Sir Why You Little

3 minutes ago, Deebymistake said:

The young demons in my household fully understand this.  The sight/mention/hint of collingpooh leads them to make severe vomit sounds.  Their hearts beat true.

May it Continue…

Seriously this incident could make or break the Club for the next 20 years. 
We have to be Rock Solid and get Stronger 

This last week has left us wounded, but not out….

3 minutes ago, binman said:

I respect your opinions HT, and see what you you are saying, but i strongly disagree with these points (with the exception of the bolded bit). 

Leaving aside the culpability of Maynard, and any anger i might feel towards him (which for me has dissipated and todays news hasn't really changed that) there is no doubt it was that incident that directly caused Gus to have to retire, not a cumulative effect of multiple head knocks.

For one thing he hadn't a concussion in 5 years, as i understand it was regularly tested and was in good brain health.

That hit, legal, or not, was akin to a car crash such was its severity. The only thing close i have seen on the footy field watching live is Matthews laying out Steve Smith at Princess Park.

In the opening para of his letter to fans Gus makes it crystal clear the reason he has to retire is because of the Maynard hit (my bolded bit): 

• 'Scans taken 2 weeks after the qualifying final against Collingwood compared to scans taken last week revealed further deterioration of my brain as a direct result of the incident I was involved in that September evening. This means that medically, I can no longer continue to play contact sports of any kind to protect my long-term health. 

Today's not the day to debate the AFL's responsibility and role in this awful situation, suffice to say i absolutely think the AFL's inaction is a causal factor in the incident, as i have little doubt will soon be fully ventilated on court. 

Happy to come back to this discussion when emotions have cooled, because i think it is an important one and i couldn't agree more with Gus that a lot more needs to be done to address the scourge of concussion (and also with what i read as an implied, and direct, criticism that not enough has been done, again my bolding):

• 'The issue of concussion is incredibly important for our game and industry to address over the coming years. We have made great strides in this space, but there is more that needs to be done to safeguard the brains of players not only in the AFL ranks, but from grassroots all the way up. I believe the future of our game will be strongly impacted by how we deal with this element of player safety as more information comes to light. I hope the AFL will be proactive in the future when it comes to the safety of its players as opposed to reactive, so we can continue to enjoy this amazing game and protect the brains of the players. They must be sacrosanct.'

 

My emotions will never cool and dissipate over this one. 
Every time i see a Filth jumper i will feel RAGE at the injustice 

Angus was Booed off the Ground by those Filthy Bastards

This is Line in the Sand Stuff. I hope our Football Department and Players are seething with desire to win the next Cup

For Angus, We Must Do

I have just read Angus’s letter Saying goodbye. SWYL shed some tears. He is a Heart and Soul Player that will leave a huge hole within the Club this Season. 
I am also incredibly ANGRY at the INJUSTICE that Followed that night in September. 
I have a Filth Mate who i have known since School days. 
I HAVE NOT SPOKEN TO HIM SINCE THAT NIGHT 

That is how much i HATE The Filth. 
 

We must Win FLAGS against these [censored]

For Gus and all of us

Smash the Bastards at every opportunity 

This was a Planned Move executed by our Mortal Enemy….

No doubt The Filth took out Angus in that game

Premeditated plan executed 

They all loved it

Eddie shouted “Justice”

These are the [censored] called Collingwood 

Young Demons may now understand how much they must be despised and Hated for eternity 

Don’t get me started on The AFL

The work of Maynard must NEVER be forgotten or forgiven….

23 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

The impending hole in our list is also an impending space in our salary cap - why not fill one hole with the other? (aside from being a terrible analogy from a physics perspective). Unless both De Konings seriously boom they would each be a bit cheaper than Gawn and May, respectively.

Another way of seeing it is as the final balancing of the ledger for losing Jackson.

Anything is possible if you want it enough. But we would have to give up a fair bit in exchange. 
if North have a bad year in ‘24 i would be right into Larkey, getting the 2 brothers maybe too hard. 
But it is a very interesting Poker Play….

10 minutes ago, Dwight Schrute said:

I agree with you, but if you look at Geelong, who are held up as being arguably the benchmark for football culture in modern AFL history, their most recent 20 years has included a lot of years when they've dominated home and away and not quite been rewarded on the level they probably expected. I think the reason has a lot more to do with how difficult premierships are to win and how much you need going right for you to win them, then it does anything the cats have done or their culture. 

I agree mate, but i still don’t think we have been as focused and tuned in as we were in ‘21, to me that is where the forward conversion has played a part. 
 

13 minutes ago, Dwight Schrute said:

I agree some early wins will certainly take the wind out of the sails of a media that doesn't seem to rate truth and credibility anywhere near as highly as it should. I think there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about what we might be able to achieve this year, we will need a lot of things to fall our way, but that's not different to any other year. 

I find it incredibly interesting the talk of deep cultural issues being linked to a team with 3 consecutive top 4 finishes, a premiership in the AFL, VFL and AFLW, stability on all levels, record membership, the vast majority of required players re-signing long term and year on year profits. I'd say with a reasonable degree of confidence most other clubs would absolutely love to have this sort of a record. 

What i've stated is fact though, it's not media hyperbole. we've had an incredibly successful 3 year period by virtually all measures and realistically we've probably underachieved slightly based on what a club in our position is capable of. it's very hard to marry that up with the suggestion we are an absolute basket case with massive cultural problems. 

Yes we have underachieved, considering the talent that has been on our list. Why?

Let’s find out.
the latest issue is very serious and could well be a big factor in that underachieving.

Everbody has got to be Rock Solid on board, Standards have slipped, doesn’t have to be by much

6 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Unfortunately this request is futile.

Thank you @sam6172 for creating what had the potential to be a wonderful and very welcome thread right now. Sadly, it’s become unreadable, for me anyways.

Same goes for DL in general, tbh. Way too many drainers. I need to do a Luci, and take a break.

WCW out, for now 👋 

There are some of us who want to find the problems and fix them and there are others who keep denying problems exist 

i know how hard the Media are going to attack us, they will be relentless on this one  

We need to win early games this year…

29 minutes ago, Hopeful Demon said:

I'm totally with @Sir Why You Little here. 2021 was a very long time ago. Yes, the premership was amazing and I absolutely loved it but we haven't progressed since then. The fact is that we have been so painfully stale and predictable over the past two years that it's no surprise that we've underperformed in September.

Some people on this site seem way too defensive to realise that it is possible to support the club while pointing out its deficiencies. If we don't make any changes to our gameplan in 2024, we'll be making up the numbers.

If you have a Motor that is underperforming, you strip it down and find the problem, then rebuild it. 
That is what we need to do now. We still have a good list, so it can be done carefully whilst we still play the season at a competitive level. 
But if the Club takes a defensive position when the Media are in full attack mode, it won’t end well. 
I don’t like the way previous administrations went about it, but he obviously saw things he didn’t like. 
We are standing at the Crossroad….

7 minutes ago, binman said:

Not at all.

The MFC is the oldest football club in the world.

We have been around for over 160 years.

That doesn't happen by accident.

We are made of teak, not balsa.

The history of sport is littered with examples of sports teams that channel being unfairly attacked and maligned and having their backs against the wall into the ultimate success.

Hell, in 2021 we won a flag after failing to make the finals in 2020 and getting smashed from pillar to post - including by many on here (there are receipts).

We were written off, given no chance of winning a flag at the start of 2021. Again, even by many on here. 

Even after winning 10 games straight, a mid season loading related slump saw the haters casting shade and writing us off. Including many on here.

Backs against the wall, we proved the doubters and haters dead wrong.

Overcame the odds, travelling to Adelaide for our first final and quarantine in Perth. 

And won the bloody flag. 

Beware the angry Dee with a point to prove.

Bring it.

Sadly we haven’t evolved from ‘21

That’s the point, in such a competitive competition, you must evolve. 
We still play the same style, that is why people are concerned 

Goodwin gets outcoached in BIG GAMES far too often, because he is reactive during a match,and those who don’t think it’s a problem, or ridicule posters for bringing it up, are not looking closely enough 

2 hours ago, Bay Riffin said:

Senior coach also put us into a position to win. We could not execute our goal kicking. 

Which has been a problem ohver and over again…

2 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

it's not like we're claiming a moral victory after the 8th worst test loss of all time

No. But i am sick and tired of the excuses 

We have had a poor conversion Rate forward of Centre, for most of Goodwin’s Coaching Tenure. 
I do not understand why it looks the same Gameplan every week…

There are people on here who disagree with me, fine. But as i have said for many years on here

September pressure goes up 10-20% over the Home & Away and as Tracc said in the Podcast “We Crumbled”

Now good on him for owning it, but we better not see the same conversion rates in ‘24 or Teams will murder us. 
We are in enough ship now because of a certain player 

This is going to be a tough year, i hope we get through it without major hemorrhaging

9 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

mebbe if we'd been beaten by 100s of points that'd be true

Winning Margins are irrelevant in September 

Coulda Shoulda didn’t 

7 hours ago, Gator said:

He says Melbourne were ''shown up in the finals''.  

That is patent nonsense.  They dominated Carlton in most of the general play, but didn't close the door and lost by 2 points.  They won most metrics, i.e. clearances, contested possessions, etc.

They had 69 inside 50s to Collingwood's 37.  They had 8 more scoring shots and they also dominated contested possessions, contested marks, marks inside 50, clearances, etc., before managing to lose by 7 points.

It's obviously infuriating to lose two games we should have won, but we certainly weren't ''shown up''.

Not having either Petty or van Rooyen for both games also didn't help, but naturally that gets overlooked.

You sound like The English Cricket Side 

7 hours ago, Gator said:

He says Melbourne were ''shown up in the finals''.  

That is patent nonsense.  They dominated Carlton in most of the general play, but didn't close the door and lost by 2 points.  They won most metrics, i.e. clearances, contested possessions, etc.

They had 69 inside 50s to Collingwood's 37.  They had 8 more scoring shots and they also dominated contested possessions, contested marks, marks inside 50, clearances, etc., before managing to lose by 7 points.

It's obviously infuriating to lose two games we should have won, but we certainly weren't ''shown up''.

Not having either Petty or van Rooyen for both games also didn't help, but naturally that gets overlooked.

We were shown up  

September does not lie

Incredibly wasteful in the forward line

we should have won both games but failed. 
I am concerned the Senior Coach has no back up plan, against good opponents. 
 

I am suprised we didn’t take Croms offer last year. We could have hard bargained them a lot further than what they offered. 
Harry has serious natural talent at both ends of the ground, but his body is injury prone. It’s a serious gamble we have taken. 
I hope it comes off

1 hour ago, gs77 said:

The only thing he did after that was curtail Trac's attempted centre clearance to stop a 4th goal in the final minute of the 3rd.

Ahh yes. The last play. After the Damage was well and truly entrenched!!

13 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

He was stating the obvious we all saw it they knew it and didn't fix it, it will be interesting to see the corrections this year.

As he said “tweaks” but they are vitally important 

2 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

He doesn't have to do more.
Just needs to kick straight.
And that goes for the rest of them too.
We squandered those 2 finals with atrocious kicking.

Sure he does 

he has to improve his kicking action so the ball leaves his foot with more accuracy. 

Well said Tracc. 2 wasted years, he knows it 

Team Standards must improve across the Board, Tracc must improve his Goal Kicking, he knows it. 
 

2 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Having just watched Petracca's interview this mention of Bontempelli brings to mind a couple of Trac's comments about the need for leaders to let the rest of the team play their role instead of the leader trying to do everything in crucial moments.

Having also just re-watched the 2021 3rd qtr highlights posted here the other day, my mind also goes to that moment of total shellshock in the Bulldogs clearance group. Bontempelli is a tremendous player and was probably their best player on that day, too, but his captaincy fell short when it came to steadying the team and the crucial few players at those clearances who desperately need to have their focus brought back.

I also think Toby Greene is overrated as a leader, mostly because I still think he is a *head just well covered by media love.

So... hmm, aside from that I guess I agree on at least the top three.

Pretty much agree there, although i think Greene is becoming a very important Captain. 
The Dogs lost to West Coast at home last year with a Finals Berth up for grabs 

Totally unforgivable in my opinion. 
Bont is a great player, but not the Number 1 Captain 

Did he get another touch in The GF after Harmesy intercepted? I cannot recall him having any influence at all

The Bont went missing last year. There are far better leaders than him

8 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Do you seriously believe that Goody made decisions which he knew might not be in our best interest? And this was due to stubbornness? Why would he do that? Serious question. 

My serious Reply got deleted 

No idea why. I went for a swim, must have been a good punch on

3 hours ago, Macca said:

In September, the pressure is immense and when the ball is rushed forward under pressure, you need big bodied forwards who can compete, take a grab and bring the ball to ground

Look at Ben Brown's role in the 2021 GF.  He continually worked his way to the front position even though he knew he wasn't going to take a mark every time.  He played the percentages and played a mighty role for his team

In the Carlton game I'd have gone with T-Mac (but deep forward)  and tried someone like Tomlinson at CHF (Turner could have taken Tomlinson's spot down back)

And no Schache at all as Tomlinson, Turner or T-Mac can cover for 15% of ruck time

However, It's important to note that I'm using hindsight as my friend and that's not keeping it real

How many times do i have to say it. 
TMac was INJURED and no matter where you put him on the ground, We were a man down. 
Schache is a solid unit who could have competed, but was denied completely. 
TMac did nothing 2 weeks in a row (8 Quarters). I am not blaming him, but he couldn’t compete.
Goodwin being stubborn again cost us a huge amount 

Watch both Games again. Tom was nowhere near fit enough