Dr. Gonzo

We just couldn't buy a goal and they kicked one every time they went forward. We actually dominated the game from midway through the 2nd until midway through the 3rd but only kicked one goal. We had something like 20 inside 50s in a row! They then take it down and kick 4 goals from 4 inside 50s and the games done. The result is disappointing but it's not the end of the world. We get a chance to reset against the Bombers on Friday who have enough problems of their own. People need to have some faith, far too many just want to get stuck in and jump off the minute things look too hard.

He needs to play primarily as a mid. We have enough forwards and his creativity kicking into the forward 50 is sorely needed. Probably won't happen this year on the back of an interrupted preseason but he is definitely not a bust.

See you in an hour, let's see what the 2nd half brings

This is typical of the game day threads I take it? I'm usually too busy watching the game but thought I'd jump on to gauge the mood. I should've known better.

Give me a spell

We deserve to be another goal or 2 closer, we wasted some opportunities that quarter.

I'd rather have tmac as the stay at home forward than Petracca. Why do we keep bombing it up to Petracca one-out, at least put it in space for him.

Especially as they were without Wines, Dixon and Hartlett.

Fritsch and someone else both missed regulation shots in the 3rd too. Port had their own misses (notably Gray) but I'm just looking at our play.

How does that compare to other clubs?

It's round 1. Contested footy will win out through the winter months over a long season. Contested footy stands up in finals. Of course you need a bit of pace and skill too but it doesn't call for a dramatic change in style.

In what way do you think it's impacting? We stopped playing the +2 off half back late last season. Our issue today was more around workrate and intelligent play. I don't know if this was due to being underdone or just an off day. Our decision making and ball use was horrid. Long kicks down the line to contests where the opposition easily out played us to regain possession. 3 or 4 players all fighting each other for the footy while the Port guys sat off the pack and took away easy clean disposals. I hope it was just an off day because if it was due to a poor preseason it doesn't bode well for the year. I kind of thought we may have a bit of a down year before challenging next year due to the number of players having interrupted preseasons and the fact we've had steady linear improvement since 2013. Not many teams keep improving year on year on year. We've also got a tougher draw this year. I'm not throwing the season away it's only round 1 after all. We've seen a number of interesting results already and plenty of teams having poor touch. I'll give them a chance to redeem themselves over the next month and see where we are at then. I still think we're on the right track I have faith in Goodwin and the list. We just don't seem finely tuned at the moment.

We pretty much abandoned the 2 off the back of the square tactic for the last 6-8 weeks of last year anyway. It's a rubbish excuse.

Who cares

There's a reason we've been targeting key defenders the last couple of offseasons. The FD isn't blind.

Pretty sure tackles don't count in the stats sheet if the player gets a disposal away so he may have laid a couple of tackles that went unrecognised.

The responses have been completely reasonable for the most part. It's not that we lost, we played like rubbish. Hardly looked like kicking a goal in the 2nd half and seemed to have no system in place. It could just be an off day but the it didn't look good.

You look faster when you switch play and hit targets. You look slow when you bomb/hack it down the line and can't take a mark.

Who does he come in for? Port killed us with run and spread, having another lumbering big man wouldn't have helped that.

Not everyone who takes drugs becomes an addict just as not everyone who drinks beer becomes an alcoholic.

Paywall. Anyone want to PM screenshots or do I have to wait read at the coffee shop tomorrow

That club is in disarray.

He seems like a decent guy with plenty of baggage and a bad support network. I'm glad Melbourne traded him out from a footy perspective but I hope he can sort himself out. He's still quite young, I'd hate to think what I'd do in his position at that age. In fact I did do similar at his age it's just I didnt have celebrity status or networked cameras in everyone's pockets.

Niall completely sidesteps the drug issue with both Watts and Hogan

And one who let go Watts and Hogan