Sweetman

Some thoughts on our Goalkicking woes and some quick fixes.(not rocket science just fundamental technical fixes) Petracca- Issues 1/ High Ball Drop 2/ Lay Back on closer set shots. Fix no.1. Replicate his good field kicking by going back a long way (Ben Brown) , obtaining speed on approach and picking a target well behind goals (ignoring Goal Posts). Fix no.2 On closer shots kick around the corner similar to (Dusty Martin) Martin rarely takes a set shot very similar style to Petracca, always attempts to play on Fritsch - Issues 1/ Right to Left swing similar to Tom Hawkins but opposite foot. Fix . Always aim to right of Goal Umpire or right goal post . Otherwise don't change anything. Weideman- Issues 1/ kicks to hard and pulls left 2/ Lays back and shanks to the right. Fix . Similar style to Tom Lynch of Richmond who is great set shot. Some quick fixes, basically he has a good set up , just needs to do everything straight, straight run-up, straight ball drop with index finger on seam, aim 20 metres over goal umpires head (don't over kick) head over the ball (Tom Lynch) and most important is a taut instep and point the toe. If anyone has links to the Melbourne FD please pass on, I have had a lot of success at local and bush footy with simple fixes such as this. Go Dees

Agree completely these "experts" base their credibility on hindsight rather than actually being able to predict the future.

No it means I don't care any more. I may donate I may not.

20 + plus year member, life time supporter and third generation Demon. The club lost its football soul when it sacked Norm Smith and it has never recovered it. Swooper Northey , The Reverend and to a lesser extent Balmy nearly recovered it. Last years finals were fun, but unfortunately, we have slipped back to being an irrelevant football club , not a real football club. We all know it and are in denial, No culture of winning since 1964 , no ruthless true football soul, poor on field leadership and a lack of real passion. Even North and Essendon can recover from last weeks debacle , we cant because no one really cares enough. Sorry but this is the truth and the only clubs that we can compare ourselves with are GWS, GC and Fremantle. Even St. Kilda has more football soul but they are just perennial losers. We have always fallen victim to the Establishment, Private School Image in our leadership and that was the reason Norm Smith got sacked. The cycle can only be broken with an extremely strong leadership group and at the moment we don't have that and I cant see anything on the horizon. Last Year I dared to dream with Jackson and Goodwin and Co, the Pert appointment destroyed that and Goodwin has been thrown to the wolves. More pain ahead, Membership is a donation for hope (Don't hold your breath).

The Statistic that really highlights our problem is shown as follows: We have lacked talent in our forward line this year: Comparing 14 leading scorers from 2018 to 2019 and looking at averages per games played. Team Goals negative 5 per game. 8 players down on last year, 2 up on last year (Hunt and Petracca) Effect of Hogan, Melksham missing is nearly 3.6 goals per game with no effective replacements. Effect of McDonald, Hannan, Neal Bullen and Garlett drop off is 2.7 goals per game. Priority is forward effectiveness for 2020.

Melbourne Football Club injury reports , the nightmare that just keeps on giving.

Which team wins ? Backs Jetta May Hibberd Lockhart Frost Wagner Hbacks Salem Lever Lewis Hore McDonald Hunt Centre Kennedy Harris Van den Berg Kolodashnij Brayshaw Viney Baker Hforwards Hannan Weideman Sparrow Jones McDonald Petty Forwards Joel Smith Keilty Melksham Garlett T Smith Petracca Rucks Preuss Gawn Maynard Harmes Neal Bullen Oliver

From first hand experience (he coached my son for 3 years during his re-hab) he is a quality person who would add to our improving culture. Was outcast by Scott who plays favourites with his team. Is an elite user of the ball, strong overhead and a very accurate set kick. Watch the last 2 minutes of the Geelong game at GMHBA and see who set that play up that broke our collective hearts. Attached are some interesting comparative stats for those that dismiss Menzel and bag Garlett. I am biased because I know him but a lot of Geelong people are shaking their heads in dis-belief.