Wells 11

He cops too much crap here imo. Truth is He’s excellent and terrrible both. Missed two sitters one from a set shot and another a snap from 5 metres under little pressure. He also dropped an uncontested mark 25 meters out... and so from the critical angle that’s three goals and we win the game. All costly and wasteful of the good work that got the ball to him. But he also kicked two, set up a couple more and imo is a constant threat around the ball. He’ll be super important fr us going forward just taking him a long time to really mature. I just about threw my glass at him thru the tv last night... but im still a fan.

I think u may be on the money BBP. I hope that jack isn’t made sole captain and that is a solution of kinds. If he’s always offset by someone else it could still work. It terms of his form, I agree with others he still warrants his place but it’s hard to watch him playing so far under what his potential used to be. May be as good as he gets now.

Pains me to say it but they kicked beautifully tonight the eagles. Looked so relaxed and powerful in their approaches. We look the opposite ie Tense and tentative. Tmac was a dead eye last year, it seems like he doesn’t trust himself now. The only player I feel genuine confidence in re shooting a set shot fr goal is Melksham.. and Jeffy ( But not in general play anymore) . Hopefully it’s coachable but seems like a very elusive skill at afl level for many. Maybe you just got it or u don’t.

To state the obvious, he’s a heart and soul player clearly playing injured. Whether those injuries are of the long term ,perhaps career long, foot or something else I don’t know. But whatever the cause his kicking has become a real liability. He gets neither penetration nor accuracy on his left anymore and let’s face it, he’s never really had a right. If he gets the ball in space the best he’s doing is sending it high to a 50/50. It almost nullifies how good he is on the inside. Also, when I see him giving interviews it’s like he gives nothing of his real self. Perhaps protecting himself and towing the party line steadfastly. When I watch him I do wonder, when Jones steps back eventually, if viney will be the type of leader that inspires . No one could ever question his commitment nor his guts , and I’m probably going to roasted fr saying this, but I’m starting to question his skill set as a future solo captain.

Best we’ve looked all year I reckon. Tmac is back!!! Umpires truly truly frikn atrocious.., like our goal kicking. ww need Jeffry and Brayshaw in the game.

One thing fr sure is we won’t let max get bullied off the ball this time. Expect fireworks if they try that.

If it changes to 4-6 then it’s the season.

Positives. liking the gradual return to form of Tmac, Trac, Frost and Hunt. Hannan, Oliver, Gawn and Salem really good as per normal. I thought we were physically hard at it the whole game. Won most stats and deserved the win. Should have won by a lot more than a point! Negatives. Critical fumbles, slipping over, missing easy shots on goal, ball bouncing off hands. Brayshaws loss of form, Garlett looking lost again, Viney all heart but v limited ability to impact by hand or foot. Not sure Keilty is ready ( sorry Drukn) Cant wait to get lever back into this team.

Epic! We’re a Loyal resilient lot aren’t we , albeit a bit weather beaten and angry. 50 k Is a big achievement. . Hoping this is just the start of big things on the field and off it. A flag, a new home base and up into the 60-70 k plus members. A win on the weekend would also keep a hint of hope for this season . if we can keep that window open , get players bk and start knocking over some big teams in then maybe 53-5 k this year?

I doubt it. It’s one the issues that has consistently plagued us and, imo, kept us at the bottom since we left the mcg. Why would “mr 70k” have any more luck dealing w the realities of our situation than previous others? The fact he went so public on Yarra park , when it actually was so tenuous has made me doubt his capacity. In these times, when players pick and choose their destinations it’s growing in importance by the day. I’m afraid it’s going to cripple us ( again) before too long if a solution isn’t found asap.

“Weideman is sore and we’re looking to give him a rest this week?” The way goody put it made me think that weids body is quite ready fr week in, week out AFL. Understandable, it takes more time fr some than others. And I like player management. But don’t put a 650k price in ur head when yr still on trainer wheels!

Excellent. I think he’s almost my fav player when he’s on. Brings so much to the team. I’d love u to ask him about how it was for him and what reasons were given for his fall out of the team last year. 2017 he was almost AA imo. Also about his back injury. It Kept him a long time on the sidelines when he first arrived at the club. Does it still trouble him?

Me too. Misso has made some really big blunders. Trengove and Viney the biggest ...but how big are they! Too many Players were not prepared fr the start of this season and, operations or no, he’s got a case to answer. Joel Smith is just further proof here. u don’t need a sports science degree to have seen Joel smith should never have come bk on. No wonder Shaun is [censored], it’s his sons career on the line here.

Is it the same feeling u get after buying a Tatts ticket?

Strange timing . before the game on live to air tonight, boak was interviewed and he’s doing the same or a v similar thing. Even Has a pool at his house he does it in, and all the commentators were praising him re his commitment to getting the max out of his body. Sounds like trac pushed it too far..but seems like the practice is wide spread.

Brilliant news. Thoroughly deserves his shot at it. And yes... let’s hope he bags a few, creates a good contest and helps us win the game!

Hawks: no change. Business as usual... little ups and downs... injured recruits become stars...top 4 aspirations as per normal. Ho hum. Dees: 6 changes! OUTS. Passion, semblance of game plan, healthy “stars” who get injured, capacity to score, morale, Hogan or watts as fall guy. INS: business as usual; Fumbles, loss of spark, players looking lost all over the ground, reliable losers, bottom 4 , omac or Petracca as fall guy.

Lol. Yep... and add in some xmas’ past . Schwartz, Charles, jakovich, Tingay. I would add tho that Salem’s batteries were def included.

Spot on. Whatever is really going on will come out in the wash eventually. I honestly dread to think. We’ve been such a tight club for a few years now but whenever this type of thing happens there’s almost always poison coming from somewhere. Perhaps we need to pray to the spirit of jimmy to return and weed it out. Watching the last week against the tigers I think we’re getting BOTH better and worse. Those stupid uncontested possession chains that Geelong and Essendon massacred us with had mainly disappeared. Imo We looked tighter, tougher and more like last year. So....in this way I thought we were better. At least they had to earn their goals. We were still in the game at 3/4 time against potent opposition... at least on the scoreboard. Offensively though we looked remarkably 2013. I was seriously in a time warp. the leading patterns of the fwds were comically disfunctional on the v rare occasions that we even went there. I say rare occasions as We had almost non existent run or flow from half back. Even Oliver, who is an offensive weapon w his handballs, consistently chose the poor option. It was our lowest i50 count for the year and probably fr a few years. So in this way much much worse. From qtr time on I honestly had no idea how we would kick another goal. As it turned out We got two v lucky ones... but it could / should have been 3 goalless qtrs. THAT is Neeldesque. In summary We’re going fwd slowly but backwards fast. Just like game day.

Now we're back to waiting for him to develop. We spent about 5 years doing that with any number of "gun recruits" in the Neeld torture chamber. Its not that Goody might not be right...but gosh it feels like all too familiar scenario. One day........some day....if only we'd picked....

I don’t like being so down on the dees but the way they are playing.. game plan, execution, skill errors, lack of speed etc. I’m really not sure we’ll win as many as 3 or 4. I can’t think of a single side we defeat atm. . And yes I agree there is no way we will keep playing injured players late into this nightmare of a season.

That is really an epic piece! Kudos. Wish the players could see it.

I used to know f all... but now I realise I know f nothing.

Honestly some of the tripe I read on here makes me squirm. Players HAVE to be available to the media these days . To not do so would be economically negligent and the same ones pulling max apart here would be going nuts about how we don’t promote our club... in good and bad times. we, as a club, are lucky that Maxxy is well loved in the football world in general and given a regular voice. It gives us an industry respected spokesman and face for young supporters to relate to. We haven’t had a lot of them in recent times. He needs to speak up... the fans in general need to stay engaged. Our footy sucks and yes, we would all rather engage fans w winning but it isn’t happening now. Max disappearing from the media wouldn’t help anything one bit. It’s footy in the 21 century. No club can close their doors to the media anymore. Im as angry , deeply disappointed, numb and shocked as the next person here. Looking for answers , wondering where everything is breaking down and why. But attacking max fr writing this article has produced some of the most inane comments I’ve read here for years.

Yep, just like popping in to see family. It’s good to go back home . in a changing world it’s reassuring when somethings stay the same.