Red But Mostly Blue

Wow

The umps are lifting!

That ball could have gone anywhere. This isn't even subtle! Bollocks

Harmes has been pretty good, sweet mark by Brown who is starting to clunk these.

Bowey has been great

THAT'S A BODY CHECK? DID HE EVEN TOUCH DARLING!?

I've seen too many games where he's made us pay. Really enjoying this so far

One step, Brown goes BOOM! Terrible conditions, taking chances. Go figure!

Nibble, nibble, nibble... YES PLEASE!

Shut up, Richo.

Ummm that's a free kick, no?

One step, Trac goes BOOM!

What in the actual hell, that was a mark!

Haha I'm in favour of the DH charge.

Would Selwood/Lynch/Buddy have gotten away with this? Probably. Maybe. But that doesn't make what Viney did right. Sure, they were wrestling, but only one guy had his elbow on the other's throat/jaw, and that was our VC. We were smashing them, there was no point in this. I want our guys to be 'tough', but not dumb/reckless. This would not be ideal had it happened the week before finals.

Not a good look. I get that the GC guy was not innocent in this, but Viney is the one who had his elbow on someone's throat and that's never easy to sell, and it shouldn't be, I'd be calling for blood if they did it to us. Probably 1-2 weeks I reckon, and deserved for stupidity, especially from our VC. And a total waste against a team we were destroying.

Pretty good changes, but it would have been great to bring in Weid for Jacko, if for no other reason than to give Jacko a break and try a few things before finals. Harmes has been pretty poor, don't want him doing anything fancy this weekend - tag Touk. That's all.

Pretty good changes. Might have been useful to bring in Weid for Jacko, if for no other reason than to give Jacko a break - and try a few things before finals. Also happy Rivers will play.

You're right. We haven't achieved consistency yet (nobody ever asked which Geelong/Hawthorn or Richmond was going to turn up - we need to get to that), so other teams know there always a chance against us if they apply pressure. Interesting few weeks ahead. A lot on the line with the double chance, fair few guys down on form, not much time to mix with the composition of the team (a downside to having such a dream run with injuries), so not a great deal of time to get it right! Gold Coast is crucial. Needs to be a win, for starters, but a convincing one, too. Not just as a message to other teams, but more so for the boys to rediscover form/confidence. We can do it!

Thanks for the level head, mate. Yeah I think this is the best base we've had in a very long time and will go far - we've barely scratched the surface. The crucial bit is continuing to change the culture, which is why the next part is so important. I think we'll work our way through this and come out better. I hope the boys think so too and come out and really send a message next week. It's 'only' the Suns but it would go a long way to restoring some confidence and momentum for the rounds leading up into the finals.

So it's been a day (or so) since the loss. Feeling pretty deflated. Not so much that we lost against the (now) #1 team (aside from poor umpiring, they played out of their skins, and with too much room - man we could use a Bont/Macrae/Daniel) but more that I'm not sure where our wins will come from now. We've already shown that we're susceptible to bottom 6 teams, so the Suns game is a terrifying prospect. They're traveling ok, and gave the Lions a good shake. Our skills are way down, execution obviously really poor. I don't even remember the last game where we didn't start 1.4 or something similar. It's not even the skills and poor goalkicking. The delivery into 50 is a shambles and many of our stars have regressed. Salem, Langdon and and Jackson are shells of their pre-bye selves. Even Trac and Oliver, who have been performing pretty well but still seem to lack that polish that great teams need, especially Trac who too often reverts to millionaire footy. We're missing the killer instinct players, the sort that Bont showed when the Doggies needed it. Worse still? It's the knowledge that wins breeds wins, and loses breed losses, and it's so hard to see how that'll turn around in light of the above. I know Goody said he's not worried, but this is the same guy who said who wouldn't re-watch our annihilation in the 2018 prelim. So it's either willful ignorance or he's a total magoo, neither of which is useful. It's a long post, but what I guess I'm saying is that this is now our biggest test. Not the games are played against top 8 teams. The part where we're now on a real slide. The pretenders tag creeping up behind us, and many in the team in a slump - that dreaded 'here we go again' feeling. We either follow that path back to nothing or we turn it around. And stamp our foot on our new identity. Upward, beyond, through. I don't mind if we don't win a flag this year, it was probably an overreach anyway, but I'd love for it not to be a straight sets fizzer (provided as even get that chance), and we at least rediscover our mojo, intensity, selfless approach and confident gameplay - and miss out with heads held high, future intact, bright. Which way will we go?

This. As much as our forwards don't take their chances, the problem lies much before any of that - delivery and execution around the ground. They really hurt us with thoughtful, pinpoint passes. Brown's kicking is still off, but imagine him on the end of a pass from Bont, Macrae or Daniel? The guys need to start taking a little more time and thinking more about what they're doing with the ball.

The great thing about the loss is that we can stop the BS that our losses against spuds were OK because we bring it against the big teams. No, we don't - not for a while anyway. It's important to note that they were short Dunkley, Treloar and Keath. We were at full strength. We have some serious issues that need to be resolved NOW. No more looking back. Skills, forward entries, manning up, taking chances. Now's the time to fix it otherwise we'll just be a stat in finals.

AND TO ADD SALT TO THE WOUND, HANNAN SEALS THE GAME.

And again, all our hard work undone because we don't man up. Bont free? Lever outdone by a third gamer?