Farmer

The suggestion that "he left for personal reasons" is sheer rubbish. So also is any other comment on this thread to the effect that Stef decided he wanted to leave MFC. He was speaking with friends of mine after being told that Neeld wanted him to go to Brisbane, and he was gutted. Thought that in the midst of gloom surrounding the club, he had had a reasonable year. One of his good games was against Brisbane at the Gabba. He was already showing great potential as a fast moving ruckman who could get the ball more than most players his size. At Brusbane he has been a revelation. This year his poorest game was probably v Melbourne. Just have a look at his stats. Does any other ruckman average as many disposals as Martin (possibly Blicavs does). I watched him a few weeks ago v Goldstein and he was highly competitive. I think he is exactly what we need. Playing Chris Dawes as the alternative ruck just doesn't work. Even when Chris played well last week, we were smashed when Max went off the ground. Martin has matured into a most impressive player--remember his game against us at Etihad last year? Remember also some damned good games he played for MFC early on as the tall on the backline against the gorillas. He would not cost a fortune and is extremely fit.Except for a suspension I believe he has played every game this year . If we could get him we absolutely should

The suggestion that "he left for personal reasons" is sheer rubbish. So also is any other comment on this thread to the effect that Stef decided he wanted to leave MFC. He was speaking with friends of mine after being told that Neeld wanted him to go to Brisbane, and he was gutted. Thought that in the midst of gloom surrounding the club, he had had a reasonable year. One of his good games was against Brisbane at the Gabba. He was already showing great potential as a fast moving ruckman who could get the ball more than most players his size. At Brusbane he has been a revelation. This year his poorest game was probably v Melbourne. Just have a look at his stats. Does any other ruckman average as many disposals as Martin (possibly Blicavs does). I watched him a few weeks ago v Goldstein and he was highly competitive. I think he is exactly what we need. Playing Chris Dawes as the alternative ruck just doesn't work. Even when Chris played well last week, we were smashed when Max went off the ground. Martin has matured into a most impressive player--remember his game against us at Etihad last year? Remember also some damned good games he played for MFC early on as the tall on the backline against the gorillas. He would not cost a fortune and is extremely fit.Except for a suspension I believe he has played every game this year . If we could get him we absolutely should

Do you get pleasure from rubbishing players? Disgraceful taunt against Lumumba

I agree with this.I think that our pathetic state at the time meant that we played Trengove and Scully too much in their first year, and neither were as good in subsequent years, except that Scully is now hitting some form, albeit that he's not a million dollar star. I now worry that too much is being expected of Brayshaw, who, although playing reasonably, looks to me to have lost some spark. Viney is also young and working so hard, and Hogan's back remains a worry. You wouldn't rest them all at once but Im more concerned about the long term future. I would give each of them one match off before season's end

I agree. Both morally objectionable and in any event it makes no sense.

I thought he did quite well. Could not understand why, when we needed run out of the back line, he spent most of the last quarter deep on the forward line

In thinking about our good periods, I also include the 2nd quarter against Freo, who I think are outstanding. We were thrashed in the first quarter but played v well in the second and most of the third. Problem was that we then played Swans and Hawks, when confidence was down. I can't understand how fragile our confidence sometimes is. After all , Gold Coast and Footscray came hard at it in the last quarter and we held our nerve and won well. The loss to Port didn't surprise me but the way we lost concerned me greatly. Important we hit back hard next Monday

Lets remember Pies play Witts and Grundy (2 rucks), so do many others, Freo,Hawks,Brisbane, True, Goldstein is great for North but although he fought on this evening, he did make a few errors as he got tired. Problem is our absence of a second tall in back line If we don play Fitzpatrick.

But most of Murohy's damaging moments were in the last quarter when Jones was off. Can barely remember any of Murphy's disposals up to 3/4 time

What absolute crap! Of course Grimes plays. He is a seriously good defender. He messed up ONE kick yesterday.He hit a number of targets from a considerable distance .His courage is inspiring

Well yes, Garlett is a class act, but he shouldn't have been kicking from outside the boundary line in the first place. Watts made an outstanding lead, was completely on his own, and the angle would have been more than halved.Garlett ignored it to Watts' disgust. It was a great goal but selfish play There again, if you thought Matt Jones was poor, have a look at the replay. How much did Bob Murphy do?

You are dead wring! of all the disposals Grimes had yesterday one didn't go to a MFC player. Instead, a number of passes were spot on including a 50 m left foot job on the member's wing People in this site are absurd about Grimes. His courage is remarkable and he's a damned good defender

Watch the replay and you won't want to drop Matt JonesMurphy is the Dogs' top dog. Didn't do much yesterday. Who played on him?

Not certain if you saw his game v Hawks. I'm a great supporter since Spencer's game v Carlton last year after which he was found to have a broken leg from memory. But this year he has been deplorable. Gives it all he's got but he is not, half the time, actually competing in the ruck. Can understand why Pyke should beat him but can't understand why he should be thrashed by Ceglar. It is still early in the season. We should be picking the team which gives the best chance of success. Our onballers do get some easy possessions from Jamar especially around the ground. And if Dawes is playing injured, then pick Gawn as well. My I pression last year was that he was running out of gas. Lets see him in a situation where the ruck work is shared. And not by Pedersen who played bloody well last match. Whenever he left the forward line in order to ruck we looked still more hopeless

He said so himself on 693 at 1.15 pm on Saturday. Has just started running but not putting weight on it. If we just include Gawn or Jamar it still means that (assuming Dawes is rested) whenever Pedo is in the ruck we will only have Hogan as a tall on the forward line. Not big enough! If Hogan had other talls around him he might kick a bag. As it is he draws a mob of big opponents when the ball is kicked in long. Both Gawn and Jamar are actually not too bad when forward. Didn't Jamar kick 5 a few years ago? Lets create a situation where are mids, under pressure, can kick it long without the certainty that it will come right back again

No, and his influence continues. Look at Stefan Martin(Although, in fairness, half you dills on this site were delighted to see Martin leave)

I've written about this elsewhere. If you are getting smashed in the rucks it makes it hard for the midfield. Against Freo Jamar had 34 hitouts to 40 against the best ruck pair in the comp. I know we were smashed by Fyffe but he is v special. Against Richmond, in the wet, Jamar frequently belted the ball forward to good effect. The last 2 weeks Spencer has been slaughtered, often has failed to make contact at all. Yesterday's ruck combo of Ceglar and Hale is hardly premium. But they doubled his hitouts and each took a number of marks. I admire Spencer's determination but I would drop him and bring in both Jamar and Gawne, giving Dawes some weeks to get his calf better Hogan if he plays, is often well upfield. i would like a tall near the goalsquare. The comments here about Tyson irritate me. He was ok yesterday tho his disposal has slipped somewhat

Viney was on radio yesterday. He is some weeks away

I agree with this. Lets start in the middle. Against Freo Jamar fought hard v Sandilands and Clarke. Jamar had 34 hitouts to 40 against the best rucks in the comp. we were smashed by Fyffe but this wasn't Jamar's faultWe were then 2/3.I was amazed when Jamar was dropped although I have been keen to see Spencer who played a heck of a game v Carlton last year Against Pyke Spencer was slaughtered. Admittedly Pyke had support while Spencer didn't. But in windy conditions Spencer who's not inexperienced, allowed Pyke to get in front all day. (I'm speechless that the ruck coach couldn't have corrected this during breaks but ut continued.) Then again yesterday Spencer was slaughtered by ruck men who are, by no means, top notch. Ceglar is hardly a household name. He was helped by Hale, whereas Spencer's backup was Pedersen, our only key forward. The Hawks doubled our hitouts . Whilst this is not necessarily fatal it makes it very hard for our mids. I'm not surprised to read that Jamar didn't play well in the 2s. I would be gutted if I were him, and Gawne must be a better bet on the forward line than Spencer who simply doesn't take over head marks. I would play them both. Assuming Hogan plays, then give Dawes some weeks to rest his calf. He's obviously half fit. Play Pedersen at CHF, h's in form. So, omit Dawes and Spencer, bring in Gawne and Jamar. And if this looks a little top heavy, have a look at the Dogs' back line; this combination would trouble them and Jamar would smash Cordy in the ruck. And in a sense this combination offers more rather than less flexibility. Yesterday the Hawks rucks kicked goals when it really mattered and poor old Lynden Dunn was supposed to stop them. If Pedersen hadn't been required upfront, he could have been very useful down back. As to the mids and onballers I wouldn't make a hasty judgment. Riley should be played. I don't like to see players dropped after one match. Especially as we will plainly lose Salem. If we could pinch a win v Dogs the season would be vaguely back on track

Garland actually gave the Hawks their first goal with a very short pass which went along t he ground. And he certainly gave away the goal which lead to Heretier's sympathy. But he played a darned good game, marking fearlessly. I would be devastated if we lost him. Sure, he makes the odd blunder but he can play on talls and bigs, and never turns it in. Regrettably in the third quarter I thought a few of his team mates did. And well done Heretier'.

At half time we were likely to lose by 100. But the last 5 minutes before half time showed some desperation and the second half was much better. Spencer certainly gave it his best but he was smashed by Pyke and Jamar would not have been. Still, perhaps the club has to give Spencer a decent trial. People are hard on Dawes. He was limping badly in first quarter and we thought he would be subbed off, but he actually improved as the game went on. I agree with the comment that both this week and last we were badly outmuscled. I saw the Hawks in action and they are not, at present, with all those stars out, in the same league as Freo or Swans. We have a real chance next week

That is rubbishWatch last week and tell me what Grimes'opponent did. SFA is the answer. He is very stiff. Really, if the coaching staff is serious about this year, Watts should have been dropped before Grimes or Jamar. I wonder what this does to team morale?

Rubbish!Jamar played well in the circumstances. Tell me who Grimes was on? Ballantine. What influence did he have. And Pederson played a pretty good game

That is absolutely right! In the third quarter he ran back into oncoming players without hesitation--tremendous courage. I can't believe he's treated so badly on this site.IMO he's a better defender than Howe, who should be on th forward line