waynewussell

By the way, nothing but respect and admiration for the MFC fans who went to the MCG today to put up with that gutting. You deserve better!

I didn't go today. My son couldn't make it and I have the bug. But I am quite emphatic in saying I will not go to watch this trash until they show some heart. That was sickening! I don't want to see Frawley in an MFC kit ever again! I want Dawes to go back to Collingwood by any means available. I can only support Jetta, Jones & Dyson after that heartless debacle. I am feeling totally detached from the MFC and I have no intention of spending a dollar on that miserable excuse for a football team in 2015.

Matthew Whelan

I will always support our players, but we must look at what Watts can buy us. I was pleased with his game today, in that he had quite a few touches that counted. However, I look at Reilly's impact and I say... that was better!

6 Tyson 5 Jetta 4 Gawn 3 N Jones 2 Howe 1 Cross

I would like to know which members of the MRP made this decision... Anything in common with the panel that gave Jack Viney a few weeks?

Thanks Clint, that's what I thought I saw when watching live. I haven't bothered to watch the replay because I will back my first impression over MRP interpretation every day of the week. I agree that the players response was p-weak! I would encourage our off-field team to be outraged and to fire off a "please explain" to the AFL ASAP!

My son and I decided not to go today because it was at Etihad. We also agreed to turn off the TV with three minutes to go. AFL and MFC, you are losing us. I agree with others who have said that this was the most mistake-riddled effort in living memory. Yes, we were still in the game in the last term, but I would rather be several goals down and witness individual acts of brilliance and see players taking the game on. I could list individual stupidity but what's the point.

This is not a conspiracy theory... this is fact! The first two or three free kicks in a game will go against MFC The first stacks on the mill/holding the ball in the game will go against MFC MFC will lose the free kick count early in a game, but late trends in a game will tend to even it up MFC will not get free kicks in forward 50 of an equivalent nature to free kicks already paid to the oppositions in their forward 50 MFC will get the first deliberately OOB free in the game paid against it There is more than one umpire who pays next to zilch frees to MFC in the course of an AFL season!!!! Umpires and the free kicks they pay (where & when) should be monitored very closely (as far as I know nobody does this). I have said it before, the easiest way to fix an outcome of an AFL game is to have one or two umpires on the take. I have no evidence that this happens, but I didn't have any evidence against Lance Armstrong either. I will monitor this situation when I find time. Umpires should be held accountable!

At least you got us onto page 3 fossil

Lets see a modern team cut through a pre-90's team under these conditions One field umpire applying the rules as they were applied pre-90's two on the bench with no rotations full-back not permitted to kick in until flags waved no line across the centre circle and no outer circle

Its worth noting that Slammin Sam started his VFL/AFL career for North Melbourne in 1968... Without having to dig very deep I note that in 1968 The Shinboners kicked 31 points against Richmond in round 6, 32 points against Collingwood in round 11 and in the round 15 game versus Melbourne, the Demons won by two points, 40 to 38. The very next week North managed 39 points against St Kilda. From these statistics I derive that the North Melbourne Football Club, along with Sam Kekovitch, his coaches and his team mates are responsible for the very low number of members that club has in 2014!

6 Dunn 5 Tyson 4 N jones 3 Pederson 2 Vince 1 Viney

I was at the game at Western Oval and the three finals matches mentioned. I remember sitting down on the terraces v Footscray (yes... very little seating in the outer in those days) listening to someone else's tranny which was tuned in to the game at Geelong. When the siren sounded and we knew we had made the finals we jumped the fence and danced on Western Oval. The next two games at the G were heaven! We thrashed North and belted Sydney (during the year the Swans had scored two 200 point games in a row). We played a magnificent game v Hawks and had several opportunities to put them away in the last quarter... the rest is history. I remember being bitter about the 15 metre penalty and still maintain that it was the result of a pedantic-minded umpire who was never in step with the spirit of the game!

6 Watts 5 N Jones 4 Pedderson 3 Vince 2 Tyson 1 Viney

The free against Dunn did not have to be paid in the context of the game. Once again we get shafted by a soft free. It was such a fantastic effort by both teams until then. The umpires had put the whistle away... No, there was still one maggot prepared to take the game on the whistle!

6 M Jones 5 B Vince 4 N Jones 3 C Pederson 2 L Dunn 1 M Jamar

6 N Jones 5 Dawes 4 Viney 3 Frawley 2 Cross 1 Pederson

Agree with most of what has been said about players in first half. After half time I saw a marked improvement from Vince, Jetta, Howe, Kennedy-Harris, and Matt Jones. It was frustrating because we know it was winnable. Jones was great, Dawes continued first, second & third efforts and was very creative in providing scoring opportunities. Dunn was too predictable with kick outs (takes too long, inevitably kicks to himself and then bombs it long to the boundary line). McDonald was monstered in the air. We lacked total commitment.

The constant criticism of Pederson is obnoxious. I was at the G on Sunday and Pederson added physicality when others were tame. He threw himself at the contest, particularly after half time, and because of what had gone before, I stood and applauded him. He is fit and he is able to back up week to week. He has played at both ends, can pinch hit in the ruck and is giving 100%. Not everything he does comes off, but at a time when we are decimated by injuries to other fragile talls, he is an important commodity. If the coulda-been-champions on here could find a way to actually support those in red and blue, instead of indulging in character assassination, we might create an environment (culture) that encourages players to be loyal..

6 N Jones 5 Tyson 4 Dunn 3 Terlich 2 Vince 1 Frawley

I'd like to move from all the speculation back to the bleeding obvious... Our new system broke down against the Hawks! Pretty obvious why... speedy pressure applied to opposition in possession by an extremely well drilled premiership team. We couldn't get the speedy, wide feed-off by hand, then spot up loose man leading up flank game plan working. To put it frankly... We caved in and then lost shape and confidence. Can Roos re-instil confidence by round 1? Maybe not, but I liked how he put it after the game. Our game plan can't work when the opposition knows we have very few scoring options. Hogan was never going to be the plan, one out! We need desperately to get one or two of Gawn, Dawes, Clark, Jamar on the park (and don't snigger at the last named). For our plan to work we have to rely on a couple of scoring options keeping the opposition defenders from crowding us around stoppages. I know Clark will not be ready for round 1, but unless we can get Gawn and Dawes up, we can not win!

The only two from the squad who did not play were Hogan and Bail. Viney and JKH came on in second half for Terlich and Blease (I think)

I left 5 minutes into final term. I wasn't prepared to watch Gibson tear us (another) new one! A few observations ... Thought we played selfish today from early on... case in point, Trengove marks at 45 early in first, Blease is wider but closer and well clear, running into pocket. Trengove sees him but elects to go back and take the shot. I think it went OOB on the full. Now Trenners, Blease needed you to show some faith. A goal to Blease at that point would have lifted him, given him a shot in the arm. Our short kicking was very ordinary. Spencer has to stop looking at the opposition ruckman as he contests the centre bounce. I'm surprised the umps aren't pinging him more often. He's a big lump of a lad who needs to get up as high as he can at the jump. I thought Fitzpatrick was more effective at the centre bounce when he took it. The foreign legion were still among our best on the day. Vince, Cross, Michie and Tyson were good to very good at times. Georgiou must be elevated. He can play on blokes that are taller than him. Strauss struggles on taller opposition. We need Georgiou while Garland is on the sidelines. Thought Trenners and Grimes made too many errors of judgement today. Dunn was our best out of defence but they all reverted to kicking long to the boundary, hoping for a throw in. Umpiring on holding the ball was ludicrous. I think it should be mandatory for AFL umpires to have played 50 games of senior football, somewhere, before getting a gig. Let them see how impossible it is to get the ball out when four or five blokes are piled on top holding it in.

Remarkable how the Fox commentators never quite got which was the scoring end! It was "all Cats in first quarter", "Demons somehow claw back in second", Cats showing their class in third, "Demons struggle to get within 13 points in fourth". We out possessed them throughout. Turnover Kings were M Jones and Toumpas. Did the umpires ever pay holding it against Cats? Blease was effective. Liked Michie. Hogan had presence. Watts was good on all but two occasions. Spencer is our number 1. Vince, Cross and Tyson made a big difference. Clisby should be in best 22. Barry not ready yet. Grimes & Trengove can do more. Tierlich was often very good.