praha

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.

Garlett rolls his ankle at training. He'll have a shocker if he plays. Bookmark it. It's the Melbourne way. Injury "tweaks" tend to ruin a player's season.

I was listening and agreed. We need to turn a corner. Turning a corner doesn't necessarily mean finals or being the best team in the comp. Our corner is simply playing consistently good football for more than one week. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when winning 2 in a row is a gauge of how much you have improved, but it is what it is. We were awful on Saturday and well below best. Part of that goes on the leaders and those that were complacent, the other on the coaches for selecting underdone young blokes, or keeping underdone young blokes in the squad. I suspect a lighter training week went ahead this week.

Just another poor bloke that has been beaten down by the harsh drum of defeat. Plays like a loser. Always will. Harsh reality when you get bombarded week in, week out in the backline for the first 8 years of your career. Might be time to move him on. We need to continue weeding out these Daniher and Bailey-era players out of the club.

Still, you can't understate the influence it has on talent coming in and the feeling around the place. They played finals in recent memory. And consistently.

I am as frustrated as anyone but it's Round 2. After we lost 3 in a row vs Freo, Sydney and Hawthorn, people had us below 2014 and potentially finishing last again. Granted they were three top teams but we've been here before. Let's not forget the Bombers were leading Sydney in Sydney by 40 points in Round 1 last year and lost but almost won...with arguably a worse team than they fielded on Saturday. They then beat Hawthorn in round 2. Like Roos said, this is the AFL, any one team can get up against any opposition irrespective of ladder position if they play to win and stick to the plan. Melbourne did not stick to the plan on Saturday and lost. It's not the end of the world. I am just saying that we are still only a 8-12-win team, and 12 wins may not be enough for 8th this year. You're going to need a very strong percentage and we don't score enough to do that.

Great stuff!

2014. Petracca, Brayshaw, ANB, Stretch. Anyway, these comparisons are useless. The Dogs aren't coming back from anywhere near as far back as we were. They played in three straight Prelims don't forget only a few years ago. Plenty of finals experience and guidance there that Melbourne lacks. I think we are realistically 2-3 years behind where the club *wants* to be. I can't see us turning a corner anytime soon. I think we'll just continue this slow upwards climb until we break through. It won't be the revolutionary breakthrough and change that we saw with the Dogs and Port a few years ago. They were polishing a dusty old antique with a bit left in it yet. We're polishing a turd. Finals in 2016 is a possibility but unlikely. Too tight between 5th and 12th and we're most definitely closer to 12th. 2017 would be a "scrape into finals" year, but even then, we can't understate just how far back we're coming from. I don't think the club wants to admit that. I think they're doing a great job of selling hope and selling our list as being better than what it is.

At least under Bailey we kicked goals. And lots of them. Unfortunately the team didn't run both ways and they also bled goals at the other end. I think that whoever is still at the club from that era is still part of the problem, as these are the "leaders" of the club. No problem with Neeld or Roos' gameplan so long as you run hard in transition and get into space. We don't. Lazy + dumb footballers makes it difficult to execute ANY gameplay, whether it's attacking or defensive. What we've seen under Roos is no different to Bailey or Neeld: complacency, lack of urgency, lack of consistency, inability to run both ways, shocking defensive awareness, shocking peripheral vision, hospital handpasses and kicks to teammates under pressure. Melbourne is the quintessential career-killer.

Not impossible from an adjudication point of view. If you're not controlling the play then you are going to get calls against you, out of frustration and out of constantly being second to the ball and contest. You can most certainly play congested football so long as you have a consistent, two-run attack in transition. Hawthorn does this well but their defensive capabilities are blinded by the fact their midfield and forward like are so prolific. The Dockers struggled were ultimately found out last year not because they played a "defensive" style. It was because they are severely lacking forward options. We've seen this in the first two rounds with their more attacking style: they simply don't have the cattle to kick a winning score. Melbourne's problem is that it doesn't run two ways. This was an issue Neeld highlighted when he arrived, and Roos emphasised. What we have seen against both GWS and Essendon is that, if we attack and don't score, we're not quick enough to get back defensively (although we did a great job of pushing the Giants to the flanks), and if we defend and get the ball out, we're not quick enough on the rebound. I don't think that's lack of speed. I think it's lack of urgency, and certainly complacency which came into play last round. If you