Great effort today

[tap_my_scott]

I knew id come on here and see an avalachhe of negativity.

Of course it sucks to lose, and yes i had that empty feelig like all of you.

But the bottom line is that it was a trewmendous effort, especially by our kids who flew the flag for the MFC yet again.

Adding Scully and Trengove alone would have won us the game today. and last week too. Yes, they are that good.

Theres no question we are the next powerhouse of the AFL, as long as we dump Bailey and get a brilliant coach (Malthouse or Roos) at seasons end.

 

[melbournemartin]

If that's the definition of a "great" effort then we are accepting mediocrity more than usual.

The effort was better than it was in the North game. That's all I will say.

 

[Cudi_420]

It was great compared to last week.

But when your players are bouncing off the opposition ala. Ricky Petterd in the third quarter in the forward pocket, there is now way you can end up with a "great effort".

 

[Demon 16]

Notwithstanding the fact that the OP holds a faint odour of troll, I wouldn't call it great. But outside of the loss I found more positives than negatives today.

 

[Andy_Mac]

I'm with TMS. Almost.

It wasn't a great game, but i certainly wasn't disappointed. We won the contested ball, chased and did a lot more team things than we did last week.

Those that are getting worked up with guys like Newton need to relax. He's crap, always has been always will be. He's only getting a game due to injuries and Campbell not ready for AFL footy. Even blokes like Bartram are just warming a spot until Strauss or someone else is ready.

St Kilda were a point of winning a flag last year, they have had a terrible year but yesterday: Reiwoldt, Goddard and Joey etc were all back, up and about. We did well given the calibre of players we had out there.

 

[tynanshinin]

Bit harsh on Bartram in my book andy mac... he's had a good season this year but made some skill errors today but i can see him keeping his spot in the line-up for a while yet..

 

[Andy_Mac]

He'll keep his spot for sure, but we wont win a flag with to many blokes of his ilk in the side.

He's a short term player until someone younger hopefully puts there hand up sooner rather than later.

 

[THE STING2]

He'll keep his spot for sure, but we wont win a flag with to many blokes of his ilk in the side.

He's a short term player until someone younger hopefully puts there hand up sooner rather than later.

We would have a better chance winning the flag with 22 Bartram's than 22 Davey's.

He's a goer that rarely gets beaten, I don't know what more you could expect from him.

Considering how woeful our defensive forwards are I wouldn't mind seeing him do a roll like King does at Richmond. Unfortunately he is needed to cover too many holes, he is our best midfield tagger and our best small forward tagger.

Bartram doesn't have a lot of talent but he more than compensate's for that by doing what few Melbourne players do and that's by having a go.

 

[Andy_Mac]

We would have a better chance winning the flag with 22 Bartram's than 22 Davey's.

He's a goer that rarely gets beaten, I don't know what more you could expect from him.

Considering how woeful our defensive forwards are I wouldn't mind seeing him do a roll like King does at Richmond. Unfortunately he is needed to cover too many holes, he is our best midfield tagger and our best small forward tagger.

Bartram doesn't have a lot of talent but he more than compensate's for that by doing what few Melbourne players do and that's by having a go.

Agreed. He gives 100%, 100% of the time. SOme of our more talanted players should take note.

He's very similar to Warnock in this respect. Gives his all, but no world beater.

 

[dees arent rabble]

With all our injuries i thought we played good for 3 and a half quarters

 

[goDees22]

He'll keep his spot for sure, but we wont win a flag with to many blokes of his ilk in the side.

He's a short term player until someone younger hopefully puts there hand up sooner rather than later.

Bartram is criminally underrated. His job isn't to get 30 touches or get on the highlight reel, he's as good a shutdown small backman as we've had since the Wrecker (who was prob our best small back in last 15 years), can't remember the last time any small forwards kicked more than 3 on him

 

[Andy_Mac]

Bartram is criminally underrated. His job isn't to get 30 touches or get on the highlight reel, he's as good a shutdown small backman as we've had since the Wrecker (who was prob our best small back in last 15 years), can't remember the last time any small forwards kicked more than 3 on him

He is a solid fottballer who tries his heart out, but being Melbournes best small defender since Matty Wheelan is hardy note worthy.

 

[Mightydees]

I know I went a bit beserk after the North game but I honestly think our players need a rocket put under them to force them to perform with maximum intensity and effort week after week.

I was impressed with our guys against the Saints and I was happy with the intensity and the effort.

It wasn't the intensity and effort that cost us in this game as it did in the North game - it was a few skill and decision making errors which is much easier to stomach than a lack of intensity.

The stats were evenly matched all day and in fact we matched them in every stat including the contested ball. We lead them in clearances and uncontested marks which was pleasing given we had Jamar, Trengove and Scully out. I thought Martin did a fantastic job.

Jones cost us 2 goals in the first half by kicking on 2 occasions to a 2 on 1 contest in our 50 when he had a team mate free in the 50 or a 1 on 1 contest. The ball was easily marked by the opposition and rebounded up the ground for 2 goals. That hurts because it really is a 4 goal turn around because we should have had 2 goals if Jones had of made the right decision when kicking inside the 50.

The obvious blunder was Juice Newton - how embarrassment. I felt for the bloke after he missed from 2 metres out but he has to learn to make the simple things look easy rather than focussing on trying to make the difficult things look easy. I know in his mind he might see himself as a Stevie J or a Rioli but he has to face facts that he's not. Once he does that I think he actually can be a contributor to our club so I am not writing him off just yet.

Bartram played another good game which was blotted by a skill error which resulted in a turnover that ended with a goal. Bartram is a champion tagger and I would keep him in that role and liked his game.

We need to get Petterd to work harder to provide more leads because although he is a great pack mark he really struggles against the taller opponents.

Jack Watts = Future Club Champion. This guy is a genuine talent who reads the play better than some of the indigenous boys and makes good decisions when under pressure. There is so much upside to this kid its not funny!

The umpires made several blunders that cost us some very untimely goals but that's just part of footy and there is nothing we can do about that.

The game should have been ours for the taking except for the injuries, a few skills errors and decision making blunders.

I look forward to seeing the same level of intensity this week against Carlton and hopefully we can cut out some of the skill errors and make some better decisions.

Go Dees