The heart beats true

I think psychologically it’s as simple as some changes in personnel. The forward line need a new coach, simply for the psychological benefit of a new voice. The reality is we were decimated by injuries, but 70% of our first choice forward line played in the finals and will benefit from some fresh thinking. I also think we need to move a behind the ball player into the midfield - Salem or Bowey. We get 4 more shots a week from directly in front 30-40 out and we probably win 2-3 more games. Sell that to our players and they’d be much more optimistic going into 2024.

Hang on a minute! I never saw this. When in the game did this occur? @Jaded No More the gif possibilities of this are endless!

I think the big red flag on Petty is that he’s so far failed to hold up to consistent senior footy. He’s basically been available for selection for 60% of games since 2019. We need to find 2 bigger bodies forward.

That ended quickly

Ross Lyon in an interview spoke about exit interviews last week. He said players get so much consistent feedback that none of them would ever be in doubt about what they need to work on, and the expectations of them. He said these days exit interviews are more about finding out from the players how they are feeling and think their year went, checking off procedural and governance things, and then confirming with those you suspect are out the door that they in fact are.

This is spot on. I think this has been a really awful few weeks to be a Melbourne supporter. We just didn’t have anything go our way, and then we didn’t make things go our way. A bloke in front of me on Friday night threw his Members scarf on the field in disgust when the siren went. Our supporters were fantastic all year and we really needed to get something out of a horrible period - where it seemed like all we had was each other, while the whole football world treated us like [censored]. I’ve said it a few times but Friday night was our worst loss for decades.

So Giants get a 6 day break and Carlton a 7? That seems wrong.

Power 5.14 since quarter time.

Umpires getting very involved

I wondered all year if Kenny got the Power up early to help his contact status.

Port are lucky to only be 6 goals down.

I was just telling my partner about all he went through with his dad and then his diagnosis. He went through a lot, and I wish him every success.

Giants look good. I’m now barracking for whatever denies the AFL the most money.

Causation or correlation Jaded? 🤣

Great point. Not sure Frosty would have given Curnow a bath last night like May did.

The Power went forward to JHF and took a kick that we’ve been programmed not to take. Kicking to 40-50 metres out towards the middle. We go to the pocket every time because it’s easier to defend from that position. Our inaccuracy isn’t an accident.

Classy move for RDB by the AFL and Power fans.

I’m all in on the Oompa Loompa’s.

I don’t accept that. The stats don’t say that. We lost both those finals, much more than we were beaten. That’s what makes it so frustrating.

Disorganised. Joel Smith nominated twice but the umpire said it was too late.

I got home from the ground and saw some of the post match on 7. They were reluctant to say how much he towelled up Curnow. Saying stuff like ‘probably got the better of him. May absolutely decimated Curnow. He out marked him one on one so consistently that in the last quarter Curnow was just trying to bring the ball to ground. Steven May was extraordinary in that game. He has every right to be filthy. He couldn’t have done more.

I think you can question the game plan, but you can’t question the effort. The players give everything.

You could put Dunstall and Lockett in our forward line last week and they’d have struggled. Our method going forward is about defence, and it worked for a season, but since (and before) then it hasn’t worked. I think the personnel issues are undoubtedly a factor, but our forward half connection has been an issue for all but one season. It’s not hyperbole. Every single stat highlights it.

I think in the cold light of day we aren’t playing the type of football that wins finals, and the numbers back it up. We’ve been defending our place for the last 2 seasons. We play with such restriction and tension. Everything is done through the lens of defence - because that’s what wins you finals. Except it hasn’t, for 4 in a row. The game has changed again. Our football department needs fresh faces and new ideas. We went with what we had for 3 years, and we were entitled to do it based on ‘21. Now it’s time to reassess and get some fresh thinking in. Last night was the worst loss we’ve had as a club for a long, long time. You can’t consistently get beaten by what you know. We’ve known we’ve got forward half connection problems for 7 years.

Good analysis of what went wrong…. https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/09/16/finals-fix-how-melbourne-killed-their-season-with-the-butcher-job-to-end-all-butcher-jobs/