Post Match. Pies down to Dees. All comments.

[Pies4shaw]

Check out who the Dee's have beaten.

Sadly, Collingwood.

[Piesnchess]

Very interesting game Melbourne are stupendously overrated.

Overrated?

We were slaughtered. Only bad kicking kept it close.
Dees were a 6 goals better team.

Today finally presented the blue-print of how to beat us; fortunately very few teams are capable of pulling it off.

Realistically, this was their worst effort since Fly took over the team.
This was as dysfunctional as we played under Buckley in early 2021.
We had our arses handed to us, and save for their inept kicking at goal, were for all intents and purposes kicked off the park today.
Most of the players ran around the contests like they were playing drunk?
The overall disposal standard was well below par; and has been for several weeks now, if we are being brutally honest on appraisal.
Smashed out of the middle; again. Third week running? Baaaaaaad pattern forming; does not bode well....
Can't get over the amount of soda marks grassed.

Game lost at selection; we needed a Carmichael, Macrae or Bianco to step up and show something in the absence of JDG.
A lot of posters whining about JDG and his action and resulting suspension costing us the game here; on the upside, it was a good exercise to expose the players in the team who coast and dog-trot their way around on the back of the work rate of Adams, Noble, Mitchell, Maynard, Moore, Nick and co.

So just to remind you all of the complacency [rot] that's infested the club in the last two weeks prior - last term against Pauperoos was putrid garbage.
Half the game against WCE was also putrid garbage. Both bottom teams, and we served up putrid garbage for 4 out of 8 quarters. Don't let the overall margins fool you; they were disgusting lazy efforts.
So having said that, what did you expect to see today?
I for one, anticipated complacent putrid garbage, and wasn't surprised for a minute with what was actually served up.
The team plays it's best football when it possesses the ball and releases it to the 1st option; today we saw boring stagnant, borderline unwatchable trash.
Blokes kicking in hope without looking, selecting 2nd or 3rd poor options.

Hopefully that's the last we'll see of McInness; he simply won't make it - he's a spud, and match loser. That idiotically inept attempted kick from the goal square shows his lack of composure and general football nouse.
Delist at seasons end. Reminded me of that miss from Cal Brown in the 2019PF against GWS that ultimately cost us a spot in the GF.

McCreey has been almost as useless, since his mum gave her pre-match some weeks back; total passenger for the other players to carry.

Hoskin-Elliott also useless; please get rid of this clown who has you all bluffed, with his little cameos here and there.
Johnson can join him in the VFL, and earn his spot back too.

I'm sick of Markov being the whipping boy and winding up the sub for the protected ducks in this side.

And just remember - if Moore goes down, the season finishes there and then.

I'd strongly suggest a few players need to make way for Elliott, McStay and Howe after this bye concludes, and the eventual return of JDG and Sidey.

Plenty of upside for the team though; but all the non-negotiable 1%ers need to be ticked off first, before we tell the 2010 Cup to shove over in the Trophy Cabinet...

Pretty harsh, Jeezus, we had six stars missing, and a makeshift forward line, they had one star out. We lost by four points, in the end, could have even pinched it, your glass half empty is overflowing now.

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Rest and re set

[jonmac1954]

WOW you really are the king of the smart rrrs one liners aren't you?

You know perfectly well what I meant.

[jonmac1954]

Anyway I've had enough of "the sky is falling" devotees I'm outta here.

[piedys]

What’s the perfect blue print to beat Collingwood? Wait for them to fumble & have an off day?
Put Elliot, Sidebottom back in & then they all need a new blue print. The boys had an off day that’s all.

And supposing Sidey doesn't quite recover 100% from this knee problem by the pointy end?
And supposing Elliott doesn't quite return to 100% effectiveness deep into the season?

That's a lot of hope placed on two injured and ageing players.
Be more concerned about the lack of desire demonstrated today by certain players we fielded.

Too many players having off-days [days off] for the last three weeks.
Totally unacceptable from a team defending top spot.

[piedys]

Pretty harsh, Jeezus, we had six stars missing, and a makeshift forward line, they had one star out.

Harsh? Perhaps. Sure we have some decent players out; the ones that replace them gravely concern me though.

We lost by four points, in the end, could have even pinched it, your glass half empty is overflowing now.

The glass is half full, but might get knocked over very abruptly should hubris settle any further into performances after the bye.

[piedys]

Adams is in no way a replacement for De Goey. Ball use shocking.

You hit a few nails on the head Cam. Relying on Adams as our key extractor distributor was never going to work. His disposal as usual let us down. Pendles over the last few weeks is starting to look like the game is finally catching up to him.

Adams' disposal standard is what it is - sporadic; great one week and abysmal the next. He butchers more targets than he spots-up perhaps.
However, his efforts to hunt the pill cannot be questioned.

A few of his team mates endeavours though, that i will call into question.

[Piesnchess]

Pretty harsh, Jeezus, we had six stars missing, and a makeshift forward line, they had one star out.

Harsh? Perhaps. Sure we have some decent players out; the ones that replace them gravely concern me though.

We lost by four points, in the end, could have even pinched it, your glass half empty is overflowing now.

The glass is half full, but might get knocked over very abruptly should hubris settle any further into performances after the bye.

To paraphrase Keating, this was the loss we had too have, I reckon.It will wake us up bigtime, back too earth, no more hubris, Fly will have all bases covered, make NO mistake bout that. The bye comes at perfect time for us, rest up and re set, I also reckon few of our guys recovering from the flu today too, like Josh, flu knocks the tar out of you bigtime. Today has always been the Deees big GF type game, pre their sojourn up to the Victorian snowfileds. Cant wait to play them again, be very different story next time.

[swooper]

Why were they unwell, has there been an illness going through the Club?

Flu and COVID

[DT]

Brilliant post match press conference by McRae - elite coach

[Monco Matt]

Never like to see the black & white lose a game but I'll cop this one.

The Dees played out of their skins. They were so desperate today, more desperate than we probably expected. Jack Viney played the game of his life just to prove the point. They set themselves for this and delivered the effort. Congrats to them, I reckon they just had to do it this time for Neil. Happy for him today, the man just needs a win, such a gutsy bloke going through what he is going through in the public light. Keep fighting the fight mate!

To our boys, they just looked a bit tired, not quite up for the fight today to be honest. The Dees should have put us away but left the door open and we ALMOST walked through. But to have stolen that game would have been an injustice.

I'm ok with dropping this one. We needed a loss and going into the bye off that will be good for the group, Keep us grounded!

We live to fight another day. We are 11-2 on top of the ladder. Who would have taken that at the start of the season? I would have locked that in.

All roads to a flag are bumpy and this was a pot hole in the road we ran in to. We will recover, we will get better and we will win the flag this season. We are the best team, we just need to get to September in good health and the rest of the comp can fight for the bridesmaid bouquet.

Floreat Pica!

[inxs88]

Casual Observations:

* We were outplayed, outplayed, outplayed
* hung in there
* they forced us wide
* Did we fumble.... oh my god
* Our forwards flopped. All of you. ALL OF YOU
* Our player outs exceeded their player outs
* No need to over-react

[piedys]

To paraphrase Keating, this was the loss we had too have, I reckon. It will wake us up bigtime, back too earth, no more hubris, Fly will have all bases covered, make NO mistake bout that. The bye comes at perfect time for us, rest up and re set, I also reckon few of our guys recovering from the flu today too, like Josh, flu knocks the tar out of you bigtime. Today has always been the Deees big GF type game, pre their sojourn up to the Victorian snowfileds. Cant wait to play them again, be very different story next time.

Totally; this loss did us no harm, providing McFly sits the group down tomorrow morning for a thorough review of the replay and grade the efforts accordingly. Home truths need to be delivered; not mollycoddling.

These flu rumours are interesting; to field players who might be short of a gallop is absolutely not doing anybody any favours whatsoever.
Same as the two blokes who incurred foot injuries last week, but lo and behold they were selected today, and ran like sore eyes.
As i said in pre-match - it sends the wrong message to fully fit blokes in VFL trying to earn a spot back.

Dess wanted the ball more after 1/4-time today; that was obvious.

You'd hope should we encounter them in a final, that JDG will be fit and firing, because we simply cannot take down their onballers without him.

[Cam]

Pretty harsh, Jeezus, we had six stars missing, and a makeshift forward line, they had one star out.

Harsh? Perhaps. Sure we have some decent players out; the ones that replace them gravely concern me though.

We lost by four points, in the end, could have even pinched it, your glass half empty is overflowing now.

The glass is half full, but might get knocked over very abruptly should hubris settle any further into performances after the bye.

To paraphrase Keating, this was the loss we had too have, I reckon.It will wake us up bigtime, back too earth, no more hubris, Fly will have all bases covered, make NO mistake bout that. The bye comes at perfect time for us, rest up and re set, I also reckon few of our guys recovering from the flu today too, like Josh, flu knocks the tar out of you bigtime. Today has always been the Deees big GF type game, pre their sojourn up to the Victorian snowfileds. Cant wait to play them again, be very different story next time.

Exactly. Have a whinge, get it out of our systems and move on