Gator

We're not channeling Richmond. If Tom McDonald was fit we'd be playing with two talls. If Weideman was match fit and ready we'd be playing with two talls. I heard Hardwicke before the season say ideally he'd like two to play talls. They just don't have a competent second tall. It's very kneejerk to assume we're "channeling Richmond".

Pedersen can only play as an onball short ruckman to be effective at AFL level. He's very ordinary as a stay at home key forward. He's never kicked more than 3 goals in a game. Even Bugg's done that on more than one occasion. I'd like another tall in, but it will be Weideman when they think he's ready. I hope.

He said on the radio we had another 6 goal run against us. It was four.

There are very few mids with no weaknesses. Even some of the greats have weaknesses. Sam Mitchell - slow/contested marking, Simon Black - slow, Dangerfield - kicking, so on and so forth. Oliver has speed, great hand and foot skills, marking ability, agility, body size, aggression, vision, decision making, etc. He has no weakness. None. That's not to say he'll end up as good as some of those players, as they have a level of sheer brilliance that can't be measured. And that is the only query. Can he show he's capable of the regular sheer brilliance of the greats. I hope so.

At Casey last year Fritsch averaged 12 disposals and two goals per game. He's not going to do better than that in his first year of AFL. He was robbed of his 12th disposal and second goal by an infuriating umpire decision. He's playing his role and I'll be surprised if he doesn't close to every game depending on soreness.

Weideman is apparently rucking well, has kicked 4 and given one off to Balic, but you say he has "no physical presence". At the same time you pump up a bloke you want in the team. A 30 year old who should be doing OK at this level, but offers next to nothing as a key forward at AFL level.

8 Second most on ground.

I want him to play well today, but I'll be happy if he doesn't play again for the MFC, because it will mean Weideman grabbed his chance and has developed to a level that demanded his inclusion. Or McDonald has recovered from his injury. I think Pedersen is arguably one the most overrated player by his own supporters.

I don't like him because of his football. He's VFA quality.

That, my friend, isn't going to happen.

Anyone else get infuriated by the amount of times Lewis unnecessarily goes to ground ?

The following won't happen, but it's what I'd like (assuming Weideman plays well today). IN: Weideman, Hunt, Hannan OUT: Neal-Bullen, Melksham, Bugg Jetta McDonald Lever Hunt Frost Hibberd Lewis Jones Salem Petracca Hogan Hannan Garlett Weideman Fritsch Gawn Oliver Tyson Vince Kent Harmes Wagner I'd love Brayshaw to be ready, but it appears he's going to be at Casey for a while. I know Bugg won't be dropped, but I can't stand him. Do not rate at all.

For me we still lack a little class in the midfield. Brayshaw in his 4th year was meant to be that class. I still think he can be, but it's a little disappointing he's playing in the reserves and not as fit as he could be.

I've been pretty positive this year, however, I left the game a little disappointed. It was a bit of a reality check for me. We need to get a lot better if we're going to be a serious challenger in 2018. We have far too many ordinary players. Our skill level still isn't great and teams still get out the back far too easily, which means our defensive structures still need plenty of work. The only saving grace is that there are no real standout teams. All teams have issues and ordinary players. But we're a fair way off being a really organised unit. There are way too many holes and our ball movement needs a lot of work. That said, I think Viney will make a big difference around the ball when he gets back in. We miss him around the stoppages. I know I'm being a little negative and I expect we'll continue to get better and more familiar with the tweaks in the game-plan. I'm just not sure we've got the personnel to do much this year. I certainly don't see a top 4 side.

I like Neal-Bullen, but he dropped numerous easy uncontested marks today due to perceived pressure.

Were you at the game, or watching on TV ?

This won't be popular, but I still can't wait for Bugg to go back to Casey. Happy he kicked some, but by God he's awful.

I know that he's highly rated internally and that 90% of this post is utter tripe.

He wouldn't know.

Average Attributes Melbourne Attribute North Melbourne 187.3cm Height 187.0cm 87.8kg Weight 87.4kg 25yr 2mth Age 25yr 5mth 93.1 Games 97.4 Total Players By Games Melbourne Games North Melbourne 8 Less than 50 7 7 50 to 99 6 3 100 to 149 2 4 150 or more 7

It's just another nonsense. The AFL supposedly has a charter.

What relevance has your post got with my post. I don't know why you're quoting me.

I think I shared a training observation over summer that Brayshaw was well off the pace in the endurance running at training. Where Petracca improved markedly Brayshaw was either bringing up the rear or close to it. There were concerns that his endurance base hadn't improved where others had. Goodwin also intimated that it's form and preparation in this mornings presser. I do question why he's not fitter and suspect his form would be better if it was.

Who is he going to match up in our forward-line ? They have Tarrant and Thompson already, so why would Waite make it taller when we're going smaller ? It doesn't make sense. If they're stupid enough to do that I'd smile and delight in that Waite isn't going to hurt us on the scoreboard and have Frost play on the next best matchup in their forward-line. If that player got out of hand you make decisions from there.

Frost is the matchup for the agile Waite. Oscar takes Brown with Lever supporting in his familiar Adelaide role. I wasn't expecting these selections, but I'm excited to see how the structure works. North have speed, so on reflection I can understand the changes. It will force the the team to control the ball more and start taking more uncontested marks and possessions. The connection between our mids and forwards hasn't been perfect, although Hogan got on the end of a few against Brisbane. We're currently 15th for uncontested possessions, which means our ball use isn't as efficient as it could be and we're not controlling play as much as we'd like. Top 5 UC possession teams after two rounds include GWS, Port, Geelong, and Adelaide. The Saints are there too, but that's an anomaly and shows it's not just one aspect of the game that will deliver results. They're also a lowly 17th for CP, whereas we're 5th (lower than last year). Last year we were 5th for UCP (as against 15th), so something is different. And that difference is our intent on getting the ball inside 50 with a view to either scoring or pressuring the opposition to keep it there. We're far more direct, but unfortunately we're giving the ball up with turnovers, or long bombs into the 50 only to see the opposition run it out. Which means we're under more pressure defensively than last year. I wouldn't want to be a defender at Melbourne at the moment. Last year we were no.1 for average disposals and this year we're 12th. We were also no.1 for handballs and this year 8th. In trying to be more direct we're giving up the footy too often. This also contributes to the opposition 'run ons' we find infuriating. The game-plan has some significant changes from last year, so it will take time to bed it down completely. The upside is we've gone from averaging 55 inside 50's, which was very good, to 60. But that won't help much if you're not controlling your entry and we haven't been as well as we could. Still, it's not all bad. Last year we were 11th for marks inside 50 and this year 6th due to more direct play (Hogan and Garlett the beneficiaries at times against Brisbane). I don't think a lot needs to change, just control the footy a bit more with some uncontested marks/possessions. In other words, the mids need to spread harder and smarter. As I said, I didn't see it coming, but I don't mind the strategy of going smaller in the F50. And unlike some, I don't see Pedersen as crucial to the game-plan.