TeamPlayedFine39

Calm down there tiger... and, yes I did. Here's a few more snippets for you: "I didn't find it funny at all, I initially thought that he's in a lot of strife," Jones told RSN radio on Tuesday. "Obviously it's not something we stand for as a footy club, it's a really terrible look for the game." "I know Tommy is really remorseful and he's probably burnt a fair bit of trust with the playing group and the coaching group, but in saying that we'll help him through and give him all the support he needs and educate him as much we can and he'll be looking at a fair stint on sidelines and he's got a lot of work to do in that regard." "There is no defending what he did," Jones said. Is there something I've misrepresented..?

Everyone holds their integrity and next time we're there we've a better chance of being believed.

Now some guy named Nathan Jones is unfairly maligning Bugg for his innocuous act of self-defense! Nathan Jones says Tom Bugg has burnt trust with the Demons following Callum Mills hit Melbourne midfielder Tom Bugg has "burnt a fair bit of trust" within the club following his crude off-the-ball hit on Sydney defender Callum Mills, according to Demons co-captain Nathan Jones. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/nathan-jones-says-tom-bugg-has-burnt-trust-with-the-demons-following-callum-mills-hit-20170703-gx41li.html

Bugg has cultivated his 'bad boy' image, and this is the flip side of that. While I don't believe that the personal attacks on his character are warranted, he is copping his whack due to the action he committed. And we would be doing exactly the same if it were one of ours.

They absolutely did after the MRP decision- people were in meltdown!

Funny experience shapes how we view players differently. I'm too young to have seen him play so I only know him as a jovial and kinda cuddly looking coach... with an ironic nickname.

I don't think this is an issue exclusive to Melbourne. The media nowadays has zero concept of nuance and sophistication of thought. A team is either 'incredible' or in 'disarray' - all dependent on how they played the weekend past. Not to worry, if we beat Carlton we'll be a 'top 4 threat' and their rebuild will be 'back to the drawing board'.

I would have thought it was more a collision than a bump and Hannan was and is fine. Viney had no case to answer against West Coast either so while the head is protected, accidents happen.

He and the paddock are well acquainted...

I would think that this is the exact thing that people should be saying. Punching someone in the face is a potentially deadly action. We are so brainwashed by Hollywood fist fights to realise just how dangerous and destructive these acts are. One punch can kill. Bugg punched Mills. How many people do we need to see, stricken in a hospital bed with tubes running out of their head, before we as a society accept the simple fact that punching someone in the head is a dangerous and potenetially deadly thing to do.

Little bit disappointed by a lot of the comments on the thread. I haven't visited the topic since it was discussed the night of and the following morning. I felt the sentiments then were pretty spot on. Since then, the narrative seems to be shifting to downplay the incident and even excuse Bugg's strike. It was as blatant a punch as you can possibly get on a football field, or anywhere else for that matter. In my opinion, it bears no comparison to Houli's and is much closer to Barry Hall's strike against Staker. Bugg's sentiments after the match were spot on - he was in the wrong and he should cop his punishment. While I'm not advocating him being delisted or banned for the rest of the year, he will and should receive a significant ban for such a dangerous, stupid action. And it goes without saying he will be pilloried in the press and social media for an action such as this, and so he should be - in the real world he would have been arrested for it. How many times do we need to be told about the consequences of 'one punch'? Strong messages regarding this behaviour in society and on the football field should continue being reinforced. Tackle, bump, crash packs and put your head over the ball - that's tough.

#campederson

I though that if he wasn't playing last weekend, then he'd be little chance to play again. However, with the injury to Viney and no w possibly Tyson, he simply must be in serious consideration. We need someone capable of winning the ball in close, a player with good disposal and leadership to contribute in the absence of our two captains. However, if he's not picked, then I would be quite frustrated with the football department. Why would we retain a player if we have no intention of playing him? His form's been very good at VFL level; he's played every role asked of him, won his own ball and regularly featured in the 'bests'. If his 'papers are stamped' as many here would claim, then why are we coming into the season one player down (two if you count Lamumba)? I would love to see Trengove play and I am a huge fan of his; however, if he's not picked this week we have to ask, why is he even on our list?

Looking through our available players for the next few weeks, the forwards and backs look manageable. The players we need to stand up the veterans who weren't expected to play serious midfield time, such as Vince and Lewis. These two coupled with Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, ANB and Hannan are going to have to fill the roles of Jones, Viney, Salem and Tyson. Big ask.

I'm smelling a troll. Signed up after a big loss and has done nothing but criticise our list and football dept all day... very smelly indeed...

If I was a player, I'd look up to and follow follow Nev Jetta.

Is that the 'mystery injury' that was impeding his form for the first few rounds..?

We've covered some key outs for a few weeks, but tonight it caught up us- we were seriously lacking in class and quality. Heaps of negatives that we can take away, but one of those that's probably best moved on from quickly. As far as 'thumpings' go, 35 points is not a disaster percentage wise.

Complete dog act and has thrown his game off. Hate seeing him strutting around with a ripped guernsey like some tough-guy after throwing a sucker-punch like that.

The one saving grace from this whole drama is it keeps Clarry out of the news and off the backpage.

By all reports, Houli is a great guy, but great guys do make mistakes and must face the consequences. Personally, it's 3 weeks for this incident. While the hit was 'intentional', there's no way he was aiming for his head. Reckless, off the ball, high contact, high impact.

I would suggest that keeping quality players like Tyson is absolutely essential to our progress. While he's not in our top six players, he's accounting for the spread of talent that you need to be a top team in modern football. His stock game is good, his better games are exceptional. There's also been several games this year alone where he's been one of our better players when we're playing poorly; he doesn't drop his head and he keeps plugging away. This was a feature of Nathan Jones in his developing years- when Melbourne lost, he always seemed to be in our best players. When everything was going our way, he didn't seem to be noticed.

Agreed. In his first few games he struck me as a bit of an 'opportunist'; someone who hung out the back of the pack and got lucky with a loose ball or found himself fortuitously on the end of a string of handballs. However, this happens far too often to be a fluke- he has the very rare ability to place himself in the right place at the right time routinely. He reads and understands the play and gameplan exceptionally well.

Such a good mover too! He looks great playing up the ground, manages to find space and weave out of traffic when it's there. We've got a real player here.