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Smokey

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Posts posted by Smokey

    5 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

    Strongly disagree.

    That's what our winning formula is based on. Repeat entries and beating teams in the contest. A "forward-half" game.

    We lost the game by 80 points but won clearances and inside 50's convincingly.

    Please tell me how that is not a massive fail and break-down of individual play along the way?

    We are not learning a game-plan anymore mate. 

    Went back and checked last weeks stats, I thought we lost i50’s last week. Turns out we didn’t. 

    I’m don’t disagree with you, I’m just trying to find some positives that we can build on instead of getting hysterical. Our flaws are horribly obvious and hardly need pointing out. 

    1 hour ago, A F said:

    I find this super patronising. Did you go last night and stand in the rain and the cold for three hours? If you didn't, I'd take a seat from this discussion. 

    It may well be that you sat at home in the warmth of your house and then maybe switched it off at half time, but as someone who goes every week and cops the smarmy abuse and derision of opposition supporters, it's pretty rich to read a supposed Melbourne supporter refer to other Melbourne supporters (particularly those that go each week and have for years) as having a "lack of mental resilience".

    I utterly hate this line of thinking, particularly from our supposed own. The fact that the majority of us are still here is an absolute testament to our resilience, after years of pitiful performances and like last night, thoroughly embarrassing scorelines. Have a bit of pride in yourself and your football club. An 80 point loss is unacceptable any way you dice it, and if people are upset and can see the writing was on the wall, as rjay did (and I certainly did after JLT2), they're actually being analytical and realistic about what we're delivering and likely to deliver, and what that means for the season ahead.

    Go and level your lack of resilience comments at Carlton supporters who won a flag in the 90s but many have jumped off since or Essendon, who made finals two years ago and have all jumped off after dominating the late 90s and early 2000s. They are the supporters with mentally weak attitudes. We've the longest drought in AFL history and we won't be winning the flag this year either.

    Sometimes in life you need to look at what's in front of you and admit when there's something drastically wrong. That doesn't mean we should stop going along and supporting, but it does call for realistic debate and discussion, and deriding people for their mental resilience and telling them to "take a deep breath" is not particularly helpful in my book.

    Now the rant is over and I'll take a seat.

    I feel you have inferred far too much from a fairly simple comment.

    It was more aimed at people that are throwing the towel in for the season over a couple of losses. I’m as disappointed as the next person but I personally don’t see what getting overly emotional about it online does. The rest of the comment was centred around remaining objective about where we are at given our pre season. 

    If that triggers you then go ahead and put me on ignor. 

    The end score is obviously unkind and forgettable, but take a deep breath everyone. 

    We won inside 50s and clearances. That is an improvement. Guys like Clarry and Max and Viney are responding and getting back to their normal outputs. Now we just need T Mac to rediscover some form and we should start resembling ourselves again. There are probably a few more to mention but I reckon t macs current form is hurting us the most right now as we rely on him for a lot in the forward 50. 

    Most here conceded that we had a very interrupted pre season with many surgeries, and far shorter than we’ve been used to in over a decade to boot. Well it’s only round 2 and this is still obviously a huge factor from what I’m seeing. 

    Again, take a deep breath. I think we’ll be fine and the panic stations some have arrived at already mostly reflects your lack of mental resilience more than anything else. Many here comment on how the boys will handle the expectation that’s been put on us this year, well most of you are failing that same test right now by throwing your toys out of the cot after 2 games. 

    • Like 11

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    Edited by Smokey

    21 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

    I'm going out on a limb and say his game was good not terrible. 

    Squibbing the mark in 4th qtr was awful but then Max squibbed a contest with Ryder last week.  Pertacca dropped an easy mark but so did Jones last week.  Sh-t happens.

    I know stats aren't everything but they warrant consideration:  16 possessions (@ 81.3% efficiency) of which 11 were contested, 3 clearances, 7 tackles (4th highest) and 7 inside 50 (also 4th highest).  That describes someone who was aggressive, worked hard and was relatively clean with the ball.  Folks notice the 3 clangers but they don't undo his good work.

    He played on the ball where he did a serviceable job as his statistics show.  He played deep in a forward line that hasn't a clue what it is doing and the ball rarely got far enough in fwd 50 so he didn't score. 

    The club needs to decide if he is an on-baller or a forward.   This 'hybrid' role isn't working for him or the team.  

    He won't be nor should he be dropped.

    Finally an intelligent and considered observation. 

    And to all you armchair personal trainers commenting on his weight, try to understand that manipulating ones body mass can be incredibly more difficult for some. Conversely, look at Jeffy - he spends just as much time in the gym as anyone else in the team and has arms like toothpicks. 

    Petracca wasn’t even our worst and some of you ought to be ashamed for the way you are talking about a fellow human right now. Bunch of bloody keyboard warriors, love to see you lot go down to training this week and share these comments with him in person. 

    • Like 9
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    In retrospect, I’m Strangely feeling far more confident today than last week. I thought I was confident last week but on reflection I don’t think I was. 

     

    Dees by a couple of goals. Viney to respond. T Mac to respond. May to wipe that stupid effing face Hawkins does after he kicks a goal clean off. Smokey to drink too many beers again. 

    1 hour ago, faultydet said:

    Agree 100%

    How on earth does a team supposedly overflowing with tough, hard at it types, allow their main weapon to be knocked around for an entire game, with not a single retaliatory action in his defence?

    Maybe our so-called team of young bulls are still weaners?

    I'll give the boys the benefit of the doubt on this one and give them the chance to respond against Geelong before labeling them soft, which they absolutely were on all fronts in round 1. 


    Hawkins or Danger in a bodybaq is my pass mark ? 

    • Haha 4

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    Edited by Smokey

    I can't stand Cornes, he is an absolute idiot of the highest order. 

    Which is why its so painful to say he is absolutely on the money here. For all our contested ball winning "bulls" not a single bloke flew the flag for Gawn and people here should be far more concerned with that than they currently are. It is simply disgraceful that we didn't fight back for Gawny, there really is no excuse. 

    Ugh, time for a shower. 

    • Like 5

    16 hours ago, DeeZee said:

    I’ll reserve my judgement until after this game, I’ve seen too much of Melbourne over the years to have blind faith .

    Saw some disturbing things over the last 4 games that don’t exactly instill me with confidence.

    It could all be injury and fitness issues and I hope they can step up to the plate but those sorts of things don’t usually resolve themselves overnight 

    Understand your reservations, but you shouldn't confuse the fact some people choose to have a positive outlook with it being "blind faith". 

    You'll find no one here actually has blind faith really, some (including myself), prefer to focus on the positives more than the negatives. In my case, because it simply makes the experience of following a football team more enjoyable and instead of looking to each game with anxiety, I look to each with excitement. I am a strong believer that happiness is a choice. It doesn't mean I or others have "blind faith" and are ignorant to our issues, we just make different choices. 

    I feel this needs to be understood better on DL.

    • Like 1

    20 hours ago, rjay said:

    I'm not sure about him becoming arrogant, that's your interpretation but he could sit back a bit and stop doing the things that make him the player he his.

    This is all part of armchair analysis and all of us hypothesise to a degree even those at the club on the front line.

     

    Can you explain what you mean when you say drinking your own bathwater then? Because my understanding of the meaning of this is that it includes a player becoming arrogant in terms of their own abilities, which in turn breeds complacency, which in turn could lead to poor performance on the field. That's generally the context in which most commentators are speaking to when it is mentioned. Is your take on this different? Genuinely interested here because I seriously hate this term being thrown around without justification and have spoken of it before here. 

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    Edited by Smokey

    20 minutes ago, rjay said:

    I think any young player is in danger of drinking their own bathwater when they get pumped up by the fans and media.

    As I've said many players suffer a down year early in their careers often called the 2nd year blues (but not always in their 2nd year).

    I think he's a good kid and has been probably my favourite player since watching his first game with the club but he is only human...

    At the moment he's not doing the things that make him a good player and that could be for a number of reasons.

    Where we will not see eye to eye on this is the insistence of using hypothetical scenarios in the assessment of any player. Yes, anything is possible - Clarry could succumb to the media hype and become arrogant. He could also get hit by a tram and break both legs, or slip into a deep depression after his missus leaves him for a 65 year old super yacht owner with a horrific spray tan. 

    Hypothetical's in this scenario serve no purpose other than generating unnecessary hysteria and anxiousness which frankly, we simply do not need. 
     

    9 minutes ago, rjay said:

     

     

     

    Better get your facts right then 'Smokey'...

    Big difference between what I said and what you quoted.

    Ok i'll approach this differently. 

    What evidence have you based this opinion that Clarry is in danger of drinking his own bathwater? Keep in mind, poor performance is only one of the metrics at play here. He would also have to display a level of outward arrogance with relation to his own abilities to meet the category for the idiom you have chosen to use here.  

    I find his personality, based off observing his media appearances to date, to be very humble and frankly completely at odds with what you are suggesting. 

    14 hours ago, rjay said:

     

    I hope you don't mean me 'Smokey'?

    He like many young kids is in danger of it...that's why many get the 2nd year blues. I trust with McCartney around this won't happen.

    I do indeed. 

    The term "drinking your own bathwater" would imply that a player, in this example Clarry, has openly praised his or the teams own abilities and is now failing to meet that. The validation of information that has been put out by an individual with regard to oneself and the subsequent failure to meet the standards portrayed.     

    Please share with me any evidence of this. I find our players to be pretty humble when it comes to media appearances and generally say the right thing. It's only the media and commentators pumping us up, and our players are constantly bombarded with conversations about expectations this year and I honestly feel that they respond to that pretty respectfully. Unless I'm missing the interview where Clarry came out and said "I'll win a Brownlow and we won't drop a single game this year", I feel like people don't understand what this idiom actually means and are not applying it correctly.  

    Clarry in my view does the opposite. He is highly humble and has shown that he continues to work harder and harder every year. Suggesting he is in danger of drinking his own bathwater is way off the mark in my opinion. 

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    16 hours ago, old dee said:

    Toughness by supporters achieves zero. The only ones who can win a game are the players. It could equally be said that supporters with blind optimism should stop complaining about realists and sit down. 

    To a large extent it just depends on your view and opinion and as this is a fan site either accept a different view or stop reading them.

    Do I have to respect others rights to have differing views? Of course. Do I have to accept these views as fact? Absolutely not. You can't suggest one person has the right to say what they feel but tell another he cannot because it is at odds with someone else's view. 

    For those playing at home, this is a good example of an oxymoron. 

    Getting back on track, I wouldn't take issue with whats being said here is I felt it was "realistic". I consider myself a realist in saying that losing in round 1 is not the end of the world, there were a number of factors which clearly contributed to it, it's a long season and lets pump the brakes a bit until we have a decent data set to analyse. 

    What is being said here can only be viewed as hysterical at this point, not the collected thoughts of a bunch of "realists" who appreciate the significant contributing factors to why we would have a slow start to the year. 

    Don't like my opinions which are at odds with others? Take a leaf out of your own book and stop reading them then ... 

    Getting pretty sick of people claiming that certain players are "drinking their own bathwater" after having an average game or two. Stop repeating the one liners you hear in the media and instead try to have an original thought without being influenced by the highly limited collective IQ of fox footy personnel. 

    Unless you have a signed photo of the player in question which states "I am gods gift to footy and no longer need to try", then spare us the recycled fox footy one-liners you unimaginative parrots. The most ironic thing is that people that are dull enough to quote people like Robbo is that they have probably never invested themselves in anything anywhere near what these young men do week in week out. 

    If you can't handle a round 1 loss in a 23 round season after a disruptive pre season without melting down online in a poorly constructed forum post, then I'm sorry but you are likely suited better to following competitive knitting or something. Again ironic - you would demand these young men have the fortitude to do what it takes week in week out to be a professional athlete in a top 4 AFL team, yet throw your toys out of the cot like an entitled 2 year old after a loss in round 1. 

    Show at least a fraction of the mental toughness you demand from the team or sit the hell down. 

    • Like 2

    Wow wee the round 1 over reaction is even more crazy than I expected haha. 

    Its 1 game. We had a short off season full of surgeries. The team looks under done across the park. 

    I am compiling a list of some of the most outrageous comments after the round 1 loss and will crack them out at round 23 and we can vote on the best ones. 

    • Like 2