praha

Yep well you need to be modestly okay to even compete in this league these days, Goff. The AFL in 1999 was still in that transition to full time professionalism, and Daniher was battling the ever-lingering political mudslinging that was the MFC board. Not to mention the lingering stink of salary cap issues, and the loss of Lyon and injuries to White and Viney. Will never forget Modra lighting us up for 10 goals at the MCG and Freo's first ever win there. How distinctively "Melbourne" that night was. Fortunately for that team a lot of the important stats tracked today weren't being tracked in 1999 but I suspect the drop off this year has been far more significant, given we are 17th-18th in some stats that we were 1st-2nd in last year. Daniher was also brutally honest and hurt when the fan hurt. Goodwin appears to shrug a lot off the shoulder. Appears the Crows arrogance is thick within him. Never his fault. Never in the wrong. Always "something else". Actually, he fits in at Melbourne. We are better than that 1999 team. And we are better than 17th. How will 2019 be defined?

It's okay. We're working hard. At least we get pick 2? That's the message around here... Once the round is over though and WC have given us a football lesson, the pressure gauge will turn up on Goodwin. 17th with 5 rounds to go. No where to hide anymore. Let's see what excuses are thrown out now.

It's alright though! We've had injuries, and there's always next year! Besides, pick 2 on the horizon! Look on the bright side! Goodwin is the man! etc etc In all honesty, the further the season progresses, the worse it gets. We're going to finish below Carlton. I don't give a [censored] what the variables are. Or how many injuries we've had. It's abhorrent. It's a [censored] disgrace where we are. Goodwin should be presenting and raising the stakes for his own and the team's KPIs for 2020. He and is football department have utterly destroyed the fabric, albeit thin one, that had been established by Roos and Jackson. I can accept a drop after 5 years of linear growth consider where we were. But where we are now...it's inexcusable. Jones, Gawn, TMac, Lewis should be embarrassed. Leadership onfield has been pathetic. I'm giving Goodwin 16 matches to turn it around. And that's generous considering how much of a [censored] mess this team is in right now.

You might be right but what's eerie is that it all keeps happening. You can't ignore the facts. I mean, it makes me laugh just how much we've dropped off this year. It's unprecedented. Coach killing. And distinctively Melbourne. Some of the stats are mind boggling. I think it just pisses people off that other shrugs their shoulder at a 17th place finish, which seems likely. We absolutely need to be passed that but somehow we find ourselves "Doing a Melbourne" and regressing so badly that it's hard not to make a connection. You say those past events are irrelevant. But history repeats. Culture lingers. I think a lot of you are in denial tbh.

Defensively he is awful. I'd rather him get 3 tackles but take 5 intercept marks, or lay 5 tackles in defensive 50, than lay 5 pointless tackles in congestion on a player who was never getting a clear possession to begin with. IMO Hocking's comments re. tackling this week tie in with the type of tackling game Clarry and Co. produce. No impact on the game. Just a rugby scrum until the ball is knocked loose.

We don't tackle in the first quarter and now you want to introduce a rule to reduce tackling further lol

I think it reflects a gap in maturity skill and leadership as you allude to. The gap between 1-4 teams and 5-8 is fairly big, but even larger 9-12 and 13 below. We don't discount WC and GWS wins, they were well coached and played matches. But even as Goodwin has mentioned we were a young team on a roll. My intent is not to dilute last year's finals as merely a flash in the pan. Rather my intent is to highlight that, to be consistantly good, you need to consistently beat good teams. So it started as a concerning albeit afterthought stat. But this year shows it is a trend.

Everyone calm tf down. An interesting if concerning stat, is all. Collingwood struggled last year against top 8 sides but has shown a trend it is not. We've been consistently poor against top 8 sides during the season. It hurts us. It impacted our ability to snag the double chance last year. How do we fix it? What do we do? Where is it going wrong? Is it a quick fix? Instead of attacking each other for simply posting an opinion, engage and contribute. We're in this together.

The only sides that were top 8 during H&A when we beat them were GWS and WC. In what world are you living in that any half decent side is even remotely relevant without beating good teams?

That is our record against top 8 sides during H&A over the last two seasons. Only one other team hasn't won against a top 8 side this year. I'm sure you can guess which team it is. What do we put this down to? Inexperience? Coaching? Luck (or lack thereof) of the draw? Culture? This is over two years. Not just this year. The more we see, the more reality starts to hit home. What does this club stand for? I've not pondered that question since round 2, 2013. Here we are, six years on.

Salem, Oliver, Jones, and Frost all need to hit the scoreboard. Yes even from the backline. They can all slot it on the front from 50.

Poor coaching, lazy adaptation (or lack thereof) to 6-6-6 rule, dysfunctional leadership, and growing pains for Oliver and Brayshaw, who have both been found out as being extremely one dimensional. Dunkley for the Bulldogs is demonstrating the type of player Oliver *should* be, or become, but Clarry is going through the motions and simply playing the year out atm. His performance is eerily Scully-esque circa 2011. His mind appears elsewhere. Very concerning. Brayshaw seems down on confidence. Mcdonald has attracted No.1 defender with Hogan gone, and so it's been a learning curve for him. Same with Weeds. Garlett, Spargo, ANB have been useless. There goes out forward line. At one point this year our entire back 6 in Salem, Lever, May, Jetta, Lewis and Hibberd were out. This leads to lack of cohesion and connection with the mids due to lack of experience playing together. The variables all point to a pass for Goodwin given all of the above but the entire coaching team's approach has been a symptom of this and I feel Goodwin has been found lacking. It will be a learning curve for him as well. The stats point to a list badly lack depth, but also a coaching team that had not prepared for nor considered the worst. We've blooded some talent in Petty Lockhart Hore Dunkley but these are atm depth players. That Hore was the general in our backline for a few weeks shows how badly hit by injuries we were. Again though, we've maintained a healthy core, continue to win the ball and continue to get the ball forward. Goodwin's defensive coaching prowess is nonexistent it seems and he would be on notice. You don't go from premiership fancy to bottom 2. I don't care how badly hit by injuries you've been. Will be a fascinating next 12 months. Watch this space (if you dare)

History shows that midfield and contested ball dominance almost always equates to wins most of the time. As always, however, Melbourne leads the way in breaking records no one knew existed. We set standards no one else dared set. And we add new meaning to "inefficient". If we were salesmen, it would be like selling 100% of your stock with a return/refund rate of 80%.

Goodwin won't get as long. Richardson has had to battle horrid injury lists and just broadly poor form. But this was always going to happen.

While I am indifferent to OMac, I'm uneasy about dumping a young KPP that has room to grow. ANB is clearly not up to it but if Tmac and Jetta are any indication, then I think we can develop OMac into a solid player. He also showed in patches last year that he can be a very good player. At times he was even being lauded as a potential AA backman. The club has also indicated that they're developing him to build his strength. He's unlikely to go imo. At the end of the day he's a key defensive player with finals experience, that managed a few scalps towards the end of last year. He has always been a scapegoat for our troubles but any poor performance from him is typically a symptom of rather than a catalyst of our issues.

It was a shocking decision. Yet oh so predictable. Dare i say it was a distinctively Melbourne moment.

maybe. on the flipside we made a prelim last year. so either our list over performed or our FD and coaching team over performed. if the latter then Goodwin should and probably is under internal pressure. If the former then a rebuild is necessary. Some here seem to think nothing is wrong: we don't need a rebuild nor is anything wrong in the coaches box. Mind you we are staring down the barrel of finishing 17th. Five years after we last finished equal 18th in 2014, Roos' first year. There are a lot of perpetual negativity nancies on this forum. But many of them are right. Good clubs have the occasional down year. Poor clubs flat out bottom out. Nothing has changed. Consider our list turnover in coming years: Lewis Jones ANB Hibberd Jetta OMac JKH Garlett AVB Hannan Potentially Brayshaw Either retired, traded, or delisted. Or on the decline (Jetta and Hibberd). We have very little depth upside. Dunkley, Lockhart, Petty have potential. But they so depressingly remind me of fillers from the Roos years. I can't fathom how anyone doesn't think we need a genuine rebuild and restructuring. It's like it's a dirty word. We need to be quick and harsh. Otherwise we're going to end up back where we were in 2012. Make a decision on Jones. Choose between Viney or Brayshaw. Now is the time.

The Lions started last season 0-8 and scored 2-5-17 in one match. They are now a legitimate flag threat. I don't know what that means. But it's both depressing and encouraging at the same time.

That was a 2015 Roos era-esque performance. A weirdly good-bad performance. There to win but never truly winnable. Looked good yet bad at the same time. Anyone that thinks we haven't regressed has rocks in their head. We played like a team with the end of the H&A in sight. Our skills are horrid. Our gameplan is predictable. We took one step forward on 2018. We've taken three steps back in 2019. Brayshaw looks like an average VFL play. Oliver looks like he's been Melbourne'd. We have no forward line. Our backline is dysfunctional. We lost Tyson yet have ANB and Brayshaw to pick up the slack for useless possessions. Jones and Lewis are hopeless. We were solid for 2 quarters but utterly pathetic in the 1st and 4th. 5 tackles to 25 to start the game.

defensively we've been great all day. possession alone isn't a good indicator. they've rushed forward a number of times and our defensive pressure has been superb.

I know I'm normally a merchant of negativity around here but I think we have done well to curb their pace and spread.

they are annihilating us

56% disposal efficiency. horrid.

almost every Bulldogs entry has come from a free kick up the ground. also 18 tackles to our 5.

Hold the phone: a small forward that goes missing when the rest of his team does? wow!