praha

Geelong were average and in second gear They should have beaten Brisbane last week The conditions there were brutal. They overran us despite that. Tonight was way worse than it looks.

You find a way. Richmond dominated for two seasons before Lynch arrived with Riewoldt as their tallest forward.

It is absolutely pathetic what has transpired at Melbourne over the past 18 months. 77% of its flag winning squad played tonight. That's 14 on the day and 17 who played at some point during finals. They have zero forward craft, zero midfield craft, and if you take one of May or Lever out of the backline, it completely breaks down. I am just absolutely gobsmacked. To get run over by a team on a 6 day break from playing in 100% humidity and 30 degree weather is completely unacceptable.

The most concerning thing about this is that Geelong is actually quite average and a 40 year old has managed 3 goals and probably should have 5.

Dangerfield. Seriously?

Fritsch, Pickett and Melksham were massive in the third.

They'll start getting on top now.

Trac has a paddock behind him and rides the tackle into traffic....

Jinx! You owe me a coke.

He needs to start clunking them. He looks like Dawes.

Carlton reminds me a lot of Melbourne. Just in no man's land. No gameplan outside of "win the stoppage but if you don't then I dunno just like tackle or something". As soon as they start losing stoppages the avalanche starts.

We'll end up in Heathcote.

Houston gone for 3 weeks.

Cerra and Saad inside 50s put Viney to shame. "Woof" alright.

Read my post again. Having injuries during COVID seasons was the worst time to be hit. And I've never personally said our injuries at the moment aren't a reasonable excuse for our struggles.

The Eagles were hit hard by injuries during COVID which was the worst time because every club's football department were gutted to cut costs, at the AFL's demand. We were the exact opposite and won the flag. They never recovered. Their biggest mistake was not having a first round pick for years on end... hardly Simpson's fault. He coached them to two Grand Finals including a flag against the Pies at the 'G in one of the all time greats. They were flying for pretty much all of the 2010s. He and his team squandered post COVID, sure, but it was timing more than anything that hurt them.

Thinking of all the players currently well down on form: Petracca Viney Oliver Rivers Petty Lever Fritsch Salem JVR Gawn That is literally our spine. And mostly mid to late 20s. All of those players would walk into the top 22 at any club in the top 8 and probably top 4. If we can't compete for a top 8 spot with this playing group then you absolutely need to start looking at the coaching group. It's rare that a playing group doesn't "love" their coach.

We won't lose all three. We've also clearly drafted for life after them.

I don't disagree. What a sad predicament, really.

Honestly I'd rather keep Oliver because in my eyes he's more of a club man. He's a 4x B&F winner and just seems more genuine to me. Nothing against Trac at all but I've turned off him a bit since the off seasons. Seems the only reason he's "happy at Melbourne" is because a trade was always going to be impossible to get done.

Brisbane lost their first three games by a combined margin of less than we lost on the weekend.

Cats fans on Bigfooty really aren't confident...

I agree a lot of people are overreacting but last year from the Dockers game onwards was poor. Remember we also put in a no show on Queen's Birthday, lost to the Eagles, gave up a 50 point lead vs North, and had multiple 8+ goal losses. There were some good wins in there too but broadly in was a poor end to the year. Shocking is an overstatement though.

This is not just a season defining match for this club: it is truly club defining. And wouldn't it just be typical that after three straight losses to start the season in Melbourne, our one win would come in Geelong of all places where maybe 10 of us might actually be able to snag a ticket.

Even Hawthorn when they were bad were playing with structure and dare.