Bates Mate

I'm lurking and posting in a draft thread.

" Hello darkness, my old friend"

4 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

i can't get over that he can't kick more than 30m

he provides nothing in terms of defensive pressure either

very disappointed

He did try one tackle and ended up hurting himself, that'll teach him won't be making that mistake again

Our midfield once the best in the league is now average. Who else should we try through there? 

Window is closed. At least I go back to my familiar feeling of zero expectation

At least we got that fast start we have been struggling with

9 minutes ago, Nascent said:

Turner in for Petty as the only change

Jvr not Petty . Our forward line is pretty bleak on paper. Fritta and kosi only proven regular goal kickers.

Love to see him on a wing at some stage delivering into the forward line

8 hours ago, Doug Reemer said:

I watched him from the Punt rd end. 
 

Calling what he does inside the F50 as a lead is lip service. The guy runs 5ms and gives up. 
 

He should be leaving up at the kicker trying to create space behind him instead of contesting it up, he has 0 craft.

I watched him closely all day and agree 100% , in a lot of cases at half forward he didn't even do that , just stuck one arm in the air half heartedly. No wonder he was ignored. Never once demanded the ball on a strong lead. Jogging around like he is injured with a bung arm and leg.

13 minutes ago, picket fence said:

We have garbage forwards and zero structure, sack Stafford!

Neither mids or forwards have any idea what to do when we get it 80m out

I've woken up with a severe case of mfcss.

54 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

As I said on another thread, the coaches have thrown the baby out with the bath water. We only needed a few tweaks to our game plan to challenge and win finals. As Hoyney said last night, we won on expected score the last 3 finals, we probably should have beaten Collingwood and we definitely should have beaten Carlton last year. The coaches have overreacted and we’ve gone backwards. Time to go back to our DNA I say. 

Agree with this 100 percent and the other posters.  We just don't have the skilled players to execute the way other teams do. It might work sometimes when the opposition is weaker or off. But under the pressure of big games and finals we need to do what we do well. Unfortunately our goal kicking is something that can't be trusted and doesn't matter what game plan you use to get the shots

My expectations for this season are at an all time low

I'd be happy for brown to get a crack. He plays with speed and intensity which we sorely lack right now

Is Marty hore available? straight swap for lever 

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Come on a real contender doesn't lose this bad against a rebuilding team.

It's not the loss as much as it is the way we lost, which started at selection.

Collingwood and Brisbane lost to Hawthorn last year but I get your point

2 minutes ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Oliver’s lack of preseason, Tracc down on midfield form and Viney’s continue ball butchering makes our midfield unthreatening. 
 

the selection committee also has much to answer for. Brown is washed. Billings is terrible. We left out Fullerton and Hunter. If you were ever going to try Fullerton this was the chance. 
 

we now are without Lever next week. Langdon is at a wedding in London, supposedly: 

Long way to go in season to miss a potentially top 4/finals shaping loss. I hope he at least ended up with the beef

Really think the Petty experiment needs to stop. Or at least get him to Casey if you want him to learn forward "craft". 

Rivers needs to stop running past for the handball receive , he never knows where the much is going to when he runs past. It's my pet hate 

I thought kozzie and Viney tried all game although they did make mistakes 

Just now, seventyfour said:

2021 feels more and more like a lucky flag in an asterisk* year.

We couldn't win a final in 22 or 23 and this team is far worse.

Will be years before we contend again.

Over reaction 2021 was no fluke. You always need a bit of luck to win one. We've been up for 3-4 years but I think we are not contending this year and will need changes to be able to contend

3.7 to 5.0 that's the Melbourne we know

Billings ughhhh

Not 15 , not 15 probably 20

Not 15 , not 15 probably 20

Can't stick a tackle and when we do play on 

Bbb that shot was awful ball moving all around the place on his run up