Guys i have to vent my frustration and anger on this one. I honestly think its an utter joke that Bobby isnt in the 22 for tonights game against Wet coke. He along with Trenners is my favourite player and i do proudly wear number 15 on the back of my Melbourne Guernsey but for the sake of this post ill try to put any bias aside. I thought he showed a lot of promise in 07,08 and 09 as an up and coming young player and put in some really solid performances. In the first few rounds of 2010 i thought he was outstanding. Ricky was the standout in that Round 2 match against the Pies kicking 4 brilliant goals and constantly putting his body on the line (almost recklessly at times) before very nearly winning the game for us in the dying seconds. He was then a solid contributor in our next 3 games which we won.He was then injured against North in Rd 6 at etihad and i dont think its any co-incidence that our form started to become patchy when he was out of the side (we were awful against North and wet coke).

He then resisted the temptation to go home and join the Gold Coast suns (where he would have been well rewarded financially) to stay loyal to the club that gave him his start and hopefully be apart of something special in the coming years.

Fast forward to 2011 and he plays a quarter against the swans as the sub and has an immediate impact, plays one ordinary game against the porks where no-one could honestly hold their heads high after an abysmall effort and is made the scapegoat, banished to the VFL and not to be seen since. I think he is extremely important to our forward structures as he always provides a solid contest, constantly presents up the ground and always doubles back towards goal (ala Nick Riewoldt) and he is without doubt our best defensive forward whos pressure is second to none. I cant for the life of me work out why hes not in the 22 tonight for a big game and why im going to have to sit there and watch Wattsy lope around and have little impact while a very capable replacement in Ricky watches from the stands.

Please bring back Ricky!!!

Agree Gotzy, its a joke.

Well said mate. The only thing I can think is that the FD know more about where a player is at than we, and I did read elsewhere that he has been a bit average in the VFL, but I do find it a bit strange. Not only is Watts way off the pace, but Dunny has not been performing well at all. I would definitely think he deserves a couple games to try string together some form.

We have been unchanged after both wins.... You need to reward players for a win...

Team stability is a must.. His time will come soon enough as he is a great talent.

What is Petterd's role at Melbourne?

Basically, he is a defensive forward (similar to Dunn). He has pace and is dangerous when he can jump at the ball, but his main role would be to apply a lot of forward pressure with chasing, tackling and harassing of the opposition defenders. What he did so well in that Collingwood game last year was shut down Heath Shaw completely. That he also kicked 4 goals was a bonus. He avewraged 3.5 tackles a game last year as a small forward.

So for this year, he has laid just 2 tackles overall.

He's not good enough to be a star, so he needs to play his role. If he doesn't then Bailey will play someone who will play their role, like Wonaeamirri (4.5 tackles a game this year) or Rohan Bail (4.8 tpg). Even Watts averages 2.5 a game (a big improvement on the 1 tackle a game he had in 2010, which show a big improvement in his physicality).

Edited April 28, 201114 yr by Axis of Bob

We have been unchanged after both wins.... You need to reward players for a win...

Team stability is a must.. His time will come soon enough as he is a great talent.

I agree with you to an extent No 16 but i just thought that tonight would be a great opportunity to bring him back in a really important game. His forward pressure and presentation would be a huge plus on a big ground against a side who are prone to making skill errors espcially in defence. The other point i was going to make is that he brings an intensity to our side and i believe brings other players into the game ( it would be interesting to see how wattsy would play with bobby alongside him because im pretty sure they have never played a senior match together). Again if we cast our minds back to last year did anyone notice the difference in our intensity between the Collingwood game compared to the North and Wet Coke games when Ricky was injured and not in the side respectively?

Guys i have to vent my frustration and anger on this one. I honestly think its an utter joke that Bobby isnt in the 22 for tonights game against Wet coke. He along with Trenners is my favourite player and i do proudly wear number 15 on the back of my Melbourne Guernsey but for the sake of this post ill try to put any bias aside. I thought he showed a lot of promise in 07,08 and 09 as an up and coming young player and put in some really solid performances. In the first few rounds of 2010 i thought he was outstanding. Ricky was the standout in that Round 2 match against the Pies kicking 4 brilliant goals and constantly putting his body on the line (almost recklessly at times) before very nearly winning the game for us in the dying seconds. He was then a solid contributor in our next 3 games which we won.He was then injured against North in Rd 6 at etihad and i dont think its any co-incidence that our form started to become patchy when he was out of the side (we were awful against North and wet coke).

He then resisted the temptation to go home and join the Gold Coast suns (where he would have been well rewarded financially) to stay loyal to the club that gave him his start and hopefully be apart of something special in the coming years.

Fast forward to 2011 and he plays a quarter against the swans as the sub and has an immediate impact, plays one ordinary game against the porks where no-one could honestly hold their heads high after an abysmall effort and is made the scapegoat, banished to the VFL and not to be seen since. I think he is extremely important to our forward structures as he always provides a solid contest, constantly presents up the ground and always doubles back towards goal (ala Nick Riewoldt) and he is without doubt our best defensive forward whos pressure is second to none. I cant for the life of me work out why hes not in the 22 tonight for a big game and why im going to have to sit there and watch Wattsy lope around and have little impact while a very capable replacement in Ricky watches from the stands.

Please bring back Ricky!!!

[/quote Agree 100% can only think he missed some pre season games and they thought him underdone & thats why he went back to Casey

i feel for him and I'd prefer him over Dunn, but i think the FD are hesitant to make changes to a winning team even if the team havent been overly impressive in their wins.

also maybe his comments after round 1 as a sub have bitten him? He said he wasnt happy about being the sub and maybe the FD thought he was getting too far ahead of himself?

coming off a 90pt win ur comments are a bit harsh

watts was lucky to keep his possie as was dunn

will be in next week for sure

nothin like competitive juices flowin thro the list

Only 2 things got us over the line against Brisbane. LJ and a resolve ......... finally....... not to be embarrassed by an insipid team performance. We needed another focal point up forward. The other win was against the Suns................ well !!!!

Ricky Petterd has talent and it's being wasted. He should be in the 22 if he is fit, and there is nothing to suggest he's not. I too prefer RP over the mo.

ricky, ricky, ricky.......

i couldnt agree more, cant believe he isn't in the side, its a joke.

Another good performance in the 2's and another lackluster Dunn performance and he'll be back. However, we would have taken a 23rd over there as cover - Will Ricky even play in the 2's this week?

Another good performance in the 2's and another lackluster Dunn performance and he'll be back. However, we would have taken a 23rd over there as cover - Will Ricky even play in the 2's this week?

I'd like to see Ricky in the team. Not like he has had much of a go. Sub round 1 and then didn't see much of it against the dawkes. Probably because we were being smashed in the middle.

Dunn v Petterd.

Another good performance in the 2's and another lackluster Dunn performance and he'll be back. However, we would have taken a 23rd over there as cover - Will Ricky even play in the 2's this week?

The game's on Saturday. You'd think the 23rd could get back in time.

agree. agree. agree. ricky is an absolute star, maybe a few games where he went missing but s*%t....what dees player doesnt!

Watts just has to play seniors even if he is not carrying his weight. Going to Casey won't do him any favours.

Agreed. I would much prefer to see him settle in the team. I would prefer him at the Moment to either Dunn or Watts

haha lachy.

comin over 2night?

Yeah, I can't believe Ricky P got dropped after one poor performance. He almost won the game for us against the Swans and was our most damaging forward last year before he got injured.

What is Petterd's role at Melbourne?

Basically, he is a defensive forward (similar to Dunn). He has pace and is dangerous when he can jump at the ball, but his main role would be to apply a lot of forward pressure with chasing, tackling and harassing of the opposition defenders. What he did so well in that Collingwood game last year was shut down Heath Shaw completely. That he also kicked 4 goals was a bonus. He avewraged 3.5 tackles a game last year as a small forward.

So for this year, he has laid just 2 tackles overall.

He's not good enough to be a star, so he needs to play his role. If he doesn't then Bailey will play someone who will play their role, like Wonaeamirri (4.5 tackles a game this year) or Rohan Bail (4.8 tpg). Even Watts averages 2.5 a game (a big improvement on the 1 tackle a game he had in 2010, which show a big improvement in his physicality).

and we're second last in the league in tackles per game... not that it has anything to do with Ricky. I've been waiting to use that stat all week.

Watts just has to play seniors even if he is not carrying his weight. Going to Casey won't do him any favours.

C&B can you please explain to me why Watts is the only player in the team exempt from playing at Casey?

If he is not carrying his weight then off to Casey like every other player in the team.

I do not except that he is the only player in the team that a game or two at a lower level would not help.

Edited April 28, 201114 yr by old dee

Bobby is quite simply a victim of the club's SWR (Select Watts Regardless) rule and that's a shame for him but I'm sure he'll get back in.

Like another poster said, though, I do think he has to add another couple of strings to his bow and up his defensive pressure because on his 'off' days, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

Interesting that Watts is selected and Petterd isn't.

Watts plays his role in the side. He almost does it to a fault and needs to show more of his natural flair. He runs hard up the ground, pushes back, chases, tackles and is clearly improving his 'big man' skills.

Petterd is more mature but is not performing his role.

AND.....

Petterd and Watts are not competing with each other for a spot in the side. Petterd is competing with the defensive forwards. Watts is likely to be competing with Bate.

In short, if Ricky chases, tackles and causes turnovers in the VFL then he'll probably be promoted. If he doesn't then I'm sure he could probably kick 8 goals for Casey and still be playing VFL the next week.

The ball is in Ricky's court.

Edited April 28, 201114 yr by Axis of Bob

He then resisted the temptation to go home and join the Gold Coast suns (where he would have been well rewarded financially) to stay loyal to the club that gave him his start and hopefully be apart of something special in the coming years.

Well, it looks like he got his wish then.

Petterd and Watts are not competing with each other for a spot in the side. Petterd is competing with the defensive forwards. Watts is likely to be competing with Bate.

Absolutely spot on. I said that yesterday in another thread.

It's easy to say that Ricky is being left out of the team because Bailey is babysitting Watts, but they are NOT competing for the same position because they play different roles.

Petterd needs to push ahead of Dunn, Aussie and to a lesser extent Maric, and Watts is competing with Bate and Newton. Now who here wants to see either of those players get a game ahead of Watts?