Dr. Gonzo

It was a dour struggle which at no point we looked like losing. We got our defensive structures right again with Tomlinson in to free up Lever. We got our forward half intercept game working again and dominated inside 50s and time in forward half. Just have to clean up that ball use inside 50 and try and switch the play to open up the forward line instead of going down the line to the contest again and again. Salem and Sparrow were very good, Max started clunking some marks and JVR had another good game. Plus Clarry's back next week! All in all I was pretty pleased with the game but maybe that's because I was revelling in schadenfreude at Carlton's misery as much as joy for a Melbourne win.

Was he playing a defensive role on Saad? Because Saad had minimal influence off half back.

I'm in two minds, Joel Smith is probably an upgrade on tmacs current form but can't believe he gets a game ahead of Brown. Smith has had years to prove his worth and been found wanting again and again. A forward line of he and JVR , Weitering will have a field day. Let's hope Fritsch and our small forwards are on fire because they'll need to be.

I was pretty iffy about this game before reading their commentary. No I'm all, relax, we got this 🤣 Whatever happened to @Wiseblood anyway?

Vote with their feet. Unfortunately this hurts the clubs more than the AFL but it will happen regardless.

And the damage to the complainants?

He knows how to handle the tribunal, he makes them an offer they can't refuse.

I disagree I think our high end talent and the amount of high end talent easily accounts for those lists you've mentioned. It's subjective of course but I think people are under selling our list as a coping mechanism for the underperformance we're seeing out of the group at the moment. Many commentators agree and have said one flag out of our list would be an underachievement - we need to strike while the iron is hot and if we fail to at least make a Prelim again serious questions will need to be asked.

Yeah, nah

I disagree with your assessment.

I disagree and I think this comment is being thrown around as a copout (not just by you but I've picked on your post). The list is primed for multiple cracks at a flag and if we only get 1 out of this group it will be a massive underachievement (just like the 2000 Bombers, the 95 Blues etc) Just having a midfield of Gawn, Grundy, Petracca, Oliver, Viney let alone a defense led by May, Lever and Salem with Fritsch and Pickett up forward is enough to say that the list is up there with the best in the AFL. Who currently has a better list? I would say ours is better than the Pies for example but they are wringing far more out of their talent.

I didn't say that's what I think would happen, I said if we beat the Pies my perspective on the season will change even if we lost to the Blues this week

It's not the margin, it's the way we're playing. I'm one of the first to say you don't play perfect football, it's not a video game etc But if we want to be the team we think we should be (and the players and coaches clearly think they should be too) then we should be able to dictate the play against teams like Freo. Obviously it won't work every week but that's now 4 games out of 11 where we've allowed the opposition to dictate play and get the points and 3 of those 11 games are against bottom of the ladder opposition. So in half our competitive games we've been dictated to by the opposition and been unable to change the flow of play to wrest back momentum. That is not a good record for a team looking at contending for the flag this year (and not a good record for a team with the talent we have).

It's not even about withstanding pressure, it's about being able to turn things around so we take the ascendency and put the pressure back on them. This is something we've been unable to do all year, we allow the opposition to play the game on their terms (in the games we've lost at least).

I'll say this, if we beat the Pies I'll go into the bye full of confidence even if we lose to Carlton this week.

And if Port kicked straight we get belted last week. Even if we had have fallen over the line due to kicking straight it wouldn't change much. Falling over the line against a middle of the road (at best) interstate team on your home deck - I feel were just making up the numbers this year. It's not about the results it's about how we're playing.

I've generally been pretty positive even back to 2020 when we underachieved but something is off and hasn't seemed right for a while. It's not the losses it's the way we're playing that is the issue. The games moved on and we haven't, Collingwood will run rings around us in 2 weeks. We're just not playing at the level required anymore.

Serious? We were on the southern wing as always and bemoaned the fact they constantly play the members wing so we can't see anything.

A threat to what? I doubt we make it past the semis again, Collingwood, Brisbane and Port are all playing far better and I still think the Cats will come home with a wet sail like usual once they get some more players back. I'm really dreading the next two weeks now, lucky I can't go Friday but king's birthday is going to be painful.

They don't have the burn anymore. There is no ferocious attack on the ball and pressure. Our small forwards were one of our keys in 2021, now their pressure and crumbling is non-existent. Our defence was impenetrable now teams isolate Lever and he can't stand up. Thank god for May and Hibberd back there. The only other ones seeming like they gave a stuff were Petracca and Viney, at times Sparrow. The rest are just coasting.

Bin this season, we suck again ☹️

What, he's gonna let you deal with the ferals on your own!

I'd love to see us incorporate something with the Reach Foundation - it wouldn't just be tokenistic either considering Jim Stynes' history. Have it called the Jim Stynes Centre for Underprivileged Youth or something like that (but with a better name).

@Demonland loved your evasion of the profanity filter at the end - we were all thinking it when @binman said Freo were 4th in the comp for clearances 🤣

Hopefully it has a snowball effect too - in future more people will reserve seats earlier so they don't miss out meaning it will become a fully ticketed event in perpetuity. That's the hope anyway (for this and Anzac Eve).