JimmyGadson

Yeh, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Still, good to know you're picking up on that detail rather than the fact that we are simply not rated or respected by opposition Captains. In fact, Gold Coast are rated a higher chance. And we've been trying to build a ruthless, respected and great club for how long now?

^ As I said, love him or hate him, he's not wrong.

Love him or hate him. He is dead right.

The joke is on the Melbourne supporters who constantly make excuses about our club. And make excuses when more critical and fed up supporters rightfully have their say. The happy-go-luckies love to call-out 'armchair experts' for voicing their concerns, even if it's after a practice game. There was nothing ruthless about how we played. A word that Goodwin has bandied around non-stop since he took over. Captains of each club have a say. And surely they would know best given they play against us... We get one vote to make the 8. And it was probably Max who voted that. We made a prelim two years ago. That says an unbelievable amount about where our club is right now. You can kiss this club's hopes goodbye if we don't make serious progress this year.

Haha. You've got no idea. You and Binman are like the Black Knight from Python's The Holy Grail when it comes to defending Oscar. In two years he'll be playing country footy with me and you'll both still be saying, "See! Oscar tries his hardest and is hardddddlyyy the worst player out there!".

Losing their minds? Or rightfully concerned about worrying patterns and trends that are clearly visible when we play good opposition? How many times have we played sides who are missing a host of senior players only to either just scrape a win or actually lose the game? The fact that we lost without some key players is not the issue. It's that many of us have seen Melbourne lose the game in a quarter of football in exactly the same fashion, even with our best side in. Did you watch any football at all last year? What was your excuse then? We had one of the best runs with injury and still came up short? We are losing due to an ineffective/inconsistent game style mixed with an underskilled and one-dimensional midfield and half-forward line. Not a thing has changed for three years other than the addition of Langdon and Tomlinson, (who is now playing as a third tall defender). So consider that a fail. Practice game or not, your assessment is that of a happy-go-lucky Melbourne supporter who refuses to dig a bit deeper.

Binman. Love your passion. Fact is, he's not the player you believe/believed him to be. Happy he's got a contract but will not be surprised to see him playing ore VFL than AFL this year.

On you Oscy. Future AA if you ask me.

Also, I implore people to have a look at how behind the pace Harmes was on so many occasions at stoppages and centre bounces. Start of the last quarter is a classic example of what I'm talking about. It is absolutely embarrassing. Max has clear advantage due to the bounce of the ball and Macrae roves it as if he's a Melbourne player. Harmes with no idea and just body watching. This happened all day. And it's not a one off.

An embarrassment to say the least.

Yesterday was just further confirmation to me that we're nowhere near it. I've read the same demonlanders for decades continue to chalk up excuses regarding practice matches. Everyone understands they're practice matches. And everyone is aware we had some big name players out including some important midfielders. But for anyone with even the faintest idea about the game would have been able to see that yesterday only highlighted what Goodwin and co have refused to address. That is, the shape of our list. Aside from the Ben Brown signing, we have done very little in the way of adding to our list and mixing up our skill set through the middle of the ground. I saw the same [censored] yesterday that I've seen for going on three years now. Do supporters ever feel a sense of deja vu when watching us lose? It's Groundhog day. If you watch back even at last year's game against the Dogs, you will see an eerily similar game to yesterday's. And we had our first choice midfield back then. This is completely about list balance and Goodwin continues to play one of the most one-dimensional game styles, executed by some of the most one-dimensional players through the middle of the ground. There is almost no point of difference when I look at the way we play. Very little creativity and a lot of really really dumb play. Dumb decisions, slow reactions and extremely poor execution. Go back and look at some of the positioning from Harmes at contests, look at where Max constantly hit the ball, look at the way we have three players run at the same opposition player with the ball allowing easy handballs to space that make us look like witches hats. These are a few of so many examples. Look at our entries still. Look at the number of players we have who cannot even tackle correctly. It's not one thing. It's a bunch of vanilla players continuously making mistakes. The dogs have a blend of inside/outside players who are clean, creative and extremely smart. That is and was the difference with us and most sides above us and Goodwin is simply kidding himself if he thinks we're going anywhere with his narrow minded "win it at the contest, high pressure forward-half game". Opposition sides are too smart and constantly make us look second rate. Pressure Melbourne at the contest and they will give it up. It's as easy as that. Posters might think I'm overreacting. Totally fine. But the proof will be in the pudding come the end of the year. We might beat some sides with our contested brand here and there sure, but the game has evolved and teams who are better balanced and have superior skill will tear us apart in one quarter like the dogs did in the third again yesterday. Prove me wrong Melbourne.

Not really a 'Wow' though, is it?

Is small, doesn't possess a single standout attribute which immediately puts him behind the eight-ball given his lack of height. No standout intensity, strong defensive pressure or willingness to chase hard. Without wanting to offend some demonlanders, it is almost clear as day that he is only on the permission to train list due to his surname. There are hundreds of players out there who would possess the same traits as he does.

Good effort against the wind in the last. Definitely a second half improvement and a good effort considering our outs.

Good effort against the wind in the last. Definitely a second half improvement and a good effort considering our outs. Do we have a small defender playing on that Arts guy? Joise louise.

Harmes is truly woeful at times. Difference between best and worst is astounding. Much like our side.

Keep living in lala land.

The way they just transitioned one end to the other ending in a Caddy goal is the difference. Cotchin's hands in traffic is what broke them open. Compare that to fumbles Harmes who just coughs it up too often. Then Riewoldt's ability to handball long and wide into space. We haven't changed our list enough over the years. We haven't addressed our poor execution issue from a list perspective. It is simply the same same. Practice match or not.

Three key position Melbourne players fly for the same ball. As the great philosopher Dr Dre once said, "some things never change".

Can't see any significant signs of change regarding all ball use going forward. Our pressure has been fantastic which is nothing new aside from our lapses during some games. But all I want to see in these pre-season games is some genuine change in the way we move the ball.

I'll continue to take the 'glass half empty' view of this club until we inject some attribute diversity through the middle of the ground. The problem isn't that we lack key forward depth. It's that for another year, our club refused to bring in mature players with a contrasting skill set to most of our midfield group. I specified "mature" players because I know Bowie and Laurie are the type of players we're missing. But they're first year players. When I look across the competition at the teams you'd assume we'd be ahead of in development to this stage, it's a worrying look. Carlton, Freo, Gold Coast, St Kilda and the Doggies are all sides who I can see leapfrogging us this year due to their superior list balance. We go into 2021 with a very similar lineup bar Ben Brown. We recorded one of the worst inside 50 to score conversions last year and that problem has lingered for seasons now. We are a team who are known for turnovers if pressured. We are known for our lack of class, polish and use entering inside 50. What have we done from a list perspective to address this over the last 3 to 4 years? Very little. The fact that Ben Brown and Weideman are injured will only further highlight these issues imo. My views on Goodwin are that he is an extremely stubborn and rigid coach who has believed in one system of play for too long. I can see he's made adjustments due to performance and criticism, but not nearly enough has been done as far as list balance goes. And because of that, I can't see this year being any different to the last few. We will win games due to our sheer volume of contested ball. But will will lose to many games due to the same problems we've seen. Happy to revisit this post at the end of the year. Go Dees nevertheless.

Yeh, you reckon Marshall is a fair comparison because his tackle count is high for a kpp and it suits your argument. I think you pick and choose who you like frankly. All the time in the world for Oscar who is now delisted. No time for Weideman. Doesn't quite add up.

Written by a demonlander no doubt.

Bit of a nothing article, really.

Rest easy Mark. My thoughts are with his kids.