Winners at last

wont be surprised

+1

I have an apology to make. I called Mark Preston a big fat turd. That was so wrong. I meant Matt Preston.

dee-eee. By all means. I wonder if he ever found that chip dropped by the seagull on the MCC concourse that he was looking for!!

I know that he's not a current footballer, but Brian Taylor is a big fat turd. He's like that Mark Preston who is also a big fat turd. They are both big fat turds. And that has been scientifically proven!! (At the Ponds Institute.)

1. Just did.

2. Robbie Flower, who else.

3. round 22, Western Oval 1987. I was there. The next 2 finals were fantastic.

4. 1988/2000 grand finals. They were horrendous. 1987 Preliminary Final was a nightmare. But the team would have got thrashed by Carlton the following week even had we won.

5. I loved the Johnny Northey era. He got the "us against them" mentality working beautifully. So many battlers did so well under his tutelage, e.g Jamie Duursma, Doug Koop, Dean Chiron.

No one deserves the punishment of having to watch that game again. One of the worst in the history of AFL...

I was there!! Thanks fror the reminder about Jordie's kick for goal. Not!!

Part of the problem is in the mindset of the mids, who try and barge through players. That is not a high percentage play as we see every week. Then when they are caught, they try the little handball, that is usually turned over. It is poor football and poor coaching to allow it to continue as it has for most of the year. If they want to learn how to do it, video Mitchell of the Hawks and see what he does.

Geelong and the Hawks are famous for the quick release backwards, to a player coming forwards who then can dish off the ball.

Effort and work rate are a big part of this, as when the first disposal is given off, other players forward of the ball are running to make space and give the option. We are poor at this.

It comes from practice and game plans put in place by the Coaches.

The same can be said of the loose man in defence, that has been used at least 3 times this year, that I can recall, to cost us a game, including yesterday. Why wasn't someone sent to Baguley by the Coaches to stop his clearances and cut off an easy way out for the bombers' defenders.

Also why did our forwards play from behind the whole game, allowing the Defenders easy uncontested marks and possessions. Surely the Coaches could have addressed that early in the game when it became obvious.

Further the long bombs into the forward line are useless when your key forwards are not marking the ball or bringing it to ground, like what was happening yesterday, yet we persisted with the long bombs.

Spot on!! So well put it reads like something I had written!!!

McDonald's OK, but he should recognise his own limitations, and play within them.

I haven't seen much of Brissie this year but I see it as a danger game. They have the wood over us in recent years, even in Victoria.

We must win next week and against St.Kilda. Winnable games, as today's was meant to be. 2/3 is not too bad a strike rate. 1/3 is unacceptable and 0/3 I don't even want to think about.

I like the idea of Fitzpatrick in for Dawes. At least now we know Fitzy and McDonald can play forward or back. Dawes is a forward only and a fairly useless one at that.

They can re-arrange some deckchairs amongst the smaller players if they like, but I'm not fazed.

Danger game? Are you kidding? What match isn't, well other than most of them which are certain losses?

There is a definite problem with us coping with big forwards - Cloke 7, Riewoldt 4, Darling 5, Daniher 5 over the past weeks. That is why Fitz has to come in - his form has been OK and at least his size allows him to compete 1:1. It's not rocket surgery.

Lovely mixing of metaphors. Rocket science + brain surgery!! ;-)

There was not one second during that match that I thought Melbourne would win. Poor teams inevitably find a way to lose.

If Bail and M. Jones are the only choices for 21 & 22, it might be better to play 2 short.

I predicted carnage. And put $100 on Geelong.

Delighted to be wrong!!

Happy to lose the $100. (Won more than that betting against them the past few years anyway.)

Go Dees!!!!

Budge. I'd rather lose my money, but betting against Melbourne slightly eases the pain. And pays for coffees/muffins etc.

It will be carnage. Odds on Geelong (head to head) on Sportsbet are 1.11. I got on at 1.15. Easy money.

Of yous guys I'm not sure who the most stupidest is!

It will be carnage.

i know, many have said on here before (and i totally agree), that as we all have to pay roughly similar salary caps it is disgusting to think that some players on our list are on the same amount of money as the good/great/excellent/elite players at your league leading clubs such as Sydney, Hawks, Freo etc.

Totally agree. That's why I get so annoyed when the coach talks about a lack of effort on the part of the players. Most of them are ridiculously overpaid. It's a shame the Club has to pay up to the cap, and the players cant be paid on a performance basis.

Some things are worth repeating. Some things are worth repeating. It will be carnage.

It will be carnage

I'm listening to the Smithereens now. They'd go OK at half time I reckon.

Etihad yesterday was abysmal. Particularly that stupid "make a noise" direction which appeared on the screen after Saints' goals.

I was with my brother (a St Kilda supporter). His response was "baaa".

I think the selection of both Stretch and ANB was a mistake. Should have been one only. (Not just saying it now. I said it before the match.)

Don't worry mate I've been self-medicating for years

It is so frustrating just watching them continually make the same errors. It is on the verge of insanity. How many times did Dunn take too long from the kick-in after a Saints behind, chip to himself, run to the right hand side and kick to the flank 60 metres out only to see a Saints player mark it or a Melbourne player drop the mark and the Saints pick up the crumb and send it back inside 50?

How many times do we just bomb long into the forward 50? Sometimes we did it when our forwards were leading up the ground for the pass and the only player back was a Saints player. It's like they look up, see the Saints player by himself but in their minds they've already made the decision they are going to bomb long to do it anyway and kick it straight to the opposition.\

When we do bomb it in why do we rarely kick it to the advantage of our forwards? Ok if you're going to bomb it in to a pack fine, but at least kick it to the side our players are standing on to give them the best chance to at least compete for the mark and lock the ball in or create crumbing opportunities.

How many times do we handball to a player within a metre of the player with the ball who is being worn like a glove? How many times do we handball in circles putting ourselves under pressure instead of trying to get a chip kick in to take a mark and steady ourselves?

How many times does a player run past for a handball instead of laying a shepherd to clear the way for his teammate to take a clear possession? How many times does that player then receive the handball only to run straight into an opposition player and quickly hand off again to another player under pressure until they turn it over or get tackled for a ball up?

How many times do our players compete with each other for the mark only to spoil each other or drop it only to see the opposition with a player or two down waiting for the crumbs to clear it away? It happened continually against the Pies and again yesterday against the Saints. A couple of times we had 3 or 4 players going up with only 1 or 2 Saints and the other 2 or 3 Saints players just waiting down for an easy ball. It is utter stupidity.

Gawn is almost 7 feet tall, why can't he mark?

Hogan was on fire, all they had to do was kick it to him one out and he would've kicked 10 yesterday. Even after Delaney went off we couldn't get it down there for about 15 minutes in the last quarter.

I was furious with the last 41 seconds but the entire game to that point had been so bloody frustrating, same as the week before because of the repeated idiotic decision making. Skill errors are bad but I can handle them more than making the wrong bloody decision again and again and again ad infinitum.

Dr Gonzo, I salute you!! Spot on; it is like reading something I had written myself. There can be no higher compliment!!!

+1