praha

Shocking game of officiating but we ultimately lost the game in that ten minute period in the middle of the 4th with poor defense, poor spread, lack of run (due to spreading out remaining interchanges). Roos were just as tired but ultimately their experience got them over the line (Harvey and Goldstein mostly). Two goals from them that more or less sealed the game. Garlett may have been the difference.

I was there on Saturday, brother-in-law is a Toiges man. Anyway, they play with the same level of uncertainty as Melbourne does at times. Hospital handpasses, lack of trust in one another, looking around asking questions and blaming one another after goals. I think Rance is majorly overrated: his positioning at times is shocking and his inability to respond to quick changes of the ball is shocking. Houli is their most important backman. If he goes down they would bleed another 4-5 goals a game, easy. Like Melbourne, sometimes it isn't a matter of changing coach or bringing in good players. It's a cultural issue.

He was most definitely over the line. The angle wasn't great but the ball was held lined up with his left leg, which was entirely over the line. Irrespective of that, you could tell he went over the line during live play. Having a replay system is pointless if you don't have the required technology to make an absolutely 100% certain call. 9/10 the camera gives you a *better* idea of a decision but you can never be 100% for things like touched balls because the broadcast cameras they use don't record slow-motion at a high enough framerate. It's a shambles. The face they rely on a blurred image to make a definitive call is embarrassing. I am shocked the AFL has let it continue for so long. They need high quality, high framerate line cameras. On top of that, what professional league in the world holds a match for points at a stadium that can't even fulfil the basic obligations for the camera placement? Embarrassing.

Gonna suck if Vince is rubbed out. He loves playing the Pies. Will be sorely missed. I hope we trounce them. I would really like a 10-goal win at some point this year. Won't come this week. I think we're fairly evenly matched with the Pies.

Was watching it when he did it. You could tell straight away it was major. He just had that look on his face of, "It hurts so bad that I can't even react." He was completely emotionless.

If he gets done it'll be just the final bitter tinge to a day of almighty [censored] at the hands of the officiators.

We simply can't afford that hack in Cloke to have another day out like he did in the Queen's Birthday last year. Cleaned him up in game 2 but I smell a big one for him coming up.

Out-coached in the last. Shocking to have only 9 interchangers left with 10 minutes left as you are running the game out with the wind. Their midfield got on top in a pivotal 10-minute period while we were stretching out our rotations. Melbourne found a way to lose this. Umps were fairly balanced in the last. We lost poise and structure in the last quarter and seemed tired. The game was there to be won but ultimately we tired ourselves out. Should have been fresher in the last but weren't even though North had a few banged up bodies.

Fancy letting that little runt get 6.0. You'd be hard press to find an easier 6 goals. Hate to say it but we should have had all the run in the last and to have fewer rotations available was yet another major coaching error. We were getting smashed in the last and that should have been expected given North's experience. The game was ultimately lost in that 10-minute window, half-way through the last, while we were trying to slow down our rotations to stretch them out. They had more run and it showed. Also, Dunn is finished. I am so sick of him and Garland dumbing up our team so damn much. You have a game there to be won and you look sideways. Astonishing. Just a dumb footballer. Can't wait until the final weeds of the Daniher and Bailey eras are pulled out of this club. Massive liability down back, once again. That mis-timed jump as Boomer and two other North players fell behind was just astonishing. Should have stayed grounded. 10-year experienced player making a rookie mistake.

Forward half pressure has been spectacular this quarter.

Stupid, Kent.

So which North spud is going to dominate us today?

That is holding the ball, pal.

Gee these commentators really ripping into us.

I don't think it's Roos. He was out-coached last weekend but I think he has let desperation take over his coaching. He was desperate to have Brayshaw in the side. They were obviously over-trained during the week so guys like Kent, Oliver were stuffed. Hopefully he doesn't make the same mistake. I think it is 90% a mental issue. You can adjust and restructure to address weakness, but you absolutely, 100% need to play the match on your terms and control the game. We don't have the leaders nor the mental strength as you said across the pitch to do this. I also don't accept that we don't have the skill.

Interesting though that the Bulldogs who were tipped to finish last in 2014 ended up going on to make the finals in 2015 and may very well finish top 4 or even top 2 this year on current form. Port went from being a shocking team losing matches by 120+ points to playing finals the next season. I think we have drafted enough and have enough talent and structure that we should at the very least be playing decent football over consistent periods. Last weekend was as colossal a breakdown of fundamentals week-on-week that you're ever going to see. I have been vocal here since Roos was appointed that so long as the likes of Garland and Dunn, and Nate Jones to a degree, are the ones "leading" the club and team, we will struggle to take the next step. These are prolific losers who literally have no experience in winning teams, and were also part and parcel, front and center of arguably the club's worst ever era. I heard on the radio murmurs that there was "unrest" amongst the playing group. Some didn't like the stuff Roos had them doing. Sound familiar? Remember Neeld? Pampered players complaining that their coach makes them do the hard yards...oh, but they aren't actually doing the hard yards. Roos wants them to do meditation. OH THE HORROR! I bet I could pick from a lineup the players bitching and moaning. You won't like me for the players I name. I don't think Roos has really made the tough calls yet. He's made *some* kind of tough calls, but not really the ones that need to be made. I don't know what those calls are or when he needs to make them, but there is something eerie about how the mental demons hovering above this team and club. I actually found myself laughing out loud, literally, at the game last Saturday. There's bad, but then there's mindboggingly bad. How can new players, new players to the club and team, suddenly become so incredibly, shockingly bad?

Well overall a period bad period, though. 2010 was a fun year for Melbourne fans after two years finishing last. I don't think that negates the fact the past decades has been the pits.

I wasn't alive during the 70s and for most of the 80s but for those that were that I know, they all say that the past 10 years, particularly 2012, 2013, 2014, were worse, if not far more frustrating. Consider that in the 70s the club had come off arguably the greatest era of all time. If you look at all clubs over the past 10 years, Melbourne has the worst record over that period. I believe that if you look over the past 20 years, we're in the bottom 3. That says a lot of how bad our last 10 years have been considering we played in 6 finals series and a grand final in the decade of 1996-2006. 2007-2016 has been so bad that it has all but completely wiped the decade prior off the map, and dragged us down. Richmond has been prolific in their inability to make finals and *win* finals but let's not forget that we bag them for finish 9th. Melbourne can't even win two games in row. Richmond had a handful of 10-12 win seasons between 1995 and 2012. There was hope, even if it was so often shot down. We have also gone bad at the worst possible moment. Melbourne is going to great lengths to get itself back on track both on and off the field, but I remain skeptical: I think that the league has changed the past 3-4 years, and it's harder to come back from years at the bottom than it was, say, in 2010. I think the league's changed a LOT, especially with free agency. The club has to make inroads on-field in 2016 and if it doesn't, I remain skeptical that it can in the near future.I always wondered how a team that essentially dominated the league in the 50s and 60s, created the game, and was so firmly embedded in the inner-city 'burbs and eastern area, could continuously struggle with support, members, money and interest.Now, the obvious answer is of course that, well, they're not a very good football club: no one wants to watch or buy a crappy brand. I get that. Trust me, I watch them every week and I know how hard it can be to support a bad club.But let's look at Melbourne's two worst eras: the period between 1965 and 1986, and the period between 2007 and 2015. These eras are important, because they represent important cultural shifts in the ways in which we engage with, share and embrace information: the rise of television, and the rise of social media.1965-1986In this period, Melbourne never made the finals.Melbourne won 4 wooden spoonsMy dad and his brothers often tell me that this period was far worse than anything we've seen from the club during any other "down" time100-point beltings were frequent2007-2015Embarrassing number of records against usNo wins against Hawthorn, North, St KildaNo wins in PerthNo finals appearances2 wooden spoonsFive seasons with only 4 or fewer wins (2008: 3, 2009: 4, 2012: 4, 2013: 2, 2014: 4) Can't win two in a rowIn 1965, we were starting to see a rise of the television, and by the 70s, it was expanding and networks were moving out into regional areas. Football's reach was expanding but Melbourne was always at the bottom of the ladder and interest rankings.In 2007, we started to see the growth in social media, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter: since then, during a time when people share stories and videos, the good stories are shared and spread at an intense pace...but so are the bad stories.Is it viable to consider that Melbourne could very well be the unluckiest club in the land, to have not just bottomed out, but bottomed out during two of the most important eras of technology and media?

Astonishing that after 10 years, 3 rebuilds, we can still look at a match-up, and even when Melbourne is at near-full strength, still say, "On paper, we're going to get smashed."

Deer in headlights. I think our awfulness just kind of amplified it.

Lol toumpas...

Gee this is a training drill. Port in 2nd gear.

Port doing more for itself and the game in China in one night than Melbourne has in the 8 years it's been trying to build there.

Joe Daniher has the most punchable face in the AFL. Very average player but he always does a Kent Kingsley against us. If Port smash them it's only more of a demonstration of how rubbish our club is.

Embarrassing form from Mission. Clearly overruled by the coaching group. Embarrassing.