With all the furore over tanking and experimentation and abolishing the priority picks, there was something I think was overlooked in the aftermath of our match:

Our boys really showed some heart.

Irrespective of whether our Football department was trying to tank on Sunday or not, our boys were outnumbered, out of position, overworked and understrength, yet they did not give up.

In fact they took it right to the tiges and only lost by a goal after the siren. They were determined to beat the odds and win in the face of adversity.

There was a lot of heart shown by a lot of players and I think that should be recognized and applauded.

(but thank god they didn't pull it off)

In particular i think James McDonald, Ricky Petterd and Jackie boy Grimes deserve special mention.

We really do have quite a bright future, whatever may happen in the next 4 rounds...

Other players who also showed some heart were the West Coast players. Most media outlets and fans see the West Coast/Essendon game and Melbourne/Richmond game very differently. In one game, a 'tanking' team won, so they are not tanking. They played well, and the club, coach and MC are pure of heart. In the other, (involving our team) a coach and MC hell bent on losing let the club's players down by putting them out of position for large chunks of the match and giving them bizarre instruction. Consequently, they lost, and copped the vitriol and hyperbole of the anti-tanking football community.

However, the two games were very similar. In both games, the opposition did not come to play, and were completely inept across four quarters. Both teams had good senior players out that could have been in, and a dearth of inexperienced youngsters running the lines. Conveniently, in the press, much is being made of Essendon and Melbourne, because they both lost. The real story is the coaching of Dean Bailey and John Worsfold. The Eagles are tanking, winning 1 of their last 10 matches with their eyes on local WA talent like Morabito and cautious of their equally inept cross-town rivals in Freo who will take this talent from them. Melbourne are tanking too, obviously.

Bailey and Worsfold faced a bizarre situation where their opposition was completely inept, and they had to lose the game. In the West, the on-ball brigade of West Coast had 28, 6 and 5 games respectively and their full-forward had never played before. Bailey played a more experienced on ball brigade but out of position. He engineered a miraculous loss, successfully diminishing his team who had the skills, momentum and desire to easily beat the most putrid opposition ever to play the MFC on the MCG. Worsfold in the West could not do the same, even though it was plain to see in the 3rd quarter what he desired. He switched on-baller McGinnity to the much larger Jay Neagle (who then kicked a goal), and McKinley was moved out of the forward line. However, the young talent in Naitanui and LeCras kept trying as hard as they could and late in the last quarter Worsfold conceded victory. Bombers were as putrid on Subiaco and Tigers were at the G.

Bailey put the media heat on himself and his reputation to do what he did on Sunday, and did what needed to be done for the future of this football club. Nothing else matters.

best post on this board in ages. the boys played their hearts out and gave everything they had to the red and blue jumper. i was genuinely disappointed for them, all that the hard work against the odds hadn't paid off. they showed alot of character today. hopefully it drives them to compete even harder and lights the fire inside them.

i hate being relieved with a loss like that. atleast we should be pushing onwards and upwards next year and all this shall be forgotten.

we have a great group of young blokes coming through and i have never been prouder or more excited as a melbourne supporter than i am right now.

Bloody clever by Bailey to leave the box at the end too.

No matter how he truly felt, the media would have twisted it to their whim like an article in New Idea.

best post on this board in ages. the boys played their hearts out and gave everything they had to the red and blue jumper. i was genuinely disappointed for them, all that the hard work against the odds hadn't paid off. they showed alot of character today. hopefully it drives them to compete even harder and lights the fire inside them.

i hate being relieved with a loss like that. atleast we should be pushing onwards and upwards next year and all this shall be forgotten.

we have a great group of young blokes coming through and i have never been prouder or more excited as a melbourne supporter than i am right now.

Yeah, how fantastic was it? Its was like everyone wanted them to lose, including the coaching staff and the board, but the players made a stand.

Its like they said "fine, play me out of position, don't give me a rest, don't give me any help... and I'm still not gonna lie down."

With all the pressure to lose this game they did not relent, just the opposite. And for that I hold them all in high regard.

Yeah great post ...great to hear some positive stuff about the team who tried their guts out all day....I hope the that the coach was err experimenting with the positional stuff or we are in big trouble...

A few things that are lost on people are the opportunitites that tanking presents...

A rare chance for Warnock and Frawley to let other players how overworked they have been in the past two years.

Newton gets to play a game of AFL.

Ditto Dunn.

Ditto Valenti.

Ditto Johnson.

Ditto Batram.

Petterd and Grimes get a chance to show us they can be superb mids.

Johnson gets a firecracker up his arse by being giving a challenge.

Spencer shows he can beat players with as much experience as him - hands down.

Miller and Bate getting a bit of freedom and fresh air in the guts.

Interesting now that every person has become so "moral".

Vossy played Charman @ Full Forward, Coaching Genius.

Bailey with 4 blokes in the morgue rejigs the side, plays Warnock up forward : Tanker !!!

Malthouse is against PP . Does that mean Pendlebury & Thomas will not play again this year.

To be fair CArlton is the only one staying quiet. Wonder !!

Lets be consistent.

Interesting now that every person has become so "moral".

Vossy played Charman @ Full Forward, Coaching Genius.

Bailey with 4 blokes in the morgue rejigs the side, plays Warnock up forward : Tanker !!!

Malthouse is against PP . Does that mean Pendlebury & Thomas will not play again this year.

To be fair CArlton is the only one staying quiet. Wonder !!

Lets be consistent.

to be fair to vossy, he did defend bailey saying his moves were part of player development. short term pain for long term gain. bit of back tracking perhaps. voss annoys me cos he has walked into a decent middle of the road team and the coming of age of a few players has seen them outperform expectations. i'd wonder what his views would be at the bottom with a few quiet words from the board.

malthouse is so naiive sometimes, but isn't that the pies in general?? if they do it it's a masterstroke, someone else does it... the afl should definitely investigate it.

the PP systems works. sides rebuild then move back up the table. don't change it cos the press have made it such an issue. it's the same every year.

Interesting now that every person has become so "moral".

Vossy played Charman @ Full Forward, Coaching Genius.

Bailey with 4 blokes in the morgue rejigs the side, plays Warnock up forward : Tanker !!!

Malthouse is against PP . Does that mean Pendlebury & Thomas will not play again this year.

To be fair Carlton is the only one staying quiet. Wonder !!

Lets be consistent.

Additional :

Bailey is queried re rotations. Bit difficult to shift people off the ground when no one is there to replace them !!

Matty Whelan did come onto the ground and stood,hobbled,hopped,limped around Fwd Pocket. A wonder DB wasnt accused of tanking by playing him out of position.

The new Director of Coaching : i.e. Malthouse ( is that director of Coaching for Collingwood or does it imply for all of the AFL) queries why Nathan Jones wasnt on the ball all the last quarter. (Somehow I cannot recollect Davis ,Thomas, Didak or Lockyer playing in the midfield ALL the first Q) I think it was because he was *&%^$#ed. Matty Bate etc had to stay on the ground just in case there was a number count. ( If we had <18 we would have been tanking.)

I reckon it will be terrific when DB is employed as a Special Commentator when Collingwood are playing and the Dir of Coaching makes an unusual move. Go for the jugular DB !!!