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Demonland where the Match Committee are proven wrong before the event based on Bugg's VFL performance. However Kent's underwhelming VFL performance still has Demonlanders questioning the Match Committees decision to omit him.

The problem with 8 and 9 day breaks? All of this bleating about how the coach and selectors have no idea. Good to have some argy bargy about selections, but do we really need a thread on this? FFS! Are we done yet? Melksham blah blah rant rant etc etc. Pedo rant rant blah blah. we lost by 2 points last week. The coach said we didn't play anything like we want to. Suggest all players know what this is, and how it applies to their positions. Suggest he is making changes to drive this, rather than reward VFL possessions. I also suspect that system rates higher than errors (If you rate them the other way, the JM arguments could be valid) pressure should be on all players, not just the targets of these conversations, to play the plan. No player should be bigger than that. No player should get a free pass, either (there is zero evidence of this). Bring on the game. Please!

I'm not fussed in the slightest at the minute. That may be because Goodwin has coached us for only 4 games, but he isn't that far off the mark. Take out our bad kicking against the Cats and a brain fart in the third term last week and we are 4-0. He can't be getting too much wrong at the minute. The stuff with Melksham makes me laugh, though. People keep knocking the block but then bringing up replacements who don't even play in the same position. Melksham, who I readily agree had a shocker last weekend, still beats out many others who we could play down back. It has allowed Salem to flourish in midfield, Hunt is released to use his pace more often and we have greater flexbility. I'll back Jake to turn things around. Other than that? It's fine. You guys panic too much.

And so it should, it is clearly the most dangerous item ever taken onto a football field and without doubt is the most serious and pressing issue in the AFL.

Apparently trained well and playing... As I've said elsewhere, we don't need to be worried about Martin playing or not playing. We play what they put up with what we put up and we win or lose. We can't be reliant on other teams injuries and I will be happier to not see these type of posts going forward. Our team should be able to stand up to what any other side puts on the field and that's where I see us now.

The zero in their loss column will be the main change.

How come players can wear any colour boot they want, but can't do the same with a headband? Why do I even care...?

While I hate it when old mate refuses to accept any criticism of the club at all, I can understand why people will often shrug their shoulders and defer when it comes to matters of selection and the like. The OP in this thread might as well have said "Goodwin is an idiot for not selecting Pedersen", when it's obvious from the outside that we cannot and will not ever have as deep an understanding of the inner machinations of the team as Goodwin will. People don't understand that from our position in the stands or on the couch, we don't know what we don't know. I get that it's a discussion forum, but it irritates me when posters carry on as if they're the expert.

Wouldnt get a touch on Melksham, dont worry.

Daniel undertook an intensive cognitive rehabilitation regime. After 6-months his memory, concentration and task switching were at the elite level. He subsequently went on to pass through the MFB selection process, which is a great credit to him. How much this will protect his long-term brain health cannot yet be determined. Credit should also go to Josh Mahoney, who directed Daniel towards people who could help him.

It's hard to critique selections when we're not privy to the exact role expected of each player. A player might kick 3 goals and have 30 touches, but still not perform key aspects of their role. In reality, we're pissing in the wind.

I would rather Martin played. He won't be fit and MFC players should exploit that. Make the bastard run and run...

An amateur prognosis and unsubstantiated guesswork annoys me no end.

He probably does want to move back to SA..............when his career's finished! That is more likely to be the end of next season or at a pinch the season after. Doubt very much it will be the end of this season. Unless pushed by a very unconvincing contract extension offer. One of the most likeable footy personalities I've seen. Has been an awesome ray of optimism in the darkest days when he first arrived. Go Bernie. Hope to see at least another 1 or maybe 2 seasons. Job done by then.

Topic amended for people's ongoing cardiac health.

Just looked again at the teams and potential match-ups for this game. Granted I'm not a RFC supporter and know their list intimately like our do ours but really, they have a few good players and not much more. Their competition has been meek and tells you zero about the RFC's true capability this year. If we don't win this I'll be completely amazed. Time to pop an over-inflated yellow and black bubble.

I posted the same general point in the preview thread without diluting it with too much statistical noise: We were 6-3 last year with Pedo in the team. Those wins were against GWS, Collingwood, Richmond, GC(1), Hawthorn and Port, mostly matches where we played our best footy for the season. He didn't play in our flat wins vs. Freo, Brisbane & GC (2) and was absent from the decent win v Collingwood (2). For balance, the losses he played in included Essendon, but also the Bulldogs and St. Kilda (1) where we were simply hammered around the ball. There is merit in the idea that Pedersen provides something structurally that betters our performance. And it's not such a wild idea, because that's why people often call for his inclusion - not due to some notion that he'll kick a swag of goals as our #1 KPF.

So not to continue this derailment of this thread into concussion talks, but the hit on Brayshaw was after he had desposed of the ball and Casey will look to get footage to present to the MRP to hopefully get some kind of repercussions to what was a dirty hit in a side that reportedly played dirty all game.

Now that it has been pointed out how close Mav Weller's eyes are to each other I cannot unsee it.

I just hope the team isn't underdone re AFL match practice (excl JLT and VFL games). We will have 2 players who haven't played AFL since 2015 and with few games of any sort since recent injuries (JKH and Hibberd), 1 who has played 4 games since 2015 (Melksham) who seemed to hit the wall a bit last week and 1 who has played 1 AFL game (Smith) and seemed to tire. The risk is they won't be quite sharp in their play and touch and the pace of AFL may cause fatigue in the last quarter. Having 1 or two underdone at AFL level is one thing but 4? I feel we are setting ourselves up for 1 or more of them to fade at some stage in the game but we can't afford that. Everyone needs to be switched on and firing for the full 120 minutes. Richmond is winning by lurking and exploiting turnovers. If our guys aren't sharp that is what will happen. Would have preferred we eased underdone players in over several weeks.

I was told today the info is that gus hasn't had any real symptoms over night but he will be seeing a specialist and is likely to have a few weeks off to be safe. The club and his management are going to look at a few options to make sure he's safe when he's out there, weather that be a helmet, technique or a stint on the sidelines to fully recover.

Hunt should dye his hair multi colored instead.

Get some therapy, DD36. It ain't about Melksham. It still isn't about Melksham, and it wont be the next 20 times you post about him being selected for Monday. Good on TB for answering the selectors in the most powerful way. There are several others that should be doing the same - make yourself impossible to leave out. On Melksham - Lets see some of the other young backs that play a comparable role play the house down and demand to be picked in his place.

Mav didn't look quite so ugly today. Must have had a hydraulic puller on the bun.

F$&57&@ You Meth Coke

Pederson CAN take a contested mark Pederson DOES snag a goal on a tight angle Pederson DOES compete in the air to bring the ball to ground Pederson DOES spoil when he needs to Pederson is NOT afraid of body contact Pederson HAS gone down to Casey and proved himself at the lower level Pederson HAS completed several pre-season preparations Do I need to continue?

The biggest problem with a lot of the criticism directed at Round 5's changes are that, like this above post, they fail to understand the positional requirements of 1) modern day footy and 2) the 'system' Goody is trying to build. Lamenting that Melksham gets a chance after an ordinary game to rectify his poor form, but Kent doesn't, completely misses the point. Kent is a half forward and if people actually understood the importance of half forwards to the modern game and our game style, they wouldn't be discussing Melksham and Kent in the same sentence. Does Melksham play forward? No. His KPIs are completely different to Kent's. Melksham offers run and in our game style, we expect some turn overs. We'd like to minimise them, of course, but without Lewis to select from or GWS' Josh Kelly, Melksham is the best option for a speedy half back flanker at the moment. Kent's chance to meet one of his chief KPIs was last week, and he failed abysmally. If Melksham has another frankly pathetic game, they may look at trying someone like Harmes off half back. Until then, Melksham will aim to play his role. That is, shut down an opponent, provide run off half back and use his pace to work within our defensive zone. Round 5 is about JKH (who I don't particularly rate) and Smith bringing the forward half pressure that Kent and Hannan were unable to. If they both manage this, they'll keep Kent and Hannan out. Understand the difference between these roles and the basic KPIs, before labelling them 'woeful'.

The old-fashioned journeyman footballer who doesn't impact games, has never kicked 20 goals in 6 completed seasons, never kicked 4 goals in a game, and doesn't consistently contest in the air. He doesn't provide enough opportunities for a key forward, either for himself, or his teammates, and isn't part of the future. He's insurance, but clearly (and rightly) not part of Goodwin's plans.

Be better if he limped off the ground 20 minutes in. Never to be seen again....

There are a couple on here who make my blood run cold. Angus is facing a serious injury that could end his career and seemingly all they want to do is snipe at other peoples comments. For God sake it is not about you. Get a bloody grip.

It's amusing that some believe that Goodwin WOULD gift games to guys like Melksham because he coached them at Essendon. I understand that some are narrow minded and can't get past the fact that we have a few Bombers on our list, but common sense has to prevail in this case. Melksham is getting a game because the FD believe he is doing most things right. Otherwise he would have played for Casey last night.

Versus Garlett 11 and ANB 15 in the same period. Pretty obvious to me. Smith comes in after 10 tackles as a tall forward. JKH whilst not to the same level 4 tackles in the VFL last week but has his work rate praised by Plapp. I can start to see a theme there. I suspect Hibberd will take a while to settle and feel part of the team but anyone who think he is not a massive asset to our side has not watched much of him. Wife is a Bombers supporter so have watched them a lot and whilst his 2015 was only good his 2014 and 2013 were stellar. I think he was second over that period to Heath Shaw for intercept marks and was extremely high up for metres gained. Plays aggressive both with and without the ball. Will be interesting when he gets settled and Lewis returns what position Vince takes.

You might have noticed over years that very average footballers have a knack of carving us up...

No pets allowed at the G. Not sure where they got the other 8 thousand from.

If you think thats good - From last week following an Eagles WIN... I'm either a prophet or I spend my weekends avoiding my family - gifting me a unique knowledge of the game. You decide.

When your main ruckman is out injured, your key tall forward suspended, and your project tall forward horribly out of form and / or inured you lose two games partly because your next best big forward spends little time forward as he is rucking. When does one make an insurance claim - not as if there is a loss of no claim bonus, or an up-front to pay?

Melksham got the Lumumba vibe going on already it seems, no matter how bad he is, he'll always have his defenders. This may just be a 4 game sample size with us, but this is exactly how he was at Essendon. If turning the ball over, not tackling and not going hard is playing a role and meeting requirements, sign me up, I'll play for free.

this is a serious integrity issue for the afl. i don't think you guys should be trivialising it. before we know it players will be decorating themselves with colourful tattoos and where will we be then?

The Hun condones drug cheating but is outraged by headband

Great to see the AFL being proactive and decisive on these major issues. Bunch of feckwits.

Plapp said head knock and followed with "it's a pity because he's had them before". Everyone hoping for the best.

Was at the Freo vs North game last night, when the game was on the line Mundy Johnson Neale Fyfe and Sandi all stood up. 5 leaders makes a difference in getting mediocre sides over the line and setting standards for the younger players coming through.

Freo turned two games they should have lost. We turned two games we should have won.

If anything, getting the sulks up further justifies it. Compare and contrast to the Tom Bugg response.

Went to the AFLNZ draft combine test on Friday. Mykelti broke beep test record by doing 14.9 (was 14.8). Finished in top 10 in every test. My boy (aged 15) came second in beep at 14.3. Jason Taylor and other AFL scouts there. Mykelti looks v promising

Hopefully Hawthorn joins them tomorrow

I'll add to the chorus of why the [censored] is Melksham still in. Bugg at his worst could play Melksham's role as well as he is. I get that Kent is frustrating, but this would be a good game for Kent and Garlett to get some "they're out here" gimme goals over the back when Richmond try their maniacal press.

Good to see Mitch White back amongst the disposals. Still young, could be useful going forward.

Kent annoys me. Despite his miracle goal from the boundary last week his kicking for goal is atrocious. He demands to be picked and when he is picked it is as a goal kicker but then he misses far, far too many simple shots on goal. Every time he plays. I reckon reward goal kickers with a game the following week and fine them when they miss set shots from 30 metres out. That's their job: they are picked in the team and paid to KICK GOALS. It's no good getting heaps of the pill if they cannot do the deed.