jnrmac

From The Age article (ps: I have been saying this all year.. It's blindingly obvious but the Panglossian posters just ignore facts): "Against teams outside the eight this year Melbourne have a percentage of 160.8. Against teams in the top eight they have a percentage of 66. That is a crazily big gulf and feeds the idea of the team as flat-track bullies. They have been labelled that and while these numbers point in that direction, in truth, it's not really very fair.The problem is not that Melbourne win the ball nor that they can score, it is the inability to stop the ball going the other way. This is the point that Melbourne can’t defend. Actually, the point is that Melbourne don’t defend. Melbourne cannot hold the good teams up. They win the ball against teams good and bad but the good teams get them on the outside. The good teams close down the space on the player with the ball, slow Melbourne up and try to force the turnover. When they have possession of the ball they then play keepings off and chip-kick the ball around." That's the blueprint on beating Melbourne. That's how the Eagles play. Lets see if 'head in the sand' Goodwin can match Simpson today.

Yeah I was referring to you in the ("yawn") bit...

Lewis is still contracted for next year isn't he? That means he will still be in the cap.

YEAH HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET SUCH GREAT INFO???????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If we lose both games our season is a massive bust. No [censored] excitement there.

You have mates that support Port? time to find new friends.....

Has been dropped by every coach he has had a senior level. FFS he even dropped himself he was playing that bad. Bruise free.

"I didn't like our first half much at all. I think our ability to defend in the first half wasn't to the level that we certainly trained all summer," Goodwin said. "Ultimately when they have 20 scoring shots from 24 inside 50s, that's the game in a nutshell. "They had 80 points to half-time. We were really disappointed with that first half. We just didn't defend the way we would have liked." We had 14-9 i50s in the last and scored 1g 7b. Geelong were without Dangerfield and lost Harry Taylor in the first quarter. We butchered that game and some numpties say 'if only'.....(yawn) We are not up to finals footy although they could change that 'narrative' with 2 wins in the next 2 weeks. It's up to them. Somehow I doubt it. The record to date says we choke.

And Casey let a team score 7 goals in a quarter to blow the game apart. Rawlings is taking his copying Goodwin's game plan to new levels...

Garlett has been woeful. Was woeful last week against the Swans and if you want to see how a small fwd should operate Murphy for the Hawks has been outstanding. My guess is that Garlett is on the chopping block. Went back to Casey to focus on his contested side, made the senior team to be dropped again for lack of pressure, comes back to Casey and has a nightmare game with a real lack of interest. Great decision to drop him. Need players that will bleed red and blue. Sadly Jeff isnt one.

You keep bringing that up. But in rd 1 we let geelong score 80 pts in the first half. 20 shots in goal from 24 entries. We let the Swans score 7 in a row on Sunday! With 2 men down. The second game against geelong we didn't know how to ice the clock and lost the game. That is a finals side. Pfft. Some people aren't intelligent enough to understand the type of football you need to play in finals. Nuances my rear.

Garlett had to go. Was unsighted before his first kick half way through the last qtr. (Yes he was burned by Petracca in the opening minute that would have been a certain goal) Nowhere near enough pressure and infuriatingly never even contests in a one on one. Stick a fork in him. Not a Kent fan but when he came back last time was full of pressure and played well. Will do well in front of his home town (well WA) crowd.

You're not listening. Goodwin says that the players ignore history and are trying to create their own "narrative". I get that to a certain extent but clubs are made up of lots of history. One of the tragedies about Melbourne's past 54 years is that we have dumped a lot of that history - and I mean the good players and people who have been the fabric of the club - through a failed merger and multiple dumped administrations. To the point that there is hardly anyone at Melbourne now in any senior capacity that has lived through the 'history' of Melbourne. I get why lots have had to go but if you ignore history completely there is a void that supporter feel acutely but the club, players and administration don't.

This is the big issue and it has been ignored. What kind of leadership and communication do we have when players go running off the AFLPA? Imagine Jono Brown or Luke Hodge finding out that the players had gone around them to the AFLPA. And the fact that communication was not able to be had with the coach who said he was 'blindsided' by the move. This is the crux. Communication and leadership. Two big voids.

Thanks for the report. We did a lot of this training in the pre season but we don't seem to use it much in games. Teams that beat us do it a lot.

We have failed every test against the top 8. We are mentally weak. Goodwin doesn't appear to have the skills to fix it. And how was that motivation in rd 23 last year? No tackles in the first 15mins. No probs. Leave it to the players, They'll be fired up.

Don't forget the 23 - 2 at half time a few years ago. Can't remember the year but that was clearly the low point.

It just doesn't 'come together'. That's like Bailey saying we just need 50-100 games into the players like Maric, Morton, Petterd etc Someone needs to fire up and stand up. My fear is that Goodwin sends them to sleep with his monotone delivery. Petracca is one that could do it. Brayshaw and Harmes could do it. TMac Clarrie and Max can do it and have done it but who else? 6/7 weeks of good football and reputations will be made for the next decade.

Just the company line...

Essendon beat them by loading the back line and controlling the football. We're [censored].

If Petracca wants to be a "Hall of Famer" there is no better place to start than the next 2 weeks. Stand up. Rip the game apart. Create some fear in our opponents. Lead your team mates. The next 6/7 weeks is where reputations are made. Do it.

8 out of 18 make it every year. It's not that hard. aside from Max Clarrie an TMac we don't have anyone that has stood up and dragged this team over the line like Viney did last year over west coast. a lot of players need to pull their fingers out and rip the game apart. It's where Goodwin needs better motivational skills.

What's with wagner being named? Is there someone in the backline that might be injured? Or if Hibberd won't get up?

We definitely need someone to shadow McGovern. Just like Aliir......

Plus the upfront payments. Players like Fritsch for example who would be on base pay of say $100k for 2 years, you might say we'll pay you $200k this year and nothing for the next year.