I'm really looking on with interest for Sundays 11th v 12th game. Coburg and Frankston are both vying for finals footy and I think this game will determine which one is a genuine chance to play in September.
For Port Melbourne, every week from here on is a "must win" scenario to have any chance.
Coburg were unlucky not to have beaten Frankston at Kinetic earlier in the season. Were the better team but didnt get the job done. They look to have improved since then and with so much on the line and playing at home should be a short priced favourite.
With a number of their better players injured or down on form, it will take a huge effort from Frankston to win this but they are certainly capable of it.
I'm not confident of a win. Right now we're simply not playing great footy. Our more recent wins have been underwhelming (that Essendon game was dire after the first quarter) and Coburg will be the most hostile environment we've experienced in a long time. I think a loss will probably put us out of realistic finals contention - non of our games aside from the Bullants are easy. I'm just hoping that it's growing pains with the new personnel we've added this year. What happened last year cannot be a flash in the pan, otherwise I think the club's in for a rough time.
Hi all......sorry for my absence for most of the year. Has been a very busy time.
Coburg are definitely going to be a big hurdle for us on Sunday. Not only are they playing their best footy in years, they're clearly bitter about what transpired at Frankston and I imagine will be hell bent on revenge (as they will see it......though THAT free kick was definitely there). They caused us plenty of trouble up there last season, and I imagine will be too good for us given our current form.
While we're doing ok by the win/loss record, it hasn't really gelled this season (so far). I have a few thoughts on why.....I think there is a bit of a natural disconnect among the group with quite a number of new players even though the recruits are all quality players. I hope they all stick around, because I think next season will be extremely good with them all having a year of getting used to a new style of play that's been unavoidable given the changes. As good as Corey Ellison is, his arrival has created a bit of a logjam up forward.....in the past it was Noah Gown in the marking contest with Matt Johnson dropping into holes for the easy mark. Now the three of them look to be crowding each other, and Johnson has been almost frozen out of the attack altogether. We also have struggled without a consistent crumbing forward.....barely having Bailey Lambert on the park has certainly not helped. In the middle, the ruck is still a problem and we rarely get first use as a result. I love Angus Grant and he has given us his heart and soul in there, but he just doesn't have the height or the frame for it. Finding a bona fide ruck has to be the key task at season's end. George Grey has barely played and looked very rusty when he has been in. Murphy and Mynott both are copping extra attention and are not as effective in the clearances. Defensively we have struggled to replace Max Williams though Justin Davies has been surprisingly good, and Josh Smith has struggled to stay fit and in form.
I still think we have the potential to do a bit, but things have to start clicking soon. Hopefully this weekend.
Frankston last season were 5-6 after 11 games. This season 6-5. The last time the Dolphs had a better record after 11 games was in 1999. The team has consolidated pretty well after a big improvement year in 2024. Hopefully they can sneak into finals again but I think it's going to take more wins than last year to do so.
The Borough were patchy throughout the night with more inside 50s and more scoring shots but went down 11.17.83 to Carlton 14.10.94.
Carlton's pressure was good and were also able to hurt Port on quick rebounds with some easy clearances out of Port's forward line.
That's our finals aspirations snuffed from here.
It was a season that promised so much too. Very disappointing.
On a brighter note, the women's side had a good return to form, defeating Carlton in the game at Princes Park, Carlton 2.4.16 to Port Melbourne 12.4.76.
Hard to understand the inaccuracy on the whole at North Port......yes it was windy the night we were there, yet the poor kicking was inexplicable. 93.161 for the season is crazy stuff.
Definitely a disappointing couple of weeks for Port Melbourne. I do wonder if some of the increased errors in the past two games (a reversion to old bad habits with poor forward 50 entries and poor defense on transition) are the result of a second-half-of-the-season dropoff in fitness, since they've had only the one preseason under McCartney, and there seems to be general agreement that it takes more than one to really improve fitness sufficiently for a whole season. We've also had a lot of injuries to key position players (with Manton, Farrant, Baldwin, Highmore, and Johnston currently out; of course only two of those have actually played as forwards for us, but Johnston's injury did also affect the forward lines since Alessio was moved back to cover for his absence), and we definitely need to recruit a dominant key forward for next season.
Not sure what explains the especially poor goalkicking at home, though. We have kicked more goals than behinds in only three games, against Preston, GWS, and North Melbourne; against Preston that's not terribly surprising, and perhaps the games against GWS and North Melbourne are outliers that just happened to be away games. So maybe it's just a coincidence that our most accurate games have been away. In any case the inaccuracy is a problem we obviously have to fix, but I doubt we'll see consistent improvement midseason.
Charlie Clarke looks like he'll be quite a player once he can start consistently kicking more goals than behinds - he's getting to all the right places.
I've been critical of James Van Es this season, but he was very good against North and excellent against Coburg. It's also good to see what good form Lachie Rankin is in on his return from injury.
It would be great if Manton is able to return for this weekend's game against Williamstown (by the way, thanks for the update a few weeks ago, Mega). Does anyone know when Farrant and Johnston are likely to return?
I'm really looking on with interest for Sundays 11th v 12th game. Coburg and Frankston are both vying for finals footy and I think this game will determine which one is a genuine chance to play in September.
For Port Melbourne, every week from here on is a "must win" scenario to have any chance.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Coburg were unlucky not to have beaten Frankston at Kinetic earlier in the season. Were the better team but didnt get the job done. They look to have improved since then and with so much on the line and playing at home should be a short priced favourite.
With a number of their better players injured or down on form, it will take a huge effort from Frankston to win this but they are certainly capable of it.
I'm not confident of a win. Right now we're simply not playing great footy. Our more recent wins have been underwhelming (that Essendon game was dire after the first quarter) and Coburg will be the most hostile environment we've experienced in a long time. I think a loss will probably put us out of realistic finals contention - non of our games aside from the Bullants are easy. I'm just hoping that it's growing pains with the new personnel we've added this year. What happened last year cannot be a flash in the pan, otherwise I think the club's in for a rough time.
Hi all......sorry for my absence for most of the year. Has been a very busy time.
Coburg are definitely going to be a big hurdle for us on Sunday. Not only are they playing their best footy in years, they're clearly bitter about what transpired at Frankston and I imagine will be hell bent on revenge (as they will see it......though THAT free kick was definitely there). They caused us plenty of trouble up there last season, and I imagine will be too good for us given our current form.
While we're doing ok by the win/loss record, it hasn't really gelled this season (so far). I have a few thoughts on why.....I think there is a bit of a natural disconnect among the group with quite a number of new players even though the recruits are all quality players. I hope they all stick around, because I think next season will be extremely good with them all having a year of getting used to a new style of play that's been unavoidable given the changes. As good as Corey Ellison is, his arrival has created a bit of a logjam up forward.....in the past it was Noah Gown in the marking contest with Matt Johnson dropping into holes for the easy mark. Now the three of them look to be crowding each other, and Johnson has been almost frozen out of the attack altogether. We also have struggled without a consistent crumbing forward.....barely having Bailey Lambert on the park has certainly not helped. In the middle, the ruck is still a problem and we rarely get first use as a result. I love Angus Grant and he has given us his heart and soul in there, but he just doesn't have the height or the frame for it. Finding a bona fide ruck has to be the key task at season's end. George Grey has barely played and looked very rusty when he has been in. Murphy and Mynott both are copping extra attention and are not as effective in the clearances. Defensively we have struggled to replace Max Williams though Justin Davies has been surprisingly good, and Josh Smith has struggled to stay fit and in form.
I still think we have the potential to do a bit, but things have to start clicking soon. Hopefully this weekend.
Frankston last season were 5-6 after 11 games. This season 6-5. The last time the Dolphs had a better record after 11 games was in 1999. The team has consolidated pretty well after a big improvement year in 2024. Hopefully they can sneak into finals again but I think it's going to take more wins than last year to do so.
Another game down the gurgler at Port.
The Borough were patchy throughout the night with more inside 50s and more scoring shots but went down 11.17.83 to Carlton 14.10.94.
Carlton's pressure was good and were also able to hurt Port on quick rebounds with some easy clearances out of Port's forward line.
That's our finals aspirations snuffed from here.
It was a season that promised so much too. Very disappointing.
On a brighter note, the women's side had a good return to form, defeating Carlton in the game at Princes Park, Carlton 2.4.16 to Port Melbourne 12.4.76.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
This stat may say why Port ‘Melbourne are 1-5 at home
Hard to understand the inaccuracy on the whole at North Port......yes it was windy the night we were there, yet the poor kicking was inexplicable. 93.161 for the season is crazy stuff.
Definitely a disappointing couple of weeks for Port Melbourne. I do wonder if some of the increased errors in the past two games (a reversion to old bad habits with poor forward 50 entries and poor defense on transition) are the result of a second-half-of-the-season dropoff in fitness, since they've had only the one preseason under McCartney, and there seems to be general agreement that it takes more than one to really improve fitness sufficiently for a whole season. We've also had a lot of injuries to key position players (with Manton, Farrant, Baldwin, Highmore, and Johnston currently out; of course only two of those have actually played as forwards for us, but Johnston's injury did also affect the forward lines since Alessio was moved back to cover for his absence), and we definitely need to recruit a dominant key forward for next season.
Not sure what explains the especially poor goalkicking at home, though. We have kicked more goals than behinds in only three games, against Preston, GWS, and North Melbourne; against Preston that's not terribly surprising, and perhaps the games against GWS and North Melbourne are outliers that just happened to be away games. So maybe it's just a coincidence that our most accurate games have been away. In any case the inaccuracy is a problem we obviously have to fix, but I doubt we'll see consistent improvement midseason.
Charlie Clarke looks like he'll be quite a player once he can start consistently kicking more goals than behinds - he's getting to all the right places.
I've been critical of James Van Es this season, but he was very good against North and excellent against Coburg. It's also good to see what good form Lachie Rankin is in on his return from injury.
It would be great if Manton is able to return for this weekend's game against Williamstown (by the way, thanks for the update a few weeks ago, Mega). Does anyone know when Farrant and Johnston are likely to return?
Great assessment Spiny.
I have wondered if the inaccuracy at home is at all linked to the inability to consistently train at home during the pre season and season proper...
I'd also like to see where our missed shots at goal are... Have we been forced wide due to the lack of a dominant forward? Dunno.
I agree that fitness looks to have dropped off. I thought that was noticeable in the last quarter of Saturday nights games.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
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