Hot as Hell

I used to tell my kids that when they were young. In the end, Melbourne being Melbourne my kids responded, " l think we have enough character dad, it's winning games that we lack". Oh so true it was, made me feel like l should have allowed them to actually choose their own team and enjoy their childhood. Nah. Bugger that, they have suffered like the rest of us.

Succinctly put Wolf and spot on. Every successful plan is built around the resources available to execute it. Goody has done it the other way around, because it is really the only style he knows. What worked at Adelaide worked for the Adelaide lust. Richmond... ditto, small forwards, pressure and speed. It's what they had. We don't have the players to run hard and play hard both ways for 120 minutes. Yet we persist with it. The strategy does not need to be thrown out. It simply needs to be modified. Can Goody concede that much at least? Dunno. He seems very fixed in his ways and appears not open to outside opinions. This is not our only problem, but it does not get the best out of what we have. We have 4 days to regroup.

Not as crazy as it looks DL5. But we are stuck with Goody until 2019. Not enough cash in the tin to pay him out or enough humility to admit we made a mistake picking a rookie coach to take over. Both failings common to many recent MFC administrations.

Agree with your take 640MD. The Weide did his job, Omac played very solidly and has improved considerably this year, and both Lever and Hibberd played season best games. Last night we really lack polish, not endeavour and confidence not courage.

All very good observations beelzebub. Your personal humility is trumped by your ability to see what our paid "brains trust" can not.

All very good observations beelzebub. Your personal humility is trumped by your ability to see what our paid "brains trust" can not.

You are right we fumbled against Richmond's pressure t_u. But we also fumbled very badly relative to Hawthorn's relatively clean handling under more trying conditions. The common issue appears to be our skill level drops off markedly under pressure, a pressure we are unable to apply in response. As many have said, we tried very hard last night. Our effort was clear. It was our skill level under pressure all around the ground that let us down. Can we hope and pray untried VFL recruits like Charlie Spargo and "Tom" Petty and maybe young Balic can enter AFL and save our bacon with a bit more pace?

Hey Rocknroll. All of the above!

One of the many problems with our game plan is we crowd our forward line leaving no space for any precision delivery to any forwards. Hence the long bombs and torps. When the inevitable skill error results in a turnover, the opposition simply need one kick or quick run and carry to clear our press and they have a totally open forward line under little pressure. AFL skills today are such that most players know how to spread and how to deliver the ball forward when little pressure is applied so a goal is often the result of every opposition forward 50 entry. In all our games this year we statistically have lots of entries into 50 without hitting the scoreboard, and our opponents have fewer entries but with higher goal success. No defence can be effective against a flawed game plan, so it looks like a rabble. Goody insists this press is part of our brand. I would call it part of our demise. Every other club knows what we will do. We need to introduce change, and quickly or this season is over. Please let players play to their strengths. Hogan is a forward not a mid. It is unfair on him to expect him to switch or move the ball on quickly. He should be finding space taking marks and kicking goals all inside 50. One pleasing thing l saw last night is the Weide seemed better able to contest the ball and ruck effectively. I would still prefer Pedo in that role, but the young bloke hasvdeveloped a bit. As for Harmes ANB and Billy (not an AFL level player) the less said the better. We did ourselves no favours with the selections this week retaining too many one paced one sized mids. Shame we have so many of them. Oh well. Let's see what awaits us on Sunday. Maybe Joe can be injured just enough to miss the fame against us and keep the margin down to an "honourable loss". I hate that phrase and how it has become our perennial crutch.

Spot on Dr. G. Last week's dismal effort against Hawthorn showed Dees fans we were the same old Melbourne. Why on earth would they pay to queue up for what was predictably going to be a loss against a far superior side? I sensed on the MFC podcast early last week PJ knew that game would cost us 10,000 bums on seats. He pretty much dismissed a huge 1 night attendance by diverting the discussion to 180,000 over 24 hours. Success breeds success and money just flows as a by product. An vice versa of course. PJ will be seething as much as all of us.

Very little of surprise tonight. Our slow mids ineffective despite Gawn's dominance. Weide doing very well. Good on ya son.

It is a proverbial "sink or swim" game for Sam, in front of 85,000 people and a nationwide TV audience. Excellent player management for a return to AFL.

The coach has made his statement. He is praying that bringing the old band back together from last year will make a miraculous difference, whilst retaining many out of form one paced mids. One of Harmes, ANB or Melksham needed go, but we have no one in form to replace them. The Weide will be tested while hard bodied Pedersen plays VFL. Much as l love Billy and his endeavour, he is a little out of his depth playing battle hardened bodies much quicker than he. I understand our depth of talent is quite light on. Our ins and outs are effectively a net nil except for the one forced change, producing a net gain. Hunt's speed will be very welcome but Bayley's composure will be missed, albeit he was probably just rested for the weekend. Bugg was a necessary out. Last week 19.5 Hawks demoralised us. It is anyone's guess how 22 fit tigers will deal with us. I hope all our players bring their A game tomorrow night. We will need it to be competitive against a now very slick outfit. Anyone under estimating the league leading confidence and skill of Richmond does so at their peril. If Goody tries that failed high press farce of a game plan, Hardwick will enjoy the night. We need something different yet something the players know how to execute.

Backline not working demands an admission of failure from Goody and implementation of a plan B. We have played 1 too many 30 year olds in the backline and lacked capacity to run both ways at pace. We have consistently played players out of position and been impacted by critical injuries. I think we will make the 8, but we will just be making up the numbers. We lack many of the ingredients of a top 4 side to be considered contenders.

I will back my 2 eyes, my brain and my judgement every time and stand by my words. I a surely concede l am not an AFL coach, but l have seen 100s of talented VFL/AFL players. At the moment Oscar earns his spot, all credit to him. In my book he should have to earn that right each week. Those that believe JKH is an AFL footballer would receive a similar response if he ever got a game. But he ain't a coach's favorite, so we don't need to bother.

Please. Oscar has been a roo in the spotlight because he was played way too young, deserving his pick 52 or 53 draft position. Despite embarrassing performances week after week he was persevered with. Thank God that stage appears over. I said last week was his best game for Melbourne amongst a side that played very poorly. I am unable to determine whether last week's game was a reflection of a hapless backline that elevated his performance, or a genuine break out game. I attended every Melbourne based game last year and regularly tracked his on field movement away from the ball. Believe me, l did not see much brilliance or ball reading skill. I want every player we have on our list to succeed, to make us strong. The jury is well and truly still out on Oscar in my view. One good game in a 67 point loss does not make a player special. I understand he has many fan boys on this site, so my view is the minority view. Nevertheless l have seen way too much VFL/AFL football in 6 decades to be swayed by the views of one eyed fans or coach's favorites that have kept us as cellar dwellers for most of the last 54 years.

Man for Man and strength for strength we match up well against the Tigers. We also have the potential to rebound after last week's poor display. Unfortunately the absence of Tom and Jack V will make the difference in this game. We simply are not as good as the Tigers without them. I hate honourable losses. Hate them because they concede we are not a true match of our opposition. l fear that is most likely how many of us will feel on Tuesday night UNLESS one or 2 or 3 of our forward guns can light up the sky. Trac, Gus, Jesse, Bayley (if selected) or even Jeffy. Just mentioning the string if players capable of turning a game gives us genuine hope we are capable of winning it. It ain't over until it's over. I will trundle off to the G like very many other Dee fans, hopeful that we can show those bastards we are now a different and stronger Melbourne, not the one of recent years passed. We've got talent all over the ground let's really hope the players are primed to deliver all they've got. Goody is a very green coach on a steep learning curve. I hope he has opened his mind to some of the wiser heads around him to play players where they play best. Really looking forward to this challenge of players and coach.

Yep. I have been one if those who felt Oscar should gave been developed in the VFL comp under the radar. He wasn't. Over the last 2 years l have been frustrated by Oscar's regular errors and poor positioning on the field that bled goals. On Sunday, he was our best defender and took some important and strong marks for us. It was his best game for Melbourne without a doubt. Well done young man. Keep up the effort and you will make a fool of me and many others but you will also make Melbourne a stronger side.

We never want any player to be injured playing for the Dees. It is in poor taste to take a cheap shot at Jordie today.

Like I said, the injured players returned to the field injured and significantly impaired, particularly Selwood. In any event, the better team on the day even with 19 fit players was clearly Geelong. Had Max kicked the goal, it would have been a steal for us not a vindication of how superb a team we have become. Falling over the line against Brisbane and defeating a hapless North would surely have given an indication as to where we are at. We are a 6-10 placed club. I would like to think some pride will help us bounce back this week with at least an AFL level performance. But am prepared for another humiliation at the hands of the Toiges. The club has come a long way since the pre Roos years, but has under achieved after his departure. A first time coach, with no experience and a dogged mindset, has been a formula Melbourne has used before. Let's hope for a different outcome this time, there are 42 games left on a contract. And I would appreciate you never refer to me with that derogatory term. We may disagree in opinion, but name calling reduces your argument below that of an intelligent individual.

Being at the game, they had 2 on the bench and they had injured players on the field. They were the walking wounded. Do you have no memory of anything? Or just self serving selected memory loss. Get over yourself.

ANB has lifted his game through hard work. I used to rank him a depth player only but now believe he fits in between 18 - 24 on the list. I don't like stats that being used to grade players, especially distance covered (chasing tails). ANB had absolutely no impact on the game or in his space. That says a lot more to me. We must choose between 2 of ANB, Harmes and Melksham and leave one out to make room for someone else. These players are all similar and when in the same side reduce our flexibility. I like Alex but he has not had a good year so far and may well lose his spot this week.

Demoms11, you must have missed round 1. The Dees lost to an injury plagued Geelong who played with a couple of debutantes that collectively put us away. That makes 2 losses and 2 unconvincing wins against bottom 4 sides. Goody' "silver tongue" will find a way to take this year as a positive. Regrettably, very few will buy it. No more excuses. Our game day narrow visioned game plan has been exposed and exploited. We are looking like mugs when teams go over the top of our defenceless forward press. Roos will be livid that his years of teaching players to defend has been tossed out. Please go back to coaching school Goody, we need a new plan that the players can execute.

That’s genuine dedication to the club Bush Demon. Shame our players were unable to reciprocate the endeavour.

I am glad we have a few extra days to regroup after this loss. Being beaten like that and waving G the white flag in the final quarter mentally set us back 6 months. The players now have a genuine reason to doubt all that believed they were capable of. We can't drop everyone who played poorly so we need to be strategic as to the type of player we have too many of and the type of player we lack. I won't mention names because they have all been mentioned in this thread. The players need to suck this loss in very deeply. They can be humiliated when they don't play well. Then they need to be reminded of what wins games of footy. We have 8 days to make the changes and shake the dust off our sleeves. We will see what this coach is made of, very soon. We will also see what the players' are made of.