Older demon

Of a 4 day break a few need a rest or a chop out Out Oscar, Jones, Smith, ANB, Fritch who can stay out till he shows a desire to tackle In Hibberd, Picket, Pruess (Freo play 2 ruckmen and give Max some relief) Lockhart and Hannan

6 Langdon 5 May 4 Max 3 Tomlinson 2 Oliver ---------

Nothing ever changes!

Soundly beaten in all areas of the game, coaching, tactics endeavour and ball use. So typically Melbourne it just shows you cannot trust this team as they just don't have it. Freo outplayed Richmond last night but they managed to win ugly. If we aren';t on then that is it. There is no inner spirit or desire to turn it around. One passage of play summed us up. Late last quarter the ball spills from a pack and Allir runs and picks it up and Fritch runs past hime. Fritch refuses or is incapable of applying pressure or tackling and that is Melbourne. I believe we just don't want it enough. Sydney are well drilled, play to instruction and work bloody hard to get back and don't all hunt the ball. For goodness sake I saw Viney 3 times get in the way of a team mate in a better position because he was hunting the ball for himself. We are so far of being a tough, competitive regular finals team it makes me hurt.

Looked like a quad and that could be his season over. At 33 and reduced list that may well be the end. A former captain and warrior a true club champion.

Is it possible some changes are with the short turnaround time for the next game in Cairns?

Sparrow with a busted wing is out and we will be playing off a 5 day break so some may need to be rested given we front up for the next game 4 days later. The Saints have a 4 day break so maybe that will help us. My concern is that in the Dogs exploited us with the switch and fast transition and that the the Saints will murder us because that is their bread and butter game style.Lets hope the coaching staff are quick to come up with a solution to this. The backline is pretty settled except for Harmes who is out of sorts and probably out of position.. If not dropped he replaces Sparrow and Rivers comes in. Gawn in for Preuss and Mac is the backup ruckman and I doubt Jones will get up so soon with quad tightness. Look to the emergencies for who will come in. They were Mitch Brown, Mitch Hannan, Trent Rivers and Joel Smith. No real outside runners in this group Out Sparrow Preuss In Gawn, Rivers

6: may 5: lever 4: weideman 3: langdon 2: tomlinson 1. viney

I was worried at half time that Bevo at interview saw the need to make some change. They executed the plan brilliantly and we, as usual were slow to respond. Yes I know the coach had no idea and this happens to hime a lot but where are the onfield leaders as well.Lever is supposed to be the backline general, Viney may be hard at it but this footy smarts are non-existent. OK we had two shots at goal touched in transit, gave 2 50 meter penalties that resulted in goals and kicked 2 out on the full and Fritch missed two set shots. In a tight game these are coach killers. For the life of me I cannot work out why Fritch leads to the right hand side and puts himself on a horrible angle. Today we saw us get outreached, out played. We saw the level of skill execution required to get a clearance, have an outside runner waiting for the escape ball, kick long and accurately to someone in a good position. Once did Pruess direct the tap to Viney at the centre. He consistently got the tap and gave silver service to their mids. The ball in Bontempelli's hands is lethal and we have no one in the midfield to match that class. So much talent in our team squandered and wasted

6. Oliver 5. Langdon 4. Petracca 3. Brayshaw 2 Viney 1. May Apologies to Spargo, Salem, Hibberd and May

Terry must be running out of topics to talk about. He came from Hawthorn who pride themselves on not gifting players games and as late as this week Clarkson stated he doesn't like playing young undersized guys as they need a stronger body and bigger guys around them. Then there is Wallace the coach who at the doggies didn't have anyone over 6 footy tall which took them years to correct. He also forgets it took Hawkins 4 to 5 seasons before he had his breakout season. Key position forward is a tough gig and they take time Weid has had lots of injuries and is only now growing into his body. Sorry terry you dropped the ball on this one

6. Petracca 5. Oliver 4. Brayshaw 3. Lever 2. Weideman 1. Langdon

Easy to forget that May was one of the joint captains at GCS so he has some leadership background.

Follow up note. Tex got reported and copped a fine for hitting Max in the back of the head. Peanuts to someone on Walkers salary.

Swooper mentioned "Aside from that, he puts himself into positions where he does frequently get smashed into. There was a particularly crude effort last night where he was hit flush in the back of the head - no free, just play on! David King's old coach would regularly come out with the "just give Wayne a go" call, often around August in the lead up to finals." I will go one further Walker jumped into the pack with no intention of going for the mark and clocked Max in the back of the head with his forearm. Intentional, high contact and forceful but I bet no one will look at it. Max wears a lot. I also noted on more than one occasion May was in Walkers ear after Walker was throwing his weight around. Sadly that is all Tex can do these days as he cannot get near the footy. Goodies issue is when minions block max's run to the ruck contest as well as being pummelled

I think a lot can be learnt from the way Dangerfield plays in that he gets the ball and runs to clear the congestion. Clarrie gets the ball and credit to the coaches, they are asking him to run and gun with the ball rather than the quick handball off.I hope this is the next stage of his development and we see a new dynamic in our contested ball play. As noted earlier danger isn't a great kick especially set shots at goal. I wonder what Danger was like at the sane stage in his career?

6. Oliver 5. Viney 4. May 3. Petracca 2. Jackson 1. Weid

After that effort why should I care and bother. Port are on top of the ladder and we are so far off the mark it isn't funny. You could not train a team to be that inept, souls and lacking in skill. Beaten in every aspect of the game and humiliated by a team that is proud and has a go.

3 Gawn 2 Sparrow 1 Lockhart The rest were deplorable and again embarrased themselves the club and the few supporters that still watch them

I don't think we adapted to the wet (they did get 160mm of rain an hour before the game). I doubt Goody will make too many changes. I was pleased for Jones on the wing he did his job. Sadly the game has passed Nev by, at the moment and he will be rested. I would like to see T Mac back and would replace Fritsch who just isn't doing enough.If he doesn't mark it he does nothing on the ground and is out of form IMO. I also wonder if Bennell will be rested on a 5 day break. Out Jetta Fritch IN T Mac definite Smith or Neal Bullen (latter 2 were emergencies for this game so they must be close)

6 Viney 5 Oliver 4 Petracca 3 Gawn 2 salem 1 May

Without knowing what role the coach has assigned a player ie Melksham defending the run of Harbrow who I hardly noticed, I would keep the changes to a minimum. I hope TMac comes up as we have an 8 day break. I fear for New though, and he was moved of Rankine. Would we consider Jones for a back pocket role? I would as many mids and rovers who lose a bit go down back.

Gawn Viney Petracca Salem Oliver AVB Special mention Oscar, May and Bennel makes something happen every time he goes near the ball

The movie is "The Shining" based on the Steven King horror book. Jack Nicholson at his scary best and the phrase Redrum, redrum. Look it up

I cannot understand the criticism of Pert. WE complained bitterly that a previous CEO got too involved in the football department (Schwab) but now say that Pert hasn't done enough to mange that area. Damned if you do damned if you don't. Pert has bought more sponsors to the club, restructured slightly and keeps a low profile so his ego doesn't clash with the coach or football manager. Did you know he follows up constructive emails to the club by personally reaching out to the member? I know one long time staff member who left just prior to the first lockdown because of lack of resources in her dept that Pert could not supply. Finance and budgets were difficult pre COVID but I dare say now they are extraordinarily difficult. PJ upset lots early on by letting long standing staff go as they were not essential to the core business but no one questions what he managed to achieve. The issue isn't with Pert and it is up to the football dept to work on and come up with a plan to correct.