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An 11 game rookie listed player is our biggest worry. Oooooo-kay then.

Good on you. Ever played AFL at the highest level and been booed by 30,000 of your own fans? [censored] off with this hero behaviour. You have no idea what you would do in that situation. I bet you'd want to run away. At the end of the day we lost because we lost the plot in the first quarter and there was no coming back from that. It was not Morton's fault, just as nobody here is blaming Green for missing goals, or Sellar giving away a free for holding, or Jamar handballing into the hands of his opponent. It was one horrible turnover, and Morton more than payed for it.

Easy,

Tapscott was totally out of order, they should have both been stretchered from the ground.... GO BULL!

Why do people care how it is viewed by opposition supporters? Of course if the shoe was on the other foot I would be filthy because I support Melbourne not Collingwood. That doesn't mean I don't want our players to exhibit that behavior though, of course I want our players to hurt the opposition and don't want our players hurt. This is sport, there is nothing logical about it, it is emotional. Support your players and team and never apologise for them to the opposition FFS. Do you think the Pies fans were all up in arms at Brown breaking Sylvia's nose or Wellingham jabbing Magner in the guts? How about Essendon fans after Fletcher sending Tapscott into the fence last week? Do you think they care that Wallis sent an 18yo Green to hospital in the 2000 GF? Stop being so goddamn soft and support your club FFS or go and watch tennis or polo.

I watched on in horror, in 1988, and 2000, as we were dismembered by brutal, and unforgiving opponents, and since then, have been praying for us to have the same ruthless attitude to winning. Who wouldnt have liked to have Tapscott, Magner, and Clark available back then? Add Viney, and we may just be able to have the "fear factor" that we have lacked for decades. Good stuff Tappy, keep it up. Just make sure you stay on the park. But if ever we make a Grand Final, I want you to break as many ribs as you can son, and dont feel bad doing it. faulty

What Luke did wasn't pretty but he'll learn to channel those attacks for the right time. Glen Archer did some stupid things early in his career. The long term benefit of that stupidity was the opposition tread carefully around him. If Tapscott can get a reputation as a wrecking ball he'll be a footstep ahead of many an opponent, which is a win for him and the club.

Sylvia is in the forward line to play a defensive game. God knows he would be an utter liability down back, or as a tagger, so that is the only option Neeld has of teaching the least accountable human being on our list to go the other way. Nobody, and I mean nobody, suits Neeld's game plan less than Sylvia. He isn't an accumulator of the footy, he isn't a good gut runner, and he isn't defensive minded. He has always been a lazy downhill skier with good skills and a dumb footy brain, and this game plan has exposed him badly. At least Moloney can still claim to be a good clearance player *just*. Put Sylvia in the middle and watch his opponent run rings around him while he pissfarts around. No thanks.

Can people please get real for a second. Morton shouldn't be dropped because of one turnover. He's a confidence player. He needs to play some consistent footy. He played some good footy today minus turnovers. Couch will NOT be put into the team unless one of Moloney, Magner or McKenzie are dropped. We can't have too many averaged-paced inside mids. Magner possibility to be dropped/rested. Cook will NOT be put into the team until he has the requisite fitness to play out a full game. At the moment, he's young and coming off injuries so clearly only can play a half at full tilt. Until that fitness comes, let him develop nicely at Casey's number one target at full forward! Davey, Bail and Bartram are strong and only chances to return after the bye I would have thought.

I'd like to see the entire coaching staff wear these at all home games.

Poor decision-maker, shocking skills, no game smarts, consistently gets caught out ... sounds like a Nathan Jones thread from two years ago. And look how that turned out. Give the kid time.

I rewound it twice and Neeld said,"Cale, kick it long down the f**king line" No big deal.

Cale Morton ran off the ground and supporters around me were cheering. FFS imagine running off with 30,000 people heckling you, then having the coach yell at you. You would want to bury yourself! He obviously did not turn the ball over on purpose, and as annoyed as we and Neeld were, I bet nobody was angrier or felt worse than Morton. Give him a break FFS. If Neeld was so furious he would have subbed him off. End of story.

Looks like Col didn't get cited for his hit on Tom Young in the marking contest - I'll take the nil-all draw.

Sorry, I'm already aboard the reality bus. It's going in the opposite direction.

Win the rest of the home and away games, then dominate finals and win the flag ? Sounds good to me

Had he not gone in hard people would be questioning him. He tried to get there the same time but was a fraction late and already was committed to the contest. This is the sort of play supporters like myself have been craving. Players that hurt opposition and make them think twice. He'd be making a few of his teammates take short steps at training too. If he gets a week, so be it. He expresses intent and makes teammates walk taller. Intent and purpose to hit contests hard will filter through the side and can raise intensity. Tapscott at one instance had Swan taking a glance thanks to his presence. Yes, he could have been smarter at hitting that contest, but once having been already committed he had the obligation to go in a manner which would also protect himself. Fasolo earned it, good for him.

Loved it. I hope he irons out more players Finally we have a bit of See You Next Tuesday creeping into this team. About bloody time I hope he keeps it up, christ knows we've been marshmallows for too long.

Absolutely no issue with Tapscott showing some much needed aggression. With Viney coming in next year we better get used to it. I can't wait.

WTF is this thread about?! Tappy did nothing wrong. Bit late, but so be it. He didn't hit someone behind the play, he didn't target the head. At worse he'll get a week off, and Collingwood will think twice next time they play us. I loved it, and I hope he goes harder against Scully if he is not suspended.

Here here Jaded. Nobody anyone's opinion on Cale Morton, it was disgraceful to hear MFC fans collectively booing a player wearing the red and blue jumper as they ran off the ground. The turnover was terrible as he had options on the boundary, but the booing IMO was not on.

You might have to break it down for him with a pictorial image . Language and communication is usually performed down a sewer pipe to the next cell wher ethey are from .

I think there was a seat from Moot City to Relevance town on the reality bus-and he just managed to get to town on time .

you do face the green bit when watching the game? Magner has been playing as a defensive forward, he did it yesterday, as long as Neeld keeps picking him, I'm happy, once he is not or he thinks another player will be better at the role, as you suggest he will be at Casey.....

long time reader, first time poster, this guy has made me start posting! He just keeps launching at the football with incredable intensity and courage, never beaten in one on one's, and his kicking for goal has been sensational! Worth every cent we payed for him and more!

Leave him alone. Give him ten years to prove himself like Morton and Sylvia.

Everything about his lack of acceleration, massive turning circle and poor kicking penetration is screaming OP to me. He's like Luke Ball circa 2007.

We all see things differently. For the reasons you mention Tapscott is quickly becoming one of my favourite players.

The amount of times a game I see opposition players trying to take Howe's legs out while he's flying for a mark, makes me sick. You wanna talk about unfair, extremely dangerous and frankly disgusting behaviour on the field, talk about that. Never ever does he get a free kick for it, and he could well end up with a serious spine injury one day (remember Sylvia?). Hitting someone a bit late in the side during a marking contests is tough play, not rough play. As for pushing Maxwell over the line, Tappy had the exact same thing done to him the previous week and went head first into the fence. Nobody raised an eyebrow.

Hmm... putting some thoughts together. Cale Morton has improved his confidence and involvement quite a bit this year, and I get theimpression it has been through a lot of positive and supportive talk around him. However, he still makes horrendous super-clangers which can cripple our momentum and turn the rythm of a game. Clearly, those clangers are emerging from total brain-farts which are still confidence based. Confidence in that particular moment just implodes I get this quiet feeling like his confidence has been taken a far as it can by 'support'. Now the coaches need to challenge him, really confront his failings, hope that he now has the strength to face them and the bristling frustration it causes, and by 'practicing' dealing with that, get to that next point of confidence. If the occasional blast works, it could be the making on Cale Morton. If not... well, it isn't going to break him, it will just mean we have found his limit as a football player. But if there is one thing that is completely obvious, it is that Cale's problems are pretty much all born from a lack of confidence and belief.

It would also free up #12 for some new gun mid whose dad wore it with such pride and passion!

Same. Years ago actually. I can clearly recall watching him up close on the wing at the G one day back in his debut season. It must have been his 3rd or 4th game and he had the big wraps of the number 2 draft pick or whatever he was. He wouldn't chase, just trotted along at his own pace strutting around like he owned the joint. Nothing's changed. Not. A. Thing. It's just embarrassing to see guys like Beams and Sidebottom who've been in the game all of three or four seasons just blow past him like he's a sloth on tranquilizers. Just drop him to Casey aleady and leave him there. FFS he didn't even play a single game there last time he was dropped. Enough's enough. The guy is living off a few glory games from four seasons ago. He's no better than an average plodding hack with a Tarzan physique which has bluffed everyone into thinking "he looks like a good footballer, so he must be one". Wrong.

It's about time a Melbourne player decided to hurt the opposition. Well done Tappy, loved your aggression.

According to official AFL stats, Morton had 19 disposals with 68% efficiency. This translates to 13 disposals which were efficient and 6 which weren't. Our co-captains had 17 at 53% efficiency (9 efficient; 8 inefficient) and 25 at 64% (16 efficient; 9 inefficient). So, he had fewer "inefficient" disposals than either Trengove or Grimes. Yes, he's frustrating, but let's keep this in perspective. And to the person who said he'd have poor trade value because of the history of his brothers, surely you jest. So Travis Cloke would have no value because neither of his brothers were much good? Or Gary Ablett Sr because when Geelong took him they should have known Kelvin Ablett was a dud? Or maybe Hawthorn should have delisted Leigh Matthews earlier because his brother wasn't much good. Or Robert Flower and Jim Stynes...

I agree to a point. I like the fact that 90% of the time I can go to the game, sit in GA and generally have good banter between supporters of the other clubs. That said, I too pay for the privilege of sitting in a Melbourne only reserved area. I have taken friends from other clubs to games in that area and every one of them understands that they are guests in a Melbourne only area so they act appropriately so as not to [censored] off the people around us. People who go into opposition areas and carry on like pork chops are doing it deliberately to make the experience less enjoyable for others, it's pathetic.

Those who suggest keeping him unless...unless what really. We now all KNOW what we het from Sylvia.. its nto a whole lot. Its really time to cut lossses and just pack him off, free up a spot, get what we can , I mean it , whatever and move on. So much thats written about our players' potential etc remindds me on a gambler looking to the next week to recoup his lossses. just need that one good game/win to get us going. it never comes

Why do we have to trade every bit of class we have on the list ? Colin played OK yesterday for someone who was running around with a flattened schnozz . It's not his fault he broke his spine earlier this year either . FFS he is about to hit his straps and it will be either with us or against us . I can get over the past and see that Col is having a go and has some pride in his game. Anyone here ever try to run fifteen kms ,with wrestling thrown in ,breathing only through the mouth? Brent and Colin are both inconsistent I agree. Both have been known to hit the turps as well-big deal. Can they improve? Yes Are they best 22? Yes.

You might be able to back up that type of comment E25/Lutz/Jose if you didn’t change your username every couple of months. IMO Cale Morton is lucky he was drafted by a weak team at #4, as he has been gifted many games as a result. He is now 22 and the “he’s still young” excuse has worn well and truly thin.

Absolutely. I had a chat to him at the end of last season and his confidence was shot. He was saying that his poor form was due to not having any consistency in his role, having played everywhere during the year, including Casey where he was given different roles but never told to replicate them at AFL level. We've seen what that sort of thing can do. Watts is a perfect example of that. I get as annoyed as anyone when Morton has brain farts, and I made it abundently clear earlier in the year. Nobody expects us to just slap him on the arse and say "no worries" when he stuffs up, but it goes both ways. We need to applaude his good work and I for one thought he was excellent in the first half. What dumb footy commentators pick on are turnovers. What I saw was a guy who was busting his gut to run into position, when most others were stagnant. Neeld doesn't seem to have a lot of time for players who don't do the right thing, yet he kept Morton on the ground all game. That says to me that he saw beyond the turnovers, and so should we.

It would seem that my OP is at odds with the majority sentiment here. I had no problem with his hit on the young boy Elliot. Especially since it was immediately after Nicholson went down through his own courage. But the late hit on Fasolo's ribs and the attempt to put maxwell on the bench were out of order. If it was Campbell Brown or Barry Hall doing that to our players we would be demanding they be rubbed out for a long spell. Unsociable footy doesn't require players to forget their duty of care and behave like they are on crystal meth. The good teams of the last few years have been super disciplined in relation to their agression and directed it toward the ball or the man with the ball. Even Byron was very measured in the way he dished it out. Ruthless, but he chose his moments. Mind you, he would be regularly rubbed out now. Don't get me wrong I like Tapscott's hardness and the intimidation factor he brings, but there is a difference between 'tough' and 'dirty'. Anyone who has watched from the 1960s to now will know what dirty means. History has thrown up a number of players who were dirty. The John Greening incident was a tragic example. Tappy needs to see the distinction. Would posters here have been so enthusiastic if he had been successful and Maxwell had crashed head first into the bench?

If our senior players worked as hard to get the footy as Cale we would be far better off. Have a go at them, not this kid trying to salvage his career.

A lot of people taking the short term view with Cale. I couldn't care less if a few bad turnovers now lead to a slightly larger loss, even when it could have been a win. I want him to iron out his flaws, turn his weaknesses into strengths and be an integral part of our next premiership team. A handful of errors now aren't going to worry me. Make no mistake - I'm not happy with them. But as long as he learns from them and continues to improve - as he has done this season - I am can live with it. Same goes for any other player we have out there.

I would love some Pantera when the lads run onto the G. Or to keep it modern some Machine Head would make my day. But you are right there are way too many of the backstreet boys floating around. I grew up with Pantera and Sepultura and turned out fine but I have to go now my chicken's head isn't going to be ripped off by itself and I must pen my 80th Kill your grandma song.

ICGAF. He had a chance to destroy Swan and didn't take it. He is our Byron and as long as he doesn't turn into our Campbell he will be fine. He's aggressive, get used to it.

Are you suggesting we play Bruise free football again... [censored] that off

Jones used to get caught holding the ball going to buy milk. He always did too much, he always tried to be better than he was. Now he is our best midfielder by an absolute mile. I don't care if Blease goes for a run and gets caught twice a game. He has played barely 20 games, and if that's what it takes for him to grow in confidence, then so be it. His pace and disposal are his assets. And as long as he goes hard when required, and two weeks in a row now he's copped heavy hits because he put himself in the middle of the contest, then let him be. It's not selfish play if you're alone against 3 opponents and you burn them off with your pace. It's selfish play if you're Moloney and you try to blind turn 9 times when you have a teammate next to you waiting for the handball receive.

After the first five minutes I thought to myself "somebody start a fight ,somebody knock someone out" Am I the only one who knows how to stop the scoreboard bleeding? Dirty ,unsportsmanlike ,ungracious ,unadmirable attitude perhaps but I've had enough. Victory isn't always pretty. The best are rarely the fairest. Is it fair that Wojo is running around for the Cats while Viney rests his Jaw? Is it fair that Lynch punched his way to victory in his last game (whilst on roids) F%CK FAIR! Fair has nothing to do with it. The holding ,blocking ,tackling(after disposal) , pushing and grabbing is what gets Collingwood over the line . Wake up! Winning isn't everything-it's the only thing. It's not a game of croquet with the boys from college. We need EVERY advantage possible to ever have a hope of winning a flag. Is it fair that Dean Wallis had a career? Fair is for f%ckwits. Keep fairness for your family and friends.

Wasn't a great moment for him, but if half the side ran as much as Morton did - we would be better off. It's the funny circumstances of footy - if you get it 13 times and never look for some uncontested footy are you better for the side than the guy who gets an extra 10 touches and screws up 3 or 4 times? I would say - decidedly - no.

Sick of these "cannibalistic" threads.

Sure he made some mistakes.. but i thought he did really well today.. i think you just need someone to blame.