OK. We were crunched by 45 points. But there were real positives today. YZE ( what a game and what a goal!), I bet all his critics will be silent this week. DAVEY ( allowed to roam loose and he did it well which was good coaching by Danners), DUNN ( lively in our forward line both attackingly and defensively), PICKETT ( underdone but did well in his first game back), and our excellent desperation with our fierce tackling and back up. We also ran out the game well ,a credit to Bohdan Babijczuk and his fitness boys. This was despite the fact we had Bell Jones and Whelan injured early in the second quarter). We all know we have a shockingly unbelievable spate of injuries but how many AFL teams could cover having possibly 10 of their best 22 players unavailable? Come on guys, name them!

yze's second half was great he did what we all have wanted him to do by chasing, tackling and defensive pressure that has been lacking of late, also he put his body on the line to when it was his turn.

there was some positives

Yeah it was better than last week, but that's not exactly hard.

Thought Dunn, Pickett and Sylvia all made pretty successful returns to senior footy. Clearly Sylvia and Pickett are not 100% fit, but god Pickett is all class and Sylvia was just out there running his guts out. He would kick the ball, and then run down to present. He wasn't standing around with his hands on his hips like most of his teammates. His hunger is brilliant and so is his kicking, I just hope he can stay injury free and get himself going this season.

Dunn was excellent, Miller made the most of his opportunities, and Yze was very very good. A huge improvement on the last year or so.

Ward, PJ, Bizzell and Wheatley are surely the worst defensive combination going around. Disgraceful!

Yet again Daniel Bell showed them all up, until he got knocked out (third week running!). That kid is something special.

thought miller was good today, had an argument with some guy about how he kept blaming miller for losing out when the odds 2 on 1 on him

the bizz settled well after a shaky start and im glad for it

DUNN IS A GUN

Yze 38 possies!

No wonder we ran the game out.

No AFL team has as pathetic a defensive work rate as we do.

Yes the players had a dip but I expect that every week. It's non-negotiable.

We were never going to win with our injuries. But our skill level, style of play and defensive work rate are absolutely deplorable at the moment.

We were never going to win with our injuries. But our skill level, style of play and defensive work rate are absolutely deplorable at the moment.

Correct.

The fact that we have so many players on our list who can't kick a damn football, is a disgrace.

And when the side completely ignores the biggest man to ever walk the MCG, you know you're in trouble. It's not as if he's hard to spot!

Daniel Ward, while obviously not the only one at fault here, is a great representation of what we're like at the moment.... unaccountable and unable to kick.

Sylvia was the player I saw who kicked the pill, then ran FORWARD every time to try and present an option. And this is from someone who is struggling with injuries and fitness. Why the rest of the side can't do the same, I don't know.

yze's second half was great he did what we all have wanted him to do by chasing, tackling and defensive pressure that has been lacking of late, also he put his body on the line to when it was his turn.

there was some positives

Nothing wrong with Yze's first half either.

Dunn....play him, persist with him. He will get better and he is the future.

He looks like he could have a great future.

yes yze's first half was ok but he did not use the ball that well in the first half, especially compared to the second half

I really enjoyed this game and stayed the whole time. I got home and rewatched the game. Although we lost, i thought our players and ND were very good today. ND put Bell on Tarrant - a good matchup with Davey playing closer to goal. Also good was to see Biz having a good game and although he turned it over a little bit, he made sure the ball stayed out of the 50 as much as possible. Few players were ordinary - i even thought Godfrey had a great game for his standards. Ordinary players were Sylvia and Wheatley in my opinion (not helped by the injury). Few notes i took at the game:

* Godfrey tackle 6:29 in 2nd quarter was excelent

* Yze goal and general attitude today

* P.Johnson excelent in defence for someone who has been thrown there and hasnt had any training for defence.

* Dunn knows when to lead, and when to leave his player (10:00 3rd Qtr).

* Sylvia ordinary and needs to do the team thing - dont run if you are around a few players as he was tackled too many times

* Bate really struggeling but i would continue to play him. You dont know when he will have a great game and the experience will be needed.

* Miller played well, but on a number of occasions was manhandled out of contests, cant take a contested mark and goes to ground to easily

* Stop booing headland. He deserved to have a good game and i was embarrised to see melb supporters doing it - leave that for collingwood members.

Thats about it. Very happy with the effort and ND deserves a bit of slack

Dunn....play him, persist with him. He will get better and he is the future.

He looks like he could have a great future.

This is going to start another Miller v Dunn argument again. I stand with Dunn.

i dont think it would be a miller v dunn, whith neitz going in the next few years we can easily have both in

Watching the game here in Canberra today I was bemused by a couple of things.

Firstly a comment by Tim Watson saying that Danners has to persist with Dunn. Really - when would that have been when he was missing with a fractured cheekbone? Sometimes commentators frustrate the living hell out of me.

Secondly - I lost count of the number of times today (mainly coming out of defence) that a player would stop, prop (for an eternity) and realise there was nothing ahead to kick to so he had to move the ball laterally. Now maybe not having an interchange contributes to this, but this is fast becoming my greatest peave with watching us play.

One positive is that Richmond haven't won yet either, so I can still SMS my Tiges supporting brother saying "when do the Dees play your mob? We really need a win..."

This is going to start another Miller v Dunn argument again. I stand with Dunn.

I don't think it should. Dunn looks very comfortable playing FF, Miller worked his backside off at CHF, people should accept his limitations (no he's never going to be a Brown or Carey type CHF). He is a very honest footballer with a big heart and workrate.

i dont think it would be a miller v dunn, whith neitz going in the next few years we can easily have both in

Amen to that.

I don't think it should. Dunn looks very comfortable playing FF, Miller worked his backside off at CHF, people should accept his limitations (no he's never going to be a Brown or Carey type CHF). He is a very honest footballer with a big heart and workrate.

And that!!!

Yeah, Todays game was pretty good except that we lost. Great to see Dunn, Davey and Yze play great games. Also great to see pickett and sylvia back. Sylvia and bate just need keep playing games and get use to the pace of afl footy. It sucks about the injury to whelan, but hopefully it brings a spot in for petterd or another younster. Hopefully ND gives some more youngsters a chance.

I reckon we still need another young foward to assist Dunn and Miller, Miller only made an impact in the last quarter when the game was over, he tries hard, but needs to make his presence felt.

thought miller was good today, had an argument with some guy about how he kept blaming miller for losing out when the odds 2 on 1 on him

Disagree strongly on Miller .

Simply cant take an overhead mark. That dropped mark in the goal square in the 3rd was embarrassing to watch.

Loses heaps of 1 on 1's also.

Has slimmed down to the extent he looks puney compared to most defenders going around.

& is not skilled enough to play the most important position on the ground.

The sooner Dunne evolves the sooner we can say G'bye to Miller.

I though that Bizzell was pretty good.

Especially after not playing since '05.

The sooner Dunne evolves the sooner we can say G'bye to Miller.

Agreed

I was happy with Miller's effort today and it was great to see him finally rewarded in the last with 3 goals, but I felt he also goes to ground to easily. He would get alot more ball if he kept his feet and made a second effort.

The application today was fantastic. Players will always have faults but if we continue to attack the ball the way we did today this season won't be as bad as we all thought.

The application today was fantastic. Players will always have faults but if we continue to attack the ball the way we did today this season won't be as bad as we all thought.

Might be difficult to make the 8 however, but with this attitude & the slow inclusions of key players over the coming weeks - I agree we may have a better second half of the season

ok...so we're talking of positves...

not really that many... but the game could have really slipped away..and it didnt, but Im wonderig if thats as much a comment on the Dees..or the lack of 'finish ' by the Dockers.

Dont get me wrong, its good we kept going, especially with no real bench. I thank the lads for that :-)

Good to see frosty rememebr where the goals are and have a crack.. mate keep that up and many will get of ya back some !!..BUT ... is there some competitiion between him and Neeta as to who has the biggest rubber chest ?? Neither are setting the world on fire with basic marking, endeavour good, marking bad !! ( yes I know Neeta is out )

was there any real game plan in deence....they all looked like startled rabbits in headlights !! Hospital pases left and right.. and what on earth was Jeff trying late in the game.. backwards kick for touch ??

There just doesnt seem any real poise to the team, no precision. Many times there was NOTHING to go on with !! where as the dockers created paddocks fpor themselves.

Much better game for the Ooze...still way to many useless possessions ...people...numbers mean squat !! its EFFECTIVENESS !!.. but still he showed a little today...to be fair.

Does anyone at Melbourne remember there is a middle corridor on the ground...?? whats this fascination with the boundary line....they on mileage rates ??

Dunn needs to stay in.. he has some brains on the forward line at least.. more games will give confidence and results.

Positives ?? well we postively cant kick in for sh!t !!

I'll concede its hard when you lack your A team, and have stuff all confidence..

And Im positve we will finally see some debuts next week....even Neale will have to give us that!! :-)

To all you injured Dees...get better guys !! but take your time.. heal properly..get fit.. be ready for next year.. coz Im POSITIVE this year has gone by the wayside....such is life !!