Adam The God

Peak beautifully? Sydney murdered them a fortnight ago and the Suns gave them a run for their money last week. But each to their own.

I can't stand most of their guys. Weightman is particularly punchable though. They're building a forwardline of puncuable heads to compliment their midfield of muppets.

They didn't look like scoring for large chunks of every quarter. Basically it was a pattern. We'd dominate them for the first 15+ minutes of each quarter, fail to capitalise on enough of our work and then we'd let them get an easy entry for an easy goal that kept the lead at 2 to 3 goals. We didn't dominate them for 100% of the game, but IMV we dominated them in every quarter for large spells. It was like 2018 Melbourne at times.

Oh and that was one of the least influential 30 possession games you'll ever see from Petracca. Defensively he was nowhere too. And they went to school on Gawn again. They just held onto him prior to every contest just enough to stop him jumping. And since Jackson seems to have fallen off a cliff, we had no plan B that was strong enough to provide Max a chop out or a change up.

Sure, they had Keath out and then Richards down, but we dominated them for 4 quarters and failed to capitalise in front of goal. I just don't rate the Bulldogs. I thought we were, with the exception of Oliver, and a few moments from Viney forward of centre, woeful, but with 10 minutes to go we were 4 points down. JJ takes the mark in the goalsquare and we're in front. But goalkicking has now cost us 4 wins (Adelaide, GWS, Hawthorn and tonight). Brown kicks those gimmes and I think we comfortably overrun them. I was pleased to see Gus back to the wing and Viney forward. Two good moves. Gus started okay, but faded I felt. Whereas, Viney was brilliant inside 50 and his attack on the ball carrier was exactly what we needed there, but it's time to shelve his midfield minutes. It's never been more obvious than tonight. He was a deadset liability at stoppages. He is the key reason our mids are bees to the honeypot. He just mindlessly hunts the ball carrier and completely exposes us on the outside. You certainly can't afford that against the Bulldogs. That's their entire game. Burn you on the outside as they flick it (and I mean flick it) to their receivers. But back to the bees to the honeypot, it wasn't just in the midfield that we failed to trust team mates to get the job done. I thought repeatedly we were done on the outside between the arcs and inside attacking 50, when multiple players swarmed the one Bulldog player, only for them to flick it out to a free Bulldog. We also seemed to take too long to adjust to the wet weather and played too fancy with the handball. We weren't clean either, particularly in the first half. I thought Salem was terrible, not just fumbly, but poor in the contest. Hunt tried hard but his kicking is a real worry. No drive or cleanness from Rivers or Hibberd. As for Brown, you have to wonder whether playing under a roof a lot of the time for North shaded his true accuracy in the midst of inclement weather. He just couldn't handle the conditions. I don't think I can remember seeing him kick so poorly. It's a conundrum because he actually takes marks and gets to the right spots, but if he's not kicking them, is he much better than Weideman? The answer is yes, but it will cost us games and potential finals. We didn't really have any winners forward of centre in the first half, perhaps Fritsch, but our lack of potency in the forward half has become an Achilles heel in the second half of the season, and much of this is down to accuracy. JJ, Jackson and Rivers all really struggled and Kozzy continued to make the easy look difficult, but I did love his pressure and attack on the ball. Tonight though is the first time I've felt we are relying on too many young guys to play important roles. I think it'd be worth resting JJ for Sparrow, Jackson for Weideman and Bowey for Rivers. Maybe not all in the same week but over the next two weeks. I'd much prefer to have some concerns now than come finals, but this evening was bitterly disappointing. Our defensive game was off (leaving Daniel free and then Bontempelli twice is not good enough), but so was our offence. The fact we only went down by what we did says a bit about our system and a bit about the Bulldogs.

Can I just say, the way umpires are officiating the holding the ball rule is a blight on the game. I guarantee tonight we'll be pulling our hair out at the lack of holding the ball.

I have a feeling it might be about Jordon and Viney. They want a pure mid as an inside slider from half forward. Viney did it earlier in the season, as did JJ and now Gus is doing it.

Agree with all that, but Harmes must tag Libba. Let's not get too cute here. Stop it at the source and see if they have another way of winning. As for Vanders, the idea that he should stay in because he's tough doesn't hold up for mine. We could get some tough bloke off the street and that wouldn't make him a guaranteed starter. I've yet to see a worse handballer at AFL level and his kicking is suspect too. I think our system is strong enough now that we don't need a player that is simply tough or sets the tone. Intensity should be a mandatory requirement for all of our players.

You definitely get the sense that the AFL world is a bubble, so it makes sense that some can see the forest through the trees. Players are also often looking for short term success (ie within their playing careers), so naturally go for those who are up right at this moment and appear to give little thought to what that club might look like in 2-3 years. That said, our list has been rated within the footballing community for a while, despite not getting it to click consistently, which is why we've been able to attract the likes of Lever, May, Langdon and to a lesser extent Brown.

Hore was a turnover merchant IMV. A good interceptor, who would then hand the ball straight back to the opposition by foot. Very Tom McDonald when he was a key back. I reckon if Turner comes along a bit in the remaining few weeks of the year, that could spell trouble for Hore. But maybe Marty is an ideal player for the rookie list given his injury history. For the way we play the game, we need a lot of key back depth in case of injuries.

If playing on their home turf, I'd agree

Nah, 1st will play 4th and 2nd will play 3rd. The top 3 will likely be made up of us, Bulldogs and Geelong. It's that 4th spot that's up for grabs.

It's early days yet, but Rowell could be another.

I do question their ceiling if Curnow doesn't get on the park, but as we've seen with our list (and Richmond's on a greater scale), providing you've got good role players around the stars, the rest can click.

You're talking about Dow? I don't rate him, but each to their own. Yep, agreed, I'm most worried about them. More so than the Dogs, who haven't really changed their game plan significantly in 5 years.

Win the flag and the landscape almost completely changes...

I reckon they'll click next year. Need the pre season to get their defensive mechanism clicking. If they get that sorted, look out. Their midfield depth is still poor and bringing in guys like Williams on big coin to play there and then not, is a big list problem. They need at least two more decent mids.

Agreed. I reckon finishing 1st is vital, because first will likely play a home qualifying final against an injury hit Brisbane or flakey Port for a place in the prelim.

Keep Bulldogs guessing mate. ?

I'm torn on this. I don't mind the multiple talls jumping for the same ball. Obviously not spoiling each other ideally, but as strange as that sounds, it makes our ball movement even more predictable for our smalls. Ideally we get it 1v1 on a lead, but if not, it's not the worst result IMO. I think it's only a matter of time before BBB gets on the end of 3 or 4. I hope it's this week! If the Bulldogs still fail to get through us that bodes well for finals. I have a feeling we'll be playing Bulldogs the first week.

I agree with this generally. And I'd say there clearly is a trend against weaker opposition not to get the job done, but we constantly bring the right mental attitude to the bigger games and as many have said, we simply can't be up every week. Recent historical premiers have been through a similar experience. The big thing is that we are Melbourne, with a history, a backlog of failure and mental fragility. This team however is on top and is clearly the best team in the competition. The only reason the media are wary is because it's the Melbourne Football Club, and like us supporters, as you rightly point out, they have a history to look back on of failure. They are therefore skeptical. If any other team had dominated the top 4 teams like we have, there'd be no doubt from commentators. As for the flakey 2004 team that managed to get itself to the top for a solitary week, schooling a team that's been on top for the majority of the year and comfortably accounted for all major contenders, well, it's laughable.

And in opposition news, Lachie Neale has injured himself at training. If we can stay fit and healthy we'll win the flag. The opposition are all dropping like flies. Is this where Burgo helps win us a flag?

Because we smashed the Bulldogs last time, are on top of the ladder and haven't lost to a top 8, let alone top 4 side. That could be the reason...

It might also explain why Libba was rested this week too.

It seems to me that we want Viney majority midfield in finals, so we're essentially rehearsing continuity and connection now. Problem is I think Jack will be much more effective used in bursts through the midfield, but majority forward, like he was earlier in the season. It's a bad move, but I reckon the FD are showing their hand on the set up we want for finals. IMV, Jack should be forward, Petracca should be more middle, Gus should be on the defensive wing and JJ used as the defensive mid.