Love young Crouch as a clearance mid who just kills for the ball but I think with us already having one in Viney and the need for a bit of experience then Vince was the right man for us. He is a big step up from Silvia, cool under pressure, a good decision maker, sees all the options and uses the ball well.

.....and a steal at pick 23. He will make a big difference, and also clearly a very likeable character - good for team morale.

An outstanding get recruiters!

Really liked his running and love his ability to hit targets. Very happy with the acquisition.

But I have to ask..... who is going to be the one to start the Vince vs Crouch argument?

I don't think there will be a Vince Vs Crouch argument.

We managed to pick up an inside midfielder in Dom Tyson, as well as acquire pick 9 - all this for pick 2.

So, we nailed two inside mids with that pick.

What else did we need? We desperately needed a classy, mature midfielder with finishing skills = Bernard Vince.

I thought Vince had a good year last year, IMO he has underachieved all his career, Vince has always had the tools to become elite.

I don't think we could afford to offload Sylvia and replace him with a first year player - the majority of second round picks wouldn't be give us much output.

I always rated Vince highly at the Crows.

Usually though you do tend to watch a player a lot closer when they play for your team as opposed to the opposition.

Watching Vince play on Friday, I struggled to recall a Melbourne midfielder of recent times with that level of class, composure, skill and football smarts. He just continually made the correct decision and executed it. If a quick handball release was required, he gathered cleanly and dished off quickly and effectively. When he was able to find a bit more space, he remained composed, used his time wisely and again made the correct decision and executed it.

We have been so panicky in the past that it was really encouraging to see a player who has that innate ability to almost slow the game down around him. Class footballers always seem to have more time than others.

Obviously the heat will be greater once the real stuff starts but that was a very, very impressive performance from him.

Bernie Vince was the second best thing this club has done. Think he will be a star for us and very level headed. Welcome aboard mate hope you get a premiership with us.

A few seasons ago Vince averaged 27 touches per game.

When was the last time a Melbourne player did that?

A few seasons ago Vince averaged 27 touches per game.

When was the last time a Melbourne player did that?

None post-1987. Can't be bothered looking back further than that.

A few that got close:

Cam Bruce, Chopper Lovel, Glenn Lovett, Todd Viney, Jim Stynes

As for Crouch, good luck to the kid, but he has limitations that won't be apparent until some way into his 1st season or even after.

Kills to win the hard ball, but has a poor tank and poor skills outside of a stoppage.

If he ends up with the ball loose on the wing too often, Crows fans will be gritting their teeth.

Could very well win the Bluey this year, just love the ball in this blokes hands, if that happens 30 plus times a game with our forward line we will get the opportunity to kick a winning score

Would he be worth a late first round pick?

Wwuld think he would add a stronger body to our midfield and is a pretty handy player

Crows would have to consider the offer to gain a place in the top of the draft.

You would have to consider offering something if they wanted to move him on. I would be very surprised if we didn't end up with one or two of the following players:

- Dale Thomas

- Anthony Miles

- Bernie Vince

- Taylor Adams

- Daniel Cross

- Brad Sewell

- Nick Dal Santo

- Levi Greenwood

- Liam Anthony

- There are plenty more

Any of these players would walk straight into our midfield and help from the get go. It all depends who wants to come to us and what we are willing to give up but I would be very surprised if at least one of these players aren't with Melbourne next season.

Viv Michie is another player we should target. Tall midfielder who is a ball magnet at WAFL level. Young player too.

Well done...some accurate predictions months before they were even rumours. Maybe this season you can predict that Frawley will re-sign and Fyfe will demand a trade to the MFC?

Well done...some accurate predictions months before they were even rumours. Maybe this season you can predict that Frawley will re-sign and Fyfe will demand a trade to the MFC?

After we won the flag?

Can't afford Fyfe now...

In the space of one NAB Cup challenge match, Bernie Vince went from just some Adelaide player I was vaguely familiar with, to my favourite player at the club.

That's some achievement.

I always rated Vince highly at the Crows.

Usually though you do tend to watch a player a lot closer when they play for your team as opposed to the opposition.

Watching Vince play on Friday, I struggled to recall a Melbourne midfielder of recent times with that level of class, composure, skill and football smarts. He just continually made the correct decision and executed it. If a quick handball release was required, he gathered cleanly and dished off quickly and effectively. When he was able to find a bit more space, he remained composed, used his time wisely and again made the correct decision and executed it.

We have been so panicky in the past that it was really encouraging to see a player who has that innate ability to almost slow the game down around him. Class footballers always seem to have more time than others.

Obviously the heat will be greater once the real stuff starts but that was a very, very impressive performance from him.

Worked hard deep into defence too. I felt the most relaxed I have for a long time back there with him and Jack Grimes sharing it around. Georgiou really impressed too.

Personally I'm a bit suss on Bernie. On Friday night he kicked beautifully on both feet. Not really the Melbourne way is it

I see Bernie almost didn't make it to game had to park then run 2 km to the ground because of traffic then racked up 31 disposals great effort

Should we get the whole team, including Roos, to park 2km away an hour before the game and get them to run there?

Personally I'm a bit suss on Bernie. On Friday night he kicked beautifully on both feet. Not really the Melbourne way is it

don't worry, we'll break him down

don't worry, we'll break him down

Interesting that we only managed 40 inside 50s against Richmond......

Apart from his playing ability he brings this as well

Apart from his playing ability he brings this as well

Dom Barry?

Interesting that we only managed 40 inside 50s against Richmond......

I know and they had 51

i was shocked to see that

that means we got 1 goal for every 2.9 entries vs last year's MFC average ratio of 1:4.4 and league ratio of 1:3.8

and we were missing our whole forward line!

how were we so effective?

its even more crazy when you realise we kicked 0.7 at the start, then 14.4 from then on

exciting stuff

I know and they had 51

i was shocked to see that

that means we got 1 goal for every 2.9 entries vs last year's MFC average ratio of 1:4.4 and league ratio of 1:3.8

and we were missing our whole forward line!

how were we so effective?

its even more crazy when you realise we kicked 0.7 at the start, then 14.4 from then on

exciting stuff

Good stats there C&B!

I know and they had 51

i was shocked to see that

that means we got 1 goal for every 2.9 entries vs last year's MFC average ratio of 1:4.4 and league ratio of 1:3.8

and we were missing our whole forward line!

how were we so effective?

its even more crazy when you realise we kicked 0.7 at the start, then 14.4 from then on

exciting stuff

I think the game style of passing it around until we see an opening means that when an opening comes (an we can hit it), our i50s are going to be more effective overall than the more speculative i50s. So perhaps the "goal-per-i50" stat might be a better indicator of our effectiveness than the i50 stat. On the other hand, losing the match while getting lots of UCPs without much i50s would indicate that we're overdoing it and not getting the openings. Rpfc?

And if our defenders pass it back into the opposition's forward 50 in order to switch it, does that count as an i50 for them?

Yeah, the 14.4 after 0.7 was really interesting.

I think the game style of passing it around until we see an opening means that when an opening comes (an we can hit it), our i50s are going to be more effective overall than the more speculative i50s. So perhaps the "goal-per-i50" stat might be a better indicator of our effectiveness than the i50 stat. On the other hand, losing the match while getting lots of UCPs without much i50s would indicate that we're overdoing it and not getting the openings. Rpfc?

And if our defenders pass it back into the opposition's forward 50 in order to switch it, does that count as an i50 for them?

Yeah, the 14.4 after 0.7 was really interesting.

I think (hope) you are right there, a 50% increase in 'i-50s-to-goal-conversions', even with no forwardline has to be attributed to a more precise, measured overall quality of the nature of those actual i50 entries... which is all credited to the performance of the midfield. It is fantastic that the number is also 16% above the league average. The mouth waters with the big three down there on the end of it... not to mention there was no Watts, who by all accounts performed very well as a midfielder in the intraclub

I think (hope) you are right there, a 50% increase in 'i-50s-to-goal-conversions', even with no forwardline has to be attributed to a more precise, measured overall quality of the nature of those actual i50 entries... which is all credited to the performance of the midfield. It is fantastic that the number is also 16% above the league average. The mouth waters with the big three down there on the end of it... not to mention there was no Watts, who by all accounts performed very well as a midfielder in the intraclub

interesting considering we had 450 disposals only to manage 40 inside 50's, however it was only the NAB challenge and we will wait for the real season to see if those inside 50 stats improve. Maybe because we didn't have the talks down forward we took a more indirect approach to he goals. With Dawes, Hogan and Clark demanding the ball inside 50 I think our inside 50's would of been up closer to 55. I think your stats from last year showed we need approximately 100 points per game and 55 inside 50's to be anywhere near looking like a finals team.

Dom Barry?

Is the future.

Dom Barry?

Is the future.

"Is Dom, is good"....have heard something like that somewhere