jnrmac

I'm not sure. I make a mental note of it at the end of each quarter.

Those numbers are distorted by our last quarter

Teams look to control the ball against us by short kick and marking. We guard grass and let them do it. v Freo us 62 /them 92 v Port 41/70 v Hawks 105/72 v Suns 66 /94 v North 95/124 v Rich 103/81 Rich don't play that style of game v Ess 71/89 v Eagles 95/75 v Swans 92/94 vLions 69/92 v Dogs 117/71 Teams know not to kick long to May/Lever and we are not great at dirty ground balls or short chip kicks. The better teams control the ball and chip their way through our system. The poorer teams try but can't keep it up. Rich play a similar style to us in that they want to move the ball quickly. And when we do get a turnover teams have become better at stopping us rebounding. We seem unable to 'control' or block the corridor any more nor keep the ball inside our fwd 50. Rarely any small players at the feet of contests and the running around the boundary seems so much easier to pin us to one side. There are serious things wrong with our game plan that teams are exploiting because we are so predictable. As for our centre clearance work it is abysmal. The number of times Max would tap the ball fwd and Freo players would pounce and run it away in a cross cross pattern was infuriating. Freo lost their key ruckman in the second qtr and we were still monstered in the air. We are a very one dimensional side with a totally dysfunctional fwd line. Our depth is now being tested and its frankly not very good.

Let's hope thats the end of that jumper and the God-awful song. Its like a new curse we have brought on ourselves. Whats our record? 2 wins 6 games?

Need to shut down the dirty balls into our D50 We have been smashed in this area

I think Jacko might know that strategy

So Robbo (apparently starting his name with SL is banned here FGS) has lashed out at Melbourne and JLo says Freo has the number 1 ruck combination in the AFL. Fantastic. The more pressure on this team and the coaching staff the better.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir reckons he has the best ruck combination in the AFL with Fremantle sitting No.1 in both hitouts (52 per game) and hitouts to advantage (15 per game) this season I am hopeful Max and Grundy read his comments. All duck no dinner!

.

The pundits were saying the Dogs' 4 pronged tall attack would rip us to shreds.

The game was lost on ground balls, inability to mark and a clearance mauling

Some like me have MFC Memberships but sit in the MCC area. There's quite a lot like that who simply want to support the club financially and directly.

We get the gate receipts.

I wouldn't expect them to turn up very often??

Nothing, He twigged too late. But in previous circumstances the ump calls for the oppo player to clear the path and get out of the protected zone. Failure is automatic 50m

Hunter is a smart footballer but should have 'tripped' over Rozee who dived on the ball. ANB does that all the time. Just like Lever should have run into the PA player and earned a 2nd 50m penalty. But they're just footballers I guess.

Good to hear. I presume they will argue Hunter was moving towards the ball and then stopped and turned as Rozee lurched fwd to hit the ball away. Effectively he cannoned into Hunter. Plus the impact level was not medium as he went on to star in the game. At least thats how I saw it.

He's right. Was shameful how nobody stood up for Max

A win would have been hollow. And even during our first 10 rounds last year we were not playing good footy bar a few quarters here and there. The problems are the same however and the manner in which we play big games, games when we are favoured or when teams play a specific way to try and beat us. Aside from the great move of petty tagging McCartin against the Swans we rarely try to combat oppo players directly preferring to 'play our way'. Well when playing our way isn't working, we need to do something differently. We used to have a great record after half time as the coaches would adjust things and players would reset. Our final quarter record is good this year but we frustratingly allow teams to get a 'sniff' early way too many times.

Completely cooked my weekend when the team plays like a bunch of wannabees on a Friday night.

Its a given. We learn nothing. Could have added Essendon game Merret 35 touches. Parish 34, Shiel 28

Don't think Tracc had a CBA in the first half. He was the catalyst for our 3rd qtr run though in the middle It has bothered me for some time that Clarry spends way too much time wrestling with opponents at the Centre bounces. Great player that I love to watch but its a part of his game that frustrates the hell out of me

The Geelong game from last year is the blueprint to beat Melbourne We have learned nothing from it. Its what PA did all night. Jump into Max's back and smash the kick ins 10-15m fwd to a gaggle of PA players. Brainless coaching, poor set ups at clearance, extraordinary decision not to nullify Butters. Couldn't believe we kept Tracc in the fwd 50 for our worst performing first half in a long time. Gawn was hopeless. The PA positioning was superb at stoppages and when the ball was in out D50. They created a wall that we struggled to break out of. Our small fwd were pathetic. As were our big fwds. As for the panicking handballs, sliding below the knees and the guarding of the centre corridor it was painful to watch. 10-0 clearances in 2nd qtr from our much vaunted midfield? Changes need to be made. 10-2 in frees in the last quarter? Should be an investigation into the pathetic - bordering on cheating - umpiring. No front on contact for Gawn from Lycett? Dropped marks paid, ball hitting the ground and paid a mark? No second 50m for Lever? And astoundingly TMac gives away a free for HTB and the Tackler is penalised a week for a dangerous tackle? That tops the cake for how putrid umpiring is in our once great game. Our record against top sides is now alarming and while you can't win flags in May there is a consistent pattern that has emerged. And it about how easy we are to coach against and how badly our coaches can respond to obvious tactics used against us.

PA Rd 1. Beat Lions by 54. Good win at home Rd 2 Loss 71 pts Pies MCG Rd 3 Loss 31pts Adelaide Home Rd 4 Win at Sydney 2pts Good win Rd 5 Win Home v Dogs 14pts OK win Rd 6 Win Home West Coast 40pts meh Rd 7 Win Marvel St K 7 pts Good win Rd 8 Win Home Ess 5pts Avg win Rd 9 Win North Away 70 pts meh A few good wins but are undermanned big time at the moment. We have got this.

Right then,