Gator

Ah, the David Koch school of pronunciation.

It's the worst stat in football. The best players are always well represented, especially mids at the coalface.

Without wishing to be a pedant. For accuracy, we were behind by 44 points at approx. the 19 minute mark of the third quarter and were behind by 32 points at 3/4 time.

No. He was emergency for the firsts and didn't play in either game. He sat in the stand. He touches on this in his Captain's diary.

Gawn says in his Captain's Diary that he thinks May, Lever, Petty and Tomlinson can all play together, because it frees up May to play on a Martin or Greene type. May is super quick and strong, so it's not a silly suggestion. So you'd have Tomlinson and Petty taking the key talls with Lever his intercept role. One doubts it would be every week and it may be wishful thinking by the captain, but that's what he said for what it's worth. He also said Tomlinson will be right for round 1, but I understand the scepticism. He'll play when they think he's ready. I suspect if it's not round 1 it will be early in the season.

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but it struck me as being incredibly poetic and reflective of the entire 2021 season that the two players told to look elsewhere during the off-season were the same two players that had the final 2 disposals in the grand final. Oliver marks, handballs to Neale-Bullen who short kicks to McDonald. And it's fitting that they round out the top 10 in the B&F. What a year.

To answer this specific point and it only: (And I see that Deespencer has answered in the exact fashion I'm about to, but I'll add to it) Roos took over a 2 wins/54% basket case. One of the wins was against a fledgling GWS. It was arguably the worst or second worst team from an established club in the AFL era. The terrible percentage meant that our average score was almost doubled every game we played. As a comparison, this year's spooner finished with 70%. Under his tenure we went to 4 wins/68%, 7 wins/77%, and 10 wins/97%. To suggest any other coach would have been sacked with such a record is one of the most ill-considered posts I've seen.

Good God. What has his family origins got to do with anything ?

With regards to Knightmare, in his postmortem of our 2019 draft he rated Melbourne equal last with 5 other clubs and 12 clubs ahead. He gave Melbourne a C. "While Melbourne's trade looks on paper like value was acquired, their first two picks of ruckman Luke Jackson and small forward pressure specialist Kysaiah Pickett are arguably reaches. Jackson, a sub 200cm ruckman is athletic, plays with aggression and follows up well but was arguably not the best available player. Similarly, Pickett while the forward pressure he applies is of a best in draft standard and he has speed and is damaging with ball in hand, his low scoreboard impact and product makes him a difficult sell so early on." Thankfully, he liked the Rivers pick. Amazingly, we have 3 premiership players from that draft, who were all staples of the 22. He was more encouraged by the team he supports, giving Collingwood an A. ''Jay Rantall represents strong value as a basketball convert with elite endurance who does his best work inside winning the contested ball, distributing by hand and moving through traffic. Oakleigh premiership captain Trent Bianco is a second selection who represents strong value as one of the best kicks in the draft and the most advanced outside player in the pool. Trey Ruscoe at 192cm with his versatility to play defence, midfield or forward, is a third solid selection with his skills, mobility, ball winning capabilities and the way he reads the ball in flight and takes marks.''

You're not alone.

Who knows what's going to happen, but I do know one thing. Whomever improves enough to do it will be doing so from within, because none of them got better during the trade period.

Hugh McCluggage led the competition for goal assists in 2021 with an average of 1.29 per game. That average placed him in the top 10 ever for a season (since they've been keeping records). Only 11 players this year averaged at least 1.0 per game. Jackson had 4 in the GF, which is the most for the year. A teenage ruck did that in a GF. He's a remarkable talent who's as clean as you'd ever see below his knees.

Pert has given the sub away during his Fox interview. He said we had 8 players 21 and under in the GF team. Seven players aged 21 and under have been named in the 22 and Jordon being the sub makes 8.

From memory I changed my mind within a week, but don't include that. Another dope added to my ignore list. If we win the flag I may just take everyone off ignore. Probably not.

For the first time in VFL/AFL history two players from the same club tie - Oliver/Petracca.

And as for the absence ? I like arguing. What's there been to argue about this year ?

Yes, I'm confident we'll win. Put simply, our best is better. We have three top 10 players in the league, the best defence (historically very significant), they're tough, and our stars are now in their prime. Of course, there are no guarantees, but there are also no excuses.

OK. Good pick up. I still have a funny feeling he'll be named. Probably nothing...

My gut feel is that Jones will be the sub. I don't usually take much notice of the order of the I/C bench, but it seems poignant to me that they've listed Jones first. This is on the back of stating Jones has been dominating match practice. It would also give his teammates a lift knowing he's part of the team. It also gives them the flexibility to name him again if they get through. And going by his form it's not simply charity.

Are Geelong who lost to Adelaide and Brisbane by 10 goals pretenders ? Are the Dogs, who lost to an undermanned Richmond as well as your ''pretenders'' ? Are Port, who've lost to Geelong, Brisbane, West Coast and the Dogs, i.e. nearly every top 8 team they've played ? This year is very close and there's no super team. Anyone who finishes top 4 can win it and anyone who finishes top 4 will have queries against them. Melbourne are no super team and there are queries. We have 6-7 weeks to start playing better football and finish top 4. If we finish 5th we're cooked.

This will horrify some people on here, but I believe we're a better team with Melksham in it. His form has been average to poor, but I'd still have him ahead of Sparrow. Sparrow is a young player worth persisting with, but he has plenty of time. An in form Melksham makes us infinitely better. In: Melksham Out: Sparrow Lots needs to improve and I understand the calls for Brown, they're understandable, but I'd like to see the smaller version for a couple more weeks.

It doesn't sound far-fetched that a teenager gets homesick. But it also doesn't mean he won't stay. And we don't know the context. There'd be players at every club that get homesick that are able to work through it. I suspect more stay than go despite the occasional pang, or lure of home. That said, he's becoming a valuable commodity, especially if he salutes in the RS award. Obviously, we don't want him to go anytime soon, but at least he's worth plenty and rising. However, getting what someone's worth isn't always easy when you're limited to a two team town.

If you don't have Jackson as Melbourne's best player you best give up football.

How come a Richmond team missing Cotchin, Edwards, Lambert, and Prestia - basically four of their best 5 mids - beat them at the G about 3 weeks ago ? They're not ''scarily good''. There are no superstar teams. There were years ago, not now.

It's a conundrum. We have looked better smaller, but I agree re Viney. Also, the one weakness Footscray have is their tall key backs.