Red But Mostly Blue

Fancy that, the guy who couldn't get a game in our team (admittedly sometimes through injury) has now kicked one less goal than our entire team...

Great performance from the boys! It wasn't perfect, but you could just tell that the team felt it was coming back to life - and are starting to believe again. Jones has been under the pump, but how good was he!? Petracca was a straight up bull. Maxxy owned everything in the centre, Preuss showed a lot of promise, loved his hunger and the physicality of his game. Hore was tops, as was Oliver. I really liked Hunt's run, Wagner's enthusiasm, and the ferocity shown by the team. It was also great to see Goody down there tonight. You could see how much this game meant to the boys. I hope they take this belief and run with it.

Oh wow, last night would have had plenty of vested interests then haha (especially the sisters v bro). I can relate to the family mix, I defied a family full of Tigers to become a Dee way back when Jimmy and Garry threw me a footy when I was 7 (I'm so cheap haha). Very true, I'm banking on the long-term here. Thanks a lot, appreciate it - I'm looking forward to life being very different ?

Yep! So much unknown, but max excitement for the challenges and joy ahead. It's been a long road. I've had the kid's Dees gear ready for a while haha. I've also had to get in early, as my wife is a Pies supporter (sorry) (although to be fair, she's more of quiet Dee nowadays). You have any little Dees?

Cheers, buddy! Exciting times ?

I've been trying to find an upside to all of this. My wife is due to give birth in 2 weeks, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get out to many of the games, at least initially, and had become ok with the prospect that I'd miss some of our romping wins. Thanks to the Dees, it looks like I won't miss any of our (romping) wins, and I'll probably be well timed to return to the games when we've turned it around! I look forward to taking our kid to a game, and being able to tell him/her (we don't know yet) about how much we have our sh*t together.

I was flat last night, and I didn't wake up much better, so it was kind of nice to see something positive/real. I think the coaching staff have failed to adapt. We've got a good core, we just need to be honest with ourselves, and start fresh next week with a better gameplan. With some luck and grit, we'll win the games we need in order to stay in the mix, then put it all together when the rest of our boys are back.

This is a great team. Can't wait for 2020!!!

Seriously, how have we allowed ourselves to be overtaken by everyone else, again? We set ourselves up last year. We finally broke the finals shackles, and hoodoos against some teams, like the cats. But here we are, apparently an 80-point worse team against the cats, a loss to the bombers who have thus far been a joke. So much so that there are murmurs of that drug cheat Hird returning to the club? Was it the rule changes? Nope, because we have all had the same time to adapt. Are we tired? What the hell!? It's round 3 and it looks like we're slugging it out after a long season. Where is the heart? Why are the Cats playing out of their skins (weren't they 'done' last year), why are the Bulldogs playing good footy with a mixed list? Why are the Lions firing? Why the hell did Goody's contract get extended without some proof this year? He's been outcoached every game this year! He is always reacting, never ahead of the curve, and his stupid smirk at the presser is driving me nuts. He's being paid a lot of money, tell us how he's going to fix this... not that it will get better over time, or that am 80 point drubbing is a positive sign. What is happening?!!

Great summary. And it's taken a lot for you to still hold faith. I haven't lost it, but I'm so confused by our effort this year, frustrated by the terrible coaching and angered that all the other teams went away and did their homework in the off season, so they didn't have to blame the new rules/adjustment on their performance

It's possible that we're not bad... ... maybe we're just TANKING?!!?

What a weird game. Increased output from many of the guys we expected to lift from last week. But so many are so flat. Our gameplan is (on best view) non existent. It's a long season and there's still time, but we're going to need to fix whatever is going on, very quickly. I'm not up for any of Goody's fluffy garbage at the presser either. I want to hear him say that his gameplan is stuffed and he's going to fix it. Oh and that backs and forwards are going to work out what is going on.

Agree, but I thought Salem was very good, and did about as much as he could. Wagner was decent, but that might just be in comparison.

Above all, I was expecting a return of our agro and pressure, and I saw none of that. Losing is one thing, but looking like losers is another. Bring the passion back in R2 boys, we're going to need it!

I hate getting shown up by Westhoff. He's a spud who kicks his goals against spud teams. And fancy bloody Watts showing us up as well. Classic stuff.

I know some of our boys were underdone, the injuries, lack of game time etc, but geez we were bad, and we got worse as the game went on. Jones was terrible, Maxxy was worked out, some of the boys were not even sighted, and we were outcoached. The icing is NO SCORE in the last qtr which is unforgivable. We're only 1 game in, and it's a long season, but we have some serious questions to answer.

We look absolutely knackered. It's like Port is playing in different conditions. I know some of our boys are a little underdone with game time, but it's not a great look. Gotta suck in the big ones this QTR and do what a top 4 team would do/needs to do - take our 4 points.

I think we've got this, but it's going to be ugly. I reckon we'll kick a few quick ones to start though...

When we win the flag next year, the tough draw won't mean very much at all. Tough draw, but that's what happens when you're seen as a top 4 side. It's been a LONG time since we were in this position. The boys will embrace it. Loving the extra tv exposure.

I'm sorry to see Jesse go, he's going to be a star... ...But we're building a legacy here - so we can't afford to take passengers (in a physical or mental sense). Jessie wanted to go home, and that's where he's going. Us? We've got ourselves some guys who are seriously talented (+ fill some gaps in our 22), and they're also coming home. And now we're going to win some flags. Be excited, we're about to see one hell of an era.

Haha true! In all of this, we've forgotten that at the end of today, some, hopefully, good people will be Dockers. Let's spare a thought for them...

Rock/hard place is exactly what this is. And that's a perfect definition of negotiation. Some people think it's defined as getting what you think something is worth, but that does not take into account the other party, and the fact that both parties will not come to the table with equal bargaining power. It might look like we have the upper hand with a gun, contracted player, but that's clearly not all that's in play here. If it was, we would have received our 2 first rounders last week.

I must have read about 50 posts today about us getting 'shafted' or 'bent over' (bingo must be going crazy today @binman), but have I missed something? The day is not done, and the deal has not been finalised. It would be great if we could wait it out (the FD won't, and shouldn't, be working off hyperbolic comments made here, I trust them to do what's right for the club, as their recent record is good), then determine whether we think it was right. And even then, it won't matter as long as we can plug a hole in the list (May, KK) and anyone else will be a bonus.

Absolutely. Bell is no genius, he's been handed a sweet set of cards - all he has to do is sit tight and not stuff it up. I think Mahoney is playing this about as well as he can given the circumstances.

It's true, this thread was breaking apart, and getting stale. It's just because we need something to chew on! Even a few crumbs will do... On this note, did anyone else read Jon Ralph's piece in the Sun? He seemed to be suggesting that Neale is worth more than Pick 5? I hope that sentiment is not shared by Freo. (All this aside, it must be my sense of humour, but it's funny that we, as, I think, mostly adults, have to be told that if we're going to talk biscuits, we need to take it outside (this thread)).