waynewussell

It can turn around quickly! In round 1 PA lost by 91, in round 2 they won by 72 In round 1 Geelong won by 78, in round 2 they lost by 7 to St Kilda (who lost by 63 in round 1) In round 1 WC lost by 87, in round 2 they lost by three goals to the Premiers away from home!

It's not often that we are as uncompetitive as we were in the second half. A lot of what happened can be fixed. We were definitely tired from last week's slog. That's no excuse for bad play, but it was a factor. need to freshen up in a hurry.

Obviously haven't recovered from hard slog in wet last week. We had to play Campbell on the bench with Max struggling! Worst games I've seen in a long, long time from Max, Langdon, Viney (he tried), McDonald & Fritsch

Lindsay was good Oliver can hold his head up Chandler's best game for a long time Struggling after that!

Two 'lucky' goals was it? Watch the game! First was a clever & clean roving the contest action, topped off by a lovely snap on the run. Second was a set shot into the wind with a greasy ball when others found it impossible to score a goal at that end. This second goal came at an extremely important time for us to maintain ascendancy. He also created a goal-square, off the turf goal when he cleverly kept the ball in on the Southern Stand pocket, swung the ball one-handed past the opposition, then quickly sent it to the goal mouth. He had other moments that were classy and effective as well. A pleasant surprise in those conditions!

I said this at the game! Our most senior umpire gets sucked in to the 'second ' free, when Petty seems to pull his opponents arm down at the end of the contest!

6. Petracca 5. Gawn 4. Salem 3. Lever 2. Lindsay 1. Bowey

Not a driving tackle, a falling tackle! Most impact on opponents shoulder which hit the ground, then Brown milked the free by kissing the turf and holding his head like he was in Dealey Plaza in 1963!

2029

Colourful language, Macca: "dysfunctional", "lumbering giants". I suppose GWS had "perfect pitch", and "nimble principals" before "crushing" us by three points on the back of "superior intelligence" and "immaculate conceptions"!

We'll just ignore that he remained our leading goal kicker last year! You call that liability??? Yes he can improve on his weaknesses, who can't? Constantly calling for him to be dropped is childish. He will be dropped if the coaches think he failed to play his role on Sunday. I would give it another try in better conditions. There may be a chorus of supporters baying for his blood, Im not one of them.

I don't think moving Fritsch upfield is a good idea, short term. Short term, I want the sneaky 2 or 3 he seems to conjure from minimum disposals. Long term, I think the coaching panel are attempting to make him a better player! That is why I don't think they are going to revert on Fritsch after one game.

So, talking as if he has been a long term liability is superficial... So?

This should read "GWS are good but we had our chances to win the game". GWS were a top 4 team in 2024, lost to the two eventual GF teams by a goal or less, and are coming off a game where they doubled Collingwood's score!

Howes getting subbed off was also part of the juggle required to introduce Langford to the midfield.

This is the bloke who has more goals in 150 games than any other of the 'modern day' Melbourne forwards (including Neitz, Schwartz and Robbo). He was also our leading goal kicker in 2024!

Those that have attended pre-season a number of times can assure you that Langford is much more than a 'big junior'! Langford played 20% game time for 5 disposals... extrapolate! That's three less than Toby Bedford who played 89% of game time. For talents like Langford, anywhere within the white boundary line IS their comfort zone!

If supporters think that the coaches are going to throw out everything they've trained for in pre-season after one game... rocks... head etc. Rivers will not meekly return to the backline. Petty will not be catapulted into a key forward position. Fritsch will not be playing out of the goal square. Jefferson will not be dropped!

With regard to JVR and, to a lesser extent, Jeffo running under the ball, the wind factor kicking to the city end meant the ball carried further than it normally does: a lot further! If you were at the ground you would have noticed that the rain was sweeping in at 45degrees toward that goal. After half time only 3 goals were kicked at the Punt Rd end (one of which was Jeffo's excellent conversion from his set shot), compared to 8 at the City end.

Interesting reading all the rear vision experts on poor selection decisions when we came within two minutes of knocking off a team who doubled Collingwood's score one week ago! A team that is equal 2nd favourite for the flag! I'd say the team selection was outstanding, given the injuries and availability. The first gamers, with the exception of Langford (limited time), were all contributors! The comeback kings were ... back! Macca did a pretty good job in May's absence. I could go on, but a loss like this will build belief and, as the group get more games together, build cohesion!

I’m only up to page 7 after attending today’s game. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned, in detail, how the elements affected the second half. We kicked 5 goals in the third assisted by a strong breeze. They kicked 2 to the Punt Rd end in that quarter. I knew we would have to play well in the final Qtr to defend our 3/4 time lead of 11 points. We did play well, but not quite well enough. They kicked 3;4 to our 1;2 in the last. The kicks that Mac and Johnno had in the last were extremely difficult into that swirling wind. Max’s went straight as an arrow but didn’t quite have the legs! We were gallant! We had the best stats sheet. I agree with all here who have noted that our final 45 seconds was a bust. The rest of the game we were very competitive in all aspects of the game.

I’m sorry about the way I phrased that… I meant in our last game for points! Oh hell, our last game!

That’s just 11 players who represented the club in our last AFL premiership outing! Bring it on! (Round 25 1994)

Not ready

Not tongue in cheek!