Sydney v Melbourne

[Ludwig]

I couldn't believe how much better Melbourne's kicking skills were compared to ours. Grundy is a serious worry. He cannot hit a target to save himself. If LRT were fit, I'm sure he'd be dropped. I hope the problem is that we've been playing in the wet so much we haven't had enough game time to practice our skills, because we definitely need to improve.

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I couldn't believe how much better Melbourne's kicking skills were compared to ours. Grundy is a serious worry. He cannot hit a target to save himself. If LRT were fit, I'm sure he'd be dropped. I hope the problem is that we've been playing in the wet so much we haven't had enough game time to practice our skills, because we definitely need to improve.

[liz]

That was all a bit 'meh'. Jack was good. JPK was good. McVeigh was reasonable. Mitchell was reasonable. BJ did more than we can expect of him at this stage. The rest were just pretty much going through the motions for much of the game.

Good to get the routine points, but there's certainly a fair bit to work on. Don't think that is a bad thing, mind you. Thrashing poor teams is good for the percentage but it can lull a team into a false sense of where it is. Am glad Melbourne turned up to play because it showed up a few things that definitely need improvement.

[msb]

Not a great performance BUT a win is a win and I'll take it. I really think we didn't respect Melbourne at all and just went out there for a kick. Onto next week anyway, we all know we are a million times better than that performance today.

[alt_mattr]

The nay-sayers are out in force even after a big win :/

That is the third week in a row we have seen terrible umpiring. At least a dozen ridiculous decisions. Not one, not two, at least a dozen.

Our back line has three top players out and it was not that long ago that Everitt was being slammed in this forum. The Dees got more goals than we would like but we would like to have all our players back too.

Lamb, B Jack, Rampe, Everitt and Mitchell all looked bloody excellent today, which is a big deal given not a single one of those players played in the grand final last year.

If Tippet had his kicking boots on he would have kicked a bag.

Pyke was gold, Mumford looked good in his first game back, K Jack was incredible in the clearances.

I do think our poorest skill at the moment is field kicking. Pebbles rarely hits a target, Grundy missed a lot today. Tippet didn't get particularly good delivery today. I now get frustrated seeing Pyke handball off since he is probably one of the better kickers in the team! Oh, and the umps were particularly shocking towards Pyke. Ignored two marks he took, 3 obvious frees against him and then that pulled out a crazy ruck free late in the game.

Best wishes to Sam, that kid puts in big time and he belongs out there on the field.

[dimelb]

That was all a bit 'meh'. Jack was good. JPK was good. McVeigh was reasonable. Mitchell was reasonable. BJ did more than we can expect of him at this stage. The rest were just pretty much going through the motions for much of the game.

Good to get the routine points, but there's certainly a fair bit to work on. Don't think that is a bad thing, mind you. Thrashing poor teams is good for the percentage but it can lull a team into a false sense of where it is. Am glad Melbourne turned up to play because it showed up a few things that definitely need improvement.

Yes, some credit where it's due. I was only able to see the last quarter (granddaughters duty) but while I was periodically cranky at some of what we did, I was impressed with much that Melbourne did. They worked hard and they have a decent spine. I'm happy with 4 points, but as Longmire said afterwards, we need to apply the pressure more consistently.
Some of the umpiring was diabolical: what about that last free against Pyke for something that happens forty times a game??

[ShockOfHair]

McVeigh shaking his head after the siren summed it up. Even being a man down we shouldn't have let them run over us in the last quarter. We played more good football than bad to build a 7 goal lead at three quarter time. The Jacks, ROK, Malceski, Kennedy, Pyke did the job for us.

Melbourne made a lot of basic errors but are playing with a lot more spirit now they've offloaded Neeld. They actually won the tackle count.

Can we go a game without getting an injury?

[alt_mattr]

Umpiring was pretty bad though.

that's an understatement

[wolftone57]

John blakey got the backline match ups wrong and Horse was yelling at him in the first quarter and we never got tyhem right due to interchange except for the second quarter. Horse and his staff were outsmarted by Craig and his on quite a few occasions with match ups today. Jude on a real speedster? Not this year I don't think. Rampe on Watts? Really John?

Sam going off was a setback. If he wasn't quite right, even if there was the sniff of him being below par they should not have played him. I wonder who's call it was Physio ot Footy Dept? I would rather have a fit Jesse than an injured Sam.

Jude, Mal, Birdie, ROK; Just one question - How often did you lift your eyes and find a Swans player today?

Reg; What was some of that panic about? Bloody bad kick that caused a turnover for a goal.

These are experienced players that played more like prima donnas and rookies or just disinterested bystanders. They all got the ball enough. Macca & Mal stop playing for frees and pleading your case after the fact it is a prima donna trick and is not worth the effort the buggers aren't going to change their minds.

Kizza = wonderful, Joey = star, Brandy = Mercurial, Lambie & Lukie = Houdiniesque, Tippett = Exciting.

Hannas & Benny were a bit quiet today, although when Hannas got it he generally used it well. Dre was wasteful in delivery much of today but I think it was because he was kicking long on instruction.

All in all it was a pretty pathetic effort. I thought our backs were pretty ordinary today and it wasn't Rampe who was the problem it was his more experienced team-mates. Our mids and forwards were allowing the overlap and the short kick and letting them get run going by no picking up their opponents. But in the main I thought the forwards worked well and would have worked even better with better delivery.

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that's an understatement

Yes I think the instruction has gone out to the umpires to help Melbourne be more competitive.

[ScottH]

Benny was given the Worst on Ground tag on MMM footy.
Not one effective kick

[ScottH]

Yes I think the instruction has gone out to the umpires to help Melbourne be more competitive.

But we got most of the free kicks.

[liz]

But we got most of the free kicks.

Yeah, the Dees got two frees from very dubious frees but we had far more latitude in getting rid of the ball when tackled. There were two or three obvious frees against us for HTB that weren't paid.

[ShockOfHair]

Benny was given the Worst on Ground tag on MMM footy.
Not one effective kick

Forgot to pack his pillow.

[hot potato]

Haven't watched the game yet, but checked the stats : 157 to 116 CP, 62 to 50 I50 and 45 to 25 Clearances. Seems OK against a rejuvenated outfit.
Maybe playing to just a bit over 26,000 (?) people at the G was like a bit of kick to kick in the parklands .
Maybe a % booster next week.
HP

[giant]

Interesting how the last few goals/shots for Melb from end to end uncontested. That's our big, big weakness.....not paying enough respect to get on the bike HARD as soon as they have possession. That's the problem when Hawks/Geelong/Bombers are kicking 5-6-7-8 goals in a quick trot against us. Those teams aren't kicking 6 DIFFICULT/CONTESTED goals. Slicing through the middle, end to end or else straight from the centre bounce.

Today we are too reliant on the full forward press and the dodgy turnover. Won't work against the top teams.

11 inside fifties for 5 goals and 2 points. Frankly not good enough.

On the upside....39 inside 50s in a half. If we keep our heads and win ground ball in the 50 we will kick 15 in this half....butchered 6 or 7 so far. 15 goals to 2 or 3 and I would be very happy.....9-5 Meh!

This summed it up for me - they were able to slice us up the middle way too easy. And we were constantly playing behind our man. The fact we were out-tackled by MELBOURNE of all teams suggests we were well off the pace.

Need to learn from this and then move quickly on. Thank goodness for B.Jack because our other small forwards - Bolton, McGlynn, Lamb and Parker - had days they would like to forget I reckon. Can we afford to play all of these together? I think not on that effort.

[Bloodthirsty]

We are supposed to be an AFL powerhouse in a serious premiership window. Melbourne are in a serious rebuild from ground zero. Today was not good enough, and Longmire knows it.

Watch when Hawks and Cats play Melbourne. It doesn't look like today's match. They are characterised by absolute domination and huge percentage boosters.

The only good thing to come out of this game is that it highlights @@@@ we need to work on.

I fear that we will get back players we need too late, or not at all. Hope I'm wrong.

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Bring back Morton. His around-the-ground intensity is needed now. Also, Tippett - supreme athlete and elite footballer but needs to work on his kicking for goal.