rufus

This x 1000. We pulled a half 186 in our last game...in a prelim no less. Undid a lot of good work in 60 minutes. This club still has a long way to go to gain respect...it would be staggering if they entered this season complacent.

I don't hate Collingwood like most seem to. I quite admire the way they display pride in the club and give unconditional effort. My favourite thing in sport i seeing seemingly outclassed teams beat their opponents on effort. Collingwood have been doing that for many years.

Maybe because of this there was no shame in being beaten by WCE. By why did we shirk it? We undid a lot of the gains yesterday. The first two finals might have started to put to bed the notion that things just get too hard for this club. Yesterday was an out and out disgrace.

We could have had wayne carey and gary ablett snr in out forward line yesterday and still would have got pantsed. If the team is prone to shirking the hard stuff your forwards will never be the difference makers.

The issue wasn't that we were in Perth. The issue was that every club in the league knows we're gettable through physicality and that we will roll over easily. If we'd have played collingwood at the G today the result would have been the same or worse. Did the players think a preliminary final might be played with the intensity of an AFLX game? I still feel for Goodwin. Reckon he's an excellent coach and must scratch his head at whatever it is about this club that just doesn't get what it takes to be successful. 34 tackles. [censored] me. How about we let the game be decided purely on talent? If the Eagles were the better team then so be it. We didn't even go close to making talent the deciding factor. We let it be decided by hunger and once it was MFC left wanting.

Collingwood turned up to Perth like a gang looking for a fight. We turned up to Perth like schoolkids on an excursion. We may not have won today anyway, but it's a perfect description of the difference between these 2 clubs. One wants to fight...one is ok with being pushed around.

Up there with 186 and 148 for embarrassment levels. We just spoiled a preliminary final for all neutrals. 34 tackles and Eagles players were at times literally walking around with the ball...bizarre. This club is still broken in my opinion.

Goes without saying that we mustn't get blown out early...if we can be within striking distance at half time our contested ability may wear them down at the pointy end. Huge test for our tall defenders. Would be a very nice day to have Lever but what can you do. 80 tackles and we play in a Grand Final.

Has anyone else noticed how well this game has been umpired? Just about the perfectly umpired game of AFL footy. Please let them umpire this way tomorrow so we can fairly and squarely work out who deserves the big dance.

24 tackles that quarter. Perfect. Same again please.

Lucky to be in front. Getting beaten around the contest and giving away some bizarre free kicks. Lucky Hawks have wasted their opportunities. Also, overall the umpiring has been nothing short of abysmal.

Obviously a huge night for the club. There are some things that I'm looking forward to finding out: 1. Do the coaching staff have good alternative plans? The way we played last week might not get it done. Knowing Clarkson the Hawks will have plenty of tricks. They'll eat our space and pressure at all opportunities. How do we break through it? 2. Our defence was excellent last week. But the individual defenders still seem to allow lead up chest marks into obvious spaces from stopped plays (i.e. when the opp has a mark or free 60m-70m from goal). Has this been addressed? This is a Hawthorn strength and they may burn us. 3. Last time we played Hawthorn they had something like 115 tackles (granted it was wet). I expect them to go 100+ tonight. That is going to make it very hard for us. The only way to counter it is by returning the favour. Do we have it in us? Been a great few weeks for the MFC. Let's hope the players keep it going tonight. At the least make it a genuine battle.

It is also driven by the fact that the wider football world sees the MFC as soft and likely to be exposed under physical pressure...and that perception has been there a long time. It's the worst label to carry in a physical sport and fans resent it because it's a bit embarrassing. Until it becomes apparent that this club no longer goes that way the underlying negativity will be there.

Huge test for this playing group over the next few weeks. Right now I agree they are what every opposition supporter likes to tell me they are...a group that doesn't like it when the physicality steps up. We've got injuries and they've got injuries. We've heard every excuse under the sun for the last 20 years, but this next two weeks will show us what this particular group is made of. When push comes to shove, will they again be the ones getting shoved? This is all about the players.

12 goals in 2 quarters to a team that struggles to score. Our problems in defence were born in the Paul Roos legacy protection era. Putting 18 men behind the ball doesn't help the individuals learn how to defend. Yeah it mitigates the damage but we have a group who do not know how to react to the contest in the back half. Positive out of the last quarter was that we didn't let our percentage get smashed. 13 wins should still make it.

Except that it does matter...because we know that the MFC will need one finals series with the excuse of 'it was our first finals series in ages so we were a bit overawed'. Now we may have to wait another 12 months to get that one out of the way.

Our 2018 team is putting together one of the most dominant midfield performances I can remember. We are constantly generating >55 inside 50's and limiting them the other way. Yet we are still finding ways not to win. Different list to 2011 but relatively similar result. The thing that $hitted me most about the crap teams from early in this decade was that it never had to be as bad as it was. A bit of pride in the jumper and the results could have been much better. The thing that $hits me about this years team is that the results could be so much better. A bit more pride in the jumper when things get tough and we could have been onto something. Might have even made the finals.

Reality is, if we had a single competent tall defender on our list we'd have played finals last year and be finishing top 2 this year. And that's even accounting for the general softness of the club under pressure. But we don't and without our high draft pick we probably have little ability to bring one in. I can't believe I'm saying this but I somehow even miss Frawley now. He seemed to put in about 50% of the time but at least he was capable of beating an opponent at times.

Yeah Goodwin could have moved Tom McDonald back but there goes one of our few effective offensive threats. Tough spot for Goodwin dealing with our abysmal tall defenders. Easiest position in football yet for the past 2 seasons we have been an absolute calamity in that area. Lever was going to help but if we don't bring in a competent tall defender (defensive minded defender) next season then our dominant midfield is going to deliver us duck eggs. Must really pi$$ the mids off watching the turds laid by the defenders.

For a supporter of any other club, if they could choose any team the be behind against in a close match in the 4th they'd be crazy if they didn't choose Melbourne. And I don't just mean the groups of this year and last year. I mean the Melbourne Football Club. The club that doesn't want to do what needs to be done when things get tough. Simple.

This club is exactly what everybody outside the majority of this forum thinks it is. Soft and gettable. Our defence is a disgrace. We are on the verge of wasting one of the most dominant midfields going around. How many games can you lose with 60+ inside 50's?

What I would like to see happen, but obviously can't for logistical reasons, is for the MFC to be allowed to have an 'amnesty' of sorts. We should be exempt from the limit of players that can be turned over. We should once and for all interview each and every player to determine those that have some kind of issue with the club and don't really want to be there anymore. Every one of them should be put up for trade to find a mutually beneficial outcome, or delisted if none can be found, so that once and for all the supporters may have a chance of seeing a group take the field that seem to give a $ hit. I would not exclude any player from the process. If our best young players don't like it at MFC they will soon be producung the apathetic, sooky performances that have become so prevalent and expected at the MFC. This would be their chance to speak up and fark off. We would need to be granted more draft picks because from what we see there must be a large number who fit in the category of having some kind of problem with the MFC.

I agree with the sentiments here and wish we had a football media with some decency that would raise points like these. Unfortunately the idea of a guy being loyal and giving back to the supporters is not as appealing to them as a guy looking for a "fresh start". I personally can't fathom how someone could walk out on a club that has afforded them such great opportunities before they have given much back. Whilst I accept what some are saying in that he may have been put under some unfair scrutiny by his coach and perhaps the previous admin, what I'd love to see is Jack to be one stands up and says 'I want to be part of the group that turns the culture of this club', instead of being another who walks out on it. I've heard stuff first hand from former players about their disgruntlement at various aspects of the MFC and I've always thought well why not be someone who does everything they can to change it??? If some players don't like the coach well so what. The coaches position will be sorted soon enough if he's no good. It's the players who are long term custodians of the club and it's up to them to own the improvement. I read somewhere (may have been here on Demonland) that Watts might be frustrated with the fact that he gets booed by his own supporters. I will say that I think it's a disgrace to boo your own players, but might add that if he ended up going to Carlton he might find a supporter group that can be even less appreciative if they feel they aren't getting 100% effort.