Melbournepotter

I think he has really improved lately and seems to be gaining more confidence in himself. At one stage against Coburg near the boundary he took off with the ball, looked over his shoulder to see a defender bearing down on him, put on the afterburners and fended him off, and ran towards goal and tried a banana/check side shot which didnt quite come off.  He flew for a few marks but still may not be quite there physically to drag them in....but I believe it's coming.

While I don't think anyone is really pushing for inclusion in the ones, I didnt think Fullartons game was as bad as has been made out.  He lead well and kicked well for 2 goals which was how he came to the club, not necessarily as a ruck, but a forward. He couldn't do much worse than Petty up forward and Fullarton is supposedly an actual forward player. Casey put out what appeared to be a very young side and while White tried hard, Coburg appeared much more organised, fitter and certainly faster around stoppages.  The Kolt tried and tackled hard all day but wasn't able to impose himself. Jefferson did well I thought and seems to be growing in confidence in himself and ability. He could have had 4 again but a couple of wayward shots (one after a great run and fend off on the boundary)  undid some of his work. He needs to get stronger but he appears to be improving.  Verall I don't think will be tall enough to take the number one ruck from Max so we really need someone there.  The rest were a bit average. Mids were too small and not fast enough to break away from stoppages. A very disappointing result and effort from Casey.

18 minutes ago, Wrecker46 said:

This.

Coburg were playing for each other. Enthusistic and up for a fight. I went to their huddle at 3/4 time because i was over Casey and they were imploring each other to celebrate goals and get around each other in moments that count.

Besides Kolt we were a team of individuals with little care for our teamates. I mean that in a team spirit way. AMW and Jeffo showed enough to give hope.

Very dissapointing. 

I'd be more positive if Gentile was on our list. Gave Laurie a footballing lesson.

Exactly. I was at the game and it was a game between a side that was committed and played for each other against a team who appeared to see the game as a job and had a number of fill-in players not up to VFL standard.

He is still very young. Only turns 19 later this year so hopefully he develops quickly if he only has 6 months initial contract. I noticed how big King looked when standing next to May at the weekend against the saints. It would be nice if he develops into a strong key forward to complement Roo and Jeffo.

5 hours ago, BDA said:

Ok. I've got yesterday's horror show out of my system now.

We can and will beat Geelong. No way this team meekly surrenders again this week. Make a statement about what this team stands.

I'd throw Zanker into the middle. She's strong and agile and played there before to good effect. Bring West back in. Leave Harris forward. Campbell and Pearce to do the rucking.

We may not go much farther this year but if we are going to lose can we at least die with our boots on.

come on girls. you can do it.

Zanker appeared to move into the middle in the 4th quarter and immediately started getting possessions against North. Too little too late though.

I'm not sure if I'm getting oversensitive in my old age but I can't watch any footy shows anymore.  They are just rubbish and they generally just generate their own 'news' with opinion pieces.

As for the match commentary, it seems the opposition get praised during Melbourne games irrespective of the score.  Last week, Geelong's aflw team were given praise continually about how they were playing against Melbourne, yet we were 5 goals up and moving away and only got cursory praise. I'm not sure what we've done to annoy the media but seems we are paying for it.

2 hours ago, 2021 said:

There is an article titled “Allen? McKay? Lord? Where Dees could spend $2m war chest” in the Herald Sun. Could anyone give a summary?

Don't bother looking for it too much. The article mentions the usual suspects and then says they are unobtainable or not suitable.  The only one that might be relevant was McKay and Lord. It was a nothing article. 

18 hours ago, stinga said:

Does anybody else think Verrall can play the petty role down back so Petty can become permanent forward.

Verrall is 199cm, athletic and can take a mark.   I don't think he'll ever be tall enough for a ruck, other than as a secondary.

I was wondering if Verrall could be useful at the other end.  He is listed at being Ruck/forward in draft comments so I assume he has played there.  I havent seen too much of him but I thought he looked competitve in a natural footballer way when he has played. Im not sure he is tall enough to be a fulltime senior ruckman but could develop into a key forward ? 

So it has come this.  I have to support Brisbane and GWS. The latter being one club I had despised since that smirking pr*ck Sheedy paraded Tom 'im only going up for a look' scully in a press conference.  I had begun to admire some of Collingwood but after having to sit near their band of orcish supporters whipping themselves into a frenzied mob a couple of weeks ago they moved back on top of the hated list.  Now joined by Carlton, whose supporters seemed to have one thing on their mind last week and that was to goad Dee's supporters into some reaction. They came down the aisle to wave their arms about, getting into faces and starting fights.  Watch out if there's a Carlton v Collingwood gf .. Then the media hopped on the bandwagon.  Please footy gods, do the right thing and have GWS play Brisbane in the gf and spare us all the local media hype garbage.

Get Langdon a pair of boots with better studs so he doesnt slip over  all the time.  We were down 4 out of our top 6 or 7 forwards tonight plus Gus (and possibly Harmes if he was to replace Gus) so we look better with them in team but we need:

- a game plan that is not just kick it high and long to a crowded forward line

- better discipline. Kossie cost us a shot at goal tonight and Roo was missing due an avoidable suspension.

- bring in some new line coaches. Defence is ok but forward and midfield needs work. Not sure if the message is gettung through so might  need a shakeup with fresh faces.

- Recruit a big body forward or at least one that will grow into a big tall body

- mix game day up a bit. we have got predictable.

Wasn't it a Collingwood function ? He seemed to stand up and announce ' Ladies and Gentlemen' then looked the other way and repeated the announcement...seemed he was having trouble finding either...

In hindsight, Spargo may have made the difference in setting up forwards.  His delivery is usually pretty sound into forward 50. I'm not sure if that was the game for him though.

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

M52 is reserved seats. Too many oppo fans just waltz in  and sit in the empty seats. MCG staff do a lousy job at checking tickets or memberships. But the Make Some Noise lady is a hoot, she will approach the oppo fans and ask if they have a ticket for the seat. When they can’t provide a ticket she kicks them out and if they refuse she then calls security.

I’ve met WCW and they could pass for twins 😂

We have M52 seats and it's a great spot to watch the footy. Last night I was grumpy before I got to the game and when a Brisbane couple sat down near us I was more grumpy...this was supposed to be Melbourne area.  When they started drinking I passed the limit and told them it was a dry area but got little response. I made it a point to yell louder in their direction on a number of occasions. They left at half time and didn't come back. I hate seeing opposition colours in that area. (I get that sometimes kids take Oppo supporting mates into the area)

I'm  getting grumpier as I get older. I've been supporting Melbourne for nearly 50 years and don't have a lot of patience at the footy these days 🙂

Wow...what a gutsy win. We just clawed it back in time.  So many things contributed to the win but the coolness under pressure and will to win from the younger players such as Bowie, McVee and Rivers was great to see. Smith came on and dominated Gunston which gave us some spring off half back.  Then....I noticed we actually went 'man on man' for the lions kick outs which seemed to stifle their exits. Brisbane went from picking holes in our zone defence to kicking to contests.  I dont think Ive noticed that 'live' before.  It's been a frustration to me that we persist with zone defence during games when it isnt working. Some teams are able to find their way through that and we need to mix it up in those games. Last night we did.

1 hour ago, Flag 2021 said:

ho did Jako go to?

Bulldogs from memory, but his body was shot after Melbourne.

Melbourne's delivery into the 50 had been great tonight.....great at putting it down a Brisbane's defenders throat.

4 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

FMD - did anyone listen to his 'special comments' on the AFLW yesterday?

I did, and for St Kilda's sake, I hope he coaches better than he commentates. Not that he was alone there, the other commentators were also abysmal.

So many questions to be answered and resolved over the summer...

-  what is causing the fadeouts after being in front by around 25 points in games ?

- is injury the cause of subpar performances in the last half of the year and if so, why not rest players ?

- do we have dumb footballers or does fatigue set in during games and they just make dumb decisions ? It appeared we gave up two free kicks around 35 metres out, in Brisbanes attacking 50  last night by trying to dispose of the ball (incorrectly) when being tackled. Just hold onto it and pretend you are  punching the ball until the umpires ball it up. Both times, there was no prior opportunity and the  umpires  had been fairly consistent in that interpretation last night (although there are always the 'rogue' decisions lurking...). Handballing it to someone standing stationary next to you when under pressure is also not very productive....especially when Brisbane  in the second half were in the clear after 2- 3 slick handpasses.

- why did Max win a lot of taps but Brisbane came  away with the ball ? Is that our midfield coach/system failing ?

- Forward line functionality. Its been a problem for a while now, hopefully more cash means we can afford a forward line coach that can coach forward line craft and system. That also  depends on have a midfield that can actually  find a target rather than streaming downfield and just pumping it long to a contest.

- Goodwin says we want to be predictable in what we bring to the table in effort etc but teams  have worked out our 'kick it to the left from defence' tactic and set up for it. Maybe we have become too predictable.....

There were a number of other issues against Brisbane,  like conceding goals with only seconds left in the quarter and missing gettable shots that would have put us further in front early in the game, is that a mental issue tied to fatigue ?

Then there is gamesmanship...Buddy did nothing last week except shift momentum by running at May and getting a free kick...do we have players with the same smarts ?

This has all been happening for a while and is repeating....so why is it not being fixed ?  

Maybe I've  seen too many MFC losses but at various times I've lived in different cities and seen much of their AFL teams live and Melbourne seem to be the only team that can be so inept and confused  at times.....

I haven't seen a replay yet, just got home, but at the game live, it appeared buddy ran at May from a distance and May just put him on his [censored] with a solid bump. The umpire gives a free kick because buddy collapsed and we never really got that momentum back for a period longer than a few minutes after that.

26 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

He doesn't move. That's the problem. I agree the entries have been poor, but when you're at the games and watch the forwards they all just plant in one spot and refuse to lead or separate.

Couldnt agree more. There were gaps to lead into and rarely did anyone lead. The next thing was a high kick into a pack that was  swept away time and again.

Hopefully no big issues with Rosman. He's been doing well in the games j have seen. 

The Weid is an interesting player. i saw the last half live and was, like a few other posters a little disappointed in his output, and was surprised he kicked that many (6). So why is he marked more harshly than others ?  I think its because he could be so more effective if he started marking a lot of the marks he spills. He gets his hands on a lot of kicks but drops so many....it gets frustrating, probably for him as well. 

There were probably a lot of small reasons for not being there, plenty mentioned above such as Easter hols with people getting away, Covid, no real local rivalry (apart from Scully) and the ticketing  system which is a shambles. I know a few members that would have been at the game normally but were out of town for the Easter break.

It was strangely quiet on the way to the game,  I come down Rathdowne St to get into the city and the traffic was very quiet. We got to the ground very quickly from the northern suburbs. Even the lady manning the cash register in the MCG food outlet commented how quiet traffic had been on the way in from Portsea.  The weather was great for footy, but also great for a few days away.

I counted around 70 - 80 GWS supporters in their area behind the goal, so they didn't bring many to pump up the attendance. 

It took a while to get there but we finally did.  Melbourne finally had top people in so many positions. in recruitment, development, fitness and tactics, we seemed to have top people in those positions. Allied to those were a dose of luck with injuries (less for us and more to some of our opponents) and the introduction of an x-factor in Choco Williams to keep people on their toes and introduce a different (in my opinion) point of view. They all came together last year and provided us with players that can now be called Premiership Players.  It was more about getting the right people in, then the end result will hopefully  follow. Seems simple but it took us a long time to get there ....

There are so many sentiments that I can identify with on this thread. Our family have been Melbourne supporters for close on 50 years. Unfortunately both parents have passed on in the last 3 years and missed the Premiership this year, which they would have loved to have seen and experienced, obviously.  I still am getting used to the idea, I have had almost 50 years of thinking 'maybe next year' so it's taking time to realise it's actually happened THIS year.  I still get emotional watching the last 10 minutes of the 3rd quarter despite watching it plenty of times.

Like others have mentioned, I have admired and loved the efforts of great Melbourne players, however, up to now, when they were on TV etc, they're couldn't be described as premiership players which didn't quite elevate them to the status of other players in the same era, in my opinion. Now we can have those players....now we can revel in Melbourne's players having a Premiership reunion every few years, now we can have not just club champions, but competition champions.