Hot as Hell

The Bulldogs have fallen such a long way in such a short time it should come as no surprise some have succumbed to the blame game. Cooney was a great player, no doubt, but little integrity. There will be many at Melbourne today could describe Goodwin much the same as BM. Whether that story is told in future, has yet to be determined. I for one am glad he is part of our development team. Growing up is not supposed to be a holiday, sometimes life and it's lessons are tough.

Not so. Jets always had a strong body but was played as a forward. JKH is a lightweight with hollow legs. I saw much of him at University of Melbourne and he approached his (former) studies like his footy. Close enough but not hard enough. Those who rate him as an AFL will condemn this club to mediocrity. One or 2 cameos a match and several misses on goal do not a strong team make. The quicker the coach ceases this failed experiment the better.

Only in a non parallel universe. JKH is a VFL player not even close to Jets.

I want to respect our selected side. As such, I don't wish to name the player l believe should not be playing (though many may speculate on his identity). l believe we are starting the game 1 man short and we will pay for it. The Crows are an experienced outfit with lots of mature bodies and talent. We are not at that level yet, although on our way. Much as l would like to e entertain the thought that we could win, l cannot. l am expecting a flogging from a genuine AFL contender, on the rise after a debilitating run of injuries and at their home deck. ?

It is that time of year when most teams suffer some unexpected and unwanted injuries. We certainly have our full allotment. If Clarry is unable to play this week (and Harmes) in addition to our existing high talent outs, it is hard to see us getting the job done in Adelaide. We all knew we would rue the pathetic performance against the Pies, the inexcusable loss to the Saints and the many "winnables" that we found a way to lose. My own thoughts are that we were never a genuine contender in 2018. The lessons we are learning are in preparation for 2019- 2022 when our younger bodies have matured, as well as their heads and ability to adapt to changed game conditions. The last 6 weeks have been good, if not painful learning. But I don't see them as wasted, I see them as necessary pains in the development of a strong unit. I genuinely want our boys to get a taste of finals this year. I am presently uncertain that taste will come. Injury and lost opportunity is taking its toll. Last weekend was another learning exercise for our young coach as well. If JKH gets another game in Demon colours..............ahhh, what can I say. There are a few other players who could be named as very disappointing last week. They are one paced bla bla bla, but there seems little to be gained in naming and/or criticising them. They were selected on form and we have few options presenting at Casey to replace them. I don't think there will be too many changes except JKH and those resulting from injuries. The players played 3 very good quarters of footy at the Cattery. They deserve the opportunity to go again.

Omac was not the reason we lost and cannot be blamed. He was out of his depth in Q1 yet the coach did not choose to rescue "his boy" until the game was lost. That our backline relies on an under sized body with slow reaction time and lacking pace is not the player's fault. It is just our weakness. Omac apologists will disagree but he is a serviceable defender, not a great one. He will also get better as his body matures. He was protected from by a solid group co defenders but they are injured including Nev, and gave left him more accountable. He will not be dropped by Simon Badloss even if his man kicks 10. We all know that. JKH is gone. Pure and simple. A positive l saw in the result is the identification/exposure of a couple of players who will not make it. Dom T has lost all value as a footballer. His confidence and skill have evaporated. He offers no substitution to Viney, and his lack of pace and awareness are downright liabilities. ANB has had no impact in any game over the last 6 weeks despite doing a lot of running and bum chasing. But he has been given the nod of the coach and l suspect his pisition is safe. Joel Smith gives 100% but is not experienced enough in AFL footy to genuinely earn and retain a spot. Maybe next year he will. He is a work in progress. For this week, JKH is out replaced by either Kent or Hannan. All the others mentioned will probably stay only because we lack sufficient depth or quality to replace them. I expect us to make 1 change and cut the rest of the team the slack they probably deserve for a great effort. We clearly carry 4 - 6 players that we shouldn't. It separates us from the best. We can beat Adelaide but we need the run of the ball and our best 14 doing their thing. If Adelaide apply physical pressure, we are Gawwwn. Injury to key players, as in 2017, has yet again cost us and exposed us as not quite as good a team as many think. We are not bad but fall into the 6 - 10 ranking in the comp.

We have a lot of young talent but no composure. Tonight we needed level heads on and off the field in the last 2 minutes, to find a spot in the top 4. We are no longer a part of that conversation.

This coach does not know how to read the game and play the percentages. We needed shut down their forward line instead we opened it with our players all playing high chasing the ball. Biggest lesson here should be learned by the coach, not the players. Top 4 spot lost.

It was ours to lose and we did. 8 premiership points gone in the race to the finals. Top 4 spot now forfeited. Heart breaking stuff. Goody way too slow to move our boy off the man Hawkins. An embarrassing match up that in the first 15 minutes of the last, turned the game.

SL, l hear you. I suppose that compared to last year's injuries we have done ok. Let's hope this time next year we have our best on the park in a push deep into the finals. Until then, we put our faith in the 22 who are on the field this weekend. There is still a lot of talent that will be playing at Cardinia Park wearing red and blue.

This is not the time for us to run into training injuries except as all die-hards would expect, is just our MFCSS bad luck. Hope Hibbo is ok. Even if not available for this week, we cannot afford an extended absence.

Frost basher is out. He being far from our worst and at least making a contest. Sheesh, some people need their one eye attended to.

Jesse looking neat and tidy with his pot shots.

In pre game warm up, Frosty has just kicked 3 torps from the goal line that landed just a few metres short of the centre square. Not sure if this is a plan but under no pressure he is in good kicking firm today. The G is a sight. Missing only people.

It is such a perfect day here in Melbourne for good footy. Like so many, l have learned to restrain and contain any sense of confidence. The scars of failing to do so are many and deep. Yet somehow l have lost my strength today. Against an injury ridden Doggies team with the Bont (who broke my heart at Dome all those years ago) out of the side and Boyd, l sense a very big win. Our blokes know the score from here and know they have the talent around them. This game will be played above the shoulders and l think the boys will be determined to right their wrongs and make a statement. Dees by 63 (or my last scar from the Saints game will bleed me out). By the way, it is really great to hear so many going out of their way to attend today. It will be a small crowd but let's make a lot of noise. Good luck to us all. ?

I was also there Demons11. I totally agree it says a very physical match. Something like the intensity of a finals game. We should have nailed it with our time in possession but poor quality inside 50s and poor kicking kept the door open. We had a lot of players who played below their best. I see a lot of learning and a lot of upside in both the playing group and the coach. This is exactly the type of year we need to go through to ready us for our window. Fairytale thoughts of us replicating Dogs and Toiges this year are just that. They each played finals and fell before they took their prize. Hopefully we will have our time to do the same.

No surprise the parochial crowd absolutely influences umpiring decisions. The Power fans are totally one eyed, and that eye suffers myopia. We have controlled the ball but been very poor with decision making and creating space. Every port inside 50 threatens to be a goal as their forward line is so open. Ours is the opposite. Spite at end of quarter was more our frustration. This game should be ours but could go either way. Many players down but T Mac keeping us ahead with scoreboard pressure. Conditions are absolutely perfect for footy. Chilly but no wind and really no dew or moisture. 8 points on the line here.

Have travelled to Adelaide for this game. It is bloody tough in the clinches. Body on body. We have come to play

Although he has not been in good enough touch to make the 1sts for a while, Jayden was always an available option to speed up our aging backline. That option appears now gone for 4-6 weeks. Disappointing for the young fella, and disappointing for us. Oskar Baker is not really ready for a call up, in my opinion. However, like Jayden, he does have a good turn of speed. Like most clubs, injury is now impacting outcomes. After the bye, we will see just how good our perceived depth is. We live in very interesting times, in so many ways.

Just arrived home from the G. Have had a little time to collect myself. I am not happy about today, but not gutted. I suspect most of the team feel similarly. We played a Collingwood side that was on. Really on. They did to us what we did to others over the last 6 weeks. Like a train full of steam they rolled relentlessly forward and made us look very ordinary. In an even competition, especially at the pointy end, there were always going to be days like this, much as we hoped they were behind us. I don't want to single out any players. Many were down but the usual suspects held their end up. The coaches undoubtedly tried whatever they could, without success. For me, on the big stage with the footy world focused on us, we exposed our vulnerabilities to the comp. That will be costly. Other coaches will have noted our relative lack of speed, when we don't have the ball. We were hopelessly outpaced by most of their young midfield types. Our game style works well when we have little pressure, but leaks opportunities to opposition mids and forwards when we are under the pump. Not much has really changed from the Hawthorn game, except we now have belief that the team is greater than the individual, and the team can be good. That newly acquired confidence does not always win games, but is a necessary ingredient to winning flags. Our time has not yet arrived. Both players and coaches are still learning. Today's experience is skin to losing a final. For us it was a final and we were found wanting. We get 10 more rounds to pick ourselves up, and work on what we were unable to do today. Then, if we are good enough, we will get another chance to play in real finals, where there is no next week. I admit to being a MFC tragic for nearly 6 decades. I believe we have a better collection of talent today, than we had in the late 80s and the 90s/00s relatively successful eras. Today's loss was a reality check, a lesson needed to be taught. It will haunt the players for many years that they failed when asked the question in 2018. Have we not all been taught lessons like this, at sometime in our lives? My face bears the signs of a life of experiences, many l wished not to have had. I would like to think my words and actions now reflect the lessons learned from those experiences. I for one, will cut this side a little of the slack they have earned without forgetting the lesson now taught. I look forward to meeting a few players tomorrow evening at a club event. It will not be a wake, but it will be a wake up call. Bring on Port Adelaide, they now have reason to be fearful of our lesson.

Jeffy was involved in a couple of nice plays but went missing for long periods even though the ball was in our forward line. I can't help thinking he plays his best footy at the highest level but at the moment he just can't do enough to crack into the side. Suspect not enough defensive pressure has left him out in the cold. Most of the AFL side including Goody were at the ground as spectators supporting the 2nds. Was good to see.

I attended the game on Sunday and saw Joel Smith cop a couple of hits away from the play. Jayden Hunt was absolutely thrown into the boundary mesh fence early in the game. It probably looked worse than it says, but since l met his mum outside the ground before the game l could only imagine she had her heart in her mouth. Willy played amatuer style footy and nearly sucked us into the fights. Luckily our players resisted [censored] for tat and just played the game to win. Yes Williamstown played dirty and deserved to get players rubbed out or fined. From my observations Pedo was a stand out with Wags and Harley Balic got plenty up forward but messed up his set shots for goal. Other AFL listed players did not really do enough to justify elevation but l suspect either Smith or Frost will get a call up. Stretch got lots of touches but unfortunately many of them amounted to nothing. Much as l love his effort, l am not sure he is really up to it at the highest level. Jeffy and Dom were unspectacular even at VFL level both lacking confidence and touch.

The building blocks of future success are being stacked. One, after another, after another. Well done to all concerned, players, managers and MFC. Both last year's signings and this, is like watching the makings of a group ready to create their own history. How sweet it is to feel the sun again, after being so many years in the darkness.

Gus is a mid fielder through and through. He has had to overcome a few challenges along his way, and some field positioning that was not natural to him. With his stronger body (and headwear), his footy skills with both feet and position now clearly on display, I am hoping he will not look back. Well done Gus. You (and Nev before you) have shown that application and perseverance still have a large part to play in success. You are now part of a formidable mid field group that can write your own history. Good luck to you, your team mates and all MFC diehards.

I have that very same feeling Uncle. At that time we all enjoyed Robbie finally being part of a (Winning) side. Today it is just so satisfying that Chunk, loyal to the core, is doing his thing amongst a talented group and enjoying the team success that he has earned and craved. In footy, as in life, persistence pays.