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Just finished watching the replay. With 3:50 left on the clock we were 6 points down. Viney Jones Jetta Petracca Spencer Smith were all injured throughout the game and all played under duress yet Richmond won the game with just under 3 minutes to go. Richmond had 22 fit players playing last night. Realistically we only had 17 fit men playing. Now i see why they are the great pretenders. Wait till we have Gawn, Lewis, Kent, Brayshaw, Vandenberg all fit and firing! A warrior effort from all our boys who just kept at it right at the end. Its still hurts but im super proud.

Never have I been prouder to support the MFC than last night. Their effort was unbelievable. Richmond knew of our situation with the men down by constantly forcing the play to the southern stand side for majority of the last quarter hence limiting what was left of our rotations even more. I watched Watts pace the boundary for 5 minutes trying to get on. Hunt's 100 metre sprint to provide support/block for Harmes on that run was amazing. It didn't get us the 4 points but it gives me belief of where this club is heading. Not even a quarter of the way into the season and we have used almost 3 quarters of our list through rotten luck and sheer stupidity. I will never give up on this club and I'm certain the players won't either, there's plenty left to salvage.

Oh, Melbourne. I could be angry, but I can't help but be proud. 2 men down for most of the night, one of them our ruckman (again) and we just didn't have it in us. We can argue about skills on a slippery night, and a whole host of the usual, but while the loss cuts deep I can't help but be proud. We were totally out on our legs and they ran over the top of us. There was almost nothing we could do. Chin up boys and bounce back next week.

THE POSITIVES OVERSHADOW THE ERRORS I thought I'd be livid if we lost to Richmond, but for the second time in three weeks, I left the ground feeling extremely optimistic about our future. Yes, we over possessed. Yes, we used the footy poorly going inside 50. Yes, we made stupid errors. eg. Harmes in second term kicking it on the full when he should have just taken it over the line. eg. ANB's brainfade on the half time break that cost us a goal. eg. Vince kicking it on the full in the third when he should have simply taken it over the line. Yes, we lost to a bunch of pretenders. But... Oliver is already a top 10 midfielder in the comp. He is insanely good and is statically top 10 in all the key categories. And 19 years old. And has played less than 20 games. Get excited if you're not already. Hibberd's return was superb. Tom McDonald played his best game since early 2016. Frost was terrific. Jetta was his usual solid self. Hunt was electrifying and could be anything. We had 25+ inside 50 tackles - that's what our coaching staff want. And as many have already said, they were always going to run over us with two down. We win it with 22 v 22. Almost no doubt. In the last, we were sitting near the interchange bench and Harmes wanted to come off, so did Jones, but only Oliver could come off due to rotation limits. So our mids, Jones and Viney in particular, were out on their feet in the last and we just couldn't run. Were it not for the injuries, this very young side would have easily accounted for a supposed top 4 team. As I said last week, at some stage this year, our team is going to click and it's going to be glorious. We may leave it too late for a finals tilt, but there's still a long way to go this season. I still think we'll get our 12+ wins and I'm looking for Lewis to pay us back for the last 3 weeks, by pulling us over the line in a few games this year. It's gonna happen. Our best can match it with just about anyone, but luck hasn't gone our way this year. But it always turns your way eventually and we're doing enough right now for it to swing our way in time. For this reason, I was glad to hear Goody praise our boy's efforts tonight, given it was 20 v 22 out there. THE FUTURE & OUR IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM When Oliver, Petracca and Salem build their tanks, watch out. We are going to have a seriously good midfield trio there. But I still worry about Bernie, who goes to ground too easily like a veteran - he reminds me of Luke Hodge in that respect. I also worry about our midfield short term with Viney clearly still hampered by his hip. Hopefully Lewis' inclusion can provide us with a bit of depth there, as well as leadership in trying times. To me, it's obvious that we still lack one other game breaking midfielder. Tyson and Viney are good meat and potatoes footballers and may reach A grade status one day, but at this stage in their development, they both lack that little bit of class. I'm not going to write them off though, as I think both have a much higher ceiling that they're not reaching at the moment. Both played 74% TOG this week, which I find interesting, given how out on his feet Jones looked at 88% TOG. The other thing that needs to improve is our midfield's two-way-running. We let Richmond score goals way too easily out the back (particularly early on), which was reminiscent of how easily we let Geelong score too. If we can tidy this up (and maybe this only happens with experience and kms in the legs), I think we'll simply dominant contests. It'll be interesting to see whether our midfield organisation improves when Lewis comes back in next week too. THE RUCK CHALLENGE (RATHER THAN PROBLEM) With Spencer going down too, I'm now strangely excited by the challenge we have in front of us in a season we were never going to challenge for the flag. Without our two key rucks, our depth is thoroughly tested. Our game style must develop alternatives and we get to see what we look like when things aren't going our way the whole time on a Gawn-supplied silver platter. We won't then know ourselves when we finally have a fit and firing Max Gawn dominating the hit outs and it'll also give us a plan B for the day when either Max is out or he is being beaten in the ruck. It is the perfect baptism of fire for our mids and whoever has to step up in place of Gawn and Spencer, but all part of the journey that is our continuing development. As I side note, I didn't want to write it on here, but I knew Jake would go down with an injury sometime during the 12 Gawn-less games. Was thinking it'd be last week. OUR DEFENCE I think Frost may well be the answer to our second KPD post, alongside Tommy. They were both terrific in tandem tonight, although their awareness at times, particularly Frost's, is still left a bit wanting - that easy Riewoldt goal out the back in the second quarter, is a prime example. However, we now have real speed and offence off half back. Frost, Hunt, Hibberd, Melksham and even McDonald are all attacking, fleet-of-foot players. I think Lewis may well play that sweeper role to cover out the back when our zone plays a little too high. In time, we'll see Joel Smith back there and that will probably release Hunt into the midfield or he'll take Melksham's spot. It'll be interesting to see where Jetts sits with all of this, when we're full strength. Is it Melksham v Smith or is it Smith v Jetta? I also felt that we adjusted our zone this week. We played a high line at times, but we look so much better when we have Frost's pace to cover (playing the anchor), because it affords Tom more confidence to leave his man and take intercept marks. He was superb in this respect tonight. It's still a work in progress, but as a group, I was really happy with the majority of their work tonight, under extreme pressure. If Jetta was playing at Adelaide he'd be in AA contention. He is rarely beaten and manages to keep the ball in front of himself, outmuscle much larger opponents and be clean when the heat is on. He's a star. Not a perfect game, but only a few errors amongst all that brilliant 1v1 work. INSIDE 50s & OUR FORWARD LINE We had an insane amount of inside 50s in the first half. I didn't realise quite how many we had until I watched the replay. I certainly took issue with our poor entries at the time, which became worse as the game went on. None of this helped our forwards or our forward structure. As a side note, I thought by comparison, Richmond's entries for the first 3 quarters were both a credit to our defence and a sign of the insipidness and dumb play by our opposition. Despite the forward entries, or perhaps because of them, our entire forward set up tonight seemed dysfunctional. And aside from our own poor ball use, was it simply that Richmond zoned back well or was the problem that our forwards were not working hard enough to create space for each other? The inside 50 tackle count was certainly a positive though and I thought we swarmed them at half forward multiple times in the first three quarters. Great to see. On this basis, despite some ordinary errors and poor decisions, JKH will get a game next week. He laid 7. For this same reason, despite some ordinary errors and poor decisions, ANB will get a game next week. He laid a game high 9 tackles. Harmes laid outright second most tackles on the ground with 8. These guys are only young players and they need time to show their wares this year and improve their decision making with this experience. I think all these guys offer more than Tom Bugg and they'll keep him out of the team, I would think. OUR OPPOSITION Richmond'd have to be one of the worst 5-0 teams of all time. Similar to the Roos last year. They will fall hard in the second half of the season. Bookmark it. Everything is going right for them at the moment and it won't last. They're propped up by Martin (who is probably the best player in the competition right now), Riewoldt and occasionally Cochin when he turns up. It's certainly not sustainable in the finals and as they come up against better opposition this year, they'll really struggle. So if they even make the 8, they'll go out in straight sets IMO. Just also found out that Riewoldt had (before tonight) never kicked more than 3 goals against us, so the fact that he kicked them out of his arse, was probably quite unusual against us. But it was his accurate goalkicking that certainly kept them in it, particularly in the first half. CHANGES FOR NEXT WEEK Some Demonlanders may finally get their wish next week and see Pedo in the team, because I can't see them going with just Watts in the ruck. Can't see King playing either, after one VFL game back. Lewis will come back in, probably for Smith and Pedo in for Spencer. It'll be interesting to see.

I wasn't sure what Goodwin was going to say after the match but I'm pretty happy with this part of his response: "It's a tough balance as a coach. You sit here and you're so proud of the way they played, and the way they fought, and the way they scrapped and the way they gave everything they had for a large part of that game," Goodwin said. "But I reckon when you become a really good team you actually find a way to get the result you need. And we're not at that point yet. We still need to have more composure at the end of quarters and stop the opposition scoring better." He's right on all this, I think.

I'm as gutted as any of you but some of you are a disgrace! 2 men down for more than a half of footy on a wet night and you can't excuse them for running out of steam! The whole structure was shot when Spencer went down. Have a crack at the selection committee and fair enough too, but the players could not have given any more tonight! Season over my arse, pull your heads in!

It's been a long time since I've been on D'land and I think the time away has done me good. If you are not proud of the team for their effort last night under the circumstances you have rocks in your head. This is the young talented Demons team we have been pretending to have for the last decade. We are not going to win the flag this year, and I dare say we may not make the finals because we will be missing our most important player for a long stretch of the season. However, we are developing a harder edge and consistent effort that will allow us to compete every week, no matter who we are playing, and I personally find this extremely encouraging. On a side note, Oliver is the best inside mid I've seen in the Red and Blue.

Boy there is some absolute dross being posted on here tonight. There's no doubt the injuries cruelled us. We were two down on the bench but Jones, Viney and Petracca were all injured and stayed on the park. It was 17 vs 22. Also, does Richmond have a single player missing due to injury? It was best 22 vs not close to best 17. The fourth quarter was nothing other than a byproduct of the players having given it 100% all night and running out of energy. The fact we were still in front with 5 minutes to go says volumes about how good we were. However... We should have been way, way more than 20 points up at three quarter time. IMO we lost this game in the first quarter, not the last. That first five minutes, the ball didn't cross into Richmond's forward half, yet we had nothing but 3 points on the board. We should have been 20 points up at quarter time and 40 points up by three quarter time, which would have made the fade-out in the last quarter manageable. This is the story of our season. I think we've been the better side for longer in all 5 of our games, but when we are on top with momentum we aren't scoring goals, whilst we concede too many when the momentum isn't with us. So we end up playing better football, for longer than our opponent, but losing 3 games. Of the 17 fit players, a few of them were passengers, none more so than JKH. An absolute waste of space and I refuse to believe that he met any "KPI" that was satisfactory. Yes, rusty after 1.5 years out but no, tonight was not good enough. As for the positives, HIbberd was incredible, Oliver again a beast, Hunt is a gem, Watts was superb, Jetta is one of the league's premier small defenders, and I thought Melksham and Vince both played their best games for the season (says a bit more about the first few than tonight). We are one of the better 2-3 sides I've seen in recent years (and Richmond possibly the worst 5-0 side) but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. There is sufficient evidence to say we should have won all 5 games and that's why it is reasonable to be upset with the 2-3 start, despite the circumstances.

There are some seriously silly posts on this thread. How can anyone have a go at the players for losing that one. "Injuries no excuse"...are you serious? This is a game played by humans, they are not robots. In a high intensity, high pressure game, to lose two players before half time and have another one hobbling in the goal square, it makes it extremely difficult. Add in the fact your no1 ruck is out, then your second ruck goes down before half time, how can you possibly compete on a level playing field? And they are not playing mugs, they are playing a team of elite professional athletes, with 22 fit players. There was nothing more predictable than Richmond running over the top of us. You could see it late in the third. By all means be frustrated. I am. It's excruciating to know you have a good side, a side in my view that is clearly a class above Richmond, but due solely to bad luck they have beaten us. We outplayed them for three quarters despite our injuries and they only crept past us at the end. Richmond should get no credit for tonight. That was a Steven Bradbury win if I've ever seen one. Them being 5-0 and us 2-3 is about as illusory as ladder positions get. Unfortunately we've just copped a shocking run of luck so far this year and in an even competition it can be the difference between finishing 5th or 15th. We finally have a good side capable of getting results and we just haven't had a fair go. But be frustrated at that. Don't just assume this was an avoidable fade out that the players should take responsibility for. They were fantastic tonight and deserved the four points.

We lost because of injuries. Plain and simple. And dont tell me injuries are no excuse, cos they [censored] are. Also Richmond are still a bunch of pretenders.

It is actually unbelievable. I've sat through a decade of the most dire foootball I have ever seen, and I've been massively critical of the club through that time. If supporters can't get behind the team after the hand we've been served this year, crucial injuries at horrible times, and we have still dominated large periods of games against much older experienced sides, then they can [censored] off.

Hunt, Oliver, Neal-Bullen, Harmes... these are the guys who stood up tonight and stuck at it. ANB with 21 touches and 10 tackles, Oliver with the slick hands, Harmes with some good pressure and Hunt is a star. Great return from Hibberd who will only get better from here and Watts put in a wonderful effort in the ruck when he was called upon to do it.

At this point things could have been very different had we not been hampered by injury and lack of discipline. We could still play in September if we can hang together for the next few weeks and be creative in relation to our ruck strategies We have improved as a team and are playing an exciting, attacking brand of football. It is vulnerable and requires a frenzied attack on the ball. This is difficult to sustain for 4 quarters but we should have won at least two of the three games we have lost had we not kicked poorly, had injuries and lost key players due to undisciplined acts. We should be 4-1 or 5-0. That all adds up to IMPROVEMENT. Despite us losing these winnable games we are building a great ethic and an a more even contribution across the team. There is some over possessing going on but it often involves attempts at dinky handball and flukey taps. This can appear foolhardy but they must continue to do this to perfect it. It is a weapon in the modern game. We have a number of good players down on form. Viney, Tyson, Hogan We still make some poor decisions, but believe it or not, I think they are less frequent Watts has learnt how to compete in a way hat he has never done before. This injury crisis has been a watershed moment for him. He should be in the leadership group next year because he is showing that on the field. A strong Watts is a great indicator for out team and the culture. Oliver, Petracca, Salem and Hunt will be stars. Vince is still useful and has been playing under duress. I would have had him harass Dusty last night but Goodwin had other ideas. Lewis will help out down back T Mac had a shocker against Riewoldt. Riewoldt is a very clever player. Despite the current gnashing of teeth, I think Goodwin is a very good coach in the making. Creative, innovative, a good communicator and the players PLAY FOR HIM and believe in the gameplan. We know that this is crucial. You can see it in the frenzied attack on the ball. The team is the youngest in the comp. I expected to to win somewhere between 8 and 14 games but certainly didn't expect to roll into the top half of the eight in September. We can still make it if we don't lose the plot We need to have plans to replace the older players. Bernie, Jones. We also have to plan for the next age group decline. Watts, Jetta, Pedo are all in the 26-30 bracket and while they may continue to improve for a couple of years they will then begin to taper off We need at least one more project ruckman (this is very wise after the event). Obviously Flipper is nowhere near it and King is raw and not match-hardened. We have to learn from this experience. Thank god we didn't delist Spencil as some posters would have On other teams Richmond aren't that good and thy'll lose next week against the Crows Neither are Geelong but they will finish top four because of the draw and good luck. Both teams have great starts to the year and that helps Giants and Crows are the clear leaders. Essendon worry me next week but hopefully we will have a backs to the wall win. We sure deserve some luck I've done the AFL ladder predictor many times already and this is the most unpredictable of years! My last one had us eke out 12 wins and scrape in to 8th spot

We've lost to three teams who have suffered two losses combined through the first five weeks. We've led in the fourth quarter of every game and have the lowest average losing margin of all clubs to have lost a game (14.7). We've won 12 quarters (fifth best in the league, the only club not currently in the top eight on the ladder to be in the top eight in that measurement). We've led Geelong and Richmond, both undefeated, in the fourth quarter despite being one/two/three down injury-wise during those games. We've done all this with Viney playing his worst five game stretch in a long time, with Lewis missing three games, with Gawn missing 2.5 games, with Hogan missing two games, with Vince missing a game (and otherwise not being that good anyway), with Watts having to ruck more than he should, with a long injury list generally and having been forced to use 31 players (equal second most in the league). None of this means we're going to make the finals or even challenge for them, but IMO talk of the season being over, or of a lack of improvement, or of Goodwin struggling, is nothing more than classic MFCSS.

If Watts is in the ruck next week I'll spew up. You don't drive your ferrari in a smash up derby.

Horrendous call, bing. Absolutely horrendous. If you're looking for someone to drop for Lewis, I could name about 18 players who go before Jetta.

Wow, I can't fathom the lack of 'support' on here. how about I come to your work on Wednesday shatter your coworkers shoulder, and then break another ones ribs, all before lunch, and then Scream at you for not being 100% productive.

Garlett didn't fluff the kick, he was spent and had to try and bomb it to Hogan who was running backwards instead of leading at the ball carrier like true forwards are suppose to. Not Garlett fault at all.

Disagree, there were a few on here that were concerned about a ruck deficiency before the start of the season. That's not hindsight, it's foresight and what our list management people are paid for. ...and as I pointed out, our lack of height around the ground means we don't have the luxury of using KPP in the ruck. Watts at 196cm is our tallest KPP. As 'Red' says, we took a punt and it came unstuck.

Watts - earned his money? Sure did, but he's busted his guts out for 3 weeks in a row now Get him out of the ruck!

Bloody Goodwin should have selected Pedersen - it was obvious Jake was going to do his shoulder in the first quarter.

I would agree with that. Should've been well over by that stage. We are potentially a very good football side, and perhaps the makings of a great football side. But, at the moment we are an ineffective football side. Any ambitions we have will only ever be realized if we use the ball effectively. Until then we are doing a lot of hard work and not getting rewarded for it. I thought it was a smart move to start Oliver, Salem and Petracca all in at the opening bounce. Sadly Petracca injured his knee early and didn't run on the ball much after that. I think we are getting there, slowly, but we are getting there. Very proud of the lads tonight regardless of our flaws, and result.

Fair go! I seriously wonder if some of you people have brains.. The wrist slashing on this site is absurd.

We're talking about the finals they play in September right? Seriously we're 2 - 3 with a solid percentage. It's been a frustrating and disappointing three weeks but all hope is not lost. We've got to find some ways to scrape wins over the next two months and then come home like a freight train. Forget the wins and the losses thus far. We've got a list that when fit can compete with anyone. Don't be distracted by the short term misfortune. I think we have the hardest midfield in the comp. We've waited a long time to have the class and excitement of Hunt and Hibberd in our back half. Hogan will get better and better. Jeffy is up and about. Watts is a serious footballer these days. There's a piece or two of the jigsaw still being sorted but we're close. I'm certainly not writing off finals.

We really don't have anyone decent to pinch hit in the ruck for the next couple of months. Frost is needed down back, Watts is needed up forward, Pedersen is 193cm and will have zero effect, put simply, none of them will go close to breaking even and we weaken our other structures. We need a ruckman and I'd go with Mitch King. Obviously, obviously, we would have been looking for him to play the year at Casey and perhaps get a game at the end of the year or not at all, but circumstances change. He's overcome his ACL, he's back playing against men at Casey, he's 20 now, and he keeps our structure. It's only for 7 or 8 weeks and I see little downside to giving him a crack. He's super talented and if he can have a crack for 7 or 8 weeks it's a better outcome. Otherwise it has to be Frost with Watts providing relief, but that's terrible structurally and means our midfield will start every game on the back foot. This is Melon 22's thoughts on King in Casey's win on the weekend: King - The highlight of the night for me, wasn't as good in the second half but I was super impressed with his return. Got involved in the play around the ground and is running ability and athleticism for his size was surprisingly good, not afraid to kick as well and looked like old school ruck rover than a lumbering ruckman type. His stats were modest, but he had 26 hitouts Mitch King 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 26 hit outs 59 dream team points. As I said, it's not ideal, but for me Mitch King provides the best structure and is at least worth a try. I don't see much of a downside.

Just as I felt better about the future of the team after the Geelong loss than I did after the Carlton win, I felt better after last night than I did against Freo last week. Of course in footy the only thing that matters is results, however there also needs to be a holistic perspective about how the team plays and where it's going. I'm confident in this team moving forward, when guys like Oliver, Petracca, Hunt, Salem and Hogan have more games, more pre-seasons and more experience under their belts. By the way Hibberd was outstanding and Hunt is getting close to my favourite player. Just needs a little more composure but his line breaking is something we've cried out for for a decade.

Hahahahahahahahahaha, was there anything more predictable than olisik picking up on this stat and running with it?

Have to agree with rjay. It is not hindsight by posters. It was discussed at length during the trade/draft period on DL. There are several parts to our list management dilemma re ruckmen: 1) It is known that the more successful clubs have at least 3 ruckman eg Hawks, Syd, WCE. ready to play at AFL level and usually 1 developing ruckman. 2) It is known that those that don't have 3 do have (and each week select) a starting 22 player who is a backup ruckman. Think Boyd, Lobb. Jenkins. Blicvat. We don't have either so we are not protected during a game nor if our 2 main ruckman are out medium term with injuries. 3) We know that Spencer is an FA on a one year contract, expiring this year. So no guarantee of his tenure. So next year we may be down to 1 ruckman if Spencer exercises his FA rights. Probable, I don't know but certainly possible. 4) We know that King (21yo) and Filipovic (18yo) are babies in ruckman terms and some way from any AFL football let alone holding down a regular AFL ruck role - probably, 3 to 4 years away. Clearly the strategy was to make Watts the game day backup ruckman. Already we can see the folly of that. Firstly, he is not built for the role like Boyd, Lobb etc. Secondly, Jack rucking leaves a gaping whole in our forward line as we are left with one tall forward (ala Geelong, Richmond) and it has cost us two games. Yes injuries cannot be foreseen but blind freddy could see our ruck stocks for the next 3/4 years were/are thread bare. So no, it is not hindsight. And yes, it is a huge problem. Our list management re ruckman was a roll of the dice, we lost. But it needn't have been this way. It was very foreseeable. I have heard it said that while list management decisions are a team effort, trading of players is largely the coaches call to fill a short/medium term need. The drafting of players (especially at the pointy end) is primarily the domain of recruiting to build a balanced long-term list. Somewhere along the line in 2016 we misjudged our ruck stocks for the short/medium term.

I'm definitely in the camp that says that that was a magnificent effort, we couldn't have given any more, and when we were on equal terms we controlled a lot of the game. If Smith & Spencer get injured in the third quarter instead of the second, then we win. A good team can carry two short for a quarter or two, as we did, but more than two quarters is beyond all but the greatest of teams. However, I think we need to shift slightly from "dumb intensity" (or "intensity-at-all-costs") to "smart intensity". "Dumb intensity" includes: 4 up and none down in marking contests, forward or back 4 chasing the same ball at stoppages and trying to run it forward with all of them within a radius of about a metre. trying to handball our way through tight congestion, on a wet day (Toiges had a lot of success moving it from congestion with toe pokes of 5-10 metres - why did we never try this?) 200+cm ruckmen chasing midfielders or on the bottom of packs trying to kick the ball around the body and off balance out of defensive pockets kicking to contests instead of kicking to space mids turning into rather than away from congestion when they have the ball, and trying to crash through tackles We need to keep the same intensity level but play smarter - spread better laterally, shepherd & block more in congestion to get the ball to the outside (every handball should be accompanied by a shepherd), and try to move the ball away from congestion rather than toward it. We also need to recognise that other teams now know how good we are with contested ball, and from now on every team we play will park the bus inside their D50. We have to lower our eyes, or run it in, or kick to space. If we bomb it, it's far too easy for oppo defenders to "protect the fall of the ball" (mainly by holding Hogan) and get numbers there, and try to catch us on the breakaway. I say it again - that's how every team is going to play us from now on. We definitely aren't far away. We just have to make minor adjustments, and just be a lot smarter with our intensity.

Largest ever home-and-away crowd between the two clubs. Also the largest home-and-away crowd we've played in front of since '64, and the fourth-largest in MFC history. Not bad for a club that was on its knees just 3 years ago.

Well, I've had plenty of time to reflect on the game after the long, misrable and wet journey home. You know what? I feel abnormally calm considering the result. As much as I hate blaming injuries for losses, it cannot be denied that the losses of Smith and particularly Spencer hurt us significantly as the game progressed. It seemed like other players such as Petracca, Viney and at one stage Hunt also shared some time on the bench as well due to their respective niggles. It was inevitable, but we clearly ran out of puff at the end after running our guts out in a pretty impressive third quarter. It always seems that during every season, there is one team that is hit hard with injuries. Obviously, it seems that we've picked the short straw this time around. I don't think anyone predicted that we'd have both our key ruckmen on the sidelines after round five. On the topic of ruckmen, I can't help but feel incredibly proud of Jack Watts. It was by no means his biggest game, but he continues to stand up when he is needed. In this case, we had to call on him to ruck when Spencer went down. For most of the third quarter, I actually think he had an edge on Nankervis that helped us gain control of the game for a while. Understandly like the majority if the team, he ran out of gas in the last quarter and couldn't compete against the bigger body of Nankervis. It would also be a crime to not mention that Hibberd was also outstanding. 18 months out of the game? No problem! I actually had to pinch myself to convince myself I wasn't dreaming when I saw a Melbourne half-back hit a target 40 metres away. Chin up boys. Keep fighting like you did tonight and the results will come.

Injuries and selection. Kent instead of JKH and Pedersen instead of Smith and we win.

If we were finishing better with more poise, the issues that you have highlighted would be of a lesser nature. Goodwin's sample size is far too small rjay - Goodwin is getting the team to tick a number of boxes. Under Neeld & Bailey, those boxes were never really ticked (effort, energy, application, attack on the ball & endeavour) I'm convinced that if Gawn hadn't have gone down, we'd be 5 & 0 and we'd be hailing Goodwin as a super-coach.

Slow down there Scoop Junior. Haven't you heard we've got a team with no leaders, too many VFL players, an irresponsibly competitive list clogging ruckman, and coaches who don't adjust tactics to game ending injuries? Fatigue and bad luck simply have nothing to do with it. We lose, we're rubbish. There it is. You heard it here.

Agree. We were out on our feet before three quarter time and don't lose the game until the last 4 minutes. Sensational effort Dees. All the Watts knockers can get stuffed. Guy is busting his guts for us. The better side lost, end of story.

This kind of shite is why I want to self-ban after losses. I still may yet.

Gutted for Jake. Spends the whole year last year giving the VFL side a ride waiting for his go, hardly gets so much as a scratch. Finally gets his chance, second week in, injured. There is no justice sometimes.

We've lauded the work of Jason Taylor & the recruiting team and love the regeneration of the club under PJ & Roos but what about our list management. Last year we recruited an EFC player with possible sanctions hanging over him, unfortunately that decision left us one down on the list. Luckily we had a good run with injury & it didn't really hurt us. We got rid of one problem child & took on another (the prince) who then retired leaving us again one down on the list...this one has hurt us. We have a list deficiency & this is not a hindsight call. It was obvious to many of us that we were light on in the ruck division. Max was carrying the load but had been injury prone. Big Jake gives his all but was/is a battler and has also struggled with injury...we then had King who was recovering from a knee and had only played minutes at VFL level and recruited a kid who is not ready for VFL footy let alone AFL. Our current ruck predicament was predictable and we didn't take out insurance. Someone like Minson would be very handy about now. Being one list position short hasn't helped but also not using a rookie spot for insurance has hurt. What also hasn't helped us is we don't have any tall key position players who could go into the ruck and give a contest. Watts has battled manfully and many have called for Pedders to come and or Frost to take over. Watts 196cm, Pedders 193cm, Frost 194cm, Weid 195cm, Hogan 195cm, Tommy Mc 194cm.... The Dogs didn't need to use Minson as they had key position players in Boyd and Roughead at 200cm and another in Campbell. A lot will point to a lack of outside run & class but I think we can cover that. To me we lack good adaptable talls...and insurance. The luck is not running with us this year but we also haven't done ourselves any favours with list decisions.

Utter Rubbish - We are a far better team this season. Footy Gods have been horrible unkind. Our respective ruckmen going down in the 2nd quarters against Geelong and Richmond cost us both those games.

He was good last night after being poor last week. His job is to stop his man, run hard to plug the defensive gaps and link up. He did that and did it well. Curious what you thought of Hibberd's zero tackle game last night?

Viney, Petracca, Jetta and Jones all looked to be hindered last night. Throughought the entire second half, none of them could run at full pace. It was horrible to watch. I knew Richmond would catch us eventually. Amazing effort by our guys really. Richmond are the worst 5-0 team I've ever seen. Yuck.

Rowe, Range and Thompson have all been part of finals teams. McDonald was a KPD in one of the worst teams of the past century (2013), and a non-finals team his whole career. Stupid selective stats.

Can;t believe some of the rubbish on here. Just got home from the game. That was one of the best contested games of footy I've seen up to 3/4 time and we were flogging them. Huge advantage in inside 50s in the first half and despite being 3 or 4 players down (2 playing injured so we at least had some bench). We were bigger than them and knocking them aside til the two bigger guys went down. We probably should have been 7 or 8 in front at 3/4 time. The last quarter was inevitable that we ran out of legs. I was just hoping we could hold on. How good were hibberd, hunt and clarrie!!

Still think there are so many more positives than negatives. The results will turn if we keep dominating games like that

Haven't looked over whole thread. Am just on the phone.... but am I the only one who feels better after that than after week 4? I thought we were the better side by a mile, found guys in positions we need them, still lacking the cream that Tigers have in riewoldt Rance cotchin and dusty but that's cos we're still the second youngest side in the comp. had contributors everywhere and skill wise were sensational at times. But what can you do when you cop 4 injuries like that? Richmond are the worst 5-0 side ever. And I'm not embarrassed that we lost. Just as goody said in the post match it's frustrating but he's super proud of his guys. I applaud that. I'll sleep ok tonight. The real differences I've been hoping to see from the first four weeks were all there as clear as day. Clarry is unbelievable, cp5 will only need one touch to hurt you (sore knee and all), jack was great when needed, tmac and even frost at times did everything they could. I'm loving jeffys workrate, and anb had some flashes of maturity to go with his youthful overexuberance. Hibberd fills a hole we desperately needed filled, hunt is still flying. There's a lot to like. Now we find out what we have. Pedo comes in and takes shots in the ruck with jack and frost. I have a feeling we'll see frost forward as well, which is a worry. Weed will likely be rushed back. I'm still pumped to see what we produce. We have some immediate concerns, but if we're at parity by the time gawn and Spencer come back, then we'll make finals.

Mitch King might be about to find out what league footy is all about sooner than he might have thought ... he might do better than people think too. Once thrown the lead role, the understudy ruckman often excels. Unlike Pedersen & Watts, King's stock-in-trade is rucking and he's probably been doing it for a lot of his footy life. King got 26 tap-outs on the weekend and even though he's probably not really ready, the alternative is that we'll get absolutely mauled again with a combo of Pedersen & Watts. Neither Cam nor Jack know how to ruck properly and both are at best, back-ups. Pedersen could then come in to replace Smith and Cam can also handle the back-up ruck duties. This will free up Watts to play in the role that is best suited to the team (high half-forward, sometimes deep and with a few spurts in the midfield) Just a suggestion

That's the main negative. Has been all season (bar the St Kilda game, I suppose). He was on the bench for 8 minutes because he was injured. Shouldn't play next week, but I suspect he's the kind of player who will pretend things are OK. It's hurting the team. He has had a terrible start to the season and we're paying the price. This is complete and utter tripe. Hogan gives you fair evidence to have a crack at him over - the sooking for free kicks is simply not good enough and I hate seeing it from anyone, let alone someone who should know better and had just come back from a 2 week suspension. But he spent all night leading up and down the ground, repeatedly. Searching leads up to half-back which were frequently not rewarded, then cutting across into the open side of the ground to make space. Posts which suggest otherwise are just garbage.

No team should win with 19 v 21 after quarter time. 2 talls and our 2nd ruck included. Then you had Petracca and Viney on one leg...so it was 17.5 v 21. Fact that Richmond were lucky to get over us in the end says more about them than us. Massive effort by our guys tonight.

Don't ...just don't put sh#%t on any player ...down by 2 at half time ..petracca in one leg :.. Nat jones not much better...lost by 2 goals ...longest injury list in AFL....I am completely gutted ...anywhere near our best 22 available & we are 5 zip ..,.dont pick our 20 yr old plus players to pieces !!!!!!

GOALS Richmond: Riewoldt 6, Castagna, Butler, Grigg, Rioli, Martin, AstburyMelbourne: Hogan 3, Garlett 2, McDonald, Watts, Petracca, Salem, Hibberd, Hunt INJURIES Richmond: TBCMelbourne: Petracca (left knee), Spencer (right shoulder/right knee), Smith (ribs), Viney (right knee) Riewoldt just couldn't miss tonight and we had some critical injuries. Tells it all really