titan_uranus

This sounds like an acknowledgement that we hit a fitness wall and consequently tried saving the game instead of trying to win it (because we didn’t have the necessary run to take it on). I’m bullish about what we can do if we play like this for the rest of the year but I’d reserve judgment on the idea that “we have rediscovered our DNA” until we do it week after week.

It is an issue, clearly, but all I’m saying is that I don’t think it was the biggest one when Brisbane kicked 11.20. Unlike the two finals last year where we had more scoring shots, inaccuracy wasn’t the big problem with us shutting down in the last quarter IMO.

Possibly. We’re a young side but it’s concerning that two weeks in a row post-bye we’ve hit a wall late and let our opponent back in. But even with the fitness and inaccuracy issues we had enough opportunity late to work it out and win it. The entire last 15 minutes was problematic after 2.5 quarters of doing a hell of a lot right.

A lot of posts about the inaccuracy. Confident we would have lost on xScore too. Each of the fourth quarter misses was a shot that on average gets kicked less than 50% of the time. It’s still a problem, but in a game where our opponent was making the same sort of errors at the other end, I’m far more interested in our mindset, tactics and fitness.

Plenty on here said we were no chance and would be lucky to clear the line. The overwhelming sentiment for those people should be pride, because we significantly outperformed that expectation. To lose from that position though is more than disappointing. Clearly our fitness isn’t where it needs to be, but the tactics weren’t right and panic set in. Too many long kicks to nobody in the last 5 minutes, and not enough talls at the fall of the ball. The ANB free was a panic moment. And Rivers taking too much time and then kicking too long and to no one but Sparrow. All bad stuff. The question from here is whether we can harness what we found tonight and unleash it on the last 8 games. If we can, and if we can fix these fourth quarter problems, this season isn’t done yet.

It honestly can only make sense if it was predetermined that Brown was only ever playing vs North and not vs Brisbane. How could anyone have looked him in the eye and said “you didn’t quite do enough” after his debut?

Not sure about May, Lever, TMac and Tomlinson all in the side. Are we planning on TMac or Tomlinson playing forward? Or May or Lever playing small? Not a fan of Brown being dropped after 10 minutes of game time and I’d prefer we don’t make AMW sub, so presumably Woey cops it again.

As @DeeSpencer has very fairly been saying for weeks, he isn’t working hard enough, and that’s the problem. I hope that realisation has set in. With our forward line, we can’t afford for Fritsch to not impact games.

I hope this is right. They were 1-3 when we first played, looked completely out of sorts. We were 4-1 and humming off the back of our Adelaide fortnight. Our clubs have a strong recent rivalry. They got themselves up for that game. Think Rayner going berserk but barely firing a shot the rest of the season. This is the first time in a long time we’re rated no chance by anyone other than a few on here. We’re complete underdogs. I would love for us to use that “hunter vs hunted” mentality to our advantage. I don’t think we will win but I do think we can surprise many with our performance.

Yes the stats suggest we’re no chance. But on the scoring point, St Kilda scored 106 against them a fortnight ago at the Gabba. They’d averaged 60 points for in their five previous games (which included playing West Coast, Hawthorn, Gold Coast in Melbourne, and us - hardly a tough run given what you’ve said about us).

Really? Wow! Where did you hear that? PS guesse what - we won that game. We beat Adelaide who were 6-1 (and went on to finish top and be favourites in the GF), whilst we were 3-4.

Will be our 5th debutant for the year. We could have 8 players this week with less than 50 games experience and 10 under 24 years of age.

Surely in the back half of 2019 when we were being pumped weekly?

Did some of them get pulled at half time or something, given the five-day break, so that they're available for selection?

I generally agree but not with the "so what" bit. I don't like staging at all. I hate it when opposition players do it to us, and I hate it when our players do it. I can't stand it when Spargo does a Shuey/Selwood and raises an arm to draw high contact which he then exaggerates. Particularly in a year in which concussion has never been a more relevant topic. So it's fine IMO for May to be fined and to be called out to an extent. It's just been OTT in the extreme and no doubt won't be replicated the next time someone does it.

@DeeSpencer also explains above why it was hardly shocking. And given Viney played his best game in weeks/months, some part of it worked well.

I suspect that’s a result of your previous years of disappointment. Much like Melbourne fans, it’s hard to seriously believe you’re contending after a long period of struggling. But IMO you should have been winning finals in 2022 and top 4 in 2023. Ultimately doesn’t matter much now. In 2024 you’re IMO the 2 seed very clearly and you have a list most sides would kill for.

And was our second highest pressure player. Critically important - if we’re any chance this week or for the rest of the season, we need our pressure game to be on point.

I don’t think he said that as a general rule. I think he said that specifically in reference to our list at the end of 2014. And if he did say it as a general rule, let’s be honest - it’s rubbish. https://www.afl.com.au/news/443933/paul-roos-says-every-demon-is-tradeable

I’m firmly in Oliver’s corner. If any club was even remotely interested in him, they must have some level of confidence that his form is going to bounce back. If that’s the case, the investment in making him better should be one we are prepared to undertake. There’s no trade that can offset losing the pre-2024 version of Clarry. If that version can return, it should solely be up to us to bring it back. Think of how many have said on here that we traded Grundy and made an opponent better. Think about how those same people will react if Oliver gets back to his best at another club.

I reckon they’ve been in the window since 2022, but choked their end to 2022 and then flailed around in early-2023. The bones of the list are the same. I am confident if their 2022-23 formline was ours, Demonland would consider those years to be failures when we should have been contending.

I’m definitely over the confected outrage in the media on this. A few weeks back Quaynor admitted to lying that he touched a kick to try to get a goal overturned. Where was the outrage then? Show me the same level of outrage the next time Daicos, or Ginnivan, or whoever is next, throws their head back Shuey/Selwood style. Will Cornes demand a press conference apology? Will Buckley suggest suspension?

He’s not underperforming. He’s the foundation of our forward half pressure. Plenty on here bemoan perceived lack of effort or care. Chandler’s not hitting the scoreboard as much as we’d like but he’s bringing the effort and intensity.

To be fair, you can probably count on one hand the number of times we’ve been underdogs since 2021.

Why is it nonsense? I don’t think it’s controversial to say that he’s out of form and struggling.