I'm not too worried about Dutchy. He would have known after the NAB cup, and probably before he played against St. Kilda that he wasn't going to play against the Hawks. With that in mind all he could do was play as well as possible so that he'll be considered for round 3. He's big, old and ugly enough to know why he was dropped.

this is how I think they may lineup.

MELBOURNE

B: Bizzell, Carroll, Whelan

HB: C.Johnson, Rivers, Bell

C: Moloney, McDonald, Green

HF: Bruce, Miller, Robertson

F: Jamar, Neitz, Davey

FOLL: White, Jones, Johnstone

I/C from: Bate, Yze, Brown, Bartram

E Godfrey, Wheatley

Sandy

B Holland Lamb Warnock

HB C. Liddell Ferguson Wheatley

C Summers Gallagher M. Newton

HF Pickett Crowe Sylvia

F Poyas Sautner Garland

R P. Johnson Godfrey Valenti

Int (from) Neaves T. Johnston Buckley Petterd

E: M. Johnston Gilchrist McGettigan

Enough with the Ben Holland saga..... The bloke took some marks and had some posessions in a match where anyone floating across the defensive 50 would have done the same! The bloke obviously needs to learn how to suck selectors salami (along with poor PJ) but all is not lost....

Bizz should be an automatic inclusion for Ward... I was bewildered at the fact it has taken until the 2nd round to work this out! Bizz has had a great pre-season and deserves his spot.... We all know that once he gets a game, barring injury, he will be there to stay!

Godfrey will play and I think will get a tagging role on either Crawf or Mitchell.... I hate this fact, but it will happen! Another of ND's love children!

Brown Dog will miss out because they will give CJ another few rounds to prove himself.... If he fails to impress then I actually think Warnock should get a gig before anyone else....

Only the humble opinions of a MFC tragic!

Love to see Wheatley play to be honest. Rivers needed and Biz. Poor Dusty...not fair at all and should play instead of Wheatley but thats ND i guess.

I have been an advicote for Godders for years but we cannot play him. Bring in Buckley instead as godders has been carved up while tagging.

I guess sylvia isnt ready...so please dont rush him. Even if we loose this week i prefer he wasnt forced and got injured again

Bench should be

Bate, Yze, C.Johnson, Wheatley

Emer - Brown, Bizzell, Godfrey

Agreed.

Guys guys guys, you are getting carried away with this whole "Ben Holland had 20 touches and 10 marks" the guy totally looks lost every time he has the ball and definately does ruin our drive with his slowness and poor disposal... Sure he is ok when there is a lot of talls in the opposing forward line but even then i wouldn't pick him i'd prefer to blood Warnock or go with Bizzel who can play tall, i just don't think Holland is good enough for the modern game even if he did do some admirable jobs last year....

As for Brown, Godfrey.... if one of these guys plays i will cut sick... once again i know Nathan Brown was great for us a few years ago but now he has very little to offer.. sure he can get 20 touches running around out of the backline but he turns it over much more than he use to and also doesn't ever kick further than 40 m..... Bizzel while also not proving form for a long time can still offer a solid service across the back as a floating back... but we have better more promising prospects than Nathan Brown for his role like Bell and CJ.. who must stay in if we ever want a good team in 2-3 years...

Godfrey enough said, should never be in as we have bartram and jmac who can play lock down roles.....

If CJ gets dropped i will also spew.... he still did ok last week sold himself into trouble a few times but i think he should be played permanent wing and they move Bizzel or Wheatley to the backline.

IN COMES WHEATLEY to play CJ'S back role so it moves CJ up the ground to use his great disposal game more often to Neitz, Robbo etc... IN COMES BIZZEL to play Holland's role as he gives much more drive and deserves a shot at getting some form back.

DAVEY AND YZE to play permanent forwardline ALL GAME... not getting soft kicks around the ground where they do no damage...

i think my game plan is the one that would get the best results... who agrees here... i am sure ND will go totally the wrong way.

fox sports just annonced that the ins ans outs are

outs holland, mc clean

ins rivs and the BIZZ!!!!

welcome back BIZZ! :lol:

Random thoughts:

Dropping Holland is brave. This is a coach who is picking the 22 who he thinks will get the job done on Monday. Horses for courses appears to be a reality. Daniher needs this win. In the past I think he'd retain a player who had a good game despite the possible inbalances his inclusion would create the following week.

I'd like to see Wheatley given a chance. Clearances from our backline is an issue. His kicking offers us something different and a good degree of flexibility down back.

I'd play Bartram forward as a negating player on Hodge. A lot of the Hawks drive obviously comes from him when they're up and running.

We will win this game if Bruce, Green and Johnstone play well.

well i just had a look at yesterdays herald sun and i can't believe only 1 tipper has gone Hawks... i would have them as just about favourites if i was a bagman... maybe dees $1.70 dees $2 or something.... the hawks tend to play well against us and Franklin WILL trouble us....

hope i am wrong.... great to see the biz in.!!

I really hope Rivers plays and Godfrey doesn't.

The rest is just details.

Feel sorry for Holland, but I can see why he was dropped. Don't want Neale to be making the excuse that we "ran out of legs" because Holland had no match-up and was therefore warming the bench for 3 quarters. He is just too one dimensional. Having said all that, he is very unlucky to be dropped!

Yze will play. I just really hope that his continual inclusion doesn't come at the expense of someone like CJ, or later on Sylvia.