Two Questions

[Black Flag]

1. CAN you beat Carlton?

2. Do you WANT to beat Carlton?

 

[maggers]

All we really want is for Chris Johnson to play

 

[Ghost of Grinter]

Its not a question of can we beat Carlton, its more of a question
of how much we beat them by.

If Moloney, Sylvia and Mclean make a statement in the first
quarter and put some fear into Judd, Murphy and Gibbs, then
it should go a long way to giving us a headstart against such
an up and down outfit.

This games won in the midfield, lets just hope we can get on
top early and come home with the points.

 

[oooze]

ur an id!ot. i hope we lose and im sure we will tank the hell out of this game

 

[melbournedemons]

ur an id!ot. i hope we lose and im sure we will tank the hell out of this game

Please never say that again. No supporter should hope to lose

I think our best right now would not be good enough to beat Carlton anyway, unless they have a poor day. I'm hoping we put up a good show and give it our all

 

[maggers]

A Carlton team fit and firing gearing up for their first finals campaign in god knows how long, coming off the good end of a big thumping in the south are going to run all over us.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Please never say that again. No supporter should hope to lose

Amen to that MD

 

[stickman11]

I hope we belt carlton, literally.

 

[On the bench]

1. CAN you beat Carlton?

2. Do you WANT to beat Carlton?

No & No.Round 22 2007 revisited on the flipside!

 

[Supermercado]

Shame Bail isn't going to be up to playing so he can whack Robinson as revenge for that cheap shot the crunt hit him with at Optus Oval.

Hopefully the scene is set for one last Whelan shirtfront!

And no, we've got bugger all chance of beating them. Fremantle yesterday were so putrid that Montmorency Under 9's would have beaten them.

 

[melbournemartin]

You'll all be forgetting about these losses when we have Scully and Trengrove delivering it lace out to Jurrah and Watts.

 

[Capt_Concussion]

You'll all be forgetting about these losses when we have Scully and Trengrove delivering it lace out to Jurrah and Watts.

I'm pretty sure the memory of spanking carlton, seeing Robinson and CJ knocked out and watching Judd cry would stick around though.

 

[Major Colvin]

No

no (yes)

 

[Supermercado]

I'm pretty sure the memory of spanking carlton, seeing Robinson and CJ knocked out and watching Judd cry would stick around though.

I'll take a win if the following occurs,

Whelan hits Judd with a shirtfront that sends Judd flying into Warnock's knee, knocking him out and wrecking Warnocks knee. They then both fall onto Johnson and put him out as well, before somewhere in all the carnage and confusion Bail runs into the field in a mask and smacks Robinson in the kneecap with an iron bar a'la Tonya Harding.

And we get a free and 50 out of it.

 

[givemethecure]

I'll take a win if the following occurs,

Whelan hits Judd with a shirtfront that sends Judd flying into Warnock's knee, knocking him out and wrecking Warnocks knee. They then both fall onto Johnson and put him out as well, before somewhere in all the carnage and confusion Bail runs into the field in a mask and smacks Robinson in the kneecap with an iron bar a'la Tonya Harding.

And we get a free and 50 out of it.

And every Melbourne member gets a commemorative Coke can. And an ice cream.

 

[Naughton]

Look guys, it's pretty clear that while the players will give their all, the Melbourne coaching staff (with the full consent of the Melbourne board and executive) will stack the deck in Carlton's favour this week.

Have a look at Melbourne's interchange rotations over the last month:

Round 17 49
Round 18 51
Round 19 51
Round 20 100+

That's the coaching panel deliberately giving their team a disadvantage. And when they coach effectively, Melbourne looks much better. As against Freo.

Also, Jimmy Stynes was quoted as saying after the Freo game that "We got 3 top 20 draft picks last year, and we'll be getting 3 top 20 picks again this year..." In The Age this morning. Methinks they've already factored in 1,2 and 18 - don't you?

The only way Melbourne will win is if Carlton turn up feeling overconfident, and the Melbourne players find a way to (a) stay in the game despite being played out of position and (b) find a way to keep running in the last quarter despite having been flogged to death by lack of interchange.

Don't worry. I follow Carlton, so I know exactly how these things work. And you guys should too, by now.

So go to the game, watch Jurrah line up in the back pocket, note the lack of players getting rested, cheer the odd goal, and when Carlton's song is playing at the day's end, have a quiet beer in celebration of picking up the best two kids in the land.

 

[Trav 20]

I don't want to win, Bailey doesn't want to win, the whole MFC Board doesn't want to win and we won't win.

 

[The Professor]

I don't want to win, Bailey doesn't want to win, the whole MFC Board doesn't want to win and we won't win.

For that to happen, we need the opposition to play its part.

Note the Richmond game where we actually were in front when the siren rang and the Essendon game where they didn't bother showing up against Weagles.

Carlton have shown to be flaky down hill skiers this year and they've strung a few now so...Lift Judd.

 

[half back flank]

trav mate r u a troll, Merc u forgot to make Kreuzer get injured too. I want to win but i dont think we can

 

[Goobernutty]

I don't think we can win, but hopefully we don't shame ourselves.

 

[Trav 20]

trav mate r u a troll, Merc u forgot to make Kreuzer get injured too. I want to win but i dont think we can

No, I'm someone that wants to win a flag in 5-7 years time. It's the only thing that matters to me and I believe that it's the sole reason for a club's existence. And I also know how premiership teams are built.

We need picks 1 and 2.

You're welcome to hope for a victory.

 

[Supermercado]

trav mate r u a troll, Merc u forgot to make Kreuzer get injured too. I want to win but i dont think we can

I've got nothing against him, he never stooged us. The rest, however, can f off.

 

[The Dr]

I honestly believe if we play like we did on the weekend, with the Blues on the way back from Perth, we could win.

But as it stands, I hope we don't.

 

[BlueDW]

I honestly believe if we play like we did on the weekend, with the Blues on the way back from Perth, we could win.

But as it stands, I hope we don't.

Adelaide mate.

Look, I was there in round 22 2007 and was barracking for us to win (publicly), but internally was hoping like buggery we would lose. I liked the previous poster that is hoping that the Dees put up a brave show, dont disgrace themselves, get the required honourable loss and goodies that will come with it. I get the feeling lads that the following week against the Saints might get ugly, so this might be your last chance to get a respectable result.

Enjoy the picks.

Go Blues!

 

[master bate]

Round 17 49
Round 18 51
Round 19 51
Round 20 100+

I can't remember round 17, but I'm pretty sure for round 18 and 19 we finished the game with 19 men at best. Bail was injured in the first minute against North. You can't rotate as much if you don't have the spots on the bench.

But the point still stands that for the Richmond and Kangaroos game Dean Bailey thought it was more important to develop versatility in his players than win the game. I don't think he deliberately tried to lose, but more that he thought winning without trying anything new was a worse result than trying something new and losing.

I see the same thing happening this week, although the blues should be superior regardless of what we do. That said if we Frawley can play well on Fev (Frawley should get the job), and some of our more experienced players (Davey, Rivers, McLean, Moloney etc) stand up we shouldn't be blown away.