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We get great drive from both Macs. Both take chances with attacking kicks and handballs. Tom especially switches play on an almost constant basis. You wouldn't know it reading this site though ... the obsessive/compulsive urge to disect and criticise their every move is dismaying. Get used to having both of them in the backline for a long time to come. Both played well again today and it's about time credit was given to both players.

Carlton playing bruise free football.

Just finished watching the replay. We played some seriously good footy, albeit against a poor Carlton outfit. Blues fans would hope they won't be that bad this year, but they looked out of their depth all day and we did what a good side should - put them to the sword. The one thing I took from this game is that the discussion over who plays over someone else is almost a moot point now. We have depth all over the ground, so if someone like Jetta were to miss Round 1 for someone like Melksham then no one should be disappointed. I'm not saying that will happen, but we have good players all over the ground now and we should have tremendous confidence in the side that is picked. There will be plenty of unlucky players who miss out against the Saints. It's exciting. Our young players look fit, strong and ready to take the next step and they are well supported by the veterans of the side. Melksham and Hibberd add further experience and some class to the side, while our game plan as a whole looks the goods. In the past teams would cut us open on the rebound, but there were many times I noticed that the Blues would rebound to the wing or half forward and end up having nowhere to go as we had cut off all their avenues. That, to me, is one of the big positives. All in all we rolled an average side, but that average side were spanked by a very good side. I can't wait to see this team continue to grow and improve.

I watch our games without the pre-conceived biases that many have. I judge all players equally. Your relentless bagging of Tom makes you look like you're obsessed with him. Along with a few others here of course. Backmen are going to make mistakes - have you ever played footy? If so, have you ever played as a key back? You and others refuse to ever give him any credit which also confirms your bias. Did you hear what Danny Frawley had to say about his game today? It was glowing and I'll take his opinion over yours anyday. Again, he played very well today and if you can't see that I can't help you. Open your eyes.

I don’t see what everyone’s complaining about. The last time I went to Casey, they hadn’t invented money there yet. I had to barter with livestock.

Classic MFCSS. Melbourne does well in the pre-season - "don't read too much into it". St Kilda does well in the pre-season - "I'm concerned about how good St Kilda looks".

Well I played most of my footy at CHB so I guess that makes me slightly biased For the record Tom McDonald had 1 clanger and it came when the game was in the bag. I clanger in a 9 goal victory. And I lost count of the amount of effective spoils he made. And that's his main job. Jones had 5 clangers, Salem 4 & Viney 3 ... and all 3 players played very well. Joel Smith had 4 clangers ... Melksham, Vince & Oliver 3 each but again, we're never going to play a perfect brand of footy. You need to start judging all our players in the same way that you judge Tom McDonald. You'll make more sense then, dazzle.

That was some of the best football I've seen Melbourne play in a very long time. Practice match or not that was four quarters of sublime football.

No way Melksham displaces Jetta. Jetta is a better defender by far, and better/smarter ball user. And harder at it. Hibberd I like Loved that Lewis just played a cameo role. Liking Omac's development, played a very good game. Much prefer the ball in his hands than his brothers. We missed some class at ground level in the forward line. Need Garlett/Kent fit and firing. Oliver, Salem, Hogan and Petracca all outstanding and look in ripping nick. lol what is Marc Murphy doing fighting Viney? Brock Lesnar v Ronda Rousey.

I have heard that many people in Casey take cash, (and anything else portable that you don't tie down) especially if you don't hang on to you wallet very carefully.

Petracca's vision is outstanding.

Petracca is going to be a headache for opposition sides. Hard match up. Going to be some player. Last week he out bodied Marcus Adams, this week he is pin pointing blokes and moving like Jayden Hunt. What a hard match up.

Who plans their day in 2017 to the extent that one must assume that an AFL fixture is played at a venue that doesn't have eftpos facilities? I can understand it in an under-age suburban competition but there were thousands of people there.

Tom McDonald has been one of our best. No errors, no turnovers & he has beaten his man. Is giving us good drive out of defence as well.

Clayton Oliver is a deadset freak.

Really hoping Trenners gets a go today.

Oi! It's lazy, computer-bound people bringing you this little website you're posting your rant in. And my knees are fine, if not getting a little creaky these days, thanks for asking

Why this unhealthy obsession that requires making comparisons about everything that happens with the Neeld era? Most of the time the comparisons are remote and irrelevant which indicates these people are acting out of spite, stupidity or both. Just build a bridge and get over it.

Watching the reply - I'm pretty sure Spud Frawley thinks ANB's name is Neil Bullen.

Casey Fields is a pathetic venue and all things considered I'm pleased with the performance. It's not easy to shine there and I truly can't remember any player ever "starring" at that joint. Really pleased with Petracca's game and felt it was a bit of a break through for him Oliver is getting closer to dominating games. The McDonalds will have "McDonald" moments, but their value is immense.

Totally agree. I think TMac plays exactly how the coaches want him to play. They want him to be attacking with his ball use, and that means taking risks. When you take risks, there will always be times when it hurts you badly, but on the whole, the credit column is far longer than the debit column. It's only fans who seem to expect no clangers.

Gone are the days of a best 22 for every match of the h/a season - MFC have evolved - so should the punters thinking...

Just RE: the debate on Jetta. I think what Goodwin and the FD have been building for a few years now is an ethos on versatility. We have multiple options for multiple positions at the moment. Depth is what the very best sides have and it's certainly what the Bulldogs showed they had last year. Jetta may well be left out Round 1, but he may well play against a team such as Adelaide or Port Adelaide, as he traditionally has the measure of their small forwards. It'll be a needs based selection process from now on, which given where we've been, is a terrific place to be in.

Just finished watching the replay as I rarely attend pre season games. On the whole I think we really used the ground to our advantage and stretched the opposition as wide as possible, allowing us to move the ball as we liked. Our ball movement was really impressive, but equally, the Blues were a shambles. We out worked them and looked hungry at most contests. Petracca, Oliver, Jones, Lewis, Hogan and even Melksham were stand outs for me. But a great all round team performance. A difficult one to judge though as the Blues are hopeless. Good to beat them though as they are somewhat of a bogey side. The Gawn/Spencer experiment continues to be intriguing, although I maintain the party line on that one. I'm not sure it'll be used too often in the season proper. I love that we take risks to move the ball on quickly at all costs. Shifting onto our opposite foot, handballing without touching the ground (ie Gawn), using the width of the ground to keep it moving. I've got enough out of the pre season comp. Now I'm ready for the season proper.

Went to wind mine back when I got out of the car. But someone had already nicked it. Just joking. As if I'd go to Casey.

Had most Metres gained on the ground along with 10 score involvements! He`ll be playing Round 1 if he has another game like that against WC

Can they also please themselves?

On the flip side, he can count to 150 and that's no mean feat in Cranny.

Normally put this meaningless ladder elsewhere but it seems appropriate for here and now - the live ladder:- Melbourne 2 - - 208 148 140.5 8 GWS Giants 1 - - 70 37 189.2 4 Gold Coast Suns 1 - - 81 57 142.1 4 Richmond 1 - - 92 73 126.0 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Collingwood 1 - - 105 94 111.7 4 Hawthorn 1 - - 98 94 104.3 4 North Melbourne 1 - - 65 63 103.3 4 St Kilda 1 - - 57 56 101.8 4 Port Adelaide - 1 - 56 57 98.2 0 Sydney Swans - 1 - 63 65 96.9 0 Geelong - 1 - 94 98 95.9 0 Western Bulldogs - 1 - 86 92 93.5 0 Essendon - 1 - 94 105 89.5 0 Adelaide - 1 - 73 92 79.3 0 Brisbane Lions - 1 - 57 81 70.4 0 Carlton - 1 - 62 116 53.4 0 West Coast Eagles - 1 - 37 70 52.9 0

TMac makes really bad decisions with the ball. Cost us a couple of goals. lots of positives, but blues were witches hats.

Petracca could be scarily good this year.

Disagree, Spencer hasn't taken a mark hasn't troubled the scorers and only had 6 hitouts. All of Watts Frost and Pederson are better choices

I'm pleased for Spencer but I'm not sold on having two rucks against the Aints at Etihad, round 1.

Im not one to really get excited at the start of a game but Farrrrrkkk we look good!

Quite comfortable with this now. He obviously needed a refresher course in maintaining training standards and received it. It's a shame he needed it, but I reckon Macca is on the money with his "block-head" concept (even if the term itself is questionable) - it's clear Watts doesn't have the singular drive that the likes of Viney have. I don't begrudge that - I see drive as a trait just as inherent as talent - you have it or you don't. The important thing is that Goodwin and co continue to work with Watts to ensure the standards remain high rather than "disciplining" him, which is hopefully what is happening here.

Casey Fields is a bot like Stalingrad, now that you mention it, flat, desolate and populated by people from yesteryear, shall we say?

In thisday and age no eftpos is ridiculous. Wife does markets and even we have mobile eftpos pay facility. Agree with Dieter, very poor, last century thinking.

Murphy taking on Viney, lol

Im calling it now. Spencer and Weideman as lock ins for round one. Weed works so hard and is very smart, a perfect foil for Hoges. Spencer is in good form and allows Gawn more time in the forward line. Both make us a better side, much more balanced and dangerous.

All Marc Murphy does is play for frees. What a sook.

Doubt Melksham is in our best 22 at the moment.

Lumumba

FARRRRKKKK! Drain Russell

Rhys Palmer is playing his first game with the Blues after being traded from GWS with pick 135. He'll kick 6 today.

Rocky!!!!!!!!!!!

I just think there's a lot of dubious psychology being raised about tough love, iron gloves and so-called "attitudinal" problems. There's a lot of readily ascertainable measures of the fitness of a professional footballer (for example flexibility, strength, aerobic capacity, body fat, etc.) Goodwin and the fitness staff at Melbourne would have a good idea of where Watts is on these measures compared to where he was when he was playing well and meeting the fitness targets in 2016. It's not hard to show Watts what the difference is and what he has to do to reach previous levels. I'd imagine Watts is intelligent enough to see the problem and work on it, which is exactly what he and the coaching staff are doing. The issue is also to avoid him falling out of condition next year to the extent he seems to have over summer this year. This is where the real application and "attitudinal" issues arise.

As an ex-gun player, Goodwin recognises what is holding Watts back from being a gun player, and is determined to make him fulfil his potential. Too early to assess outcomes, but Neeld's approach was an iron fist in a velvet glove, minus the velvet glove.

We should give it to Josh Kelly then