Adam The God

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.

Why would they signpost this?

I disagree. Viney reminds me of where Cotchin was a few years ago. Could barely kick over 40 metres and struggled to impact on games. I think injury has clearly curtailed Jack's game and I think with a free run at it and some good coaching, he will offer what we need. But he needs to evolve his game from a player who tries to take on everyone. He's not big enough, so he needs to play the percentages where possible and focus on bringing other players into the game with his ferocious attack on the player and ball. I think Max should be his co-captain though.

Disagree with this to a point. IMO he was good but not great. His problem today was he looked to overuse the handball at times (a trend for him in 2019). But IMO there were certainly times where his handballs set players off on their way into space. However, the best exponent of the attacking handball today was Harmes. He should be really proud of his progress as a player.

We should take best available in the draft. If that's a midfielder, great. Improve the system and as Collingwood have shown, ordinary players can become role players and wins eventually come. We'll also have a softer draw next year. If we get a new system working, we could jump straight back up.

I thought their first quarter was excellent. Their pressure was A grade and they completely controlled the territory battle. After quarter time, our midfield stepped up, but our ineptness going forward and our inability to defend lost us the game.

Gawn and Harmes were brilliant. Unfortunately, our midfield (with the exception of the two aforementioned players) doesn't know how to defend in transition. Until we fix this, we won't be a top 8 threat, let alone top 4 threat. Petracca is trying his guts out but IMO the coaches have completely ruined his confidence. He looks to pass off at every opportunity inside 50 and has done, since last year's ridiculous review of a single selfish effort. Goodwin is not going to make it as a senior coach unless he bites the bullet at the end of the season and changes the game style. Simple as that. We also need fresh ideas and fresh coaches to implement them next year. We need Salem, Fritsch and KK all playing forward of centre / on the wings. Our ball use going inside is still ridiculous and is rarely to the advantage of the forwards. We need genuine crumbers in our forward half with speed. Jeff is done. He's too soft and inconsistent. He is the only genuine crumber we currently have. I hope we're scouring the country for a couple of speedsters with an ability to crumb. We need another genuine KPF to support Weideman. Tom McDonald is a good second or third fiddle, nothing more. The way things are going, both McDonald's will be off our list at the expiry of their current contracts, but I thought Weid showed some good signs today. I think we'll struggle to win 5 games this year. It's all well and good to say our kicking was off, so it wasn't lost in the coaches box, but we have such little system to our play that it's time the blow torch was put fairly and squarely on Goodwin and co IMO.

But we are on a football forum and I think we should acknowledge (as @Nasher often does) that each of us gets something a little different out of Demonland. Venting is certainly one of many things people get out of forums (myself included at times). If football fans aren't allowed an opinion on football players, there'd be no football media industry. People are passionate and it's my view that they should be allowed to say what they want (within reason), as long as they can stand up and have their own opinions debated.

I'm consulting on a project for the ABC about millennial mental health and the importance of talking about your mental health. Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness and it makes other humans relate to us better. It's how I form many relationships and it's how I run productions. We all have occasionally difficult times at work. Every human does. Footy players are no different. Those that play must have a passion and love for it, but it doesn't mean each and every player wouldn't go through difficult spells with their mental health. I hope Sam has the physical and mental tools to make it, but Sam being open about his mental health should not play into this conversation IMO. Doesn't mean he'll make it, but doesn't mean he won't either.

Seriously? I thought we'd dispensed with this pathetic retort. It means nothing. What top level sport have you ever played to validate any of your opinions?

He may not want to, but it depends on whether he still loves the club.

Don't get me wrong. I don't necessarily think you need a dominant KPF to win a flag, but it certainly helps.

SOS seems to have done alright with the spine, but it's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel with all the #1 picks they've had, let alone first rounders. I'm on record as panning SOS' time at GWS for the same reasons. They had all the concessions you could hope for in order to get that club up and running and he made some good calls, but a hell of a lot of misses. The article I read when Bolton got the sack certainly brought up SOS as being under the microscope too. As should be the case. Pity Bolton got the sack though, because he was an ordinary coach and I was hoping Carlton would remain pathetic for many seasons to come. This might now hit the re-set button. Surely, they won't go with another newbie. My money's on Ratten. Carlton has the stench of the old boy's club that the MFC had about it, prior to PJ's arrival. I concur with those saying there's more to go here.

Collingwood haven't won a flag, but you could certainly argue Cox fills this need.

There's no way Oscar lost us that game, but it's as clear as day now, that he's not good enough. His positioning is terrible, his body strength actually seems to be getting worse and due to a perennial lack of confidence, he consistently makes the wrong decision. I backed him for a few years, but my patience ran out at the start of 2018. Clearly, the patience of the FD was exhausted around the same time, if not the season prior. Frost is an improving option and while Petty develops and May and Lever are injured, he's good support. Oscar has not improved and should no longer have a place in this side once May and Lever are back. I'd be playing May, Lever, Hore, Frost, Hibberd and Jetta back there in 2020, enabling Salem to move further up the ground with KK (if he can stay on the park).

I'm not particularly interested in reflecting on too much about the game, but I did say to my mum who I was watching with tonight, midway through the third quarter, when we were 31 points up and Sloane was out, 'we won't lose it from here, they're a man down and he's their best mid, if we do, it'll be one of the worst loses of the last decade'. Sure enough, this football club managed to deliver again what no other can. Pathetic really. When the game was there to be taken, we shirked a bunch of chest marks and blazed away and missed sodas in that last quarter that would have buried the opposition. The only real positive for me out of this game (aside from the moments of good ball movement when Adelaide switched off), is the continued form of young Oskar Baker. He shows poise under pressure, in traffic and makes the right decisions more often than not. He looks like a real find. Well done recruitment and development team, and well done, young man.

We talk about Oscar and for good reason, but I reckon Tom is on par with him. Oscar rarely manages to halve contests, let alone win them, while Tom rarely marks anything, let alone kicks goals. 10 from 11 games is a pathetic return for a player of his maturity. The delivery has been rubbish, blah, blah, blah, but he doesn't mark the bloody thing.

Why is there a thread about Jeremy Cameron? Has this come up in the media or is the OP just throwing it out there based on nothing?

Oliver started at full forward in the last quarter. I think they do throw him forward at times, but eventually you have to try and get him into his best position in the midfield. I like that he's taken a couple of contested marks recently. If he can add that to his game, he'll be able to kick a few more goals as a result when played one out in the forward line. Contested marking is what Cripps has on him at this stage, but Clarry is a much better kick.

Of course, I'm not inside the walls of the football club. All I can see is what I see on the football field and since this allegedly happened, his confidence has never seemed to be quite the same. Speculation without talking to Petracca, but there is certainly a correlation. As for Stretch, that's for all to see. He's gone into his shell over many seasons now, as he's been in and out of the side. And until this year, regularly only got one shot at it at a time. On the football field, he seems to have come back each time, weaker for it.

A lot more to it than that. As someone who is a coach, every player has different triggers. I'd argue he's had to wear quite a bit of expectation and hype. He's having a good season and his mental frailty only seems to come into it when he's taking set shots and he overthinks things. He wouldn't be the first AFL footballer to go through that.