With the end of the runway rapidly approaching & not knowing what the problem was, the captain's first reaction was to command more pitch in an attempt to get the thing in the air.
Wouldn't increasing the pitch aggravate the situation even more, ie, cause airspeed to decay? Would have thought the first reaction would be to apply full throttle if the aircraft didn't lift off at Vr.
Anyway, it's easy for us to say all this in hindsight, but the guys upfront only had seconds to decide what to do. I'm very much appreciative of their handling of the abnormal take-off and so too are my grandparents who live in Keilor not too far off from the runway 16 centreline.