Dodos Demons

Watched the Fox pre match and said to my kids 15 minutes from the bounce- what is wrong with the Melbourne players? They look flat and disinterested. Not saying I predicted the result but I have not seen them look so switched off and appearing as though they cbf’d. Could be a coincidence but not they looked very very flat in the pre match. The rest is history. Something seems to be way way off in the attitude and mental approach department. Worst month of footy for a long time.  

25 minutes ago, leucopogon said:

This is almost the end of the line for me and the MFC/AFL. My motivation and interest are at an all time low. I just googled how to cancel my membership FFS! That's how I'm feeling right now. Hearing 10s of thousands of supporters cheering Maynard just doesn't sit well with me. Watching our blokes put in the most disgraceful efforts in four games now (Bris, WCE, Freo, Pies), not to mention the two straight sets exits of 22 and 23. It's broken me. How quickly have we gone from dominating force to irrelevant? It truly is mind boggling.

100%. Salt in the wounds is watching Geelong successfully complete mini rebuilds and attract quality players time and time again to remain contending to years on end. Sydney too.  We seem to be miles off anything near that as a club, on or off the field. Would love to be proven wrong but there just doesn’t seem to be the same noises, confidence or bigger picture being communicated from the coach or club (unlike the Cars or Sydney).  

3 hours ago, BW511 said:

It is quite intriguing that skill has been our downfall for many, many years and yet we doubled down with a new gameplan which is outrageously reliant on skill.

We have grunt bulls (that are very good at it although Clayton is off his best for known reasons) but silky skilled mids and wingers we fall well short. Even Salem is miles off his laser like kicking. May is inconsistent especially with short passes. Bowey lost his radar a little too. McVee is excellent but our game plan seems to need need about 6 silky players. Bring back the bomb to the pocket lol.  

5 minutes ago, BDA said:

Our old game plan was worked out by the opposition 

We don’t have the skills to execute the new game plan

its a pickle for sure. TBH I’m not sure if the brains trust can come up with something different other than revert to our contested and territory game.

will be interesting to see what we do v the pies

Would be a different narrative if we had the skill (and some luck) in finishing with the old game plan. Was the poor finishing (ie inaccuracies) because of lack of skills or fatigue or both? Who knows. Interesting times ahead for the MFC. 

3 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

Last year v Norf. Some really short memories in here 

…. Against a top team or co tender I should have added. 

When do we ever dish out a flogging like this. 

North sharpening the knives for their only win of the year in round 22. Watch them bring the pressure and we will …..

Hate to say it but Pies, win or lose, seem to have a lot of depth with some good players to come back closer to finals. Just hope they are towards the bottom of the 8 or even better, the ladder. 

“I felt we were a little bit off” lol. 

5 minutes ago, binman said:

Loving the pies tears about the free on the radio.

Bet none of them have mentioned the umpires warning players earlier. 

Anyone know the “rule” for reviewing that Pies point that was subject to a very very late review (clearly crossed the line).  Seems like the ARC has discretion to review anything and wait until the next stoppage to inform field umpire. Interested to know what the rules are for reviewing a point when play continues. Could lead to some very unfair outcomes.  

Re the free for not handing ball back, a caller to SEN post game said his son was at the game listening  to the in stadium commentary and apparently it picked up the umpire telling Pendles earlier being warned that players weren’t handing the ball back quick enough (ie time wasting).  Puts a different paint job on the “controversy”. See if the AFL come out and out Pies back in their box (cage).  Could be deliberate tactic by Pies and they have been caught out. They should have other officials running the clock like basketball and  make it black and white when the clock stops and starts (ie in the rules) and remove the need for field umpires to call time off and on.  Such an antiquated system and so not necessary.  Move with the times AFL. 

18 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Interesting, this. 

Apparently that’s the first time he’s laid more than 6 tackles in a game since 2014.

Is that on us? Like did we give him the opportunity? Or is it a case of him playing out of his skin? (Or both?)

I wonder how many of the 12 were on BBB.  Sadly, he wouldn't be the hardest guy to chase down and tackle 😪.

42 minutes ago, Damo said:

When we lose these games that we should win, it is losing the 1st quarter, especially the 1st 3 goals of the match. We need to silence the hope in the crowd barracking by winning the 1st 10 minutes. Im a bit worried.

If we can’t win the first quarter against the Eagles then it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season. Rome wasn’t built in a day but if the “learnings”  from slow starts cannot be demonstrated this week, when will they start to reveal themselves???

35 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I think that’s what happened. That’s not even close to having run too far, especially in the modern game.

Thats a clear, critical mistake from the umpire. I’d say he didn’t see his first bounce.

I don’t understand the point of 4 umpires if one of them can’t over turn that. I don’t blame the umpire for making a mistake. He couldn’t see the bounce. I thought that was the point of the other 3.

And there seems a complete lack of desire (or opportunity) for the umpires to ever consult on clear mistakes. It’s is like they are fearful of each other. Only time it seems to happen is boundary line throwing (other than arc).  They would be encouraged not to but maybe in the last 2 minutes of each quarter (or game) they can? Of course, very little will change, if anything. Like when umpire does bad bounce at start of a quarter. Why don’t they reset the clock??? Rant over. 

Chris Scott under the pump in the press conference wearing one of the Cats style headbands.

1 hour ago, Ollie fan said:

Riewoldt strikes me as a much better special comments man than most.

Joel Selwood says hi …/sarc

1 minute ago, Wodjathefirst said:

Looking forward to Scott’s after game press conference already!

“Look, I don’t want to make excuses but you will find out that the team had the flu”

1 minute ago, The heart beats true said:

Expected Scores:

#AFLBluesDees Final xScores:

CARL 75 from expected 51.1 (+2 rushed)

MELB 73 from expected 72.4 (+3 rushed)

Those first 5 goals being all goals is the only reason they won. Honestly I’m fed up with finding ways to not beat Carlton. 

Would be nice if we could kick that straight regularly. Other than the Port game, we never seem to be the team that is in the game because we have kicked straight. We are the team that keeps the opposition in the game because we don’t kick straight.  

4 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Interesting development on JUH. Just find it interesting that this happens to coincide with Doggies big win and Naughton kicking 6 snags. Probably nothing but ... the old adage of smoke and fire. 

DOUBT SURROUNDS UGLE-HAGAN’S AVAILABILITY DESPITE ATTENDING BOXING MATCH FOLLOWING PERSONAL ABSENCE

Looking forward to the next post match press conference where Tom Morris asks Bevo about JUH’s long term future at the Bulldogs. Bevo v Morris round 2 lol.  No love lost there. Rumours can only help our chances of prying JUH loose. 

2 minutes ago, Red and Bluebeard said:

Probably got them from ChatGPT for all the sense it makes ...

I wonder if many players know that once you get to 200 games you can avail yourself of this loophole.  Jack Viney can cut loose now.   

5 minutes ago, Red and Bluebeard said:

"His 207 games suspension-free puts him in a very small minority … only 668 players of the 13,125 who have played the game at the elite level have played 200 games," Gleeson said.

"Almost half of those have been suspended for one match or more. Mr Cameron is clearly in the unusual category in this regard.

Even by the "standards" of the Tribunal, the above doesn't make any sense. Gleeson's own words state that more than half of the players who have played 200 or more AFL games have not been suspended. So Charlie is somehow exceptional, along with at least 51% of 200+ game players (some 300+)? It would make far more sense to say "We just make up rules to suit, and we like Charlie, so he gets off because that's the vibe and that's the way we roll".

 

Did he know those numbers off the top of his head or were they given to him by AFL HQ in the script? 

Just now, daisycutter said:

so, only 5 rounds in and the new "potential to cause injury" upgrading impact category, now has a novel and neat circumvention thanks to the ever ingenious and malleable mr. gleeson.

only the afl could contrive such a great escape.  helpful [censored] abound in many spheres.

So true - “potential to cause serious injury can be taken into account when grading impact*”.

*unless we think you are a great bloke or character witness tell us that we should believe you are a great bloke in which case the inverse applies and we can downgrade the impact in such circumstances. Farcical.  It really is. If the AFL did not have so many sycophant reporters - they need to call this out.    

6 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

 

In a rare decision, Charlie Cameron’s clean record over more than 200 games paid dividends after the Brisbane livewire escaped with a fine at the tribunal for his sling tackle on Jake Lever.

 

Another bizarre decision !!!! 

Brisbane sought to have the impact grading lessened from medium to low, which would let Cameron escape with a fine, despite his guilty plea.

 

Tribunal counsel Sally Flynn said it was the potential to cause injury that warranted the medium grading, labelling the tackle "inherently dangerous".

Lever's "vulnerable" position, the angle and rotation of the tackle and the extent of the force were relied on to argue for medium impact.

Tribunal dismissed his argument that the impact of the incident should have been graded as "low’' rather than "medium''.
BUT chairman Jeff Gleeson - found exceptional and compelling circumstances to use its discretion to turn the ban into a fine, citing Cameron's clean record. 
Gleeson said the incident was careless but at the lower end of seriousness, and noted Cameron had to complete the tackle in a rotating manner to avoid Lever - who is 20kg heavier than him - crushing him due to momentum.

 

Character references from Adelaide and Carlton champion Eddie Betts and an Indigenous elder also helped sway the Tribunal, but they were most taken by his previous disciplinary record.

The Tribunal also noted that Lever was uninjured in the incident.

"His 207 games suspension-free puts him in a very small minority … only 668 players of the 13,125 who have played the game at the elite level have played 200 games," Gleeson said.

"Almost half of those have been suspended for one match or more. Mr Cameron is clearly in the unusual category in this regard.

Just when we thought the rules had been written in such a way to allow wriggle room for the grading of impact (ie potential to cause serious injury is now relevant to the “impact”) so that the “stars” can be protected, along comes a new contender “the Chairman’s Discretion” as the ultimate power to save the stars when not even the ambiguous rules can.  Oh boy, could they be any more transparently biased to the “stars”* if the game.  Note those that qualify as a “star” are determined in the AFL’s discretion lol.  An indictment on the fairness of the game. 

1 hour ago, At the break of Gawn said:

Or that we were just beaten by a better team? They have basically had our measure since the ‘22 Semi final (won 3 of the last 4 and could easily be 4-0 if not for a miracle comeback).

Definitely agree we were beaten by a better team but at the game the players definitely looked flat, slower, fumbly and hesitant. Don’t know if that can all be put down to them being a better team or applying more pressure. We looked a completely different side to the one that played Port only a week or so earlier.