Unsociable footy doesn't require players to forget their duty of care and behave like they are on crystal meth.

Take a pill and have a lie down BT. Your posts on this are over the top. If we are going to have a team which plays a hard contested brand of footy then we need blokes who will push the envelope. it's an occupational hazard, if you like. Even Buckley has said they 'cop it' beacsue he knows that his how they will play when they need to.

Loved it. I hope he irons out more players

Finally we have a bit of See You Next Tuesday creeping into this team. About bloody time I hope he keeps it up, christ knows we've been marshmallows for too long.

The amount of times a game I see opposition players trying to take Howe's legs out while he's flying for a mark, makes me sick.

You wanna talk about unfair, extremely dangerous and frankly disgusting behaviour on the field, talk about that. Never ever does he get a free kick for it, and he could well end up with a serious spine injury one day (remember Sylvia?).

Hitting someone a bit late in the side during a marking contests is tough play, not rough play.

As for pushing Maxwell over the line, Tappy had the exact same thing done to him the previous week and went head first into the fence. Nobody raised an eyebrow.

It would seem that my OP is at odds with the majority sentiment here. I had no problem with his hit on the young boy Elliot. Especially since it was immediately after Nicholson went down through his own courage. But the late hit on Fasolo's ribs and the attempt to put maxwell on the bench were out of order. If it was Campbell Brown or Barry Hall doing that to our players we would be demanding they be rubbed out for a long spell.

Unsociable footy doesn't require players to forget their duty of care and behave like they are on crystal meth.

The good teams of the last few years have been super disciplined in relation to their agression and directed it toward the ball or the man with the ball. Even Byron was very measured in the way he dished it out. Ruthless, but he chose his moments. Mind you, he would be regularly rubbed out now.

Don't get me wrong I like Tapscott's hardness and the intimidation factor he brings, but there is a difference between 'tough' and 'dirty'. Anyone who has watched from the 1960s to now will know what dirty means. History has thrown up a number of players who were dirty. The John Greening incident was a tragic example. Tappy needs to see the distinction. Would posters here have been so enthusiastic if he had been successful and Maxwell had crashed head first into the bench?

your living in a bubble wrapped society.

Melbourne have the bye next week, i challenge you to go watch a game of senior local footy, (once you wake up from your afternoon nap).

You may get a very VERY rude awakening.

Take a family member to, you'll need someone to call you an ambulance

Grinter-esque

Exactamundo!

Half Back Flank ,built like a brick ,runs straight always ,gettoutathefugginway Ima comin through ready or not ,never complain ,never explain.

He's the type of bloke who will take em one at a time or all at once .

Love him.

In fact ,Tappy is my new hero .

Had he not gone in hard people would be questioning him. He tried to get there the same time but was a fraction late and already was committed to the contest. This is the sort of play supporters like myself have been craving. Players that hurt opposition and make them think twice. He'd be making a few of his teammates take short steps at training too.

If he gets a week, so be it. He expresses intent and makes teammates walk taller. Intent and purpose to hit contests hard will filter through the side and can raise intensity. Tapscott at one instance had Swan taking a glance thanks to his presence.

Yes, he could have been smarter at hitting that contest, but once having been already committed he had the obligation to go in a manner which would also protect himself. Fasolo earned it, good for him.

Very few successful teams don't have one or two nasty pr!cks in them.

That's all I'll say.

our new byron pickett.

I like the fact that the Dees are playing a more spirited "unsociable" brand of footy recently. But, Luke Tapscott, WTF does he think he is doing? Fasolo annoys me as much as anyone but Tappy's attack on him was out of line. The attempt to launch Maxwell into the interchange bench was quite unhinged. If he continues to behave like this on the field he will be a very unpopular player. I would rather see him attack the ball with the same intent. Both Tappy and Silvia seemed intent on proving that they weren't pushovers. There's a better way to do this. Watch Jordie McKenzie.

We all see things differently. For the reasons you mention Tapscott is quickly becoming one of my favourite players.

The hit to Fasolo and pushing Maxwell into the bench were not brave acts - I can do without it. The bump on Elliot was good.

The Maxwell incident was....silly... probably. The Fasolo has been grossly overhyped and I feel misreported. He was a little late to the ball( and missed ) . He wasnt trying to kill the guy. (as Im sure he could )

I liek that he has mongrel. Teams need someone who will run into walls. Loved Grinter for the very same reason. We have so many fluffies who evade a real contest , heres one who goes hunting. Now if we can just focus his aggression a tad more it will be fine.

The most dangerous thing I saw was Swan taking out (Blease?) legs by foot.

Way more dangerous than anything Tapscott did.

I noticed his aggression and thought I love it.

MORE IS REQUIRED FROM OTHERS!

Tappy cant yet run a full game IMO but when he goes he goes hard to hurt and thats what MFC need! Player who hurt!

If anything he should have poleaxed the weed that annoyed Watts at the start of the game..I would have cleaned him right up for that!

crashed into his back a few seconds late, happens all the time, tapscott just hit a bit harder, shouldn't even get any points. i thought he was in trouble when he tried to kick the ball and smashed his leg into someone elses, when i saw everyone saying tappy in trouble thats what i thought, i thought great finally get someone not scared of bodycontact and he brakes a leg. luckily i was wrong.

The amount of times a game I see opposition players trying to take Howe's legs out while he's flying for a mark, makes me sick.

You wanna talk about unfair, extremely dangerous and frankly disgusting behaviour on the field, talk about that. Never ever does he get a free kick for it, and he could well end up with a serious spine injury one day (remember Sylvia?).

Hitting someone a bit late in the side during a marking contests is tough play, not rough play.

As for pushing Maxwell over the line, Tappy had the exact same thing done to him the previous week and went head first into the fence. Nobody raised an eyebrow.

Remember the first game Watts played. The very same thing happened to him but with three Collingwood players on top of him.

Love his aggression. I didn't think what he did to Maxwell was as bad as what some are making out. Just trying to fire up his team mates and make a statement.

I saw the Fasolo incident as making him 'earn it'. MRP will probably give him a week for it, hopefully he take the early plea and get a discount for his early plea.

Would love him to be available for the GWS. A bit perverse, but I would love him to show a bit of controlled aggression towards number 9 in a couple of weeks time.

Blokes like Tappy have been hard to come by in the red and blue jumper since the days of Grinter. More of it I say.

Pushing Maxwell into the bench wasn't supposed to be tough. Did Dustin Fletcher get admonished for putting, ironically, Tapscott in the fence on the outer wing last week?? No, didn't think so...

Good point.

I didn't even realise that Fletcher had done the same thing last week.

Tapscott must have being paying it forward.

Loved it also...Finally some outward agression. I reckon Tappy is just starting settle into life as an AFL footballer and more of this will come. I know he played a number of games last year but from what I am observing he's just now getting the glint in his eye.

A week off (if it eventuates) is well worth it if a few blokes start taking a second look when under a high ball against the Demons. For too long opposition players could run back with the flight without fear of repercussion against us. Not for much longer I suspect.

According to the majority of people on this thread, if you don't like seeing opposition players getting injured, you're weak. You're also an advocate for soft football if you ever dare think that a Melbourne player has crossed the line with their aggression.

Before everyone jumps down my throat, yes, I love seeing Melbourne players rough up opposition players, and none more so than Collingwood players. I'd rather have players like Tapscott and Moloney than Morton and Bennell.

But there is a difference between aggression and stupidity. I don't think Tapscott's bump on Fasolo was stupid (it was reckless, sure, but not stupid). But I think pushing Maxwell into the bench was just stupid and there was no need for it. I don't think it symbolised a strong team, I don't see how that is required in order for a team to avoid being deemed 'soft'.

Bumps in the play, strong tackles (even the occasional sling tackle), double-teaming players, pushing them at stoppages, all that kind of stuff, I love, and Tapscott brings all that. But pushing a player out of play into the fence is just dumb.

I maintain that if the exact same thing had been done by Maxwell to Tapscott, many here would be whinging and demanding he be suspended.

We need to shake our 'soft' tag.

This is the way to do it until we are able to compete skills wise with the top teams. Then we can pull back to being smartarse aggressive.

According to the majority of people on this thread, if you don't like seeing opposition players getting injured, you're weak. You're also an advocate for soft football if you ever dare think that a Melbourne player has crossed the line with their aggression.

Before everyone jumps down my throat, yes, I love seeing Melbourne players rough up opposition players, and none more so than Collingwood players. I'd rather have players like Tapscott and Moloney than Morton and Bennell.

But there is a difference between aggression and stupidity. I don't think Tapscott's bump on Fasolo was stupid (it was reckless, sure, but not stupid). But I think pushing Maxwell into the bench was just stupid and there was no need for it. I don't think it symbolised a strong team, I don't see how that is required in order for a team to avoid being deemed 'soft'.

Bumps in the play, strong tackles (even the occasional sling tackle), double-teaming players, pushing them at stoppages, all that kind of stuff, I love, and Tapscott brings all that. But pushing a player out of play into the fence is just dumb.

I maintain that if the exact same thing had been done by Maxwell to Tapscott, many here would be whinging and demanding he be suspended.

I'm no hypocrite. I argued on here 10 years ago that I loved the way the Scott Bros gave it to Riewoldt when he'd supposedly hurt his shoulder. Many disagreed with me and it was a long thread. I love aggression and I love MFC players that have a desire to physically hurt their opponents. I wanted him to hurt Fasolo. I hope he hurt Fasolo.

Btw, he hardly even nudged Maxwell when over the boundary line. It was more a show of disdain than any attempt to push him into concrete.

I'd rather run into concrete than Tapscott.

Maxwell probably flung himself out of harms way.

Has anything been made of Maxwell's aerial squib yesterday?

Geez I hate that hack.

I'm no hypocrite. I argued on here 10 years ago that I loved the way the Scott Bros gave it to Riewoldt when he'd supposedly hurt his shoulder. Many disagreed with me and it was a long thread. I love aggression and I love MFC players that have a desire to physically hurt their opponents. I wanted him to hurt Fasolo. I hope he hurt Fasolo.

So did I. And who has more premiership medals sitting on the mantlepiece, the Scott Bros or Nick Reiwoldt?

No need to answer.

He just received massive praise from Cameron Mooney for his stand-over tactics. We need more players like him.