Melbourne has an injury list of 15 players 5 of whom would be absolute walk up starters (Clark, Frawley, Jamar, Watts, Jurrah), St Kilda has an injury list of 3 players who I am not sure would be in their best 22 right now and had Riewolt off in the first quarter which almost cancels out Clark, thats 4 of our best out as well as another 4 players who if in form would squeeze more players out of our team (Bartram, Davey, Martin, Nicholson). With a huge recruiting, trading, training and development pre-season coming up I'm actually feeling far better about our team. Today we performed well for a large part of the game against a team that not so long ago played off in 2 consecutive Grand Finals and got as close as you can get to winning one (arguably both). Not bad at all for the walking wounded.

correct. as previously stated, for about 108 out of 120 minutes (90%) of the game we lost by a point - however, it has to be acknowledged we piled on 5 goals to 1 in the last 20 minutes or so, commonly referred to as 'junk time'

a very dissapointing 3rd qtr, but as said above earlier in the year we would've just throw in the towel and let them walk all over us. a credit to the boys to hang in their and put in a super last qtr. Can't wait to see blease next year with another preseason under his belt

in fact throughout the ND and DB era we would just go to water. (Didn't see today's game)

correct. as previously stated, for about 108 out of 120 minutes (90%) of the game we lost by a point - however, it has to be acknowledged we piled on 5 goals to 1 in the last 20 minutes or so, commonly referred to as 'junk time'

I think junk time goals may actually be good for the place our club is at right now. I know that they are meaningless, but much like we need to play well over the next month to take confidence into the preseason I think running out the game well and kicking almost our most goals in a quarter against a team like St Kilda will inspire far more confidence in our group heading into next week. Certainly beats the hell out of capitulating and getting beaten by a heap!

Melbourne has an injury list of 15 players 5 of whom would be absolute walk up starters (Clark, Frawley, Jamar, Watts, Jurrah), St Kilda has an injury list of 3 players who I am not sure would be in their best 22 right now and had Riewolt off in the first quarter which almost cancels out Clark, thats 4 of our best out as well as another 4 players who if in form would squeeze more players out of our team (Bartram, Davey, Martin, Nicholson). With a huge recruiting, trading, training and development pre-season coming up I'm actually feeling far better about our team. Today we performed well for a large part of the game against a team that not so long ago played off in 2 consecutive Grand Finals and got as close as you can get to winning one (arguably both). Not bad at all for the walking wounded.

Spot on.

I thought Tapscott's kick after the siren was another sign that some of the players seem to have lost something off their kicks at the moment. Perhaps there has been a trade off for building their tanks i.e. more run = less punch, for the moment. Some of the Saints mids don't have penetrating kicks as well.

Good call PaulRB, when he came into the side he was a thumping kick and that shot would have been well within his reach. Maybe the hamstring he did, was it last year, could be another reason he isn't kicking with the same depth.

Another loss though it's nice to know that we've started to run out games and are not getting run over (as much) . Our 2nd and 3rd efforts have improved a lot and our defensive pressure is much better as well . However , our use of the corridor is still far too infrequent and we need to show a lot more daring and dash - this remains a concern . It's worth noting that we've got a lot of players out injured and many of us were expecting a mauling today .

So .........it's either a big cull (9-11 to go?) or Neeld goes around with much the same list again . The latter won't happen .

Our immediate future will depend on whether we can entice some experienced talent to the club . Otherwise it's a partial re-build with a whole bunch of 18yo's . And as we all know , that pathway is fraught with danger .

Given that it's assumed we've got lots of room in our Salary cap , we may be better off trying to obtain 4 reasonably priced 'Free Agents' rather than throw big money at Cloke and/or Goddard . We are possibly/probably in a good position to 'Front end' our offers as added inducements .

The trade/free agent period can't come quick enough . We landed Clark from nowhere last year so we can do it again . But we need more than one big(ish) fish .

I'd still be very happy if we could land Cloke though . If anything can straighten a team up it's having two big dominant forwards . If we get Cloke then we may only be able to obtain one other free agent (because of salary cap space) .

Edited August 11, 201212 yr by Macca

I'd still be very happy if we could land Cloke though . If anything can straighten a team up it's having two big dominant forwards . If we get Cloke then we may only be able to obtain one other free agent (because of salary cap space) .

Do we really need him? I mean of course we'd like him, but would our resources be better used on a different kind of player? Clark is bona fide gun, there's no disputing that. His support staff may include Watts, Jurrah, Petterd and as we've learnt this year Garland and/or Rivers. Then there is of course jumpin' Jeremy, for me it is hard to argue he shouldnt be full-forward as his the best contested mark in the universe. Martin and Jamar have both shown effectiveness as resting forwards. Sylvia and Trengove are both midfielders who can play forward with their ability overhead and on the lead. Even Sellar has kicked a few, and Dunn has kicked more than a few, even Bate has. When you throw in one or two of Bennell, Blease and Jetta I have named 17 players that could possibly make up six spots, some of which are rotating. I just wonder if we should be investing in the forward line at all. The defense is pretty good too, specially with young Macdonald coming through, I think we should be going for a classy midfielder if anything. We have an abundance of grunt in there with Moloney, Jones, Sylvia, McKenzie, Magner and soon Viney - but we lack the type that sends laser beams onto the [censored] of Clark the way Yze and Johnstone used to do. I'm not sure who on the list could become that player, I don't think anyone has those skills except Davey in his heyday.

Do we really need him? I mean of course we'd like him, but would our resources be better used on a different kind of player? Clark is bona fide gun, there's no disputing that. His support staff may include Watts, Jurrah, Petterd and as we've learnt this year Garland and/or Rivers. Then there is of course jumpin' Jeremy, for me it is hard to argue he shouldnt be full-forward as his the best contested mark in the universe. Martin and Jamar have both shown effectiveness as resting forwards. Sylvia and Trengove are both midfielders who can play forward with their ability overhead and on the lead. Even Sellar has kicked a few, and Dunn has kicked more than a few, even Bate has. When you throw in one or two of Bennell, Blease and Jetta I have named 17 players that could possibly make up six spots, some of which are rotating. I just wonder if we should be investing in the forward line at all. The defense is pretty good too, specially with young Macdonald coming through, I think we should be going for a classy midfielder if anything. We have an abundance of grunt in there with Moloney, Jones, Sylvia, McKenzie, Magner and soon Viney - but we lack the type that sends laser beams onto the [censored] of Clark the way Yze and Johnstone used to do. I'm not sure who on the list could become that player, I don't think anyone has those skills except Davey in his heyday.

Re Cloke , my comment was more along the lines of how the club may views things . I've a strong feeling that Neeld wants Cloke and it's my belief he will move heaven and earth to get him . Just a gut feel mind you . Doesn't mean we will land him though . But we do have connections .

So ......if we snag him then what other pieces of the puzzle do we need ? 2 or 3 'Ready to go' topline midfielders with great kicking skills - that bit is a big ask . Might have to wait till our existing midfielders improve or the wait for the 18yo's that we obtain out of this year's National Draft to mature . Or we might trade for a couple .

The club's gonna be busy come October . We have to be .

Edited August 11, 201212 yr by Macca

Good call PaulRB, when he came into the side he was a thumping kick and that shot would have been well within his reach. Maybe the hamstring he did, was it last year, could be another reason he isn't kicking with the same depth.

might have been tanking.

Agree Dunn has proven he can stay

Dunn to me is an enigma... Has shown some recent solid signs down back but at times finds himself second to the ball.

Up forward he has always had an ability to provide a target and scoreboard pressure.

Yet combined hasn't shown any solid consistency in any position.

For me, his best role is on a forward flank providing 50m entries with his penetrating long kicks.

Can this coaching panel take him to the next level...?

The most horrible mis-match of the year in the 3rd quarter was left in place for at least 20 minutes.

Matthew Bate on Jack Steven.

My god, watch the replay. Steven was involved in lots of entries and scoring sequernces based on not much more than pace. Bate was left in his wake on a number of occassions.

Who left that little match up go?

I also saw Dunn chase Stevens' tail a few times.

Was he also matched up with Stevens?

So can Paris Hilton but she'll never win an Oscar.

You cant have a team full of oscar winners and we cant afford to be so picky at this stage, lucky some people on hear dont coach cos they would get rid of that many players that mitch clark would run out on the ground on his own next year, someone has to play in the seconds and step up when there is injuries/poor form, someone who can play foward, back, fit enough to run through the midfield, tall enough to pinch hit in the ruck etc...

Im not saying we should sign dunn to a multi million dollar deal and that he is the answer to our problems, if someone else wanted him for the right trade I would not be disapointed to see him go but there is worse problems with our list than a fringe fill in player at this stage

Edited August 11, 201212 yr by Josh

Dunn to me is an enigma......

We seem to have a few (maybe too many) of those.......

If true that is very worrying.

But to go into the PSD they first have to go through the National Draft I think?

I also saw Dunn chase Stevens' tail a few times.

Was he also matched up with Stevens?

Yeah I think so. Bate was on Steven at the restarts - I think this means he was the match up (but I concede that might not be the case).......

From The Age today, in the third quarter

"Jack Steven, the fresh face of a veteran midfield pack, was instrumental with 12 disposals and four clearances"

This is most definitely when we lost the game.

Dunn to me is an enigma... Has shown some recent solid signs down back but at times finds himself second to the ball.

Up forward he has always had an ability to provide a target and scoreboard pressure.

Yet combined hasn't shown any solid consistency in any position.

For me, his best role is on a forward flank providing 50m entries with his penetrating long kicks.

Can this coaching panel take him to the next level...?

I think Dunn has been quite impressive down back. He is decent when the ball hits the ground in one on one contests. His disposal is a real asset down there as well as you can back him in to hit the targets on the switch. Disposal out of the back line has been a real issue for us this year.

Really hoping a full pre season can give Blease, Strauss, Tapscott and Gysberts a tank. Sam Blease could be a star if he can significantly improve his endurance. He is very clean and not scared in a contest, could be great in the midfield. I like Tapscott and Strauss as our small backs, as their disposal is decent. Just need to improve their fitness.

Do we really need him? I mean of course we'd like him, but would our resources be better used on a different kind of player? Clark is bona fide gun, there's no disputing that. His support staff may include Watts, Jurrah, Petterd and as we've learnt this year Garland and/or Rivers. Then there is of course jumpin' Jeremy, for me it is hard to argue he shouldnt be full-forward as his the best contested mark in the universe. Martin and Jamar have both shown effectiveness as resting forwards. Sylvia and Trengove are both midfielders who can play forward with their ability overhead and on the lead. Even Sellar has kicked a few, and Dunn has kicked more than a few, even Bate has. When you throw in one or two of Bennell, Blease and Jetta I have named 17 players that could possibly make up six spots, some of which are rotating. I just wonder if we should be investing in the forward line at all. The defense is pretty good too, specially with young Macdonald coming through, I think we should be going for a classy midfielder if anything. We have an abundance of grunt in there with Moloney, Jones, Sylvia, McKenzie, Magner and soon Viney - but we lack the type that sends laser beams onto the [censored] of Clark the way Yze and Johnstone used to do. I'm not sure who on the list could become that player, I don't think anyone has those skills except Davey in his heyday.

I think we've established that, despite the awesomeness that is Mitch Clark, you need more than one key forward target to get anywhere near success.

Of our current options that you mention:

Watts is best down back.

Jurrah is a good chance of not playing again.

Ricky Bobby is going to GC.

Garland has proven he is a defender.

Howe will be a mid.

Sylvia is a running flanker.

Trengove can't kick a goal from 40 out.

Jamar can't kick at all.

You are left with Martin, Rivers, Sellar, Bate and Dunn as your key forward options.

Yes, we need Cloke.

But to go into the PSD they first have to go through the National Draft I think?

No I am pretty sure that is not right. They can leave the club after the ND and then go into the PSD and Rookie draft.

correct. as previously stated, for about 108 out of 120 minutes (90%) of the game we lost by a point - however, it has to be acknowledged we piled on 5 goals to 1 in the last 20 minutes or so, commonly referred to as 'junk time'

I think the saints needed the percentage didnt they, they have to win all of there games and some other results to g there way to play finals, there is no such thing as junk time for them

No I am pretty sure that is not right. They can leave the club after the ND and then go into the PSD and Rookie draft.

The Bulldogs had this issue when Ward left and then Reid left. The Bullies had to agree and then got a pick for a bloke they probably wouldn't have got anything for.

I don't think it has been confirmed what would happen if a player went to GWS through the PSD.

I am not worried.

I think we've established that, despite the awesomeness that is Mitch Clark, you need more than one key forward target to get anywhere near success.

Of our current options that you mention:

Watts is best down back.

Jurrah is a good chance of not playing again.

Ricky Bobby is going to GC.

Garland has proven he is a defender.

Howe will be a mid.

Sylvia is a running flanker.

Trengove can't kick a goal from 40 out.

Jamar can't kick at all.

You are left with Martin, Rivers, Sellar, Bate and Dunn as your key forward options.

Yes, we need Cloke.

At a pre-match function in Darwin before the Port game I asked Jade Rawlings and Leigh Brown (who were addressing the Melbourne faithful) what the Club needed to be a premiership contender.

Answer: Another key forward and midfielders. That's it folks. No backs, no rucks just another forward and mids.

I did get some feelings of relief

that we werent blown away in the last

that there were many instances of good play to match the shockers

there were signs of improvement from what was hardly our best side (injuries)

that the season is ending and we can look forward to solid training repoorts from a squad that will get older and bigger

BUT

I also noticed that there is a real difference in our game against watching the other broadcasts games

Our players do see lighter and less able to break tackles and make tackles

Also our players were more stop start rather than flowing in any phase of the game .

even the little hanpss gives were often to a static player rather than somone moving and we never seem to kick the ball in front of a moving player for them to run on to.

This may be a matter of confidence and maybe a matter of fitness so I am hoping to see major improvement for next season

All good I reckon GO DEES

I think we've established that, despite the awesomeness that is Mitch Clark, you need more than one key forward target to get anywhere near success.

Of our current options that you mention:

You are left with Martin, Rivers, Sellar, Bate and Dunn as your key forward options.

Yes, we need Cloke.

You forgot Cook, Williams and Fitzpatrick. Between the three of them I would hope we have one decent prospect to take a key forward role. Cook seems to think he'll be ready to go next year. To me Williams is actually playing better football than him, so could also be ready to go.

I think the saints needed the percentage didnt they, they have to win all of there games and some other results to g there way to play finals, there is no such thing as junk time for them

No, Saints percentage is way above their rivals for 7th & 8th. They have to win an extra game or two, but percentage isn't a problem for them.

Sorry to disagree Akum, but should freo win even one of their remaining games by over 7 goals it would be very very close, Saints need all they can get. Playing with the ladder predictor there are still so many possible results that I don't think any team can take anything for granted, there are multiple ways the Saints can miss the 8 purely on percentage.

Edited August 12, 201212 yr by deejammin'