Adam The God

Should have centred it. Really liked his handball to I think Jones through traffic to release him into space. It took good vision and skill to execute. Bring him back next week.

The delivery to him against St Kilda was very good. He had two from Jones on a plate, very early. He did kick 5 goals, so obviously, when we clean up our delivery to him, he will really start to impact games. He still needs to bring that forward pressure though.

I think people are referring to Hogan's attitude, more than his ability to impact the contest. But to an extent I agree. He's still gonna be a beauty, but this prima dona stuff has to be looked at. Particularly, if it's going to impact on his ability to chase and work like say Jeff Garlett (9 tackles and most on the ground today). Not sure about that. I think he was worse last week. But there's always a caveat. As above, he's a first year key forward.

Unfortunately, we're gonna be served this sort of stuff semi-regularly, with so many inexperienced players on our list and indeed in our best 22. Even the blokes who are considered a little more experienced are under 22 years of age. I wonder if Howe's general attitude and unwillingness to work hard is rubbing off on Hogan? He was pretty petulant today.

Because he has a Plan A and a Plan B. 1) A very good and aggressive forward tap, where one of our other mids blocks for Bernie Vince or Nathan Jones and it gets whisked away for a clean clearance. Or 2) This dinky right or left handed look-away reverse tap over the back. He did this in the 41 seconds against St Kilda and said that he'd learnt from it, but he continues to do it. I reckon I've seen it come off a handful of times ever and he is now doing it more than ever before. Don't even get me started on his tapping into space, goal-side in defensive 50, where there are no MFC players. He did it at least 2 or 3 times today. It just puts our defenders and mids under extreme pressure. Gawn either needs to tell his team mates where he's tapping to or his team mates need to know where it's going, otherwise he needs to stop doing it. It's really as simple as that. If he keeps doing it, he's nullifying his influence in the ruck and actually handing it to the opposition. Ultimately, I think it comes down to midfield set ups, midfield rules and clear communication. Goodwin and Stafford need to be on top of this.

Every time McDonald has the ball in his hands, I expect the absolute worst. One of the worst kicks I've ever seen. Simon Godfrey was better, I reckon. So I agree with you that some were tougher than others, but we missed at least 10 very gettable shots. You don't win games of footy if that happens and when it is so severe, like it was today, it really does become a mental thing. It deflates the team doing the hard work to get the scoring shot and then perks up the opposition. Yeah, the ball movement in Geelong was the best I can remember from a Melbourne team. I'm still stoked I was at the game, because it's such a bloody rarity. Tyson and McDonald are still kids too. Yeah, but I'd also love to know the hit out stats for the third term. That was the term that it seemed to me that Gawn struggled to win the centre hit out. It showed, given they kicks 6 goals to our 1.

Oh yeah. Righto. An MFC player goes up to Lloyd and says we can't handle big wins. Fark off, Lloyd. How was JKH underdone? Give me a break. Roos has done wonders for this club. He makes mistakes, no he's not a messiah, he's human, but we will see results. I still think we'll win 6-8 games this year and that's progress. I'm as [censored] as the next person that we won't be playing finals or that 6-8 wins is progress, but from where we're coming from, we're showing improvement. 10-12 wins should be our aim next year. Thanks for the break down, mate. Would agree with all of those points too.

Their defenders read it better than our forwards in that sense too and as GRRM outlined, our forwards failed to bring the ball to the ground often enough. Wasn't Watts the one that kicked it to Hogan? Lol. Let's have this discussion after the game next week, HH. Bang.

They're looking at the hit outs and being stupidly wowed by them. Wake up, Demonland. Says it all, really. That's more like it, olisik. I completely disagree.

We played their third string midfield. I wouldn't get too excited. Goal kicking wasn't too flash either. Let's just call it the basics of the game. We also fail to do the team things far too regularly.

Oh, come on, mate. Now you're clutching at straws. Was Vince's shot in the third tough? Even Howe's earlier miss in the pocket. That's not a particularly difficult snap. McDonald kicked two on the full in the last. Viney misses his, Dawes kicks 3 or 4 points, Jones missed a carbon copy of the one he kicked at the top of the 4th down in Geelong etc etc. They were all very gettable and should have been. I said this too. The second one he kicked on the full, Tyson was standing pretty much next to him without a player within 15-20m. I'd back Tyson to kick the goal before McDonald. Our blokes never talk to each other and they never shepherd for one and other. That's why we see MFC players caught so regularly or turning it over.

He was alright in the first quarter, but he was absolutely killed in the premiership quarter and in the fourth continually tapped down the throat of the opposition, with look away dinky rubbish. He had one great centre clearance in the last, which was a tad fortunate anyway. We weren't good but we kicked 7.18. No idea. He played against McKernan and failed to give our midfielders first use anywhere near enough. In the first quarter, he was one of our best. After that he was well and truly beaten. A pathetic effort given who he was playing on. At one stage, he had 38 hit outs, 10 to advantage. I think most of those 10 to advantage came in the first quarter, because he barely hit another MFC jumper after that.

Just on this, where the feck is the shepherding from our blokes? We never shepherd! It's a basic f-ing skill. Put your body between your opponent's. It's infuriating. It's been going on all year too. Why has one of the coaches not picked up on it and if they have, why aren't the players taking notice? They all fail to do it most of the time. Exactly. Had we kicked straight I think it's pretty safe to say we would have won it. We had to generate all those shots on goal in the first place...

I agree with most of that. Two weeks in a row I've agreed with Olisik. Hurley was playing off Hogan, but not by 30m (understand you're exaggerating).

9 times out of 10, Tommy Mac couldn't hit the side of a barn from 5 metres away.

Worries me too, mate. Agreed.

Bit unfair on Garlett, who had the most tackles on the ground. Thought he was beaten one on one and positioning-wise though.

We did that a bit, but we were too cute far more often. It from stemmed from that arrogant way we were playing. Had we kicked straight we would have won easily. Hope our players learn from that. That sort of arrogance lost Geelong the game a couple of weeks back.

Which game were you watching? Are you a Jamar fan as well? I'd love to know how many of those hit outs were ineffective or directly down the opposition's throat.

We see it differently here, mate. We lost this because we were playing dry weather, over possessive, cute football. We need to move it quicker and longer inside 50 and the forwards needed to bring the ball to the ground a lot more. It didn't help Jesse was ordinary again and Jeffy's man killed him. Dawes was actually in our top 5 players, with his harrassing and his tap work was superior to Gawn's, which says an awful lot.

Just want to single out one player. Max Gawn. One of the worst performances I can remember up against a nobody. His dinky little flicks over the back to Essendon players was the low light for me of a thoroughly pathetic day for this football club. One that still manages to surprise me (I dunno how), with its ineptness.

Utter disgrace. Mark Neeld-like ineptness today. The lack of intensity, the laconical, lazy, arrogant way we played is an absolute [censored] disgrace.

Have to be better than that. The errors and poor decision-making is killing us. Pathetic first half.

Had a moment of autism. Apologies.

True. And we've had it used against us, so as far as I'm concerned, we're owed one.