WB Game Day V Melbourne R1 2023 - Saturday March 18, 7:25PM, MCG

[The Underdog]

Like Hannan, not sure why we picked him up.

Because he has pace and can play on a wing. Unlike 97% of our list.
His stats last night were comparable to Hunter and Langdon. I’m not sure he’ll make it, but I might give him at least 2 games to show something.
I’m sitting here watching Ben Keays who was delisted by the Pies and has made a real place for himself at the Crows. Sometimes players can improve.

[bornadog]

Because he has pace and can play on a wing. Unlike 97% of our list.
His stats last night were comparable to Hunter and Langdon. I’m not sure he’ll make it, but I might give him at least 2 games to show something.
I’m sitting here watching Ben Keays who was delisted by the Pies and has made a real place for himself at the Crows. Sometimes players can improve.

Seems the wings were a non factor last night.

I think playing the G, we should always go straight down the guts.

[D Mitchell]

Quite right. Time after time, our defenders would intercept then kick sideways, giving Melbourne players time to flood back and take up defensive positions. Frustrating. Underdog's right, too, Baker was no worse than anyone else, pace is lacking and he doesn't have to be a star, he just has to fill a role.

[macca]

Because he has pace and can play on a wing. Unlike 97% of our list.
His stats last night were comparable to Hunter and Langdon. I’m not sure he’ll make it, but I might give him at least 2 games to show something.
I’m sitting here watching Ben Keays who was delisted by the Pies and has made a real place for himself at the Crows. Sometimes players can improve.

Thanks for the insight on Ben Keays . Where do you see he has improved ?

My biggest question on Hannan is he drops marks when they matter. He gets into the right positions, but his skill errors let him down more often than not. He just does not seem to be a one grab player, or be able to grab the ball cleanly in the moment.

[Boots]

I think we were light on for supporters last night, I wonder how many of us in Melbourne avoided this away game?
It ended up for me being a quiet trip home on the train and we Bulldog supporters were outnumbered by 4 to 1 where I was sitting and I get heading east isn't in the right direction for a lot of our supporter base.

I was there, in ground floor MCC GA. The Melbourne fans around me were really awful, endless carping about the umpires with every free. Honestly it was a fairly shit experience even before we started to get thrashed. Total lack of humility and no sense whatsoever that they felt player skill mattered. We've all done it on bad nights, but complaining about the umpiring is the sign of a weak-willed supporter in my book.

[Grantysghost]

I was there, in ground floor MCC GA. The Melbourne fans around me were really awful, endless carping about the umpires with every free. Honestly it was a fairly shit experience even before we started to get thrashed. Total lack of humility and no sense whatsoever that they felt player skill mattered. We've all done it on bad nights, but complaining about the umpiring is the sign of a weak-willed supporter in my book.

I've heard their fans in the MCC are the worst.

[azabob]

Our fan base has a soft underbelly just like the current side.

Mate don’t be so hard on yourself. Cleary your not soft you turned up.

[azabob]

I was there, in ground floor MCC GA. The Melbourne fans around me were really awful, endless carping about the umpires with every free. Honestly it was a fairly shit experience even before we started to get thrashed. Total lack of humility and no sense whatsoever that they felt player skill mattered. We've all done it on bad nights, but complaining about the umpiring is the sign of a weak-willed supporter in my book.

Boots, Melbourne supporters have always been like this, even when they were tanking. Now they are somewhat successful both players and club have become a million times worse.

[SonofScray]

I just watched the replay.

Fair dinkum. We were worse than I even thought. The skill level was atrocious. Looked like we were stuck in the mud.

English, Libba, Treloar and Duryea the only ones that seemed to be really in it.

Tackling was rarely rewarded, which was frustrating, but it was also regularly lacking in real intent. Lots of hesitation.

[merantau]

Surely we cannot play that badly again. Schoolboy errors by hand and foot, unwillingness to play close, lack of communication down back (all up, no one staying down) and no connection between mids and forwards. Then we have our inability to nail set shots. So disappointing. I am expecting a massive turn around next week. Anything less will be a huge concern to me.

[Danjul]

Like a school boy scared of the head mistress (Gawn).

A bit harsh.

He was replacing Hunter who usually gets 30 possessions. Last night Baker showed he can do as much with half as many.

one thing that struck me last night was Melbourne did not use Hunter the way we did. None of the chipping the ball sideways to someone on the boundary. They usually set the ball moving towards goal immediately so that the forwards still maintained space.

I saw a little of that mindset with Baker.

[G-Mo77]

Baker had like 2 possessions in the first half. Had a decent 3rd but overall pretty ordinary. The bar needs to be set much higher.

Sadly he'll get so many weeks to prove he's no good and a player who is better has to put together 5 - 6 weeks of incredible football to replace him then get yanked from the team after one poor performance.

[Danjul]

Baker had like 2 possessions in the first half. Had a decent 3rd but overall pretty ordinary. The bar needs to be set much higher.

Sadly he'll get so many weeks to prove he's no good and a player who is better has to put together 5 - 6 weeks of incredible football to replace him then get yanked from the team after one poor performance.

Compared to Bont:

Baker scored 1 behind less, had 3 less kicks, metres gained was 100 m less and that’s from 10% less game time.

He did significantly better than a number of others in the team. So for a first game I’m comfortable with his contribution. It was far better than Lobb, Jamarra, Darcy, McLean, Hannan …..

[The Underdog]

Baker had like 2 possessions in the first half. Had a decent 3rd but overall pretty ordinary. The bar needs to be set much higher.

Sadly he'll get so many weeks to prove he's no good and a player who is better has to put together 5 - 6 weeks of incredible football to replace him then get yanked from the team after one poor performance.

Which player is that then?

[bornadog]

Anyone listen to Bevo's members summary on the game? Have a listen and hopefully the coaches will work on what he said ready for the Saints