heartbeatstrue

For a second gamer, he had a lot of the footy. What were Bail's stats?

I enjoyed watching Bail today. His last kick was exactly correct, he had no idea there were only microseconds to go. He was playing to win against the Pies. Totally commendable!

I'm excited we'll have the privilege as supporters of watching him develop, his gutsy efforts today were great.

Dunny lifted today and I'm thrilled. He's a nice kick, could be a terrific player for us. He needs to keep going from today. Way to go!

If Dunn is the answer to the run with player why is he so scared of the contest?

Hey Roost, I agree with your other points. Why not give Dunny the challenge, make or break him. If he's half sensitive to the criticism he's been copping everywhere, Dunny needs a challenge and opportunity to prove all his critics wrong... if he's got it in him. I hope he has!

It is a good article and good for the heart to read. But realistically, today's side againt the Pies is the weakest Melb side on paper that I think I've ever seen. For all Garry's great ideas, I reckon the coaching staff would have considered them all. They are operating in the real world, and reality is we just don't have the players with the experience, hearts in some cases, or physicality to put Garry's plans into practice.

So we've got to work towards improving all the areas where we're lacking. That is reality and today could be very unpleasant as we go through that process (I hope they surprise us, it's a strange game).

The one telling point that I think Garry made, towards the end, is this:

"I'm not sure about the preparation just before the game, the motivation or the 'arousal' levels of the group, but, too often, the energy, spirit and relentless competitiveness required at this level rarely seems to last longer than two or three minutes of chest thumping..."

I'm not sure about this either.

Bailey himself is also learning as a coach - he is not the finished product when he begins (nor could anyone reasonably expect him to be). So, we've a bunch of old players who cannot lead effectively, kids who are new to it and a brand new coaching panel. Couple this with a poor midfield, no established or competent forwards and the worst facilities in the land and what do you expect?

...

It is complex, and there are lots of things that we don't know. i'm not convinced about bailey, but he's not lost me either. Wish i had 2 hours with him so that he could explain what the hell is going on!

This is all true. My reading of most of the frustration on demonland since Saturday is that supporters are doing the therapeutic thing of expressing their passion and emotions, and definitely disappointment, while also writing about the things they see DB needing to learn.

Like iv'a worn smith noted "But is Dean Bailey a strategist and motivator on game day?"

I'm sure we all hope DB's learning from the agony he definitely felt too on Saturday, about how to get into the heads of the squad he's currently got (partly a result of significant injuries).

Sadly Grant Thomas is spot on in his assessment. Even Garry Lyon has gone luke warm, he was only prepared to back DB as the best of the available options 2 years ago.

We can only hope that DB watches the footage of Paul Roos paying out on his Swans players at 3/4 time for what was to him an unacceptable performance.

From the other thread:

Nice bloke and says the right things but is he good enough? I watched carefully and there is very little by way of a plan. Bailey please please make me look foolish in the coming weeks.

On the TV there was no vision of him being tormented or getting into the players ( I truly hope I just missed it but I doubt it.)

In contrast on Saturday night ¾ time in the Swans match Roos strides out onto the ground approaches the playing group who dropped a 20 point bundle and says "shithouse f***ing shithouse" Points out what they didn't do and walks away he then turns back to them "not good enough just shithouse."

And iv'a worn smith noted "But is Dean Bailey a strategist and motivator on game day?" He certainly wasn't on Saturday. By contrast, Chris Connolly probably has these skills whereas DB is the teacher.

Well, we're on the bottom. How worse do you want??!

I visited Bomberblitz earlier today and whilst very Essendon-centric they touched on Melbourne once when one poster asked if Jack Watts played. Two posters suggested they didn't see him and one poster finally confirmed that he was present. I hope he did better than it sounds.

yeah, Watts played up the ground and had some classy touches

you make good points that i agree with, but that does not excuse the tactics and game plan yesterday.

That pattern of play will kill the spirit of even the greatest draft picks.

The problem yesterday I felt was not that the original game plan was tried and found desperately wanting, but that Bailey didn't ring the changes sooner (it's arguable how much change he initiated, and how much just happened out of exasperation by default).

I was watching Bailey in the box, he was hugely frustrated... but he didn't change anything visibly out on the ground at that point!

Try something different, tell them to go to Plan B for a qtr, which could simply be man-on-man, less handball, longer more direct kicks, see if we can beat them one on one. We can go back to Plan A later. If Barassi had never changed Carlton's game plan at half time in 1970, the Pies would have one more flag.

We are too one-dimensional which would be fine if we had a team of experienced champions. For where we're at, Bailey needs to mix it up some more.

For me, he was right up there with our best yesterday. For where he's at, he was great. Played with passion and didn't do much wrong. And he's fierce...

thanks Jordie, a bright light on a dark day.

Get the KPF so the young kids know where to kick and how to get to the forward line.

The reason we needed someone like Robbo or Bradshaw for the next year or two, is to take the pressure from Watts. Now, the minute he's in the team, he'll be no.1 target for the best 3 opposition defenders ALL THE TIME (they're hardly likely to have to worry too much about Miller, for instance).

A smart team like Hawthorn wouldn't contemplate such an apprenticeship for a potential champion, in my view.

Nathan Brown on the footy show said there are whispers from Melbourne players that there is no game plan. Sounds about right.

This is an easy way for troublemakers to attack us just now. IF there is no game plan (and the players would know), then Bailey must go, quickly. I don't believe it, however.

Yes what is being asked of them by the coaching staff is beyond them as a group, just now. And yes, maybe a Plan B should be ready and waiting to be implemented more quickly in future (maybe the coaches didn't realise before yesterday how desperately a Plan B to minimise damage and restore competitiveness is, to be implemented quickly during situations like yesterday). That I can understand.

Obviously supporters need some answers. Either Bailey or Connolly (probably the better communicator of these things) should consider giving us a quick technical update addressing the game plan questions, and where they believe we are heading.

I believe the future is very bright. Just right now is darker than most of us feel we can endure, after the past two seasons. GO DEES!

I have come to the conclusion that Watts is the answer.

Does anybody share my concern that if Watts is thrown into what we witnessed yesterday, he'll be crucified? There'll be three defenders dropping back on him every time the ball comes in, and because we stuff around with it so much getting it there, they'll have heaps of time to get the numbers back.

The last thing we want is for his confidence to be shattered. I feel we need a forward structure that can take the pressure off him at first. Right now, he'd be chief cook in a very hot kitchen.

It's character-building.

I'm not sure why everyone is so surprised. I think the first practice-match against West Coast showed where we're at. I thought Scully looked really good at half-back and Trengrove and Strauss had their moments, too. Davey was disappointing and we don't have a forward line (though again that was already clear against West Coast). Hawthorn are also a top-flight team. That 22-point loss someone mentioned earlier should've been a 10-goal loss. I was at that game and Hawthorn just tuned out in the second-half.

The biggest problem I see is that we don't have an older, absolute champion to set the standard for these new young guys. They're going to have to find their way themselves. But at some point Jurrah, Sylvia, Watts, Woenamiri, Blease, Trengove, Strauss, Davey and Grimes will play in one team (and that's an outstanding half a side). I understand the frustration with Dean Bailey. But give the guy a couple of years. Mark Thompson took 10 with Geelong. If in a couple of years Bailey doesn't seem to be making much progress, there will be a queue to coach our level of talent (again as someone already mentioned). But it's way too early to make that call.

Keep the faith and keep taking your kids!

Thanks for that, a good perspective to sleep on! You can add Jordie McKenzie to that list too.

(and you're right about Mark Thompson, it wasn't so many years ago that Sam Newman was bemoaning all their handball and imploring the Cats to kick it long and direct to the forwards. Somehow 3 years ago the two styles came together, things clicked and the rest is history)

I'm wondering how to drag myself in there for the rest of the season..one of you rose coloured glasses types please post quickly and help me understand that this is part of a irresistable surge toward success

I'll go because I couldn't not go. But my wife & son are threatening that i'll be on my own after today. Can't really blame them, but sad thing is, there's prob lots thinking like them just now.

6 McKenzie

5 Green

4 McDonald

3 Grimes

2 Scully

1 Davey

6 - Brad Miller - Stamped his authority with a superb game, dominated the aerial contests.

5 - Jake Spencer - Brilliant in the ruck, gave first use to the midfielders.

4 - Lynden Dunn - Looks ready for a breakout year in 2010, and could push for the Bluey.

3 - Cameron Bruce - Handballing skills are a delight to watch. Never turns it over.

2 - Joel MacDonald - Stuck it up the Brisbane Lions with a dazzling display.

1 - Nathan Jones - He was right, Tom Scully really does make him a better player.

Ha! thanks Y-M. Enjoyed the irony

Random thoughts on the game today:

....

2) We are lazy. For all Bailey's talk of 'competitiveness', he hasn't managed to instil any kind of work ethic into our players. When a guy looks up and sees nobody to kick to, it's because 17 other guys haven't been busting their gut trying to create an option.

....

Running hard for each other would also help with the 'over-handballing' problem. They've obviously been instructed to play on as much as possible --- but dishing a handball to a bloke a metre away, who is flat-footed, and who is being guarded by Campbell 'God I Hate Him So Much' Brown, is a recipe for disaster. Only dish off that handball to a guy running past at speed! For this to work, we need guys to actually BE running past at speed. Run for each other, Melbourne players, and we'll look a lot better (not good, that'll be a while, but better. Have a look at the first 3 quarters of Essendon v Geelong and study the Bombers style of play).

3) Brad Green is awesome.

Spot on! They are lazy, no doubt about it on what we saw today and no excuse for it either. They get to choose whether to be lazy or put in effort. Today so many chose "lazy".

Plus if they had a football brain and used it, many of those handballs wouldn't have happened. Which is either a fault of the coaching (told to do it all the time, without thinking of any alternative option) or they lack the football smarts (in which case the coaches will be despairing just like all of us).

Davey was good in patches too, somerthing not quite right about him. But compared to many of the others, he's Mr Dependable.

Hi there!

I`m just new here and went to the game today.

I didn`t go to the last practice match so i don`t know how he went but can someone please explain why Stef Martin wasn`t picked, when it was clear as day to me and others sitting around me that we needed a big target up forward! The guys there aside form Green just had no idea and Hawthorn were able to rebound far too easy!

welcome! I was like you 2 years ago, joining here kept me sane through what was my worst season ever following the Dees. Kind of, therapy. Which it seems we'll need a lot more of this year too.

There are lots of positives, just tough on a night like this to see them terribly clearly. Think Scully (not just his skills but he's thinking about his footy), Jordie McKenzie, Grimes, Moloney, Strauss will be good (he'll hate that goal where he got man-handled out of the way, bet he bulks up quick!).

BTW even the short handballs seem beyond their skills right now, how many were too low, wide, some too high, often right at the receiver who had to stop to get the pill.

If I'm being harsh, it's just my frustration. To properly execute the quick running handball game, you've not only got to have the handball skills but also the mental ability to think quickly where to place the ball to the receiver's advantage. Greg Williams was the best I've seen at this, he could do it blindfolded. My worry is, maybe some of our current players just simply don't have the thinking capacity for what the coaches are asking.

Having executed the Game Plan "A" to the coaching staff's instructions, ie. whipped off a quick short handball to the next player wherever they are, infront, behind, surrounded by opposition, flat-footed - it doesn't seem to matter, just get rid of it like a hot potato - most of our players simply stop.

There's no follow-up effort to protect or present another option. Except Scully did this magnificently a couple of times, Trengove expected it from others but rarely got it (probably the way his SA sides played), and Jordie McKenzie was in everything.

Are they lazy? If I was coaching this lot, I'd give them heaps the next few days. So by the time they take the field against the filth, they'd be playing for their lives... literally.

Could some one please explain the Game Plan to me,because i,m positive there is'nt one.

There is one (of course). It's just that these players can't manage it (lacking skills, experience, body strength, etc), so it looks ugly.

What is of concern is that there's no plan B. When the Game Plan that's been worked over and taught and discussed all summer, fails in the first quarter of the first game, why no fall-back?

It's not like it should come as a surprise to DB, it's happened in front of his eyes the past 2 seasons. Now deja vu. Only difference, we've got some new players, and got rid of some, and others have had 1 or 2 seasons to try and master it.

What happened in the second half is they started to move the ball more quickly and directly into the forward line, no doubt because suddenly they had a leading target in Green (gutsy game like you say).

I watched DB's expressions and responses in the box today, he looked totally exasperated. I think he shoulders much of the blame, because the type of fiddly handballing out wide, to players in worse positions, surrounded by opposition, is clearly a response to coaching instructions and not the players' instinctive response. Today it looked dreadful. It gave the Dawks time to get numbers back and pressure our guys, whereas quick direct movement gives forwards the advantage (if they still refuse to lead, drop them & pick someone who will).

Plan B in my opinion should be basic direct football, with the skilful quick handball game added on as skills and confidence develop. It could even be tried in the last qtr when young legs should have the fitness advantage.

Today hurt.

There's no doubt in my mind that we can win today but we have to show a lot more than we have over the NAB/practice match series.

I think that the selected team for today's game is of better quality and better prepared than the 26 man squads we put out on the ground during the pre season games - and in saying that, I'm taking into account our well documented injury problems. Meanwhile, the Hawks have also been hit hard by injuries and, according to yesterday's Herald Sun, they're worse off on the injury front than we are.

Melbourne does have to face a number of barriers to victory, one of which is the need to establish some self-belief after three years of consistently substandard, poor performance.

Good post W-J, you're definitely going to enjoy today. Looking through that Dawks side in the paper this morning, half of them I don't know. We've got a better chance today than most 'experts' incl. Garry Lyon imagine. Far better with Franklin, Rioli, Burgoyne, Taylor etc missing.

The thing about brand new young players like Scully, Trengove & Strauss, they've not had time or experiences to realise their own mortality just yet. Players in that frame of mind can do amazing things, especially first game at the 'G in front of real passionate fans and against an undermanned Dawks.

It's just going to be good barracking seriously for a win today! You enjoy...

I suppose the relevance here is that the poster under discussion is a member of Demonland as well (or so he says), and given the sociopathic nature of his attacks, there is no reason he may not take the same route on this site given the right (or wrong) set of circumstances.

He won't get far with the moderation of this site. Sometimes it can seem a bit pernicketty but it stops what you're describing so we can be grateful for our moderators.

I tried to join 'ology too, off and on for 2 years now. No success.

'Land is more, maybe tolerant? of a much wider spectrum of ideas and I appreciate the left-field stuff even if I don't sometimes agree. It's always food for thought. Yze-Magic adds colour and sort-of pins one end of the spectrum. I like the guy and when we win our next flag his true love for every player in a Melb jumper will come shining through.

'Land probably saved my sanity with the start we had to our first season under DB (who I've come to respect as a solid teaching coach, great for the young side we'll see run out tomorrow).