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Jack, the poor bastard has had to endure more ridicule and derision than anyone in the history of the game for not being able to be that No.1 pick and saviour he was supposed to be. Through all that he has remained loyal to the MFC when nearly all others would have left. He is Melbourne to his core and I am very happy he will remain with us for the good times.

How's the view from that horse Stu? If posters wish to discuss a football related article in a football forum then they can. If you don't like it, take your horse and [censored] off. I think one of the best decisions we made in recent times was to get rid of Clark. He appears to be a lot of work.

Jack Watts to sign soon.

Yep. Tom, the Ballarat boy, will go to the other side of the country, to the world's most isolated city, to play for a bottom of the ladder side coached by that denizen of attacking football, Ross Lyon.

Aside from his possessions, Jack was basically the only player still running in the fourth quarter when the rest of the team had fallen in a heap. He made a bad error early in the game, but picked himself up and was very solid thereafter. I'm not sure what more he could do in one game, but some people have it in their mind that he is no good, and nothing will ever change that. He deserves a solid run of games without feeling that he is one error away from being dropped, as clearly was the case last year. Congratulations on your 100th this week Jack, and hopefully there are many more to come.

We have driverless cars and we put a man on the moon more than 40 years ago. Is it too much to ask for software to be developed that automatically transfers slanging matches between Stuie and SWYL into a thread of their own invisible to the rest of us?

To be fair Stuie, dazzle merely posted the article. He neither backed it up, nor did he get stuck in to Clark. It's no different to reporting on trade rumours and, going by the article, it seems this in fact did occur. While it's been sorted out it does show that Clark is still a rather ordinary bloke who is doing himself no favours in trying to earn another contract.

Geez, hard to please bunch in here. It was an excellent return and gets a well deserved 100th next week. He has the chance to cement a spot in the side for the rest of the year, and that would likely lead to a contract extension. I, for one, will be in his corner hoping he can get it done.

Jack is repaying the faith that MFC has had in him. A loyal young man. 100% character.

Anyone else you could have a decent discussion on most footy related issue, whether we agree or disagree at the end of the day we all support the Dees and have a good laugh about it here and there. But nope not Stuie.. Always the one wanting to pick little spot fires here and there. What annoys me even more is that this thread will probably get closed down for the stir its now caused which i had no intentions at all to do. Just waiting for Saty to give wack now...

Jack Viney was just on SEN. Some of his comments: - Stomach punch in games is ok - play on! Pay a few $$, so be it. - Re Darwin: Felt like a wet weather game. Need to prepare differently. Can lose a few kilos in fluid. On recovery: rehydration and diet are crucial. Team wants a reputation to be able to win anywhere, any conditions. - On coaching transition: Goodwin in control pre-season games but Roos 'the big dog' throughout the season. - Christian Petracca is his 'bestie' at the club so hangs out with him away from football. - N Jones lacks a bit of power in the boxing ring!!!! (Think he will have to answer to the Captain for that one ) Some interesting insights there. Thought he was excellent, again. Jack doesn't put a foot wrong in the media. Becoming quite adept at giving honest but non-controversial answers.

As long as White stays in we are a chance of breaking the streak against the saints. He has not tasted defeat yet as a Demon and better yet he has 100% strike rate at Etihad.

No, I don't really believe you are sorry. Mean-spirited post of the year, congratulations! (I don't really mean congratulations)

Underestimate Riewoldt at your peril IMO

From the guys down back: Tom Mc: “The backline did a good job...That’s something we’ve tried to work on this year, being super flexible on their (the opposition’s) main key forward or ruckman...at times, Neville Jetta is going to have to play on [Matthew] Pavlich and I’m going to have to go on [Hayden] Ballantyne...We expect that Nev will do the job on Pavlich, when he’s on him and then I’ll do it on Ballantyne, when it’s my time to go. Sometimes you get found out, but in general that flexibility allows us to help the team more often than not.” http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-07-10/mcdonald-praises-backlines-evolvement I guess that answers the questions on DL about why the defenders look mismatched at times. Mitch White: “[Against Freo], we were just talking really well and setting up early and it was a credit to the boys up front...hey really locked it in and put the pressure on, which helped us and allowed us to set-up really quickly.” http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-07-10/mitch-made-of-white-stuff Good description of 'team defence', right there. The 'Diamond Defence' is here to stay and it looks to be working better each week. I guess the leaking out back vs Ess, StK and Port was the learning 'we had to have'. We will know next Sunday.

I was actually very graceful and dignified in victory, you would have been quite impressed. I kept my celebration low key, similar to below. Confetti, tux, lighting and all. I even paid for some extras to come in and clap me on. On departure from work, I drove down the Main Street of Fremantle with my scarf out the window, the club song playing and verbally abused anyone I could.

He's very mentally tough individual. To have copped all the pressure and negativity hurled at him since he was thrown to the wolves in his debut through until now shows the character and toughness he has. I can't recall anyone in football having as much crap thrown at them as Watts has endured. Now he can finally flip off all the haters and stand tall as a quality player. Will be happy when the news is official, but for now I'm just wrapt for him as a person to be producing the quality he was always capable of. Good onya Jack!

Sorry to those who wasted time writing pretty reasonable posts on the Nathan Jones argument, but this clearly is not the right thread for that discussion, and all (ir)relevant posts have been deleted.

Issues between Clark and a teammate's girlfriend? Sound familiar anyone?

Not sure this is the best idea. HIs last game was against the same opponent at the same venue, and it looked as though the coaching staff didn't know where to hide him. Ended up going forward; looked like a shot duck, unable to fit into a new style of play.

Oh, the irony. Your seal of disapproval is comforting.

Reading some of these comments, it seems individual bias has taken away from what was a pretty good game from Grimes. To come in for your first game of the season (pretty late in the season too) and be the second leading disposal getter for your side is rather impressive. Its easy to say he won't be on the list etc. In reality, if Jack is doing what needs to be done, improving in areas coaches have asked him, then theres every chance he stays on the list. Look at how Neville Jetta took his chance. In no way am I saying he will do the exact same as Jetta. But it shows what good coaching and a chance to players who deserve it can really do. As a Melbourne fan, I'm ecstatic at how Grimes has responded. From his attitude to playing VFL all year, to finally getting his chance. He never once threw it in. Grimes worked tirelessly all season and as a former captain of the club, Id imagine it would be hard to be told that if he's to play in this new era side, his game needs to change. Previous regimes wouldn't have taken that on board and got up and left (Ie Moloney etc). Which is the easy way out. With this attitude, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that as he wants to put in the work, he very may end up a best 22 player. Again, I use the Jetta example. Grimes became captain of this club (Peer voted) for a reason. Its safe to believe those reasons are his (Positive) attitude and leadership. Grimes has a long way to go, but if were judging on his output and where that puts his career trajectory, I think its breaking even and soon turning on the ascent.

Why do people want Petracca out? 18 disposals (9 kicks, 9 handballs) 2 marks 4 tackles 0 goals , 0 behinds Not blistering stats by any means, but not terrible under the circumstances. He attempted many things which didn't come off due to conditions. I would definitely give him another game next week and hope for some magic on the dry Etihad.

I've never had a problem with these games played interstate ... the whole recovery issue is massively overstated as well. We've been a poor team for the better part of 10 years and that's why we've lost games anywhere & everywhere as a result. It's all about the levels of talent. The players will be recovered well by Wednesday and if we lose to St Kilda next week, it will be because they've played better on the day. The members receive 2 replacement games as compensation for these games played interstate and also, the club needs the extra dollars anyway so it's a win/win/win as far as I'm concerned. It's been stated that we receive up to 500k-600k for each of these games and let's face it it, we'd probably only pull about 23-25 thousand to the MCG for this fixture (which only converts to about 100k - 150k to the coffers) Same goes for the Port game in the Alice. Last season we lost this fixture to the Eagles because they were the superior team ... the following week the Eagles dispatched Freo whilst we blew a game against the Bombers because of poor conversion in front of goal. In the end, the games played up there and the games played immediately afterwards are decided on talent.

Look through this thread and many many many posters had Grimes delisted and moved on (with no future AFL opportunity). Jack is a very talented footballer and has worked to improve his playing style. His tackling and marking are of a very high standard. His character is unquestionable. His skills have improved and are better than many others in the team. I think there is a spot in our best 22 for Jack Grimes for this year and beyond.

Ordinary, Ordinary bloke...... Just ask Lethal Leigh, Paul Roos and now the Geelong Footy Club. Always has been and always will be all about Mitch......

Who would have thought that ditching him was one of the best things we've ever done?

Here are the reasons why I support the NT deal: - cash - goes without saying. - academy - I don't know the details of how this works, but anything that gives us the inside running on talent is obviously a good thing. - home advantage - perhaps slightly controversial, but playing in the NT may eventually give us a BETTER home advantage than the MCG. It's a pretty unique place to play footy and we should handle it a lot better given we've played there twice a year for the last 6/7 years than a side going up there for there for the first or second time. Opposition teams play on the MCG all the time and the climate is never a factor. - preparation for finals - it can be really hot in September (and early October). If we've played in the heat twice during the year, it may just give us an edge when it really bloody matters! - indigenous communities - as much as I question how much a footy clinic addresses the massive problems in indigenous communities, it's nice that the club is at least trying to do its bit tackling social issues.

Reiwoldt, Montagna, Steven will be the top 3 players for them. Write it down. Hey, maybe we should try to take them out of the game? What a radical idea.

Agree with him? Picket is just using the "they allowed him to play well" card to justify his childish views. Tom played a ripper of a game, including some effective marks, spoils and rebounds from half back. Can't ask for much more from a key backman.

I like it. At least they know how to mic up reporters at post match press conferences.

He played on one of the premier forwards in the comp. Yes Pavlich may be old, but he is still a great player.

wtf?

Correct jnr and that is one reason why we lose to the better sides. I want to see him play well against the better sides. We know he can do it against the bottom teams but doing it against the better sides is the difference between being an ok player and a good player. IMO right now he is Ok.

Kent played well but I want to see him play good games when the team gets beaten. He goes missing badly in our losses.

That is what I thought a few weeks ago and we know how that turned out. Ignore him at your peril.

What he did repeatedly last night was run and spread to create options. That cannot be underestimated given what we have had top put up with for many years. And he defended well when he had to. It's exactly what we need from him. Well done Jack. Congrats on reaching 100 games.

Dermott also referred to Big Max, " you have to remember when Max is just standing on the ground and gets a tap out, hes still tapping from 207cm" Well actually Derm if hes standing on the ground and tapping, then presumably his arm is most likely above his head, which would make it easily 327+, but anyway.. ..keep that part time Meth lab going Derm..

you'd have to be mad...or on drugs.... to run with the bulls.....oh....wait a minute

Agree with your first paragraph Macca. It's so utterly obvious that our poor performances up there are completely related to our shizen performance as a club in that period. As for the finances, I just heard that it's worth $3.2m over the next two years. As well as that it gives us an inside running with our NT Academy. I would hope that out FD have learnt enough about how to train for and play in the Darwin conditions to turn it into a 'fortress' for us. As an aside, we struggle much more to win at Geelong, and we've never lost by 186 points in either Darwin or Alice.

Here's a nice change, a win against St Kilda.