Vipercrunch

This is why we need an eye-roll reaction.

Much better Rivers.  Nice start to the quarter.

Solid half of footy.  We have been quite fumble at times, so a bit to tidy up.  Great to see McVee in great form.

Biggest frustration that half for me was Rivers kicking.  Missed a short one that gave up a goal which happens.  The real frustration is when he kicks long and it goes super high and takes for ever to get there.  Kick it long, fast and flat and it becomes a weapon.

Any word on whether we will challenge the Rivers charge?  Rozee clearly threw himself backwards (even Kane Cornes called it out) and there is no way Rivers should cop a fine for it. 

Just wondering if our stats guru @binman can comment on David Kings latest stat buzzword - The Punish.  I'm not sure when he first raised it, but he spoke about several times on Sundays First Crack, and although I haven't had a listen yet, I expect he will dive into it again today during his Means Test with Whateley.  Seems to be all about how crucial it is to score and defend after turnover.

Cheers guys

Great win last night. Very proud of the team and rapt for Vines.

It you want a surreal experience, watch the first 5 minutes of The Round So Far.  Kane Cornes is full of praise for Melbourne, rightfully recognises how good ANB was last night (and has been all season), and also rightfully calls out the Rozee flop that reversed that free kick and gifted them a goal.  

32 minutes ago, BoBo said:

It’s been a very strange night. BT calling posters as goals. Also saying this absolute trash game feels like a ‘finals game’? WTF?

 

Umpiring was AWFUL. 
 

The standard of the game was terrible by both teams. 
 

Brisbane just played worse than Collingwood. 
 

Joey Montagna saying Pendles punch was just a fine??

 

Interviewing and asking a player about an incident they should be suspended for straight after a game?

 

Referring to the incident as a ‘love tap?’

 

The reality of what we just witnessed vs the way it’s characterised by commentators is worlds apart. 
 

Painfully obvious tonight. 

After listening to the commentary tonight, I feel very lucky to have grown up with Bruce, Dennis, Sandy and Drew.  I feel sorry for the younger generation who know only the unprofessional rubbish Channel 7 trot out weekly now.

Tough night to be a Lions fan.  Frustrating to watch the team play so bad, but oh my, the umpiring was next level atrocious.  Would ruin the long weekend.

Every ruck contest involving Cox is an absolute ugly disgrace. Why aren’t the umpires playing free kicks? 

20 minutes ago, BoBo said:

‘It is like a finals game’

-Brian Taylor, 2024

An under 14 div 6 finals game 

Hopefully if he does want to go back to SA, then Port also put a big number in front of him too.  I would love a true bidding war to break out if we are to lose him (but would much prefer him to decide to stay though).

Can’t believe the Foxfooty panel think Collingwood was actually good in that first quarter.  Terrible quarter of footy by two teams they looked terribly nervous.  Half the league would have been 5 goals ahead of Collingwood at quarter time if that’s the skill and composure they played with.

Both teams sucked in the first quarter but Collingwood got a dream run with the umps.  Brisbane was always likely to tidy a few things up and take control. Not surprised at all with the turn around.  If Brisbane tall forwards get some marking touch, it will get ugly.

46 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

That was Trac.

I defenitely saw Oliver shaking a sore hand on Saturday as well as Petracca.  It is possible what happened at training today is related.

12 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

I’m pleasantly surprised Dof. I didn’t think he would get named after taking no part in the praccy matches. 

I’m was surprised too, but in hindsight we’ve done it many times before.  They clearly rate the competitive match play during training sessions very highly as a way to decide a players readiness to return.

We've now moved into favouritism.  I thought this would occur much sooner after the Swannies injuries over the weekend.  No Parker, Mills or Adams is a big loss.

We were banged up coming into finals last year, and then performed poorly right across the ground (but most obviously in front of goals) in both finals and yet still expected scores had us ahead by 3 goals in both games.

The pessimists somehow see finishing in the top 4 for the third year straight as the annomaly and the scoreboard result of the two finals as the norm.  Bizarre.

Top 4 for me unless we are crueled by injuries.  Our best is still the best.

6 minutes ago, demoncat said:

As a young(er) demon in his mid 20s, I can say that the content the club puts up on Tik Tok and other socials doesn’t for it for me at all

GWS is easily the best in that space - entertaining content that lets their fans laugh with their favourite players while also providing insight into the day to day of their club life

 

My 21 year old son says exactly the same thing about GWS.  Their socials have a huge following.  Melbourne needs to do so much better.

1 minute ago, Young Blood said:

Sorry I should have highlighted the 'so many' part. Definitely expected some but I thought we had improved :(

The veil of negativity was only temporarily misplaced after September 2021.  It's back with a vengence.

I'm firmly in the camp refusing to draw any conclusions from that game.  Who knows what the coaches wanted to see out there?  People are bemoaning that we couldn't stop their 10 goal run, but did we even try?  Was it more important that we stopped that run on, or more important that we kept experimenting with setups, structures and ball mvement?  The second quarter centre square combos looked very unusual to me.  The outcome of preseason games, both good or bad, has and will never be a reliable indicator of what happens in the real season.

2023 was an opportunity blown.  I used to say it was a choke but that was obviously triggering for some. Expected scores are absolutely no comfort at all, but it does show we are not the basket case some in the media (and many around here) think we are.  Like in the lead up to every season, we need to improve to stay in the contest, but we also shouldn't be throwing the baby out with the bath water.  We were a damn good team last season, possibly the best in it, but we blew it.

17 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Great reporting here from Fox Footy not noticing or mentioning Petty leaving the track. You think that would be a bigger story.

I can forgive that because it was clearly written by a junior, inexperieced reporter.  It lacked the usual sensationlism FoxFooty usually goes with.  

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Looks like TMac may have lost a bet over the chrissy break...

Hindsight is 20:20, but Lobb should have been our choice last year instead of Grundy.  A second pure ruck (who we now all know can't play forward) made no sense for us, and a forward ruck made even less sense for the Bulldogs.  I would have backed us to get far more out of Lobb than the Bullgods did, and even there he still had some good games.  I expect its now 12 months too late for him to be a signifacant recruit for us though.

They were every bit as good live as I hoped.  My only concern over the first 4 weeks had been the form of Libby Birch and she started to show some signs later in the game that she was finding some confidence, so it was a win all round for me. My girls enjoyed it too 😀😀