Gator

It's a big year for Nathan. At best he gets one year and at worst he gets tapped on the shoulder. I suspect he'll get one year.

I have more patience for a 21 year old key forward still learning the caper.

In a bad way. I saw every player you mentioned and there's not one great of the game other than Flower. There are greats of the MFC, but not greats of the VFL/AFL competition. There were great stories, like Stynes, who was a champion of the MFC, but wasn't a great of the game. Simon Madden and Dean Cox are greats of the game, but Stynes falls short of their lofty status. By the end of his career, if not now, Gawn will go down as a better player than Stynes. For me he's already better. In the midfield group you've listed there is not a single champion midfielder in the Voss, Black, Judd, Ablett, Riccuito, Williams, Buckley, Fyfe mould. There's no Matthews, Bartlett, Skilton. There's no Lockett, Dunstall, Carey, Lloyd, Riewoldt, Brown, Quinlan. Or Blight, Jezza, or Hudson. And I've missed many. In fact, I don't recall a single club with as little star power as Melbourne in the last 50 years. We're simply bereft of the ''greats''. In my opinion our best ''collective'' would be the worst in the league among the established clubs. I could not disagree with you more.

Strange list. Wingers like Flower and Alves weren't really mids in the sense they are now. They weren't on-ballers. Woewodin in your top 10 ? Wow. Yze and Wilson were much better than Woewodin. Greg Wells was a much better player than Todd Viney. Anyway, we all see things differently.

Matthew Lloyd just said that to elevate his game and join the absolute best mids, like Patrick Cripps, he had to kick more goals. Cripps and Oliver average the same amount of goals across their career (.4) and averaged the same amount last year (.5). I don't necessarily disagree and think Oliver will kick more goals, but at least get your facts right.

That's probably the least controversial statement any Melbourne supporter could say. Leaving aside Flower, because wingmen were very different to on-ballers back in the day, Oliver is easily the best midfielder I've seen since Greg Wells. He's better than Wells, who's the second best midfielder I've seen at Melbourne. I can also see Oliver being hailed our greatest mid ever if he leads the side to some flags.

But of course. I knew Hogan only played 20 games and that game was round 21. The dastardly bye.

Having just had another look I think Hogan was 0 from 5, not 6, as he missed the Sydney game.

In his last 5 games in 2018, including 3 finals, Weideman took 13 contested marks at an average of 2.6 per game. Across the season as a whole that average would have placed him equal second with Jack Darling on 2.6 and just behind the best contested mark for 2018 Jeremy McGovern. What you envisage as a weakness is one of the biggest strengths in the competition.

By the end of the H&A season we'd played the final top 8 sides eight times, not 11. So I'm guessing you looked back and noted who the top eight sides were at the time we played them.

I think I was pretty underwhelmed when we recruited him. I might have to bump that thread for some self-flagellation.

I take more out of a quality photo than the anecdotal evidence of someone I'm not sure I can rely on.

Thanks. Demonland is a fantastic site and we're lucky to have it, but the amount of nuffies on here is incredible.

Why don't you explain it to me, Chuckles ?

Your post appears contradictory. That said, no-one is telling you what to "think".

It looks like he's moving on...

Hunt is a conundrum. He does have genuine AFL attributes. He's like a cricketer who needs to hone his game and remove the errors. It's a coaching and development challenge, but I like what Hunt offers and can see him still being an important part of the team. There's no reason he still can't improve.

You're already wrong.

No-one is saying that most, if not all, will be ready to go round one. What they're saying is that when you're in rehab, or on a modified or reduced program, then your preseason has indeed been interrupted. Some players boast at the end of the preseason that they've "done every session". I'm sure you've also heard the boast. They know it sets them up for a good year. It's not to say that those on a reduced preseason can't also have a good year, however, they can't make the same claim. You know, because it was "interrupted".

I formally give you permission to "let go".

It's just logic, but you've articulated it very well.

I didn't think it was possible that anybody could put a positive spin on having so many in rehab, i.e. an interrupted preseason. I was wrong.

There's a difference between game-day kicking and kicking at training ---- pressure. Pleasing that Jordon has a good technique.

Really ? Looks ghastly.

I'm devastated we have a bloke with a man bun on the list.