Seller - no match up for him, also has not played/trained at full intensity for 2/3 weeks (calf i think)

Petterd - "Pulled up sore" (Jade Rawlings) would be playing otherwise "is very important" (Jade Rawlings)

Bail - Not sure, would have thought he was a strong chance

Tapscott - needs another week or two at Casey

Gys - needs consistency, will play seniors, but no gifting games.

prob best side available, although im suprised by Joel Mac, thought Davis or Tom Mc could have got the gig.

Prob line up like this;

Fb: bartram garland rivers

Hb: grimes frawley macdonald

C: trengove moloney Bail

Hf: watts Martin Howe

Ff: davey Clarke green

Fol: jamar jones magner

Bate Mkenzie blease tynan

Again- where is petered?

my biggest worry is our class over the ball, our midfield lines up pretty tough, but disposal wise it looks pretty suspect, its all well and good to win the hard ball, its another thing if we cant hit targets... hopefully the ball gats in the hands of bail, watts, davey and howe, because if they all have 20 odd touches they are more than likely to be good offensive touches.

Seller - no match up for him, also has not played/trained at full intensity for 2/3 weeks (calf i think)

Petterd - "Pulled up sore" (Jade Rawlings) would be playing otherwise "is very important" (Jade Rawlings)

Bail - Not sure, would have thought he was a strong chance

Tapscott - needs another week or two at Casey

Gys - needs consistency, will play seniors, but no gifting games.

prob best side available, although im suprised by Joel Mac, thought Davis or Tom Mc could have got the gig.

Bail is playing.

Pretty sure I read somewhere earlier that Petterd didn't train with the main group yesterday so he is probably overcoming a minor injury of some sort other wise he would be in.

So far, so good.

GWS and Tigers smashed, hopefully Pies beaten tomorrow, then a big win for us.

Macdonald ahead of Sellar surprises me a bit.

Really?

Match ups aside, one has played a lot footy, the other hasn't. I think Sellar is a good pick up for what the team needs, but he has been overrated by many here so far.

interesting that Cale Morton isn't even a blip on anyone's radar at the moment

hugely disappointing for an athletically-priveleged, multi-positional, 5th-year number 4 draft pick

still if I was nEEld i would be demanding a lengthy patch of solid form in the twos before even entertaining it

Morton will be lucky if he is on a senior list next year.

Pretty good side I guess - Real shame there's no Jurrah at this stage to add a little sparkle to what is essentially a workman-like team. I also reckon Ricky P is a big loss - I rate him massively, he's so hard at it and desperate for the footy, as well as being able to do the spectacular.

Joel Mac was the first thing that worried me but then I thought, what is there to replace him? I guess Tappy will come in once he's fit.

Should be enough quality there to do the trick - let's hope it's not as uninspiring as last year's game against the Lions.

As a previous poster said, I would prefer if we kicked off against a decent team but I may yet eat those words.

The midfield does lack a lot of pace, that is where Bail is so important (plus he's tough).

It will be interesting to see if Morton plays much this year.

Just to slip in the pessimistic note.

We have a VFL captain and a bloke who was picked at #52 in last year's draft debuting for us, while we have pick #4 (2007), pick #17 (2008), pick #1, pick #11 and pick #18 (2009) and pick #12 (2010) all missing.

Just to slip in the pessimistic note.

We have a VFL captain and a bloke who was picked at #52 in last year's draft debuting for us, while we have pick #4 (2007), pick #17 (2008), pick #1, pick #11 and pick #18 (2009) and pick #12 (2010) all missing.

Not to mention our pick #3 from however long ago in Sylvia. I don't think it should matter what they were picked at, though.

Just quietly have a look at their fwd line!

Lester, Leuy, Polkinghorne

Banfield, Patful, Polec

Now please, if we kick 10 its game over!

out of interest - what is everyone's confidence factor in that 22 players - how many question marks do you have, meaning you see a name and think 'hmm not sure about that guy'

my number is 8

8?? Wow. I count 3 - Macdonald, Bartram and Bate. Pretty strong team on paper actually.

Just seeing Magner on the team sheet gives me so much more confidence in our ability to win some contested ball. As through the pre-season it will be the effectiveness of our disposal that will determine the outcome. So much love for Grimes in the midfield. Bring it on.

In saying that, if we start bombing it forward without pride or purpose early on, I will become agitated and concerned. Let's see some some attractive footy. The kind we're more than capable of playing.

Just quietly have a look at their fwd line!

Lester, Leuy, Polkinghorne

Banfield, Patful, Polec

Now please, if we kick 10 its game over!

Yes, that is not a very strong lineup. Frawley, Garland & co. should dominate them. Don't be surprised to see Merrett go forward for them though. Either way, our back line > their forward line.

This is probably why Neeld has the confidence in moving players like Grimes into attack.

Looking at the side I am a little bit concerned by the lack of pace. Apart from Blease and Bail the side looks fairly pedestrian.

Looking at the side I am a little bit concerned by the lack of pace. Apart from Blease and Bail the side looks fairly pedestrian.

I seriously don't get the obsession with "pace." Apart from the ability to apply defensive pressure in the form of being right up your opponent's clacker, "pace" comes from fast ball movement, not runs and curry. With the number of times we'll be winning contested ball then immediately slamming it on the boot (for better or for worse), I don't think pace will be all that relevant. Nice to have, but not as essential as the ability to kick the ball well (which we can't do either).

I seriously don't get the obsession with "pace." Apart from the ability to apply defensive pressure in the form of being right up your opponent's clacker, "pace" comes from fast ball movement, not runs and curry. With the number of times we'll be winning contested ball then immediately slamming it on the boot (for better or for worse), I don't think pace will be all that relevant. Nice to have, but not as essential as the ability to kick the ball well (which we can't do either).

Agree that lack of pack can be countered by good ball movement but it has great importance when you dont have the ball. I thought last night's game was a great example of that.

McDonalds best at this stage is still better than Sellars best. Difference being McDonald is wildly inconsistent as he relies so heavily on confidence.

Sellar to me is a good average footballer, a CHB/FB equivalent of Brad Miller. The Crowbots couldnt coax a consistent high standard of

football out of him, thats not to say we cant, but i have my doubts.

Since when did Joel Macdonald become "McDonald"? Not meaning to pick on you specifically DD, but I've counted at least 5 people in this thread do this. I wouldn't mind so much (at least, I'd ignore it) but we do have a player named "McDonald" on our list too (Tom), so it can be confusing.

Not to mention the fact that I think it's respectful and really not that hard to get our players names right - we all know how much we hate it when commentators call our co-captain "Trengrove" - this is no different!

Everyone repeat after me:

Joel Macdonald (Mac, lower case 'd')

Tom McDonald (Mc, upper case 'D')

Don't be surprised to see Merrett go forward for them though.

If Merrett plays up fwd it is a HUGE mistake. Not only does chippa smash him anyway, it leaves a massive hole in their defense!! He is a top FB.

Id love to see Merrett play fwd

Really like the way Neeld is utllizing the senior players with Green at CHF and Rivers at CHB. I think its been an issue that melbourne hasnt milked as much as possible out of the senior players in some occasion which has been a big problem of the Bailey era.

He just wanted to put games into players regardless, while personally i think they need to earn the games from the VFL, not be given them in an attempt to develop them.

Hold onto the senior players and get as much as possible out of them into there 30's, will give players more time to develop in the VFL and will not end up having gaps or a stack of players in 'development' leaving that position to get flogged each week.

that aside im also digging the center bounce line up with Magner, Grimes and Moloney in there.

Since when did Joel Macdonald become "McDonald"? Not meaning to pick on you specifically DD, but I've counted at least 5 people in this thread do this. I wouldn't mind so much (at least, I'd ignore it) but we do have a player named "McDonald" on our list too (Tom), so it can be confusing.

Not to mention the fact that I think it's respectful and really not that hard to get our players names right - we all know how much we hate it when commentators call our co-captain "Trengrove" - this is no different!

Everyone repeat after me:

Joel Macdonald (Mac, lower case 'd')

Tom McDonald (Mc, upper case 'D')

There was an article on the MFC website last week about Moloney and they spelled his name 'Maloney'. This mistake drives me nuts, but when it's on our club's official website it is very poor.

Here's the link: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/131489/default.aspx

Fifth paragraph.

interesting that Cale Morton isn't even a blip on anyone's radar at the moment

hugely disappointing for an athletically-priveleged, multi-positional, 5th-year number 4 draft pick

still if I was nEEld i would be demanding a lengthy patch of solid form in the twos before even entertaining it

Fair go - he was out for 2-3 weeks or something when he stuffed his knee at home. While I'm as disappointed as anyone with Cale's 2011 form, I'm happy to see him at Casey for the next couple of weeks to get his fitness back, and most importantly, get his match fitness up.

If his form is on par with 2011, then I'll have concerns for Cale's future on our list. But let's give him a chance to redeem himself, hell, we're asking it of 90% of our list.

If Merrett plays up fwd it is a HUGE mistake. Not only does chippa smash him anyway, it leaves a massive hole in their defense!! He is a top FB.

Id love to see Merrett play fwd

The news coming out of Brisbane is that big sauce Merrett will be playing forward. What odds for Clark being highest goal scorer for the round?

BTW - has anyone heard/seen Ben Hur today? I have serious concerns for his wellbeing, especially after the teams were announced and Watts has been named on the wing.

If Merrett plays up fwd it is a HUGE mistake. Not only does chippa smash him anyway, it leaves a massive hole in their defense!! He is a top FB.

Id love to see Merrett play fwd

I agree with you and would love to see it. I wonder who they would put on Clark in that case?