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I'm calling it now and I'm calling it early. Billy will sit comfortably alongside Oliver, Hogan, Viney, Gawn and Petracca as our most valuable players in the next few years. Ran all day, got it 31 times, disposal and decision making were excellent, doesn't fumble, is developing an inside game, has the character to ensure he'll get the most out of himself and is the son of a great gun. All that in a 19 year old and our fifth youngest player. We've a lot to look forward to and Billy will be a bigger part than most here and everyone outside think. That is all.

I actually felt sorry for the Brisbane supporters around me because I could relate to their team being so bad but then I remembered they saw their team win three premierships in a row and then I stopped caring.

SEN reporting Robbie Gray will be at least fined for tripping, his 3rd fine which equals automatic suspension. Massive bonus for us

As an aside that goal review was one of the worst decisions I've seen - that third umpire should be banished. The decision went against all the principles of a review .

That's probably because the 'midgets' weigh more than Oscar McDonald. At the start of the season, Oscar was listed at 82kg, some considerable kilos less than players like Rich, Bastinac and Pearce and Bewick. Freeman, for example, had 14kg on Oscar yesterday, plus a couple of centimetres. Tom Bell had 16kg. I heard a player from another club on the radio yesterday saying that in order to comfortably play as a key defender, he had added 16kg to his frame over the 5 years since he had been drafted. Tom McD is about 12kg heavier than Oscar with the extra 4 years experience. Oscar therefore is a rangy, tall defender who needs some time to build an AFL-ready body. At the same time, some AFL level experience, combined with consolidation for periods at Casey, will benefit his development. Yesterday was a perfect match to give him some time. I don't think we've reached that stage yet. Winning is great, but our window based on the age of our list opens in 2-3 years, and in the meantime development is still as important as winning. Look at some of our team before yesterday and the number of games they've played: Hogan 28 Petracca 3 Oliver 6 Stretch 14 Newton 15 Michie 20 Oscar Mc 3 Hunt 5 Neal-Bullen 11 Wagner 6 Harmes 16 That's half the team that has played less than 30 games. All 11 combined have a tally the same as Jack Watts, and about 25% of Brent Harvey's! I thought yesterday was a good result given the age dimension. My thinking is not only 'in the now' but two years down the track when all these players have added 30-40 games to their experience. I don't know what everyone expects from players so young, but I expect them to make some mistakes. I'm not making excuses, because our season so far has been terrific, but let's be realistic.

Petracca this weeks rising star just released on Twitter

Due to popular demand, I choo choo choose to rename the thread: All aboard the Oliver Express

And here it is...the one I was talking about anyway.

Didn't think we could go any younger but we did. Record youngest side this weekend. 23yo 2 months. 57 games average. 14 players under 50 games. I think GC and GWS first games had a more experienced side. Might be the youngest side that we will field for the next 10 years. We are building something special here.

Was at the game yesterday, Oscar was no where near as bad as some posters are making out. For a bloke playing his 4th game at 19, as a kpd, looks to have a solid future. No surprise to see some of the posters potting him here. The very same ones who just 14 quarters of football ago were saying petracca is a wasted draft pick. The very same posters who will look like even bigger fools when oscar has a consistent run of games and gets to 50-70 games experience. It just defies belief how there are still some wankpuffin posters on here who expect our young players to walk in and instantly be the finished product.

I was impressed with his pre-season form. He's obviously well liked within the club, and I dare say has the right character traits and belief that will establish himself as a regular over time. He's raw, green and is as keen as mustard to improve - much the same as his brother Tom came on after a few years in the system. The premature calls for his head are ridiculous.

I hope he is fine. One player we cannot afford to lose.. at all!

A well deserved rap for Hogan http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/jesse-hogan-on-track-to-better-2015-output-after-another-starring-display-for-melbourne/news-story/861c3e28baf69de23a86bf700107eb86 "In 2016, he ranks inside the top six in the entire competition for marks, contested marks, marks inside 50 and goals. They’re statistical indicators for the quintessential key forward, let alone for one that has proved he can also roam higher up the field". Also 9 games in he has 23 goals; 50% of his 2015 total of 44. Will easily beat that and on track for a 60 to 70 goal season. Good enough to win the Coleman in past years. He has silenced his critics! Big time!

Another sign the MFC is having a good year. Last year this thread would have had 20 pages not 7. The omens are there.

But Gil lowered the price of pies. How many things do you expect him to get on top of Dr? You are very demanding.

We do not have any 'tall' defenders. Oscar is the tallest at 196cm. Tall against recent, older elite forwards but not 'tall' given that most of the best AFL forwards and the young brigade forwards with whom he will compete during his career are mostly over 196cm, right up to 202cm. Yes, Oscar needs to put on weight but this cannot be 'fast tracked'. By the time his body is developed enough he will have 30 to 40 AFL games under his belt. His likely opposition will have more: Moore, Daniher, McCartin, Dixon, Lynch. He may need to be rested from time to time otherwise every game he plays takes him one step closer to being a key member of our backline. Those on here saying he should be at Casey are the same ones who in a few years will be saying we have no defender tall enough to play against the leading forwards! Look beyond this year folks and it is easy to see what the coaches are doing with Oscar.

Possibly robbed him from a rising star nom also. Was a joke of a decision. Trac-man is showing the signs we all thought he would show. So exciting. As soon as he realises he doesn't have to play on at every opportunity, the better. No doubts about him though. A player you want in finals.

I thought Oliver looked a bit pale yesterday as well.

The SEN boys have Watts on and said to Jack you need to go to the AFL and ask permission to wear a high vis vest so your team mates can see you. He laughed it off.

Interesting fact but despite our encouraging 5-4 win/loss ratio, so far our 5 wins have all come from teams we'd already defeated last year (GWS, Collingwood, Richmond, Gold Coast, Brisbane). Our 4 losses were also losses last year, barring the Bulldogs at the G (who thumped us at Etihad later in the season). The only remaining 2015 victory was against Geelong. Point is, I want us to start defeating some teams that have had the wool on us for years, rather than the same teams we already knew we could defeat. We've had some really honorable losses to Port Adelaide in recent years despite their immense form; it's about time we got one back against this mob!

Has been happening to him his entire career. In all seriousness. They've ignored him forever and it beggars belief.

Honestly though, the Pies are seeing exactly what we saw at the MFC. He'll go through a really lean stretch as a forward, go back to defence, look really strong and settled in the back line, go through a really lean patch, get moved forward, look strong and settled for a while, cycle restarts. I reckon Buckley hopelessly misjudged him, thinking he was a much better player than he is. Laughing all the way to the bank with Kennedy IMO.

Oops! My Bad...not Viney. It is a thyroid problem with Salem and he may be out for quite a while. Could be quite serious. Helps explain why he has had a flat start to the year. Wish him well and a speedy recovery.

I have always been very hopeful on Stretch as I was a fan of Steven. He was a West Torrens boy and growing up you didn't get a lot to cheer about with them. I remember when the 'great exodus' of SA players went to Victorian clubs at the time - Steven Stretch was voted least likely to make it. I was delighted he did. In a way following him is what fired my interest in following the Dees. Before that it was really just interest because I played junior footy in the same jumper. Now I have a family cohort of rabid members, albeit in Brisbane so we can't get to see games live. My daughter (12 yr old and a massive Nathan Jones and Daisy Pearce fan) came up with the name T-Rex for Billy. (Little stretch) There were many T-Rex calls and high fives coming from the TV room on Sunday and I hope that continues.

Honestly the guys is an average player. I mean four points from four shots. First player up for trade at the end of the year!!

The OP was not a legitimate assessment. Picket never makes those. But I agree that most have merely commented that he isn't ready which, based on yesterday's performance, would be correct. There is no reason why Dunn couldn't come in and play that role with more confidence in the coming weeks than what OMac has. It doesn't mean the kid won't make it, he just needs a little more time to develop away from the spotlight.

Let OMac spend some time with Brendan and Justin and we will have a good player. He needs development both physically and in game experience.

Hope someone raises how it happened and seek an explanation.

First look at Newton this year, he looks a completely different player and a solid man unit. All hail Football department!

BOG today, he is going to be a superstar and is worth a million a year

We're critiquing a win Strange days

Christian Petracca averages. 20.25 disposals 3.25 marks 0.75 goals 4.5 tackles 5.5 inside 50s Just itching for a full break out, but wowee, very happy with this kid.

"They have a defined role for me up forward." NEK MINNIT

Did anybody else hear the commentary on MMM yesterday after the Collingwood game? Apparently, sending Jeremy Howe down back was a 'masterstroke by Buckley'. Mark Howard then said 'looks like they might have found a new position for him'. Idiots. At least it shows how much attention the footy world has paid to us recently. He's been playing down back for years, ever since we worked out he was a muppet as a forward!

Always been a fan of Stretch when i saw him dominate a reserves grand final as a 16 year for Glenelg. Ran all day and showed real class. Made the comparison to Steele Sidebottom. His development this year has been through the roof. So clean with the ball and rarely wastes it. Looming as a very important member of our best 22.

If this was the Hawks playing the Pies on Friday evening things would be done. It was the dees versus the Lions on sunday arvo on Foxtel. The AFL attitude is no one will notice or care. Next subject.

At 23 degrees, Clarry will be burnt alive. That kid was built for closed stadiums.

Fulfilling his childhood dream of playing in the NFL for his native Fiji in the Olympics as a permanent forward for the Pies.

Jesse says 'we will take a 5/4 start to the season': http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-05-22/well-take-that-season-start-says-hogan " Hogan said it was a genuinely positive start to the 2016 season for the club." Have we exceeded his 'improvement' expectations? One step close to getting his signature, perhaps. His performances over the the last month seem to have quietened his detractors making for more enjoyable footy for him. Signs are all positive. The outline of the new CBA will be known in the next month or two. So, hopefully if he is to sign he will before end of the season.

Once again, someone exaggerates with the old "calling for his head", when a poster makes a legitimate assessment of a young player. I would have thought that we're at a stage that winning is all that matters. In O. Mac's case, development can take place at Casey where it's warranted, not inthe senior side where he looks overawed.

Yep. The review is suppose to show definitive evidence and not possible. In Petraccas example it was possible the ball was touched but not definitive. It was a rubbish review.

Clint, Billy has the footy smarts, trust me. He might not have the grunt of Oliver, but few youngsters do.

Hogan had a very good game, purely based on his work rate. But one thing that this game showed is that a second genuine marking tall forward would really help our forward line. I think we were a little short up forward. Hogan's work rate is one of his best attributes, but opponents can drop off him if he works up the ground too much because there isn't a credible second bomb option inside 50s, so the tall defenders can drop off and know that he can't really move the ball too quickly. Watts' ability to create is fantastic, but he's not a bomb target. This is where a ruck/forward with some workrate, or a genuine tall like Dawes/Weid would help us a lot. It means that Hogan can work up the ground and deliver the ball, but also that his opponent now needs to respect him up the ground to stop him being able to give the other tall opportunities inside 50.

Playing as part of a backline unit, Oscar's team conceded less than 10 goals in a 10 goal win (where the inside 50s were 52 to 45). That suggests that the backline unit performed well. Also, given that the way defend has changed, defending as a team is important and the specific matchups aren't as important. In comparison, the last time Dunn played we conceded 20 goals from a similar number of inside 50s, and Dunn was shifted forward towards the end of the game. The game has changed, and the chemistry of the defence is more important than the ability to defend one on one. Oscar is very mobile, reads the ball very well and generally makes good decision. He positions himself in dangerous spots and helps out his team mates well. The Brisbane talls (everyone, regardless of whether or not they were played as forwards today) combined to kick 1 goal. The two permanent tall forwards combined for 13 disposals in total. Oscar was part of that. This is (predictably) a very poor thread.

His tackles are vice like. Powerful young fellow.

How special are Petracca and Oliver going to be? 20s for Petracca and 18.9 for Clarry. At this stage, Truck makes too many little errors and Clarry rarely makes any errors. They'll both end up being different types of players, but we have two absolute gems there.

It's hanging in the doorway so that he can duck under it every time he walks in the room.

The kid (playing his fourth game I think) had some errors but found the ball 18 times and I am pretty sure his opponent was Schache all day who took one mark and kicked one point. Some peoples focus after a game I just don't get at times.

I'm no mathematical genius, but I'd reckon based on this that if we put Ron Barassi into the guts, then we could play a grand final this year?