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The media in general must be bi-polar. Last week they were all writing how we could win the flag. We lose one game and suddenly we are getting ahead of ourselves. I think the only people getting ahead of themselves is the media.

Kicked 6 in his comeback game! Also celebrated his 40th on the weekend with a few of the boys.

First time in 10 years we might play finals and a bunch of fringe players knocking on the door of an injury riddled side choose to break team rules and get on the pizz with 6 days between games. It's not like they wouldn't have known they were vying for senior selection or that they were unaware of team rules. Honestly, how dumb must these guys be?

He'll get off. Mills threw his head back like he'd been shot and went down like a sack of potatoes. Then he faked it to stay off the ground. Buggy to play next week and Mills to cop a $1000 dollar fine for 'diving'.

I appreciate your training reports and that you are a staunch defender of the club and the players, but there is seriously no defending this action. None of these guys deserve a life ban, but they broke very simple team rules. If they can't manage to stay off alcohol for 6 days, we have a bigger issue here. Given both the seniors and Casey lost, it would have been best for everyone had they not compromised their recovery by behaving unprofessionally. Who knows how this impacted their performance at Casey, let alone how badly it stuffed up our team selection. It might not be a big deal to you, but it's a big deal to the club, so much so, that we chose to compromise team selection by banning them from AFL for a week. That is a really really big call when we are struggling so much with injuries, and this was another 'must win' game. I don't think this was just a matter of 4 players have one beer too many, they obviously drank enough that it impacted their training performance the next day. That these 4 are actually battling to get a game, makes it all the more baffling. JHK just got a contract extension too! I have no idea what they were thinking. The most disappointing thing is that some of these fools are going to play this week due to circumstances, whereas I don't think they'd get a senior game for weeks if the situation was different, and rightly so.

There is no doubt that Bugg's strike was a stupid and reprehensible act. He deserves a substantial sanction. But what does annoy me is how the whole MRP and Tribunal process is almost certainly governed by media and their so-called experts. Listening to 3AW on Saturday, they had Bugg hung, drawn and quartered within 15 minutes. Add to that, Dr. Peter Larkins talking about possible brain haemorrhages from such strikes and the sad loss of his associate from the Box Hill hospital and then replaying Larkins' comments to Simon Lethlean during an interview with him, then you know Bugg will be held up as example of just how the AFL will want to be seen as the tough 'sheriff'. Lethlean, given his AFL role, should have declined to go anywhere near the subject on live radio. As I said, Bugg certainly deserves a substantial sanction, but having the media affect the outcome of the penalty is not reasonable.

This thread is disgusting. Bugg deserves to go for a decent holiday but he deserves our support. Bugg's actions were wrong but they were not deliberate. Mills clearly went to bump Bugg and he threw a fist out. Dumb. Even dumber was that it connected flush with Mills cheek. The way some on here are talking is that Bugg lined him up and deliberately tried to knock the guy out. There is a clear cohort here that don't like Bugg as a player and seek to equate his actions with someone that deliverately went out to smash Mills out of the game. They want him booted out of our football club. What a joke that and the people suggesting that is are frankly pathetic. They are confusing his actions as a general niggler on the field with being a thug of the highest order. They seem to dislike Bugg because he has personality and is seen as a 'mouth'. That is wrong on many levels. The incident should be looked at as an isolated event. Bugg clearly doesn't get the 'good bloke' discount that Houli 'got'. I wonder why? Nor the sympathy in the media despite the fact that Houli looked at Jed Lamb first and then knocked him out. Bugg will serve his time but the pack of hyenas in the media and even on this site are a poor reflection of bias of the highest order. Bugg is 24yo FFS. He made a big mistake. Sadly the MRP will bow to that media noise and Bugg is likely to get a worse outcome than Houli. Houli will no doubt be knighted for servies to football by the media and Waleed Aly while Bugg will be thrown to the wolves.

If Tyson gets up i'll be a hell of a lot more comfortable about the Carlton game!

Statement saying Tyson is a test is a positive sign. Good PR comms release the negative news together, rather than spreading it across multiple days. It means that positive news stories for the rest of the week can restore the faith in the supporters etx. I'd say Dom will be off legs until the main session, and if he gets through, he will play. Let's hope Jesse, Dom, Jack and Jeff are all good to go this week. If they are, we stand a good chance.

Fascinating media study this one Club comes out with an apology... player apologizes yet media calls for a "hanging." We berated (correctly) Essendon for never apologising and the bulk of the media eulogises the players and the team. Something badly amiss here.

Never ceases to amaze me how hated we are, both by the public and the media. Last year everybody was thrilled for the Dogs; none of that for us. I see it in my mates at work. I suppose it's a remnant of the days when we were the team of the toffs. Sure as hell ain't that any more. I always remember Dermie and that "line in the sand" game. Long term, maybe turned the Hawks around. Bugg's an idiot, but he's our idiot.

This is where Trengove can show he still has it if he gets a call up. He has been totally committed to rehab and playing in the vfl working on his game and NOT been off drinking with some other players and after what he has been through who could blame him if he did. He has the leadership skills which has been said on numerous occasions in the vfl reports and can play a midfield role with Oliver. Get him in and we will finally know if he is back to AFL level or not after his long term injury. We need to know before the end of the season. Imo he can still play at afl level and I hope he gets and takes the opportunity to show it.

Back onto the game itself. It was probably the most disappointing game for Casey all year, fumbling, a lack of intensity and totally out worked by Port Melbourne. Casey were outnumbered in the forward line sometimes by 6 to 3 and then had players free out the back when Casey pressed forward, tell tale sign you are being completely outworked. Port Melbourne pressure was good the inability of Casey to get into any sort of rhythm was very disappointing. There were times that Casey broke through the press and they seemed that but they had no targets or idea of what to do with the ball, this caused panic with the ball carrier which led to some awful turnovers. All the Casey players were down as well and just lacked any winners on they day, Fritsch and Hutchins were the best of the Casey players. Joel Smith - Looked good on return and was one of Casey's best, lacked a bit of touch but this wasn't helped by teammates. He is probably 1 -2 weeks away from consideration but at the rate we are losing players might be chance. JKH - The best of the Dees from what I saw, was terrible in the first half but responded and looked lively in the second half trying to get the team back into it. Disappointingly though he lacked impact in the midfield as Casey was smashed by Port in close, probably the most likely to come in from the game. Ben Ken - Got the ball and effort was there in tight but an inability to have an impact with disposal is keeping him from the AFL, also doesn't spread well enough for someone with is pace. King - Liked his game, has limited minutes but his tap work is good and is a whisker away each week from taking a few contested marks. He just needs to build some strength but he looks likely. Trengrove - Has his step and agility back which is great, one of his poorer games though in terms of disposal. He displayed very good hands but tried to generate some ball movement with riskier kicks which didn't come off. Also struggled to put defensive pressure on which was disappointing. Spencer - The most disappointing on the day, looked a mile off it and Casey were beaten in the stoppages. Hasn't regained the same form yet from last year after his injury. Weiderman - Looked OK but not a great day for the forwards, he was outnumbered all day and wasn't able to impact the game. The only real criticism was that he got sucked up the ground to much leading to some of the issues going forward, gave the team a spark when he went into the Ruck. Maynard - Got a lot of ball in tight but wasn't able to generate any impact from his disposals, wasn't able to get much of the ball in transition which limited his impact. Kielty - Competed well in the air but not much influence with the ball. Johnstone - Was ok but didn't have much impact on the game, there was almost no forward pressure on the day so from that point of view was disappointing but DJ spend some time on the wing as well. Kent - Played on a wing and had a crack, needs to improve his kicking and work rate but if Garlett misses he is a chance. He doesn't use his pace as much as he should and his kicking can sometimes be way off especially in the midfield.

Tall poppy syndrome, let them bag us out all they want, will only make us want it more. I'm glad people are starting to dislike us rather than pity us.

He will be back for the Carlton game. In fact I heard that he has asked the AFL to bring the game forward to tomorrow.

Viney will miss 3 weeks max. He heals at least twice as fast as any other human.

and he didn't even have a modicum of provocation. after his hit he went straight at another player who fortunately saw him coming. but being from a persecuted multicultural minority will no doubt be just given a warning

What a disgrace. I hope political correctness doesn't get in the way of him being booted out of the AFL. Should be before the courts not just a tribunal

Just trying to cheer up the place. Frost was with main group, bending down, touching grass and getting back up like a spring chicken from the snipet they showed. Can ill afford to lose more run.

I have thought over the last couple of weeks that MFC is certainly not looked upon kindly by the general media. Thinking back to the raptures that were lavished on the WB last year given their injuries, I haven't heard or seen similar this year about the situation that we are in. Listening to Garry Lyon and Co on Friday night was unbearable so much that I changed to ABC. There does not seem to be the acknowledgement that we have been in a dire situation for many weeks and to have played the way we have is testimony to the groundwork that Roos put in and in extension to that what Goody and Co have achieved over the preseason. When I listen to general media commentary there seems to be a satisfaction amongst some "journos" to our predicament. I thought this last week after an outstanding winning performance there was little acknowledgement of our outs and the fixturing of so many games with a 6 day turnaround. All I heard after Friday night was that the Club had come down with a thud almost that we had got beyond ourselves. If anyone had talked to the players and the Club they would have known that the Club was opposite to this. There was an excitement given we had won consecutive games without all of our top personnel and a belief that we could make the finals but top four or two - not spoken about. Now with Buggy, we are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. We are not GWS with a list of champions as long as our arms. We are decimated. We cannot replace 7 top players with 7 top VFL players. Despite Plapp training the Casey boys with the same set ups as AFL, there is nothing like playing together. Two ring ins can be covered, seven no way. I unfortunately am not expecting a happy day on Sunday although I do note that Carlton had three injuries on the weekend. It is conflicting that to win a game I am excited when there are injuries to the next round's opposition.

Should have smacked Clarrie. There's no penalty for that.

I would not appeal anything. We already said we are not condoning his behaviour, and this is not how we want the club to be represented. Appealing it on the grounds that Houli got 4 because of some rubbish character references, is irrelevant semantics. We all know the AFL is a biased organisation, and we all know Houli and Bugg are put in difference baskets, although they both did the wrong thing and both deserve the same penalty. If he gets 5 or 6, we take it and we move on.

OK. He has done the crime, he will have to do the time. So much BS in the media dn holier than thou attitudes. It is a terrible look, and punishment will be due and paid. Once he has done his time, that should be it. No need for the moral s police. Some thoughts: If Bugg was 80 m off the ball, why was Mills scragging him and why did Bugg turn and throw the punch? Why did the umpires allow the Swans to attack players like Max and others repeatedly, with no intervention? The clowns were out of control of the game. Bugg has been on a roller coaster - the Instagram pic before the dogs game, the Hosier lane pic, now this. Hope he is getting adequate support from the club. The AFL are weak and useless. The whole Jumper punch fiasco, the way penalties at MRP are impossible to predict, the favouritism that seems to ruin decisions. The media. The biggest thugs have the biggest mouth on this. They can all go and get [censored] as far as I'm concerned. Some other really bad things need MRP scrutiny. Attacking a fallen player is perhaps a much bigger dog act than Buggs Bugg has been doing well for us, and has certainly been valuable to the team this year (perhaps he isn't best 22, but he has been in the best that we were able to get onto the park...). I hope this is not career ending for him, but a bump in the road for a member of the team. Prediction- 5 to 6 weeks. I know he doesn't have Waleed Ali, but it was a bad look (negative to his case) but Mills got up straight away (not a knockout like Houli) (positive on his case). We have had a [censored] few days. Bring on next weekend.

End of a horror run in regards to turnarounds, happy to be 3-1 after those 4 games. Happy to take that given our injury toll over that time as well. If we can get 1-2 key players back per week over the next month, and not lose any more to injury, there is plenty to look forward to come the back end of the year! Need to lock down Docherty, Gibbs and Simpson this week.

The one who really needs to step up is Jordan Lewis... I think he's been ok but the questions for me are. 1. Is he past it? Father time waits for no one... and there is no doubt Jordan has played his best football but can he rise to the occasion for another tilt. 2. For all the good words, is he still a Hawthorn player at heart...I'm not having a go at him here, he's been a good get but in the end it must be hard for a 4 time premiership player at another club to really step up. How invested is he really deep down in his sub conscious. Why do I think he's the one to step up and why have I made the points above. Well when the Hawks were missing the big guns...Hodge and Mitchell then had Rougy go down, it was Lewis who stepped up and big time. He almost single handedly pulled them over the line. Some of the best individual games I've seen were from Lewis when the chips were down. Can he do the same for us...points one and/or two above if correct say no. Lets hope he can pull the finger out and have a good go at it. It's time for Lewis to step up...

Not depth issues. INJURY issues. You can't replace your best players and as of the second half we were down Watts, Garlett, Hogan, Jones, Salem and Viney. Good depth is a misnomer. You. Cannot. Replace. Your. Best. Players.

Name one club, other than GWS, that could cover the injuries we've had to this point? I'll answer for you - none. It has nothing to do with depth issues, it has everything to do with losing a host of key players, not to mention others like Brayshaw and AVB who could easily slot into the side as well.

Not good, but if his foot was half stuffed all year better it going now than on the eve of finals. This must have been a calculated gamble for him to carry it instead of having surgery earlier.

We have been killed by injury. Two heart and soul players wont be back til the 2nd last game at best. Various other stars missing for large chunks. If we make the finals from here, they should automatically put us through to the granny as an acknowldegement of such a legendary effort. If we were anything close to full strength most of the season we'd be sitting on top of the ladder.

Well there's a couple of smokies.

Does he have an ally in Aly ?

he also got rubbed out for 3 weeks earlier this season his days of giving others a character reference seem ended

Point is they didn't follow team rules .... Goodwin is setting standards/culture & making sure players earn the right to play senior footy not by default! It's the players who have let down their teammates & club here!

Jordan put in another shocker on Friday with 16 disposals and a single tackle. He ripped out 5 contested possessions despite going into the midfield in the second half. Jetts, who plays a much more defensive game managed 8 contested possessions and 8 tackles in his 16 possession game. I note that when TGR started this thread the vast majority supported Jordie but now it seems with the prod of TGR's post many are starting to more strongly analyse his game and understand the limitation of his offering. Many are calling for his return to the midfield but he played there for much of Friday after Viney went down and had no impact. I think the reality is Jordie doesn't like our game style, he is remembering with fondness the open keepings off style Hawthorn played for years and the prospect of the manic running pressure game we play is something he isn't suited to. He doesn't look like he's bought into it for mine. After Friday nights game Pro suggested he is collecting his super and that he has been a bitter disappointment. I agree and have believed this for some time. After snotting Cripps behind play and fracturing his jaw which resulted in a 3 week holiday he was anything but apologetic. There was an arrogance about his dismissal of the criticism. Many admired him for it. Well this week push comes to shove. He's a four time premiership player, he was bought to the Club for his leadership and experience. He was second in Hawks B&F last year, he's demonstrated good footy this year in patches, he's got a three year contract guaranteeing him in excess of $1 million I'd imagine and now is his time. Rather than wave his arms round telling others what to do I want to see him lead by example. Tackles, chases, smothers, controlled aggression, clearances, contested possessions and a genuine impact on the game. His time is now to show he is genuinely invested in this club and not just talking to his financial advisor asking where to put the money whilst picking up easy kicks and telling others what to do.

Totally unnecessary. We are all covered with Tom and Pedo in the ruck. The last thing we need is to be even less mobile, given how depleted our midfield is. I rather plonk Gawn at FF and let Tom ruck for most of the game if Gawn is struggling for fitness.

An elbow to the jaw is just as dangerous but that isn't worth any weeks. Im not supporting or condoning Buggs actions but he was provoked by an off the ball elbow and retaliated. He eve looked surprised when he saw Mills down 2 seconds later. In the incident last week, a player elbowed another player in the jaw without provocation and during the half time break. Did it connect as well? No. But it had the same potential to do harm.

Biffen and BBO?...

Leigh Matthews ought to have been sent off the ground, sent to the remand centre, then Pentridge. And there's a statue at the MCG of this paragon of virtue and arbiter of all things fair and reasonable on the football field. Never even had the courage to look at the person he damn near killed in the eye as he whacked him.

How on earth does Brad Scott and North keep flying under the radar! They have now lost 20 of their last 24 games and are wallowing at 17th on the ladder. It could be said that there are a lot of other 'newsworthy' stories making headlines but there are few worse football performance stories than North. Surely some media heat needs to go there way.

Sums it all up. I would add that Weideman suffered from bad delivery which made it very hard for him, as opposed to the previous week where the delivery was good. Joel smith got better as the game went on, tried to generate some run from half back but was out of position when a turnover ultimately meant the ball went back over his head (he wasn't necessarily the cause of the turnover, it was a bad day skill wise for Casey). He did show good signs. We are down on players so I would say any ins would come from the usual..JKH, Smith, Kent and Weidemann, depending on what the footy dept see is required. Maybe time for Trengove as well, from a leadership point of view. Goodwin, Mathews, Mahoney and Jackson were all at Port for the game.

Excellent summary, Melon, based on the half that I saw. I'll have a go. Thought JKH probably at front of queue in terms of form/match fitness, but Joel Smith with the most upside - in horse racing parlance he should take a lot of improvement out of a run that showed a lot anyway; the question with him is whether he needs another hit out for match fitness and sharpness. Joel looks set to pick up where he left off at around the 15 minute mark of round 1, which is exciting. Kent probably next, then Maynard, then BenKen. It's tricky to predict how Maynard will go at the next step at this stage, but has been strong at VFL level.

Vote 1 Pedo.

It really isn't that inconceivable. There's probably a hundred people involved with the club on match day. A group of players going out isn't going to stay secret. Injuries to key players aren't going to stay secret, especially after being broadcast on television. When you're employed in a workplace, employees message one another when there's relevant news about co-workers, such as sick days. Doubly so in a football club where an injured player might open the door to you finding a spot in the team. Whether told by club officials, other players, friends or family, these players were seemingly aware of the injuries yet chose to stay out on the turps. That shows not only a lack of discipline as professional athletes but a total lack of investment in everything the club is striving to become. How anyone can defend such selfish actions is beyond me.

I reckon they might have watched the game (like the rest of us), before making themselves ineligible. Or is it too much to ask the poor babies? No ones "suicidal", you're just being a [censored].

I'd just like to say how great the Collingwood midfield is. Top class, top class. I rate it highly, like Champion Data does. It's done them the world of good this year. Shame about their backline....... and their forward line...... and their coach who's done a marvellous job so far.

Nothing to see, just the the selfish act of a few players leaving us a further 4 men down when we were already depleted by injury and needing to totally change the team structure for the Swans game with Hunt having to move forward as we had no other options therefore robbing us of a weapon off half back and no true small forward.

Misson. Get those hammies right. Any reoccurrences and we are proper fked

He was 2nd in Hawthorn's B&F last year and was given a 3 year contract. I expected more output from a playing perspective.

Buggy

Simon Goodwin I take my hat off to you. To be going into your 4th game in 18 days, undermanned, under enormous expectation and pressure, with a great deal at stake and to take the hard road by not allowing these fools to be selected speaks volumes of you and your principles. For all those questioning this decision, you are witnessing the very thing that is making this proud club great again. As a coach of elite swimming, I for one am awe of this guy! Keep it up Simon, we are privileged to have you as our coach.