praha

True except for Ninthmond. That is from the 200s and before most of those mentioned were even playing. They played through 3 years of making and losing finals, including, comically, a team that finished 9th in Carlton after Essendon was disqualified. We absolutely need to play finals. It doesn't matter if lose. Those Richmond players played through 66 games in finals years, 3 finals, and then 44 games of knowing what finals pressure is like, making finals and winning games. Anyone that expects us to do a Bulldogs or Richmond are kidding themselves. Similarly, anyone blindly throwing games experience is also kidding themselves. We should have played finals last year. We didn't. If we miss this year, how can we possibly know and learn about what it takes to play in finals pressure? Even the young Bulldogs had finals experience before their flag. As it stands, it's not H&A experience that is holding us back. It's finals experience. And we are within reaching distance. This is why we got Vince and Lewis. What Jones has played for. Otherwise it's hopeless.

Like Collingwood and North last year?

Nah. Our defensive woes have more to do with opposition transition out of our forward line. The problem is two-way running and delivery going forward.

This is common knowledge though, no? He seems the introvert and appears to hang off Jetta.

I have us peaking at 2nd at the start of one of the rounds, but then dropping to 9th by season's end and losing the last three. That's with a mostly conservative estimate, and few upsets in matches between teams with more than 5 places between them on the ladder. Sorry, fam. PS. Sorry for the image ?

Vince will retire, Lewis will hang around for a year. If we don't play finals this year, Jones should be put up for trade like I've said every year for the past 4 years.

Awks.

You mean like Collingwood last year? ? We'll need to beat 2 of Crows, Swans, Eagles, Giants and Cats, as well as beat all of Dockers, Saints, Suns and Bulldogs to make it a certainty. Finishing 9th again would be devastating for club and fan morale.

I skipped this game and opted to go to an old high school buddy's 30th. I promised myself I wouldn't miss another Melbourne game (unless working) again. Didn't see as good a win as that for a few years (also missed the Essendon win in 2014 because of work).

It'll be pretty tough from here but it hurts that Collingwood is now a game ahead. If North, Hawthorn and Collingwood make it ahead of us, they'll be it for me.

The loss was not the end of the world. We're going to win some and lose some against top 8 sides. It's a step forward against what should be a top 4 side, whereas we struggled against both Richmond and Collingwood. So there is improvement and I'd argue that over the course of the season, Port will overtake Collingwood. at our best I have zero doubt we are a top 4 side, at our worst we're lingering in that 5th-10th range of teams. That is what is dangerous, because if we can't notch at least one win against the Crows, Swans, Cats, Eagles and Giants, we will likely miss the finals again. Yes we failed in some key areas last night but if we bring that urgency and standard to every game, we may not lose again for the rest of the season. This could well be the match that kickstarts a new swing of momentum for us. Or it could signal the middle of a slump. I think we are lucky to be coming up against a string of lower placed sides. We absolutely need to notch consistent performances and wins over the next 3 weeks.

The initial objective with changing of the rules was to make the game more clear cut and less open to interpretation, therefore making it more accessible to an international audience. What the AFL didn't realise was that it was the standard of the game in the 70s and 80s that set up significant support groups down cultural lines, with large portions of the support pool being migrants and new residents to Australia. The game as it stands are far less predictable and inconsistent, making it even more of a challenge for someone new to the country to get involved. Previously it was so easy to explain holding the ball. If the player has prior oppprtunity and is tackled, it is a free kick. If you are tackled and don't kick or handball, it is a free kick. It isn't paid like that anymore. How do you explain it to someone new to the game?

100%. we find ourselves in the exact same situation at some point every year.

not playing finals again with this squad would be a colassal failure. Both from a purely footy perspective and a business point of view. We would be 5 seasons into another rebuild, with a squad of 50-100 gamers that haven't played finals. That is setting us up for a breakdown and another rebuild. The wheels can fall off VERY quickly. As it stands we need to beat two of Adelaide, WC, Geelong, Sydney and GWS to make it, provided we get the job done against the Saints, Dogs, Suns and Freo. That would give us 14 wins. Ultimately, tonight and round 1 will be this season's "the ones that got away" if we don't make finals. If we lose against the Saints, you can write off finals, and Goodwin's position would again be up for question.

We lost it in the back of a deplorable and selfish first half, whereby we were racking up possessions with no clear directive or goal. Our leaders let us down when we needed them most.

Most disappointing loss for the year. Jones, Viney, Lewis, Vince and Goodwin should all be on notice.

Good goal. Why is max tapping goal side when rucking in defensive 50?

Hogan is not the problem. Port are successfully holding us up at the wing, flooding, and he is surrounded by 4 or 5 guys at every contest. There has been zero adjustment. He needs to move up the ground and we need to be cleaner across the middle of the ground. It is not so much delivery going forward that is killing us. We are simply allowing them the freedom to flood.

There's a wild Riccuito on my screen. Someone get the tranquilizer gun.

Very disappointing.

Our problem is we are getting no clean or direct flow from half back going forward. There is either a stoppage or a slowing down of play, allowing Port to clog our forward line. We should be 10 goals up ffs. Poor coaching display by Goodwin so far.

Port is 9 scoring shots from 13 inside 50s. We're 11 from 33.

two blatant holding the ball not called. And after Viney got pinged. Awful umpiring.

Tonight actually determines if we're top 4 or just a top 8 team. Not the end of the world if we lose but we definitely want to win if we have hopes for a top 4 finish.

His defensive awareness in the air is very good and he has very good positioning. This was evident early on in his career when many were carrying on that he should be dropped after every game. Like Jetta, he is grossly underrated, and because he doesn't get much of the ball he goes under the radar. He is a Silvagni-esque defender, but in an era when the traditional, 100-goal a year forward is rare, his influence isn't as obvious as Silvagni, who, when keeping a forward of the Ablett or Dunstall variety to "only" 2-3 goals, was lauded for his defensive prowess.