Hot as Hell

North will be a really big challenge next week. If we have 30 ready players to choose our 22 from, then maybe the coach should forget his under skilled favourites and pick a team that can win. Woeful effort against wooden spooners. Some good individual efforts saved the team.

The result of this game is if no consequence. The side has shown where it is at. Failed to beat a depleted Geelong and struggled to play any systematic football against last year's wooden spooners. I won't lay blame on either the coach or the players. It is a joint disappointment. Jeffy back in form is one of the few highlights of the fame.

You just made me feel like Sid Jackson DV8 (or Polly)

I like Dean Kent but unfortunately l feel Hannan and probably Bayley are now ahead if him, all vying for the same spot.

We played a much less than fully fit Geelong who were blooding first gamers and not only lost, but did not play the better footy over the course of the game. There's not much chance anyone would have been talking 9 - 0 even if Gawny kicked the goal. We are a long way off being a better than 6-9 team on what l saw in Round 1. We will learn a lot after playing the Lions.

The score sheet and the clock restarts on Saturday night. Last week is history. I refuse to under estimate the Lions, on their day, they could best us. Assuming our boys now realise there is no such thing as a sure bet in footy, we should be in the right game of mind to play at our best. At our best, we should and need to win by at least 48 points. No slacking off no mercy.

I would have thought the total ease the Cats had in opening up our backline was a clear sign our backline coaching inertia failed four qtrs out of 4. The Cats conversion rate for every inside 50 entry was nothing short of exceptional. The last kick inside our 50 was a different issue, but equally one needing work.

Good find stmj. Assessment of the run of play seems quite accurate. As stated, we have a very focussed (some may say predictable) game plan at stoppages the works either very well or very poorly depending on the opposition. Scott is not a slouch as a coach, he's learned a thing or 2 over 6-8 years. That does not mean Goody is not his equal, but rather, Goody has much less experience with dealing with a counter attack. Lack of experience in the coaching box can sometimes make a difference. We played a conventional offensive game plan, Geelong played a more defensive but precision based style. They dodged left and right avoiding contested ball in order to make space until they ground opened up for them to consistently score unopposed knockout punches. It does not always work, but on Sunday it worked just enough for the 19 fit players they had available for most of the game. Let's hope we don't retain our tunnel vision this Saturday night.

Finally someone worked out Hawkins was the decoy that we got sucked into defending so as to leave Lever and Nev mis-matched on their opponents. It's not hard too hard for any player to cover a clayton's forward, but shameful that our brains trust we were unable to counter the move. Or we just didn't have the right players for the job?

The Game v Geelong Our team is not a bad football unit and has come a very long way from the depths it plumbed 4 or 5 years ago. That we were unable to do the business with Geelong, does not at all mean we are a poor outfit. It means we still have a lot of learning and development to do. Each loss is another lesson as to what it takes to be the best at this level, painful as that may be. There would not be a person here that didn't want a win. However, many here could see the haphazard entries into the forward 50 became the root of our undoing, allowing easy and controlled entry into Geelong's forward 50, and goals to them, of course. That we get a wake up call so early in the year, may be a blessing in disguise. Both some players and many posters here, saw the task as easier than it proved to be. They cast Geelong as a shadow of its former self and that our "depth" would see us win comfortably. The Game v Lions We are now all on notice, there is no such thing as an easy AFL game. That will hopefully stand us in good stead for the game against the Lions this week. We should have learned that body strength is something we lacked in every line and that the team selected was very one paced. Ins for me are:- Tyson, Frost and Brayshaw. Outs for me are:- Maynard, Wagner and Harmes. We had way too many same sized same paced half back flankers last week. We could have used an extra variant, a strong, fast, tall. Frosty can be that person but needs a lot of guidance to lower his eyes and not to take on more than he should. This would allow Lever to be an intercept player, not a 1 on 1 (a role not asked of him at the Crows). Wags improved from a terrible first half, but offers nothing that Jones, Vince, Lewis or Salo could do at half back. These 3 or 4 will be retained, so Wags gets it, although he was not our worst player, just a type that we have too many of. There is competition for spots and tough calls to be made. We were unable to make good use of Max's premier service to our mids. Young Maynard whilst a tough nut, butchered the ball and coughed it up to the opposition just too often. We cannot afford that. Tyson has questionable foot skills but better hands and a little more nouse. Maybe Corey's time will come, but not just yet. The 3rd change would be either ANB or Harmes who play similar mid/high half forward roles. I think ANB will hold his spot so Harmes makes way for Gus who can deliver the ball forward far more precisely and hit a leading target. We lacked precision (and leading targets) against the Cats and need to remedy that ASAP. Without under estimating the Lions, adding some polish to the list will improve us from last week. Hopefully Goody can see it in his mind that we lacked versatility and a bit of experience.

Your comment is on the money hemingway. Even had some of those final quarter points been goals and we won instead of lost, we would have "stolen the match" from Geelong. They deserved the win with a very young team playing according to a "very old" (sorry Scotty) coach's methodical game plan:- "Run hard, break free, protect each other, lower the eyes and hit a target". That is a simple to understand game plan most AFL players can execute. Ours appears a little more complex, fans don't quite know what it is and it seems, neither do the players. "Go in hard, fight for the ball, kick it long" does not quite have the sophistication or the success rate of a premiership strategy. if that is roughly what it is. Plan B is still a work in progress it seems.

6. Petracca 5. Gawn 4. Oliver 3. Jones 2. Vince 1. Hogan

You must be kidding. Geelong were undermanned and beat us at nearly full strength. We could even leave out some of our better players. Goody said we had 30 to choose from. No back slapping if we had of won, because we would only have pinched it from the side who deserved to win and showed us how to play with their team of unknown kids.

The problem was not Mitch or Bayley or both of them. We bombed the fall forward and crossed our fingers we could mark or crumb. Reality was we handed the ball to coherent if not inexperienced Cats defence who used skills to run and carry and deliver forward with precision.

Many have posted and l would have agree we lacked cohesion back of centre. If you are correct and the rest correct, we lacked cohesion both forward and back of centre. This is precisely why we could not beat 19 fit players in a very depleted Geelong outfit. It would be naive in my view to take a lot of positives out of today after a full pre-season to prepare. If that is not at least partly the responsibility of a coach, what the hell is he responsible for. He played his hard nuts with questionable skills and got exactly what he should have expected. Even a 2nd rare Geelong can take advantage of a turnover. One turnover = one opposition goal. We relied on too few to do too much. As was expected by many posters.

We played Geelong's weakened best 19 fit players and were found short. Optimists around here need to take note about how we play under pressure. I will stick with my 13 to 15 win season and we limp in around 6th to 8th to play finals. Making up the numbers. I will be happy to go to games like today and win a few and lose a few. Don't expect better sides to let us off so lightly. Our backline is full of holes that will not be plugged and we have to play some aging players who are simply better than their immediate substitutes. I coach with 1 year under his belt and a my way or the highway style is not ready to take us any further for a few years yet.

Roos half time summary says it all. Geelong not playing well but our defence and movement is letting them find all the holes. One team playing other is a rabble. Give Goodwin the tape for us not to be embarrassed by the Lions next week.

Welcome to 2018 Melbourne. Under estimated our opposition and their desire to win. Just like last year.

Welcome to 2018 Melbourne. Under estimated our opposition and their desire to win. Just like last year.

What you are seeing is mature bodies playing lightweights. Brushing us off like flies even without Harry

Geelong supposedly picked a weak team. I am glad we are not playing their best. Wags to Casey.

Defence is a little lightweight. Some of the guns misfiring down there. Roos nailed it with his comments on "young" l am not allowed to say his name on this site but his number between 27 and 29.

Bingers, our very large cohort of 50+ years supporting the Dees (me included) know exactly how you feel. "Dare to dream" has not worked out well for us.

Good post Wells 11. We must be confident in the rich talent we have, but never ever under estimate our opponents. I will concede to manic MFCSS, but will go to the G wanting our boys to out do themselves in actions and belief.

Thank you jnrmac. The obvious is often missed by many.