Wiseblood

It's exactly the same back line, minus Lever, we've had for the previous 6 games. It didn't seem to worry us then. The Pies were at their absolute best today and had a game plan that took us a part. That doesn't mean we make 6 changes. It means we go away and look for ways to ensure it doesn't happen again.

We have seen how we go with these two, and it hasn't been any better. Hunt has more upside and better games in the bank, but he's hardly banging the door down at Casey.

Classic Demonland. One loss and we're making 6 changes to the side. It won't go that way. There are a few who are on the edge, and no doubt they'll want to change things up a little, but six changes? The Suns will be making six changes. We'll make two, maybe three tops.

Perhaps said poster has learned from his lessons and has decided to just pot older blokes who are closer to the end, thus leaving him less room to look a little silly?

I was waiting to see who would drop their bundle the hardest. Well done, DeeSpencer. You've won by the length of the Flemington Straight.

I can't argue with any of that, Doc. Their pressure and our unwillingness to work super hard at getting ourselves back in the contest was hard to watch at times today. I reckon they would have had at least 20 intercept marks during the game, many of them from quick kicks out of a contest. It wasn't good enough.

Why? Goodwin was probably backing others in to step up, while the coaching staff obviously felt that Gus could tag him out of the game, which he did. Unfortunately some of our mid tier players didn't step up, so I'd be looking at that more than I'd be looking at the decision to use Gus in a negating role.

So Gus deserves no credit for tagging Phillips out of the game? Righto.

I'll echo the others and say you were very harsh on Smith. Also Gus sacrificed himself today to tag Phillips out of the game. It meant he wasn't as prolific with the ball, but Phillips has been on fire and he shut him completely out of the game. He deserves some credit for that.

Did you just suggest trading Hogan for Lynch? I can't even believe what I'm reading. We say some rubbish after losses but this sort of stuff classifies as toxic waste.

Grundy only had 13 touches and took 1 mark for the whole day. He beat him in the middle as the game wore on, but Gawny held him very well once the contest spread.

Of all the players to criticise today, and you could be justified in criticising plenty, I don't feel Joel Smith is one of them. Was terrific in the first term when the Pies were all over us and contested really well all day. He got first crack and filling in for Lever and did so quite admirably. Has 16 touches and 6 tackles - the only players to have more were Oliver and, believe it or not, Spargo (who someone else potted a little earlier as well). He'll be in the side for the rest of the year if he keeps putting in performances like those. Petty might get a run at some stage but I feel more confident with him in the backline than I do with either Frost or Wagner.

Paging @stevethemanjordan The bloke is definitely in a rut. Hasn't been the same player since his finger injury. He should be past that by now, though. I know for a fact that McCartney loves him, but also acknowledges that he frustrates the coaches because he doesn't do the hard things often enough. Will do the flashy thing, but sometimes won't run hard enough to get to position or run hard defensively. He needs to build his tank and improve this if he wants to be a midfielder.

He was the best thing to happen to our backline. Our mids and half forwards let our backs down today, though. Oscar was also going to find it tough against a bloke as tall as Cox. I thought he battled manfully for most of the day.

He can't fill the void straight away as we don't have another Lever waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, we can't clone the bloke. I actually think they made the right decision with Joel Smith who was one of our better players, especially early when the pressure was on. But having these guys working together will take a little time. Lever was the general who organised the defence so well, and now that's gone. It won't fix itself overnight, it will take a few more weeks to get right.

So you're willing to ignore the other 12 rounds, most of which had us playing fantastic team defence, to focus on one game to say he doesn't fill you with confidence? Sorry, what am I thinking. It's olisik. I shouldn't be surprised.

Very true, and it's why Cox and Stephenson kicked so many goals. Normally we are able to stop that flow and have a third man up as support, but the Pies didn't give us that time due to how well they played from the clearances and it allowed them to get one on one contests up forward. Totally agree with your last sentence as well. If before Round 1 we were told we would be 8-4 I'd have taken it and run.

Harsh. Grundy had more hitouts, while Gawn gave more around the ground (which has been the opposite for both of them all year). Grundy was also gifted a handful of frees as well. I hardly see it as him being embarrassed, but he certainly didn't have one of his better days.

I reckon the loss of Lever hurt more than we realise, and goes back to what Goodwin was saying earlier in the year. It took a month or so for Lever to settle, find his groove and play great footy. Now that our most important defender has gone down for the year you would expect it to take a month or so for us to find the best way of covering for him going forward. I thought Joel Smith had a real dip and earned another crack in a fortnight, but our structures were back to what we saw in the first 4-5 weeks. Tightening this up and finding a way around Lever will take a little time, hopefully as little as possible.

Cannot deny that today was a huge disappointment. Big game, big crowd and big stakes at play... and we failed to show up. It's not good enough from many of the players out there today, and no doubt over the break they'll take a good, hard at look at what went wrong today. Our clearance work, for the second game in a row, was very poor and our want to run hard both ways fell away at crucial times. Too often we had quick kicks forward that just landed in their laps, and then they were away. But it's not the end of the world. Seriously, it isn't. I know this thread will be filled to the brim with over the top statements, people slamming players, questioning Goodwin and so forth. But before you slam your keyboard, consider this: If you were told we would be 8-4 at the bye, would you have taken it? Of course you would have. It's okay to have bumps in the road as we won't win every week. It just won't happen. And so what if we're taking a little extra time to get there? Just because we may not win the flag this year is no reason why we aren't in prime position for a tilt over the next 3-4 seasons. And last time I checked we're still right in the eight and in a fantastic position to make some waves in September. We've fallen over a few times and we have things we need to address, but really, this is only a small stumbling block for the club. We have already shown the ability to get better and change the way we play - the previous 6 weeks are a testament to that. And I'd rather have a game like this now than later in the year. Hopefully the boys take stock of where they are at today and do all they can to improve upon it over the second half of the season.

Harsh on Lewis. I don't think he's been that bad. At least he's gotten his hands on the ball a little, unlike many others.

Yep, we've been found out a little today and I can't see us coming back from here. We've looked a little flat, as if the last few weeks have taken it out of us a little. Too many players down and not enough gut running. The last few minutes summed up the day - we went inside 50 4 times for nothing, then they run it out with ease and kick a goal. It's what was happening to us earlier in the season and it's happening here again today. I don't see us winning this game but we've got another 30 minutes to make a response.

I feel a little sick, the hands are shaking and I almost don't want to watch. But I can't do anything here but back the boys in to get the job done in the second half. Get behind them everyone! Go Dees!

And we weren't playing particularly well going in to half time that day either. I remember us kicking a few late in the second to get us in the contest and then we ran over the top of them.

That was Pedersen. He got the free, took ages to kick and when he did it was out to the flank for a Pies player to make uncontested. I thumped my desk when it happened. They transitioned through the middle and goaled. Their pressure has been something we haven't encountered for a while, no doubt about it. But we've absorbed it and have an opportunity to respond. Let's hope we can do it.