Changes for Round 5 vs St Kilda

[Biffen 12,949]

I agree with the above changes more or less .

The Macs just made too many errors.

Bartram was good in the air? for some reason and kicked ok .

Morton showed some signs of life which was a breakthrough.

Bail was ok in patches.

IN Martin ,Couch ,Grimes ,Ricky P

Out Joel Mac ,Tom Mc ,Dunn ,Peter Sellers ,

[Biffen 12,949]

What is killing us is the absence/injury of ANY small or quick forwards due to form/injury .

Jetta

Bennell

Evans

all being injured or out of touch .

We need Jurrah back and Jetta crumbing .

Bennell needs one last crack to see if he has what is takes .

I say play Bennell ,Morton ,Jetta etc until they get some form or we delist .

If we found 2 or 3 quick crumbers in good touch we would be laughing but the role is vacant .

We have good strong bodies and big but the skills on our average sized players are letting us down .

No one can take the spilling ball 3 metres off the front of the marking contest and we are getting killed there .

[Biffen 12,949]

Sadly Davey should be out. He is way to soft. He's not going to be around for the next premiership. The last thing we need is the young guys watching him Jib every contest.

I really dont want him flying back with the flight into an oncoming train just to get stretched off .He got back some confidence yesterday .

I really think he will improve back to near his best .Have a bit of faith in Flash .Hes only 27 I think .

[Robbie57 2,041]

Out: Dunn In: Petterd

Out: Macdonald In: Grimes

Out: Tapscott In: Sylvia

Out: McKenzie In: Couch

Rested: Clark (should not play if he was concussed) Sellar (or Martin if fit) to FF.

[Guest José Mourinho]

We'll have to agree to disagree on Bartram as I saw it differently. The people that really know his value first hand and scrutinise his play the most closely are the coaching staff.We'll see if they drop him this week?

My bet is they won't!

I normally pillory Bartram on this forum for his disposal and decision-making, but I actually thought he was one of our better performers yesterday.

The sooner we find a replacement for him the better, but at the moment he does things no one else on our list seems willing to do.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 17,088]

Not a great performance but much, much better than all our previous games this year. More effort shown and really only skill deficiencies let us down. So wholesale changes shouldn't be made. My changes would be:

Dunn (so what if he held Murphy to 6 possessions - he has no idea where to position himself when the opportunity arises). Replace with Sylvia, if he's ready (which I doubt), otherwise Petterd.

Joel MacDonald can't be retained, His skill errors are woeful and he has the fumbles at the moment so he goes out for Grimes. I know Tom McDonald also disposed poorly, but I'd keep him in to get more experience and to match Stanley's height and pace which none of our other defenders, bar Frawley, who's needed elsewhere, will be able to do.

Martin (if fit) to come in for Clark (if he doesn't play); otherwise he comes in for Sellar who tries hard but is just too slow.

[Want a Flag 46]

If Clark doesn't come up I would be inclined to give Tom McDonald a run in the forward line. He trained with the forwards in the pre-season and can take a mark. Not a lot to lose really.

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

Actually ditch my last post. I don't even know who's available. Is Straus ready? Is Blease going to have a crack? Ahh deckchairs on the Titanic, we are going to lose the next 8 anyway

Next 8 eh. That's 8 + the 4 we've attended = 12.

You don't seriously think we will win round 13 do you?

[satyricon 267]

Martin was not dropped, he has a few issues with his hip playing up, assume it wasn't up to this week, I actually spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he was very disappointed it's picked now to play up, he had an op on it a couple of years ago, if posters must vent their spleen, then at least get the facts correct....and....

Lynden Dunn was given a job in the second half to stop Bob Murphy who was cutting us up in the 1st Half, he had 18 or so touches in the 1st and 6 in the second, I wonder who stopped that, try watching the game and listening to what the coach has to say...

Yes I am as disappointed as the next poster that we lost, but I have never and will never bag individual players, it is a team game, notice Matty Bate got away with it this week and Morton, what's wrong posters....did they play well?

[Vipercrunch 2,863]

Out: Joel Mac

In: Grimes

The whole team made big blunders yesterday, and most of the doggies did too. Confidence is a massive part of footy and we are at rock bottom. Dropped marks, missed hadballs and kicks, fumbles galore. It really was ugly. There should have been a count on the scoreboard for the number of times the crowd groaned at basic skill errors. Not for one second do I believe that is a realistic example of our general skill level though. The few times last year when our confidence was up was a far different level of skill displayed.

There is every chance we will hit the half way mark of the year at 0-11. The state of mind of our players at the bye will be a big concern and managing it will be a big focus of the coaching staff. Good luck Neeld and co.

• Whilst Dunn's tactics might not be to everyone taste at least he showed something. Effectively reduced the influence of Murphy.
  
• Joel Mac could be an OK depth player in a good team but isn't helping us where we are right now.
  
• Tom McDonald will be fine. Had the fumbles bad, but for me this was a exception. His skill level in his first game was far superior.
  
• Would be very surprised if Sylvia didn't get a run at Casey first.
  
• The bye at the VFL is absurd. Hopefully this gets rectified (more or less teams) by next season.
  
• Hoepfully our guys playing at Casey can really start demanding selection. I can't think of seeing in any Casey reports so far that players are really putting there hands up.
  

[drdrake 3,203]

Lynden Dunn was given a job in the second half to stop Bob Murphy who was cutting us up in the 1st Half, he had 18 or so touches in the 1st and 6 in the second, I wonder who stopped that, try watching the game and listening to what the coach has to say...

This is the problem we have at the moment our players only contribute for quarters or halves, Dunn was woeful in the first half then stopped Murphy good job, Davey was woeful in the first half allow Murphy 18 touches looked better when Murphy wasn't his Concern. Watts was woeful in the second half, you can go through all our players they all go missing at some stage of the game

[QueenC 74]

In 'The Coaches Office' video on the website, Neeld said Jurrah and Sylvia will play VFL this week, not AFL

And if you're inclined to believe Twitter......

Melbourne Footy‏@MelbourneFooty

Mark Neeld says Colin Sylvia (@Real_ColSylvia) will return for Melbourne against St. Kilda this weekend.

[rpfc 28,966]

I am no fan of Dunn, but he gets extended weeks to save his career. Bate is showing something, and maybe Dunn will too.

But as a defensive forward?

He will have to show something more than that to save himself.

[QueenC 74]

Joel MacDonald can't be retained, His skill errors are woeful and he has the fumbles at the moment so he goes out for Grimes. I know Tom McDonald also disposed poorly, but I'd keep him in to get more experience and to match Stanley's height and pace which none of our other defenders, bar Frawley, who's needed elsewhere, will be able to do.

Now to me the obvious change is Grimes in for MacDonald.......

If MacDonald's original selection in the team was a like-for-like pick, then it is clear that when Grimes is back he re-gains that spot.

Not to mention the fact that JMac was well beneath ordinary, and for mine shouldn't be seen again unless absolutely necessary.

[Junior84 1]

I really dont want him flying back with the flight into an oncoming train just to get stretched off .He got back some confidence yesterday .

I really think he will improve back to near his best .Have a bit of faith in Flash .Hes only 27 I think .

Im not saying he should turn into Jonathan Brown. However no matter what position you play, if it's your turn to go you must... He doesn't.

[Bossdog 2,002]

It's bewildering to say the least, those on here calling for Bartram to be dropped!!! It would be hard to find a more courageous,harder working player in the lineup.

He makes his opponent earn every kick and I gaurantee whilst he continues to play like that he WONT be dropped by the selection committee.( move on to a new whipping boy.)

Couple of observations on Jack Watts from yesterdays game.He started well and attacked the ball hard early doors, then it was almost as though his thinking was "Right, I've done enough to get a game next week" and all of a sudden he gave up taking the front position and attacking the ball hard.Second efforts were very rare after this point.

He should watch the game video and check out the work ethic on Dalhouse(not sure of the spelling) and attempt to emulate his efforts next week.

On the upside, he has the potential to be a superstar of the AFL if he can get his attitude/desire up to the required level.He has speed, good hands, incredible vision ,he's a good mark and good kicking skills.

How far he progresses is all up to him.

Might be worth getting Blease back in to the team as we miss the legspeed and run and carry.

He can be as quick as he like but don't you have to get the ball first to run and carry?????

[nangas all round 1]

OUT; Macdonald, McDonald, Dunn (Clark, McKenzie).

Macdonald's disposal is verging on Auskick stuff. Unbelievable.

McDonald needs to learn how to tackle correctly.

Dunn needs to either switch to boxing or figure out how to get a kick, because if he's just going to mouth-off all day instead of play footy, then he can just p*ss off.

IN: Grimes, Petterd, Sylvia, (Martin, COUCH!!! FFS!)

Grimes is our co-captain and is an obvious "in" despite his sometimes woeful disposal. But since he's replacing Macdonald, it'll be "like for like" in that department.

Petterd is always the first to get dropped, but when he's mentally "on," he's a ferocious tackler and a great, versatile marking option.

Sylvia, who's finally fit and available for selection. Gives us everything we need in the midfield, and is one of our only top-class players.

If Clark is injured, he'll go out for Martin.

Couch obviously tried to crack on to one of Neeld's daughters, since he can never find a spot in our side, but I think he should be given a run. McKenzie played pretty poorly today, IMO, and needs a run in the twos, so maybe he could make way.

How did Griffen go? 11K and 5HB. 5 of those kicks were along the ground!

sort it out if!! if half the front runners who just run off and bomb away to no one manned up or gave it to someone in space things might be different. Half the midfield is too worried about possesions and not effectiveness.

[DirtyDees DDC 190]

We've made 4-5 changes every week since the start of the season - it's time to settle down. Grimes will come back for MacDonald, but with no game at Casey, it's hard to gauge the performance of the rest of the squad.

I'm not a big fan of bringing guys back if they are not ready. Sylvia had a restricted pre-season and only had one kick against Port before his injury. I'd like Colin to prove himself before gets a recall. Same with Jurrah, Petterd, Strauss and Blease. Let's try and develop a culture where a player earns his spot in the firsts.

[dee-luded 2,959]

I really doubt that Jack thinks that he's done enough. I think a more plausible explanation is that he's just plain old buggered and can't keep it up due to that. His inability to run out games very early on is well documented, and while I expect it's significantly improved thanks to solid pre-seasons, I doubt it's where it needs to be. If that's true then it comes as no surprise to me that his first halves are always better than his second halves as they have been this year.

Just needs to keep working on his fitness. Give it time and he'll reach the 100% effort for 100% of the game level, I've got no doubt about that.

This is where the old 19th & 20th men were a Bonus.

The one to be dragged first, was embarrassing. Taken off because they just weren't good enough.

No one wanted to be that player.

[dee-luded 2,959]

We've made 4-5 changes every week since the start of the season - it's time to settle down. Grimes will come back for MacDonald, but with no game at Casey, it's hard to gauge the performance of the rest of the squad.

I'm not a big fan of bringing guys back if they are not ready. Sylvia had a restricted pre-season and only had one kick against Port before his injury. I'd like Colin to prove himself before gets a recall. Same with Jurrah, Petterd, Strauss and Blease. Let's try and develop a culture where a player earns his spot in the firsts.

Your right of Course !!! Thats wat we should be doing.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Out: Joel Mac

In: Grimes

The whole team made big blunders yesterday, and most of the doggies did too. Confidence is a massive part of footy and we are at rock bottom. Dropped marks, missed hadballs and kicks, fumbles galore. It really was ugly. There should have been a count on the scoreboard for the number of times the crowd groaned at basic skill errors. Not for one second do I believe that is a realistic example of our general skill level though. The few times last year when our confidence was up was a far different level of skill displayed.

There is every chance we will hit the half way mark of the year at 0-11. The state of mind of our players at the bye will be a big concern and managing it will be a big focus of the coaching staff. Good luck Neeld and co.

• Whilst Dunn's tactics might not be to everyone taste at least he showed something. Effectively reduced the influence of Murphy.
  
• Joel Mac could be an OK depth player in a good team but isn't helping us where we are right now.
  
• Tom McDonald will be fine. Had the fumbles bad, but for me this was a exception. His skill level in his first game was far superior.
  
• Would be very surprised if Sylvia didn't get a run at Casey first.
  
• The bye at the VFL is absurd. Hopefully this gets rectified (more or less teams) by next season.
  
• Hoepfully our guys playing at Casey can really start demanding selection. I can't think of seeing in any Casey reports so far that players are really putting there hands up.
  

DAVIS.

[nutbean 8,838]

Outs- Watts, Macdonald, Macdonald, Clark(if he plays Dunn out)

Ins- Couch, Petterd, Grimes, Davis

Watts cost us the game today, that dropped mark was horrendous and the biggest turning point in the match, im not Watts bashing its just the facts, the 2 macdonalds are never to pull this jumper on again

Watts cost us the game today - damn - i knew there was a reason.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Watts has been solid this year, he is far from being dropped. A run in Casey won't do anything for him.

He has had to learn a completely new role and i feel he has been doing it well and will only add another dimension to his game until his 21 year old (yes 21!) body matures enough to be a focal point in our forward line.

[waikikkamukau 62]

I overheard a bloke ask him at the footy today " when are you back" to which he replied "next week". You would have to think that it would be straight into the seniors, not Casey. Hope so!

Yeah I reckon it's a sure thing, MN said as much in the PC after the game>

[greenmachine 21]

we need to really prssure the saints or we will get killied