Red But Mostly Blue

This is a very poor 1 vs 2. You wouldn't believe it if you weren't told the positions on the ladder.

I don't know how we're going to magically get good from Q2. Unsurprisingly, the same issues remain, but worse, because we don't have maxy to save us with his work around the ground, clutch marks etc. Both our goals have been mayhem/lucky. Going to be a long 3 quarters if we don't come out with a better gameplan, and some cleaner skills/forward connection.

I thought we'd come out breathing fire, you know, to show we're here to prove a point...

So incredibly selfish by Fritter.

We might be missing a few guns tonight, but we are not just Maxy or TMac. Some of our guys are just down on form, a little battered or needing a spark. It happens. But we have the talent. We worked hard to change the fabric of our club, to finally become a team that wins. That road has to beat bumpy one, but it's how we ride the dips that will count. I'm predicting a 5 point win. Jacko to have a blinder (he'll step up in Maxy's absence) and a few to Weid (!!!). ANB will rediscover some magic, and Kozzy will kick a doozie. The backline will be stingy, led well by May who has much to atone for. But most importantly, we'll find some creativity to score, mostly because we'll need to, and it'll serve us well going forward. And we'll strike fear in the hearts of others again. We can do this. Go Dees! ❤️

Weid has to come in, which I think is a good opportunity for him (yes, another one), but it's a guaranteed extended stint where he'll need to ruck a bit which will keep him involved and maybe lift his confidence. Some of his troubles really do seem to stem from a fear that if he does not perform in any given week, he'll be dropped. Well, now he gets a good go at it. It'll help him find his feet (a confident, tall option up forward can only help us in the finals - especially one with his talent - and yes I know this is debated and doubted - but he does have talent, we've seen it, just not enough). And if it does not work out, I think we all know, very well, that it's likely to never work out. And that's also valuable. We're without Maxy now, so we may as well lift (we'll need to), and use this time to experiment a little, and learn. You never know that we might get out of this!

We can beat anyone, obviously, and finish the season 19-3. But, really, I can't see us magically fixing everything and the many out of form players coming good straight out of the short bye. Plus our fixture is tough, and it now looks like we'll be without Maxy for a good month++. Tough to see us, on current form and circumstances, staying inside the top 4 which is a shame given our good start. I hope for more, but will take a 5th spot, home final, then get the job done against a top 4 loser. Hopefully by the end of the H&A, we'll have gotten Tommy back with some time to settle, and any returning from injury/out of form, have found what they need to get us over the line in a thriller against the Lions. At the G. Naturally, it really depends on how we come out of the bye, especially now without Max. Really tough. On current form we could lose pretty much every single game. And problematically, much like winning, losing breeds more loss. We need to break free from that cycle very quickly, because it's not going to get any easier. For what it's worth, I think we can, even without Max, but geez we need a really quick step up from the group, and the likes of fringe players like Weid, who we're likely going to need if Jacko needs to ruck.

I don't miss the morning after a loss ☹️ What's worse, I dreamt of us losing, but this time we lost to the Swans (again?). Ugh. Gross. Give me zombies/falling etc any day. It really is a lot easier when you're winning!

I forgot what it's like to watch a team struggle. Didn't miss it. Going to have a drink. Not much to take from tonight other than we made a hero of mihochek and Cox, and every other team in the league will now fancy themselves against us, and I don't blame them. We're very poor right now and there's not a hell of a lot of time to work it out. Ugh.

We're done. Can't see us scoring again

We are in complete disarray.

We look light years behind where we were last year. I honestly can't see how we'll win this. The Pies look much better going forward and we're still bombing it in. Also, they took 10 to 1 contested marks!? Whether we win or lose, there are some very troubling issues across the ground, and they aren't fixed simply by May returning. Finally, why are we so good at making spuds look good? Mihochek does nothing and against us looks gold. Don't even get me started on Cox. Who's going to stand up for this term?

Very very poor . Lever looks a shade of himself. It can't just be that he performs when May is there because there will be times when May is not there!!

Jesus fritter's kick was bad. Thankfully Kozzie was there for a very handy goal. Hopefully that brings him into the game!

Given the last few weeks and the fact that the Pies should be up right now, they'll be smelling blood in the water. If we don't come out firing, we lose. We look tired and it's going to take a few more games to get our mojo back. Today is about getting a win to settle things. Geez we look like a pale imitation of ourselves from last year.

Ugh, we're getting carved up by the Pies' quick movement through our defence. Lever realllllyyyy needs May out there. We have really lost our mojo and teams have worked us out. Not a good combination. We need to come out breathing fire and being much smarter with our disposals, plus taking our chances, because if the pies start taking theirs, we're in trouble.

Shades of last week(s) here. We need to convert one now and go into the break with a tidy lead.

Jesus there's only been one club this year that has let Cox have any presence or impact whatever!!

STELLAR work from Spargo.

Blurgh These last few passages are reminders that we're up, largely due to inaccuracy from the Pies. We need to take our chances and capitalise on our good work.

Hahaha sidebottom. Glad they paid that. Made no attempt at all.

Pretty good start, Oliver pretty much literally everywhere. Jackson getting back into it, great to see. A little too similar to last week with us going into the break with a lead, but oppo not capitalising. The Pies could and should have had a couple. The difference will be how to come back from the break. We've absorbed a lot, so now it's time to make some hay. Sun is shining, it's glorious ☀️😍

Fritter, V classy 😍

To state the obvious, we need a win today. We're the reigning premiers, and we're playing the Pies, who are no chumps, but they are also a long way off where we're at. We also need a good win to take the focus away from some ugly press this week, some of which may thankfully be taken away by Cocaine Bailey (and rightfully so! A scuffle outside a restaurant, whilst not a good look, is certainly a long way off a baggie of the good stuff - provided we make good the damage and refocus on the mission ahead). I doubt we're going to rediscover forward connection today out of nowhere, especially with depleted forward stocks. But there needs to be some improvement and a plan other than bomb it in. Looking for some improvement from Jacko and Lever. Salem will get better for the run. Trac, Oliver and Viney need to take control today. And most importantly, NOT LET UP. We have let a few leads slide in the past few weeks. Anyway, all that aside, I think we'll galvanize after a pretty yucky week and come out on top, not by much, but enough to go into the bye with something positive. 20 points. Go Dees 🔥

Ugh. I hope I'm wrong, but it's starting to look a lot like all the talk of being hungrier than ever for another premiership is just talk. Crap like this, some lazy performances (yes I know we won 10 straight, usually off the back of a quarter of decent footy, sometimes even less - and as is now quite apparent, we had not yet played any of the real threats this year), and some of the guys who look completely off the boil (where did our intensity go? Our tackling? Our selflessness?). Anyway, I appreciate that's a bit broad for the May incident (intensely stupid, and disappointing from someone who is such a leader on the ground, and has come such a long way from his start at the club - and correctly punished even though it hurts, as there's no other punishment that makes any sense/protects the culture we have worked so hard to create). Hopefully this doesn't cost us the game against the Pies. It shouldn't, as we are a great side, even without May, but geez we haven't looked it for a while), and we really need the win to go into the bye with a much needed boost. We need to take stock, remember what we came here to do, and get it done.