Red But Mostly Blue

I don't like blaming the umps but they're keeping port in this. Motlop DROPPED the ball!

Mind you, kicking straight to Alir is not smart footy. Brown was right behind him. Kick it a little higher, Jesus.

Petty has been seriously good.

Gotta pay that, stellar mark, happy he missed!

Great 1 v 1 by Petty

So we haven't had the usual 1st half snooze. We've clearly come out with belief, looking to make a statement. We own the 3rd quarter. If some of the quieter boys stand up, we chuck a tag on Boak, and continue to press, we'll run away with this.

We're going to come out dishing punishment for that BS umpire's goal. 

Go Dees!

2 minutes ago, Stevienic23 said:

Wish Boak would leave us alone just for once

Every. Damn. Time!

Can they just throw Harmes onto Boak for the second half? He's not done much, so may as well cancel Boak.

Buuuuuuuuullllllllsssshhhhhhhhiiiiiitttttt free paid against May. Dixon has done nothing, looking forward to May continuing the clinic against him in the second half.

Looks like winning clearances is very handy!

Also, it's great to see us getting those junk time goals, and not having them kicked against us!

Get ready for a 1st QTR blitz (in our favour)!

I'm v̶e̶r̶y̶ m̶o̶s̶t̶l̶y̶ kind of confident.

(I was a little worried about this game and probably still am but we have to have faith in these new Dees. There will be bumps along the way, but geez we've come a long way already). We're getting there, and tonight we'll expose another pretender.

Go Dees!

5 minutes ago, Brownie said:

I'm not too concerned how many BB kicks. I think he'll be a bit rusty. What it should do is let Fritsch off the leash now.

He was slumping but really got his touch back last week, if he can continue without having three blokes swarming him like last week due to the fact they're going to have to man up on Benny, we should hopefully get some more "connection".

God I hate that term. Go Dees.

Underdogs again. 

Completely agree. Fritter is not, and should not be our #1 forward target - therefore attracting unnecessary attention.

Now he won't be, and should have a lot more space! 

I don't mind if we lose (obviously I want to win, and think we will/should/can/please?!?), but I think the non negotiable, given last week and how this game sets up the trajectory of the next 6 weeks (i.e. a loss has us scrapping for a top 4, or 2 games clear if we win), is that we come out BREATHING FIRE from the first bounce!!!

11 hours ago, FireInTheBennelly said:

Something else people don't realise is, Ben Brown is a 100% game time player. He was down in game time in his first 3 games, despite managing 5 goals and an assist. Clearly wasn't fully right.

He saves rotations and keeps the mids fresh. He'll kick at least 5 goals, and we'll run over the top of them big time in the last quarter.

Big Bad Bustling Beautiful Ben Brown is BACK!

BBBBBB!!! 

35 minutes ago, Sydee said:

The expectations on BB are pretty unrealistic if you ask me 

The guy hasn't really done enough to genuinely deserve a call up (no idea if he's been training the house down) but his Casey form has been so so IMHO

Am I against giving him a chance - not really because at the very least he may attract their best defender. However anyone expecting him to have a big influence on the result and kick more than 1 or 2 goals is being very very optimistic / unrealistic

 

I agree with this, I'll be chuffed if he presents well, clunks a few and kicks 1 or 2.

Our biggest losing margin was 17, so if he kicks 1 or 2 (being deliveries that presumably would have sailed over the heads of some of the shorter guys), we are already pretty much there - all we need is more consistent 4 qtr intensity, and the other guys to convert.

2 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

B. Brown coming in this week compared to last week makes literally no sense from a form perspective.

Goodwin says because of the 5 day break he was on limited minutes, so that means by Saturday evening, after the GWS loss, he had decided Brown would play the following week and hence gave him limited minutes. 
 

Sounds like Goodwin has made the decision based off how [censored] our forward line was on Saturday afternoon. He’s then pulled the trigger, and not even considered how well Brown’s latest VFL game went.

So, why exactly didn’t he pick him for the Giants?

Agree. But the reality is that a big mistake was made not picking Brown last week (or making any material change to the forward structure for that matter), but he would have to admit that, and he won't, so it's easier to say... Ben's (now) ready!! BOOM! 

(I hope stubborn Goody is not creeping back, it looked like his better company was helping him make better decisions this year, last week was not one of them...)

...We've Ben waiting a while for a genuine goalscorer!

Make it rain, Benny!!

Of course, this will require better i50 delivery, which will also result in Fritter, TMac etc. being more effective.

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Reckon it's a trust factor with Weideman. From a teammates and coach perspective. 

The Collingwood game unfortunately would have left a foul taste in everyone's mouths and I think now they want him to at least spend a good couple of weeks in the VFL to prove a point, but also work on basic fundamentals before he's actually considered. 

Even watching the VFL goals on the MFC website there were still a dropped marks by Weideman that he should be simply mopping up. 

Don't think we'll be seeing Weid in the AFL for a while now.

Totally agree. 

Weid hasn't been in the 2s long enough to convince his teammates that he should return.

He's a confidence player (maybe a little more than most), and would need to bring the house down for a few weeks in a row in the 2s before returning to the AFL. That way he comes in, leads up, clunks marks, kicks that first important goal etc., rather than coming back unsure of his value - and having the same issues that will probably result in him yoyoing between the 2s. 

Get his confidence/skills up - work on our delivery as well, as that has also been a major problem of late.  He'll come back to a better system, he'll receive better delivery, he'll kick a bag, we'll win the flag etc.

8 hours ago, 1964_2 said:

Hi All, 

It’s not helpful to panic or over-react to a loss, and you can’t win every week unfortunately. Having said this, it is important to learn from a day like yesterday. 

I couldn’t be happier with this year, and the clear improvement choco, Yze, goody and the players have delivered. But, we do still appear to be slow to learn. I will summarise my thoughts below, and interested in any views, agree or otherwise. (Apologies for duplication, as I am sure you would have covered much of this)

James Harmes:

 Is a tagger + nothing else. This is a player, that appears to get too happy with himself at times, and unfortunately is not smart enough to play a half-fwd flank, or wing. So if there is no tagging job for a game, then he should be playing VFL - especially as we have many similar players to him (but a bit smarter). 

Viney:

let’s not panic here. If it takes Danger a month to get back to his best from a similar length injury, then we can give Jack 4 weeks before we start calling for his head. 

Petracca/Oliver:

not at their best yesterday, but we can’t be a team that relies on them dominating to get a win. 

May/Lever:

Thankyou to whoever’s decision it was to chase them - we are nothing without them. 

Petty:

seamless replacement for Tomlinson. Reliable + compliments May/Lever. 

Kozzy/Spargo/ANB:

kozzy needs a rest, a clear coaching error to not identify this. The three of them have been critical all year, but at least 1 of them does need to play a strong offensive game, to compliment the defensive pressure they bring most weeks. A good coaching move to identify that they were off yest, and try Hunt fwd. it nearly won us the game. 

Gawn:

when not ruck, I think he provides most value a kick behind the play on wings/defence. When another key fwd (Brown/Weid) finally stands up, we will obviously have this luxury.

Brown/Weid:

it couldn’t have been more obvious last week against the Dons, that we needed another key target inside 50. Clearly they decided to take too much comfort from the win, rather than addressing weaknesses. I am concerned with Weid, and his ability to have a presence at AFL level. Please Ben Brown, step up and regain your status as one of the comp’s best full fwd’s. 

Fritsch:

wish he wasn’t so selfish, but has a key role in the team + will benefit when Brown finally steps up. 

TMac:

don’t change a thing. He is not our inside 50 target. He is our CHF that exploits his opponents lack of fitness by leading all the way up to half back flank. Will also benefit when key inside 50 target steps up. 

Jackson:

give him the rising star, and sign him for 4 years. Will be a top 5 player in the competition in future years. 

Salem: 

half-back flank, and key cog in defence. Don’t mess with the things that are working. 

Hibberd:

amazing that he is playing his best footy at this age. And let’s hope we have Maynard ready to play the same role next year.

Jordon/Sparrow:

Keep playing them (especially Jordon). They are the future + I am not sure potential replacements such as AVB + Melksham add more to the team. 

Langdon/Brayshaw: 

don’t change a thing. See above re don’t mess with things that are working. 

Rivers/Hunt:

Riv a future star of the comp. Hunt - a great role player this year (although execution was off yest) 

 

keep the faith demons supporters. It’s a tough time of the year. Goody - Learn from yesterday, tinker and address the deficiencies, smash Port, then the season is well and truly on track. 

 

This is one of the best posts I've read in a while and certainly after such a disappointment loss. Thanks for the great balance of positivity/learnings, because they need to go hand in hand for meaningful progress.

13 hours ago, AmDamDemon said:

Yea it might happen, but it might not. We smashed Brisbane and the Dogs. Reality is, that is the same team that has lost to two bottom of the table teams and one other team in the eight. Gotta love it, anything can happen and I’d rather be here than in the position of any of those other teams, who are all chasing us.

This is true. I am optimistic for the game against Port. At our best we can beat anyone. At our worst, we can be beaten by anyone. I guess that's probably true for most clubs, but if we're going to be a serious threat for the next 5 years, we can't be seen to be so fragile. The Hawks, Cats and Tigers in recent years were certainly not viewed that way. I appreciate we have a while to go to reach a similar peak, but to get there we have to be honest with ourselves. The boys have to fight every game, for 4 quarters, to continually build that image and trust. That's got to restart against Port.

Go Dees

5 minutes ago, AmDamDemon said:

I think it was a good, long term ploy to get Richmond out of the eight. Worst thing about this kind of loss is that it gives the wrist slashers reason to clean the cobwebs off their keyboards and foist the extremities of MFCSS on the rest of us. The thing is, we ARE still top of the ladder, not sitting 5th like many seem to think. Obviously there are things to work on, but the beauty of having 10 straight wins to start the season is that we can afford to be exposed now, rather than at the pointy end when it will really matter. Call me an optimist, but once you’ve done that, go check out the ladder again.

I love your optimism, I really do.

But the reality is some of these posts (not all), really are trying to address some of the things that have not been working for quite a while. There has been a steady decline but there's this tendency to rest on our ladder position. That can't last forever. 

I played with the ladder predictor...

With the games played this round, and the likely wins next round, if we lose to Port, depending on percentage , we could actually be 5th!!

Then all of a sudden we're out of the 4 and having to scrap to get back in, against very tough opposition, with a bunch of players who still think they're number one!

... And we're dreadfully out of form/confidence.

I'm actually happy we'll lose the #1 spot this week. We're not a true #1 (ladder leaders have losses, but they don't lose to THREE bottom eight sides in just over a month. GWS struggled against the bottom two sides in the league.

Plus, being #1 doesn't suit us, the boys have clearly gotten ahead of themselves. Hopefully they rediscover the hunger they had at the beginning of the season. Quick. Because time is running out. As is the ever enduring forward problem. Bring in either Brown. Anyone really, just not another midget.

Not a bad time to be out of form, gives us a chance to build momentum. But that depends on the boys recognising where they're actually at (except most of our defenders), and working their backsides off to get to where we need to be.

We need top 4, top 2 is going to be hard. It goes without saying that we need to turn 180 to beat Port.

37 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Yeah I went early.

I'll watch the game.

Hope you've got a few drinks nearby, you'll need them. 

We're being shown up by the Giants, a team beaten by the Hawks. For any one who has chosen to deny we've been on the slide for a while, here's some proof. We've found some ways to win some games, which is ok, but largely we've struggled, particularly against poor opponents, and this is yet another example. 

Even if we find a way to win this, these half game brain fades just give teams unnecessary look ins for games. 

This is embarrassing.

1 minute ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Yep

Fox sports commentary fails to call it a duck

It's disgusting. And to cap it off, with that weasel Greene.

We're making terrible decisions. May has saved our backsides too many times already.

For the few times we've made it into the forward 50, who's taking the marks? Almost like we could do with somebody tall out there! What's the gameplan here!?