TeamPlayedFine39

Good point. I wasn't sure if it was a Richmond tactic to get McDonald out of the D50 or a Melbourne plan to force Riewoldt out of theirs... either way, it worked very well for us. Riewoldt can have as much of it as he likes 75m out from goal.

If memory serves correctly, Dawes didn't like rucking for Collingwood as he didn't have the tank for it. He'd spend six minutes a quarter rucking, then be exhausted when returning to the forward line. His formed dropped off dramatically as a result. He's lost a lot of weight in his time at Melbourne and he's clearly improved aerobically, as he spends most of his preseason running laps of Gosch's paddock... maybe it's time to have look at it..?

There was a video posted in Instagram last week showing Hulk practicing his goal kicking at Adelaide Oval. Very straight, methodical, and fluent. This was not the run up he uses on match day. It's one thing to train a player to change their natural kicking technique, but under match day pressure all that can go out the window and the player reverts to what is comfortable and trusted. (And it's only his third game)

Parochialism aside, I've never really had a problem with Collingwood and Essendon playing the Anzac Day match. Realistically, they have built a huge rivalry around the match and there is always a great atmosphere at the G. These two teams rain; hail or shine will draw 90 000 to the match and it is a completely stress free day for me to watch the football with some mates. I think there's value in your proposal for it to be a Grand Final replay, but in regards to sharing it around; I don't think most teams could draw a crowd or create an atmosphere that's comparable... including, unfortunately, the MFC.

Yep, Pedersen was out there in the second half. Only saw him playing deep forward so he may have spent some time on the bench. FWIW - in the second half I though Fitzpatrick, Michie, Riley and Toumpas looked very good.

Toumpas has been good too. A few of his efforts on the outer side have been credited to Stretch I think...

Great ! Cheers for that! Sadly there is a large pillar covering the 20-40m of the Casey forward 50, but other than that, a very good quality feed.

Bit of Ben McGlynn about Newton!

Omitted for form I believe. He's struggling playing second fiddle to Martin. They're both at their best when they're the number one ruck.

Wow... Don't know how I put that out of my mind..? Now gonna try to put it out again!

You've got me stumped... Who?

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-18/lions-waiting-on-leuey Brisbane Lions free agent Matthew Leuenberger has put off contract negotiations until the end of the year and has been left out of the team for this week. Prodigiously talented, though injury ravaged, he has struggled to share the ruck duties with the MFC's own Stefan Martin. With Jamar most likely hanging up the boots at the end of the year and neither Gawn, nor Spencer beating down the door; could Melbourne spend some of their massive salary cap surplus on this 202cm, 104kg, athletic ruck? I would certainly think that as a free agent, who would only cost money and not a player/pick, Leuenberger would be a good addition to the list and the presumptive starting ruck in 2016.

The article seems to be confusing itself. Jones as the hard working, blue collar, fearless and determined footballer may be a better leader than Ablett... but there is absolutely no way you could say that he is a better 'footballer' than GAJ. Jones is great and I love him to death, but Ablett is simply a once in a generation, possibly all time, player.

If you're going to break a leg, 4-6 weeks is an absolute best case scenario! Yes it's a terrible shame that a young gun will miss a month, but gee, we have a very, very healthy list overall. Let's hope that whoever comes into the team to take Jack's place is in-form, hungry and determined to keep that spot! (This thread is a far cry from the hysteria following the NAB challenge match against Essendon)

I would agree - but like I said, he Robbo employed to be one-sided and parochial at our home games, just like the GWS announcer is required to appeal to the GWS fans.

oh for the glorious days of 'The Voice of the G' with the Mario Cart races at half time...

I think this sort of thing is a directive from the AFL- to fire up a home crowd. I must say I was surprised during round on by the pro-Melbourne bias at the Melbourne GCS game. The entire day was basically emceed by a parochial Russell Robertson. (I enjoyed it as I was a Melbourne fan)

It's a very serious but by no means insurmountable injury and comeback that Jack must face. He's got the right mentality, temperament and god-given talent to play football at a very high level - he's just gotta get that one little bone in his foot right. In response to the OP, I believe Jack under Neeld was trying to mold himself into something of an inside midfielder. With a bit more physical development, experience and match hardness, he could carve himself out a very good career in the middle IMHO.

I suppose it comes down to perception and perspective. I remember at the time being really disappointed that it looked like we'd be spending pick 4 on someone who didn't appear to have any weapons other than a big body when playing against 17 year olds. Whitfield and Toumpas were the classy selections of the draft, players with real X Factor who could cut up an opposition zone with speed and precision. O'Meara and Crouch were taken from the pool, Viney would most likely be coming with a second round, which left us with a guy that most seemed to rate as going between 7 and 12. I liked the idea of more grunt in the midfield but was disappointed that that was all that we were going to get for our top pick. I was wrong. Wines, so far, is the pick of his age bracket. Most were wrong. Even those who thought we should have drafted Wines, would not have believed he was the best player in the draft.

The keen interest from StKilda and Hawthorn again indicates where recruiters saw Wines at the time. Leading into the Carnival, he was not considered a top ten pick. Even with an awesome Carnival he only went at 7. Look at the two players taken before Toumpas in that draft - O'Rourke and Plowman, those two are even further off the pace of AFL than Jimmy. Recruiters go off the information, and the player, that they have at the time - it is ridiculously easy to draft three years later.

I would agree with the general vibe of the thread - I'd suggest that Stynes, Lyon and even Neitz would sit the 51-100 range. I am very surprised by the omission of Chris Grant more so than Richardson. Grant was is a very underrated player and a should-have-been Brownlow medalist.

But what's the outcome here? How does this thread end? I wish we had of drafted James Hird, Chris Grant, Shane Crawford and made a play for Tony Lockett and Alistair Lynch. Why didn't we do more to lure Kernahan and Bradley over from SA? If we had of snared Ablett snr, we could have also got Jr!! What's there to 'forgive'? Did Viney stuff up pick four on purpose? Is Toumpas under-performing on purpose?

Too quick for me!

With that said, Jack Viney said on SEN that the pick of the bunch was Toumpas.

Yes, but the 'inside information' that we had suggested that Toumpas was still the better pic. If anyone had an inkling of what Wines would be playing like now - he would have gone number one. On an open market he was valued as the 7th most promising youngster available. Drafting is an imprecise science - even Hawthorn and Geelong, who have drafted impeccably, have made some howlers in the first round. The player who was rated as a top three talent all year - or an inside, one paced, man-child who bullied his way through the under 18 carnival against schoolboys. It looked obvious to the overwhelming majority of people at the time... now it makes us all shudder.