Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Nah there will be a thread how Bevo not up to it and we can't beat Geelong

Geelong will be tough I think. Will watch really closely tomorrow, I reckon in Adelaide they've got some concerns if they have an off day, as Adelaide can move the ball forward which we've seen.

There's something about Geelong that I don't quite trust at the moment. Dangerfield always pulls goals out of his arse against us but aside from that we match reasonably well.

[Mantis]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Geelong will be tough I think. Will watch really closely tomorrow, I reckon in Adelaide they've got some concerns if they have an off day, as Adelaide can move the ball forward which we've seen.

There's something about Geelong that I don't quite trust at the moment. Dangerfield always pulls goals out of his arse against us but aside from that we match reasonably well.

I watched Geelong last week pretty closely and they were clinical. They set the ground up the ground defensively as well as any team and have an in form power forward who is the focus of their attack.

I think our clearance abilities will worry them, but I’m concerned about our ability to score.

[Danjul]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Geelong will be tough I think. Will watch really closely tomorrow, I reckon in Adelaide they've got some concerns if they have an off day, as Adelaide can move the ball forward which we've seen.

There's something about Geelong that I don't quite trust at the moment. Dangerfield always pulls goals out of his arse against us but aside from that we match reasonably well.

Why would anyone expect Geelong to be a problem?

We have beaten them twice in the last two years and we have brought in Keath and Bruce. Haven’t they lost significant players.

A reasonable result would be Dogs by 15 points.

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

I think it’d be unfair to bring out the negativity after today’s win. I was reasonably happy with the game and I think Friday night will be a harsh enough reality check

So if we go down by a couple of goals like we did against Port or a handful like we did against Brisbane does the site go into meltdown again?

Because to be honest the last few weeks have been pretty full on, and even at a point where we were a goal down at half time against a side above us on the ladder today it was starting to turn feral.

So in order to prepare us, what is a reasonable result next week?

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Why would anyone expect Geelong to be a problem?

We have beaten them twice in the last two years and we have brought in Keath and Bruce. Haven’t they lost significant players.

A reasonable result would be Dogs by 15 points.

You must have been pretty happy with today's outcome?

Look forward to reading all of the posts you're going to write about the things we did well today.

[Danjul]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

You must have been pretty happy with today's outcome?

Look forward to reading all of the posts you're going to write about the things we did well today.

I’m always happy with a win. We beat Melbourne last year and I was expecting a win, especially with their injuries and some of our players in great form. Weren’t you?

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

I watched Geelong last week pretty closely and they were clinical. They set the ground up the ground defensively as well as any team and have an in form power forward who is the focus of their attack.

I think our clearance abilities will worry them, but I’m concerned about our ability to score.

They're a mature outfit and I think organisation across the ground should be a given for them. If we don't do well at the coal face it will be a real struggle for mine.

We seemed to score pretty freely today, relative to this year's competition averages. I get Melbourne are a different kettle however, neither of our key marking targets had an impact and that gives me a little bit of hope that some versatility in scoring options is developing. Additionally, it seemed that Vander's running is becoming contagious and JJ looked like he wanted to get in on the act, and it's this area that I think we can leverage to put in a good show next week.

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

I’m always happy with a win. We beat Melbourne last year and I was expecting a win, especially with their injuries and some of our players in great form. Weren’t you?

I was a bit concerned with our inability to finish in the first, some of our lapses in the second and also in the last, but the way we moved the ball in the third and our finishing was reminiscent of the best footy we've played in Bevo's time at the club.

All in all, we answered a challenge that was in front of us emphatically which was satisfying. I don't put as much faith in the results of previous years as a predictor of this year's likely outcomes as you seem to, so I thought today was an unknown that we comprehensively overcame.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

They're a mature outfit and I think organisation across the ground should be a given for them. If we don't do well at the coal face it will be a real struggle for mine.

We seemed to score pretty freely today, relative to this year's competition averages. I get Melbourne are a different kettle however, neither of our key marking targets had an impact and that gives me a little bit of hope that some versatility in scoring options is developing. Additionally, it seemed that Vander's running is becoming contagious and JJ looked like he wanted to get in on the act, and it's this area that I think we can leverage to put in a good show next week.

Just so hard to get a read on us right now. We have played some very good footy these past two weeks, intermingled with a couple of Qtrs of our worst footy.
If we serve up what we put up today in the second Qtr today, against Geelong next Friday they will terminally Gap us there and then. If however we give them 4 solid Qtrs with minimal unforced errors then we can really start to build some respect and momentum rolling into the last few rounds.

[Danjul]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

I was a bit concerned with our inability to finish in the first, some of our lapses in the second and also in the last, but the way we moved the ball in the third and our finishing was reminiscent of the best footy we've played in Bevo's time at the club.

All in all, we answered a challenge that was in front of us emphatically which was satisfying. I don't put as much faith in the results of previous years as a predictor of this year's likely outcomes as you seem to, so I thought today was an unknown that we comprehensively overcame.

Bont, Macrae, Dunkley, Daniel, Williams, Crozier, Keath, Naughton, Libba, Wallis.... and more .. That 10 would probably walk into other teams. It doesn’t take much more to generate a win. We have the talent to produce good results.

Melbourne lost Gawn, that’s a big loss for them. And then it got worse before the game started. And as contributors here pointed out the Dogs sent out a team that was more balanced than usual. And they played like it.

[Bornadog]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Geelong will be tough I think. Will watch really closely tomorrow, I reckon in Adelaide they've got some concerns if they have an off day, as Adelaide can move the ball forward which we've seen.

There's something about Geelong that I don't quite trust at the moment. Dangerfield always pulls goals out of his arse against us but aside from that we match reasonably well.

I am more confident for Friday than I was at the start of today's game. I thought today was a 50/50, but against Geelong, I am more 60/40 we will win.

[soupman]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

I think we are always a chance against anyone, when we are on we are on. We do have issues making it harder for ourselves than it needs to be though, and we need to bring it on the day more than most do.

We are a big chance against Geelong, but it also looms as a game where we battle away for ages and then they just steamroll us in the second half like they did from 2015-2017.

I was really pleased with how much quicker cross the ground we looked today and i think a big part of that was having a forwardline that wasn't trying to fit all of Dale/Lloyd/Wallis/Naughton/Bruce in the forward 50 at all times. I don't know if it was luck or design (basically can we replicate it) but we seemed to have so much more space today when we went forward.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Bont, Macrae, Dunkley, Daniel, Williams, Crozier, Keath, Naughton, Libba, Wallis.... and more .. That 10 would probably walk into other teams. It doesn’t take much more to generate a win. We have the talent to produce good results.

Melbourne lost Gawn, that’s a big loss for them. And then it got worse before the game started. And as contributors here pointed out the Dogs sent out a team that was more balanced than usual. And they played like it.

I'm not deliberately going out of my way Danjul to be a contrarian, but I tend to think we're going to need more than those 10 contributors next week.

We seem to be a team or employ a strategy that requires all 18 to click, or at least not have 3 or 4 blokes not contributing, or making silly unforced errors.
Geelong is going to require a supreme effort from all our boys.
Case in point; we were fortunate in the first Qtr today when Vandemeer fluffed a kick inside 50, only for Hibberd to immediately turn it over to Bont, who then squibbed his kick inside 50 only to be fortunately gathered and ending in a goal to Mclean. We pull that sorta stuff against Geeling and not only will we not score, we will more than likely see them Tic-tac-toe all the way upfield for an easy score themselves.

Our win against Geelong last year was a monumental effort, and we only just got the choccies. I woke the whole house up when the final siren sounded!
.We're gonna need that same resolve and application again this week to do it again.
Should we manage it, it could really exponentially grow our side's belief heading into the final 3 rounds.

We should, as you say expect our 10 or so walk up starts in any other ckub to lead the way. ..I'm thinking though the acid test falls on the remaining guys to pull their weight, amplify their gane and to take their moments when they come. To that end I'm looking directly at at Mclean, Richards, Lipinski, Vandermeer, Gardner et al.

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Just so hard to get a read on us right now. We have played some very good footy these past two weeks, intermingled with a couple of Qtrs of our worst footy.
If we serve up what we put up today in the second Qtr today, against Geelong next Friday they will terminally Gap us there and then. If however we give them 4 solid Qtrs with minimal unforced errors then we can really start to build some respect and momentum rolling into the last few rounds.

I don't think today's game was an example of our worst footy. I get Melbourne didn't make the most of opportunities at times however, if they don't score a goal they get to keep the forward half pressure on as it doesn't go to the centre of the ground for a reset. A reset gives us a chance to actually reset and without seeing it like we did against Brisbane it's hard to know what the outcome would be.

It's actually something I've been thinking about, bad kicking leading to behinds begets more bad kicking leading to behinds. The ball stays in the forward half and the issue compounds largely because congestion and pressure builds. We've been the masters of this in recent years however, today in the third we showed ourselves that if you kick straight you can actually build momentum and that's a massive positive to me (again, see what Brisbane did to us).

I'm really looking forward to hopefully seeing a settled side have a crack at decent opposition after a couple of good weeks. We've had good weeks this year but our side hasn't been settled, and without wanting to sound like Bruce the pervert dickhead I just get a feeling we are primed to hit our straps and run over some opposition.

Hunter embedding himself back into the team is a massive positive, his style versus that of Laitham and Smith outside of the contest gives us good contrast and flexibility. As I've said in another post I reckon seeing these guys move the ball freely and run hard gives JJ some impetus to get in on the act.

[jeemak]

Re: Why are people picking Melbourne to WIN?

Bont, Macrae, Dunkley, Daniel, Williams, Crozier, Keath, Naughton, Libba, Wallis.... and more .. That 10 would probably walk into other teams. It doesn’t take much more to generate a win. We have the talent to produce good results.

Melbourne lost Gawn, that’s a big loss for them. And then it got worse before the game started. And as contributors here pointed out the Dogs sent out a team that was more balanced than usual. And they played like it.

Every team has ten players or so that would get a game in any other team all things being equal. That's what equalisation does.