The heart beats true

On reflection I’m disappointed by 2 very simple things: We got beaten comprehensively at clearance all night. We played into their hands with our ball use when we won it back in defence. Long down the line to no one. Gawn and Jackson underdone was a problem, but honestly we are so boring with our ball use from the back half for most of the last 2 months. It’s a very hard ground to counter attack from defence because of its horrific shape, and Geelong’s knowledge of the ground. So if you lose clearances it’s next to impossible to win. That’s the biggest problem. I also think because our forward line is struggling we pushed Petracca forward but it costs us a line breaker around the ground. To be fair it’s a tough ground to break lines on. It’s just so claustrophobic.

Disagree. We won that game by 80 odd points. He was in the mix of our players but had he not been there it’s very hard to argue we still wouldn’t have won. My view is that Luke got a Premiership from our system and experience, certainly not the other way around.

If he leaves I’ll never forgive him for leaving us when he could have been part of long term success. He could have been drafted to the Suns and really struggled having to be the number 1 guy. He’s benefited greatly from the experience of those around him, and the opportunity that gave him to have success. We’ve undoubtedly increased his value more than he’s increased ours in terms of his next contract. Would a new 3 year contract have killed him? He’d be 25 and still able to go home on a big 5-7 year contract. He will be reminded by me at every Melbourne game that I support the Demons, and if you turn your back on the family you have to deal with the consequences.

I don’t know why people bother going to that ground. It’s an horrific experience. I’m actually annoyed with the club that they don’t stick up for us as supporters and force the AFL to not schedule us there. Had the game been at a better ground 25k+ extra supporters could have gone. Or, if the club won’t stick up for us, force the state Government to build a terrible stadium at Casey and we can play Geelong there every year for the next 25 years. If it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for us.

I hate that ground - it’s not AFL standard, and they recruit and train for a specific game style on it where they strangle sides. The games are so dull because the boundary is used far too often. 2 weeks ago Geelong played a ‘home game’ against Richmond at the G. We never get afforded that luxury and we are the premiers. Had they played tonight at the MCG another 30,000 people could have gone. They are a selfish, whinging, entitled club. I hope every Melbourne supporter in the country shows up if we play them at the G.

You can’t judge it in early July.

We had a lot of players down tonight. Salem looks a mile off, Jackson the same, Max looked underdone. We need consistency but I’m questioning the hunger. Time will tell.

We have become far too predictable

I absolutely loathe this ground. It’s the worst football ground in the AFL. I’d love to know how many throw ins there are per game.

I don’t understand the holding the ball rule. Hawkins took on 2 players and got caught red handed. Its the one rule the AFL need to fix as there’s far too much interpretation based on context and player involved.

So excited to see what the boys bring. Such a good team.

Agreed. We have a percentage of 140 after 15 games, and we didn’t have one of those meaningless 100 point wins over North or the Eagles. I guess people have to complain about something? Our forward line is doing its job. Most importantly it suits our game plan - that sees us on top with a big percentage.

From AFL site… ’Melbourne has also given important forward Tom McDonald renewed hope of returning this season, reducing the timeframe on his return to "eight to 10 weeks" as he recovers from a foot problem.’

I feel like we need to put this in the thread title to save you from having to mention it every 3 pages.

Rory Lobb certainly put him under some pressure today. If LJ pushes Lobb out of Freo that will put Luke under a lot of pressure to perform straight away.

I think Noble is a good coach with an enormous amount of football knowledge. He’s very well respected in the industry (which is slightly different to Neeld who hadn’t work in as many diverse environments). He’s clearly trying to teach them how to do thinks the right way, and the players aren’t responding in any way. He’ll be gone in the next few weeks, get a job as a head of football somewhere next year and wonder why it was all so hard.

Honestly, this is so heartwarming. It’s easy to forget in the context of billion dollar tv deals and million dollar contracts that these are just people, with families. It means so much to them, and only means more as they get further into life and realise how lucky they’ve been to be involved in the way they are.

AFL is rubbish if Melbourne aren’t playing.

This poor bloke is doing the team thing every week and getting no love for it. Really surprised by those having a crack at him.

I was very happy with the win because we overcame a lot. The umpiring was very one sided. I think I read we got 3 free kicks in total after quarter time. In the last 3 quarters of the match for every free we got the Crows got over 5. Having said all of that we absolutely demolished them around the ground in the 3rd quarter - and didn’t put them away. Bedford and Spargo missed absolute sitters. We are an experienced team, and we’d only have ourselves to blame if we didn’t get the job done. You know you’re going to get one sided umpires in Adelaide, it’s what makes the win more important. They showed last years last quarter before last nights game and it was laughably biased umpiring.

Brilliant. That should be the descriptor in the TV guide.

I don’t blame the umpire closest to this incident because his view was clearly obstructed by other players. What I don’t get is why any of the other 2 umpires on the ground didn’t step in. At others grounds they would.

Collingwood have had so many tight games go their way. To put it into perspective they are 6th on the ladder - but 11th for percentage.

I think a lot of demons fans don’t understand how we are asking Ben Brown to play. At North he played as a leading forward in a team that played a lot of games at Marvel - where it’s less contests and easier for dry ball skills. For us he’s trying to compete in the air almost 100% of the time - as it suits our midfield game style. He’s in the team to kick 2 goals from the 4 opportunities he’s going to get a week. At North, when he was firing, he was getting 10 opportunities because of the way they played, and tried to isolate him. He’s an important part of the team - specifically around aerial contests in the forward 50 and keeping players like Andrews and Stewart honest.

That was a great win given the outs and the way we had to find a way. That’s a tough ground to win at. Proud of the boys.