Macca

We threw the game away with indirect football in the first half Brisbane were shell-shocked and had no answers but we persisted with boundary line attacks and even worse, bombing it in a haphazard way to the pockets We showed no daring, took no risks and paid a heavy price by letting them back in it Probably the worst loss I can ever remember in terms of a superior side being beaten by an inferior side Poor coaching and our players are no better. Programmed with inneficient methods with our inside 50 entries. Unable to think for themselves We went with the GF team of last year and it didn't work. To not make a PF with this team is a massive fail Stafford can go, he's not up to it. Goodwin needs a rocket as well. This team is capable of blowing teams away (we've seen it) but we persist with not using the corridor. Why? Meanwhile, the other good teams do use the corridor. Makes no sense as to why we don't From the corridor we hit the flanks or pockets. It's garbage football We lost 8 of our last 14 games. Teams with that sort of record are usually down the other end of the ladder

Good player but lacks A grade vision A+ grade intensity with B grade disposal and decision making skills. Great courage, great desperation. But doesn't see the game unfold ahead. Only the best see it that way We lack real class disposing the ball forward from our midfield We get the cod a million times but we are wasteful. Tonight, even Oliver was handpassing to stationary targets (surrounded by opposition players) Jackson did it to May 30 metres out from the Lions goal. May got pinged So frustrating to watch

We won our first 10 games but in nearly every one of those wins, we went into cruise mode in the last quarter or ... we went onto lock down mode to stifle the opposition As the season went on that method was more so fade outs (as you've pointed out) The difference? Better opposition So we were exposed but the 10 & 0 start made matters a tad confusing. Winning has that effect The key is where to now? What do we do to be great again? 6 - 8 new players. Draftees or experienced talent. Might be closer to 6 players but the last 6 or so picked in the finals team were exposed tonight as rather ordinary If you want to be good, you've got to get better. And it's nothing personal It's a ruthless game

And in the end we were ousted by a lesser light who knew what we were going to do, especially with regards our forward 50 entries We showed our hand in plain sight. A predictable game plan that was picked apart by the good teams and then Brisbane From early in the season our forward line was crowded, Brown was double teamed or even triple teamed and we had no answers Default mode - bomb to the left forward pocket As a result, as the season went on, our forward line woes stayed as it was Hindsight tells us that we should have changed things up

A bit too quick though, layz We were looking for next week but there's no tomorrow until 2023 Hard to cop and I reckon most feel the same way

And why would a premiership team be happy to bomb it long to a pocket? Where's the arrogance? Doesn't make any sense at all ... doing that (bombing long to a pocket) invites the opposition in. Stupid football and a soft, conservative, boring game plan. Giving the opposition a chance You never give a sucker an even break. Never do what the opposition might want Make no mistake, we blew our chances tonight. We lost a game we should have won

And we did the same thing tonight when we had the opposition on their knees (in the first half) We could have killed them off and buried them but old habits die hard Poor coaching and shocking decision making (by the players) We gifted them the game, we gave them a sniff and in the end, they walked all over us

We got outplayed. Especially after half time. Even if we'd somehow won we wouldn't have been able to match the Cats anyway We are not good enough and there are zero excuses (or reasons) Biggest issues remain our forward 50 entries and the ability of our forwards I'm not sure we've got a midfielder who can deliver the ball into the forward line with precision (consistently) And apart from Fritsch, our forwards as a collective, are sub par Kicking deep to the FP? That's got to go The 2021 flag is history. The only thing that matters is the future Need about 6-8 changes to the list and we need to be prepared to give away some players to gain others who can improve the list This loss really hurts. 2 finals losses is unacceptable for a reigning Premier A PF appearance is a pass mark but out with 2 home final losses is a mediocre outcome. We went out meekly

Gawn kicks it to the pocket Oy-vey

We've had a dream run tonight with the umpires tonight

Handpass to a teammate surrounded by opposition players It's like the days of old

ANB bobs up Needed that

Great effort Petracca

We are falling to pieces Need something

Kick to the top of the goal square ... goal It ain't rocket science

So why are we kicking to the pockets when we've got this mob on their knees We should be 8-10 goals in front

Amazing what happens when playing the corridor ... Mark & goal to Fritsch We are dominating the game yet we are indirect when going forward

Magic!!

ANB is everywhere! Melks!!

Well done Kossie ... Triple tackle!

@Dee Zephyr@Gorgoroth@JV7 What do we all like in the Makybe Diva Stakes tomorrow? Thunderstruck is very short odds and it's best wins but ... I'm giving Western Empire another chance (8.50 with a boost) Good race, all the same with 6 winning chances out of the 8 runners. And they can all get into the finish

That's a great way to start the season ... a big victory at the Superbowl winning Rams Gorgoroth (here on this thread) will be none too happy and we'll get the summary at what happened soon enough! Allen is a gun player but he made a name for himself big time last year so no surprise there

The KB fixture/game

The obvious observation is that the MC have gone with last years premiership team to back it up this season Hunt for Bowey and Melksham for T-Mac are the only 2 changes from last year's premiership line-up but if T-Mac was fit, he'd be in the team at the probable expense of Melksham. The team has the same line-up that played in the Collingwood game (save for Harmes in for Jordon) So that was our finals team back then (over a month ago) Selection all year has been conservative but it must be pointed out that we won 16 H&A games and finished 2nd with the above policy So if it doesn't ultimately work, we'll then see change but that won't happen until next season. If it does work, the team and the MC will be rightfully lauded As for the now, if we beat Brisbane another unchanged team will probably result (save for an injury or 2) I expect the team to beat the Lions and after a win, the mood changes and we'll believe that we can beat the Cats (we, as in all those involved at the club)

The alternates to playing Gawn forward either aren't good enough or aren't ready. So it's Gawn. If Gawn plays more in the ruck, we'd have to go in with one key forward (Brown) and/or Jackson will have to play forward (and that's a big ask) They might pick Van Rooyen but to my way of thinking, that selection would be half a season too late and we'd be expecting a lot of the lad. He isn't a future Dermie (Brereton debuted in a final) but if he did somehow turned out to be that good a player, it's wishful thinking right now anyway. The stuff of dreams As for T-Mac, even he conceded that he could run around ok but the rest of it was going to be a test No change unless Petracca is out. Van Rooyen might get a call up but it's a big ask expecting the lad to shine in his first game (a final to boot) And if Petracca is available we might be better suited with him having a role in the forward line (thus, alleviating the onus on Gawn) I'm all for taking risks but those risks need to be calculated risks