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If you don't run, you don't win. Melbourne didn't run. That free kick to Ablett was a disgrace.

Nathan Jones is getting better every week. He is unbelievable! Surely AA this year.

Firstly, the umpiring was absolutely abysmal. The free to Ablett is EXACTLY the type of free they HAVEN'T been paying this year, and the type of free that ruins games of footy. Tiggy touchwood and a momentum killer. Ablett is so bloody good though. 8 point defeat, probably flatters a bit but under Neeld this would have been 60+. So that's a small positive. Nathan Jones is the heart and soul of this footy club, but Jack Viney is catching him quickly. Can build a midfield around these two. Dawes was extremely wasteful, but he makes us so much better. Frawley likewise. I like Jack Watts but how can one defend him after that? Career is at the crossroads. If Roos can't turn him into a player, nobody will. Heartless.

Bunch of idiots here spewing the same old rhetoric about Watts and his lack of 'hardness'. It shows your ignorance more than anything else. For some reason you think he's capable of attacking the footy like Jones/Viney, yet still want him to have the skills of a player like Pendlebury. You get one or the other in the majority of players. There aren't many out there with both skillsets except for players like Ablett. He's an outside player. Pull your heads in. He had one bad game and you're calling for him to be delisted. Pathetic.

Lots of water under the bridge since our humiliation almost 12 months ago in the equivalent fixture at the MCG. The Suns came out playing with great intensity and pushed us aside with their midfield dominance which lasted throughout the 120 minutes. Their midfield led by Garry Ablett but consisting also of Bennell, Swallow, Prestia and O'Meara (147 touches between them, Ablett with 38) with Zac Smith heading the ruck simply put us away. Nathan Jones had a relatively quiet day and Gazza's influence was sublime. I was sitting almost at ground level when at one stage I saw him surrounded by Demons. He somehow found space to get through and wheel away then land a pass on a teammate's chest. He didn't beat us in his own - Campbell Brown and Smith booted three each and he and his mates made sure that the Suns dominated the stoppages. So what's changed? On the Suns' side of the ledger, they don't have Brown, Smith or Bennell today - they were the danger men around goals. On our side, we have a new coach, a new mindset and half a different team. It's a new midfield and a vastly different forward line set up and while it's been slow in getting its act together, the new look team started showing some positive signs of a turn around last week. We know we can move the ball more directly towards goal and we know we can win. I think we can expect big things today from Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince and Jack Viney is starting to imprint his influence on matches. I've been impressed by Nev Jetta's work at Casey and I have a feeling he has something to prove now that his career has received a boost with his elevation off the rookie list. Last year we were shamed off our home ground by these young upstarts from the Gold Coast. It's time to reclaim it back with intensity and aggression that was lacking in our makeup last year but under Paul Roos should be a given every time we take the field.

I generally agree that people are far too harsh on Watts and often see what they want to see with him. Many fail to recognise his good work, his running and positioning, his frequent leads that are not honoured, and his clean disposal. However, today there were a number of incidents in which Watts just didn't go hard enough. You do not need to be Nathan Jones or Daniel Cross to be able to go hard for a tackle or throw your body on the ball, and too many times today Watts didn't appear to want the ball enough. It's a consistent problem with him, one that I believe he's moving away from. Today was a regression in that regard.

Is it Umpire Appreciation Round yet?

Strange game because at half time I was thinking 'this is terrible, we should be 7-8 goals down', but walking away after the game I thought 'gee, we really could have won that'. From that perspective it was pleasing, because a Melbourne side of the past few years would typically have thrown in the towel at half time and copped a 15 goal belting. The fact that we fought back hard, displayed greater effort and IMO outplayed the Suns in the second half was a positive sign for us. We did miss some really gettable chances in the 3rd and 4th but to be fair they kept us in the game in the first half with their poor kicking. Disappointed with our tackling and defensive pressure, particularly in the first half. After performing well in this area last week we just failed to replicate it. I think the Suns had 20 more tackles which is a bad result. The Ablett decision was absolutely disgusting and killed any momentum we had. There was plenty of time left and we looked to be on top of them. I watched the Collingwood Richmond game last week and if that was a free kick to Ablett then McCaffer should have had 30 frees paid against him each quarter. In a tight, low scoring game to pluck a real softy out like that was disgraceful. Ablett is a sensation though. Not one mistake all game. Put him in red and blue and we win by 5+ goals today. One thing I always marvelled at Sydney under Roos was their ability to stay in the game when not playing well. You would see them get absolutely dominated in general play for a quarter but only be 15 points down. Their ability to hang tough and not leak multiple goals when playing poorly won them a lot of games. I can't draw any conclusions yet as we've faced mediocre opposition (other than WCE) but I have noticed a little bit of this in our play this year. There were times when the Giants, Blues and Suns were well on top of us, but instead of leaking 6-7 goals as we did in the past, we hung tough and stayed in the game. Now this could just be a result of the wet weather vs GWS, Carlton's ineptitude and the Suns' inaccuracy, but this is one thing I'll be looking at this year and so far there appears to be some improvement in this area. I'll save my last comment for Watts, who is copping a caning on here. Rightfully deserved. He was beyond embarrassing today. 6"5, now with a body on him, 6 years of senior footy, all the talent in the world...time to take a game by the scruff of the neck against a young interstate side and help drag your team over the line. His softness almost belied belief. Even at times when it would have been impossible for him to get hurt, he still didn't go. Yes, he is an outside player, but there is minimum standards required for a footballer and he fell well short of these standards. His effort and intensity was disgusting and I find it very difficult to support a player that gives absolutely nothing. How can he walk off and even look at guys like Jones and Viney. Pederson has about 1/1000th of his talent yet made more of an impact on the game. We need to be serious about building the right culture and setting the trademarks of the team. Watts cannot play until he demonstrates that he is willing to do what every single league footballer is expected of them.

On the Watts debate, I have frequently defended him over the years, but I just can't do it today. He gave us a glimpse early on with a pinpoint pass to Dawes on the HFF, but then simply vanished. We've all seen the bit of footage by now of him being bustled off the ball and simply conceding (presumably hoping for a free). He did that sort of thing far too often today. He repeatedly jogged for half-hearted leads instead of sprinting into the space to get some separation. As has been mentioned, he laid a tackle and then just sat and watched the contest continue a few feet away when he should have been back on his feet and chasing the next target. He repeatedly failed to hold marks that should be simple for a player of his abilities. Roos talks about his desire to produce a player-driven culture of non-negotiable benchmarks. If he's serious about that then Watts has to be dropped. You can't let someone fail at so many of the "non-negotiables" and keep their spot in the side. He needs to show his teammates that he is willing and able to put in when it's his turn, take a hit if he has to and get the job done. Georgiou - Honestly, I have a lot of sympathy for him today. Yes, he was well beaten at times, but he's playing on a guy 9cm taller who broke records at draft camp for his jumping ability. There is no way in hell He'll win in a 1-1 marking contest against Day. I also think McDonald wasn't as bad as some are saying. He simply met his match today. We all know that Tom Lynch is going to be a star. That's why we wanted him so desperately and why our recruiters got sucked in to taking Cook when he wasn't available anymore. He was a little too big, too strong and too quick for TMac today, but Tommy kept fighting and kept taking him on when he had the ball in hand. This would be the definitive "honourable loss." I love the improving chemistry between Dawes and Frawley. They are starting to work out how to play together, and we saw a great example with Frawley's second. The Umpires today were absolutely diabolical. As always, they managed to pay enough meaningless frees on the flanks to keep the count close, but the number of umpire-assisted scores to GC was an absolute disgrace. It is to their credit that the team lost by only 8 points given they were playing against 21 opponents at any given time. That being said, the scoreline flattered us. GC were very wasteful in front of goal in the first half and should have been a lot further ahead. We really need to work on picking up the ball cleanly. We often had first hands to the ball at stoppages but the constant fumbling again let the cleaner opposition take the ball from us and run with it. Closely related to this is our ongoing issue of being unable to handpass at a height between hip and shoulder. Far too often we seem to have players passing either to their target's ankles or above their heads. This is a basic skill of the game that you would expect the average ten year old to have nailed, yet it seems to elude our professional players. Incidentally, can you imagine what the response would be if a doctor were as mistake-prone as most of our players?

I saw Jack Watts lay a tackle (if gently hugging your opponent counts as a tackle). After the tackle he fell over onto the ground, then slowly got up and started taking a leisurely Sunday stroll along the grass--even though the ball was probably 10 feet away and still in dispute. Does that count?

You will see from my username that I am biased but from where does all of this angst about Georgiou's game come? Outsized all day with perfect F50 deliveries for his opponent but tried. Has not put a foot wrong all season until today. Mature-age rookie with no skills and all heart. We have a #1 draft pick with all of the skills and no heart. Guess who I'd want "in the trenches" with me? Guess who Roos prefers?

No way, I thought JKH showed quite a bit today. Has goal sense, which we crucially lack from smalls. Not sure we want to push Salem in straight away, but if we do, Jetta goes.

After 5 rounds only 1 team has kicked more than 100pts against us.

Drop watts !!! No intensity at all need time in the 2's

I think Jack Watts needs to take a long hard look at himself.

I just don't know how anyone can defend Watts. Everything he does he does at about 20%. He doesn't man-up and he provides such meek leads.

What a terrible sentiment.

This is where I would love to see the MFC show some initiative, as well as respect for our aligned team, and broadcast the first half of the Casey game on the big screen at the MCG. I'm not sure if it is done already, but giving score updates on the screen during our game would be great too. Personally, I don't like the "reserves" competition-much prefer the traditional format where every club had its own reserves team that played before the seniors, but as this isn't what's in place, let's work with what we've got, and provide exposure for the Casey team, as well as giving some value to those who attend the MCG.

No, that is not the reality. The reality is we are not giving up in games that, in 2013, we would have. The reality is that we are far more competitive in the middle than we have been of late. The reality is we are restricting team's scores a lot more than we have been able to in the past. The reality is that we are coming from such a low position that being in the game with Gold Coast is, right now, an improvement for us.

Staggers me that people are calling for Georgiou's scalp after one bad game. Bean has been very good this year and used the ball well, one bad game and we drop him. Harsh on a player who has shown more in his first five games of footy than pretty much anyone else on our list

I really think that video is a bit unfair and a disgrace from us supporters. He was really bad today, Watts, but that passage of play isn't that bad and it would have happened to 15 others today. At least he laid a tackle today! We had 5 players notch up a big fat 0 in the T column. People give it to Watts partly because he deserves it, but partly because they're biased. He was not the only player today to play poorly, so why is he the only one to get shamed on YouTube?

I freaking hope so. Deserves so much more respect in the AFL community than he gets.

Great to finally see them fight out a game with seemingly all hope gone. Good spirit builder. Can't remember how many under 10 pt losses we have had but its good to start to be able to talk about them again. While its bad to lose there are some positives-

On the tram Was at the game . . . Watts is criticised often . He tried just wasnt his day . Team stats- wins -plus for hitouts . Watts would be a superstar in a hawks jumper . Team . . . Suns were too quick , and too big in attack . We need Garlo but we need someone bigger for a a defensive matchup . Go dees

I suggest we remove Watts from the banner at the top of the page.

Few too many chestie marks dropped i50. If our skills were better we would have won that game

Two massive errors by the umpire(s) in last, Ablett given free because McKenzie had two fingers graze his chest. Goal. Jetta gets his head ripped off during a defensive effort, play on. These are the inconsistent decisions that make me puke.

So ripped off in the Kelly deal. Can't believe we got Tyson and Salem and missed out on Kelly.Spare me, media nuffys.

Must play! Even if he sits in the square....

Jamie Bennell played really well last night keeping Wingard quiet and rebounding well. His speed and ball skills were eye catching and he got a fair bit of it. Good to see him do well but sad it's not with us.

If you genuinely do not think there are any positives, just give up and leave us all alone WYL. Seriously.

Did anyone else get the same pleasure out of last night's game? It put me out of a "Pick one winner each week " comp, but I couldn't be happier! Did anyone see Thompson 's post match interview? Every excuse under the sun, and no credit to St Kilda. At least we didn't have to see that smug, gummy grin.

Nah. You don't need the attack of a Jones or Viney to win a simple one-on-one contest. He gets man-handeld by guys smaller or even than him. It's not that it's ever an even contest: he is pushed off the contest like a ragdoll, gets tackled too frequently, and simply cannot break through a tackle. You do not need to be "hard" to do those things. You just need a bit of urgency. Pendlebury is rarely manhandled the way Watts is. Watts tries to use his smarts to out-position the opponent, but he fails to consolidate that with brute force to control the ball. He has the strength, he just doesn't use it, and doesn't seem driven to. He rarely seems likely to win a contest, because he rarely out-muscles the opponent. And it's not that he tries and fails: he is pushed aside like someone that has a complete disregard and lack of respect for the opponent. This is what it looks like from the stands. If you can't see that you're blind.

Watts just does everything at half intensity...running, marking, tackling, and I think it is finally time to call him out on it. Drop him and he doesn't come back until he does it consistently, if that is round 10, 20 or never, I don't care, because he is no good to us like this.

I just threw up in my mouth a bit. That happened right in front of me. He is alarmingly fragile in the contest. It's astonishing. And it's not through a lack of strength. He completely disregards the opponent and plays and moves like he's a man playing against under-12s. The guy needs a reality check. VFL reality check.

That's the thing, he doesn't try! That's what we're saying and you are completely blind if you think otherwise.

A lack of run all game killed Melbourne. You could hear the frustration in the stands as players looked up with the ball and saw 17 flat-footed teammates. There was no movement, none. This contributed heavily to Melbourne taking so long to dispose of the ball.

of Jodies 10 disposals he had 5 clangers and also gave away 4 frees so nett positive output was not so great.

We'll be okay. Dawes is a beast. Nate Jones is an A GRADE MIDFIELDER!!

Replace him with Chris Dawes immediately.

time for him at Casey, venture down for some time, to learn to hit the contest. He & Toumpas should spend 6 weeks down there to get the reality of contact footy. & not return until THEY enjoy applying some hard love onto the contest.

Dunn to Howe to Dawes to goal. Would have liked a bit more of that today. Should have been a goal after the siren to win us the game, BTW. Shitty umpiring. Shitty first half. Shitty Jack Watts. Promising signs all the same.

And Jetta gets his head ripped off and receives nothing but a headache for his trouble. What a joke.

Watch Watts play today has been embarrassing, I just can't believe that I thought he could ever become an AFL footballer. The guy is just too soft. The only way we can hope to improve is to get rid of these types, I don't care what draft pick they were, get them out of the club.

Tom McDonald is almost playing his worst ever game.

Where does one find a wife like that?Keep hold onto that one my friend.

Im on my way in. Told the wife a week ago that she'd have to take our 18 month old son to her parents for easter lunch because I'm going to the footy. She showed her appreciation for my decisiveness with morning sex and then made coffee and breakfast. In all a good start to the day which leads to my optimism that we are in with a real shot.

I would much rather Jetta than a Terlich, Strauss, Nicholson or Clisby - even Matt Jones. I just think there is a hardness about him which the others lack and we desperately need, particularly with defenders. I also think he is a cut above that lot in speed, endurance and ball skills. I have always thought he was of higher potential than many middle ranking players on our list. Now I guess he has the opportunity to prove it to us. I hope he plays plenty of minutes today and shows everyone how it's done. We could do with a bonus hard running back.

I don't think it's just me when I say the state of commentary on TV these days is appalling. McAvaney and Cometti are characitures of their former selves, Basil & Hamish are like two preppy morons who think their being clever and are "in" with the jocks, BT & Darcy do I even need to say anything? Dwayne and Tony Shaw? These guys are all meant to be professional commentators but if they're not making snide condescending remarks they're waffling on about who is dating who or how some player is having a Mexican themed birthday party (was on tonight's Essendon/Saints game). I mean geezus is it to much to ask that we get some commentators who commentate the games and provide us with some real analysis instead of trying to play up their "personalities" and appeal to the female demographic, both of which I am in no doubt they are told to do by the TV execs.