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You gotta take your chances when they come and we should be 4-0 so not happy with 2-2.

From what I saw of the game Frost looked far better than O. McDonald.

To be honest and without getting hysterical, I think we need to decide if we want to blood players or win games. Clearly ATM we can't do both.

What a load of bullish!t. I hope the mods delete this pathetic effort of a thread. Blaming Bernie over one effort for today's loss is narrow-minded.

The coach and game - plan are good. Really strong defensive structures, hard around the contest and bold ball movement. Right now it's not happening for long enough, but it will. At times we're moving the footy too quickly from D50 and too slowly from forward of centre. We'll get the balance right.

We didn't lose due to last week's selections. Frost was as good as Oscar and Bugg was OK. We were up at half-time and showed in the last that if we didn't fall asleep in the third we win. Supporters grasp at straws for reasons we lost and are invariably wrong.

I've only read the first third of this thread, but I'm yet to read that Weideman got a corked thigh in the first quarter and was clearly impeded yet competed for high balls, especially in the last. I like him for structure, but agree a spell in the twos wouldn't hurt him. We didn't lose because of Weideman. We lost because there's a lack of leadership in the midfield. There's a tonne of talent, but a lack of experience. They got complacent at half-time and lacked composure in the third when momentum went the other way. There wasn't a senior player take a few of the mids aside and mix up the tempo by controlling the footy with a more marking game. They still went helter skelter with the wrong mix of kicks to handballs and kept on turning it over. As gutted as I am by the loss I can also see the quality of the team we're going to have in the not too distant future. And even this year we're going to put some good teams to the sword with a 4 quarter performance, which we're yet to see. I was annoyed that Oliver started on the pine in the last and couldn't get back on until exactly the 9 minute mark. I'm not suggesting it cost us the game, as we kicked two very quick goals, but I doubt it helped. Gawn, Hogan, Lewis, Hibberd, Brayshaw will all hopefully be fit and firing by year's end.

On a dirty day, Big Spence was a shining light. He was never going to win the hit outs but competed very well, snagged a few goals and took some solid grabs. If only he played last week when Max went down, we just might have won. Rapt for the big fella, deserves a good crack at senior footy.

Spot on. Today's the first day that I can honestly say I'm fed up... with Demonland. I don't think I can take another minute of the full grown adult tantrums that go on every time we lose. I think you can be bitterly disappointed - and believe me, I am - without resorting to ridiculous over the top pessimism. It's getting really, really old. Nearly time for me to go on a self imposed hiatus for the three days following a loss.

At times, yes, absolutely!

In the AFLCA, Bernie was equal 2nd with Max on 5 votes, behind Clarrie on 9. It's fair to say he was very good. He made some crucial errors yesterday but he wasn't Robinson Crusoe there.

Went to the game, disgusted with the 3rd quarter, had a nice dinner, spoke to my 84yr old mum to wish her Happy Easter and watched Spurs beat Bournemouth, it's only footy

There's one Melbourne game from the distant past that always sticks in my memory. No ... it's not the 1964 grand final (not saying that wasn't memorable, by the way) but rather, it was the next game the Demons played immediately after winning the premiership - it was against Richmond in Round 1, 1965. The Tigers had been perennial losers ever since I could remember but they had a young up and coming side. We had won six flags out of the previous possible ten but were on the wane. We still had sufficient players experienced in the ways of winning while they didn't. We beat them by a goal that day because they had the talent but didn't know how to win - not even their most experienced players. Richmond lost their next two games as well but things started clicking for them. They learned how to win and they ended up finishing fifth. By 1967 they were winning flags and went through a golden era in their history over the next decade and a half. We won the first 8 games and then fell off the perch. There's a lesson there somewhere.

I think we have far more talent on the list than the thread starter, although I agree with some of his sentiments. You get multiple threads like this when you lose. If we beat Richmond and get on a roll the bounce will be back in the step of most. 22 rounds is a lot of footy. I'm not going to react like a roller coaster to every loss or missed opportunity.

It's round 4. Richmond aren't top four and Sydney and hawthorn aren't bottom three. It's simply too early to tell.

There were clearly a lot of mistakes at the end and that's what angered me the most. Despite playing fairly poorly for most of the day, having two pivotal players out in Gawn and Hogan and conceding 7 goals without reply in the third quarter, the fact is we hit the front with three minutes to go in the game. And we still couldn't close it out. They talk about learning and development but what have we learnt in terms of holding onto leads? Two years ago we couldn't even hold onto a lead with 40 seconds left against St Kilda. Montagna walked into an unguarded goal and kicked the winner. Of all the types of goals that can be kicked, the one that just should not happen in those circumstances is an open goal from the goal square. We failed to put numbers back and threw the game away. They said we'd learn from that and not make those mistakes again. Yet how did Freo score their last goal? McCarthy runs onto the ball at the back of the pack and into an open goal square. How can you leave the defensive side of a defensive 50 contest open when you are a few points up with under 2 minutes to play. It's just inexcusable at Under 12s level let alone AFL. I'm not saying we should have sent 5 men back, but surely you stick two players back, with one sweeping up defensive side of the contest. In these situations you simply have to force the opposition to do something special to win the game - take a pack mark, kick a 55m goal, etc. If Sandilands marks over four players and kicks the match winner, well you just have to cop it. But letting them run onto a loose ball and into an open goal is unfathomable. So it seems we learned nothing from the St Kilda game. Did anyone in the backline call players back after we hit the front? Did Jones or Viney yell at a few forwards to go down into defence? Do we even have plans to deal with these situations or do we just play aggressively all the time? We have been hard and tough this year and have shown great effort, but we are a long way away in terms of footy smarts and composure.

Using Watts in the ruck is like using your Rolls Royce to take your rubbish to the dump on the back seat when you have a perfectly good ute sitting in the carport, you just shouldn't do it, particularly when you have practically no other key forwards on the park.

i've been to every game this year. it's the most in a row i've seen us for some time - i think the most games i saw in a row last year was three. that third quarter was the worst for the year, without doubt. however, i actually only tipped us in one of these games; the win against carlton. and i actually had freo finishing 9th when i did a ladder predictor thing at the start of this year; with their experience and an actual forward set up, they were always going to be significantly better this year. on the whole i'm okay with our start to the year - if you told me that hibberd would not have played a game, frost would've played 1 (i thought both were clear best 22), gawn effectively two and a quarter, and hogan and lewis 2 a piece, i think on the balance of things i'd be 'okay' with a 2-2 start to the year. i had us down as a 10-12 record this year, and i wonder whether we can get to 10 wins if the big man misses the minimum of the next 11. gawn is going to be a massive loss for the vast majority of the season. i really do worry that we're going to amount to nothing better than ordinary over the next 5-7 years, sort of like we were under daniher, where we were good enough to make finals six times in nine years but never really truly threaten to be a premiership chance. really amazed by the start to the year for oliver, petracca, very impressed by anb, stretch, and super excited by hunt. watts has been really good after the bizarre preseason shenanigans, and the same goes for jetta and garlett - the latter's hard work up the ground has been exemplary. really disappointed by the start to the year for weideman and hannan after a reasonable first game, neither have been anywhere near it in the last two games in particular, i didn't agree with making viney co-captain and something clearly ain't right with the boy, brayshaw, tyson, and melksham have some of the worst disposal imaginable, and hogan, vince, and particularly lewis owe the team big time after getting rubbed out for extended periods of time. we're a game and a half off the quarter mark of the season. it's a super even year this year, and i'm still actually reasonably excited about how the rest of the year could pan out, but also utterly terrified it could all fall in a hole too.

Yep particularly in the first half BBO, was extremely frustrating. It showed the Dockers had come to play as they were going at 110% & pressuring us all over the ground.

I remember Neita taking strong marks and slotting them through from 50. Fat Fev could do it. Dunstall and Lockett - you could put money on them. Now we get blokes on 500k a year missing from point blank consistently. FMD!!

After Viney's goal Watts signalled to the bench to ask whether he should go back or not. The bench signalled to him to stay put. I think we took the view that with 3 minutes left it was too early to flood back. The bigger issue is what happened once we took possession in the back half and, most of all, why, once the ball came out (through Vince) we only left three players in the defensive 50 - Fremantle had a 4-on-3 for the McCarthy goal, that is absolutely inexcusable. Even if not flooding back, it's unfathomable that we were outnumbered. Pathetic? That was the largest crowd we've ever drawn to an MCG home game against Fremantle. Easter is a reasonably decent excuse, by the way. Not everyone or every family forgoes a four-day weekend to stay back to watch a football game, especially when the opponent is Fremantle (not exactly a blockbuster). And unless you were sitting in the Fremantle cheer squad, the crowd was quite obviously more vocal. Pretty weak complaint, IMO.

Let them get big heads. The bandwagons gotta come off the rails soon enough...

I guess the most frustrating parts are, we should definitely be 4-0 and we should have beaten Freo at the MCG where they have a terrible record. I disagree with some that Fremantle played well, I thought they were hopeless which is why I was fuming. They really did play badly besides one quarter and we still lost it! Go figure. We have definitely improved from previous years, no question, however there are still some alarm bells there that still exist. Our disposal and decision making is still terrible, this is often hidden by decent DE% but I think a lot of that is from cheap handballs around the back of a pack in a circle which cloud our overall use by foot. Besides Watts, Salem & to a lesser extent Petracca & Oliver in close - I don't trust anyone to hit a target at any time consistently. This is just simply not good enough, whether it is poor coaching or recruiting I don't know but we are going to always struggle putting sides away because of this. This does concern me as it is not a quick fix, we need to draft better disposers. This is really hurting us in the backline if you go through the names, Salem a single exception. Backline - Salem & Jetta tick, Vince is not a backmen and shouldnt play there, McDonald lets his great work down with some stupid dropped marks and poor decisions. Frost a definte improvement on Oscar. Melksham is a disgrace, always has been, Dons fans still laughing at us. Hibberd should do well. Another alarm bell & one that has annoyed me for many years is the topic of leadership & leaders. So often when the game is in the balance or we are getting smashed our senior players & leaders go missing. First culprit is Nathan Jones. While a Demonland & fan favorite, I personally have never rated the guy to the levels people put him on. He was a standout in a pathetic side for many years, racking up cheap handballs out the back of packs & throwing the ball on the boot only to butcher it going forward with kicks - not a captain. Speaking of captains, 1. I'm not sure why the hell we would put Jack Viney in such a position after the Trengove/Grimes debacle, does the club not learn? 2. It is standing out like dogs balls that there is conflict between these guys. I watched them closely yesterday, not very encouraging of each other. Also there was no running back to the middle to get the group of mids in a huddle before a ballup from either Jones/Viney, there certainly was from the Freo mids. In fact I was quite appalled with Jones' body language and plodding back to the centre after Freo goals. He is the last left of a bad era, he has served us well in a crap time (not knocking his endeavour), just his leadership. The Co-Captaincy is just stupid, one it has upset Jones and two, it is affecting Viney significantly, he's been as poor as anyone so far and that is the only thing that has changed. I cant remember which quarter it was, 3 or 4 but on the HFF for Freo one of their players waltzed through a small gap between Jones & Viney, both of them made no effort to tackle or lunge then looked up at each other and put their heads down. That's when I became frustrated. I think we need a leader from another club to come in from a winning culture to give the captaincy to, for eg Lewis or Ablett type, I feel for Jones but he just doesn't know how to win a game. We seem to be shutting down the opposition mids for big parts of the games but not capitalizing through good disposal & accurate goal kicking. Better set sets in the last two weeks and we would be sitting on top of ladder or close to it, so that's important to remember. The Melbourne of previous years would be 0-4 and getting belted so we have improved heaps, just need better composure and stop over hand balling and finessing. i50's are very positive as are shots on goal but we really need to nail those set shots. On bad days that alone will keep us in games much like Geelong. And then when the opposition mids get on top they crucify us, Jones & Viney are there amongst it and not doing anything! Billy Stretch needs to back himself in more than running around in circles, he has the pace so use it. Spencer very serviceable against a bloke who would beat any ruckmen. The Coach - I'm going with a tick so far, bar the Co-Captaincy. He can only control the players to a certain extent then it's up to the leaders. There is no doubt the boys are playing for him. A couple of things though, over hand balling and a very offensive game plan will need to be reined in a bit. In the last two games there has been too many cheap goals scored when the opposition gets out the back. Against Geelong, Omac was somehow getting caught one on one with Tom Hawkins, not sure who was to blame but Goodwin should have sorted that out quickly. A few of his selections have also raised eyebrows, personally I would've played Spencer the week before and gave Max a lot of time up forward to clunk his marks, plus Melksham & Oscar getting a gig for way too long. Vince in the backline just shouldn't continue! Forward line - seems dysfunctional but we are still scoring freely, just not accurately with squandered set shots. Hogan is a big out in terms of team balance & structure, but I'm still shocked at why he and Lewis got so many weeks! Perhaps play Trengove up forward for a while in a Menzel type role, see how he goes. I'm not sure how or where Hannan fits in just yet but needs to do more. And how brilliant has Watts been this year for someone who hardly got a game in JLT, he has stood up better than I had imagined & along with Oliver has carried us so far. We just need to get it into his hands more than 14 times, he creates play and normally goals when he touches the ball, but he is not a ruckmen & should be played on a wing so he can also get back when we are getting some heat. Petracca is going to be a star and I'd like to see him with more of the ball to be honest, maybe more time in the midfield, we need these two to get 25+ touches a game along with Salem. So a combination of happy we have improved but frustrated at what could have been but definite improvement. Just need to really focus on our lack of leadership issues, set shots and disposal by foot. Next 4 weeks are crucial and I would like to see us 5-3 and after the next 8 weeks 9-3/8-4. Anything less than 8-4 and I will be slightly disappointed. One last thing, yesterdays crowd was pathetic. Merely 28,000 at a guess for a MFC home game against a side we should of beaten. Besides Easter what is everyone's excuse? The Freo crowd was also more vocal. Anyway all the best and lets cheer the boys on in coming weeks, a big test of leadership on the line. See you all in another 4 weeks and Happy Easter.

One thing I noticed yesterday was the number of times Freo players smothered the ball from a Melb kick attempt. Reckon I saw this 5 times - much more than usual. Were we slow on those occasions? Was it just the result of close pressure? Whatever the reason it's a terrific team moral and confidence booster.

Some of our players are ignoring some absolute basics when in the process of having a set shot for goal. I see the same errors time and time again and it's as if they can't believe their good fortune in having that set shot ... Walking back with their backs to the goals (a no-no) ... every single moment counts when lining up for goal plus there's always a chance to dish the ball off to a player in a better position. Not trying to improve the angle of a shot ... walking backwards towards the opposition's far behind post should be the default move and we should be doing that 100% of the time. The umpire may well be awake to the tactic but not always. Also, a number of our forwards also get caught playing from behind far too much - but that's been an issue for years. A good forward relishes the front position - all the great forwards have that instinct. Of course, a forward doesn't have to be in front every time but must do when the ball comes in quickly or in a haphazard way. Basics.

The only mistake Goody has done in regards to leadership is to promote Viney too early. But once again, we have no one like s Selwood who takes the game by the scruff of the neck and drags the team along or stops the rot. The siren stopped the rot for us in the third quarter, not jones, not Viney, not tmac, not Vince. No one did anything and it was plain to see.

I am disappointed about the 3rd quarter - just as I was disappointed about Hogan and Lewis being the difference against Geelong. I am satisfied with our start to the year in a league that is now so even but that erodes with quarters like yesterday. It's all about the next quarter, the next week, for me. Sure you have shown me intensity and confidence against this side, do it again for 30 mins...do it again next week. The group is young but they have an abundance of everything except relevant excuses. 30 mins like the one we endured yesterday should not be happening.

Seriously do we need a new thread for each individual to carck the [censored]

One quarter. It's one quarter at the moment that is hurting us. In our wins we were able to cover it - we had a poor first term against the Saints and a shocker in the third against Carlton. Against Geelong we had a poor last quarter and we all know what happened yesterday. We are doing most things right - our attacking intent and ability to hit the scoreboard has been good. We are winning more than our share of the football and getting plenty of inside 50s. You could argue that our zone defence is still taking a little time, but it's seemingly these lapses in concentration for a quarter that are hurting us. I could handle 3-1, but we shouldn't have allowed ourselves to get rolled yesterday. When we look at our side we can see further improvement - Neal-Bullen and Salem have flourished, Hunt has taken the next step, Garlett is playing his best footy for the club, Oliver has had an amazing month and so on. When others catch up or get themselves back into form then we'll add further consistency.

Not many would disagree with the fact Bernie wasn't at his best in the last few minutes and it's easy to concentrate on that at the expense of other team issues. But we lost not because Bernie missed a kick in the last few minutes, we lost because the whole team failed to compete in the third quarter. I think the call that Bernie is finished is premature but who knows, Dazzle might be right or he might put this down as more humble pie like his calls on Hunt and Salem. Dazzle is very fond of humble pie. There is no doubt we concentrate on players who get the ball and make mistakes but what about Neville Jetta. His games last week and this week were pretty ordinary. Bernie had more contested possessions this week than Jetts has had in two weeks. The opposition smalls have had a picnic against us two weeks in a row. Melksham has been ordinary all year but he's not being dissected and analysed like Bernie because he was so poor, and, like Jetts, he couldn't get the ball and therefore didn't "make mistakes". Red says Vince's positioning when Freo scored their last goal was stupid. He blamed Bernie, not Melksham or Jetts (or any number of other players). Heaven knows why but perhaps he knows more than me and knows it was Bernie who should have been behind the ball. Frankly I think like all of us he's just bitterly disappointed and at the moment Vince is being made the scapegoat. I'm no expert on what the stats mean and I know people with views disregard stats when they work against them and use them to support arguments but Vince had 25 possessions, 9 contested and 10 intercept possessions. He had 2 clangers. Face value that's a pretty good game. McDonald, who I reckon had an absolute stinker, had 7 clangers and missed a simple mark resulting in a goal in the third. But we're not blaming McDonald. Viney, ANB, Watts and Weed missed simple shots but no, we're blaming Bernie because his mistake was in the last minute or so. I'm happy to back Bernie in, I don't need a specific scapegoat because I reckon 22 players went missing in the third quarter and another two have gone missing for two games each so it's a list issue not a specific player issue.

AF there is no 'saving' Weeds and no room for someone to be 'carried' at this level. That's ok at high school or amateurs level. He occasionally shows glimpses of promise when out in space and gifted the ball when the whole team's doing well. Never seen him stand up when things aren't going so well. Had another opportunity yesterday 15 meters out and failed. All that will happen if we keep flogging the horse is..... ....Weeds' defender will be more likely to drop off him most of the time and go third up to blanket Hogan. Then we have two forwards who will be ineffective in the air (one already is...Hogan will be less effective) and only one who 'might' impact a little at ground level. As I said before yesterday's match, a Tim Smith or even an 80% fit (or thereabouts) Pedders is at least a 50% improvement on Weeds at this points. Weeds wouldn't be the first player to have had a peek at what the AFL looks like before returning to a lessor league to work on his craft and build a bigger bod & tank. He is miles off it at this point and wasn't anywhere near it when they first trialled him late last year. Unfortunately some coach/s or assistant within the FD has decided he 'shows' something and is 'too good' for Casey. Big big mistake. No one is too good unless they have the tank and are performing at a decent level on the main stage comsistantly most weeks. He might end up being good and needs to be persisted with (when ready) but he is a glaring black hole at this point. When we change the attitude that 'promising' players should be gifted as many games as possible until they get to an acceptable AFL level at the selection table we will finally turn things around and start winning 3/4/5 games in succession and start making finals. If we don't, we won't and as supporters we will continue to scratch our heads and ask a bazillion questions as to why we continually can't quite get there and continue to lose very winnable matches, like yesterday.

The problem is that yesterday's third quarter was season killing, because it revealed an absolute inability to maintain a defensive game plan under pressure. We are arguably the most brittle and easily exposed team in the AFL, and the good teams will exploit it mercilessly. No real advance on last year as I see it.

Also, I do agree that I do think the list is short a genuine superstar to have a chance for a premiership over nxt few yrs. looking at Fyfe today, he's the sort of A grader we need. love Jones and Viney as individuals - but they are B+ not A class and not elite

3 weeks ago Bernie was BOG, makes couple mistakes and according to fickle supporters he's finished? There's some pretty [censored] up supporters on this site

My 3 word analysis of these threads: Increasingly accenting negatives

Can we please let Demonland do the selections next week - couldn't [censored] it up any more than the professionals did this week against Freo.

I am sure many fans at quarter time had a sense of déjà vu. A loss coming up was so predictable.

There were several occasions where we allowed them to set up goal side with no player back on the line, esp boundary throw ins in their F50. Really dangerous, especially when we are struggling to win the clearance. also, Hill absolutely creamed us- he was responsible for so many goals through his delivery inside 50 and goal assists, and we did little if anything to shut him down. Letting 7 goals and 30 minutes pass by before anyone did anything is appalling. Even Frost to the ruck, Watts to half back or rover, and extra man back, Jake to full forward. Something. Mix it up a bit! a young team learning its craft, but you don't train a dog by getting it to do the wrong things. Why do it with a football team?

So does that mean the Dogs are at Breaking point now? Freo beat them too. How about Hawthorn and Carlton who got rolled by the Suns? You feel it because it's your club but every week 8 teams get beaten. We aren't as famous for losing games as you think. You just feel it that way. How some of you have stuck by this club through the 70's and 80's and the last 10 years is amazing. Now you're fed up? Now? We are 2-2 and have had arguably or best 3 players out the last 2 weeks. It's like some of you are looking for a reason to sook and it's really, really boring.

We have improved everywhere except leadership

You could also argue LT (to continue with the analysis) that the coaches cost us the game late in the final qtr as well. When we hit the front with 2 - 3 mins left we continued to play the press instead of dropping men back. I was at the ground and that final McCarthy goal all 3 Freo players were goal side and If I remember correctly I think thery were all 1v1s. When the ball got fired in quickly all 3 Freo players were in great spots to score. T Mac or Frost (I haven't seen the replay sorry) all did exceptional to spoil but there should have been men back to clean up. The counter argument is that we were being beaten up at the stoppeges (which stats suggest we broke even) but maybe the men were needed around the ball. Sadly Freo were able to break free from the contest and kick well enough to create the opportunity Look footys a harsh mistress and I don't mind the boys taking the game on and sticking to the game plan, but they didn't impact at the contest and the ball got over the top and McCarthy goaled. I hate we lost this game, but the reality is you gotta back the boys in. My take is Goodwin is an aggressive coach who backs the boys in. I like it. You have to admit although we are 2 and 2 we've been in every game so far this year, and without suspensions, more leadership and experience we could have been 4 and 0. Sorry I haven't gone through the whole thread, but Freo did really well to cut out our ball winners yesterday. Jones, Viney etc were cut out of the game brilliantly by Freo I think the Tigers will trouble us on Monday week, but if I know one things for sure we are in with a massive chance.

Rubbish, and you know it. Stop trying to drum up some negativity towards a coach who has been in the job for 4 games.

No matter how good we become or where we go from here, there will always be tough losses to swallow. True, we've had more than our share, but it doesn't turn me off the club or make we wonder about the money I put into it. I'll always buy my membership and get behind the club no matter how well we are playing.

Yeah I like Frost also. I'd like to see him have a good run at it for a few weeks. Hibberd when he's ready will also be a positive addition. Oscar may well spend a bit of time at Casey along with Weid. They are developing players so I don't see this as a negative. I hope Pedo does well at Casey and gets a chance. I like the idea of a bit more grunt up forward which may give Watts a bit more freedom.

Viney's now never on the burst. There were times last year when he looked powerful and attacking, A grade potential. The system of feeding the ball backwards was figured out by Freo in the first qtr, they rushed that release player and turned it over several times. When Viney handballed backwards in the last minutes to nothing, it was the most obvious display of a system that was so broken and predictable.

This week: Hogan for Weid. Thats it. BECAUSE then you've got Jordy and Hibberd ready the following week, and Brayshaw hopefully in touch and knocking down the door. He's too good for the 2's. I also think our midfield need to be held accountable for that loss and be given a chance to atone. They were nowhere near it in the 3rd and they owe us a 4 quarter effort. Still not convinced about Hannan, but if Hibberd and Lewis go back, Vince and Salem can go to the wings and everyone rolls forward one spot pushing Hannan and Melksham out. I still wish we had another forward target. Watts and Hogan are good, but that 3rd versatile forward option is what we lack. I think the long term need for that and the Hogan suspension is all thats kept Weid and Hannan in.

We have an A grade mid. His name is Clayton Oliver. He's played less than 20 games, gets tagged every week and is still our best player. In another 20 games he'll be elite. We are very young and are learning it's an even competition. I think the players are learning the hard way, and in the long run that may be very, very good for us. I would have loved to pinch yesterday but it might be the making of us yet. 3-1 better reflects our effort, but if 2-2 teaches us we have to take our chances and work smarter and harder than I'll take it.

If I hear the word journey again I'll throw up

As much as I want to see Hibberd in, just can't see it yet. The one JLT game he had, he was way off his best. Probably needs a few runs after missing a season.

Due to certain happenstance, I have met Jake a few times since he started at Melbourne. 1, He is a lovely bloke. 2. He loves Melbourne and is very committed. 3. He has improved and developed every year and is a far better player than many on this site give him credit for. 4. I predict that over the next few weeks he will have many people eating humble pie. 5. GO JAKE!!!!