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Given the number of times in recent years that others have done to us what we did to Carlton, I’ll take the money and run. They’re a better team than what they’re being credit for and I think we’ve lost the fitness edge we had earlier in the season. It’s already clear that this is going to be a different year - one that’s going to involve changes from weeks to week, experimentation and creativity. We don’t look like we’re in the race based on the first two rounds but history tells us that you can’t judge your fortunes on one or two games. I remember us in 2018 suffering a bad loss early against Hawthorn and thinking we were no hope for the season ahead. But we turned it around, won a couple of games and gathered momentum to finish in a prelim final. We have 15 rounds left and there’s still time to do the same again.

Imagine how much losing by a point would have annoyed Carlton supporters? It’ll make you feel better about the win.

Can I just be the first to say ... "Sack Yze!!".

There is the usual get out of jail card. The real problems are still there as I have banged on about for years. We lack skill, brains and good coaching to adapt to run ons by the opposition. Carlton came back when they started winning clearances, we turned over the ball and then lost structures. Watch the game again people and you will see how many times we turnover the ball, when we have possession, by poor kicking and poor decisions, in kicking to 1 on 2 or 3 opponents. Why? Keep possession and we win easily. Also when Pittonet improved in the ruck, we did nothing different. Max should have belted the ball forward to change the dynamic and stop the clearances. Our lack of disposal skill has killed us for years and continues to do so. Lastly, the Coach seems to do nothing to change what is happening. Why? Fix these areas and we are a reasonable side.

Spot on. Really rate Weitering. I was hoping we could coax him out of Carlton when he had injury issues and was being played all over the park. Young fella was a Demon fan too. Will be one of the premier defenders in the comp for the next 8 - 10 years. Great hands, reads the ball in flight beautifully, smart use of his body & has a bloody big tank as well. I also think we need Weid in the team with TMac. One of them must start deep forward & lead from the square, not from 40 out. They can share that role between them in games, in quarters. Additionally Fritsch is not a KPF's backside & if we persist with that approach we'll ruin another promising career. He should be playing a role like Gunston when Gunston was at his peak. Jack, not Norman

As is often the case on Demonland, everything's binary. It's either the coaches, or the players. IMO it's both. We have a group of players who regularly fail to execute basic football requirements (two-way running, defensive pressure, holding uncontested marks, decision making under no pressure, getting back behind the mark, zoning, communicating with one another to stop three players flying at the ball, leaders disappearing). But we also have a coaching group which is failing to fix those problems and has, I think, doubled-down on a rigid style of playing which exposes us to losses when we're not at 100%, which happens all too regularly. Both sides are at fault and both sides need to improve.

Harmes in 2018 shutting down superstars week in and week out and hurting them the other way. He was a huge part of our success that season in finals. Now hes been moved to a role hes never played in his life and is not suited to. WTF is going on

My wife made the similar comment as she went to bed... “glad to have you screaming into couch cushions again to try not to scare the kids... go Dees”

Spot on DD. Apart from 2 brain fades he was very solid for a bloke essentially re-starting his career after injuries and a longtime out. Steven May would be on 3 times his money and probably had 3 brain fades when you consider his poor attempt at a mark 3rd man up which got over the back and resulted in their first goal plus his pathetic kicking out which included a look away attempt that he pulled across his body and it was just good luck it didn’t come straight back over his head for another goal. Lever would be on twice his money and was no better than Smith. I’m staggered that anyone would suggest dropping him after that game to bring back Hibberd the turn over merchant or slow as treacle Oscar. What people must realise is that you can’t play all 3 of Oscar, Jetta & Lever because they are so slow. When you consider that Salem isn’t quick but great kicking skills, you can understand why they’re trying to get some run out of defence via Harmes, Joel Smith & Rivers. Just unfortunate for Smith that his 2 errors were so graphic that a few on here highlight him instead of others that were totally useless to rather ineffective but inconspicuous, eg Tom MAC, Nathan Jones, Melksham, Lever, May. All of whom are far more experienced and on much more money.

Vitriol? Maybe look up this word in the dictionary because clearly you have no idea what it means. Mine was a discussion of some areas where we did well and things we were poor at and, given the performance wasn't a great one, there were probably a few more things to discuss on what we did poorly. It was not in any way shape or form vitriolic and compared to what we see on Demonland it was fairly tame! Thanks also for letting me know the next game. I've only been going to the footy since I was 3 and in those 34 years since have hardly missed a game in Victoria (and then only if I was away overseas). I was there till the end at Kardinia Park when we lost by 186 and the same at the G when the Dons beat us by 146. I went down to Geelong by myself in one of our worst years ever in 2013 and stood in the rain all game to watch us kick 4 goals and lose by 11 goals. And I was there as a 5-year-old at the prelim in 87. So yeah I know where the next game is. Unlike you I know it's on SUNDAY not Saturday. I also know where we played in Round 3 20 years ago because when you care about something so much you tend to remember it. I hope we beat Essendon too. And I also hope your contribution on the post-game thread is a step up from your embarrassing effort above.

Unpopular opinion. In round 1, Weitering kept Tom Lynch to no goals, no marks and 9 touches in a Richmond win. Maybe the narrative should be a little more about how good Weitering’s start to the season is, rather than how poor TMac was.

Hi everyone, first time poster here. Very happy to get a win, but a bit disappointed with the capitulation. I reckon it will take a few rounds for the crazy scenarios of the past 3 months to settle things down. I am a bit gobsmacked that this is a fan forum and the level of virtriol from 'fans' at our team. From reading a couple of threads it would seem that many posters forget our team is up against another team trying to win, and that our guys deliberately go out of the way to cause them angst. There is more to life than pissanting on dees players after a win, surely.

OUT arrogance and complacency IN work ethic

Yes I think this is harsh, ridiculously so. The issue I have with Bennell isn't his output. Anyone who expects him to be tearing the game up had unreasonably high expectations. The issue I have is that we're playing him knowing he's not fit enough to play much more than 50% of the game. Jackson's barely fitter. And we had Rivers as a first gamer and were planning on having Pickett as a second gamer too. We're really going in with 20 or 21 players when Bennell and Jackson's combined fitness isn't the same as a standard AFL player. We're not good enough to be able to do that, IMO.

Again, some perspective is needed. In this round alone we’ve seen the following: Collingwood 1 goal in three quarters Hawthorn 1 goal in the second half Fremantle 3 goals in the second half Carlton 2 goals in the first half Adelaide, Richmond, Collingwood 5 goals all game West Coast 1 goal in the second half Are all of those clubs senior coaches [censored] like a Goody supposedly is?

TMac’s fall from grace is killing us. He looked like an absolute lump out there again yesterday. I watched him try and change direction at one stage and they almost had to let him out the stadium to complete his turn.

A few observations: The first quarter and a half were superb. We hit up players inside 50 with bullet passes and had a real ‘jump out of the blocks’ moment. Gawn may have dominated, but he seems to get too sure of himself and begins blindly deft tapping the ball over his head, despite no Melbourne mids being set up for it. He has done this for a while now and it’s not smart. It’s part of the reason they began winning the clearances. May’s decision to go 3rd man up and try to take mark of the year allowed Carlton their first goal and kept them in touch. Joel Smith followed his example in the second half. We have to address the backline cohesion. I think it is lacking as so many are new and have not spent a lot of time playing together. However, that is basic footballer awareness. May lambasted Frost in a game last year, where he (Frost), did exactly what May did last night. So, hold yourself accountable May. While on Steven May....he should never ever kick in. Some of those kick ins last night were putrid. It’s not acceptable. He is not equipped to kick in. The kick ins generally were poor. Even Salem struggled. We were too predictable. James Harmes is completely wasted at HBF. Or wherever it is that he is playing back there. We needed to switch him to the midfield last night. Would love to have seen him go and tag Cripps, so Oliver could truly get off the leash. TMAC is either a sook, who cracked it that his brother was dropped, or is a bog ordinary football. Offered nothing last night and his perpetual falling to ground after a contest is deplorable. He can barely chase and offers no pressure inside fifty. fritsch cannot be trusted in front of goal. He missed many easy shots last night. The last one was the worst of them. He can take a mark, but if he continues to butcher shots like that, we will be forced to look elsewhere. Hannan should be in the side. Jackson showed enough to suggest he will be a good player for us. I would have liked to see him rucking and Gawn going forward though. I don’t know what the thinking was there. Gawn did a lot of work in the back half, which is great, but we were on a roll and this was rarely experimented with during the game. Hunt can stay for a while. He is a smart footballer and applies great pressure when the ball is not in his hand. Persist with. Viney struggled last night and did not have the same impact as rd1. We are a midfielder short at the moment as there wasn’t great midfield rotation when guys in there were struggling. Vanders in perhaps and Harmes to go through there as well. Joel Smith either plays forward or goes and plays in the Magoos. We are not a development side. We can’t play him and hope he learns when to stay, when to go. He has no natural football smarts as a back man. It almost proved costly last night. His decision to fly for a mark, as the 3rd Melb. Player in the contest, while leaving his opponent out the back, was dumb beyond belief. carlton have made a habit of giving up big leads and then trying to fight back. So was not surprised that they did again last night. The disappointing part was that we handed them some momentum with our poor decisions and then couldn’t counter when their tails were up. We went back to bad habits. Bomb kicking inside 50. Going slow when we should have gone quick. Kicking backwards fifty metres instead of long down the line to force a boundary throw in. Really basic errors that creep into our game, very quickly.

What a bloody silly post! His post was quite constructive.

What a stupid thing to say He just finished 3rd in the brownlow and look destined to become a star of the competition. We had just traded Hogan and trading Brayshaw at the time would have been a real uproar with supporters. Everyone is a hindsight hero at times.

Just had Melksham on the footy show. A bit delusional trying to claim we lifted in the last 10 minutes and it showed our maturity. I would prefer we call a spade, a spade and just say we got lucky.

I'll take 15 one point wins....

Regarding Yze, he’s popular as an ex-player and he has spent a long time in the Clarkson system. I agree that these are two very superficial elements which have little to no bearing on whether he would be a good coach. Richmond and Collingwood had poor seasons under their respective coaches, however, nowhere near the uncompetitive swill of 2019. It’s not a direct shot at the OP because there are plenty of others who use the Richmond/Collingwood example. What if we’re more like Freo? They were bundled out of a prelim, came back underdone and had their game plan found out, and spent the following season near the bottom. They stuck fat with a coach whose message wore thin with playing group and spent four meandering seasons araldited to the bottom six before hiring a rookie coach and starting again. Or perhaps our situation is uniquely our own and deserves to be resolved using factors relevant to Melbourne in 2020 (not Richmond 2016, Collingwood 2017, Freo 2015 and so on)? Criticism of Goodwin and the broader football department is growing increasingly legitimate. We are no longer a developing side on the rebuild from oblivion. We have a core of players who are mature in an experience sense but they haven’t been able to shake off the horrible inconsistency and volatile performances despite many of them pushing into what should be prime realty. I struggle to think of a team in the league that has such a gaping chasm between their best and worst. Our performances at the MCG under Goodwin have also been poor. We have a structure that is easily exploited and a fragile playing group that is seemingly going backwards at a rate of knots. These are all things that (rightly or wrongly) get sheeted home to the coach. All that said, I hope I’m proven wrong by Goodwin but I fear I will not be. The reality is given our poor financial position off of the back of last year, rolled into COVID-19, rolled further into Gary Pert’s sweetheart deal for Goodwin that we won’t be sacking him unless there is a massive member/sponsor (possibly player) uprising. In summary: Yze is flavour of the month; our situation is pretty distant from that of Richmond/Collingwood; Goodwin deserves a lot of the criticism directed at him; and it’s only because we’re in a mess of our making that he isn’t under more pressure.

A HEALTH WARNING: If you, in any way, do not rate Simon Goodwin as a coach, and/or get annoyed at his tendency to speak in cliches and buzz words ('lots of leanings from this game', the players want to win, credit to the opposition) or even get mildly irritated by his upbeat post game vibe or peculiar smirks when we have played poorly: DO NOT WATCH THE POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE! You have been warned.

It was frustrating and terrifying as all hell, but I don’t know how you could draw any conclusions from it. It has been the single weirdest round of footy I have ever seen. I’m more than happy to just take the win and be happy with that given how flat some teams have come out of this break.

I dont see why we can't play all 3 of Jackson, McDonald and Weideman. Yet instead of having a skinny half forward flanker at full forward why not stick Weid or McDonald down there instead. Use Jacko as the backup ruckman, and leave Weid and McDonald as genuine key forwards. Jackson showed there is something to work with. Feel like that more game time and experience the better. Gotta get Kossi and Vanders in there as well.

Weideman for Jackson. I'm not critical of Jackson but he's raw and will take time. Weid has to be ahead of him at this point. Pickett for ANB. OMac for Smith Also need to find a way to get vandenBerg in.

went alright actually

Now is when Ricoh earns his money. To review the game with Goody, challenging him around his decisions, other options, methods and communication. If Goody is to get better, he needs someone like Richo to challenge his process. He should also be challenging the players as they review their performance.

I won't be watching a replay but I didn't think he was that bad. When he was around the clearances he did some nice things. Only played 69% game time and showed some good courage sitting under the high ball with Casboult coming. His kicking is what it is. He is not much of a wingman and with Petracca spending more time in the midfield it's unfair to expect Brayshaw to dominate with limited opportunities.

It looked to just be a mistake. Players all got into the rooms, bit unsure what to do given no one is allowed to put their arms around each other anymore, even though they all tackle each other during the game.... Storm in a tea cup type stuff. It was a strange end as it seemed the players were almost not even going to sing the song given how poor their second half was.

Anyone unhappy with our game last night need to look at some other results this weekend. Eagles spanked by last year's wooden spooners. Giants beaten at home by a Roos team that traveled up on the same day. Just have to take the wins no matter how we get them.

Fair call. You're right I'm being too simplistic saying connection is about accurate kicking. It is all the things you suggested. And to add an element synergy. Instinctively knowing where everyone is. A big part of which is a predictable, well drilled system. Which makes the decision to bring so.many new players in and changing your defensive unit and structure all the more perplexing. Hard in those circumstances to have connection. All that adide we still have too many really poor kicks and too few elite kicks.

Laziness and selfishness. Players have been getting away with this for ages. It's crucial, especially in the forward line to run hard for a ball you know you're not going to get to create space behind you for your teammates to work in. Along with failing to shepherd for your teammates after dishing off the footy its one of things that does my head in.

I've just watched the final two minutes again (here). It starts with Carlton bringing the ball back after Fritsch's miss. Our zone is woeful. Jones and Brayshaw are guarding space leaving Fritsch to defend three Blues. Docherty's poor handpass stops them getting it out. Then Salem kicks to Melksham who can't get the ball over the line, it comes back to Salem who gets crunched, and when Carlton get possession you hear Garry Lyon say "oh, they're out". Why? Because we've pushed our defensive zone so far up the ground that we've left space out the back. Walsh's kick to Mackay is Melbourne-esque and Jetta gets the free. He looks to go down the line, Viney and Hunt are open near the boundary, but I think (and maybe I'm being generous here) he mis-kicks it so it goes in board. Still, Petracca is there to take the uncontested mark, but fluffs it (maybe his only mistake all day, to be fair). Ball gets back to Walsh who, MFC-esque again, fails to see Casboult on his own and kicks it straight to Lever. Lever then, correctly, looks down the other wing which is where he should be kicking it. No one leads there other than Fritsch. Meanwhile Joel Smith is standing in the goalsquare telling everyone to pause. Most of our forwards/mids are stuck on the other side of the ground and appear too tired or unwilling to get across to help Lever (Brayshaw is, again, in no-man's land). Lever is forced to kick to the 2-on-1 but the Carlton player runs under the ball and we're able to clear. Langdon and Tomlinson gut run into the 50 to give us options and that's enough time off the clock to win. One poor kick (Jetta's, but possibly a mis-kick rather than a bad choice) but the poor defensive positioning and lack of running was a bigger problem.

We are definitely lacking a key forward as a crucial part of our structure. TMac is struggling since his foot/ankle injuries, Weideman hasn't come on and Jackson is a 1 gamer. If we can find someone who can clunk marks and kick straight we'll look far better. So many times yesterday we kicked to a lead or one on one but the player was outmarked or beaten easily in the contest

Too simplistic IMO, binman. The mid-forward connection issue is a real one and it's more than just foot skills and pressure. It includes forwards knowing when to lead and where to lead to, keeping a forward structure which doesn't continually get sucked up the ground, having forwards who can crash packs and bring the ball to ground (and/or hold marks). It's not all as simple as opposition pressure and foot skills. Yesterday wasn't about our mid-forward connection, though. It wasn't a case of us having repeat inside 50s going to waste. It was a case of our midfield losing control and being unable to get it back, combined with a lack of forward/midfield defensive pressure.

Brainwashed by the MFC is closer to the truth. Poor team selection is at the root of yesterday's problems. Playing Jackson instead of the Weid or Brown. Harmes and Smith in the back line. Very ordinary decisions from a very ordinary FD.

Good to see truck has worked in his goal kicking. Seemed to be more confident when kicking for goal which is good to see. (Kicking his first goal also helps his confidence)

He had 14 touches in 50% of game time, meaning his per tog ratio was amongst the highest on field. He had a couple of touches that showed his silk, one gorgeous handball to advantage really stands out in my mind. It's not only his personal hesitation and uncertainty that is understandable, but the game has changed in 4 years. Speed is differentin competitive matches than during training match sim. Anything above minimum acceptable output this year is a bonus while he readjusts.

Carlton did the same thing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters that teams did all last year to beat us. Put a ring on the outside of the contested ball and never over-match our players on the contest on the inside. This works in two ways. If we win it (which we mostly do) the players run into a wall of opposition players and in a panic just throw it on the boot (Brayshaw is the worst offender), which is at best a 50:50 cough up. If we lose it then the opposition knows if they get it out they'll have players to get it to and they can run off with it The solution is what Viney said at half-time. Take half a second when you win it on the inside and compose yourself and look for a target. We only started doing that about halfway through the last quarter. In the first quarter Carlton didn't do that and just tried to match us at our game with predictable consequences as they are not that good and we blew them away. Basically we were out-coached in the 2nd and 3rd. Again. All it takes is more composure when we win the contested ball, if the players can do that we'll be set

I am a Goodwin fan. But... Although Carlton had 3 talls in their forward line, there was no reason to play Joel Smith back. He's just not a backman. He flies when he should stay down, tries to mark when he should punch. It wasn't good. And then we played Jetta on McKay. Inexplicable. Clarry did a great job, but with a midfield with very little impact, surely we could ask Harmes or Viney to 'tag' Cripps and then use our midfielders in a more attacking way. Rivers was amazing. Jackson showed great signs. But geez we had a lot of players not contribute, and most failed to contribute over 4 quarters. We won't get away with that too often.

The more I think about Goodwin's comments, the more frustrated I get. There are two quintessential current-MFC ways to lose: dominate inside 50s but fail to score, conceding easy goals out the back because our entire 22 are in our forward half locking it in; being beaten in the middle and failing to turn the tide. The "mid-forward" connection thing is what goes wrong in the first such problem, but not the second. When we dominate inside 50s and score, we get 2018 MFC, which is what we got today in the first 1.5 quarters: a 42 point lead in that amount of time is nothing to be sneezed at against any opponent. Goodwin continues to try to get us playing a game that relies on ruck/clearance/CP dominance and locks the ball inside the forward half. If we don't dominate in those areas, we seem to be incapable of winning.

The problem with Lever isn't his ability. It's his role within our defensive unit overall. Like almost every player in the league, he has weaknesses, and they get exploited when: 2-3 of Smith, May, Jetta and Lever jump at the same ball; May and others shank kicks coming outside of the back 50, opening us up on a quick rebound; our mids/forwards don't put the requisite level of pressure on the opposition, meaning they get to pick and choose who they're kicking to. Lever is essential to holding our defensive unit together but when the other cogs break down, he does too. He isn't very good one-on-one but if we're playing well, he doesn't end up one-on-one very often and the ball isn't coming in to our opposition forwards' advantage. He can do better, but there are much more significant issues in our midfield and forward line than there is with Lever.

As many have said it was horrible from halfway through the second quarter until the end. It's a rare game where you lead all day and are never headed but arguably deserved to lose. Really disappointing after such a great start to drop away like that and not be able to recover. The backline seems to be copping it - I actually thought as a whole they probably won us the game (along with some Carlton misses). We went 11-0 in inside 50s at the start of the game; from that point on it was 48 to 29 against us but we managed to keep them at bay really until the last quarter. There were some mistakes from individuals and the defence started to creak quite badly in the last quarter but Carlton were basically walking it in with no pressure on the ball carrier. No defence can sustain a constant barrage of inside 50s when there is so little pressure applied up the ground. To me it was more the midfield and forward line who were the culprits, despite being so good early in the game. What happened to the pressure? It was sensational early - Carlton were nervous and fumbly and they barely got any clean ball. Then in the second half we could hardly lay a glove on them and they got out in space time and time again. I just don't understand how it can go from such a high level to such a low level in such a short space of time. And same with the clearances. We went from a position of absolute dominance to then getting pummelled in the clearances in the second half. This is meant to be a strength of ours with our big-bodied midfield and even more so when it's Gawn against an inexperienced ruckman. Like the pressure it was just so disappointing to completely drop off in an area we should be dominant in. There's been a lot of talk about TMac - confidence, form, injury, etc. - I think he's just not as good as people think he is/expect him to be. Don't get me wrong, he can be a very handy second tall forward - a really effective foil for a gun KF the way he was for Hogan in 2018. But he's not the main man - it's not his fault, being your side's no.1 KF is the hardest role in footy and not many have the ability to do it. He has a lot of good attributes and is still clearly a best 22 player but he needs help. We are hugely reliant on Weid making it and being that dominant KF. I still have time for him and he needs a good run at it and to get some form and confidence and go from there. But if he doesn't make it, we are desperately lacking in this area. It was so obvious in the second half when we just needed a KF to clunk a few to get us out of trouble. Every time it went in Carlton either marked it or ran it out and it meant we could never reset and press up. Carlton just recycled the ball and attacked again and we were constantly on the back foot. Having that big man take a few enables you to structure up again, a bit like a striker in soccer holding the ball up and allowing his defenders to push up and his midfielders to make runs in behind. It's so important when you need to arrest the momentum in a match.

OK... THE GOOD... Rivers fit in nicely across half back and, after misjudging the pace of the game early, settled quite well. Had a lot more speed than I thought and wasn't intimated into taking the game on. Liked the physical side of his game Bennell simply getting through the match was a huge win for him and the club. He is a gun and, body permitting, will get better with every match this year. He was solid, without being magical. Jackson Whilst he's not ready for senior football, you can definitely see the attributes that Taylor liked. Will be a good player for us, but I'd look to Weid next week now that Jackson has had a taste. Hunt Hasn't been part for the discussions in people's best 22s for quite some time but he showed today some great football smarts and looked fast, sharp and dangerous up forward. The speed and timing of his leads inside 50 make him look like a handsome, blonde Jason Dunstall. Gawn. He's a champion. That a term that is thrown around all too much, but in this case it applies. The tap outs he was feeding to our midfield, particularly in the first half were insane. He was back in defense for some clutch marks and is a towering presence around the ground. Looks fit and is moving very well. Our first quarter - It was brilliant and regardless of what happened after that, we showed the brand of football that we are capable of and it had the Carlton 18 running for the bunker. We were fast, aggressive and slick. Obviously, this was not sustained to the intensity that is required to succeed at the top level, but that first quarter needs to be the standard that we strived toward for four quarters every game. THE KINDA GOOD... Petracca First half was excellent and his goal in the third is the kind of shot he used to try to give off. He is edging closer and closer to the player we know he can be. There was an opportunity in the last quarter to really put his stamp on the season, but he wasn't able to impose himself like he had early in the game. Oliver Played well, but is and should be held to a higher standard than most. Seemed to be kicking and carrying the ball more than usual and played well when the game was there to be won. Viney Continued with his good form. Whilst not as dominant as his preseason games and round one, his game today was better than what were were seeing for the last couple of years. He's fit, healthy... and angry. Langdon and Tomlinson Will roll them together as they were recruited together to play similar roles. Both showed a bit today, without tearing the games apart. They're still getting into the swing of things at the club and it looks to be a good piece of targeted recruiting. Tomlinson's pass to Hunt was beautiful football. THE NOT SO GOOD... The defense When the team defense was up and running, we were looking good, but when the momentum turned, we fell apart too easily. It is always good to keep a team to 7 goals, but it is a concern that we conceded 18 scoring shots to 14. The second half saw some classic Melbourne plays where four players went up and no one stayed down. Salem had enough of the ball to really hurt Carlton, but he didn't have his usual precision and creativity and Lever and May were solid but far from imposing. Joel Smith Many here love him. I still don't see it. He seems like more of an athlete than a footballer and makes some very poor decisions about when to and when not to go. This may be in part due to inexperience, but I still can't recall him playing a particularly good game at senior level. He should be selected when his form absolutely demands it. Jones- Looked to be playing a different game plan to the rest of the team today. Was holding things up when he should have been moving the ball quickly and kept bombing his kicks to contests. He's got a hell of a lot of points in the bank, but he'll need to show a lot more next week or he could find himself keeping Hibberd company. Forwards As the leaders of the line, Melksham and McDonald did not impose themselves on the game at all. This would have been one of Melksham quietest games for the club and TMac was moving better than last year, but didn't look at all threatening. Fritsch has talent and a great set of hands, b ut if he continues to miss straight-forward shots at goal, then there is no point him being there at all. Should have had at least four today if he took advantage of his opportunities. Fitness I know nothing can replicate the real thing, but we either weren't fit enough or didn't have the desire to push hard enough in the last quarter. Either way, it's a real worry going forward. BUT... We won - and in what will be a close season, you've gotta take that. I think we probably showed today our best and worst football. Going forward from here, if the Melbourne from the first quarter turns up every week, we'll win more than wee lose. If second half Melbourne become a regular visitor, it'll make a short season feel very long indeed.

Yeah ok Saty what ever helps u sleep at night.

No no no Andrew ! This will not do at all ! Far too decent and logical. You lambast "vitriol" yet it is the very essence of Demonland - the staff of life so to speak. You must learn to direct it at the AFL, the Media, the coach and the players ( anyone really). However, and most importantly, always remember it is best aimed at other posters. PS . A bit of smut and adolescent obscenity is always welcome also. PPS. A word of warning. There are quite a few wackos and perverts on this site so be wary of them.

Vitriol? WTF?

As much as i'd like to see OMac back i reckon it would be a mistake to drop smith. Dropping an inexperienced player after the one game, particularly when you have backed him in is bad for everyone i reckon and as rule shouldn't happen. Would do Smiths head in and smash his confidence. Tmac is another thing all together. I'd be dropping him and replacing him with Weid. Tmac is simply not mobile enough at the moment and has the turning circle of the Ruby Princess.

The good news is that Weid reportedly kicked 5 or 6 goals in the scratch match. The bad news is so did Brown apparently.