praha

Carlton had 2 spares in their forward line from a centre clearance. Tell me we're not choking and this isn't an absolute hack coaching job so far.

choke choke choke

spooked again

getting absolutely nothing. we are held at every contest.

Langdon and Salem just don't have the energy for finals.

Our players need to play for free kicks more. May, Oliver, Gawn, and McDonald have been manhandled beyond belief.

Kozzie actually BOG so far

Langdon is killing us.

Melbourne supporters selling their tickets. I know 3 Melbourne fans who did just that to bandwagon Carlton supporters. I waa furious when I found out and told them they'd sold tickets in a Melbourne support area. They were oblivious.

Last week it was a 60:40 crowd in Collingwood's favour. Just assessing the crowd tonight we'll be lucky if it's 80:20.

We've somehow shortened to $1.66. I don't understand it.

Hibberd sub for mine.

Seriously...

I love Hibberd but it's clear to me we are just better overhead and even at ground level with Tomlinson. Hibberd is the smarter player and better run-with player but if we're to win on Friday then Tomlinson will be better for the run ahead of battling Elsa and Porpois Spit in the Lions forward line.

you just know that essendon will end their finals streak against us.

yes i remember watching in on the couch in my underwear.

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.