Watts the matter

He was good on the weekend but not great. Two of Daniher's points McDonald had the chance to tackle him but was unable to get a hold of him. The Devon Smith goal was a shocker from the whole team, terrible mismatch and could see it unfolding from up above.

Viney said it himself on FoxFooty, which is the quote Morris based it off.

Dave Missions' list is a bit longer, has the following additions! Dean Kent (hamstring) - 4-5 weeks Mitch King (elbow)- 5 6 weeks Lachlan Filipovic (managing loads) - 2 weeks Corey Maynard (hip) - 8 weeks Harley Balic (foot) - 2 weeks

There really isn't too much that appeals to me from Casey. Weideman didn't really do enough to justify another game. Took some nice marks late in the game but gave us nothing for the first 3 quarters. Ideally, Garlett would be playing better and we would just swap those two. As hot and cold and frustrating as he is, I think we need Garlett to compete with the best teams. If Hogan doesn't come up, I would prefer to replace him with a small. ANB was very poor, but with Petracca unlikely he will probably keep his spot. Wagner is the logical inclusion for Salem. Likely changes In: Wagner Out: Salem My preferred changes In: Wagner, Garlett Out: Salem, Weideman

He has played his role nicely, his field kicking was exceptional yesterday, including finally passing to teammates in a better position than him and he is kicking goals again. Yesterdays performance should be the minimum for a player of his experience.

Be close to giving it up (not that I actually could). Looks like they will be missing their small forwards, so no excuses. Fantasia unlikely, Greene out and McDonald-Tipungwuti banged up and would have to be in doubt with a short turn around. They could still give us some trouble with multiple talls up forward and midfielders that spread (Zaharakis, Parish, Merrett). Garlett has been awful but he should probably stay in to keep Saad nervous, has stitched him up before.

The problem is, we gave up a lot more for Lever than we got for Howe. The net loss is quite large.

Not really, Fox Footy showed some damning footage. Our players pressure within a 5m radius was good but players aren't willing to run 50 meters and put in the hard yards. Dion Prestias goal, showed Jones just standing in the centre while Prestia streamed forward and put 40 meters on him. If that's what the captain of our football club is doing, you can see why we are a mediocre team.

It is a real worry, seems a major miscalculation. We probably won't be in our window until Oliver, Hogan and Petracca have 3 more seasons in them. At this time, players such as Jones, Vince, Lewis, Jetta will be finished. Unless we find a way to get back into the first round, we won't have had a first rounder in 2016, 2017 and 2018. This could really hurt in a few years time. Our midfield depth is looking very poor. Drafting half forward flanks with our first picks in 2016 and 2017 was probably not what was needed. We will have to hope for some midfielders through free agency or for the recruiters to actually nail a gem outside of the first round.

Don't even.

Have really shot ourselves in the foot. Have a very tough fixture to end the season and needed to get off to a flyer.

The first clearance of the game basically summed us up. Extra man at the back of the square (Hunt) runs through and kicks the ball instead of handballing. Surprise, surprise, hits the extra Richmond player on the chest. We are dumb and don't function well as a team.

Our bottom 6 were really bad. Garlett was soft and refused to commit his body. Stretch is a nothing player and fumbled everything. ANB has gone back to the terrible player I thought he was 2 years ago. Harmes, your fend off is horrible, give it up. Brayshaw has appalling skills, how he went so high in the draft I will never understand. Max Gawn is so dumb. Stop bashing the ball forward when they have an extra standing there. Salem, handball if you are about to get a kick smothered, twice! A much improved performance from Lever, that should be the minimum. Game plan stinks.

Are you kidding? He was awful. Took a courageous mark in the 3rd but nearly everything else he did resulted in a turnover. Even the holding the ball free kick he got, his initial contest and inability to kill the ball was poor. His positioning as a back man was shocking and his opponents were constantly goal side of him. We don't have anyone to replace him with so I guess he can stay for now.

Like the fact that McCartney never sits in the box? This has gone on and on because of your refusal to just say you got it wrong. The bigger issue is the leak to the media rather than the move of McCartney itself.

I would love for you to show me some vision or direct me to it, of McCartney on the bench in the opening 4 rounds. Essentially you are saying he has made up this story. The Brayshaw piece, while a buch of fluff essentially just said Fremantle would be interested in Brayshaw. I don't see how Brayshaw would find that insulting. If you interpreted it differently, that is on you and Angus, not him.

I also had this belief. But I find it hard to think a Melbourne supporter who does our weekly podcast would be unaware of this. Perhaps he knows more than us given the contacts he would have within the club. I'm sure he will read this, so I look forward to hearing him addressing the criticism like he did on the previous podcast.

Lindsay Thomas?

Saty, I know you think you know it all. But this was reported by a Melbourne supporter who does the offical podcast weekly. It was also said with Paul Roos ,who would have knowledge of each persons role within the football department, sitting next to him. If he says he was in the box the last 4 weeks, I know who I am believing.

Surely, he has been groomed for it at VFL level lately.

Firstly, it's news to me that he is a line coach? Is that correct? It was reported on OTC that he has been told he is not required in the coaches box this week (against his wishes). Is it all falling apart?

He played his role adequately in the second half of the season, no more, no less. Saying he was excellent or repaid the coaches in spades are over the top as evidenced by his poor standing in our best and fairest. I have never said he played poorly in the second half of the year, so I'm not sure of the relevance of your last sentence. As mentioned by another poster, his time at Melbourne has being similar to his time at Essendon. He is a frustrating player and with his experience in the AFL he should now be delivering on a consistent basis. I would prefer an inconsistent Hannan if this is what we are getting.

Was he? This is news to me and revisionism at its finest. Which games do you remember him playing and being a significant factor? He was listed in our best players 3 times for the whole season (this included the final 2 games). He played 19 games (the equal 9th most) and finished 16th in our best and fairest which is skewed towards players who play more games. 21 goals in 12 games does sound good, and when you extend it to a whole season 40 goals would be impressive. And yes, I watch most games 2-3 times.

I think this is somewhat of a myth and continued to grow over the preseason. He was okay in the 2nd half of the season, certainly not spectacular. He has kicked 0.7 this season and burnt numerous teammates inside 50 (he often did this last season but kicked goals).

Have you watched him play in these games? I didn't see the North game but I don't see how you can say he has been inconsistent in the other games. He has a phenomenal work rate and his ability to compete in outnumbered situations is first class. He does fade in and out within matches. His worst games would be a big improvement on anything Weideman has delivered aside from his first game as he can actually move and is a factor with the ball on the deck. A promotion on the back of a poor VFL outing seems to be the norm for Weideman, so I'm not surprised. As always, despite not agreeing with his inclusion, I am hopeful he can prove me wrong.