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So glad we picked him up. One of the few constantly good competitors in our season so far. Remarkable to see that he's just turned 31: the way he's going so far he could play on for at least a couple more years. How embarrassing it must be for one or two of our high draft picks. Mr Cross thank you for choosing the Melbourne Football Club.

Just said he took the entire list to watch today's game to see where they need to get to.

What is being shown by review of this season to date is we are still half a list short of ( real AFL level fighters) in order to be able to take on all comers. And that 2 more draft/trade sessions to go then. We ought o be sponsored by NQR i feel as we have more than our share. Now I concede a certain flippancy in this but the niggling truth is we do actually have about a dozen real players ( not all on park yet ) and we have another dozen worthy and able assistant style players but we are constantly scuttled by the "imposters" and we all know who they are. Theyre like a Hollywood set...Look like the real deal until you look beyond the image. Theres just no substance The FD will fix this and many will be up in arms as their fav players gets shipped off or put on the block. You cant play decent footy with passengers

I have wrote this in the post match thread but I think it deserves a thread of its on. What is going on with our kick ins ? Its driving me insane. We have been the worst side at it since the Daniher era. Ever since they bought in the not waiting for the flag rule it has become even worse because every side bar us grab the ball and move it within 5 seconds of a point been kicked and before the opposition can set a zone up and the balls cleared. We wait for a player (usually Dunn) to slowly jog over grab the ball and by the time he does this the whole front half of the ground is zoned up. I would love to know the stats in regards to direct scores from our kick ins. We saw when we moved it quickly how beneficial it is, I think JKH got on the end of a quick kick in and goaled and the last goal of the game from dawes came as quick movement. We have had numerous coaches since Daniher but yet none have been able to rectify this part of our game, I honestly think its a prime example of players not working hard enough. They don't work hard into space, or to create space for other teammates, they just stand there and point at eachother. Resulting in us to kick long and hope the ball gets knocked out of bounds and then its a 50/50 ball(probably worse knowing our clearance rate) from a throw in. It is a serious part of our game we must improve because in a game like yesterday it can make the difference between a win & a loss.

just listened to 3aw's pre-match interview with roos. he was clear that trengove has been bothered by the foot for 18 months - pain has come and gone over that time, so i would imagine that's been problematic as well in terms of diagnosis. hopefully he can get it right, have a big pre-season and come back with that initial burst speed around contests and ability to leap at the ball that he had in his first couple of years.

Jake King knows a guy

There is no room in modern football for players who avoid physical contact at all costs. Watts is a great kick, he has all the talent in the world, but he can't survive playing like he did yesterday. To anyone who watched any of the Hawks vs Cats game today, did you see anyone consistently avoid physical contact the way Watts does, or anyone as inept at it? We can sit around and sing kumbyyah whilst holding hands all we want, but it won't change the facts that no matter how talented someone is he won't succeed if he can't do the simple acts on a football ground. Hannibal got it right on BF, he'll be ok against poor teams but as soon as the intensity goes up he'll get found out. I want him to succeed, but I've changed my mind, I think he's a liability.

Early days i know, but it is all quite clear: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2014-04-20/rd-5-jack-viney-interview Jack Viney. Down the line. No nonsense. High expectations of himself. High expectations of his team mates. HATES, HATES, HATES losing. Leads be example AND by voice. 13 games and getting better each game: Love watching this kid go about it. 4-5 more years learning under Jones, and then hand the mantle over.

trouble is for the last 5 years all weve heard is. needs help from mates. needs to outside to best use the footy. needs to play down back. needs to play forward. needs to play wing. on the ball. needs cuddling needs a rocket up his clacker. needs time. needs gametime. needs contract. needs time off. needs love. needs a new coach. needs to shave beard. needs to grow beard. needs to grow moustache. needs to shave off moustache. needs another preseason. every time we lose,people say somebody else was worse,somebody else didnt do this didnt do that. unfortunately for JW its all about........... WHAT WE NEED

Our first 12 games last year lead to 11 losses. The margins were 79, 148, 94, 28, 61, 60, 34, 90, 95, 83, 35. We've lost 3 games this year by margins smaller than every single one of those save for one (28). If you can't see improvement and greater positives in this team at the moment then I reckon the rocks in your head have rocks in their head.

You don't even need to press play to see that is a free kick. The Suns player has both arms around Jack and the ball in 5 metres away. Jack was ordinary today but that clip is posted by a moron who knows nothing about football. It is illegal to tackle a player who hasn't taken possession of the ball, poor from the umps, not Jack. I wish you would get a holiday from this site for such a disgraceful comment, mods please ban this scumbag. That video showed Jacks smarts, he did the right thing and if he wasn't illegally tackled he would have turned his man inside out and been running toward goal. I'm not saying Watts played well or has met expectations I'm merely pointing out that that video is the wrong 5 seconds to illustrate Watts' failings. How that isn't holding the man but Abletts free in the last was I'll never know.

Anyone who defends Watts' game but watched it on TV needs to understand that they would have missed 90% of his soft, lazy and weak efforts around the ground. Most of if happened off the ball so unless you were at the game, please understand this.

Today they were inconsistent and unfair and it was frustrating, especially that number 11. Needed to be chinned.

If you don't like what you saw yesterday, what did you think of the last few years? God strike me, we are turning the screw to being relevant again and people want to blow up the place because Watts hugged a tackle and Dawes/Frawley kicked terribly. You go watch tomorrow's game but don't for a second think that we aren't better than we have been: Roos promised us some progress and a defined game plan by Rd 5 and I have seen it. If people want to keep their warm bitter blindness they can, and they can go watch someone else. Sick and tired of these jumping expectations of posters. Have a coherent, consistent opinion.

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.

Why do people say 'laconic' when they mean 'lackadaisical'? 'Laconic' actually describes a person 'of few words'. 'Lackadaisical' means 'lacking enthusiasm and determination, or carelessly lazy'.

It's not about Watts' skill, it's all about effort. I like Watts but he is an embarrassment to our football club most of the time. A former number 1 draft pick who's been in the system for 6-7 years should be a lot better than he is. He lopes around with half efforts. It's not about Mckenzies effort it's about his skill. Combine this with Terlich, Jetta, Bail, Spencer who all put consistent unnecessary pressure on teammates with their disgraceful (for afl) standard disposal. It really is time for some people to lift their standards & expectations.

Here it is in its entirety and I'm also posting it as a separate post re the Salem interview for those not normally interested in Casey matters. Melbourne's Christian Salem starred on Sunday for the Casey Scorpions against Frankston with a 34 possession performance which included a vital goal in the low scoring match. Casey Radio [FM 97.7] interviewed him on its Saturday morning programme and this was replayed before Sunday's game. These are my notes of the highlights - The first question was about how Salen started off at the Sandringham Dragons and his battle with injury soon after being drafted. It was a thyroid problem that started last year just before the draft and by the time it was properly diagnosed and treated he was 10 kilograms lighter. He was finding that he couldn't get through training so he took a blood test which uncovered the problem. At first he was restricted to walking and it was a frustrating time but now he's back to normal. Salem was asked about his Lebanese background. His father was born in Lebanon and his mother is also Lebanese but born here. He's very proud to be the fourth known Lebanese player in the AFL. He supported Essendon when Bachar Houli (also Lebanese) was playing for them and it's an honour representing his people. Asked about Paul Roos, Salem says he met him up at the Gold Coast at the draft and he was very approachable. The boys want to play for him and learn the game. Salem's father owns and runs two restaurants in Brighton - Rock Salt and North Point at the end of North Road. He worked there when he was younger but although that business is an option and he sometimes helps out from time to time, he's not sure what he wants to do in the future. When did Melbourne first speak to him? The spoke early in the year last year and then for about 20 to 30 minutes at Draft Camp. He loved being picked up in the National Draft and is happy at Melbourne. During the year a couple of recruiters from other clubs came down to have a chat at the family restaurant in Brighton. Asked if he would be ready to play against Gold Coast, he said he had not been named to play and that he was playing in the VFL against Frankston but he hoped the boys would get up in that game. Has he been given a time line for when he would be in the mix for AFL selection? "I think Roosy's good like that. He's more into not wanting to put pressure on the first year players. He's into introducing good habits in the VFL learning as much as you can and if the time comes, it doesn't matter how old you are, he'll put you in so its more about getting games into you." The feeling was great after Satuday's win, hearing the song being sung and in recovery the next day. He assured the panel that Roosy does know the words to the song. Asked about the transition from TAC Cup to playing more pro football, Salem said it was not too bad because with the AIS program they're pretty good at giving you a week to spend at a club. He spent it at Carlton last January and it was good in that it prepares you for what's to come. Once he got there he was comfortable - it was still hard but not too much of a step up. What are the things he is currently working on (noting that his kicking was one of his strengths) - "I still work on it. I'm working on playing forward, on my leading up and marking, repeat efforts and leading patterns." He was then asked to answer music questions in a 6 from 60 format: * Biggest influence on your career so far - family * Best teammate - Josh Kelly from the TAC Cup (now with GWS) Hardest opponent - Tom Bugg (also with GWS) "from when I was playing school footy" Most annoying team mate - not sure Best sporting memory - school football Hobbies away from football - relaxing with family, play station and watching soccer The interview finished with a question about what he was doing at the time (Saturday morning) at AAMI Park doing "motivation stuff". There's an article on the game on the Casey Scorpions website here. Final Peter Jackson VFL Casey Scorpions 1.2.8 3.5.23 5.8.38 9.14.68 Frankston 2.7.194.10.34 5.14.44 6.18.54 Goals Casey Scorpions Best 3 Jamar 2 Morris Nicholson Salem Smith Frankston Alwan 2 Lourey Matheson Simpson Tynan Best Casey Scorpions Salem Panozza Strauss Clisby Petropoulos Smith Frankston Kitchin Cavarra Alwan Harper Potts Newman Final 2014 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 3.0.18 8.1.49 9.2.56 13.10.88 Frankston 1.3.9 3.4.22 8.7.55 10.8.68 Goals Casey Scorpions Anderson King Wyatt 2 Gawley Jackson Murray Paredes Plummer Rosier Scott Frankston Irving 3 Fox 2 Greeley Hammond Helliwell Murnane Whitty Best Casey Scorpions Thwaites Drew Gawley Anderson Murray King Frankston Williams Irving Fox Greeley Foote Lees Statistics - Frankston v Casey Scorpions (Round 3) * Sam Blease 22 disposals 14 kicks 8 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 88 Dream Team Points * Mitch Clisby 16 disposals 10 kicks 6 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 67 Dream Team Points * Colin Garland 15 disposals 12 kicks 3 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 68 Dream Team Points * Max Gawn 10 disposals 6 kicks 4 handballs 6 marks 19 hit outs 60 Dream Team Points * James Harmes 31 disposals 15 kicks 16 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 114 Dream Team Points * Jayden Hunt 8 disposals 6 kicks 2 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 47 Dream Team Points * Mark Jamar 2 goals 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 40 hit outs 97 Dream Team Points * Daniel Nicholson 1goal 18 disposals 14 kicks 4 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 84 Dream Team Points * Aidan Riley 25 disposals 7 kicks18 handballs 3 marks 10 tackles 106 Dream Team Points * Christian Salem 1 goal 2 behinds 32 disposals 23 kicks 9 handballs 7 marks 4 tackles 133 Dream Team Points * James Strauss 21 disposals 14 kicks 7 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 83 Dream Team Points * Jimmy Toumpas 11 disposals 9 kicks 2 handballs 5 marks 46 Dream Team Points [injured in second quarter]

If Jimmy Toumpas gets dropped to go and work on things when he was averaging this so far this season: 17.5 disposals 6.5 marks 1.0 goals 2.0 tackles Then SURELY Jack Watts needs to be dropped to go and work on things when Wattsy is averaging this so far this season: 17.6 disposals 4.6 marks 0.8 goals 2.6 tackles

We had this discussion last week. Win or loose we need to constructively critique the list. After yesterday's performance we have players actively asking to be delisted/traded and I thank them for that .

I finishes the game with mixed feelings, aware that we have definitely improved since last year (well, duh), aware that we were looking like a much more effective team... but also aware that there were still critical lapses - marks not quite held, handballs and kicks just that little bit (fatally) too loose, and still player who fade in and out of contests or who just don't quite automatically make the efforts required. But there was a thought that occurred to me after the game. 'This isn't forever'. A lot of times in the last couple of years, it felt like 'this is us, yep, bring on the draft, this is all that's going on for us this year and it is miserable'. I never imagined that the ultimate football cliche would be such a comfort, but I caught myself thinking 'well, that's today's game, let's reload and see how we go, see what can improve next week, it can be a different effort and a different result any given week'. Who would've thought being able to say 'I'm looking at this one week at a time' would feel like an achievement?

The Suns were themselves hopeless. We went missing for large patches of the game. It's time to stamp out this attitude of 'there's no disgrace in being beaten'. Other clubs don't accept this and neither should we. The way a large number of our players went about it today was not up to AFL standard. Certainly not in the intensity stakes. Alright, so they've got arguably the greatest player of all time, but this was a team that was more inexperienced than us. It's not like we had a spirited, close loss to Hawthorn. Gold Coast played poorly, are younger and generally struggle for forwards, let alone backs. They have a terrific, young midfield, but this was on our home track. Inexcusable not to bring 100% to the contest. We quite clearly didn't. This was reflected in the number of tackles and ineffective tackles we 'attempted'.

Poor form edit: from you

OK, fellow wordsmiths and grammarians, I think we need to clear a few things up. I hate the misuse of words (spelling, grammar, apostrophes etc...) like many others, but words change their meaning through use; being applied to new circumstances so the meaning changes nuance by nuance. Words like huge, suffer, happy, specific, have had massive changes in meaning. Now, laconic is changing its meaning. Yes, the changes began with misuse, but the word is changing right now. It is being used to mean what lackadaisical also means. It is frustrating but happening. Deal with and move on. As for Jack Watts, I have had enough. He is exquisite with ball - I can hardly remember a player with such class and timing. I can even understand he is more of an outside player, and isn't king of grunt. But his lack of desire, his lack of going when it is his turn, his dreadful marking ability, now makes we want him out of the team. The modern game, as ugly and cramped as it can be, is all about the contest, and Jack either won't enter a contest, loses physical contests too easily, or goes in with chocolate and flowers.

. Anyone have a gun?

What we saw today were two teams where every single player goes in hard regardless of whether they are regarded as inside, outside, ruck or anything else. They all give 100%, they all work hard off the ball, they all do the one percenters. This is the culture that Roos is trying to give us here, and we are a hell of a long way off getting it right, not because of the skill level, but because of the commitment of the players.

Its pretty funny really. Half the site is demanding our most skilled player be dropped because he has no heart. The other half are calling for the heads of the guys that are all heart but make errors. We struggled to contain GC's midfield because like West Coast they have the one thing we don't have which is speed of ball movement. This makes me less concerned against Sydney. I doubt Garlo has enough match fitness yet to play. In Kent, Salem, Strauss Out Evans, McKenzie, Terlich NB: Watts to be put on notice.

They both make mistakes just like we do......but both these teams give 110 % effort for four quarters. You would never see a pathetic effort like our second quarter yesterday from any of these two teams.

I rate Watts. He has class. What I don't rate is some of the relentless and inane criticism of him from certain of the keyboard warriors here.

The one clear thing that was evident from yesterday was that if you feed a new club enough talent at the expense of others they cannot help but succeed and weaker clubs cannot help but remain somewhat stranded. And let's not forget that, on top of the unprecedented draft concessions, they were also able to pay for the greatest player (possibly) of our generation. For this reason alone, I wish Gold Coast nothing but ill will and if that makes me a bitter prack then so be it.

And people want Spencil dropped and to be replaced by Jamar. You have to be joking ?

we got exposed on how little we run compared to the other teams, particularly pushing to the next contest and second and third efforts.

Looking forward to mid season and beyond when players like Hogan, Garland, Salem, Toumpas, Gawn etc etc have come in to replace the dead wood

The Ablett free kick was an absolute farce. But what was just as bad was that goal-line decision for the Suns. The replay with the top left screen clearly showed the ball took a massive deflection once passing the Suns fists. I'm also not a fan this year of pinging a bloke when there are about 4 blokes all trying to get the ball, with the umpire saying you've gotta try to get it out. How about they try and get it out with another 4 guys after the ball. It looks like they are starting to reward the tackler again, after most of this year, they wave their arms in the air like muppets. About time incorrect disposal was brought back in to the game.

Don't be an ignorant imbecile. The days of players having one set role has well and truly gone in modern footballer, now 'outside' footballers are expected to go in when it's their turn. Give me an example of another player who consistently refuses to attack the ball the way Watts continues to avoid any physical contest, hell even Gibbs is harder that Watts. It's laughable that you could find excuses for the way he is so easily pushed out of a contest. It's one thing to have a bad game, but to show no effort or desire at all is terrible at this level. No more excuses for this club, if we want to play like an AFL team then performances like that are unacceptable. Does anyone think that he would get away with that crap at any other club? This type of attitude of making excuses if exactly why we've been the worst club for more than half a decade.

rThe tackling was woeful - both for the low numbers, half hearted attempts and poor technique. You would think the coaches would be furious

Thought Georgiou was our best back. Certainly the most reliable. I dreaded every time Tommy Mac, Terlich or Grimes got the ball and expected a turn over.

That is rubbish. Any team that leaves Watts alone will know that they'll be cut apart. The problem is how he goes when he is not being left alone. I think that his problems lie mainly in his lack of strength. As a tall, he is expected to bully midfielders. Unfortunately he does not have the physical strength to do so and this frustrates everyone. Since they have an assumption that he is stronger/as strong as his opponent, they assume his inability to win the contest is due to a lack of application.

Should have been a free to Jack. His opponent was holding him when he was no where near the ball. He just grabbed him and slung him out of the way. There USED to be a 'holding the man' rule.

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

Today hopefully showed just how useless Jordie McKenzie is as a player when not used 'specifically' as a tight tagger. I watched him closely today play on a few different players and I will tell you now, we may as well have had 17 blokes on the field. He has absolutely no offensive mindset. No willingness or belief to get the footy himself and make the right decision and if people are going to argue the point of 'playing within your limitations' well then [censored] me we're never going to get anywhere as a side with players like him who do not have the ability to play at this level. The same goes with Spencer, Pederson, Matt Jones, Evans, Bail, Georgiou. And unless we address our complete lack of kicking skills, we're also not going anywhere fast anytime soon. Kicking out from our backline is a [censored] nightmare. We have no elite users. So nobody has the confidence to pinpoint a pass. Not only that, but Spencer has zero marking ability and clearly he even knows it as time and time again he just refused to present at kick ins. It's honestly comicalto watch the MFC at times. We can be so poor. We still have so many completely unskilled players who literally kill us on game day. Even players who I admire for their tenacity and commitment like Terlich and McDonald were woeful with their disposal today. How many bad kickers can one side have? It's disgusting.

6.N.Jones (IN AA 40 squad form at least and has relished leadership role every week) 5.J.Viney (It's in his DNA knows no other way love this kid, will be a part of the building of a hate to lose culture every week) 4.Cross (as above but at the opposite end of his career always hard at it, wish we had someone like him when we moved Miller and Junior) 3. Dawes (he is a leader and whilst his wayward kicking was costly you can see his on field direction and provides a contest whenever it goes in) 2.Frawley (like Dawes presented but should have clunked a few more, can't fault his effort last fortnight) 1.JKH (showed a lot after Half Time)

How about we just stick some tackles.

Impey, Crouch & Taylor have all been pretty good.

Hugs! I like that description. very apt.

I think most people are annoyed with Jack because we see the ability and skill of the man but we do not see the effort and determination to get the ball. When he does get the ball his skills are usually exceptional, problem is he gets pushed off the ball by smaller opponents, he looks around for free as if he is owed it because he feels someone has infringed on him, he has not woken up to the fact that the umpires are not paying all frees so you have to continue to play as hard as you can until you hear the whistle, just as Jetta who almost got his head pulled off without getting a free. People love jack but often see talent going to waste due to his apparent lack of effort.

And our only other small forward option is Shannon Byrnes. I'd rather play JKH

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.

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?

Two big games in a row from Salem. Even though we lost today I don't feel the need to rush him in. If love him to have 5 dominant weeks and really knock the door down.