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He's 27 years old, and since he was a teenager he's been told better times, indeed, 'glorious' times, were just around the corner. He's borne the brunt of the club's failures for year after year, often being the defender who has to cover a mismatched opponent because we didn't have the right players available, and facing down who knows how many 100pt losses that could hardly be his fault but which he was always 'on camera' for. His only direct colleague in his role throughout that time has left, to go to the very same opponent that was smashing him that day. His other mates through that time are either sinking to the end of their careers in the VFL or have gone to other clubs. His closest mentors throughout his career are dead. He was one of our best on the day, one of the few who actually didn't drop his head. I'm fine with him being visibly upset at making a clanger (or even moreso, having a clanger kind of imposed upon him by circumstance). Honestly, I think I'd be even happier to see Garland celebrating a win in a final than I would be for Nathan Jones.

Goodes requests to play in the seconds to find form = heroic and noble act of selflessness worthy of praise. Watts requests to play in the seconds to find form = shameful and gutless act of treachery worthy of involuntary euthanasia.

Couldn't be bothered

Awesome! The posters are going harder than the players. Big, big bumps all around. SWYL is on the vest, C and B continues to swing, DD36 completely punch drunk and Biffen's kicked 5! H_H continues to frustrate (undoubted ability), Wiseblood's lost his composure and Nasher's whistle has broken! Go D'monlanders!!

I knew I shouldn't have logged on today. Lets put it into perspective We started the year with a full team and had wins against GC and Rich.....every one was happy...posters were claiming finals we had young guns firing Then the injuries began (which they will every year) .We were dismantled against GWS in the second half and ran with Adelaide for most of the game THEN....We ran into Freo (who have not even looked like losing).....Then Sydney coming off a surprise defeat and lost by 38 pts.....Then Hawthorn who had come off another surprise defeat and are current Premiers. We copped a few injuries and were beaten by very experienced TOP sides who have confidence and have been together for a long time Having read a few posts......Peter Jackson should lift his game or be sacked......At least half the side should be delisted......the rest tarred and feathered and tied to a stake outside the Melbourne town hall.......Roos has no idea and should be sacked. Maybe we can wait for a few weeks and see how we are going at the half way point before winding up the club and all going home. Just a thought

This thread is ridiculous. Give the kid a chance

Seems like they were supporting each other Stig - That's a positive.

"I know something you don't know, but I can't tell you what it is. State secret. Sorry." Big noter. There have been dozens like you on here before. Go away. Love your facebook profile pic of Hodgey and Mitchell holding the cup, by the way.

I thought it was one of the few positives from the day. It was an absolute howler from Garland but Lumumba and Dunn were both quick to offer their support. Good to see.

So you made up and posted a load of BS about Toumpas to denigrate and belittle him. What credibility and morals can you possibly have?

Classic Demonland thread. And not in a good way.

FMD just shut up and go away already. My guess is this forum imitates real life, people seem to take a dislike to you.

I saw it and he was definitely not adversely reacting to Garland's position... he saw that Garland was distressed over what had happened (I think he had gifted them a goal) and he was encouraging Garland to put it behind him and get on with the game (in a very positive and caring way). Great leadership and something that I would think Garland appreciated.

So they were out at a bar, minding their own business and not doing anything wrong, and that's a bad thing? What do you want them do, sit at home and wallow in self misery about the loss? Walk around the city aimlessly as if their life is meaningless? Get a grip.

The urging of former AFL Players Association legal adviser Graham Smith that the AFL remove itself from WADA is in the same category. Does Smith seriously suggest the global anti-doping organisation, covering all the sports from all the nations of the earth, is conducting a witch-hunt against those who play the eccentric game of Aussie rules in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon? From Tim Lane's article

Nup. Nothing is more annoying than people spelling his name wrong.

I never understood why he was dropped toward the end of last year, he was having a fine season up forward on a team with no midfield and barely any inside 50 entries and none of those entries of any quality. He should have played every game this season, he is better than Watts and Dawes combined. He was one of our top players today vs the hawks and the sad thing is he was only in the team due to a late change. Kicks goals, can take a contested grab, is athletic and can relief ruck. He will complement Hogan well. Paul Roos needs to wake up and start picking the best teams each week, not just the best names on paper.

*lol* I'm not going to delete your post, I'm quite happy for you to make yourself look like a goose. The email address you used to register with clearly belongs to a Hawthorn supporter. Unless you used someone else's email address, which is majorly suspicious in itself. There's nothing wrong with coming here as an opposition supporter, we've had a few over the years, but trying to look like a local isn't on. I didn't say you were lying, by the way, I just said you were big noting. I have no idea whether you know anything or not. You might - or at least, sincerely think you do. But since you're clearly not going to tell us what it is you know, I see no motivation for your coming here with your claims that you know the truth other than to make yourself look good. I've seen it all before, more times than I'd care to count.

Mods clean up this thread. Almost as embarrassing to be associated with as yesterday's on field performance.

Maybe Garland is going thru a tough time on an off-field matter...remember he had a pretty strong emotional reaction to the win against Richmond. Good to see his team mates rally around him. H doesn't seem the type to give a teammate a serve at that stage of the game. We shouldn't be too quick to judge. If Garland is going thru a tough time, I applaud him for playing the way he does. He was one of our better players yesterday. Cut him some slack, folks.

The thing that makes me think you're just doing a bit of vicious rumour-mongering is that you call Watts a FIGJAM. For all his deficiencies, he's not that. I don't know the real story behind his dropping, but I'm pretty sure you don't either.

we have "kickers who can hit him on the chest"?

Well done AFL no other club will play that many top four sides three in a row, the AFL every year the AFL try and find ways, to try and destroy Melbournes confidence, a team that wins four games in a season should never play that many in a short space time. The AFL try would be every happy at the moment, no other team will face that sort of draw, i know some will say no excuse and yes no one listens to them but really, they say the draw is weighted to make it easy for bottom sides, now we might have some easy games towards the end of the season, but wins early does more for a teams confidant.

Anyone who is capable of wanting roos to be sacked just think for a moment the state of the liat he inherited and then look at the transformation of the list thus far. You would be a fool to think roos has done a poor job

That would require effort.

In: a bottle of tequila Out: care factor for season 2015

The players were all at the Foundation Heroes Dinner last night( must have been hard after such a shellacking).They were allowed to have a drink. No doubt they were allowed to go out after their duties finished at The Park. Fair enough, in my opinion. I reckon it's fair enough for them to have a glimpse of a normal social life more than a week before their next game.

Glad I dropped myself

he was also on 3aw. I only heard him speak about watts where he said he does want to play with his mates but he feels he has been letting them down and wanted to find some form. Was asked about Dawes's comments about hawthorn during the week. Roosy said I have no idea why players do that and it didnt really help. Said Hogan was a bit sore yesterday and they just didnt want to risk him. Not sure if he said anything different on triple m

Roos is doing the job that he was hired to do. He is building a culture from scratch after years of gross mismanagement. His work and role will be vindicated in the future. Goodwin will be hailed as a master-coach as the big infield improvements will take place under his watch. But that can't happen until a professional and elite culture is instilled in the organisation.

Roos has his philosophy on coaching, whether for the modern game or not. But real reason Roos was hired was stability and experience in developing a culture to make us successful. to me that is his real purpose. We are seeing glimpse's of it, but its a slow process. I liken it to when Barassi was called in Sydney in the 90s. Stop the rot, start to build a culture and the Eade, Roos extended it once the foundations were in place. Whether he has got the right game plan, he is slowly brining in players that will try consistently which has been our biggest problem. Flash in the pan players, great one week, poor the next.

Maybe the players should have a drink before the game.Who knows it might improve their performance!! Sure as shite ain't gunna make them worse. I know it helps me look better looking!!

Hold on, is that the pot calling the kettle black? Have a look at this post C&B: How is that a contribution? You might have had a gut full of Colin Garland, but he has probably had a gut full of our midfield allowing the opposition to get the ball inside 50 with absolute ease. He was actually one of our better players yesterday and, come the end of the season, I could hardly blame him for deciding to move on and play for a club where their midfield runs both ways on a consistent basis. Stop posting like a sociopath and actually look at where the problem lies. Col Garland isn't it.

No were not, we've been beaten by easily the best 3 teams in the competition. If we're dusted by the Bulldogs by 50 next week, then tee off.We simply don't have the talent. And by talent I mean athletic talent as well. You can't outrun your opposition if youre not as fast or as naturally aerobic. You can't outmuscle if you're not as naturally strong. The effort was there, the ability wasn't. Is Roos responsible for bringing in the talent? Nup. My oh my do we need Viney, Jetta, Kent, Salem... They go, we go. We have no depth. Edit: And of course Hogan. So we lost our best forward, our best inside mid (on this years form), our best small defender, our best forward pressure, and our best user out of the back half. Who do we have to replace them with?

Ha! Hypocrite! -Where was she when her husband used his constitutional right of appeal to the Federal Court. -If the AFL Tribunal had found against the players would they not use the very same 'unconstitutional' process to appeal to CAS. A great image from today's Age article by Tim Lane: " Let's get one thing straight in this case, and all the other ones around the world that have frustrated athletes and brought odium on investigators: it's not the anti-doping agencies that caused the problem. They are not the ones to blame for the 6am knock on the athlete's door, or the six-year scrutiny of an athlete who tests clean in the lab but defies gravity on the track. It is not they who over decades have cheated their rivals and defrauded the public...It has to push back against the devious and intransigent national and international sports administrations that have put income and convenience first and integrity somewhere else." WADA and the All-knowing Football League The only thing missing from that image are the letters C A S writ big on the palm of the hand!!!

I have a Garry Lyon garden gnome out front in my rose bushes, he moves and tackles better than most of the Dees money takers.

Im glad you posted that WJ..couldnt quite this damn phone to do it lol Seriously. ..what a joke . Actually what an insult to decency and moraluty these obviously being traits not understood ib ANY Hird household. What an affront to the standards by which most upstanding folk live by. Basically the Hirds dont like it when the ump blows the whistle. Tough [censored]. You know what IS un-Australian Hirds...to be a bunch of fcuken double standarded bastards abusing position ,privilege and trust and not giving a bloody fig about anyone other than yourselves. Sespicable Disgusting comes to mind. You Hirds are the cowardly happening in this debacle. Id say go take a long look in the mirror....but im sure you spend plenty of time there already. You just dont get it.. but yiull be getting yours soon enough. Apples dont fall far from trees . You can understand where Golden Boy learnt his ways. And so the 'little' paper and its legions continue their assault . The only problem with online....hard to use the News for the dunny !!

He never did that. Stop embarassing yourself with pathetic comments like this that you make up to give you a excuse to sink into a player.Pathetic attempt as usual.

Should we wait 100 like with Watts? Or 150 like with Sylvia? Because even they showed more in their first 20 games then Toumpas has.

Hello darkness my old friend....

The last 8 years must have really desensitised me to these sorts of performances. I left the game disappointed obviously, but not tearing my precious hair out. My pre game prediction of a 78-point loss was optimistic unfortunately, the Hawks far too efficient moving the ball forward and in front of goal. The difference in pressure was certainly unacceptable and it's up to us to force opponents into error, but really, it was largely an unsurprising flogging of the worst 22 fielded under Roos by the reigning premiers who couldn't miss. The absolute clown comments from poons like Kennett I just roll my eyes at. Yes, this was a poor display, but after the Richmond win, every Melbourne supporter not partial to the crack pipe knew we would get done the next three weeks, and probably find it tough to get close to any of the clear best three teams in the comp. we just aren't in the same league sadly. Chin up and move forward. While we need to continue to make every post a winner at the trade and draft tables after being royally Prendergasted, today doesn't change the fact that the core group of youngsters at the club remains promising. Hogan, Viney, Salem, Tyson, McDonald, JFK, Brayshaw, Petracca, Kent, Frost and Stretch are all under 23. Yes, all clubs have good youngsters, but I'm no less confident in the people at the club to get the best out of these players now than I was at 2pm today.

I wish I could dislike the Dockers but they have developed so many of their players from within. They've had a hard time attracting free agents, yet they have drafted superbly and developed their players so well. The Hawks and Swans have cherry picked so many good players over the last few years, but the Dockers haven't.

Fremantle is the best for mine, they're blowing good Teams away then taking the foot off the pedal

Have to remember, though, Petracca, Trengove, Viney, now Salem - that's a lot of midfield talent we should have been moulding together. Jones and Tyson don't look too fit either. What we don't have is the fit cattle. Kent and Jetta provide a lot of strength and dash, some competitive power, and they win the ball and link up mid-field-style in their parts of the ground. All of these fitness issues add up - and in time it's likely they will clear up. Mostly, at the moment the team looks mentally defeated. We begin trying to build up from a long way behind, and then get serially clobbered with injuries - small wonder we're mentally brittle. Against the Hawks we began well, but Hawthorn were full of confidence and we just couldn't hold together mentally ... stopped running, playing like it would work... Also, MacDonald's comment about teaming together is obviously true - and forced team changes - especially to key playmakers - obviously undermines our attempts to build cohesiveness and trust. So, we are struggling at the moment, especially playing stronger guys who do play together cohesively, and who are full of confidence already, and even more so playing us. Against top sides, with our team depleted as it is, we are bound to fall apart, and yes, it stinks. We have to just weather it. When we get our players on the park, or play slightly less outstanding teams, then we can look to see what Roos has been making of the team.

Contagious - - The Essendon Daily News

Dont give up on toumpas yet. Whilst he might not become the great player we all hoped for when we used pick 4 on him he still could develop into a really solid winger/half back. Hes only played 20 odd games, isnt it a bit early to write him off?

Cam Pedersen kicked 3 goals today. Chris Dawes has kicked 3 goals for the year.

Rubbish. He was already good when he left Melbourne. I was gutted when he left because anyone with half a brain could tell he was going to be a champion. Didn't get on well with Danners apparently that helped him make his decision (sick dad), but would have liked MFC to do a lot more to keep him.

Good try boys but WADA is now coming for you!