Leaderboard

Much to my surprise, Jack came into my work tonight and I served him (I work at a video games store). I wished him all the best for tomorrow night and he replied with how good this year felt for him and how great it would be to go into the bye 4w-5l. I added that it'd be particularly great because we'd be able to stick it up Damien Barrett and he wholeheartedly agreed! I love that everyone hates that nerdlinger's negativity. Anyway, just thought I'd say that. He's seriously the most decent bloke and had the time to have a quick chat and shake my hand on the way out. This bloke needs to stick around, I can see why everyone at the club respects him so much. Best shift ever.

If Ling is to be in contention then he needs to do an apprenticeship.

Third world problems hey Munga?

It was hard for anyone to get the footy today. Players would receive a handpass and prepare to kick and the ball would slip out of their hands. Walking out to the huddles, it was like a cattle yard out their and smelt like it too. Either very slippery and muddy or just water skiing. Carlton must have been in the middle of the rain last night. Blease was a ilttle unlucky when Northern got a goal in the second quarter. I didn't see the third quarter turnover. I just felt he got involved in the play today in a way that really surprised me considering the conditions. Both sides dropping marks today with such a slippery ball and the congestion around where the ball was dropping because of this, or if it did get out it was a race in the mud that resulted the ball going to the boundary line. It was amazing that Smith took so many marks in the second quarter - they were really rare. And nothing wrong with the Toump's game today. I was watching him, Hunt, Michie and Riley. Toumpas came back on after an injury at the start of the second - winded or knackered I think. He contributed all day and in the last took a couple of handy marks and nearly held a couple more - they were hard to come by with the slippery conditons and packs everywhere. The most common thing happening all day was players receiving a handball but not being able to dispose of it in time because of the greasy conditions. Riley has thighs on him like a tree trunk and didn't look out of place at this suburban ground. Didn't have the impact that Michie did or McKenzie and probably is lacking some fitness. Michie looked very comfortable at this level as did Evans who was very reliable at this level and in these conditions. Dom Barry also surprised me under these condtions. He got kicks sending us forward a few times (remember, this was rare for the whole game on this ground, which was far from anything we are used to these days; it was really really substandard. They couldn't have any drainage there). In the second quarter in particular I was really impressed with Dom. I could not criticise any player's game today - they all put in and it was really quite impressive with the injuries and with Carlton coming back so strongly in the third and fourth quarters where they were able to get a lot of clean possessions (and in the third quarter some umpire assistance). Finally, Jayden Hunt. Even before his winning goal I thought he had looked like he belonged in the second half. In the first half he was on and off the bench and when he was on he would be looking after some empty wing of half forward flank where the ball was not coming.He contributed to our only goal in the third quarter (kicked by Tapscott) and got that great goal to finish the match (our only goal in the last quarter) with 3 or 4 minutes to go. It was not a match to show any of his wares but the final goal showed a lot of composure. And It was not a match to start worrying about any player's future. It was a mud wrestle and then hoping the luck went your way. All the players put in today. I can't name all the players. I love Georgiou and Evans who are so reliable - but this was a swimming pool today. I'm not at the G tonight. I have to cook for guests. This report is just passing on a normal spectator's observations - like I like to read the training reports in Dec Jan and Feb.

I don't care what the game plan is as long as it brings us a premiership.

Peter Jackson doesn't mess around does he Bomber Thompson - Senior Coacxh Paul Roos - Head of Footy PJ - CEO Think I just pitched a tent in my undies

The Crameri free was a disgrace (why is it the Dogs always seem to get some absolutely ridiculous frees when we play them?) and Matt Jones' miss really hurt (I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was 95% sure he'd miss), but in the end I thought two things prevented us from being 4-5 goal winners: First was the bulldogs' tackling. Was absolutely superb. We really struggled to break out into the open - they worked hard all game to tackle and their tackles. Second was our backline. They have been tremendous all year in restricting sides, but I thought they were really poor tonight. To let the Dogs, a team with one of the worst forward lines in the league, kick 15 goals from only 40 entries is terrible. I thought we just weren't structured up well in defence all night - they seemed to be able to get it inside 50 into space and at times I thought we could've used a soccer sweeper style player who probably would have been able to mop up a lot of the entries. They did kick some fluke goals but really we needed to close the space and make it more difficult for them. Really frustrating to lose as I thought we were the better team and although we looked capable of breaking free of them, we just never did. Though to win the contested ball and clearances against a pretty solid Doggies midfield who are really strong in those areas is a good sign. Some more class in the side and a tightening of the defence would have made the difference. Positive steps forward again which is good, but still frustrating to let that one slip.

I thought Russian was tremendous for us tonight. Minson is a mountain and Jamar beat him comprehensively to give us first use consistently. With as many stoppages as we create, having a quality tap ruck man is very useful.

Tom McDonald still scares me at times.

Jeez I'm nervous. Life was so much easier when we were a dead certainty to lose.

Now that the farce of the past few days, with the MRP & Tribunal bringing the game into disrepute, is behind us, it is time to acknowledge Jack's absolutely brilliant piece of play against the Crows. It seems to me that the collision part of the play has totally overshadowed exactly what happened through that entire sequence that has now been played before our eyes endless times over the past few days. It's time the football world took note of exactly what happened -- all the way through... Let me explain. The ball bounces in no man's land, with two large players attacking it from one direction, and young Jack attacking it from the other. The ball bounced to Lynch, who took possession and was immediately tackled. There's then the well publicised collision. All three players fall to the ground. The two big guys are hurt, and remain on the ground. But, there's is where it gets really good... Jack, who had braced so well for the impact, although he also went to ground, was not hurt. (His training to learn to protect himself in such situations had paid handsome dividends!) Not only that, he still had his mind on only one thing -- the ball. Although still on the ground, he managed to take possession of the ball, evade an opponent, and dish off an excellent hand ball, finding a team mate in the clear. It's a fabulous piece of play, and epitomises everything that's great about the game -- courage, tenacity, determination, skill and the total commitment to the ball, no matter the risk or the possible cost to the individual. Would have to have been pretty much Play of Day, and clearly demonstrated what a gem we have in young Jack! Makes the way it has been treated by the MRP and the Tribunal that much more of a total farce, and the reason why I label it clearly as one of the worst cases of bringing the game into disrepute in living memory! Shame, AFL, Shame!! I'm just so proud of Jack, the MFC and the wider footy community for sticking by him to ensure justice was finally done. Oh, and I understand Daniel Cross was quoted yesterday as saying young Jack will end up be the best of our young midfield group. Kinda hard to argue with that! Go Dees!

No way. That's not the situation the rule is there for. Cross didn't slide into him, he couldn't even see Williams. He made a legitimate contest at the ball. Meanwhile that spud wouldn't even bend over to contest, just kneed him in the head. Disgraceful free kick.

OK. I was shouting at the TV over that idiotic free to Crameri, but in the final washup it didn't cost us the game. If anything, I would say Matt Jones' two missed shots in the last did that if anything did. Even beyond that, our continued poor passing into the forward line meant we weren't keeping scoreboard pressure on them. We should have been well up by half time. It's great to see how well our kids are coming on now. They are fearless, they are skilled and they are starting to figure out how to play at this pace and intensity. The future is looking brighter all the time. Also very nice to see how well our traded-in players are doing. They are all contributing and setting a great example for the young-uns. All in all, I think that tonight's result was about right for where the team is. We are pretty close to the doggies, but they have a little more polish and cohesion than us right now and in the end it was the difference. To our great credit, for large portions of the game they were reduced to piling bodies on the ball to stop us from using it. Given that they pride themselves on their ability to extract the ball I think that's a pretty good sign. I am disappointed that we couldn't pull it off, but not devastated.

Either you are very young or have a short memory

I'm not mad, we played really well.. Tyson, Viney, Salem, JKH.. All our young kids are tracking along beautifully. This year we are putting in A LOT of effort, that is all that matter. The scoreline doesn't matter, wins would be great, but this year we see effort and intent.. And dare I say - consistency.

Was there to be won and we arent good enough yet. Simple as that. Come a long way , still along way to go

Tyson is a [censored] gem of a footballer.

I don't care. More than happy to "win ugly."

With all the drug issues I'd be exploring other options.

15 m kicks would have been a handy focus tonight. Surely Minson got a 10m kick. Marked and goaled.

I'd much rather Kent.

Lots to like, but lost it through a combination of lack of class around the stoppages and a few soft goals, especially Dunn vs Crameri. Would still rather Frawley down back, feel like we're losing more than we gain, though he was better up forward tonight. Wouldn't mind seeing the stat on "fumbled handball receives". Viney is an absolute gem, but isn't quite at Sam Mitchell level with his quick disposals. Ironically enough, for all the stick he gets here, felt we didn't look as good once Terlich went off. Sure, he fluffs a few, but we weren't quite getting the same drive off the back half once he was subbed. Byrnes the new whipping boy it seems. Salem to play a full game and Blease in to cover - though McKenzie's the one who most deserves a call-up it seems.

That game hurts like hell. I can't complain about the umpiring, although clearly the match winning goal was a blatant umpire gift and completely undeserved, BUT we had our chances with M. Jones and he failed to deliver on what should have been a bloody easy goal. We also got favoured by the umps all night, so if that stupid free kick was the compensation, it was a small price to pay. Fact is, we don't have the quality or the class JUST yet, but by god we're making strides. Put it this way, when was the last time a loss genuinely hurt this badly? That's a much better feeling than being flogged by a hundred points every freaking week, isn't it?

I'm furious we lost this, that free against Dunn really hurt us but we had every chance to win and screwed ourselves. M Jones, learn to bloody kick on the run or give it off to someone who can. After being so hard to kick goals against last week we let so many soft goals through and that was the difference. Every goal for us seemed to be really hard to come by. We really needed to win this to build on our confidence and again we've let a very winnable game slip.

Heartbroken. We should have won. Got to say though, I love the hard style of game we are playing. Sod those who moaned about how boring Sydney were, I couldn't agree less. Dom Tyson just keeps getting better. BOG for mine. What a gun.

You always exaggerate.

Why don't you just celebrate the intent, and desperation from Jack! Too many express anger toward Jack because he is an easy target. Lay off....

I shake my head in disbelief when I watch Dommy T, we are SO lucky to have this kid. What a freak of nature, composed, poised, classy and uses it well.. He is everything Tom Scully isn't.

Get Brynes off, get Salem on. I can't believe Brynes still gets a game.

history includes losing interstate and players getting shafted at the MRP!

NBA Live '95

According to some posters around here he also needs a face lift and plastic surgery.

He is at north this year, Maybe Thompson take over after Roos, Ling becomes Thompsons assistant to take over from him in 3 years time giving Ling 5 years as a assistant... Ha ha

We've tried inexperienced young coaches with a young inexperienced list before. Prefer the experienced with a track record. Seems to be working now.

Its an interesting senerio. One Coach is a quick style free flowing game style while the other is slowing the play down ugly footy etc.. personally id love it if they just got someone like a Kirk who would know the game plan on the top of their head and just stuck with that.

Yeah would be good, but at this stage it's just Robbo filling up column space. Remember It's bye round. Nothing happening in Melb this weekend apart from our game

Be careful when discussing a 79 year old Vagg.It's the sort of thing that will get DC splashing on the Old Spice for the Matinee Bingo.

Tiges. Pies. Dons. Dogs. They're just shortened forms, like Dees. Then again, there's Swannies & Sainters. Go figure!

Carn the Dees!

The first thing we need to do money wise is start paying 100% of the cap. Once we can do that comfortably then we can look at things like VFL teams.

The additional point I think everyone is missing is that if Essendon players are rubbed out, what remains of their coaching staff at that time (ie Hird) will be rubbed out too , thereby ending his career. All I can say is "hooray to that!"

I heard a whisper they were going to rest Geogiou anyway this week (before the Viney incident), but I guess as a result of the collision there may still be lingering concussion implications. In any case, they considered him ready for a rest in view of the fact he has played every game, and his hard checking, hard running committed style was potentially taking its toll considering he was a part time footballer only several months ago. He has been a beauty though for us-.very good left field recruiting I reckon. I love the way the Viney incident illustrated just why he is so effective - he plays close and hard, just as all Backs should. . I have no doubt he will be a regular in the future.

On reflection they must consider whether they have right reasoning power for the job. They had to decide on balance of probabilities whether it was a brace or a bump. At worst, they should have decided that there is doubt as to which one it was - therefore not guilty. That they could conclude that it was a bump amazes me. They weren't sold out by the system. They just reasoned badly. People power doesn't run the judiciary but people power certainly shouts at the top of its lungs when there is incompetence and thus injustice.

Nobody disagrees that he is the boy you'd want your daughter to marry. He has to learn that we need him to the the man you want to go to war with. I have watched MFC last decade doing token 1%ers. Lets call em half percenters. The clayton's smother. You know, one hand up, look away, hope the ball doesn't bend my pinky. Tonight I watched Sydney. 1 and a half percenters. Smothers full on diving. No token efforts. We are getting there gradually. But like Roos says, we have a long way to go. So does Jack of Hearts.

Meaning to post this one since last week but when Hawthorn lost Mitchell and Lake last week Hamish McLaughlin says "Hawthorn are down to 17 men." ummm....even in the days of 19th & 20th man that would still make 18 I would think. I hope his bro is a bit better with his maths when he's trying to sort out the food prices.

Too much information Django.

Dude, are you serious? Overrated? He's one of the greatest players to run onto the field in the last few decades.

The whole Jack Viney taking on the AFL and Tribunal and winning reminds of the David and Goliath story except that Viney is Goliath and he wins.

OD, I am one for keeping the lid on, no player is the messiah, but I am already looking forward to seeing Jack, Dom Tyson and Christian Salem become a midfield to drool over, they have Nate Jones, Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross teaching them, what's not to like...

And you still have money to donate!!!!!