spirit of norm smith

Wow. Power. 45. Swans. Nil. Qtr time.

edited with scores Gawn - busted his guts 9/10 Viney - had no impact 4/10 Rivers - played with heart 8/10 Sparrow - was trying alot 4/10 Bowey - has lost momentum 2/10 Langdon - tried all night 8/10 Fritsch - some limited moments 4/10 Van Rooyen - was rarely involved 2/10 Neal Bullen - season worst game 3/10 Tholstrup - out of depth 4/10 Chandler - small man syndrome 2/10 McDonald- frustrated and frustrating 3/10 Pickett - has tuned out 3/10 Oliver - was embarrassingly incompetent 4/10 Lever - showed no leadership 2/10 Howes - not a backman 3/10 Woewodin - little to commend 2/10 Turner- little to admire 3/5 Melksham - age has wearied 2/10 McVee - rarely found space 6/10 Petty - was uninvolved again 3/10 May - hopefully back soon 4/5 Moniz - Wakefield - regularly amateurish disposal 3/10

SIMON Goodwin has admitted Melbourne was "nowhere near the level" to compete with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night. Goodwin's Demons lost by 51 points, with the Dogs' return of 15 goals from 35 scores saving Melbourne from a larger defeat. The Bulldogs won the first 10 clearances of the match, and despite the final metric of 41-36, the Demons were soundly beaten at the contest for the duration. They dominated around the ball and were able to score way too easily. So, incredibly frustrated with how we started the game, and in patches we were able to bring that back… but overall, just nowhere near the level required." Goodwin noted that Melbourne's clearance game "hasn't been anywhere near the level for a period of time now", with typically dynamic duo Jack Viney and Kysaiah Pickett combining for just three clearances and 21 disposals.

Questions. 1- what is our new style of play - it’s become boring at times - compared to the Dogs for example Dogs. Fast. Direct. Waves. Running. Dees. Slow. Indirect. Wide. Static. Though when we go more direct, it’s actually positive amd leads to goals. Surprise!! 2- Rock solid defence? Not anymore. Freo and the Dogs had a party. Giants kicked goals in bursts. Lever and McDonald are leaking goals. Not sure they are agile enough anymore. Lever especially is having a bad year. He has lost athleticism and struggles now with a 1-1 contest. And his loose handball was horrible. McDonald cost us two goals in the 1sr qtr. 3. Tackling ineffective…we are letting players get handballs away to keep the ball moving. Certainly obvious last night and the prior few weeks v Freo and GWS. Clearances are a huge problem. Freo smashed us. Dogs smashed us. Games being lost early through stoppages and centre clearances. Contested footy…That WAS our strength!?!?! 4. Depth in the list. Loss of 4/5 players and Brayshaw retirement. Too many passengers getting games. I think our lack of depth has hurt our desperation and desire. Sparrow. Bowey. Chandler. Salem. All have really underperformed but get match after match. Finally we saw Sparrow dropped and he reacted. 5. Goodwin. Coaching style and strategy or lack therein. Enough said on other posts. We simply cannot say we are learning and we are working on forward connection Accountability?!?!!!

Questions. 1- what is our new style of play - it’s become boring at times - compared to the Dogs for example Dogs. Fast. Direct. Waves. Running. Dees. Slow. Indirect. Wide. Static. Though when we go more direct, it’s actually positive amd leads to goals. Surprise!! 2- Rock solid defence? Not anymore. Freo and the Dogs had a party. Giants kicked goals in bursts. Lever and McDonald are leaking goals. Not sure they are agile enough anymore. Lever especially seeks to struggle with a 1-1 contest. And his loose handball was horrible. McDonald cost us two goals in the 1sr qtr. 3. Tackling ineffective…we are letting players get handballs away to keep the ball moving. Certainly obvious last night and the prior few weeks v Freo and GWS. Clearances now being lost. That WAS our strength!?!?! 4. Depth in the list. Loss of 4/5 players and Brayshaw retirement. Too many passengers getting games. I think our lack of depth has hurt our desperation and desire. Sparrow. Bowey. Chandler. Salem. All have really underperformed but get match after match. Finally we saw Sparrow dropped and he reacted. 5. Goodwin. Coaching style and strategy or lack therein. Enough said on other posts. We simply cannot say we are learning and we are working on forward connection Accountability?!?!!!

@WERRIDEE I agree with most but it’s going to be a brave move to lose so much experience in the sheds. Also thought it is harsh on Marty Hore. He has again shown he’s a class above at Casey. Somehow stuck behind Lever and had a few injuries this year. I’d invest in him again. With Tomlinson and Tmcd going, he’d be needed to assist the defence. Retire: Brayshaw (medical) B.Brown, Melksham, McDonald, Hunter Delist: Schache, JS29, Tomlinson, Sestan, Farris-White upgrade : Moniz-Wakefield ** thats 9 list spots available ** rookies: Hore, Kentfield, KBrown, Verrall Poor list management …Contracted until end 25: Spargo. Billings. Contracted until end 26: Laurie, McAdam. None were deserving of such deals. (Tim Lamb 🤯) ————————————————— Aim to bring in 1. Free agent: Isaac Cumming - skilled half back 2. Trade in mature plan B ruckman 3. Trade in Harry Edwards (West Coast) key defender ** Trade out 2025 1st round with Freo to get 2024 pick 10-12 in this years draft National Draft. Let JT weave his magic. (4 picks likely) 1st round Two of the following- Xavier Lindsay🌟/Harvey Langford🌟/Murphy Reid🌟/Tom Gross/Christian Moraes/Sam Lalor/Toby Travaglia/Taj Hotton/Bo Allan 2nd round: (circa pick 40 - Swans pick) some potential names who might be available: Kade Gerryn , Hamish Davis , Lachie Jacques, Zak Johnson, Kade Herbert. Youngsters who could be bargains at a 3rd/4th round pick 50 ish : Patrick Retschko, Cody Anderson , Oliver Depaoli-Kubank, Zane Cochrane, Bailey McKenzie, Jaxon Artemis. Keighton Matofai-Forbes ———————————————- Rookie: father son Noah Yze Cat B rookie: Ricky Mentha

Seriously strong draft this year. Lots of high quality midfielders. I know I have mentioned that a lot but it’s time for JT to load up with the first 3 picks on quality ball winning mids. We should look to trade our 2025 first round pick into this years first round. Others will see and think of a MFC demise and believe next year could reap a top 5-8 pick. I think we can bounce . Reset away from our comfort zone that seems to have infested our list and coaching staff.

6. Gawn 5. Langdon 4. Rivers 3. McVee 2. Sparrow … the rest. Meh Lots just doing bits and pieces.

Unlikely. He’s a rookie pick. Cat B rookie most likely.

Tom McDonald is ready for retirement. He’s moving slower and getting outbodied. Just hanging in. Has moments but is getting exposed too much. Goodwin had refused to play Tomlinson who surely walks out after getting overlooked again this year.

Thats the worry. Our last 12 games are embarrassing losses and deteriorating playing style

Thats just cruel. He would be very handy in red and blue.

Not just this week. We have lost clearances for 11 of the last 13 games.

Its OBVIOUS RIGHT Dogs. Fast. Direct. Waves. Running. Dees. Slow. Indirect. Wide. Static. Do not question our premiership winning coach though !!!

Midfield. McQualter. Bust. Totally inept at centre clearance Forward line. Stafford. Bust (for last 3 years). No structure or strategy. Tackling. Is there any coach or special coach. Our tackling has gone from top to the worst in the league. Max Vineys jujitsu technique has Trac and JV7 as non competitive in tackling this year. Bizarre !!

Our demise is not due to this youngster. Yes perhaps he’s not quite ready but given the 2023 draft group, JT thought he was the best option for a potential midfield role. Throlstrup is more of a half forward who could go into midfield in bursts. Like Cam Rayner, he will be a hot and cold type in my view.

3 possessions- Chandler, Petty, Woey, Throlstrup 💩💩💩 Viney 5 possessions 🤮🤮 Kozzzy 2 possessions 🤮🤮 all need to lift ffs Goody needs to roar right now

Clearances 12-1 at one stage. Now 17-9. Dees need to be more contested. Looking like bruise free footy. 🤬🤬🤬

Pathetic. 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡 I’m watching the Olympics now. Watching athletes with heart Will tune back in later

Oops. McAdam just heard my post and did something!!!

A few changes at year end. obviously BBB retires, Hunter cannot have his contract extended, Schache will be delisted AND Tim Lamb and the footy department to explain why McAdam was given a 3-year contract !!! FFS

Disappointed he was not available at later pick. He went earlier than most had expected but Bergman improved during the draft year to end up in 1st round. Happy with Jackson and Kozzzy of course as well as Riv. Disappointing we didn’t get Anderson. Disappointed we didn’t get Serong. You cannot have all the cars in the showroom. It was a strong year which has been shown out.

Bergman has elite disposal efficiency. Elite marks. Elite distance covered. Elite interceptions. Elite rebounder. Other stats aren’t indicative of a tall midsized defender.

Miles Bergman is a star. Was really disappointed we couldn’t get him in his draft year. Would definitely get a 5-6 year contract offer ready.

We will probably have at least one emergency not play !!