Adam The God

It's not up to me to come up with the reasons for our failure. We are not paid the big bucks and I don't have all the information. It would be folly. I can only comment on what I see during our matches. If there's something going on behind the scenes, we need to address that internally and that's up to the leadership within the club.

Agreed and it highlights for me the importance of confidence and getting early wins on the board. We talk about game style and structures a lot, but if you're getting beaten every week playing a certain way, you start to not believe in what you're doing and hope that changes come (ie a new pre season). It's a bit like when the figurative dam wall breaks in the fourth quarter of a game and a team knows they can't win, all of a sudden, a game that was close becomes a blow out. They start to go through the motions, knowing they can't win. That's where we've been for much of the season and it's why under Roos, getting as many pre season wins as possible to build momentum going into the season proper, was the rhetoric out of the FD at the time. With a softer draw next year, if we can build momentum early like Collingwood did up until the bye in 2018 (minus their first two games) and even we did through that 6 game stretch last year, anything can happen at the pointy end of a season with a bit luck, confidence and work rate. Just look at Brisbane.

Too black and white for me mate. There's a third 'grey' category, which combines both perspectives. Injuries, lack of pre seasons, failure of game plan, failure to adjust in game (goes to leadership and coaching) and a lack of are just a few reasons. I haven't read too many posts that merely say it's injuries. In fact, has anyone said injuries are the ONLY reason? As for @praha's reasonable response, I disagree with some of the sentiment and it might actually point to why he may be struggling to get others to follow him in his worksphere. Failure is essential to learning. If you don't accept failure, you can't learn. That is why I feel very little frustration this year and have basically tuned out of the season (outside of Melbourne games). I'm looking forward to next year, because we need changes and we need adjustments. We don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but we do need to learn from our failure of 2019. A finish outside of the 8 next year is unacceptable, because it will have meant we haven't planned ahead and learnt from our failure.

Seriously mate? You think he's the sooky type? Based on what? This is twaddle.

Langdon is Jayden Hunt-like (circa 2016-2017), only he gets more of the ball. I'll back our FD if that's who they want, but he wouldn't have me jumping around with excitement.

Haven't caught this yet, but will do. My favourite producer John Battsek (multiple Oscar winner) has also produced a new Adam Goodes doco THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM that Madman are theatrically releasing in the coming weeks. It'll be interesting to watch both films and see what they offer. Darling's film THE FINAL QUARTER is what he is known for. Social impact docs that are philanthropically financed and should evoke debate and spotlight an issue/issues. It's interesting that Goodes decided to be involved in two different documentaries about his life (at practically the same time), so I'd say they have different trajectories. Check out THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM too if you can.

I would have thought your last point undercuts what you said in your OP. They pushed hard to keep VDB and let Kent go.

Kent's kicking is iffy at best. Terrible call. Kent was allowed to go elsewhere because he was far too inconsistent. Im no VDB fan but at least he shows consistent work rate, hence the contract offer.

Our midfield's biggest problem is that it doesn't defend. We basically have 3 attackers and one defensive mid at every stoppage. That's great if we win it, although the opposition expects this and closes us down. But if we lose it, we basically surrender a score going the other way with only one tackler defending. I reckon we a need a new midfield coach and a new game plan at stoppages, or at least a more adaptable stoppage game.

It was 191cm. Ridiculous comments from our Freak.

I wouldn't trade him, but his defensive game is weak and a big problem.

Today was a perfect example of what has seen us rooted to the foot of the ladder, but similarly, the problem holds the answer to how we can bounce back quickly next year. The key reason we lost today was our impotence at ground level in our forwardline, both from a ground-ball-gets capacity and from a tackling pressure standard. It means that we end up doing most of our defending in our back half. This is unsustainable. We need to be looking at what Geelong did over the last off season. They injected 3 or 4 players into their forwardline that apply manic pressure, provide x factor and generally create a contest that enables them to lock the ball inside their 50. Due to our midfield dominance, we will bounce back quickly if we address this severe and obvious flaw in our game and our best 22. I'd look at trying to lure 1 or 2 zippy forwards from the likes of Richmond, and then add some more class through the midfield with our first pick in the upcoming draft. It seems crazy to say it given how poor we've been this year, but with a fit list to choose from, I think we can bounce back, but it's up to Goody and whoever our new high performance manager ends up being. The high performance program needs to be top notch, we need to be relatively injury-free and Goodwin needs to develop a more rounded and adaptable game style. In regards to the game today, I thought Petty's marking (just as it was last week) was impressive and I like his relaxed kicking action. He's another Lever. I'm excited by what we could see from him in the future, but also over the next 6 weeks. Petracca continued to provide a good contest in the forward half and should have had at least 2 goals today. His ball drop ensured he didn't have an easy third goal around the body. I've never seen such a skilled player fail to kick the ball around his body like Petracca does and I can only assume it's a ball drop thing. I can't remember him ever kicking a snap around his body that has goaled. He's missed plenty doing this though. Most AFL players find this the easier option, so it is a little baffling. Still, he continues to show consistency, which is all I would ask of him this season. I thought as a team, we tried to lower our eyes a lot more going inside 50 (this is a trend at Marvel - we tend to do this more), but I think we played the wrong game style for Marvel and the Bulldogs. Due to our slow play, we allowed the Bulldogs to consistently get numbers behind the ball and make us kick to a contest. However, when we moved the ball quickly and played on, we looked a million dollars. I liked that Goodwin finally threw Fritsch forward (he should have had three goals in just over a quarter) and May, but I think Goody has a bit to learn about game style. Knowing when to play slower and knowing when to go. For the most part, you need to go quickly against the Bulldogs and for the most part, it pays off on a small ground like Marvel. The other thing about our game from back to front is that we are one of the only teams who never look to set up for the switch. We don't have a dominant contested markers (Max is good floating down back, but rarely gets it done on the wings or in the forward half), yet we end up being highly predictable, kicking it down the line and often surrendering possession as a result. With May, Lever and even Hibberd in the team now, we should be using their penetrating kicking to switch more often. I think it was @titan_uranus who was saying in another thread today that if we bring a new brand of defensive pressure to our forwardline, we will climb back up the ladder relatively quickly. I agree and I hope Goodwin is thinking similarly.

At least he's a genuine crumber and pressure forward with x factor. We could do with a bit more of that.

Goddard has always been a muppet. If Melbourne traded Clarry, that'd be it for me.

I agree with this. Gawn 90% ruck and 10% forward, Preuss vice versa.

Agreed, if he can fix his kicking for goal, he'll be a very good player. I'll back him from here.

I'd be playing both of them and resting one forward or back. I like Preuss, but once the ruck contest is over he really stops playing, unlike Max or Grundy, who get involved in the next play. This is where Preuss needs to improve and much of this is about his tank and then developing game sense.

Glad to come away with the victory given we were down to one on the bench for the last quarter. Thought we'd be in trouble, seeing Tom hobble off at 3/4 time. I wondered not only who would kick our goals, but whether we'd completely run out of legs. Special point on Fritsch. I don't understand how we think we can use him in a quarter back role. He may have got a lot of uncontested possessions yesterday, but Carlton let him have it, knowing he'd turn it over. Carlton's first three goals came directly from Fritsch errors. Play him on a wing or play him forward, otherwise his decision making is a liability.

Where am I bashing Weideman? Don't get me wrong. A lot of our forward entries have been abysmal, but so much of our good work has seen our KPFs lead under the ball or flat-hand it. When Weideman attacks the contest he looks a million dollars. The mark on the wing yesterday and his first quarter against Geelong in the Elimination Final show his potential once he has the confidence to fly at the ball. In time, I believe he will. This is what Curnow has on him right now. He throws himself at contests and ironically this can lead to more injuries, but makes him at this stage far more dynamic. I've been critical of Clarry's forward entries in particular this year because he is just about our best kick, but bombs far too often. Game style and coaching will and should change this.

I'm going to write something controversial here. I actually think our delivery to our forwards for most of the year has been fine, but McDonald and Weideman et al have been unable to take strong marks. Today was a really good example of this trend. 5 or 6 times in the first half, McDonald and Weideman got to the right spot, the ball was kicked to them well enough and they failed to take the mark. This often leads to our mids bombing the ball more erratically as the game progresses, because our guys don't take marks when they're kicked to the advantage of our KPFs, so we think may as well try the chaos ball. When I got home, I watched a bit of the GWS/Brisbane game and the marking on a lead or in the contest in that game was poles apart our game. Frost took a couple of really nice marks and Weideman took one on the wing, but apart from that, very little. I'd back Weideman for a few more seasons yet, but would I prefer Curnow? Abso-bloody-utely.

Been critical of Nathan for a long time. I'm on record as saying he shouldn't have played on in 2019, but today, besides a single errand handball, he was very good. I hope we give him a decent send off in Round 22 against Sydney, because he certainly shouldn't play on next year. Make Gawn the captain and if he's up to it, give Jones a mentoring role in the FD.

Fyfe is ordinary in defensive transition and I was hoping Harmes would give him more to think about, but at least he got one goal on him. Fyfe is see ball, get ball and a brilliant marker. I wouldn't have him in the top 10 players in the league, but some people love him. In terms of switching, I was thinking more between the backs. Often a Melbourne back would intercept mark or receive a mark at half back. We'd have May, Hore or Salem set up for the initial switch, which would then release to a quick running player in space like you note Baker or a half forward. Problem was, we didn't have the confidence to hit it. Frost's kicks are too loopy and only May can really kick low and flat to enact the switch. The kicking from Lever, Salem and even Fritsch will be handy in this respect if we set up for the switch. We're far too predictable otherwise.

Love that he's not taking any wins for granted. Showed great leadership today.

We really ground that one out well. We were utterly hopeless at times in the first half and a bit, but finally got our act together lead by Oliver and Gawn. Lockhart is a gem too. The cleanest first year player in a Melbourne jumper since Oliver started. Makes the right decisions and FCS, kicks to the advantage of his other forwards. Steven May's game, in particular, his last ten minutes, was instrumental. He's going to be a beauty for us. Can't wait to get Lever back in there next to him. Our midfield's defensive transition still needs so much work. We get cut up far too easily. If there's one player that was emblematic of today's game it was Tom McDonald. Untidy, a game littered with often terrible decision making and skill execution, but finally managed to get things working in the last quarter and a bit. Some will point to the fact that he was one of our leading disposal getters all day, which is true, but he was laughable in the first half. It was great to see him turn it around in the last though. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Finally, it was interesting to note how many uncontested possessions we had today. I wonder if it's a hint at a new direction? I'd like to see us switch it a whole lot more. May's penetrating kicking will be helpful in this respect.

I'd get Brad Hill with a second rounder, but there's no need for the attitude at the end of your post. Just post your topic and engage properly. I like you as a poster when you stay on topic and don't bait or get baited by others too easily.