He gives his all, he loves to tackle, he provides 2nd efforts and he jumps into the oppositon at ruck conetsts and lets them know hes around

So why in gods name is that useless spud Mark jamar getting a game ahead of him??

So much for wantin to be competitive, Neeld.

Ive tried not to post about last night but this is one thing I do not get.

Jamar was absolutely woeful last week. Abysmal. Soft. Lazy. Clearly substandard and yet he was given the reigns to the ruck again last night? Why? Because of all the games he played so well in under Neeld's tenure? Nope. I can't for the life in me, see how he was selected.

We were torched in the ruck last night. Our midfielders, who are admittedly mostly appalling, had little chance in the centre square with Jamar in the ruck. Just embarrassing.

Neeld can talk all he wants about finding people who are up for the fight but he actually has to follow through on this. He also needs to pick players on form. We've made numerous mistakes at the selection table this past 2 weeks. Not mistakes in hindsight but rather, mistakes in the cold light of day that most learned supporters were openly questioning when the teams were named. If he true to his word and Spencer can play well today he should come in.

EG: Round 1

Tapscott: His work in the preseason was lousy.

Pederson: Showed very little.

Blease as a sub. A role he is completely useless at.

Nicholson: Terlich was the best small defender of the preseason....

Gillies: Both his selection and drafting were errors.

Who shouldve played:

Terlich, Jetta, Spencer, Kent, Evans

Round 2

Trengove: Clearly underdone having missed 2 months.

Jamar: See above

Dont get me started on his misquotation of the "Moneyball" concept. Sounds and looks smarter than he is perhaps?

God help us, but Spencer has to come in for exact reasons stated in the OP. I can't believe how bad Jamar has been the last 2 weeks, and last night was the most lop sided ruck duel, and subsequently midfield battle, I have ever seen.

Agreed.

You cant talk about Melbournes midfield without it beginnig with the ball up. Jamar is gone as an AFL footballer, pure and simple.

Ive always liked Spencer for his size, character and competitive spirit. Reminds me a bit of Steve O Dwyer.the big red engine.....Rather than criticize Jamar, i think hes come to the end asman AFL player. Simple decicion for me... Move on.

I couldnt care less about his contract. Pay it out at end of year and move on.

Both Spencer & Gawn are playing today, hopefully one of them shows something.

Agreed.

You cant talk about Melbournes midfield without it beginnig with the ball up. Jamar is gone as an AFL footballer, pure and simple.

Ive always liked Spencer for his size, character and competitive spirit. Reminds me a bit of Steve O Dwyer.the big red engine.....Rather than criticize Jamar, i think hes come to the end asman AFL player. Simple decicion for me... Move on.

I couldnt care less about his contract. Pay it out at end of year and move on.

Jamar was gone when we re-signed him for 3 years.

Neeld re-signs Jamar when he looks like a spud, brings in Chris Dawes who is a spud - and pays him a stack.

recruits top up players like Rodan, Brynes, Pederson, who are no better than Matty Bate, who we finally got rid of.

All these blokes are list cloggers now and I don't know what Neeld was expecting to achieve.

Jamar hadn't had form and looked ordinary last year and we re-sign him for 3 and the other blokes couldn't get a kick at their previous clubs to save themselves.

Play Gawn as soon as possible. If his body's not up to it then so be it. Let's have a look.

There is no chance he or Spencer can possibly play worse than Mark 'chest marks are suddenly so difficult' Jamar.

To be honest with the state of our midfield I'd consider playing 2 ruckman so at least they are fresh. It's not like the ball comes forward anyway so don't worry about forward pressure.

Jamar's first quarter besides the inexplicable chest drop was actually good. Which says all you need to know about him

I couldn't understand at the time why they gave him a 3-year contract extension. He showed very little last year, and his form the past two weeks has been terrible. He's had one good season in his entire career, and because of that he'll always have the All-Australian tag beside his name. If it were up to me, he would be playing AT LEAST the next few weeks at Casey. It will send a message to all the players that no one is safe, even if you're an "All-Australian", and it might be the kick in the pants he needs.

On last nights performance I would put spencer or Gawn in the ruck and make clark our ruck rover, he at least got two clearances yesterday. Drop every player that is not trying to the Casey (sorry Casey supporters, I know its a terrible thing to do to your side). I would rather play a team of honest triers than continue to play best known players who think they are too good for the team. If they find they cannot get a game with Melbourne then who the hell will want them, and what will their financial earning power be. Our best known players are getting paid overs for what their skill levels are because we have the salary cap and have to use it by front loading. I wonder how many would get a contract elsewhere. Also whats to say that some of these well known players who wanted out were not shopped around quietly, but no one wanted them.

Jamar has been our biggest problem for the last two games IMO.

We keep getting creamed in the clearances - principally because Jamar is getting absolutely towelled by the opposition ruckman.

I couldn't understand at the time why they gave him a 3-year contract extension. He showed very little last year, and his form the past two weeks has been terrible. He's had one good season in his entire career, and because of that he'll always have the All-Australian tag beside his name. If it were up to me, he would be playing AT LEAST the next few weeks at Casey. It will send a message to all the players that no one is safe, even if you're an "All-Australian", and it might be the kick in the pants he needs.

I believe the reason they gave him such a contract was at the time pundits like Gerard healy were making alot of noise about the players not wanting to re sign. Neeld desperately needed a senior player signed up on a good contract to silence the crowd. i think it was more a marketing move than move based on value to the side.

It took putting Clark in the center near the end to get a couple of clearances.

Could agree more with this post. Spencer aint pretty but he has a crack, he doesnt back down and he has second efforts. he should be in the side. Jamar never taps to advantage, got soundly beaten and just kept on doing the same thing over and voer.

God help us if spencer is our only salvation.

Spencer and Joel MacDonald - strange days here we come!

I like spencer he actually HAS A DIP! unlike jamar that does [censored] all! Spencer tackles harass bumps and does the one percenters!

I thought Jamar was getting hands on the ball all first qtr and slowly got ground down

However his distribution was fantastic for essndon as he put it on the chest of our player who they tackled or direct to them as they hit the contest at speed.

It seems that we needed some variation but the players seem incapable of knowing what to do

Commentators Richo and DArcy who both played in some pretty dark days for their clubs said that as a player you start to play for yourself, watching your man etc and this may be some of the problem.

Confidence in your teamamtes but confidence in knowing that if you handpass they will be running on, if you kick under pressure they will get to the fall, if you go to get the ball you will be shepherded or supported.

Its pretty dark times for our group and they are going to have to work as hard as we do to continue our support

I dont agree. I have big rapps for Jamar, but agree he hasnt had a great start to the year. Spencer on the other hand does give effort but lacks skill in the ruck and around the ground to be no1 ruck in an afl team.

What I cant understand is that how we have recruited so many talls who have amounted to nothing, and North is sitting with Daw and Currie in the twos.

Why did we take Pederson when so much better is on offer.

GAWN WHEN YOU ARE FIT YOU BETTER GIVE IT ALL. WE NEED ALL 105kg+ OF YOU NOW.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why we let Stefan Martin go? It seemed to me he was just getting it all together, then he is gone. Seems to be doing ok now - it seems to be our 'thing' - put all the hard work into young players, then wave goodbye to them and watch them do well at their new clubs.

Jamar last night was woeful!!! He had probably 7+ chances to take marks, none of them overly difficult. He dropped every single one! I think he was good in the first term, excusing his terrible attempts at marking the ball. I really will not be surprised at all if he is dropped and either Spencer or Gawn are brought straight in to replace him.

Spencer, whil he may not be the most gifted footballer, as others have already said he is a real trier. he gives it his all, and for a big guy he is actually quite fast. He is getting better and we could definitely do worse in the ruck dept.

To be honest with the state of our midfield I'd consider playing 2 ruckman so at least they are fresh. It's not like the ball comes forward anyway so don't worry about forward pressure.

Jamar's first quarter besides the inexplicable chest drop was actually good. Which says all you need to know about him

1 posy. 2 for the first half. That's good is it?

Jamar has been our biggest problem for the last two games IMO.

We keep getting creamed in the clearances - principally because Jamar is getting absolutely towelled by the opposition ruckman.

Agreed. Spot fires everywhere but the biggest one is in the centre and Jamar is the principal cause.

Once again, indicative of a team that has had all its confidence sucked out of it. He's not this bad a footballer.

From the few times I have seen Spencer he has impressed with his work ethic, seen him chase down much smaller opponents and catch them and mark, kicking may not be his strong suit. Cannot be much worse in the ruck than Jamar, I dont understand why he keeps hitting the ball down in the path of the essendon players time after time, what were the melbourne players doing?