The heart beats true

They can’t play better, and we are going at 60%. Clean up around the ball, lift our intensity, and the umpires start being consistent with stoppages (some are given forever, while others they want to ball up after 1 second) and we’ll be right.

To be fair I could have guessed from your username ?

Be 9 when Merrett comes over.

I’m still traumatised by that Port game.

We played so poorly there last year.

I’m genuinely surprised at the level of criticism aimed at some of our players. Fritsch has been outstanding this year. To hear some people say he can’t be played anywhere else when his first season he played exclusively off half back is odd. He’s a very talented football player. And Gawn was ‘fumbly’ and out of touch on the weekend - but somehow picked up 9 votes from the 2 blokes paid $500k each to understand the game. I know we are in unfamiliar territory here Dee’s fans, but it’s ok to appreciate what you’ve got.

I’m going to go out of my way here to defend Angus Bradshaw. His role for the last 6 weeks has been almost exclusively playing the defending wing, which means he has to be hyper aware of his defensive positioning - especially for the switch. You’ll also note the amount of times he’s caught in between players and has to run back and throw his hands up to defend a player coming in to mark. That’s him doing exactly what he needs to do for the team. It’s a very unsexy position, but listen to how often the commentary is around how well set up we are. Angus is a huge part of that. I think he’s done his job amazingly well, and we should be very proud of him and his team first attitude.

That player I’d imagine. Everyone else is a secondary contact so needs a negative test only.

We don’t know it’s a groin. We actually don’t know anything. We also don’t know what Oliver is likely carrying, what Gawn is clearly carrying, how Goodwin’s mental health is, and where Burgo is with his decision for next year. You should write the club a strongly worded letter requesting a status update, and be sure to let us know what you learn.

Dare I say that the club isn’t keeping the supporters in the dark. Instead they aren’t letting every opposition club know what’s wrong with one of our most important players, and therefore how to target him.

From The Age article: ‘The league was pleased that Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin chose not to make an issue of the umpiring and these contentious incidents in the dying minutes of his team’s first loss for 2021.’ And as such I COMPLETELY expect we get looked after for the rest of the year. We’ve lived up to our end of the bargain. I’m looking forward to it.

Last Friday’s medical report from club doc Laura said Jack Viney was 2 weeks away. So I can only assume that means he’s not playing this week.

Seriously. Catch a grip. 2 months ago before the season started almost no one had us playing finals. Now we look set to play finals. If you focus on what you don’t have life will be long and hard. If you appreciate what you do, and believe that tomorrow can be a better day you’ll often have a smile on your face. This team makes me smile a fair bit.

I felt for him last night. His performance deserved to be credited as dragging us over the line. His will to win was awe inspiring. I knew he was a great footballer but what I saw in the last quarter last night really showed he’s at another level.

I agree with the first part but can’t see any of the other smalls adding more. Salem for Jetta, Weed for Viney if he’s fit. If Melksham is sore then Sparrow deserves a crack. I do think we are too predictable going forward with the big blokes (Weed and Brown). Move the ball around and we look a lot better.

Given I’ve had 24 hours to calm down… We are going ok. I’m very interested to see the next 2 weeks. We’ve put ourselves in a great position but need to work hard before the bye to give ourselves some confidence. Good teams have down days. I’d rather them in May than September. I really think as a supporter group we need to have some faith. The boys have done their job to date, and they deserve our continued support and encouragement.

Nah, you don’t understand the interpretation of the rule. You often hear the umpire state ‘insufficient intent’. That means the player wasn’t doing enough to keep the ball in play. Spargo’s hand (which I don’t think makes any contact in that video anyways) doesn’t matter if the player is hand balling purely to the boundary line. If anything that video proves there’s nobody there for him to handball too. Deliberate.

While I’m firmly of the opinion that we were completely robbed by the non holding the ball decision and the non deliberate OOB, I also don’t what that to become the narrative. We are a senior team now - in terms of games experience and age demographic. You don’t get 16 points up with 7 minutes left and get beaten. That should be the story of this game. A blow torch on the leaders. May and Gawn in particular should be held to account for their inability to set up better. We didn’t control the game all night, and struggled to maintain possession. I want some pressure on the leaders, as that will do us more good in the long run.

I’m going to say something that will probably annoy a few… If Weideman’s name was Smith he’d struggle to still be on the list. He showed very little last year when given a good chunk of the year to prove himself, and he’s just got no intensity into his game as he’s developed. He’s too skilled for the VFL, but lacks the fire to be an AFL player. Eventually you’ve got to take your chance and I don’t think he’s capable. Brown should replace him. Jordan looks tired. Sparrow to replace him. Salem for Jetta.

He’ll get a game now. Jordan looked cooked, Melksham is hurt, and Viney is another week off. He needs to take his chance Tom. He’s been given a few shots at it and hasn’t done enough to make me confident he can make it. We need him to take his chance.

We played as poorly as we’ve played all year against a team that played to their absolute potential and are backed by a very one eyed local supporter base that directly impacts decisions. We got beaten by a point. My frustration is that the experience of the team didn’t rise to the occasion with 5 minutes to go. Individual brilliance had got us back in it (Oliver) and he didn’t get support from his teammates with decision making and effort. Goodwin needs to remind our experienced players of this, and demand more. The media will come for us now. Honestly they’ve been waiting for weeks to stick the boots in. The narrative around our football club is perennial losers, and consistently untrustworthy. The only way to change it is to change it. We need to back up next week and play our hearts out. We need to put ourselves in a good position to play quality finals. I’m tired of supporting a club that gets kicked around. I’m excited to see our boys respond. I’ll back them in. I wouldn’t want to be the bulldogs next week.

We just didn’t control the ball all night. Had very few chains of possession. It was hard to watch.

As an artist I’ve got to say our jumper is a ripper. Amunda has done an amazing job and should be super proud of the work. I’m excited to get one. But… WTF was Port Adelaide doing? I didn’t see them trying to be supportive of emerging engineers when they built the stadium, and just get the work experience kid to build it. Sentiment is given far too much credence in the arts and cultural space. At the end of the day if more organisations supported more professional artists communities would get a better product - and be much more inclined to continue to support funding art and cultural endeavours. It’s not the kids fault - she’s a teenager and can’t comprehend the cultural and economic reasons why what she did is wrong. Port should know better, and anyone advising them should have told them to get some professionals involved. They aren’t going to play a member of the cheer squad in a forward pocket on the weekend just because it’s a ‘good story’. Bizarre.

I cant remember which commentator/journo said a couple of weeks ago that BBB was struggling to get separation from his direct opponent on leads. I think his knee has caused him to lose the pace he needs to get some separation from his opponent. He’s always been a leading forward type. If he can’t get in front on a lead then he’s in trouble. I feel for him as I think he’s a really good quality person, and he’s had a lot to deal with emotionally over the last year. I hope he can go to the TMac school of agility training and get his body right. His composure ball in hand, and consistent leading at the ball player is exactly what we need in big games.

I’m so sick of hearing about Richmond. They are on the tv again this week - 8th prime time night game so far in just 10 rounds of football. The sooner they go back to being mediocre the better it will be for the football community. They currently sell papers and grab eyeballs, but if they go back into the wilderness 60% of their supporters go away with them. Just like what’s happened with the hawks. It’s time. I’m bored.