Maldonboy38

Massive fan of Jonesy, and I think a lot of talk about his week-by-week performances is myopic and pre-conceived. . His work rate remains fairly high and often "directs traffic". For me, his influence during peak game times is very very poor right now and doesn't look like it is coming back. That miss from just inside 50 was out-on-the-full. Nowhere near it. And as someone wrote above, as the Dees built momentum in the last quarter, he was doing a lot of running between the arcs and rarely impacting the contest. And his field kicking is as bad as it was in his first 2 seasons, which was abominable. I hate to say it, but Viney in 2019 is looking better every week.

Very important stat right there. We fold under pressure of every kind. On the ball pressure, perceived pressure, the pressure of expectation. With Lewis being here now for his 3rd season I thought we might have moved on but we have not. Not wanting to drop players because of one bad game, but there are a few who consistently crumple under pressure - Jeffy, Salem, JKH Hogan (not all the time but often enough, and usually in front of goal).

Nothing to do with the coach. The "system" worked. The actual kicking was the let down. Spargo - who I am a huge fan of by the way - was atrocious today. Couldn't kick over a jam tin, rushing his set shots. Hogan - I just don't get his constant easy misses. Jeffy. That miss on the run while momentum was moving our way. That is what you are in the team for. Energy sapper right there. Jones on the run. One beauty and one shocker. Twice in the last quarter a play-on and a slip over cost us walk-in goals. No coach fixes this stuff, players do. Really, really poor.

Furious. All my family deserted me and left me stomping around the living room groaning and grimacing at: Un-pressured turnovers (how many times in a single season am I going to type or say that word? Did some of the Sydney players have Melbourne jumpers on?) Kicking. Goal kicking. Field kicking. 2nd to the ball - almost all day. Beaten by unknown lumps in Sydney jumpers who simply got in first. Some very poor performances: Pederson, Jeffy, Spargo, Hunt, JKH,. And if not for Harmes we would have been flogged.

My favourite player. His hardness, run and carry, skills on both sides of his body. Absolutely stoked with this.

Don't understand all the OMac hate. He had a bad night but has been very good for most of the year. If you are looking for somewhere to pour your vitriol, try these: Petracca doing a blind barrel with no target or purpose. JKH missing a simple unhurried snap. No third man up coming across Hawkins - not once in the last quarter. Lewis, Jones and Vince - not one of them dropping back to fill up he space in front of Hawkins - not one.

5 goals up and we lose. They kick out from full back and go end to end without a Dees player touching it. With only seconds to go. My son asked me what's the score. I replied "under 5 minutes we are 2 points up - but we rarely win close games. Watch the Cats get easy possession and kick a goal". I feel absolute shite right now.

Doing everything except finishing our hard work inside 50. So frustrating because it feels like the Dees are continually going to explode, only to kick to Hogan, TMac or Petracca who have 2 opponents. I feel we are far the better side but wasteful (again!).

Turn a higher percentage of Forward 50 entries in goals, and we win easily. Although our win/loss ratio has been very patchy, we have been playing good footy between the opposition goal and our half forward line. Either 1. TMac, Hogan or Fritsch have to take F50 marks and convert most into goals 2. Midfield and half forwards (Petracca, Brayshaw, Harmes) have to kick goals running into F50 3. ... or Garlett, Spargo and ANB have to get crumb goals.

Pedo out, Weideman in. I have been a huge Pedo fan and have said repeatedly over the last few years that our 22 is better with him in it. But apart from possession numbers, his influence in games is reducing while Weideman's is growing. At least he can tackle and follow up after contesting fro a mark. Petracca out, Garlett/Balic in. You can't do 4 "special" kicks and 1 "special" goal per game and be considered a contributor. Having said that, Garlett at his worst is worse than Petracca but at least he is in form in the VFL. Is Balic a consideration? And as for midfield effectiveness I really put this down to a poor game. We have actually been very good around the contest for most of the year.

Impeccable skills, very quick, stupidly courageous (often overlooked), team first, goal kicker, wonderful mark and absolute clubman. He was a beautiful footballer. Strange word for football, I know, but he made the game beautiful. I spent hours in the paddock kicking goals between trees, baulking invisible opponents, and commentating to myself "and Flower kicks another miraculous goal". And in the 87 finals series against the Swans, when he ran onto the ground off the bench to the cry of "Robbieeeee", remains my highest football experience.

He was never my favourite player, and his recent work with MFC is questionable, but Garry Lyon was a gun. Could read the play, was an exceptional kick, and at times a match winner.

Yes, they have injuries but they are a well coached, well drilled team with 22 players who run both ways. Their attack off half back is the best in the league. This won't be a breeze, but we will win by 10 points. Our contest around the drop of the ball will deny them first use. Our midfield need to kick goals.

Jakovich was a freak whose career was cut short by injury and laziness. His best was better than most. Amazing footballer. If he would have trained harder, and dedicated himself to a professional standard of rehab from injuries, we would have been a lot closer to winning a flag. Oliver is a very special footballer. His achievements for 50 games is surprising. Could be anything. It is a long time since we had a midfielder with his abilities. But Yze was beautiful to watch. Soft - yes at times, but his decision making, general awareness and kicking... oh his kicking!! His ball drop was not text-book but it was poetry to watch him kick. He sustained a very high quality of football for a very long time so he easily gets my vote.

The football produced by the Dees under Neeld's leadership is the worst AFL football I have ever seen, bar none. And I am talking Dees and Saints in the 70's, and the Bears a bit later. A limited if not incompetent senior coach, and an atrocious communicator. But I really feel for him here. A genuine sadness and disappointment for another human being burnt by AFL footy. Can you imagine giving 20+ years of your life to the game, only to be thrown on the scrap heap like this? And for those back-room whisperers and leakers at Essendon, pouring out confidential info so Neeld becomes a scapegoat for issues probably belonging to the whole coaching group - I hope you reap what you have sown here.

Another step in our slow, steady but inconsistent development. For over a decade we have lost a lot of games against teams we "should beat", usually by one bad quarter and in particular a bad last quarter. Finally, we are beginning to win these games. Not brilliantly, but well enough. 11 goals is rather nice though. These wins against Gold Coast, St. Kilda etc... are not too much to brag about but the players are getting used to winning, our midfielders are learning to mix and roll with each other, confidence is growing, AND you can see the game plan clearly now. We will still lose a game or 2 we should win (but that is happening to all teams in last 2 seasons) and our general field kicking still doesn't stand up under pressure, but at least I can watch a game through. Very stiff to drop someone for Viney, but having competition for every spot except for Hogan and Gawn is a nice place to be for a while.

Would have to start at U10's and work its way back into the game. Modern players have never done and it would be a nightmare. Having said that, I would love to see it. From a skills perspective, kicking a stationary ball SHOULD be more effective and efficient than kicking a dropped ball. Easy for a runner/water carrier to come out with a light-weight plastic kicking mount so no need to dig holes etc... AFL get another advertising opportunity. Must be kicked within 1 minute of the umpires whistle.

TMac in, Gus firing, Oliver Hogan and Petracca firing - AND Viney to come in. The light at the end of the tunnel is no longer the headlights of an oncoming train. The issue is that apart from Carlton, every team has played some decent footy and only Richmond have any consistency. Each week is a nightmare for tipping and form seems to be more quarter-by-quarter than game-by-game. The QB clash against the Filth will be pivotal. IF we are to play finals, the last 5 rounds are the most important to me. We need to find increasing form 5 games in a row to build momentum for the finals. Looking at Adelaide (A), Gold Coast (H), Sydney(H), West Coast(A) and Giants(H) I see a really difficult path to the finals, maybe winning only 2 of these but we might snatch the Sydney game.

OMac was in this same position 18 months ago. How's he doing now? Weideman is fine, is contributing, and will be a very very good AFL player.

Great to get a win, even if the first half is unwatchable. A few positives to come from the game: Brayshaw playing midfield where he should, Hannan Fritsch and Spargo etc... It was a nice win, but nothing to get me too excited. It still feels like just one game in the middle of a whole heap of bland under-performance. I still can't clearly see our best 22 or best 25 players, with lots of players like Harmes, ANB, Fritsch, Spargo, Garlett, Smith, etc... rolling in and out of the team each week as their form fluctuates. OMac is my highlight of the year so far. Love watching him now. I feel as confident with him as I do with Nev. Do we remember how many Demonlanders were caning our selectors for leaving him in the team when he was learning his trade? The vitriol was a pandemic. In hindsight, our player development seems to be an actual strength. (I can't believe I am typing that after the previous decade of horrors!) Now, that Demonlander vitriol reserved purely for developing players, turns to Weideman. How about we give him the same opportunities we have OMac? Weideman is a very, very good footballer who will turn out to be a 200 game player. He also has Hogan and TMac to learn from. He will be fine.

I am thinking of starting a self-help group, something like AA or NA. I am going to call it DEETOX, helping people addicted to the MFC and suffering from MFCSS. Any takers?

Nathan Jones - THE problem. I am severely annoyed and p***ed off this morning but this is simply wrong. For those who consider him THE problem need to rethink their understanding of leadership. We have members, finances, everything in place; but the football we play continues to have massive holes in it. Nathan Jones is NOT one of those holes.

Again - really really fumbly. Again - composure lacking in almost every play. No run from behind. We are losing rather than Tiges winning.

If we had composure we would be 3 goals up. Both teams lacking composure at this stage and it is just looking like aerial ping pong.

If we have the ball then all our players switch to attack mindset and formation. As this happens the Dees players seem to habitually and intuitively 1) overpossess and handball, 2) miss in-close targets, or 3) fumble, then it constantly looks like we are out of position etc... Add to that that Lewis is one of our main culprits (so fumbly and inefficient generally this year), Jones was used as a semi-tagger, and TMac and Viney are out, then we still dont have a leader/ someone experienced to initiate composure. We are getting the ball enough, and getting it inside 50 enough, but farting around with it is killing us time and time again. THIS is why we are scored against so easily.