MikeyJ

Every club in the land would have been aware of Daniel Hayes' issues regarding training and commitment levels, had they been tracking him with a view to drafting him last year. His appearances for Eastern Ranges were sporadic last season for the same reason. As others have said, he is an exceptionally talented individual who can have an AFL career if he wants it badly enough. Hayes was certainly a risk worth taking in the rookie draft. I hope he can resolve the problems that are affecting his football and display that talent.

Touche, Redleg I had considered omitting him from that list, but he does give us another option to run through the midfield. And Rhino, Godfrey fits the description of bona fide midfielder for the purposes of this discussion, in that he is a seasoned player with the running ability required to rotate through the centre. Skills and vision (fortunately for Godders' sake!) don't come into it. Like you and many others, I won't be disappointed if he doesn't play for Melbourne this year.

If you have a look at the players we had in our midfield rotation, versus the players Hawthorn had in theirs, you might be able to answer your own question. Green, Bruce, McDonald, Jones and Godfrey were the only bona fide mids we had in the squad. The rest were kids (and Jones is still a kid). Bring the likes of McLean, Johnstone, Pickett, Sylvia and Moloney into the mix and you'll find the fitness won't be such an issue. Conversely, Hawthorn basically had its full midfield mix out there (I can't recall seeing Vandenberg, but he's the only one).

Fair enough Dappa, I can see why you wouldn't be keen to miss the next couple of years! In regard to the ground situation, the concern is for the well-being of the grounds, and also of the players. Players: don't want to be playing on a dry-land skating rink. Don't want to be tackled hard on to a playing surface that feels like concrete. Insurance is less of an issue, because most leagues are negotiating with their insurers to accept that as long as the players are happy to play, there will be no negligence claims against the council or the league. Local councils: don't want their assets ruined after a month of football. It's a lot cheaper to ban sport from a ground than to resurface and reseed the entire thing. It's a little from column A and a little from column B. Some leagues have already put their season start back by weeks, while others are more optimistic and taking a "wait and see" approach. If the dry weather continues, I can't see how leagues won't put their seasons back.

Dappa, I read from your profile that you're in Japan and in that light, your answers make sense. We haven't had anything approaching decent rain in Melbourne for more than a year. The only substantial falls we've had in Victoria were during Christmas and that was only for two days. As such, Melbourne's reservoirs are about 35 per cent full, bringing about stage 3 water restrictions. As you can imagine, most of Melbourne's sporting grounds are in a dire state, given there are only a few that have exemptions from restrictions.

After a quick look at the provisional AFL fixture, Melbourne looks to have done well in the first half of the season in regards to FTA coverage. If we take it that the schedule is as follows: Friday night - FTA Saturday 2.10pm - FTA * Saturday 2.10pm - Foxtel * Saturday 7.10pm - FTA Saturday 7.10pm - Foxtel Sunday 1.10pm - Foxtel Sunday 2.10pm - FTA Sunday twilight - Foxtel * Foxtel and FTA to alternate choice of `best' game from week to week. Either 12 or 13 of Melbourne's first 14 games should be on FTA. The exceptions are Round 8 v West Coast at Subi and perhaps the Round 10 game against Adelaide (that depends on what the networks deem to be the best game. Rounds 15-19 are likely to all be on Foxtel, before we play Collingwood on a Friday night at the MCG in Round 20. Rounds 21 and 22 will be on Foxtel as well. That's a best-case split of 14 games on FTA, eight on Foxtel. If the fixture remains as is, the worst case will be 13 on FTA, 9 on Foxtel. Not too bad, all things considered. There will be several clubs who fare worse.

Nah, it's Tigger, because like his namesake from Winnie the Pooh, Travis "just LOOOOOVES to bounce"! I reckon it's a cracking nickname.

That's just conjecture, Freak. We'll never know. Given Bate won the Morrish Medal as a bottom-aged TAC Cup player, playing predominantly from the goalsquare as a full-forward, who's to say he wouldn't have gone No. 1 before Murphy if he'd dominated the competition as a mobile CHF, or even a full-time midfielder? It's a moot point anyway, as Bate was much better served developing at VFL level the following season, instead of belting up 16-year-olds with the Eastern Ranges.

Miller's got to go down back, for mine. He has size and he plays his best footy when he's running in straight lines. OP issues notwithstanding, he's not the sort of player who'll make you gasp with his agility. He is a serviceable mark for a defender and reads the ball reasonably well in the air. However, he's no Jared Rivers. As others have mentioned, we don't have a true centre half-back other than Holland. That's a role that needs filling in the next two years, because I don't think Dutchy will last much more past that. Miller looms as the ideal candidate. He's just got to play well enough in the `Mr Fixit' roles he'll be given between now and then to remain on the list.