praha

It's definitely about me. Do you read my other posts lol

Sorry Demonland fam but I have to do it. Win a Qualifying Final at the MCG - Last win: 2000 QF vs Carlton (2 games, 2 losses)

My reference to 2021 keeps coming up -- I'm not diminishing it. We were far and away the best team. But let's also not pretend that playing in neutral stadiums in front of neutral crowds didn't make it slightly easier.

This is the first time in the modern era with social media and fast information that we are so prevalent in the news cycle. We are consistently playing in front of big crowds, during prime time, against big clubs in big games. We are in the news almost daily. Our supporter base seems tired. Our players lack composure. Even after a flag we still lack respect from the football community. The way teams like Collingwood deal with adversity is to ride the wave and hold on. We seem to struggle. I feel like we are still dealing with the challenge of expectation, of wanting to be a big club, being let into the big boys club, but not actually being a big club. We almost seem out of place here. It's just an observation -- maybe I'll be proven wrong on Friday but it's never been harder for me to imagine us winning a final or even a flag in front of 100k at the MCG. Let alone against a powerhouse club. There's a sense of being "spooked" and it was evident on Thursday night for mine. And now with what's happened with Maynard... I almost feel like Melbourne people are spitting the dummy more than I've ever seen a fanbase do before. We struggle to let go of both the good and the bad and it's to our detriment as a club and fanbase. I struggle with it myself. But I wonder when we'll genuinely put to bed the spooks and silent our critics once and for all. 2021 wasn't enough, we felt like it was, the pressure gauge was tightened and now here we are.

The injury dilemma has never really impacted us. We've gone chunks of the season without Gawn and Oliver, missed Fritsch for a third, JVR has been in and out of the squad, and we are still amonst the leaders in the league in most stats. It might have been the difference in our losses but we were still on top in all of them except Essendon and most of the Gabba game. Composure has definitely hurt us and even at full strength we struggled at times with this. I'll be so disappointed and disheartened if we don't win on Friday. Carlton is good but we are objectively better across the board. Not to understate the Blues at all but this goes beyond just being a "must win" for us. It has to be a formality on the way to at least a Prelim. Not winning this week marks the season a failure in my mind. Statistically, it would be a huge anomaly for us to not at least make a Prelim over the past two seasons.

I just watched snippets of Goodwin's press conference on Instagram. He looks exhausted. https://instagram.com/stories/melbournefc/3189969459331402096?igshid=ODk2MDJkZDc2Zg==

I'm as doom and gloom as the next Demonlander but we should beat Carlton.

Carlton will be lucky to get passed us and if they do Brisbane will beat them by 80 points.

sorry I don't remember what happened then i literally didn't exist and my parents barely existed. what happened.

No doubt we have choked big time in big time games against good opposition at the MCG in pivotal games. 3x finals at the MCG. 3x against Collingwood at the MCG. Richmond have been average the past two seasons. You'd think we'd beat them. But we seem spooked in front of big crowds. I'm not understating the significance of the 2021 flag. It was no fluke. But it was always played on neutral grounds in front of neutral crowds with minimal hostility. Friday is going to be rough and no different. Unless we win you can lock in the choking narrative being parroted by opposing supporters and the media. And rightfully.

I'd rest him and bring in Grundy.

We were so good in 2021 if we play even remotely below that it's seen as playing "poorly". We played okay on Thursday I thought but blew it big time. Questionable if we can turn it around against one of the best defenses in the league. Carlton isn't knocking down the door offensively either. We lower the eyes and play the corridor for max 20 minutes a game. I miss the days when we'd blow a game over at the start.

Wait you mean this isn't an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Seems about right actually. And probably what it was last Thursday. Capacity: 100k Club member allocation: 25% (25k) - Melbourne: 12.5k - Carlton: 12.5k AFL Reserve: 30% (30k) Estimated: - Melbourne: 3k - Carlton 20k - Neutrals: 7k MCC: 23% (23k) Estimated: - Melbourne: 15,400 - Carlton: 6k - Neutrals: 2,600 GA: 22% (22k) Estimated: - Carlton: 17,600 - Melbourne, 4,400 Totals: Melbourne: 35,300 Carlton: 56,100 Neutrals: 9,600

Gee whiz they're confident for a team that hasn't been relevant since you could still smoke on planes.

You're forgetting Afl Reserve and GA. Allocation for *club members* is 50:50. Crown was probably 65:35 Collingwood's way last week because AFL Reserve and GA was made up of 90% Collingwood. This week will be no different.

Same. Mum and sister are on level 4 at the back. I used one barcode in "best available". Got M8 on level 1.

It'll tighten as the day progresses. Similar odds for Melb Collingwood before eventually flipping.

No I agree. I want him in.

He gets so lost in the zone that his 4 games this year have been 4 wins again: Adelaide, the best scoring team in the comp. Brisbane, not a bad attacking team. Richmond, with solid scoring potency. And St Kilda, pretty good in zone defense themselves.

Top 4 era since 2000.

Melbourne were favourites from Wednesday afternoon. I posted a quirky stat re. straight sets exists (which we are staring down). I just thought it was tragic and funny. I was confident we would win on Thursday (I'm...sorry?). And we should have, comfortably, and I think we didn't because we choked. I also think it's just funny and frustrating that our best season ever, happened when no one could go to the football and finals were played in neutral stadiums. And now that we are back to normal suddenly we can't win a final, at home, even as favourites and highly fancied. It is *literally* the definition of a choke.

Sorry, I meant we've been gifted a finals run by having 4 in a row at the MCG. And would have never needed to travel if we just got the job done like punters and the general public thought we would. I think we've choked pretty badly now three times in a row on the big stage at the MCG in finals after winning a flag in front of rent-a-crowds. I don't think we can escape that. Carlton is a must win not just for the season but just general headspace and respect in the league. My point about playing Brisbane in week 1 was around the hypothetical of losing, in that given we have lost to Collingwood, in hindsight you'd rather be playing Brisbane in week 1 than in a Prelim, which is the path we are on. It's purely hypothetical. I'm talking best and worst case scenarios. I said a few weeks back that I'd rather play Brisbane in week 1 and guarantee travel early, because that would set you up for 2-3 matches at the MCG if we made the GF (Semi, Prelim against Pies, GF), rather than the risk of losing in week 1 at the MCG (as we have) and now be forced on a path to an elimination in Brisbane. The reality is we fought so hard two seasons in a row to line up a pristine run to the Grand Final. It's not the end of the world and I'm definitely not on a doom spiral. But we've really [censored] up our chances. Yes I know it's a QF, Collingwoof is 1st, this is why you finish top 4 so you get another chance. But we were favourites on Thursday for a reason. And we were spooked. Before choking late.

The flag race really is right open. I reckon if you're GWS or even Carlton you definitely feel like you can steal a flag ala Bulldogs in 2016. A Port win would suddenly open it right up again.

Level 4 is generally fine. But level 1 during Collingwood and Richmond games is always filthy.