3183 Dee

But we’ll break even over the remaining 3 quarters, so at least they’ll be done positives to take out of the game.

Unbelievable - how dumb can you get. First, for going out to a strip club and second, for getting kicked out and fighting the bouncers!

Because MFC is a club with a supporter base traditionally from the ‘top end of town’, who have traditionally had other interests and pursuits as well as football, to occupy them. Clubs like Richmond and Collingwood have grown, because traditionally football was their only release from the frustrations and realities of a hard, daily life. Their footballers were also cut from the same cloth. If those players did not perform, the supporters would let them know about it - not through social media, as it is today, but out and about in public. The club was the badge of the suburb, so no-one was going to let it down. I realise times have changed now and these demographics have moved along, but I believe that these traditions are so deeply cast within sporting clubs, that they transcend time, somewhat. Problem is, there is still a fair bit of Gentlemen vs Players associated with our club and not enough hunger and desperation.

I agree - I think that it will be an exceptionally hard sell after this year. Unfortunately, with the concentration of fixturing, the spotlight is even brighter on clubs this year and our 3 putrid performances are getting the widespread attention they deserve.

Seriously? Brisbane, Port and Richmond (along with Geelong) are just better, more consistent footy teams, that’s all. Every other team has been flaky at different times and on more than one occasion. If you think the AFL, amidst all the moving around, rescheduling and constant logistical changes due to border changes and different state restrictions, have had time to orchestrate a fiendish, fixed finals series, you give them more credit than they deserve! Edited to add: Brisbane have had a distinct home advantage, but they’re in QLD!

Yep - nuff said.

Watch the rest of the season fall away meekly now. In fact, no - watch us get up and beat Freo, scrape past GWS and lose to the Bombers. Repeat ad nauseum. I really have no explanation for these performances. We will most likely miss finals now, and deservedly so. Big problem for the club is: how do you sell hope for next year on the back of that crap?

I turned the TV off halfway through the 2Q. Almost as putrid as vs Port and the Dogs - you can tell with Melbourne from the first bounce, what sort of effort you’ll get. There’s no way that we come back from this.

It’s a day for role playing and sticking to the system: working them over methodically and then going over them in the last quarter. Hopefully ?

I’m the same - it’s been great to read and discuss game plans and strategy: I think it also helps that we have identified 2 clear patterns of play, so I find it quite exciting to look out for those. Of course, it’s impossible not to get emotionally involved, but I’ve found that my frustrations are not as intense: even against the Doggies, I was tempered somewhat by trying to read the play. Much better than the Port game, where I switched off at 3QT, took the MFC app off my phone and swore that was it, for ever!

In the Hun today, Clarkson is venting about the draft being so compromised and unfair, that you can’t rebuild a list from it. Interesting for him to be on the other end of a situation, which enabled his team (along with Geelong) to win multiple flags, whilst other teams (including us) were hampered for years with the draft concessions handed to the expansion teams. Our crappy recruitment didn’t help matters, by the way, but the 2020 draft has nothing on what GWS were handed.

Fantastic podcast as usual, guys - keep up the great work.

Quite a tough nut as well.

His work rate is tremendous - the tackle at the end of the 4Q to put Steele off his kick was fantastic. I’ve loved his work - he also looks like he has a lot of fun when he plays.

He was cracking the sh!ts - literally.

Where I come from, that's called the "Sour Apple Quickstep'.

Kicked by Membrey. Happy Birthday, in any case. You never know...

Often, I wish this team would play with the same gut-burning passion and desire that we all have. Today, I’m hoping that they don’t play as flat as we all currently feel ?

Yes - I probably should have said pressure in our forward half.

I agree - the speed usually happens with the 3rd or 4th chain of a movement. If we stifle and pressure the ball in our forward line, it reduces the chance of the quicker players getting their hands on it. Our game plan relies on intense forward pressure - when it’s on, we are very good but when it’s not, we are done.

The sooner we are financially independent, the better. It will put the club in a better position to come out with these arguments. At least Damien Barrett has highlighted the ANB issue in his Sliding Doors this week: https://www.afl.com.au/news/491118/if-you-can-remember-the-old-days-when-the-mcg-used-to-host-games-then

Yeah, but look what he does when he’s there! He must have overseen 7 (?) Premierships at Geelong, Collingwood and Richmond. A friend of mine who has worked with him at 2 of those clubs reckons he is a fantastic guy to work with and for.

On a brighter note, @binman can now officially be a co-host, as his caller status has now succumbed to the Norm Smith Curse. However are we going to appease the ghost of the Red Fox now?

I think you’re right - I had him in as an inclusion, but forgot he was still doing time. I’m a bit ambivalent about ANB, but in a weekend where we saw little-to-no forward pressure, he would be straight back in.

I’d suggest that maybe a combination of the two is the most effective. Quick run and carry/passing through the middle of the ground and then an accurate kick over a shorter distance, either to lead or contest in A50 or to another position around the A50 to set up an opportunity.