Mel Bourne

Wasn’t able to watch the game tonight. Was about to watch the replay, but according to many here it seems my face might melt like the dudes at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

Whatever it is, I can’t believe it’s what some others are suggesting, which is essentially “the coach is being mean to him”.

Fritsch is a vital ingredient that’s gone missing. Our leading goal kicker for four seasons running (including the current one). His usual contribution to the scoreboard would have won us three of the games we’ve lost this year. He must be playing sore, but we desperately need him to come good.

Found myself screaming “YOU’RE NOT THAT GUY” at Harmes on too many occasions last Saturday

Fed-up, irrational me: Drop Kysaiah Pickett. Dude needs a wake-up call. His five-minute cameos shouldn’t be enough to guarantee selection week in, week out. Logical, rational me: maybe don’t listen to that other guy.

Of late, specifically the last two matches, I think Fritsch’s slump has been making the crucial difference. Had he have made his usual contributions to the scoreboard we would have won both matches It’s pretty straightforward. He’s been our leading goal kicker every year since 2020, and he’s still our best in 23. We rely so heavily on him to make the difference, and he is not delivering at the moment. It has to be an injury. But whatever the injury is, it’s affecting his confidence to the core, to the point his set-shots are uncharacteristically off Desperate for the guy to re-find his form. Some say “no Oliver, no team”, but really it’s “no Bailey, no win”.

You probably need to embellish a little here. Genuinely can’t find the logic in saying the form team of the competition is less of a threat than Carlton.

Not sure if anybody here has watched “Veep”, but Mason Cox gives off strong Jonah Ryan vibes. if you’re going to be up up yourself, maybe try not to also be an un-co dork wearing safety googles.

Wholeheartedly agree. I went on my own and was alternating between yelling my guts out and being quietly incensed at the silence of supporters who were sitting in groups around me. I do often wonder if our players have genuine issues with their supporters, and the lack of support they offer compared to other teams.

Are you sure you were at the Demons game? Most of the play was on the member’s wing.

Could not believe this. I can accept that mistakes are made by the umpires, but that decision made me think that the AFL need to start penalising umpires for particularly egregious calls like that one. Agreed, easily one of the contenders for worst umpiring decision of the season so far.

Was at the game and watched Koz intently at times. He just doesn’t put himself in the right spots. Is often lurking in places where the ball has a 10-30% chance of popping out of the pack. He should be the star, but all we’re getting are cameo performances. Something is seriously up with Fritsch. Umpiring was dreadful. Lever needs to stop pulling pained, disappointed faces at his teammates after HE has screwed up. So we’ve given up on trying to win centre clearances? We’re playing this rebound/turnover jive instead? I would understand such a convoluted approach if we were any good at pulling it off, but it’s not working. We supposedly have the two best rucks in the competition but we’re using their centre bounce tap-work like cake ornaments. Where is the connection between our rucks and rovers? There is a lot more to be concerned about. I don’t want to go full-meltdown like so many others here are prone to, but that was a very poor performance and the scoreboard flattered us. Only positive was watching Hibbo, who is becoming one of our most consistent players this season.

Saying he’s from another planet is far too generous. He’s just another thick dude on planet earth. But no boos from me. Energy wasted.

If KB is a probable loss, then so is our season. Play the best possible team we have.

A couple of those points weren’t from the easiest of set-shots. But yeah, he wasn’t clunking his marks this well with us.

Sam Weideman is having a really good game tonight. Best I’ve seen him play I think. Good to see him doing well. (have just realised how handy he might be now, damn)

I’ve just realised I really like watching the Clash Of The Slash. It’s great knowing that one of these teams is going to lose.

Harsh on May.

Sure, but I can’t recall any marks that we should have had paid, just a few lousy non-calls that should have been awarded. We were simply not connecting last night, and marks - even contentious ones - were low on the ground (not literally).

Yeah, and AI players while we’re at it. And maybe the crowds can also be AI. Think of all the extra time we’ll have on weekends.

I’ve thought about this for a while, and I can’t think of one time I’ve come away from watching a sports-related press conference/interview and thinking I’d gained some useful knowledge.

Marks get paid a little more liberally in wet weather. Visibility is low and efforts are rewarded a little more than usual.

Trac’s head getting taken out was an appalling thing for the umpires to miss, but every game has a couple of them. And that boundary throw-in at the end was comically-awful. There was a razor-thin window of opportunity at that stoppage, but that umpire decided to close it. But generally I thought the umpiring was pretty standard. Maybe “standard” is the problem?

McVee ✌️

Pretty much entirely agree with this. It’s just missing a paragraph about Fritsch. JVR will get a chat, but I don’t agree with the people calling to drop him (not that you are). He needs games drilled into him, and he needs to learn the only way. He’ll be feeling rubbish for giving that free away, as he should. But rubbing his nose in it at Casey doesn’t serve the team well. Especially when you look at our ghostly forward line at present. Koz has enough moments of brilliance to distract us from the fact that he is still an incomplete footballer. But even by his own patchy-standards, he was very poor tonight. He just seems selective about when he chooses to take the game on. I’m watching Eddie Betts on the broadcast now, and thinking about how he would just hunt for the heart of the match and always be a massive presence. Maybe it’s how he’s being coached, but Koz is just not taking these recent games on. TMac is the random object you use when you’ve lost a Monopoly piece. He’s become a barometer for me about where our best 22 is at. If he’s in, someone better is injured. Hoping Ben Brown is ready to come back now, and determined to play his best football. May was great. Hibbo has become crucial. Lever’s intercept marks were sadly missed. Trac and Oliver were brilliant at times, but Trac’s first half was one of his worst in recent times. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, and thinking it would have been tough conditions for an iffy ankle. Oliver’s chaos didn’t pay off enough times. Gawn was well and truly taken out of the game. The only thing that can fix that is coaching, but nothing stuck. ANB, Chandler, Spargo and Koz couldn’t seem to get near the ball, which in a game of wet weather football is unacceptable from our smalls. But I’m not despairing after that loss. Horrible conditions and easily the most hostile away-game arena. We don’t fold now, and this is a huge thing that was missing for so long.