titan_uranus

I agree with points 3 and 4 but not 1 and 2. At no stage did it look like our effort waned (except when Fritsch wouldn’t man up in the last few minutes). This was all on our skill, not our effort. We tried more than hard enough. We just cannot execute the fundamentals for long enough under pressure. I think your comment about Goodwin is probably as far away from the truth as Fritsch was from manning up on someone last night.

I also thought we’d win for similar reasons. They’ve now won 3 straight off the back of playing efficient football. Last night they weren’t flawless (other than the first 5 minutes of the fourth) but they took advantage of any momentum they had and we are adept at squandering momentum we have.

The ANB one in the fourth wasn't as bad as it looked - I don't think he had anyone to kick to in front of him. Also the really slow manning up where they ate a minute off the clock, marked at its peak by Fritsch guarding grass.

TMac kept Hogan to one goal up until there was 1 minute to go in the third quarter. Hogan was on the end of GWS moving the ball at will off the back of clearance dominance. He's also in AA and Coleman-winning form. "No answer for the Giants handball game". What exactly was the answer then? We lost by 2 points to a side many on here said pre-game we wouldn't beat, who played champagne football from clearance for 20 minutes and kicked 5 goals, and who kicked beautifully all night. If anything, it was the coaching that kept us in it. It was our inefficient playing list, unable to capitalise on momentum and unable to execute under pressure, which kept us out of it.

After what was without a doubt his best game for the year? You have NFI.

1-3 now in games decided by under a goal, the sole win being vs North where if the game had gone for a minute longer we probably would have lost. In a season as even as this, just one of those games going our way could be the difference between finals and 12th. GWS are 3-1 by comparison. We are not good at them. For one, the pressure late in these games does not bode well for our low-skilled players. But we also do some dumb things. TMac not taking the obvious switch option, twice. Pickett taking a minute to kick his goal. Rivers doing nothing for 10 seconds then kicking to a nothing spot (after he burned time vs Brisbane, he should have known better).

6 - Oliver 5 - McVee 4 - Chandler 3 - Rivers 2 - Lever 1 - Viney

Bowey and Billings both have to be dropped. Bowey's offering us absolutely nothing good right now. His kicking has gone to water, his decision-making not far behind. Billings just isn't what we need. Sparrow might come straight back - not sure that's right, but I'd probably prefer it to giving Bowey or Billings another game. Worried about Windsor copping an injury in that final tackle of the game. Hope he's alright.

Jeepers there are some hot takes in here. Having a crack at Oliver when he was far and away our best player for the first three quarters and played his best football in months (all year?) is ridiculous - yes, his fourth quarter was no good, but he looked spent after carrying our midfield for the first three quarters. Having a crack at the coaches for having TMac on Hogan is easy but Hogan had kicked 1 goal for 2.5 quarters before getting on the end of their midfield going berserk for 15 minutes. TMac's problems tonight were his own fault, not the coaches. Having a crack at Lever for dropping an intercept mark late is harsh (that he was even able to get his hands to it speaks to his ability) particularly given he had kept us afloat in the middle two quarters. We lost this game due to our usual inability to execute fundamentals under pressure, coupled with carrying a number of unfit and either out of form or not good enough players. Some vital 50/50 umpiring decisions going against us sealed the deal.

Should have been 6 goals up at quarter time. Should never have conceded four goals in 5 minutes to start the last. Billings and Bowey atrocious, Gawn not fit, not sure May’s fit, and TMac had an all time stinker. Some dodgy 50/50 umpiring against us (it was obviously a push to May and Green sucked them in by dropping his knees) but we are far too inefficient and it keeps killing us.

Says more about them than us IMO. GWS at the G is not exactly a match made in heaven. Plus their last two wins have been relatively average performances hidden behind exceptional goalkicking accuracy. Two weeks ago against Richmond at the G they had fewer CPs, clearances, inside 50s (-17!) and scoring shots. Underlying performance was very average against the worst side in the comp.

Think about what he adds to our side. Our best kicks coming out of the back half are Salem (struggling fitness-wise), Bowey (struggling all round) and McVee (most of us want him pushing up the ground a bit more). With Rivers now a mid, Houston helps shore up our back-half kicking, which is hugely important to all sides. Our foot skills are the biggest thing holding us back. He's a genuinely good player. We can't and shouldn't sell the farm for a 28 year old but he'd be a great get for us if we can work it out.

6-day break. They played last Saturday night. I'm with you on 5-day breaks, as above, but there have been worse. You didn't go anywhere, they had to travel here. I wouldn't worry about beating Port in a final if you get them. I'd be more worried about slipping out of the top 4 - if Brisbane, Fremantle and GWS all win, you'll be 5th at the end of this round. You should have had 2nd spot sewn up by now, IMO.

And Acres and Williams (and Silvagni and Docherty too I suppose). Port missing Marshall, SPP, Finlayson and Soldo though, so not completely at full strength either.

Port a 6-day break but point still valid. 5-day breaks should only occur when the opposition is also on a 5-day break. Not that I care about Carlton. As much as it's fun watching Carlton lose, this is not good for us. Although it's funny thinking that after Port fans booed Hinkley off the ground, they'll go 4-1 including wins over the Dogs and Carlton.

You just said in another thread that the only way forward for us is draft picks and kids. So locking away a 19 year old (2 year extension, not 4, btw) who’s had a taste for it and clearly vibes well with the club doesn’t fit that strategy?

Melksham on radio this morning revealed that Gawn has a fitness test today. Also said Sparrow plays a defensive and team role but also needs to play with more freedom without just focusing on his team role, which is why he’s been dropped. Sounds 100% spot on to me.

Source? Sounds like rubbish to me. Since when have we ever picked someone for sentimental reasons?

FWIW, in the same radio segment where he said Houston’s likely to come back to Melbourne, Peter Ryan also said his “intel” is that Clarry’s going nowhere.

This is everything I hate about AFL media. This topic is only relevant, let alone a distraction, because of the media and Cornes himself in particular.

There are people on here who have admitted that they refuse to go to games to "protest" against what they perceive to be poor performance of the club. Our own members admit they don't go to games. Hard to blame the media from having a dig at us then. FWIW I agree with the other posters who are concerned we will get a lower crowd than the 19k Richmond got two weeks ago. We might play well on Saturday nights but we don't draw good crowds to them, even at the best of times. I reckon we'd do better crowd-wise if this was 1.10pm Sunday.

For me though, that evenness of the ladder makes me want to push for finals more. The reality is that the only way we can make them from here is to win at least 3 games against GWS, the Dogs, Port, GC and Collingwood. That will give us at least some sort of form running into September, and we could cop a side like Geelong, who will make finals given their soft final five games despite being like us and struggling to beat good sides. I'd much rather finish the season strongly and see what comes of whatever final we can draw first up.

“There is an increasing belief that the 27-year-old will request a trade once the Power’s campaign ends, but he is yet to relay that to the club and is focused on completing the season, according to two sources. The rumblings about Houston’s future, and in particular his links to the Demons, started early last month. Industry sources who wanted to remain anonymous when discussing Houston’s future confirmed Melbourne were monitoring the situation.” Also says he’s actually contracted to 2028, not 2027, and that Port will be up for a trade to get picks in so they can try to get Perryman. Suggests we’d have to part with a first rounder.

I agree. Their last fortnight has been less impressive than the 2-0 result suggests. Of course, we have to demonstrate that we can produce quality football against a genuinely good side. We did this for 2.5 quarters against Brisbane but unless you rate Essendon (I don’t), we haven’t really done so since the Carlton loss in Round 9, and not for long enough to win since the week prior vs Geelong.

This is a different tangent to what you said before, which was that they’re not that good given their recent losses to Hawthorn and the Dogs. Yes, they play us exceptionally well. They match up against us brilliantly (eg even when Gawn and Trac play they match us at stoppage) and play a style that we struggle to combat. The ruck point’s been done to death already. FWIW I disagreed pre-game with the argument that, because it worked vs Draper in the wet, it would work again vs Darcy/Jackson. The issue, as Goodwin said in the presser, is that we don’t have anyone else on our list who was going to offer much more. That’s poor list management, not coaching.