stevethemanjordan

Good points and I agree.

Would absolutely be throwing a lot at this fella. Clearly we need a FB who can perform consistently well. Dunn and Garland are the last of the 'problem players' who are seemingly incapable of change. Hurley and T-Mac, ([censored]-together provided) will mean we have a consistent FB and CHB for years to come. It's the positions around those two that are also extremely important and at present are a shambles.

Lose sometimes? It would have absolutely nothing to do with losing sometimes. It would have a lot to do with the downfalls of periods of these games that are the reason we end up losing. These are trends and are inherent problems that still exist within our current group and are visible to outsiders watching. Why do you think during that third quarter capitulation, people say it's the 'same old Melbourne again'? Where does that come from? And what does that mean to people? I can't understand these reductionist posts. Whilst Saturday's resulting 'loss' this early in the season is hardly worth crying about, it is the same patterns and trends that continue to concern. Why do so many seem to miss that? Quite obviously it's got nothing to do with 'one loss'. I find it hard to believe that any supporter wouldn't think that Jesse wouldn't have those things on his mind in regards to how far this club can go and how far he can take his footy with this club. Especially given what he's endured since arriving and what he would be able to see on game day in regards to old habits and new. Again, supporters are kidding themselves if they believe a Saturday's loss can be reduced simply to 'inexperience' or 'losing a stat count' ad nauseam. Here's one small example: Having two of your most senior and experienced defenders in Lynden Dunn and Colin Garland playing as if they are first or second year recruits. Neither can find consistent form. Both have played VFL this year. Neither provide inspiration nor instill confidence within the back six because of this reason. Tom McDonald. Our second start up KD. Clearly has more time on his side however a trend emerges here also. Inconsistency in his performance. He has some elite attributes for a defender and when he is playing well he is clearly a really vital part of our defence. But when he's not, his more valuable to the opposition given his inherent skill and decision making problems. Turnovers resulting in goals, leaving his man to make an ineffective spoil resulting in goals etc. I would go as far to say that I think Tom McDonald's weaknesses are as bad or worse than any other key defenders in the competition. His best attributes are up there with the best. His worst are horribly bad. I'm giving examples of three players whose gameday output is hugely influential to how we defend, instruct and move the ball out of defence with confidence. This is one area of the ground. Dunn and McDonald were incredibly poor on the weekend and Dunn not only rarely contributed positively to our side, he gave away free kicks, a 50 metre penalty and he turned the ball over. No doubt there were other players on the weekend who not only were off but were simply horribly underperforming. Pederson, Frost, Vince, Tyson, Gawn whilst a host of younger players were also well down on output and touch (more forgivable). But I am talking about trends and habits that I continue to see that are the main reason behind such dramatic dips in form. Jesse would without a doubt identify these kinds of problems that remain at the club and wonder how and when it will change. And ultimately, unless things like what I just pointed out actually CHANGE, I honestly don't think he'll want to hang around.

It's interesting. I mean, I can understand back-men being caught out of position as part of a high press zone defence if there's been a turnover made by one of our players. What I can't understand and couldn't see (thanks to the television) was how they were able to go coast to coast so easily from a kick-out from our forward-line. I want to know who's to blame in those instances. I'm telling you now, I haven't seen a team defence be so completely disorganised and dysfunctional this year. That's not an exaggeration. Today was again one of those 'Melbourne' moments. We seemed to be like witches hats at times and I want to know why. Why the drop off? Who is to blame? How can there be such huge inconsistency in performance?

Pedo, T-Mac, Dunn, Vince, Gawn, Tyson. They were all extremely poor. It's not just about inexperience. It's when most of your side are playing their worst football. And for some reason we see it too often.

Yes and no. Frankly he's just not a footballer. He is an athlete and one that we've taken a punt on. Has some really special and gifted athletic abilities that are the reason he is playing AFL. But he has a limited ability to play the game and really I see him being just as lost as a defender, (especially as part of a zone defence) as he is a forward. Really we just need Weideman to come on as quickly as possible.

I disagree. I think patches of today's game without doubt resembled the Essendon game. Namely our entire defence setup. I don't need to go through tapes or stats to know that so many of their [censored] goals were almost entirely coast-to-coast. What completely baffles me is that we didn't do anything about it. And the question has got to be asked to Roos. How was this allowed to happen? Why on so many occasions were they able to completely slice us open? With nobody on their man? Are our players still getting used to a zone defence? And if so, why? Are they not smart enough to play it? I want an answer. Yet again, we were made to look like complete amateurs. It's a huge concern. The other major problem I see is the difference in best and worst football from particular individuals. When you have more than half your entire 22 playing their worst football, it's a concern. Dunn, Gawn, Tyson, Lumumba, McDonald, Vince, Harmes, Pedo etc etc. We need and must demand consistency in performance. A couple can have down games every now and then. But they can't all be playing their worst football on the same day. It just absolutely kills us.

Frankly, I'd be surprised if we only saw one change from the squad. It's such a short turnaround and there'd have to be sore bodies and it just increases the risk of injury if sore bodies continue playing. Can easily see any of Oliver/ANB/Matt Jones/Trengove come in this week. Although I think the Trengove inclusion is unlikely.

Christ it was awful.

You [censored] beauty

I think we'll be too hard and hungry for the Saints either way. We're riding a wave at the moment and I think we're irresistible at the contest. We're playing really inspired football and our young players are hungry for more.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-27/suns-injury-crisis-rischitelli-and-prestia-out These kinds of external variables ^^^, (as unfortunate as they are for the opposition club and individual) will massively help our chances. The suns are really being tested on the injury front at present with a whole host of first choice midfielders now missing and a few key back players missing too. For a team like us, all of these little things help. We're clearly riding high on confidence which is why I'm confident against the Saints this week. We're all go at the minute and for a young club and a club starved of wins for so long, we need to keep riding this winning wave. Other variables will also have an influence and for once, we're seeing injury occur to the opposition rather than us when we're coming up against them. The next month of games are all extremely winnable. Let's keep this snowball gowing.

I know you want a response from me because you think I speak ill of Matt Jones. I think he was really solid whilst in the side but honestly I think it'll be hard for him to get his position back this week only because of the quality we have to choose from. He was doing absolutely nothing wrong whilst in the side. But I'd still rather Petracca, Oliver and Trengove as I see they offer everything that he does and then some. The only exception being outside run. But I can't see that being a problem against the Saints.

It is. Which is why I'm excited by the thought of it being Petracca or Trenners. I'd be happy with those ins. I reckon we could move Jeffy or Kent up to a wing for periods of the game with Trac playing either deep forward or HF. Vince to a back flank at times, Oliver into the middle. Can't remember having an injury list this healthy in my time as a supporter. Hoping Salem (the Ectomorph) will only miss the one week.

Interesting. That's one forced change but still doesn't give us any indication of who will come in. A number of guys could play half-back.

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it's worth worrying about such things. Injury occurs from things like fatigue, completely random/innocuous and unlucky situations, an imbalance in the physiology of an individual etc. There are risks involved in all of them. And in all of life. You may as well be closing your eyes and crossing your fingers every time he dons the Casey jumper, trains, is in the weights room, fornicates etc. He'll be fine Stu. Play on.

Salem is fine. I'd say the only thing he needs to improve massively is his fitness/running capacity. He needs to become a running machine. If he can do what Viney has done over the past couple of pre-seasons then he'll be gold for us. I reckon a few players are in a similar boat and a couple of them are a little heavier than they need to be. Especially given the interchange cap and loss of the sub. Salem is carrying a bit and the same goes with Kent. Hawthorn instructed Hodge and Lewis to drop weight a few years back and it's done wonders.. They cover the ground a lot easier now and it reduces the risk of injury due to fatigue. Especially important for older bodies. But also for a bloke like Salem who has had hammy issues. I know Salem did a lot of speed work over the off-season for his hamstrings, but to me he also needs to drop weight and get a much better endurance base.

You keep going on about the surface as if it's a huge risk to a player who suffered an injury that happened well over a year ago. His knee and supporting muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding it would be far stronger than they've ever been and considering he hasn't had one soft tissue set-back on his road to recovery, (something which is common amongst athletes who suffer serious knee injuries) he couldn't be in a better position in terms of preparedness. There's no evidence either way that the surface at eitihad poses more of a risk to players coming back from a knee injury. It was a completely innocuous scenario at training and many knee injuries occur under similar circumstance. It's time for him to be unleashed. Stop mozzing the guy.

Can never understand this line of thought. Who's to say the loss to Essendon hasn't directly resulted in the last three performances? Clearly something has switched because our last three games have been consistently good. We'll never know. It was a [censored] loss. But to hell with living in the past. It gave the entire group the lift they needed.

Clearly the right call was made and clearly it's boding well for the club at large. Which is all we should be thinking about. Having guys competing hard for spots is nothing but a positive.

Although, it was clear last night's game was again taxing. We'll have some sore bodies so it's imperative we recover well and rest anyone who's not 100%.. But really, I'm just ready to see Petracca come in and I reckon we'll see it. More headaches for opposition trying to curb the influence of our dangerous small forwards who seem genuinely out of control at present.

Seconded

Completely subconscious. I guess I must've.

Where you been, man?

It was an advantage, up until the opening bounce when we'd already decided we had the game won.