titan_uranus

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.

Any worries about Salem? Goodwin said he was subbed off after some knee soreness I think. He looked a bit proppy in the third.

If Petty/Turner and Bowey keep strugging to impact, it sounds like Jefferson and AMW could be our 5th and 6th debutants of 2024.

I didn’t say we’re in the 8. I said we are a game and 7% outside 4th. And only percentage behind 3-4 teams. Both of which remain true even after the Fremantle-GC game. Edit: and I was being generous too. If Essendon loses to WC, we’d only be half a game outside 4th. We’d be a game and 7% off third.

We have a real problem with Bowey IMO. Having finally pushed Rivers into the middle, we need Bowey’s foot skills in the backline but he’s just right off at the moment at the contest so he’s struggling to get involved. 13 touches, no tackles. We need a lot more from him in the new, Riv is a mid, world. I’m confident Chandler keeps getting games due to his defensive pressure. 8 tackles last night and I’d guess a decent pressure rating too. Same reason I think Windsor’s safe, he had 6 tackles and just keeps on presenting. Sadly, Fritsch is another out of form player who, unlike these two, doesn’t have work rate or defensive effort to fall back on.

Nah mate. You’re the one who’s weak as [censored].

The logic may be there but the same post would have been made about Hawthorn a month ago, the week prior to them beating Brisbane.

So you would prefer that our captain, whilst still on the field, criticises his teammate, who we all know is trying hard to clean his life up and come back from a poor pre-season, because he couldn’t shake a tag? Yet every chance you get you complain about our club’s culture being broken? [censored] me.

We will end this round just 1 game and 7% outside the top 4, and just percentage behind 3-4 other sides, with 9 games to play. It’s a pretty decent platform to work with if we can find it within us to right the ship.

@fr_ap you liked this post. Don’t tell me you’re withholding your attendance too…?

@ElDiablo14 you wanted names…

There’s no good explanation for it. If our fitness program has us unable to run out a game in Round 15 off the bye against a side on a six day break, then it’s not a good program.

Look at @Bombay Airconditioning’s post above yours, saying the low crowd was because people are “sending a message”. That’s precisely what I’m talking about.

Has a side ever won a game but failed to get a Brownlow vote? May’s IMO our only chance of a vote. He was amazing tonight. But Sheezel, LDU, Archer, Wardlaw and Zurhaar probably outranked every other of our players.

6 - May 5 - Viney 4 - Rivers 3 - Gawn 2 - Tholstrup 1 - ANB