Rhino Richards

1. Bate was taken as a junior age footballer in the draft and was expected to take longer than normal to develop and mature as an AFL footballer. He was introduced at the right time. Unfortunately he is suffering from second year blues. I am waiting for the wit to tell me that we introduced him to early. 2. Scott Thompson was frequently injured with foot and leg injuries. In 2004 when he was fully fit (at least for the first 16 rounds) he was our No 1 centreman. Its a load of tish he was not given opportunity. 3.Armstrong is the 22nd player in the Eagles outfit. After Matera broken down and Sampi went AWOL, Armas was third in line. He is just a fringe player in a very good team as opposed to a fringe player in a lesser team.

I got no issue with MFC kicking goals off other team's errors especially arising from umpiring decisions. FWIW, MFC would just plan sloppy and crude in their tackling.

For all those people looking for a solution in the trade market...get real. Have a look at what gets traded and why clubs are participating? If we dont think certain players are up to why the hell would other Clubs fall on their swords and sacrifice their youth picks to get our damaged goods?

A change of coach will bring about a clean out and so it should.

Davey might be but Yze has been a proven woodduck if there is any pressure or contested situation involved and he does not have the easy ride.

Thanks Fanatic for the simplicity. Yze deserves to play one out deep all game.......I thought he had done enough of this over the past year and disappeared from the game. He is as potent as a eunich at the moment. I am non plussed what Davey's position is to why he aint getting near the ball. If he cant crumb where the action is then how is going to crumb where the ball aint. A player of his stature is going to be subjected to pressure whether he is forward or back. Its up to the player to extract the digit and get his attitude right. Unless there is a specific match up for Bizz and I dont think there is on Sunday I think a floating role is great way to describe the way Bizz has played for the past few years. Surely we need someone more accountable than him. Heavens knows we carry enough floaters at the moment in the team.

Thanks Pello. But no one is criticising his 2005 or 2006 years. Together with 2002. He has played 3 good years out of 10 so far. Its a poor output from a gifted player over the course of his career. Further his performances this year when compared with 2005 and 2006 are even more shambolic and insipid. I dont buy the hard tag theory as he has had hard tags for years I'll be buggered what a broken toe has to do with a lazy uncommitted attitude. I could name a few footballers who if selected would give there all when they play. Scoop is on the money on this one.

Crikey. You must have missed alot of football and you could not be more wrong. I give you six from the Swans for starters......Hall, Goodes, O'Keeffe, J. Bolton, Kirk and Kenneally. The Roos had Carey....best footballer in the past 30 years...plus Stevens, Archer, King etc. The thing that all premiership teams have is the commitment to a game plan. Its not an issue of trotting out the cliche " A champion team is greater than a team of champions". No premiership team has contained a team of champions! And no one aside the cliche vendors are saying so. But a champion team is defined by the acts of their top six and the commitment of all to a team plan. The top six are the players who have the ability or skill in the tough challenging games that lift a side in a close contest by their own actions. Invariably that top six will contain players who are "stars" of the game. Go through the past premiership teams of the past 15 years and each team has within their Top 6, at least 2 players who are of the highest calibre and are stars.

I dont think it is a matter of physique but more of attitude and commitment. TJ has the ability to make space with wonderful lateral vision. None of that has been evident the past two weeks. The Hawks made a number of skill errors but you had a real sense that they were committed, strong team ethic, prepared to work for each other. Do I get that feeling from gifted players like Yze and TJ? Nup. Not at all. (P.S. They arent the only ones but two supposed key drivers). IMO I think Yze is past it to be a player of consistently justifing an AFL berth. This is the TJ of 3 to 4 years ago and FCS he should be through that and we should be getting more than the half arsed efforts we are witnessing.

They will need to play some height up forward and Bruce despite his appalling disposal will be needed in the midfield. Neitz is a big loss and Robbo is too with the big fella out. It will be interesting to see what happens. For the record, the Bullies game is paced on pace and running. While they did lose Darcy and co they did managed to have a suprising number of core players who played every game last year. Its a real test of character but I think we know who the passengers are........Its a matter of who steps up.

I think the same could be said for our midfield. Its a big ask for a young kid to do what so called talented experienced players take short cuts on.

Lazy, insipid and uncommitted. For a player in his 10 th year he has not delivered consistently on his potential. Pathetic.

Given Rivers is due back, its a struggle to see how either will come in. Who would you drop? And who would either player match up on? I'd give Rivers..... Franklin, Carrol take Roughhead, Bell take Williams. Bell played well on him last time.

Its been two to three years since Adem has been consistent cream. His career average is higher than where he is now and has been for some time. On Friday 19 possessions, 16 uncontested (3 occurred within one play and represented some of the cheapest and frivolous touches you can get). Another forgettable performance. Its ironic that the only compliment that he has received is that "He was not the worst". What an inditement of a player who was once skilled. He was definitely near the bottom of the barrel. I think the only thing that is saving him is the injuries to McLean, Sylvia, Pickett and Dunn. It might get him another run. Mike Sheahan wrote a perceptive and interesting article on him. http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/com...5E20123,00.html FWIW, I think it will take more than one good game (and I mean good game) for him to hold his position going forward. If any two of those 4 above were fit I would have Yze getting a number of opportunities to beat his PB of 12 tackles at Sandy (That cant be right!) If he plays another bad game regardless I would play Godfrey instead. At least Godfrey would leave nothing in the tank to produce. And it could not be worse than the invisible No 13.

I would have Neitz at CHF. Second option would be Holland. We have been developing a new game plan. We were OK against Richmond. We were good against Hawthorn who had a longer pre-season than us. It has not been all doom and gloom and we have had a number of players with interrupted pre season. You have seen one game and the baby's out with the bath water. Miller might be fading but I am not sure that an 198cm rover that cant mark offers us much. Its ironic that he CHF in Rd 1 last year. Its telling that as ruckman he cant even oust Jamar. You must have been beside yourself in Rd 3 last year. I'd rather a planned and thought process than a knee jerk reaction. THe onus is ND to get the players and the plan going. Aside from Rivers, Sylvia and Pickett, i dont believe there are any other players whose performance are knocking on the door. Keep punting!

Dappa, He was also one of our best against Hawthorn and played well in an intraclub. The guy is making every post a winner to get towards being selected each week. He has one bad week and the axe from some is unfairly for him. Imagine if his surname was Yze!

People forget that the MCC is the most egaliterian of clubs. Why? Because in the normal course of events after 20 years you get offered a good value membership offer.It represents a cross section of the community in Melbourne who share an interest in sport They even let in supporters of the filth!

Gouga, I am concerned that at Rd 2 of the Home and Away season people are prepared to "punt" on positions. And its easy for people like us who have no accountability or responsibility to throw names up and say he should/should not play. I think any structural changes should be carefully considered. I agree Miller is not playing well and FWIW I am on the record as saying he wont make it as a CHF. When you want to change Miller for PJ, you are essentially seeking to change a player who is struggling with AFL as a CHF for a guy who is struggling to make in AFL at two clubs and is a third choice ruckman where the secnod choice ruckman aint setting the world on fire. In Miller's case he isnt marking (or often getting) the ball at the moment while PJ carries a fundamental problem that he cannot reliably take a grab above his shoulders. I am not convinced that PJ despite his height has the wherewithall to match with AFL opponents. I further struggle with having White, Jamar and PJ in the 22 when they all at various times struggle in the ruck and are non existent elsewhere. I think there are limited but better options.

Jarka and Scoop are on the money on this one.

If its half an hour then PING, I will disappointed. I would rather play him fit. I saw some early games last year where he looked like Garfield and quite forlorn. I'd rather not suffer that.

Roughhead and will the Hawks play an extra tall down forward?

Hardly. BTW, I dont find the average Tom at the football a very good judge of what going on. You've just proven it.

True. He did. But I get edgy over a 30+ yo hamstring especially when its truicking additional weight.

From the side that played on Saturday if fit I would have Sylvia and chop Yze. I'd have Rivers in at the expense of Ward. Who would be in the best 22 at the expense of one of the three. Abilitywise their best is better than others on the sidelines. And we need that sort of ability to fire if we are to be in roads at the top. Given they have played no more than 20 games each, consistency is a very hard and unreasonable ask. Hell, there are experienced players who cant produce that over 200 games.

...They just need to get the ball more often. You mistaken toughness at the ball with toughness at the man. I dont believe Neitz is at issue on this. Other players certainly are The AFL is taking a tighter line on attacks on players who dont have the ball.