leucopogon

Yes, kick a routine snap from 5m out to steady the ship with the game in the line.

Agreed, Max is undoubtedly the better forward, but unfortunately he is also about three times better than Jackson in the centre. I'd probably play Jackson forward unless Daw is a complete liability in the ruck. We need two Gawns.

Sure playing like it. Gone is all that manic forward half pressure, chaining of hanballs, and centre square dominance. Now we look to smother instead of tackling and fumbling, going to ground, double grabbing at marks, and handballing to stationary targets has become the norm.

Seems like the only forwards that offer leads are the smalls and Langdon, such that when the long ball inevitably gets kicked deep into the pocket to a 3 or 4 on one, there are no crumbers anywhere to be seen. It really is completely dysfunctional at the minute.

M Brown - Better than Weid Petracca - Becoming a liability Hunt - back to 2s Jordon - vanilla as anything Lever - no longer trustworthy Fritsch - only classy Demon Forward line coach - update your resume

Embarrassing really. Club is in a rare window of competitiveness and cant pull anywhere near a decent crowd.

Me too, will be a long time before i can trust him in defence again. Cant believe I'm saying this, but i can't wait for Joel Smith to return.

Out: Tomlinson, Hunt, B. Brown In: May, Daw, Hibberd Lucky to get another game: Spargo, ANB, Bowey, Sparrow.

Nibbler was best on for the first half, for mine. His willingness to tackle would have been useful in the guts during the third quarter. Our mids don't have a defensive bone in their bodies, Viney excluded.

Another strike against the coaching panel. Why bother naming emergencies if they aren't used in this instance?

Agreed about the dysfunctional tall forwards. JVR is surely a big chance of a debut if the poor form of Brown continues. Can't wait to see how he goes when his chance comes.

Midfield need to hang their heads, their centre square work in the 2nd half was embarrassing. Ratten was 100% correct in his judgement of Dunstan. The definition of a plodder. Rivers had a really terrible game today and so did about 12 of his mates. Spargo ain't no winger. Brown and Weidman = giant fail. Coaches should be held to account as well. Freoh had a loose player defensive side of every stoppage and they kept getting clean clearances. Why we didn't go even numbers boggles my mind. All that optimism about the Melbourne system being unstoppable dissipated in a half of footy. Like all teams, it's clear that we are very reliant on our best players to be competitive.

Rivers is in the gun, having a shocker

Crowd looks disappointing.

They look like they have been hitting the bathwater hard. Defensive setup and forward pressure are great but the transition footy and finishing is rank. Should be ten goals up.

Have you never watched professional wrestling before? That bounce your own head on the canvas move is their stock in trade.

8 for me, ashamed! I know what I'll be watching tonight.

Don't we all?

I was planning to donate the badges I got to the Western Australian Museum, where I work, as they are part of a fascinating sub-story of this historical sporting event here in WA. However, if I have anyone's badge here on Demonland who wants it, I'll certainly be happy to repatriate them back to Victoria. Badges I've got are: Corkill, Dent, Bayly & Ricketts.

Just change the question mark to an exclamation point...done!

Hi all, Haven't posted for ages. Just wanted to chime in and say I feel for all of you guys that are stuck in the Eastern states unable to attend the GF. I can't imagine how bittersweet it must be for so many of you. I'm lucky enough to be a WA based member of the club and was at the Prelim with my wife and 2 kids (all mad dees fans), what a wonderful night that was. I just wanted to say that for all those that are giving away their P1 barcodes to WA people, you guys are all very generous but please spare a thought for the people over here like myself that don't have this level of access before you give your P1 tickets away, it means that those of us that can't afford to have GFG memberships get pushed a little further down the queue in favour of what will be in many cases neutrals or bandwagon supporters. Fair enough if you're giving them to long time forum posters or friends you have over here. Thanks, I've said my piece. Now go DEES!!!!

Yesterday was so demoralising, I actually found myself apologizing to my 12 year old son for converting him into a Melbourne supporter when he was about 5. Told him follow whoever you like from now on, I won't hold it against you. Last thing I want is for him is to have disappointment and embarrassment as the default emotions associated with a sport that he loves. I'm afraid the damage is already done though, the poor kid is probably a dee for life, and he'll likely always resent my interference in his choice of club to support.

Yep, I believe I will do this as well

Would be a disaster. Looks to have lost his appetite and why wouldn't you after the career he's had?

As if, be very surprised if we don't go down by 80+