Wiseblood

True. As I said, his disposal needs work. But we had others who made the same mistakes as well on the day.

I think we're missing the point with some of the analysis. I know it's a very tough loss to take, but we really only have a few things to work on. I've seen some people potting Goodwin for his motivational skills or the way he speaks at the pressers. This means little and is wrong in many aspects. If he couldn't motivate us, then how did we come out and kick 6 first quarter goals? How were we able to wrest back control of the game when it looked like it was out of our hands at half time? The bloke knows what he's doing. We also didn't lose this one at the selection table. I'm not sure how much of a difference Tyson or Brayshaw would have made, but we didn't struggle in terms of getting the ball forward, we didn't struggle for clearances and we did well in terms of contested possessions. Would Tyson and Brayshaw have made our uncontested possessions any better, or improved our two way running? Maybe, maybe not. The real issue for us is the brain fades we have in certain quarters where we let teams get the better of us. If you were to take that out of yesterday's game, and we break even, then we win this game of football. That's simple fact. The problem we face is how we fix that, what Plan B we have (that Geelong had when we got on top) and how our leaders communicate with each other to implement it during a game. We can hang with the big boys, we have no problem hitting the scoreboard (we had 29 scoring shots) and we play a brand of football that stands up in big games. We just need to work our way around a problem we shouldn't still have in terms of fade outs in quarters where we expose our back line and allow teams too many easy goals. Fix that and we're on our way.

That's far too simplistic. If we were that mentally soft then we aren't working out way back into the match and potentially winning it. We're letting them kick on and we lose by 10 goals. That doesn't happen.

True. It wasn't a great choice of words. I just feel as though, for a bloke with just 2 games under his belt, he's copping some rather harsh criticism that I don't think is necessarily warranted at the moment. Especially in light of the fact that there were others who were worse. I'll admit he still needs to add polish to his game, and his disposal is average, but I think there is something to work with there.

It's probably just me, but I thought Maynard was far from our worst player. 15 touches, 7 tackles, 5 clearances. His disposal leaves a bit to be desired but the bloke has a dip. There were plenty of others who had less influence on the game than him (ANB, Salem, Garlett, Hannan etc.) He may get dropped, but I think the harsh criticism is a little unfair on a bloke playing just his second game of AFL footy and who was given the task of attempting to curb one of the best players of our generation.

Yes jnr, that is what I said. Our ability in terms of disposals to inside 50 ratio was very good, it was how we used it going forward that hurt and needs fixing. Had we used it better then we kick a winning score. We had 358 disposals for over 50 inside 50 entries. That's terrific. But what we did with it was not.

It's a good question titan, one we all wish we wouldn't have to still be asking of this team. To me, we lack a 'Plan B'. When the tide is turning against us, it seems as though we just stick to our guns and go about our business without acknowledging the fact that the opposition have their tails up and we need to stop that momentum. When the Cats got a run on in the second, what did we do to stop it? Did the gameplan change? Did we move a few players around, even send one back loose to help stem the tide? Did we look to slow the game down at all? I don't think we did any of that and it hurt us. I like the fact that the team wants to back it's own game plan in to win a game of footy, but it's not going to work in a game 100% of the time. Clubs will kick a few and we need to learn to keep it to that - just a few. I think Goodwin and the coaching staff need to come up with something that the leaders can put in place quickly to ensure quarters like today don't happen. It may not be that simple though as it's a problem we've had for a while.

Who are you?

You should know what this place is like after a loss. Sensible posting is few and far between.

It's a fair question, and one that should have been answered by now. What do we tweak when the pressure mounts? How do we turn the screws when they kick a couple to ensure that couple doesn't become 5 or 6? I'm not really sure, but then I'm not a senior coach. They have to work it out, fast, otherwise we won't match it with the big boys.

And? That means little to me. The Lions might have improved, but they could hardly be any worse than they have been. We were poor in patches today yet we were in the contest. We have to tweak a few things, but to suggest the Lions will 'tear us a new one' is ridiculous. Some people need to take a few deep breaths before they post after a loss.

Last year's wooden spooner will 'tear us apart'? Thanks for the laugh.

We were super efficient in terms of disposals to inside 50 ratio. As you say, we need to score and use it better forward of the centre. Work that out and the rest is history.

A few are on thin ice, but no more than a couple of changes will be made. I think Wagner survives but Maynard may get the chop. I don't think they'll leave Tyson out for another week. Brayshaw may get a look in as well for someone like Hannan.

Went to the game today and left both shattered and optimistic. Weird feeling and one that's hard to describe. Obviously, we played rather poorly in patches. Poor defending, poor support for each other and our backline was left exposed by our inability to put some pressure on their midfield, especially during the second term. Our back line players didn't have a good day out either which hurt. At one stage they had something like 28 inside 50s and had 22 scoring shots from those. We had 10 more and a few scoring shots less. It was proof that we had no problem getting it forward, it was our decision making and execution that was letting us down. Also, our composure was a little disappointing as well. Melksham fluffed an easy chance, while I thought Trac rushed his shot at goal in the last and could have done better. Our high half forwards were poor in the first half and had little influence on the game. It hurt our usage going forward and we looked lost. And then the second half happened. While it's fair that they did miss some easy shots, they only kicked two goals in the second half. Our back line tightened up, we got back to supporting each other at the contest and our high half forwards started influencing the game. We looked terrific and, really, we should have stole the game at the end. Petracca was fantastic, Oliver looks set for another big year and Gawny was immense, miss aside. I thought Jones played well, Harmes had a great second half and our back line lifted. But then, I felt as though we didn't have a huge amount of influential players, yet here we were, a few metres away from winning this game of footy. This loss hasn't dampened my enthusiasm and optimism for the season ahead and I think we're well placed for a tilt at finals footy. We have things to work on, but they're fixable. Onwards and upwards.

I hate Geelong. We are due to smash the [censored] out of them. Time to cash it in today, rain, hail or shine. Go Dees!

Or they get an irrelevant opponent at an irrelevant venue because nobody gives a stuff about the Saints. There's a reason we've got a blockbuster for Round 1.

Thank goodness the senior coach picks his own team. Imagine if he picked his neighbors team...? Bedlam. I'm glad that I've been made leader of my 'ilk' as well, although as you've apparently put me on ignore you won't be responding. You'll do it via PM instead.

Saints steadied well in the end here, but at the same time, you would be slightly disappointed as a Saints fan. Outside of a few players like Steven, Billings and Acres, they have looked very average. Lions had a dip but they are still light on for talent. They'll be pretty good in a few years time.

Stuie somehow returning.

Crows are doing well to be 20 points up with some key players out of the side. It means two things: one is that the Crows are still a very good side, and the Bombers are an average one. We can all be happy with the second part.

So Josh Wagner is the difference between winning and losing? Have some faith my friend. Let's allow the game to play out before we curse and moan about a choice at selection.

Very, very interesting selections. The one surprise is the omission of Tyson, but maybe they feel he needs another run at Casey... ? I'm not a huge fan of Wagner but I'm happy to back him in for a good game on the weekend.

You would expect that figure to jump a little again on Sunday. I think the number is pretty good considering the bitter taste our end to last year left in the mouth. We would surely be above 40,000 by now if we had of made finals, so this is a fair number all things considered.

While they played well and the media are happy to talk them up, the Blues are still a long, long way off. Their depth is minimal and an injury to someone like Cripps means their midfield is painfully shallow. Same goes for their forward line - Curnow looks good, but if he has an injury? They have no reliable coverage and would struggle to kick 10 goals a game. The Tigers had a hangover for roughly 15 minutes and then it was business as usual.