Pates

Just finished watching, I don’t know if Cairns affected the way we played or intended to play, but they played with dare and skill at times as opposed to looking unsure and flat-footed. Perhaps (and this is in absolutely no way excusing the shocking performances) the conditions suited the scrappy nature comes from Sydney and Freo’s plans and they were then able to gain confidence from our inability to get used to the conditions. But we definitely have a gem in Rivers, and it was good seeing Oskar Baker get amongst it though he was quiet in the second half. May is awesome and there should never be a question mark put on him again. AA nomination surely and I think he deserves a spot in defence. Max had to battle against Mumford’s physical tactics, that guy is a hired goon at times. I think the players should be proud of the all round team performance, Petracca sounded frustrated at the end of the game which mirrors the supporters feelings. One win from either the last two matches and we could be going into next week’s match knowing a win would definitely see us in the finals. Here’s the important part, we have the opportunity so bloody well do what we can do and beat the scum. Whatever happens after that happens. Either way aim to finish the season on a high.

Just watching the replay as I missed (actually kind of avoided) watching it live. I’m almost at half time and a couple of things to mention, not big things though. But after clearly being the better team for so much of the game it’s incredible to see us go behind with 2min to go in the second quarter. Second thing to mention is how much the commentators look like muppets when talking about the guernsey we were wearing. I mean seriously the way they talked about was downright embarrassing for channel seven. If you don’t know what the guernsey is about then don’t say anything, they can ask their producers/researchers to find out why we have it on. It was absolutely pathetic and totally unprofessional to talk about it the way they did. It terms of the games it had some moments of real brilliance with Petracca and Oskar Baker’s goals (I’m glad they gave him another crack at it). We had some missed opportunities where we were genuinely out and then got caught on the turnaround. Looking forward to watching the second half (knowing that result ?).

I’ve had no issues with Jason’s recruiting, it’s our development that is puss. We seem to be great at making good footballers but not much else. Right now Trac and a Gawn are the odd ones out with Clarry being on the tipping point.

Hunt’s an enigma. He seems to have attributes that could make him a valuable player but can’t seem to nail down a role. We played him as a dashing HB flanker initially and it looked great but he began to run himself into trouble or kick long to nothing. Tried him up front as a mid-sized pressure forward and he seemed to bob up for a few goals but then went missing from games to the point of being unsighted. Tried him on the wing but he just didn’t seem to get to the right spots and get enough of the ball. For me I think the position he could potentially add the most value as a forward as his hands are quite good and he seems to be a decent kick for goal. I’d be happy for us to give him one more year as our forward is such a mess right now it’s better to have options.

True on that last point. And I totally agreed with the spray as well, if the FD and the players were really that concerned about the president spraying the team publicly then they need to harden the F up because it was a putrid performance and now we’re in the same position again. Perform on the field, show some fight and then the pres won’t feel like he needs to address the fans saying that performances like that are unacceptable.

What’s interesting is that there are these influential Melbourne apparently considering a challenge of the board and Bartlett, but all things considered I can’t really fault the way the club has been run of late. Surely this will cause more destruction than construction. Goodwin goes into 2021 under the pump, that can’t be changed. Do we really need more turmoil at the club?

I'd say if Yze is one of them then he should be feeling nervous about his tenure.

If Tommy is still at the club next year he needs to be given a chance to shift back to defense. Whatever forward capabilities he had in the past has clearly gone so let's see if we can get back the decent defender he was. It's that or he gets shopped around and I doubt we'd get anything better than a late third rounder.

What this shows is that us and the Saints are probably actually in a very similar position (reflected by us both fighting out for the bottom 8th spots and our tight contest the other week). We both have it in from of us as opportunities to make the finals. Basically neither team really deserves it, both should be making up the numbers in the finals no matter who gets through.

Viney like many of the players at the club is someone who I feel has attributes that could make him a great player for us but is either not being used well or not being developed well. There’s this constant discussion of whether a midfield of Oliver, Brayshaw, and Viney can exist. I think it can if instructed and coached well. Given Jack’s history with his dad, and everything he’s gone through at the club himself it would be tough seeing him in any other colours. Especially seeing him at the cats! ?

The comment about the repeatedly doing badly was a general one over their journey, I can only think of one year they showed something but faded as well. This year they’ve shown they can play footy and my larger point is that after a good start of building hope it would be a shame if they finished badly again. Which is why it would be great to see them pull it out vs the Pies.

There were small moments in the game where someone needed to step in to give players advice, that was one of them. Hunt was clearly disoriented and wasn't in the best condition to take the kick, why didn't someone walk over to him and say "Hunty you did your job, you put your body on the line now get checked out and let someone else take the kick". Same with Preuss, trying to kick for goal from an impossible angle. Someone should have gone to him and told him exactly where to put it. Down to poor leadership at the end of the day.

I think you would find it impossible to come into a worse off club than what Roos had in his first year with us. We were completely inept, he always said his job was to create a strong foundation and it was the job of Goodwin after him build something worthwhile. He did his job and without a doubt left Goodwin with a team worth over, Goodwin looked like he was on the right track in 2018 but perhaps it was masked by certain players playing their best seasons and high confidence within the club. The old cliche of players playing "above themselves".

A training thread! How I’ve missed the banter between the track watchers who see things totally differently. Good to hear Jacko up and about. If he doesn’t play this weekend and GWS pull the curtains on our finals hopes then put him in cotton wool. The kids a gem and I’d hate anything to happen to him in the last round. @kallangurdemon did you spot Bennell? Careful with the missus!!! The Dees might keep on sending us To Hell and Back, but hell hath no fury! ?

GC looked good at the start of the year, it’s a shame they’ve dropped off the cliff. I’m sick of them repeatedly doing badly in the competition, it would be something to see them pull it out against the pies. Might well be a moot point by then anyway.

I suspect you wouldn’t be a fan of some commentators ideas to have a “wildcard round” to extend it to final 10. I think final 8 is fine but it does tend to show that the 7th and 8th teams are mostly making up the numbers for the additional games. Given the craziness of the year I would’ve loved the AFL to go a different direction and do top 6 play off. Top two get week off, 3v6 & 4v5 play off. Winners of that play top two. Winners play grand final. No double chances and it’s the 6 best teams in the competition.

Something I'm really hoping to see is an aggressive trade period, I think there are going to be some hard calls made on some older players we shouldn't rule anything out. Go hard or go home this trade period.

Considering that off the back of last year's disaster we should've in theory been given a kinder draw we have definitely been shafted. There are more systematic issues within the team and the club that we need to fix before we'll be a contender but one would hope that next year we get a kinder draw to make up for this (though it's extremely unlikely).

What has been a constant frustration for me watching Melbourne over the years is that we seldom finish the season well. 2018 was the exception to that and we stormed into finals. Aside from that we mostly end the year on the back of 4+ losses in a row. Look at Roos' final year, we were a chance to make the finals but limped home and gave Roos the send off his heaviest defeat. Just once I would like to see us finish the year well regardless of whether we make the finals. Force the other teams have to get the job done as well.

Incredible turn of evens with GWS losing, it puts the equation in a very simple place again (for both clubs). Win or don’t play finals. I feel like we need to roll the dice a little and play Bennell, he may not be defensively up to it yet but his creativity and ball use is the best at the club, and he could be the spark that lights us. I would probably say Bedford misses for him. I think we also bring Brown back in for Preuss, I loved that tackle but I think structurally we need a proper second forward not just a big tall bloke who can chop out Gawn. I’d also say Smith goes out as well, perhaps for Lockhart or Nev. ANB could be on the blocks perhaps for Hannan. Ive been pretty out with my predictions but these are the changes I’d make: Out Preuss - In Brown Out Bedford - In Bennell Out Smith - In Lockhart/Nev Out ANB - In Hannan

Just when you think you’re out you get pulled back in.

I’m not going to pot/give up on a kid in his first year but that isn’t his first relatively straight forward miss. If we need to get someone to come in to mentor him then do it, but right now he seems to be dropping his dacks at really good opportunities. When he missed that goal I saw I shift on the ground from the players on both teams, it gave confidence to Freo and sucked the life out of us. The trade was fine, it’s up to the team/players to get value for it.

This may sound silly but I feel like he played his one tactical brilliance with the players running out of the backline towards goal before the 6-6-6 rule came in. It’s like after that happened he didn’t have anything up his sleeve. Credit to Freo today, they have a style and they played it well. It’s drilled, whereas we just have no system. That has to come back to Goodwin and a lack of tactics.

Are you sort of suggesting a Football (soccer) style match day manager style? I wouldn’t be against it for that matter. If we do end up saying bye bye to Goody I think we have to go with someone who has experience already. Voss is the only one of the younger brigade that comes to mind on that. Clarko for me would be the ideal get given his history with the club and he is the most successful of the current day coaches. But so much would be dependent on whether i) if the Hawks end his contract and ii) if he’d have any interest in coming to us.

Just about done with this club. I think Goodwin gets next year not because he deserves it or because it's necessarily the right thing to do but purely because he's contracted for another two years. He's close to lost me now. If a coach can't get his team to perform against lower opposition with finals on the line then you have to question if he's got it in him to get us to the ultimate glory, and if the answer to that question is no then you're left with only one answer. As for the players, twice in a row you wouldn't have known we were playing for finals. The effort was a little better than last week but still lazy and dumb at times. Fritta was actually one of our better players but he summed up our play with that third quarter effort where he couldn't pull a kick and instead did a nothing (short) handball to Rivers and we turned it over for a goal. I also can't help but think that if Kozzie had kicked his soda goal things may have been different, went up the other end and they got the resulting goal. I'm just done. I'm shattered. In short, I'm a Melbourne fan. To hell and back? I know they had to give the pre-season doco a name but it's a bit of a slap in the face of the Melbourne fans who seem to live through this constant hell of mediocrity ever god damn season.