Geddy Lee

Yeah, he kicked 13 goals on the weekend for god sake.

Thank God someone said it. Q Lynch looked good in 2005-6 too.

Matthew Richardson: "Uncontested possession hasn't been a problem for Melbourne this year". Can we stop giving dead**** footballers commentating positions?

I have to be honest, I only noticed Grimes a little bit on Saturday night. Same with Nicholson, and they both were great contributors. I look forward to the replay at 3PM to look out for these guys. Blease was looking very sharp before he went down too.

Someone moved from CHF to HBF in an awful team is going to have their stats skyrocket.

Thanks so much to The Oracle and all other match reviewers on Demonland. The insight and quality of writing blows away what I read in the major metropolitan sport sections, whether the regular journos are on strike or not. Much appreciated from me and everyone I forward the match reports to (and probably all the lurkers too).

Interesting as always. Should the Carlton against score be in green, or are you comparing to the previous year (2011)?

Of course you're going to argue, you're Melbourne supporters. Let me get this straight, Watts had a good game and Hurley had a bad game, so Watts is better? Noooooope. Judging by the ejaculation on D'land it's Watts who is soon to be the most overrated player in the league (I say this with my tongue in my cheek people). People say Watts just has to develop his strength, which will develop his killer instinct. I doubt he will. Morton hasn't, Davey hasn't. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it is very difficult. However, Hurley just needs to learn how to kick straight, and he's a pretty good kick already. That's why I'd take Hurley. However, perfect world, I'd take them both. St Kilda had 2 #1 picks, Nick Riewoldt and Brendan Goddard. Would you take the KPF or the super-talented defender? I certainly see similarities between Watts and Goddard. Anyway, I am just arguing because I vehemently disagree with this thread. Jack had a really good game last night, and so did McDonald, Rivers (who was absolutely fantastic) and Sellar. The backline was exemplary.

Getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. Watching Hurley rag doll Jared Rivers and his ferocious presence, I'd take Hurley over Watts 10 times out of 10, and that shouldn't be a slur on Jack. Only Melbourne supporters would argue otherwise.

Glad 0-11 didn't eventuate. Let's smash the Pies next week!

Here's what you do: 1. Watch the first quarter. 2. Drink in the bar for the final three quarters. 3. Hang out with Richmond supporters.

Surprisingly smart guy. Leaves the rest of the SEN chimps for dead.

He looks good in defence. I would have thought a couple of non-negotiables playing AFL footy (and earning $100+k) is possibly attacking contests, definitely attacking the ball. Bail gave him a [censored] kick across goal yesterday, but to see him back away from the ball - instead of running into it - because he sensed Mitch Robinson coming was downright awful. It was a lovely little painful moment because what Jack lacks is what Mitch Robinson has in spades.

6. Rivers 5. McDonald 4. Jones 3. McKenzie 2. Blease 1. Grimes

If you think Watts attacked the ball hard enough today, you have rocks in your head. I would rather he have 10 possies giving his all than 34 kick backwards (like last week). As I said in the other thread, if you are happy with his development you are deluded - you have actually convinced yourself that he is tracking nicely. He isn't. Garland was OK, but if you put your hand up to play on a small - don't play like a tall. As you can see from my favourite players list, I am a fan of all our defenders. I don't think it was a good game by him.

The Good: Tom McDonald - this guy is going through Frawley-like improvement week to week. Jared Rivers - played really well on a guy 15cm taller than him; won out nearly every time. James Frawley - played well as always. Sam Blease - taking the game on Dan Nicholson, Rohan Bail - very raw, some big clangers, but were mostly very constructive Jordie McKenzie - good job on Judd. Mitch Clark - nuff said. Our tackling was excellent - Tapscott, Magner, Jones in particular. The Bad: Jack Watts' attack - not good enough matey. Colin Garland - if you're playing on a lightning-fast small defender, as you often do, stay the %#&@ down. Jeremy Howe's goal-kicking. I got canned 4 weeks ago for calling him out on this; it's deplorable. Mark Jamar around the ground. Little every week. Jack Trengove's 2 possessions up til half time. The Ugly: Jamie Bennell James Sellar Lynden Dunn Brent Moloney The team going so much better when Sylvia, Davey and Bartram aren't in it.

The amount MFC supporters get defensive about Jack Watts is directly proportional to how much hope we had pinned on him, and we pinned a lot of hope on this kid. He fails, our hopes flicker. It hurts. You must be truly deluded if you're satisfied with his progress. I pray his curve is exponential.

Yes, just like we needed Salopek the year before. And Adam Thomson the year before that. He's their best player FFS. No chance he's going anywhere.

Dark times indeed.

Archer. Brilliant show.

Oh is there a game on?

I'm amazed that Moloney and Jamar have such high game/year averages. I remember when Jamar was a dirty word and couldn't get a game, and Moloney would miss years at a time. Your point is a fair one and well made. James Frawley and Nathan Jones' consistency actually supports your position: the only young guys to not miss games are the only ones firing. Bartram and McKenzie have also missed their fair share of footy.

I think this point is worth discussing. This is not directed at you BH but made me think of our past performances. Often when commentators and fans gloss over Melbourne's performance in 2010-11 they will mention the games where we annihilated decent opposition at our home ground. Let's have a look at the games we trot out (when we're deciding whether to tie the noose or not): Round 5 2010 Sat 24 Apr Brisbane MCG 36396 Win 103-53 Round 17 2010 Sun 25 Jul Sydney MCG 29374 Win 142-69 Round 7 2011 Sun 8 May Adelaide MCG 19987 Win 149-53 Round 13 2011 Sun 19 Jun Fremantle MCG 19092 Win 149-60 I was at every single one of these games and the common theme is, whilst we can delude ourselves all we like, our opposition did not turn up to play on these days. They were not switched on; they were lethargic, listless and Melbourne-esque. It was clear as day to me. A game where Brent Moloney gets 19 clearances or whatever he got was not against switched on opponents. In the last three years (2010-onwards) I can think of only three games against decent opposition where we went toe-to-toe all day: Collingwood X 2 (2010) and Sydney Rnd 1 (2011). Our playing group is uninspired, soft, and the results above actually disguise how ordinary our players are. We are in a deep hole and our young budding stars (Grimes, Trengove etc) are being sucked in with the rest of them.

Excellent point Scoop. It's a long time since Neitz, Viney, Lyon. James McDonald was a leader but could not influence games like the above. We have lacked leadership for so long on-field it is verging on the statistically improbable.

We heard you the first time. Morton has been the least of our problems this year.