Lord Travis

Not surprised by this. Nibbler is consistently our most damaging midfielder linking up into the forward line. Petracca has flashes of brilliance, but usually is weight of numbers to aid scores. Our other midfielders are poor. Windsor hopefully develops this part of his game in future, as he shows promise with his short kicking to leading team mates.

Our game style wasn't really an issue IMO. As Hoyne pointed out, if it weren't for inaccurate goal kicking (and we kicked to average), we would've won 3 of the 4 finals. He said in a 2023 review podcast that despite going out in straight sets, we were the form team of finals ironically. All we needed was to kick straighter for goal when it mattered. That's it. If we went at average, then we're premiers in 2023, and would've made the prelims in 2022. That's even considering the injury riddled forward line we were stuck with late in season. I expect that due to the pressure of straight set finals exits, we've over-corrected on a gameplan that wasn't broken. If we simply reverted to what we were the past 3 years, we'd likely be second on the ladder at present. Hopefully we just revert and see what happens. Our issue is personnel IMO. We need forwards who can convert if given the opportunity. Fritsch is the only reliable one in front of goal.

Hard to fathom we not only lost to such a bad team, but got dominated in every facet of the game. That was as bad a loss as we've ever had under Goodwin. Our midfield is spluttering along. What has happened? Has Mcqualter derailed whatever synergy they used to have? Genuinely confused how one of the most dominant midfields this century has turned to rubbish with largely the same personnel on field.

Our defending of the corridor tonight has been the worst in recent memory. What's happened with our midfield tonight?

Howes been soft as soggy noodles tonight. Needs a spell in the VFL.

It's a shame we couldn't pull off that trade to get Reid. He's unbelievable and is making seasons stars look like chumps as an 18 year old 10 games in.

Howes needs to be dropped for that lack of second effort there.

Reid fends off Clarry then Trac then hits the kick for a goal assist. He's already a gun and is showing our stars how it's done. This is really hard to watch.

Pavlich was a great footballer, but he should not be allowed near a microphone. He's absolutely dog [censored] as a commentator.

No complaining about the umpiring here. This is abysmal effort from us.

This is surreal. It feels like I'm watching the end of an era. Our once dominant inside midfield is now our weakness and we've got no others weapons at the moment.

The curse of Norm turned into the curse of Narm . What are we 0-5 as Narm now?

This is some of laziest defending we've seen under Goodwins tenure. They've got loose players lining up in the corridor for Pete's sake. Unbelievable.

Petty down into the rooms for unknown reasons. Brilliant. He's made of glass sadly.

Not that far behind on the scoreboard and plenty of time left in this. We'll still win from here, but there are some serious problems we need to address if we're going to compete for a flag again this year and the next few. Our midfield has been horrible this year. Horrible. Our forward line doesn't have the right personnel, but the midfield does them no favors.

Lever being subbed out with concussion. Will miss matches now. This first quarter is a disaster.

We're getting a lesson in competitiveness from a team so bad they're on track for another priority pick. This is embarrassing.

Our poor stoppage work this year is going to cost us another flag. It's supposed to be our strength, but it's become our weakness. Need our inside mids and Gawn to wake up asap. Need Mcqualter to get to work with them

Unbelievable goal from Reid. That was videogame level stuff. Made Petracca look second rate.

Great mark Hunt. Still hurts he's not a demon anymore.

Lever in the rooms for concussion assessment. Minimum 20 minutes off field. Hopefully he's ok and doesn't miss any games as he's been out best defender this year by a mile.

It's weird watching a bunch of bull inside midfielders get done in the clearances every week. It seems Clarry carried our stoppage work more than we realized and he's just not the same this year for obvious reasons.

First Dees game I won't be able to watch in years tonight. Hope we can contain their two gun key forwards and our mids step up and get us over the line. We need Trac, Viney and Clarry all firing together again if we're going to seriously contend. Clarry showed very good signs in the second half last week. Go Dees!

Scott's likely given his boys top votes despite them having less impact and playing in a losing team. More concerning for us is the form of Petracca. A month ago he was second in the coaches votes and looked to be vying with Heeney for the Brownlow. He has been below his usual impact the past 3 weeks or so. Hoping he's just slightly down on form and not carrying any injury. We need him firing when the whips are cracking in September.

Lever was best on ground last night and is on his way to another All Australian guernsey. He's intercepting well, but it's his rebound that's improved this year. His side step through traffic and tackles is brilliant and seems to work every time. He's the form defender of the league atm.