Slide begining or bouncing back?

[CaptainDavey]

It's hard to tell after this loss to Freo. The positives is that we got through it injury wise unscathed and we've got quality due back in Brock and Bate, Miller kicked 4 for Sandy and hopefully Moloney isn't too far off. Fergy has been doing great lately aswell from what I've heard. It's not looking good for Greeny, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got off. If you compare us to the Dogs at the moment, you'd think a 1 point loss will emotionally drain the life out of them, in comparison to a below par performance from us, which is all of a more reason to bounce back. ND should probably open up a can on the players once they hit the training track this week. So glad we're playing on the Sunday so the effects of the trip won't be too severe. All this taken into consideration and the fact we haven't lost a game at the G this year, it seems as though we'll get back on the horse very soon. Fingers crossed Adelaide knock off the Eagles. Just don't want to give the satisfaction to those doomsayers predicting the 'inevitable' slide for the Demons.

Hands up if you want to slap those pesky Carr brothers....

 

[The Flash]

Just one of those days I think. Nothing went right for us, Bruce kicking into the man 30m out for example. But the demons of old would have got beaten by 10 goals, not this side. We were able to make the scoreboard look a bit better by not dropping our heads like the last few years. Think we'll bounce back being home at our G.

 

[Canna7]

Never easy winning at Subiaco, even if it is Fremantle. Can't look too much into it. We played sme ordinary football yet still managed more scoring shots, so it's not the end of the world.

Won't be easy coming back from Perth and having to play one of the quickest sides in the competition, but we will be playing at the MCG against an injury-depleted Bulldogs side.

Against the Doggies, you don't need many tall defenders (Carroll and Rivers will be enough) which means Holland is out and Ferguson has to wait again. We are going to need a lot of quicks in there, so maybe one or both of Godfrey and Read will be dropped to make way for either McLean, Moloney, Johnson, Bell or Bate.

 

[Major Colvin]

This loss was coming. We haven't playing well of late. Today showed what will happen if we play a side with a bit of form

We'd want to bring our A-game against the Doggies - it will be a very good test to see where we're at.

If we win next week we're back on track no worries. We lose, we are most likely going to slip out of the top 4 - making it very difficult for ourselves.

In short, next week is HUGE!

 

[DemonDoob]

we were lucky not to get beaten by 10 goals as the dockers also wasted chances.

By the way its time to get rid of Wheatley. He doesn't present anything to our side that we need. Chris Johnson or Bell are better for our side now than Wheatley. I think also Bate as been well missed.

 

[tomsut_69]

What was everyone thoughts about Greens game? He got a lot of it, yes. But wasted it a lot and that free report was absolutely stupid.. I found it a very frustrating game to watch too? The umps favoured Freo and those f&^%$ Carr bros... You can still tell Wiz loves playing against Melb

 

[CaptainDavey]

Greeny played great, pity about the headbutt. But seriously, who wouldn't want to snap a Fremantle player. The Carrs, Dodd, Crowley, Schammer and Peake all make me want to kick the TV in when they show up...Seriously, I don't think I could blame Greeny. He'll be sorely missed though I think, but if McLean and Bate come back into the side for maybe Ward or Read, that's a great injection of quality into the side. I expect Bruce and Yze to lift greatly during this week, I think the Dogs may have a hard time finding a match-up on Yze

 

[Demonic Ascent]

We looked extremely slow and played reactive footy all day. No numbers at the contests, weak tackling etc.

The test is next week. We only lost by 5 goals in the end and this match was 50/50. Whether we bounce back or not will show us how good this years Demons are.

 

[Marns]

Please try and add something of substance rather than trying to stir people up. You know who you are. This is a team board, and you actually need to provide some reasoning behind your posts.
EDIT: Just to clear it up, if your post remains, it's not you.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

I actually believe this loss will do us some good. A few things were shown to us today, things that we have been able to cover well, but are quickly being exposed:

1 - As much as I think he will be a great player for us, Dunn can't hold down CHF for us yet. He kicked 2 goals, but wasn't sighted in the last 3 quarters. We need Frosty back at CHF - he has more experience, and he does straighten us up. He's had a horrible season, but he game for Sandy on the weekend should do us some good. We lacked direction going forward (and have for a few weeks I reckon) so having Miller back at CHF will do more good than harm.

2 - We can't continue playing these "squad" players. Godders finds it, and wastes it, Read is FAR too undisciplined ( I know he is a favourite here, but he was rubbish on Sunday.), Ward isn't good enough, and dare I say it, Wheatley isn't up to it either. Time to change a few things there - all 3 can't be in the same side.

3 - We need McLean. We knew that already, but it was evident on Sunday more than anything.

Apart from that, it's the loss we needed to have. Rather it now than in September.

 

[goDees22]

I actually believe this loss will do us some good. A few things were shown to us today, things that we have been able to cover well, but are quickly being exposed:

1 - As much as I think he will be a great player for us, Dunn can't hold down CHF for us yet. He kicked 2 goals, but wasn't sighted in the last 3 quarters. We need Frosty back at CHF - he has more experience, and he does straighten us up. He's had a horrible season, but he game for Sandy on the weekend should do us some good. We lacked direction going forward (and have for a few weeks I reckon) so having Miller back at CHF will do more good than harm.

2 - We can't continue playing these "squad" players. Godders finds it, and wastes it, Read is FAR too undisciplined ( I know he is a favourite here, but he was rubbish on Sunday.), Ward isn't good enough, and dare I say it, Wheatley isn't up to it either. Time to change a few things there - all 3 can't be in the same side.

3 - We need McLean. We knew that already, but it was evident on Sunday more than anything.

Apart from that, it's the loss we needed to have. Rather it now than in September.

One of the best posts i've seen couldn't agree more.

Dunn will be a gun but its his first year, use him in a forward pocket maybe, but not first choice CHF, Miller leads up and presents well to the contest, hits it hard, as long as he doesn't give off any stupid handballs.

God i hope the doomsayers aren't right, i can't stand this to happen again, hopefully our tackling will be back to its best this week, it was the worst its been all year last week, freo's pressure on us was like what we were doing to other teams. I don't think we'll slide, but our draw means that we can only win 4 from 6 at most

 

[Marns]

Yeah good post CFH.
This loss was coming, and you could see it a few weeks back. Bad wins against Brissie and Richmond, and the writing was on the wall.

I've said it all year long, Miller needs to be at CHF. Even if he's not kicking goals. We've got to have him there simply to provide big leads up the guts, and to put it in long to our forwards. We have Neitz, we have Robbo, we have Yze, we have Dunn, we have Green, we have Davey, we have Byron, we have Bruce to kick goals. Miller doesn't necessarily need to be the one we rely on. Naturally, it'd be great if he could kick straight/have confidence in his kicking, but we've got a good enough forward line regardless.

 

[JuveRule]

Yeah get Miller back in there quickly. That's not to say get rid of Dunn (poor kid still hasn't been given his Rising Star nomination - who's Troy Chaplin??). I think this week it'll be interesting to see who comes in. Personally I think it should be Miller, McLean and Bate for Read, Green and Ward. Maybe even Brown for Wheatley. This would mean that Miller would take their CHB, freeing up Dunny for some unknown.

 

[CaptainDavey]

Will Wheels or Carroll or someone else take Brad Johnson? I've got a feeling if we nullify his influence on the game, we're in with a great chance. IMO he's their only real avenue to goal, so if we close him down, that may limit them to having shots on the run from their speedy midfield. If that's the case, they may have to throw Grant forward, leaving a big gap in defence, cause Wight is very inexperienced and he could be easy exploited by Dunn, Miller, Neita if he's floating futher up the ground. Shut down Johnson and we've got the upper hand

 

[Doggy]

Will Wheels or Carroll or someone else take Brad Johnson? I've got a feeling if we nullify his influence on the game, we're in with a great chance. IMO he's their only real avenue to goal, so if we close him down, that may limit them to having shots on the run from their speedy midfield. If that's the case, they may have to throw Grant forward, leaving a big gap in defence, cause Wight is very inexperienced and he could be easy exploited by Dunn, Miller, Neita if he's floating futher up the ground. Shut down Johnson and we've got the upper hand

Same can be said for Robertson and Neitz though.. If Morris shuts either one down, and we all know Harris usually does a job against Neitz, then the dogs have the upper hand. It goes both ways

 

[CaptainDavey]

I wouldn't think so...Yze is pure class when he goes forward. Bruce is our most versatile player, and he can kick a few if need be, he's done it on more than one occassion. Then you have Dunn, Miller, Davey and Pickett to contest with. All can play forward effectively. I'm not saying a lack of goals from Robbo and Neita won't pose a problem, it will, but we have the back up if needed. Whereas I don't believe the Dogs can find an effective avenue to goal if Johnson is shut down

 

[Doggy]

I wouldn't think so...Yze is pure class when he goes forward. Bruce is our most versatile player, and he can kick a few if need be, he's done it on more than one occassion. Then you have Dunn, Miller, Davey and Pickett to contest with. All can play forward effectively. I'm not saying a lack of goals from Robbo and Neita won't pose a problem, it will, but we have the back up if needed. Whereas I don't believe the Dogs can find an effective avenue to goal if Johnson is shut down

I don't believe you have the cattle to shut him down .. In a non-biased view of course. Cooney is due for a big one, as is Robbins.

 

[On the bench]

Gee we lost a game,first time in seven weeks,that constitutes a slide,lol,The Dees will bounce back don't you worry about that!

 

[StingaArmstrong]

I don't believe you have the cattle to shut him down .. In a non-biased view of course. Cooney is due for a big one, as is Robbins.

So is Bruce.

Agree with Miller coming in, but i feel it leaves us a bit top heavy if Dunn stays in. Especially against the run of the Dogs. Selection will be interesting.

 

[CaptainDavey]

Don't have the cattle?? I'll admit he's a class act but sure if you've got Carroll, Whelan and Rivers, you'd think he'd have some trouble kicking a bag. Yeah I know, he's a great player and I admire him greatly but I just believe we're a little too versatile up front and down back on the ground. His supply needs to be great aswell, especially at the G'. At the Dome he'd have brilliant passes coming from all directions, whereas the G' will create some weather affected assists. I dunno...I'm not trying to be biased, this is just how I see it I spose

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

It's time for Bruce, Pickett and Neitz to seriously fire up this week as their output has been terrible in the last 2-3 weeks.

I was pretty much disgusted with Pickett's game v Freo. He looked lazy, undiciplined and disinterested. How many times did he get caught!!!

By Pickett's own admission, he sets himself higher for selective games (ie- former clubs, showcase games and finals) which is a slight concern.

Also I reckon Read should have been chaired off the ground as I believe he's played his final game for the club.

Ward should be retained as he's pace and long kicking are an attribute to the MFC. He was certainly not our worst on the weekend.

A real roll of the dice against the Doggies and the result will be critical to season 2006.

 

[Pipefitter]

It's time for Bruce, Pickett and Neitz to seriously fire up this week as their output has been terrible in the last 2-3 weeks.

I was pretty much disgusted with Pickett's game v Freo. He looked lazy, undiciplined and disinterested. How many times did he get caught!!!

By Pickett's own admission, he sets himself higher for selective games (ie- former clubs, showcase games and finals) which is a slight concern.

Also I reckon Read should have been chaired off the ground as I believe he's played his final game for the club.

Ward should be retained as he's pace and long kicking are an attribute to the MFC. He was certainly not our worst on the weekend.

A real roll of the dice against the Doggies and the result will be critical to season 2006.

Yeah i agree with ward. His pace is a great asset across half back.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

No doubt Choppy had a shocker on Sunday, but every player has a shocker from time to time. You knew his day was going downhill quickly when he pushed McManus over.

In terms of being top heavy... if the conditions are good, then I say we stack our forward line. Neitz, Robbo, Dunn AND Miller will be tough to contain as they aren't exactly tall down back due to their injuries, while Holland may miss out simply because of their size (although he could stay in regardless).

Their midfield is quick, and that's always a worry, but we play the MCG to perfection. We KNOW how to slow things down there, and our rebounding out of defence is generally perfect there. If we shut down Johnson AND Robbins, we will win.

McLean for Green, Miller for Read, Brown for Ward.

 

[Palace03]

Will Wheels or Carroll or someone else take Brad Johnson? I've got a feeling if we nullify his influence on the game, we're in with a great chance. IMO he's their only real avenue to goal, so if we close him down, that may limit them to having shots on the run from their speedy midfield. If that's the case, they may have to throw Grant forward, leaving a big gap in defence, cause Wight is very inexperienced and he could be easy exploited by Dunn, Miller, Neita if he's floating futher up the ground. Shut down Johnson and we've got the upper hand

You must shut Johnno down, like we need to silence Robertson, if you shut him down you will go along way to winning the game. However this game will be won in the middle, both sides have excellent midfields, with perhaps us having the slight advantage with Green out. It will be very hard to keep West, Cross, Griffen, Eagleton and Cooney quiet, while on the flip side I don't think we have anyone to go with Bruce and Pickett, which should give us some good head to head battles. If you can pressure our midfield and force us to bomb it into our F50 like North did, you will win the game, if we get up and running we will probably win.

Should be a cracker, good luck.