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We get an article that offers some real insight in to what a player goes through when they get the chop, and this is your contribution. We all know where Bennell was at when he went. Not too many of us would have done much differently had we been in charge of the list. He also was unfortunate enough to be part of arguably the worst coached side of all time. He has gone on to establish a decent career at a solid club.You are dead set the worst poster on this site at the moment, and that's amongst some stiff competition. Grow up, mate.

We've got one of the best taggers in the game but no-one has woken up to him yet because he doesn't use the usual tagger tactics he just puts his body in a gets the ball ahead of his opponent. Daniel Cross is having a great season.

I must say, i am shocked. I did not know that Paul Roos and the rest of the MFC would make such an impact this year, we truly are a different side. Roos has instilled confidence in the playing group which i havent seen since the brighter days in 2010 and much earlier. Players like Dom Tyson are playing top quality football (at just 20 years of age), Cam Pederson is playing like a gun half forward and Jack Viney is progressing faster than i ever expected. Not to mention players like M Jones, Bail and N Jones improving out of sight. I am not going to preach that i think we will be the next super team of the AFL, but i am going to say that we have the makings of a quality young sight. I have hope that under the current coaching group, Salem, Watts, Trengove, Toumpas, Michie, Gawn, Tyson (even more), Viney, Kent ect.. will develop into fine players. Not to mention what Roos will do in the upcoming free agency and trade period. So, Mr Frawley, if you want to leave for success, then i hope you get the same treatment as Colin Sylvia. Repay the faith that we have shown in you and sign on for 3 more years, we are a new Melbourne. Same goes for Dunny and Tmac. Yesterday was a confirmation of what we are aspiring and on our way to becoming, a top notch football side. Bring on the pies, bombers and kangas. It our time to shine

Screw the negativity around here. Port are the best team in the comp. We nearly beat them. Minus Dawes. Minus any help from the [censored] maggots yet again. 8 weeks ago most on here thought we wouldn't win a single game this year. Proud of the boys. Tyson is an absolute star, a few tired kicks at the end doesn't change that. Salem has it. Roos is a genius. The future is bright.

Out: Our Grand Final In: Just another H&A game where we try to suffocate our opposition to prove we are a real side, and come away with four points. I would love to hear Nathan Jones or Chris Dawes say words to this effect during the week, and nip that noxious crap in the bud before it begins. I can already hear the Collingwood supporters, players and coaches belittling us now and making excuses, and it hasn't even started yet.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT JOSH KELLY, OLIVER WINES OR NIC NAITANUI

Why bother with coaches at all if it's up to the players to pull the trigger? Ask any of the players if they're trying any harder than they were last year. Leadership and mentorship from experienced people who know what they are talking about is critical in any team activity, none more so than football. I'd say the opposite to what you said is true: good players only get you so far, and you need the best coaches to enable them to reach their full potential.

Salem's piece of play in the forward pocket to thread the pass to Bail was a combination of strength, skill, decision making and execution that very few players could achieve.

Richmond are a long way from MFC circa 2011. But IMO they have made a fatal mistake which MFC did between 2007 and 2013. They have failed to recruit genuine midfielders. I think we all pretty much accept that footy is won or lost in the midfield. For all Roos has been wonderful on the field it's the list management that has allowed him to succeed. From a midfield last year that had one mature mid he added Tyson, Vince, Cross, Riley, Michie from trades and then Salem and JKH from the draft. We also have Harmes. Now Salem and JKH are not genuine mids yet but that is without doubt where they will end up. We are now competitive. Richmond recruited Cotchin and Martin with early draft picks but in the last few years have used their earlier picks on Vlaustin, Lennon, Conca and Ellis. Only Conca is a genuine mid with the others "flankers" who can run through the midfield. Richmonds success last year came from an extraordinary year from Cotchin backed up by Deledio and Martin. Cotchin and Deledio have been shadows of their 2013 form and Richmond have no other running midfielders. That is very simply their issue. If Deledio and particularly Cotchin come good they will be very dangerous because they win ball and feed it to damaging running half backs. Richmond didn't learn from MFC. Our early picks through the Prendergast years were awful. Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, Bennell and even Trengove to a degree were not genuine mids. They were all good TAC players but they weren't the genuine mids like Shuey, Beams, Redden and Sloane who were all available to us. We now have a glut of midfielders. Riley, M Jones, Michie, Evans and McKenzie are all fighting for one or two spots. And it will get harder as Toumpas improves and Salem develops into a mid. And if JKH continues the way he is he'll be a top notch mid. Riley, Michie,Evans and McKenzie who are all very fringe for us would all get games for Richmond. In any one week at least 2 or three would play. Roos was both very good and lucky. Vince became available and because of Roos was happy to come to MFC and Roos was willing to pay reasonable compensation to Adelaide. Roos was happy to do the Tyson deal where many wouldn't have. Cross was available for nothing as was Riley. For all that Neeld is criticized for the Rodan's of this world I don't think he had the same opportunity as Roos. There just wasn't the same talent available for Neeld nor did he have the lure of Roos. As for Richmond they need to do what we did last year and get a midfield. I'd be surprised if someone like Jordie didn't end up there.

Please. He has good attributes but his skill errors directly cost us 3 goals today. Not to mention up by 4 points in the third quarter, him receiving a ball in the middle running to CHF and turning it over with an over the head handball. He's a good footballer but he's not immune to criticism. He played a stinker today and deserves his whack. We're not a basket case now, if he can't do his job we'll find someone who can.. It's the Roos way. I'll be watching with anticipation.

The best thing for Max this year, is to get through the whole season without any major injuries. So far, so good.

I just shake my head when I think that some of the clubs that beat us early on are so bad now.

Come on, he'll either make a comeback to footy with us, or not make one at all. Pigs will fly before Clark's playing at Freo. Not everyone is Tom Scully. The guy's attitude towards the club from Day 1 was exemplary, and he continues to show his support of the club on twitter and I'm sure in real life too. He's a Melbourne man through and through.

I dont want GWs to improve until we have finish picking over their list

Eight goals in his last six games. I love goal kicking midfielders. I particularly love goal kicking midfielders who do more of their work on the inside but have the polish on the outside to finish. I love them even more when they're still young, inexperienced and have great hair.

Billy Stretch 24 possessions for SA under 18 team's win against Vic Country played today. The kid is looking like a good prospect.

3AW just then. While fawning over our indigenous guernsey and how much better it is than our usual outfit, Caro says "watch this space". Says not only are the club working hard on a new logo and branding for the club, but revamped guernseys for next year. Think we'd already been told the away strip was being revamped but missed this year's cut-off, but good to hear more confirmation. PJ's fingerprints all over this.

Just highlights why we went hell for leather after roosy

Last year I didn't bother to keep an eye on the ladder because I knew where I'd find us. This year I don't bother because I don't think it matters. I'm expecting to keep a close eye on it next year however.

What I'm seeing is a team that is finally improving, and a player who is starting to stand out now because he's treading water. Not a scapegoat so much as a player whose lack of improvement this year mightn't have mattered much last year, but does now. I don't agree that he's strong (for mine he lacks upper body strength) or quick, but even those to one side, you've identified all the good things about him like his work overhead, his defensive work one-on-one, his running and his team-minded play. All of those are positive qualities. But they're qualities he's had his whole career. Similarly, he still has the same flaws - the dodgy kicking, the poor decision-making, and they're now standing out a little more because we're seeing less of that from others. I'm not writing him off to any degree, and as I've said, he has some fantastic traits that are needed in any side. His work against Adelaide and Carlton exemplified that. But his mistakes and his flaws are holding him back, he's not improving and he's not at a quality that we need him to be at if we want to truly become an A-grade side. He has to work on his kicking and decision-making because if he doesn't, he's going to get left behind.

It's customary after a line of coke. It stops it falling out your nose and wasting it.

Is this business of Roos saying 'enough is enough' and the playing group - who have nominated him as captain for three seasons in a row - 'speaking' going to happen before, or after Grimes plays 22 games as (co-)captain of the MFC in 2014? Grimes today registered 2 clangers. Dom Tyson registered 8. 8 clangers! Lynden Dunn registered 4, the worst of which came at a time where we still could've won, and was seemingly at odds with team orders as it drew the ire of the coach on national TV. I think we should all carp on about how awful Grimes was though.

If his plan was to go to Freo, it makes zero sense for him to come to us begging to reneg on his contract and retire. He'd find an amicable way to get a trade out west, so we end up getting something out of it. It would be the dog act of the century and he'd probably go down as one of the most despised players of all time. That isn't Mitch Clark.

wonder if we will see a STRETCH VINEY LOVETT centreline

Im sure Roos is seeing the mistakes too, and will be trying to coach it out of him, his positives out weigh his negatives,

A spud is a potato. Much like the hero above who has nothing to do with hogan in real life, needs to change 'hogan' into 'keyboard'....

You've posted 4 times under a username eerily similar to the biggest loop on the site. Forgive us for ignoring you.

This does not clear it up at all.all it does is restate the current position. It says nothing about the future. Put your self on the clubs position. We have a situation where our best player has a serious long term injury, like a two year injury, where he has been unable to play for that period of time yet he is collecting $800k per year over that period. Some players like Scully would have no problem with that, but Mitch Clark really wants to play and really wants to help the demons to the top. His inability to be able to do that, and the consequence questioning of his integrity has sent him into a depressive state. We should all feel for him in that and the most important thing in that is for him to get better ASAP irrespective of his football status. BUT, the MFC in this if they are being responsible must look after their own interests. That is, ensure Mitch has the best possible help in his recovery with no pressure about a return. If there was any chance at all though he could return they would be crazy not to make sure there was a guaranteed pathway the the MFC. That is all I am saying.I have no doubt that has been put in place. Any amount of spin in the media does not change that. It is the most sensible and professional path for the club to take, and also the best for Mitch clark

Or rumours that he's mates with Tony Abbott.

I work in the fitness industry and have worked with rehabbing from stress fractures before, I am glad the club is taking the ultra conservative approach, but I have seen people recover really quickly once they get back into training, the hardest part is easing them back into it without pushing too hard, so it's my opinion ( based on nothing to do with how Jesse himself is going, as I haven't seen much) that he may well play a couple of games at the back end of the year. The thing I really like is people were saying we were a 10 year turnaround to play finals again last year, now we could have been 9-2 if everything fell our way, Roosy knew the talent was here and it's just going to keep shining more and more, I see us being a top 8 standard team by the end of 2014.

I really liked Bernie Vince's comment after the game when Burgo asked him about his own game and form. Vince pretty much shrugged it off and said it's all about the team and how the team performs. He then highlighted the low-ish tackle count of 41 as something that the team needed to do better. I think this focus on the team has really been evident on the ground, particularly the last 4-5 weeks. We are really playing as a team, which in turn makes individuals play better. Roos is obviously well known for his ability to produce a team synergy in Sydney which resulted in team performances that were greater than the sum of the individual players. I always marvelled at how ordinary players at Sydney just looked so much better in the red and white jumper because of the way they played as a team. Already we are starting to see signs of that type of teamwork at Melbourne.

Both. This is part of the process. It is a relief in a sense that the development is incremental for me as it will be more sustainable and concrete. Get in positions to win, then we work out how to win consistently.

I think before the seasons we were all anticipating (with breath held) a real change in performance and all those football 'non-negotiables'. And maybe three wins half way through the season would have been considered the goal, too. But after the failure against St Kilda in round 1 and what felt like a shaky start for a couple more rounds, expectations were in a spin. Now, we appear to be playing genuinely credible, respectable football. And our 3 wins by mid season have come mostly in games we would not have anticipated it from. I keep referring to St Kilda to describe the season - since round 1, they've tailed off, while we keep strengthening. I'm not quite 'excited all day'. But I am quietly pleased and looking forward to the future.

What you may term Scapegoat many others view as "his turn under the spotlight" Under Roos quite a few players seemed have found a yard or two ,indeed some a complete change of thinking. They have stepped up. Grimes doesnt seem to have done this, if anything its a rocking back and forth between slipping and regaining some form. No one is ( think ) particularly looking to black Grimes for a loss etc but in the new Roos world all players must play a role and play it well and play it 100 % of the game. Not all of what Grimes achieves is at the fall of the ball etc but he seems less able of late to do many of those little 1% type things that set him apart. He's no longer apart and indeed hes very much lumbering along. A 6 season veteran ought not be making some of the clumsy mistakes and what can only be seen as brain fades as he has this year. Im somewhat aghast really at this as I previously thought he was a "general' in the back able to cleverly devise something out of nothing and in his earlier days often drove us out of trouble and straightened us up into rebound attack. The guy currently wearing 31 seems an eon away from the one I remember. If he is injured he needs to be fixed. If he is stale he needs to go back down and rekindle and reboot. He is of course to be persevered with...but not at the expense of the rest of the team, nor the efforts or results due the others for their development. JG is like any player...a cog in a larger machine. He has to have a purpose and do it well or there is no place, for he will have no role.

We have clearly run out of scapegoats. It must be hard to get angry with Byrnes out of the team, especially with Watts and Pederson playing well. Some of the things being said about Grimes are simply false. He is excellent overhead. He very rarely loses a contest. He is strong (despite comments to the contrary) and quick. Add to this is he is a great runner, which is really important to a strong defence. The problem is when posters only look through the most basic of lenses. They see the occasional turnover and then try to justify why that player is bad. Grimes is so far in the positive balance with his contributions that it isn't funny. His actions on the field will be enormously respected by those who know: the coaches and his fellow defenders. He is a role player and he plays that role very well.

Choose your own adventure. You are Jack Grimes and you have the footy at half back, with a paddock in front of you. If you want to kick the ball as soon as you get it, go to Result 1. If you want to play on, go to Result 2. Result 1: You try to spot up a target on the boundary line, but you miss it and the ball goes out of bounds on the full. Result 2: You run yourself into trouble. If you wish to take on tacklers, go to Result 3. If you wish to get rid of the ball, go to Result 4. Result 3: You are tackled and pinged for holding the ball. The opposition move it quickly up the field and hit the scoreboard. Result 4: You handball it to a teammate that is covered. They get tackled, pinged for holding the ball, and the opposition rebounds it quickly and hits the scoreboard. If he's going to contribute on-field to our rise up the ladder, Grimes seriously needs to improve his decision making. He constantly turns it over, chooses the wrong option, and puts teammates under the pump. I think he's more than capable of becoming a great player, as we've all seen it in patches, but at the moment he's got a lot of work to do to get there.

I dislike this call. I've seen it a couple of times from a number of posters. I can certainly see the comparison in terms of movement, left-footedness and skill level, but he seems to have a bit more time than Yze (or perhaps it's just been a while). but is certainly a much tougher player. He'll play 200 games for this club if he continues to track as he is. Such an exciting prospect. Thought he made one error today, when he went back for a mark with one hand. It was lazy, but I'm sure the coaching team will eradicate this from his game. Really looking forward to see how he plays in front of a big crowd at the 'G. Tyson too for that matter.

Props to Hinkley as well. Was full of praise for the opposition in his post match presser. Class act.

I didn't really care that we didn't get the points, they were fantastic today. The fact we gave them a 4-goal start made it even more impressive. The umpires crucified us AGAIN. We are 3-7 but could very easily be 7-3. We are only going to get better and better and I am thrilled and proud of the club at this moment. It is only 9 sleeps until we smash Collingwood in front of 60,000 and I have no doubt we will be watching the Dees in September 2015. PS I am sober.

Christian Salem has an elite footy brain and the skills to match What a gem

Roosy getting stuck into the recruiter/s that were quoted in the famous Tyson/Salem/pick 2 deal was brilliant. Shocked this hasn't been highlighted more by the media. This was a classic case of journo and other clubs trying to lay the boots in. Kelly may well be a superstar and its unfair to get stuck into him, but the disrespect shown to our club and the players involved was disgraceful. Tyson is all class. Hard to believe he's played 25 odd games.

Joeboy - didn't watch game

I was very excited today with that little glimmer of a possible massive upset against the number one team in the comp. I'm sad we didn't do it in the end but thrilled that we are now a competitive team giving themselves every chance to win. To come so close against Port is a great effort. I am looking forward to next week and every week after because now I will be listening with every hope that we can win will win more games this year. I'm a happy little demon and everyone else should be too.

You guys notice that every team we play lately is considered to be a bit flat and not playing their best? When does that stop being a coincidence and start being due to our pressure, strong defensive cohesion and contested ball. . Im disappointed as everyone but that will burn the boys. Look out Collingwood

Amazing effort to nearly knock off the top team. Better team on the day, just little mistakes here and there cost us. The negativity that was in the match day thread towards the end though was pissing me off! WE nearly knocked off TOP SPOT! If someone had've even suggested that we could do that this time last year, they would've been admitted into a mental ward! Just be grateful for how far we've come in such little time.

I think that is a very sad and inaccurate description of what happened. Yes we got publicity but the effort put in to help less disadvantaged members of the community was fantastic and at great personal and financial cost. Our President was dying for God sake and he left his family and went to the outback to help.Others left their comfort and went to try and help. This is not your finest post IMO. Finally, Liam Jurrah is where he is because of Liam Jurrah and no one else. He was begged to come home the weekend all the trouble started. We helped him before that, during that and after that. He continued to look for trouble. Lets not rewrite history. I find Niall's comments despicable. People wanting to help others may now think twice and to think he publishes it on this weekend of all times.

Was angry after the match, played some video games, settled down, realised how much I love Roos, and what he's done to blokes like Pedersen, Jetta and Howe.

I couldn't see the game but just watched a Salem highlights clip from the club website -- OMG what a find. Cool, calm, collected, skilled and smart. The shepherd when Toump had the ball, then his second effort to take the mark was outstanding especially for one so young.

A lot are saying bring on the pies but what concerns me is the toll this will take on our players. Does anyone else have this concern?

titan - Jetta had the job on Wjngard, and won the battle convincingly.