as the aforementioned 3. 

They said Mummy out for a fortnight on GWS' website on Friday. Highly doubt he plays this week.

6 marks i50 in the last qtr to them. That's the game right there. 

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Explain.

He's allowed 2 poor games I think after a month out of the game. Even Gawn is struggling and I don't think Hogan had kicked a goal from a mark with his return before being injured. 

His form before being injured was as good as his 2016 form. 

Needs to improve and impact more contests this week though or he could most definitely be on the outer.

I'd almost go as far to say that his form is intrinsically linked to our finals chances. If he fires, Melbourne will fire and win 3 of our 4 remaining games.

If we somehow fall into a position where Collingwood deny us of a finals spot, brace yourselves for some of the worst smug remarks and sh*t eating grins this century. 

2 hours ago, ENYAW said:

Such a huge disappointment to lose to North, we were suppose to be at full strength minus jones. Perhaps some of our players think they are better than wahat they are.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but North are very good at Blundstone arena, no matter who the opposition. Just take a look at their record at the ground.

http://afltables.com/afl/venues/bellerive_oval.html

I predict the Dees will bounce back and beat GWS, Saints, Lions but somehow lose to the Pies after resting on our laurels. 

1 hour ago, TGR said:

One of the worst 34 possession games I have seen.

Didn't like him berating a few teammates when his decision-making and positioning was questionable.  His kick in-board to Hogan was puzzling.  His shepherd for McDonald on Preust was great.

 

Watts had a shocker, but I prefer him to play the easiest gig in town (plus one in D50); especially when he aint firing a shot up forward.  At least he can compete in the air.

 

 

Talking about the "+1".  Why was Jetta loose in defence in the last 2 minutes when we needed to go all out attack.

 

 

Yep, berated OMac and Frost on different occasions, kicked a shocker to Hogan which ended up breaking his collar bone, and then didn't put his body on the line for that last passage of play. Tmac or Watts would've been better as a loose man. 

Weid won't play again this year. Read plappy's latest review.

Out: Hogan, Trenners, JKH

In: Pederson, Vince, Jones.

Trac has to go forward. Would like to see Watts in the ruck again to get some disposals out of him, but I'm afraid Mummy would eat him for breakfast.