praha

The league is the most even it's probably ever been. Melbourne is probably the most predictable in terms of knowing how it's going to perform: it has the anomaly performance one week, but then its next 3-4 games are really straight out of the MFC Handbook. You could have predicted Saturday. I'm cursing I didn't put money down on the Bombers because I tipped them. But yeah, the way we look at the Bombers loss, is the way I'm sure Tigers and Bulldogs fan look at the Melbourne loss, in that, considering their position, it shouldn't have happened. We shouldn't have lost to the Bombers, but we did. History tells us we'll lose on Sunday, yet people are still predicting we'll win. "Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself."

I'd try Dawes in the ruck more often. He clogs up the forward line. Hogan, Howe and Garlett would be enough firepower for any team. I think we keep waiting for Dawes to provide that spark but he just isn't that type of player. He's like a Jamar-Watts-Dunn hybrid lol

I'd turn for him.

Pederson is basically the player Miller would have been if he were still playing. We look much better forward of center with Pederson than we do with Dawes. Hogan pushed up the field to get involved, which is what Pederson normally did. Hogan does it because Dawes is hopeless.

It's actually astonishing that we don't already do this.

How improvement is normalisation. You can improve and still lose games. We need to "turn a corner", as they say. You don't win friends with salad/you don't sign members by losing

Daniher has the most punchable face in the league.

Someone needs to upload Demon Attack to YouTube. I'd love to see it now.

Really, all areas of the field have good quality. Our midfield has improved from N Jones, M Jones, Viney, Terlich and Nicholson in 2012, to Jones, Vince, Cross, Viney, Brayshaw, VB, Gawn, Tyson. Backline is steady but erratic. Forward of Garlett, Hogan, Howe, Dawes, it's a perfect combination of heigh, pace and marking capacity that we don't take advantage of. This "team" has a great collection of individuals. But as a collective, it is not a good team.

Lose to Brisbane and we finish last in 2015. Absolute must-win. We've been here before. 2014 all over again. They'll fluff it like the losers they are.

Don't think it'll happen. Seems too level-headed and too much of a professional to come to Melbourne after leaving that debacle that is the GC Suns. Probably go to the Pies, Cats or Hawks. Maybe Bulldogs.

You don't need to be a good team to win games. I mean, we have 4 wins, two against top 8 sides, one against a team stacked with players from one of the greatest eras of all time. All you need to do is play good, consistent, urgent team football. Brisbane is playing that, we're not. The Lions will win by 8-10 goals. Bookmark it.

The Geelong game was an anomaly, like the Adelaide game last year. Reality is that we can be "on" mentality, but if the other team also has a good day, we fold and lose. It's like clockwork. I just don't think we're in any position to suggest that we pressured those teams into having a bad day. I just think they had bad days and we capitalised. By the looks of it we're still a bottom 4 side and I predict that Brisbane on the weekend will be the final nail in the coffin for the season. From a list perspective, we have certainly improved our positioning as far as long-term planning goes. But as a team, we haven't really improved. I actually think we're playing worse team footy this year than we were last year. I just don't think that a good team can have such a large disparity between its best and worst, which makes me think that our good wins are more about the other team having off days than it is us playing well. I'm sure a few here will disagree, but the body language and response from the playing group on Saturday was pretty discouraging. It looked like they hated each other and didn't want to be out there. And they still only lost by 9 points. Says to me that we have a bunch of talented, egotistical school boys pretending to be a team. Kind of like amateur football. One week you beat a similar or decent-placed team, you're all about and about. Then the next week you play the top team and get pumped by 200 points. Not quite the same but the disparity is similar in terms of how we play as a team. One week you're all good mates, the next week everyone is just terrible, can't string together passes, cbf getting into space, yelling at each other on the pitch. Like watching division 3 Thomastown seniors.

What I love about him is that he works his way up the ground in an effort to genuinely help the team. It's what Dawes should be doing, not Hogan. Pedersen is a big loss because he normally filled that role. Hogan carries on like a kid and has for the past two weeks, but the delivery forward has been nothing short of deplorable. He seriously looks like he hates playing for us right now. His teammates don't give him a chance. At least he tries to work his way into the game. Something Howe doesn't do, and something Dawes tries to do but is very, very limited as a player.

Can't drop Howe. We need as many players demanding of a defender as possible because we are completely inept at countering the loose man. If you drop Howe and put in some bandaid filler forward, you're just going to make it easier for them to get out. Anyway, Saturday was the worst "team" display I've seen this team play under Roos. Brisbane were good yesterday. They're paying $9.50 at 40+. Getting on the Lions. I have zero confidence. We'll finish last if we drop this. This is exactly the same situation as last year. I can just foresee it. It's in the second chapter of the Melbourne Demons Handbook (right after the chapter of losing to a bottom-of-the-barrel side and letting an inaccurate spud forward kick 5.0). There were moments on Saturday where the players seriously looked like they hated one another, like they had no trust or interest in one another. Hogan seems to hate his teammates. Jones goes through the motions. Dunn and McDonald are deers in headlights. Dawes is a $600k decoy. Garlett provides good pressure but poor delivery must be frustrating him. Howe is an overrated pretty boy. Our leaders are shocking. Brisbane by 10 goals. Bookmark it.

1. How did you start following the Demons? Born into a family of delusional Melbourne supporters 2. Who was your very first favourite player and why? Sean Charles. I was a casual fan as a kid from 1990 until 1993, and 1994 was my first year as a "real" fan going to every game. Charles just had that x-factor (when he wasn't injured). 3. Best moment as a fan? Gee, I want to say the comeback against Freo in '08, but the rest of the season kind of makes it a sad memory overall. I'd have to say it's a tie between our two finals victories against Carlton in 94 and 2000. Growing up in the northern suburbs surrounded by Carlton fans, those wins were pretty sweet, especially considering we were rank outsiders (especially in 94) for both. That 1994 probably takes the cake because we were 7th, they were 2nd and everyone was certain they'd be playing off for the Premiership. We absolutely destroyed them. Chopper Lovell and Sean Charles killed it that day. 4. Worst moment as a fan? Round 2, 2013 vs Essendon. I didn't watch the Geelong loss because I was at a wedding that day. I watched parts of the replay and I think the two losses are considerably different from one another. The Geelong match was a protest. The Essendon match was just genuinely a bunch of spuds that had no idea. 5. Anything else you would like to share? I highly recommend the film "The Perfect Catch" with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. It's about a fanatical Boston Red Sox fan who goes to every game and watches every away match, win, lose or draw. The film is set on the backdrop of the Red Sox winning their first World Series in 80-odd years. It's a bit of a cheesy rom-com but I appreciated it from a Melbourne fan's perspective. There's one scene in particular that gets to me. They're in the park and she asks him why he's so invested in something that he can't control, and something that continually lets him down. And her response: I think that scene in particular sums up a lot of us here. God have mercy on us.

If we lose to Brisbane, I'm smacking $100 down on us to finish last. If we can't get up for that match, we won't win another one for the year. Holy [censored], this is EXACTLY like last year. have mercy on me, flogs, for I am lost.

Last quarter, AFL Members wing. I think it was Brayshaw that screamed at Jones "Use the first [censored] option!" What's very obvious is that so often, almost at every stoppage, we over-possess and normally lose possession. Comically, the best option is rarely used, which is worrying. Jones, Lumumba and Dunn are the biggest culprits here. When we were down by 2, Jones had the ball on the wing and had Harmes or maybe Viney standing right there, open, waiting for the handball. Jones completely ignored him and got gang tackled. The ball spilled free and they regained possession at a pivotal moment. Sums up the day. That "individual" thing Roos was talking about. There's a handful of footballers who don't seem to trust others with the ball under pressure. It ruins the team dynamic and we always lose when that's the case. I don't think any team breaks down on team fundamentals as efficiently as Melbourne does. There are major psychological issues still with this team, and I sense an egotistical element as well. I don't think any player at the club has the right to claim to know what's best for the team, especially the players that epitomise the losing culture and have been at the club throughout this era (Dunn, Garland, Jones). Some of these players are so used to losing, they seem to have lost faith in what it takes to be a good team. It's quite evident.

I'm sorry but I thought we were beaten convincingly today. Bombers were never going to win by 10 goals, but they were always going to win. 1. Our midfield was on top and Gawn rucked well (probably our best on the day) but our midfield's drive forward was erratic and inept. That evened it out in the end. 2. You can't possibly suggest our defense held its own when a forward kicks 5.0, all of which came at pivotal moments. 3. Our forward line was constantly out-positioned. Garlett tackled and chased hard but the forwards spoiled themselves. It was a very selfish game by Howe and Hogan. 4. They seemed to always have two spares in our forward line, and too often was there no forward going up for the contest. 5. There was dysfunction all around the ground. I saw Brayshaw and later Hogan both yell at experienced players on the AFL Members wing. One player (I think it was Brayshaw) yelled at Jones and said, "Use the first [censored] option!" Overall, if we played anyone bar a bottom 4 side, we would have been stitched up easily by 10 goals. We were very lucky to have been playing Essendon, but they were always a little more structured and coherent going forward. They are not a good team, but we're worse.

No, he is a spud. Kicking 5.0 straight against Melbourne doesn't make you any less of a spud. Evidently, *only* doing it against Melbourne makes you *more* of a spud.

If anyone from the club comes out and gives us condescending "we were flat" [censored], I'm going to divorce myself from this football club. We will NEVER turn the corner.

This is pathetic. We will never be anything other than a crap club. We will never turn the corner.

Game over.

If we lose this, we will finish last

Lol