Melbourne: what do we make of them

[Forward Press]

You can only beat who's in front of you. Melbourne are definitely doing well and geting the 4 points in the bank early.



This. If they beat all of Geelong, Hawthorn and Richmond then they are the real deal.

Thanks for the like Topkent and Satan .

Real deal. Get excited Dees fans.

 

[jezza1435]

On the change room wall at Punt Rd.

 

[Dez!]

On the change room wall at Punt Rd.

Yeah.......I doubt anyone at Richmond will give two f***s about that.

 

[Jimmybob]

On the change room wall at Punt Rd.

On the wall in Picketts bedroom

 

[jezza1435]

Yeah.......I doubt anyone at Richmond will give two f***s about that.

Congratz on the April Flag

 

[bigboysdontcry]

From what I can see they’re the only team to be both.

Only 5 days to wait for that. I’m looking forward to playing you guys at Marval. Bookies would have us favourites for that one. Hopefully both teams going in to that match 10-0. Would be a blockbuster.

 

[Veer Right]

Strong back six, midfield is killing it led by the most dominant ruck in the league and now their forward line is starting to gel. Tom McDonald

25

Tom Mcdonald

Age

32

Ht

195cm

Wt

101kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.4

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.7

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.9

4star

MG

261.8

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.0

2star

M

3.4

3star

T

0.6

1star

MG

135.6

2star

D

13.8

4star

K

6.8

3star

HB

7.0

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.4

4star

finding his best form is probably the single most important thing for them right now and he's getting there. Can see them 10-0 heading into the bulldogs clash.

 

[kriles76]

Congratz on the April Flag

August flags trump April flags.

Just ask Geelong.

 

[jezza1435]

August flags trump April flags.

Just ask Geelong.

I would think finishing on top of the ladder at end of regular season would be the August Flag.... Geelong has done that once in 10 years so not too sure we are experts of that.

 

[Xhoquelin]

Dees have weaknesses but surely you have to respect them somewhat? Maybe it was bias but I didn't think we were even that good the first 5 games, in hindsight I'd say Freo the best win because otherwise we've trampled bad midfields inside, as we should with Trac and Clarry, and otherwise been sloppy with disposal. But now I'm genuinely sold. Ok could be over-reacting

The constant has been Gus/Lingers defensive workrate on the wings combined with Jake Lever

8

Jake Lever

Age

28

Ht

194cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.6

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

4.9

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.3

3star

MG

242.0

4star

D

9.6

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

3.1

2star

M

3.9

4star

T

1.3

2star

MG

145.4

3star

D

16.0

4star

K

11.0

4star

HB

5.0

4star

M

6.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

189.8

4star

being Draymond Green getting everyone into position. Notice Dees setups at richmond kick-ins and just at stoppages; its so different from 2018-2020 it doesn't feel real.

With pretty good defensive setup, not perfect but pretty darn good, a few fairly versatile defenders to match up 1 on 1 with guys, a midfield that's clearly at least good, and a forward line that does its job: to me that's a contender even if its on the lower scale.

But last night it felt like our pressure was truly elite and I'm sure conditions helped but I never remember the Dees preventing so many turnovers from resulting in oppo scores and that was almost all hustle and pressure. Kozzie, Spargs, Nibbler, Jordon, Lingers, Gus and co(iirc even Trac did some defensive work!) sprinting back to help the defenders out who were doing all they could in outnumbered situations. The Dees DEFINITELY didn't do that last season I feel.

Thought our kicking inside 50 was good last night but I still think that's a weakness with Goody's gameplan and as exciting as Kozzy is he's really not that great as a finisher yet,but yeah TL;DR think we're pretty good

 

[Xhoquelin]

Also I feel like Jakey Lever should be getting All-A consideration, yes some Dees board guys will call me a campaigner for not being on this bandwagon earlier, but I see the light now.

He just reads the game at such a high level its insane.

AA is a farce and never close to being on merit, just media narratives, but it feels like Lever's reading of the game, combined with his natural leadership, communication abilities to organise a Dees defense with a few loose cannons positionally(Hibbo, Tommo, and as much as I like May he likes to play aggressive, that's prob when he's at his best, but it does put more stress on the D when he has a poor game like he did vs Richmond)...

 

[gingernuts]

They are a good side.richmond players fooking sooking when things dont go their own way.
Its opened the league up a bit.
Welldone dees

 

[HolyWars]

I've always had a soft spot for Melbourne as my friend and I growing up went to Hawks v Dees games. I love seeing them do well, you can't not like them.

 

[Dez!]

Congratz on the April Flag

They don't give out April flags unfortunately.

 

[WillHayward]

6 zip.
Played so tough last night.
Tigers were rattled and frustrated.
Great stuff.

 

[HolyWars]

Yep

Everyone talks up Richmond's second tier players but I think almost all of them would struggle in poor teams.

Except for Bolton, kid is a ******* star. I rate him more highly than he gets credit for. He is the player that I hope/think Pickett can be for us


Wouldn't blink an eye if someone offered him in the 700k a year bracket. Doesn't get the credit he deserves

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

A little off topic. I really like Richmond also, and they're a brilliant club with a brilliant team. One thing during the commentary last night that made me a little salty was banging on about "the best side of the last decade" line that was getting thrown around. I think Hawthorn have every bit of a claim to that as Richmond do.

 

[00Stinger]

A little off topic. I really like Richmond also, and they're a brilliant club with a brilliant team. One thing during the commentary last night that made me a little salty was banging on about "the best side of the last decade" line that was getting thrown around. I think Hawthorn have every bit of a claim to that as Richmond do.

People have short memories

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[Tulip]

Yes, but I feel that’s where the depth is the poorest plus the confidence in the back six allows the rest of the team to play a certain way so the flow on effect would be huge.

Midfield and ruck/forward there is better depth.

Jackson and one of McDonald/Weideman/Daw/Ben Brown could do an OK job as ruck/forward combo and maintain the team structure.

Brayshaw, Jordon or Sparrow could do an OK job if one of Petracca or Oliver went down.

Lots of depth in tall forwards and pressure small forwards.

A tall backline of Tomlinson, Petty and Joel Smith. Yikes. Hibberd (at 31) would probably do the Lever role, but still...

It would be Daw not Joel Smith

 

[Tulip]

Weideman is rubbish for me, same category as Josh Schache. Don't care about VFL form.

That’s probably because you’re incredibly ignorant.

 

[Scray89]

Too many people ignored their 5-0 start. Regardless of who they played, Melbourne’s unique issue was always consistency in the past. The fact that they were able to beat teams comfortably in the first 5 weeks already showed that they’ve changed from previous years. Last night’s win just confirms it for more people I guess.

GWS were actually beating them and clearly the better team until Coniglio, Davis and de Boer got injured in the second quarter.

 

[Scray89]

That’s probably because you’re incredibly ignorant.

Oh, do elaborate. I'm sure you've got facts to back yourself up.

 

[Lsta062]

GWS were actually beating them and clearly the better team until Coniglio, Davis and de Boer got injured in the second quarter.

I watched that game too and tbh Coniglio, de Boer and Davis weren’t going to stop Melbourne anyways in my opinion. GWS faded late against Melbourne the way they faded against Bulldogs this week.

 

[JackFlash]

Only injuries will beat them now, they were very impressive. I've been on the Tigers bandwagon to win 3 in a row, the Demons and Dogs have changed my mind. No Dusty this week, if the Dogs clean them up then it's a good bet a GF replay of 1954 could happen?

 

[300Weatherby]

GWS were actually beating them and clearly the better team until Coniglio, Davis and de Boer got injured in the second quarter.

Davis yes, but Melbourne were already getting on top by the time de Boer and Coniglio were injured

 

[Scray89]

I watched that game too and tbh Coniglio, de Boer and Davis weren’t going to stop Melbourne anyways in my opinion. GWS faded late against Melbourne the way they faded against Bulldogs this week.

Maybe, although you can never really tell. They were completely out of legs in the 4th quarter because they had two on the bench, whereas against us, it was more that they were too young and got ironed out against a fitter, more experienced team. That being said, there wasn't a single point in our game where GWS looked like the better team; our inaccuracy kept them alive for 3 quarters.

Melbourne are still contenders, but I suspect their current forward line will he figured out at some point.