SaberFang

Total no brainer that change. Shouldn't have been dropped and last week it showed when we had zero run.

One change, JKH for Viney.

What the...? Seriously? How?

Also remember Brayshaw is 19 going on 20, he was an older draftee compared to many others,

I can't imagine you'd want to spend what little free time you do have as an AFL player watching even more AFL. When you're outside your jobs do YOU want to spend your free time thinking about whatever industry you work in?

The game has changed a lot since his dad played. If he can't build a tank then he desperately needs to be great at almost everything else. Can you reserve a FS for a rookie pick? I'd guess we'd use our fifth or sixth rounder if nobody else shows interest. Either way, just hope he builds into some ripping form.

Gold Coast applied almost no pressure in our match. The Saints beat a better GC team by 30 points at their home ground, so it's hard not to be cynical about our win in hindsight. It reiterates to me that the team only seem capable of performing when up against no pressure. Although we got a few surprise wins last year against good sides, most of them were because the opposition were walkovers who didn't apply pressure (likely because they just expected to win against us, and gave us no respect). It's also why we don't win against the other bottom 4 teams, because unlike us they come out guns blazing knowing we're an easy kill under pressure. We come out expecting to win and get a rude awakening.

Did you forget Howe's games last year as a forward? Some of his worst. Lazy, poor leads, terrible inaccuracy on set shots. Moving him to defence has been a stroke of genius. If he's unhappy playing his role for the team and thinks he knows better than Roos, he can [censored] off at the end of the year with that [censored] poor anti-team attitude.

Nope, their window begins when ASADA's ends. So 42 days after the verdict.

The day after ASADA's window for appeal closes.

The coaching failed Saturday as much as the players. It was the coaches that decided to change a winning team with two underdone players. It was the coaches that didn't find a way to stop the run of goals from the Giants after spending 18 months teaching the players how to defend.

This next trade period will hopefully be the last major list culling, enabling Roos to form the list exactly as he wants it. Likewise, I expect another 8-10 players to be culled.

I'll feel a lot better about yesterday if GWS beat Geelong.

What gives me total faith In Roos is his ability to read a situation clinically and without emotion, then determine the root of the problem. He was saying months ago that we are capable of very good football, but we are also capable of very, very bad football. He correctly called this months ago; the gap between our best and worst is simply enormous and he is trying to get consistency out of his players.

I have total faith in what Roos is doing, but more and more I start to wonder if the only thing that can truly establish a new culture is a complete list turnover. There's just this bizarre, lingering dark cloud that seems to hang over the head of the players.

On current form, Essendon are shoe-ins to win against Collingwood. Frightening.

I agree the club is on the right track, but when you look at a team like Essendon and their never-say-die attitude, you realise how far we have to go. Our players go to water and drop their heads at the first sign of pressure. We would've lost last week were it not for Ablett's cockup and H's inspiring goal.

There's no pride in our jumper for most of our players.

It's mindboggling to me that a team of drug cheats is being painted as inspiring and "brave" by the media. There's a serious cultural problem in Australia, where a blind eye is turned to cheating. They should be torn to shreds, but their clout and connections (politically and in the media) prevents it. Disturbing and perverse.

Clark was incredibly undisciplined today. After his moronic, aimless long bomb into their forward fifty (easily marked uncontested by a Freo player), Selwood turned around, threw out his mouthguard and screamed abuse at him. Problems at the Cattery, I love it!

Don't worry, they'll get a priority pick to help them out.

I think a point that isn't raised often enough with the MFC is that we aren't really a cohesive team. When you turn over 11 players from your list every year and there's no consistency, there isn't an opportunity for players to learn the psychology of their teammates. The reason Hawthorn are so successful is because they've been working together with a tight core unit for the better part of a decade. They know each other's game inside out. It will take years and years of a settled list to get close to this at Melbourne. I don't imagine we'll have that until Goodwin's first year, and even then it might take him a few years.

Gosh it'd be great timing if ASADA chose tomorrow to announce an appeal. It's going to be insufferable listening to the media this week.

Feel sick watching that. Not only because we'll be shovelled crap by the media all week about how "inspiring" that team is, but it just reiterates how pathetic our pea hearted team was yesterday.

Arguably last week were replicating the Hawthorn model of goal kicking mids. It worked because GCS are inept. This week? Not so much.