Gator

How valuable would it be for Viney and others to spend a preseason watching a 4 time premiership pro go about his business ? What value do you put on his intellectual property ? The value of being able to talk to him about his experiences and how he witnessed a club win a flag 3 years after they won 5 games for the year ? I've been disappointed with his output, but I have zero doubt he's got some good footy left in him in 2017. And unlike others, I don't dislike him, so perhaps my views aren't clouded from the outset.

I've been disappointed with his foot skills and physical presence, but I acknowledge his leadership and he's a versatile player that can go behind the ball, into a centre square stoppage, or even push forward. Perhaps he's feeling his way with new teammates and a new game style. I reckon he's got some good games left, but he's not someone I'm expecting to be in our top 4 or 5 players. On Monday in the last quarter he directed Oliver to move his positioning at a centre square ball-up. Oliver did and it resulted with a clearance (long kick into the forward-line). So while I've been disappointed and expected more, I'm still glad we have him and doubt he's one of our major issues. Lewis is well down the list of any concerns I might have.

The climate has always changed and always will. And guess what ? Australia can't change it.

There are other views: https://climatism.wordpress.com/tag/coral-bleaching/ http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/20/delingpole-great-barrier-reef-still-not-dying-whatever-washington-post-says/ All you will do is try to discredit disbelievers, such as those who contribute to the alternative views linked above. The only certainty is that you are an alarmist who will go to your grave believing the world is warming at an alarming rate and you'll dismiss anything to the contrary. The joke is on you. The planet is fine and it's not warming at an alarming rate. Climate has always changed and always will. Some warming might be good. And the GBR will be fine in 5 years, 10 and 20. Be sure to bump this post. Stop bowing down to this new God you worship.

Lever is a few classes above the McDonalds. Unfortunately, he'll probably stay with Adelaide.

I'd take Lever. Gawn in the ruck, bookends in Hogan and Lever, plus Oliver in the guts and you've got a brilliant nucleus. You'll save coin and turn your attention to a lesser version of Kelly. Maybe a Whitfield type.

Other than @mo64, and perhaps a couple others, I think most who had seen him play thought he'd be the gun that he is. I agree with the rest of your sentiments though. I'd like a classy outside mid and another rock-like key defender, where you don't have your heart in your mouth every time they touch it, but I don't think you need to sell the farm to get them.

Whether it's May or someone else I think the McDonalds and Frost are too flaky to rely on if you're on the cusp of a grand final. I definitely think a quality key defender in the May and Hurley mould is a necessity. Btw, Rance is in the conversation for best ever key defender. He's 194cm. May's height is fine, especially with his strong body and reading of the play. That said, with Gawn's return imminent I'm not averse to improvising with Pedersen down back. I like him more as a defender than stay at home forward. Also, Weideman is also struggling, but he's a smart footballer with good hands. I'd give him a crack in defence at Casey and see how he goes. It only has to be for this season, but he may prove his worth as a defender and be a viable option at AFL level later in the year.

You have to wonder what Melbourne supporters are watching or how they're processing football. Oliver got votes from BOTH coaches and yet many Dees supporters couldn't find him in their best 6 players. They must spend their time working out how to defend the McDonalds. But is it that surprising ? Jack Watts gets excused for years and years and years and years of putrid performances, yet Jesse Hogan, a young superstar, isn't rated and is often lambasted by the same posters.

You're a star, Dees_in_O And when you see it from side on in normal play it's a very long handball. Oliver is a freak.

Yeah, it just showed great vision and precision to execute a 15-20 metre lefthanded handball to Neal-Bullen who didn't need to break stride. The wide angle shot and not the replay shows how good it was.

I don't have the capability, but I'd love to see a gif of "that" handball

I prefer the ball in his hands far more than Lewis.

He had to nail that goal. I too think he lacks a little bit of class. But he's a solid player. Not sure he'd make much of a difference to our team. Good point about Nathan's age @Wiseblood If Zac doesn't come at the end of this year he may not get another chance to play with his Brother.

I quite like McCartin, but I would be concerned by his body shape if I was a Saints supporter. And if that is linked to his diabetes it's an issue. Right now he looks fat and slow.

Just noticed he tops Inside Football Player Ratings:1. OLIVER, Clayton Melb 612. MERRETT, Zach Ess 603. MURPHY, Marc Carl 594. MITCHELL, Tom Haw 595. EBERT, Brad Port 59

Imo Petracca was second best behind Viney and Oliver third. We all see things differently.

Votes by both coaches for the 6th time in 8 games. ADELAIDE v MELBOURNE10 Jack Viney (Melb)8 Michael Hibberd (Melb)5 Clayton Oliver (Melb)5 Christian Petacca (Melb)2 Bernie Vince (Melb)AFLCA LEADERBOARD43 Elliot Yeo (WC)42 Rory Sloane (Adel)36 Clayton Oliver (Melb)32 Gary Ablett (GC)31 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)31 Sebastian Ross (StK)31 Joel Selwood (Geel)29 Ollie Wines (PA)27 Marc Murphy (Carl)27 Jack Steven (StK)

I love KB and reckon McCartin can play.

That's not quite correct. Williams stats were better from his first 19 games. That said, Williams debuted at 20, so had an advantage with age. Williams averaged 26 disposals from 12 games in his first year - 1984, and averaged 30.6 in his second year on his way to the B&F in '85 at 21. If your point is that Oliver's second year may be better than Williams' second year well that is a possibility, but obviously not yet resolved. I'd also argue that stats in 1985 are worth at least 20% more than the possession game of 2017, so 30 disposals then is at least 35-36 today, imo.

The best bit to take out of the Champion Data stats is that in 2017 he's ranked the 6th best general forward in the competition. The other stats are irrelevant, because they're based on a comparison of 23 games and not the players' respective ages. Ablett and Dangerfield were 19 through 23 games, so you wouldn't expect them to have the same due to a less mature body. I recognise Petracca missed a year with knee, but still consider his age a significant advantage. Gray was the same age as Petracca after 23 games.

Gawn

I'm talking about Cripps first 18 games, not the 3 in his first year. When you add the first 15 from his excellent second year to the 3 from his first year I think you'll find his first 18 games provide similar output.

The first 5 games of his second year blow everyone else out of the water. I hope and expect him to keep it up for the remainder of the year. But when you isolate just his first 18 games I suspect Cripps and Tom Rockliff's numbers would probably be as good.