Wiseblood

McKernan is okay. Yes, he's kicked a couple after half time, but he's only an average player. And Stringer isn't a tall target. He's like Petracca. You need bigger blokes than that propping up your forward line.

And your problem is you don't like people disagreeing with yours. What are you basing this idea of GC overtaking us on? The fact they rolled a sub par Eagles side on their home deck in slippery conditions? They have a long, long, long way to go before they overtake anyone to be honest. They might have some young talent, but they've had that before and done little with it. Let's wait and see how this season, strange as it is, pans out before we start making the big statements.

No, I don't.

Absolutely. Plus the Bombers have no real tall forward targets, which you could argue we lacked a bit on Saturday, so once the pressure is applied they don't have that quality tall to fall back on.

Maybe we are on to something here. North flew in today as well and knocked off the Giants. Perhaps getting in on the day of the game might become a new trend... ?

But you just know that some on here will do everything they can to ensure that there is something in it.

Gold. GC have overtaken us off the back of one game. It's their first win in 17 matches but that constitutes overtaking us. And he has little interest in the Roos and Giants because it doesn't fit the narrative. Love it.

The first half, at least, suggests that we did this. We came out, had a gameplan and executed it perfectly. We made Carlton look like a second rate team, and whatever we looked to implement, we did it and did it well. However, as you say, once Carlton made their own changes and upped the pressure, we didn't respond well to it. In fact I don't think we responded in any way, shape or form. We just kept persisting with what worked at the beginning and hoped that the tide would turn. The problem is that it didn't. Is that on the FD for not changing things up? Or is that also on the players for not sensing the change and making sure they continue to work just as hard as they did before? It's on both. But you're right in saying that, if we can't do it well against Carlton, then we have little hope of doing so against stronger opposition.

True, but should we have been giving him a few 'scratch match' games first so we feel confident enough to play him for 70-75% game time, rather than 50%? Once his fitness and confidence rises then he could be terrific for us, but I felt as though we got away with bringing him in a little too soon.

Couldn't agree more, titan. The first 1.5 quarters of the game was what we want to see from our side, and what we've been built to do - winning clearances, getting numbers around the ball and applying high pressure in the forward half. Both the coaches and players work in tandem superbly here, and we know we are capable of this kind of footy on a regular basis. And then they let each other down. Goodwin and the coaches don't make enough adjustments when the opposition does, or they are changes that I can't see. The players, for their part, begin to panic, miss targets, don't run hard enough and generally don't respond well enough when the pressure is on. When the tide begins to turn, neither the FD or the players step up to the plate enough, and we go from a well oiled machine to one that is breaking down and barely able to cross the finish line. I have hope, and after a few months off, coupled with different training conditions, means we are probably a little rusty (as most teams are), but I'm interested to see how we respond in the next three weeks. As a side note, I also think our selection was a little.... off. I don't think Bennell or Jackson were really ready to play yesterday, and it hurt us a little bit. Add this to the fact that we had a number of key players down throughout the game and we're rather lucky to walk away with a win. But I'll take it.

So players taking the wrong option, missing targets, not showing enough composure etc is on the FD? I'd say it's 50/50. This is just one example, but in the last two minutes Jetta kicked the ball outside 50 where Trac dropped a simple mark. Is that on the FD? Lever then marks and kicks to a 2 on 1. Is that on the FD? Goodwin needs to learn that it's okay to have a Plan B and not be so stubborn. When Carlton tightened the screws and made changes we stuck with what we were doing, even though it now wasn't working. We need to have the ability to make changes according to what the opposition is doing to counter us. But it's not totally on them. The players need to take some responsibility as well.

Adelaide are all over the shop and the Eagles have been shifted to the hub until Round 7. Not the best examples

I have zero doubt that what Goodwin says in the presser is vastly different to what he says behind closed doors. I don't even listen to them as I know he will just play a straight bat, but that is how it should be.

Get a room.

T Mac had a shocker. No doubt about it. He's certainly not the Tom of 2018. Playing Jackson as the second key forward didn't help his cause either. I get the feeling he needs someone else down there to take the heat off him, and that he can't be the number 1 tall down there for us going forward. I'm not necessarily convinced that Weideman would have done a whole lot better, but at least he knows how to play as a forward and he has the capacity to do more in the air and around the ground than Jackson can right now. That's just one problem of many from tonight, and I do believe Jackson has a big future for us, but I'll be surprised if he gets another week.

Also, I think Jackson will be a player, but he isn't ready right now. Give the Weid a run down there. At least he knows how to play as a key position forward.

So what you're telling me is, because our backs didn't click today, we need to get Frost back? Righto.

Of course we didn't lost anything in Frosty going. Anyone with sense can see that.

Calm down, Moonie. That's not the Demonland way.

Move him to half back. Better player there.

Classic Melbourne.

He looked like Norm Smith in the first quarter and a half before quickly becoming a combination of Mark Neeld and Peter Rohde.

You can't tell me you haven't missed this feeling. Only one club can make you feel like [censored] when you win, and it's us. Hope everyone here is going well. Isn't it good to be back??

Firstly, let's be honest. The result means little. In fact, it might mean nothing at all. There's a fair chance that the AFL season won't really get going and, if it does, it will be pretty compromised. Getting rolled by the Eagles in Perth is, well, meaningless really. However, if we want to take a critical eye to the game, then to me we got rolled in one area - our delivery inside 50. We did exactly what we hoped we wouldn't do, and that's kick the ball to the hot spot inside 50. They picked it off, hit us on transition and made us look silly in some instances. When we lowered our eyes we looked better, but too often we would get the ball, take a few seconds and then just lob it into the air in the hope something would happen. And what happened was guys like Shannon Hurn did as they pleased. It was disappointing to see. We have time to rectify this, and I am certain in time we would right ourselves, but against Top 6 sides we get cut to pieces. They are a slick, well drilled side who hit targets and make you pay. Playing them in Perth is probably the hardest task in football, so there is no shame in getting rolled, but it was a shame to see it happen the way it did. Had we taken a few early chances things might have been different, but as it stands, we didn't take them and they did. It's pretty simple. As for the positives, there were still plenty. Viney was sensational, while Langdon gave us exactly what we were after on the wings. I thought our talls down back were excellent, and we won plenty of the footy and generated plenty of inside 50s. We just botched it too many times. Also, Pickett and Bedford did some good things in patches and will only get better with more senior footy. It's a shame that may not happen for another 12 months, but they are going to play a big part of our future. Hopefully we see footy again this season but, if we don't, then we don't. The health of the nation is the most important thing. Get that right and then we can go back to enjoying our footy.

Oh Kossie! What a goal that would have been!