deespicable me

Imagine a top four team lose their ruckman, or even their back-up ruckman and they look at a lower team like Melbourne has been and decide to chase Spenser. I think Spenser could be a number one ruck in an AFL side just not ours because of Gawn. They get in Spenser's ear and all of a sudden he has dreams of playing in finals when he hasn't even played in an AFL game all season. Of course he'd want to go. But more to the point he'd be mighty [censored] off if Melbourne turned around and said no. The potential for de-stabilising a team that is already struggling to build team culture would be devestating. All the years of developing a ruckman like Spenser, 25 and just starting to put it together is lost. And then Gawny has an injury and we're left without our back up ruckman that we've spent years developing because a team that didn't have the foresight to develop their own back-up's pinches them. I'm using Spenser as an example coz I now our list well but I'm sure every lower team has a similar player. Rotten idea, it's a no from me, for what it's worth.

Hogan has the highest ceiling, no doubt. He has the most potential and we are seeing glimpses of what he can do in only his second full season. In the third quarter of the Queens Birthday match against Collingwood there was a period of time, almost 15 minutes where even though we were 20 odd points up the game was in the balance. The ball was going from one end to the other, there were mistakes, turnovers and missed shots on goal. The game was crying out for someone to do something special, inspiring. Hogan in a four minute period took a beautiful contested mark on the wing against three Collingwood forgetables, then another contested mark 35 metres out and slots the goal. Game over. I'll never forget it. That for me was his arrival as someone who can win a game off his own boot. Hogan is our potential champ, his good although not consistent is as good as Melbourne Footy Club has seen since Neitz and I think he can be better. He is the major reason we are scoring more and gaining respect as a team capable of beating top level teams in the comp. Full forwards are like the lead singer in a rock'n'roll band. You can have a great drummer and a really great lead guitarist etc but your nothing without the lead singer. Hogan has all that. He has swagger, self belief and the desire to win. Underestimate him at your peril, he is at the very top of any of these lists you care to make up. By a mile.

I really think all those drug taking players should split up. Too many of them together and they're likely to fall back into their drug-taking ways. I applaud any player trying their best to come clean, but we've all heard the stories. One loss and they'll be out the back, over the road, re-offending. "Hey man, have you got any more of that Mexican [censored]?" Sad, sad Bummers

Common knowledge

TMac will be going unless he signs for unders, we've got Hurley signed up and he and Milkshake will take young Oscar under their wing and next year we will see a bigger, faster, stronger and better tanned young beast than ever you've seen. Goodwin has got this, just relax. And if you can't we have something for that as well.

I think they are all in trouble and will be lucky to be on any list next year. Maybe Grimes, I like him.

Should be a good game. They will test us with run and spread and their forward line looks dangerous with Dixon, Westoff, Wingard and Young. I would be keeping Michie, ANB and Newton in as we had great rotations through the middle with Viney not needing to be as dominant. In the heat you need fit runners and plenty of them. I agree Max and the coaches need a plan B. Watts was terrific today and they will be happy to have a plan C but he shouldn't be plan B. We also need an extra tall down back, so a resting ruck going back into the hole at CHB may help. Frost, Pedo or Spencer? or stick with plan A? Don't drop any runners! IN; Lumumba, Tyson, Jetta OUT; Oliver (inj), OMac, and anyone sore enough to need the rest.

Putting a list together and keeping it together, paying them the right amount to keep them happy and in balance with one another so players don't get their noses out of joint, then adding the right player at the right time is not an easy science. History is littered with many sides who thought they were "in the premiership window" got in a high priced recruit to take them to premiership glory, then failed miserably, suffered for years and then had to rebuild again. Having said that Buddy may still work at the Swans, Scully has come good for the talent laden Giants and as you say Boyd hasn't yet ruined the Bulldogs prospects. It has been argued the Tigers have "sat on their hands too long" during trade week and haven't added talent to their list at a time when they needed to. Dal Santo, Higgins and especially Waite have been fantastic for North to the point where they could pinch a premiership they could never have achieved without those additions. But they have an amazing number of 30 plus players in their squad and it's a fine line between a list master genius at North and a bloke looking for a new job. I think our guys are doing a good job, so I trust them and pray they get it right coz I reckon' you need a lot of luck and there's a fine line between genius and dud. And for those of us who reckon we have to get this player or that player and spend this amount on them, with respect I think they might just think it's easier than it actually is.

We can't pay Hurley what he would like and expect to keep our team together. I almost think it's too late for any big name players to join us on big coin. O'Meara, Prestia, even Brown from Collingwood would probably be too expensive. There will be too many demands by our players as they start to get highly rated within the comp already. Gawn and Viney will become top 50 players this year and in two years time we will probably have 6 - 8 in there. We need to find a player like Hombsh or a young Ted Richards. Cheap and under the radar when they come across but have always been good value to their clubs.

Look at Frawley at Hawthorn. He was similar to Tom in that he was prone to turning the ball over and many supporters were keen for him to go and get in the brand new Brayshaw. Frawley took a while to learn how to fit into the Hawthorn backline but his last two finals in 2015 and his early 2016 form is very good. He doesn't turn it over and takes safer options when he has the ball. We have a guy in Brayshaw who we all hope will be a gun in a year or two but isn't yet. I think its time Melbourne stopped being a kindergarten for the big clubs. We need Tom as part of a mature backline that grows together, not another potential kid champion that we all slobber over then cut down in their third year because they haven't performed miracles. Adam your post annoys me. When are you going to start up the "Brayshaw is too slow" thread and start cutting another down. Try being a "SUPPORTER" for a while.

I think Richmond got a smaller crowd at the "G" hosting a loss to Port (funny). I think we would have got about 35,000 at the "G" hosting St Kilda so I would be upset if the AFL themselves didn't regard the situation as a mistake. A mistake that was hard to see at the start of the season. So, what we do hope to see is more opportunities to make money next year and the year after. Better opportunities than Richmond if they stay in the bottom four. Also with these "event" matches everyone is carrying on about I'm more [censored] off with us losing the "pink" game (probably our greatest marketing success) as a fixed game against the dogs at the "G". Or is that because we had the girls game as a curtain raiser. I'm not sure. I probably should get my facts right before being [censored] off. Who do we play in the Pink game? Is there an exhibition girls game again this year? These are great opportunities for us. Incidentally I think the home game against Richmond was a good crowd and I'm pretty sure we had bigger numbers than the Toiges, so if we can drag ourselves out off our ten year journey down the S bend maybe we will get a better fixture. Lets make sure we finish above Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood, St Kilda and Essendon and give Action Jackson some ammunition to go to the AFL.

Pederson had one of his best quarters for the club ever in the last when the game was up for grabs. Was terrific. Frost came good in the second half when he started running the length of the field. His opponent was left for dead. The coaching staff are doing a fantastic job and we are developing to be a very good 4 quarter side. I think we have been very good at understanding what limited rotations means and how best to understand and get an edge in games by exploiting the new rule. I thought after the Essendon game and we were discussing at half time when Pedo and Frost had limited impact that Dawes might be a better option, and for some games he may, but the second half showed what they are trying to achieve with Frost and I would now like to see him remain in the team and develop his main weapon, which is his endurance running.

Not many are rated elite until we get into the top four and then all of a sudden the Denham's of the world reckon they're all elite. I agree we've got a fantastic list developing nicely, but there's a lot can go wrong. We are yet to do it. Goodwin is a young coach being protected by our godfather Roos. I hope we don't miss him too much, Roosy. He's looking borderline genius if it all rolls out like he has planned it.

Wow, that is quite a talent you have there. And not just for the tipping. I love the language, does anyone over there understand you? Boos SOOL = Blues still out of luck? (not that it matters) You should get together with Titus O'Reilly, you are both worth ten times half the bozzo's that are over-exposed in Footy shows and previews. Do you have an outlet like Titus with his podcast or are we the only lucky ones? Cheers, well done

Have to give up something very good to get something good. I'm enjoying the players we have. I am happy for us to sign up our own for what they are worth and get on with it. Bringing in players on "overs" can create inflationary pressure on a club.

I agree. That bald umpire was horrendous. He gave the two fifties from frees that were'nt there and the one to Goldstein in the second qtr was just non-existent. The way the commentators are "coached" to never diss the umpires just means nothing is done. There is no accountability. I find it very hard to watch. I don't blame the umpires for the loss because it was there for us to win and we couldn't do it and "good teams overcome bad umpiring" but that bald bloke is a shocking umpire and I won't watch again if he's umpiring. It's just not a pure sport. The umpiring had almost as much effect on the match as the wind and at least you knew you were going to get 2 quarters with the wind.

Dawes as a footballer is not always a great option but what I was suggesting is that if Hogan and or Watts become better footballers with Dawes out there then that is a win for Melbourne. I don't think Frost or Pederson have as yet created a "finished" six forward line. Clearly on Saturday we were two talls down, one in the forward line and one in the backline. I don't think Pederson was any worse or better particularly than Watts or Hogan but clearly the "mix" didn't work. For some reason Kent was down as well. Dawes for all his failings might help make us a better forward line. Especially considering we missed leadership down there on Saturday, with the press carrying on about Hogan getting frustrated etc. I'm sure with clear planning Dawes can add something there.

I went to training on Wednesday for a couple of hours. Just a couple of observations. Dawes was back training with the main group and was a welcome return. There was a distinct lift in comraderie. He is a natural leader and was very happy helping Weidemann, Oscar, Hulett and King with their positioning etc. Hogan was very happy to have him part of training. You could see that Hogan is just a kid and having a big senior player there was good for him. I think Dawes may be important in the next 12 to 18 months for the development of our forward line. If we replace Frost with Dawes in the forward line doing a lot of leading up the ground it will take away a bit of pressure from Hogan and Watts can become the third tall again. Watts and Hoges were bordering on non-functional on the weekend and Dawes may help restore the balance. Hulett was marking everything. He held his own against some of the senior players in man on man wrestling and out-marked the young King everytime. He continues to develop well. Trengove was looking good. He did a drill where you had to do a series of quick steps, then push off to one of three cones placed left, right and centre. He showed no effects of his injury and was quick and strong. He is another natural leader who likes to help with positioning and general teaching in drills. He and Dawes come across as pretty intelligent people. They aren't ever involved in joking or mucking around and Trengove really appears focused and determined.The addition of Dawes and Trengove to the team will add much needed senior leadership when they get back. Tyson was impressive. He was better on the weekend and continues to improve on the track. He is another who you can see wants to improve and develop his game and hopefully now he is fully fit he will build into the year.

Tyson has a different personality to the other mid-fielders. He is a bit stand-offish. They still need time to gel as any good team does. All good teams can second guess where their mates are moving to, where they want the ball directed etc. This is Dom's biggest weakness, he is not a natural team player. Probably a star junior who did it all himself. Hopefully he matures into a team player, I don't think dropping him to the seconds will do anything positive for his development, in fact given his struggle to be team oriented it would probably be a negative and only serve to isolate him more. They need time to grow as a team.

I was down there for an hour or so. Salem is still protecting his finger and not training at 100%, someone would have to be on stand-by, it must have been a fairly serious injury for him to carry it into a second week, and he will need to pass a fitness test later this week. Also Oliver had a minor twinge in his lower calf by the end of the session. I would suggest it is very minor but given he is still a kid they may choose to rest him, not sure. They may choose to ease him off and re-hab him for a week, but if he doesn't play for the firsts I doubt if he'll play at Casey.

I saw JKH at training for the first time in a while and he looked fine. There were no major contact drills to see if he would sit out, he wasn't taped and he kicked a goal from the 50m line so I think he'll play pretty soon at Casey. I would suspect he has his work cut out to get a go back in the main game. He looks like he feels like he doesn't belong. Head down, bum up and work his arse off and he may get a chance mid season.

Gee some of you "Frost lovers" go back and have a look at your great full back hope in the first quarter when Minson (Frosts man) took a mark and kicked a goal. Frost although he was right with Minson lost body contact and was nowhere near spoiling Minson. In fact TMac who left his man got across and was the closest to spoiling him. How some of you guys put Frost in the same realm as TMac is unbelievable, he's not a chance to do anywhere near as good as TMac. You'd weaken the backline way too much. Frost is a fringe player at the moment competing with Pederson and Dawes for a spot in the team and probably third in line at that. And his disposal is probably worse than TMac.

1. Fremantle 2. West Coast (apart from the derby a record every game played at Subiaco or wherever they play now to be a victory to the home team. A double up fortress and a joy for all WA footy fans. Second Derby to be a bloodbath with a Freo player ending up with a handfull of Priddis's hair) 3. GWS. (big improvers) 4. Richmond 5. North 6. Pies 7. Hawks (maybe I'm just hopefull but I think they'll slip) 8. Swans Brownlow Fyfe Coleman Kennedy Rising Star Petracca

Some harsh words here, remember our scores against have been 75 last week and only 60 this week. He is a very important part of a defense that has been O.k. All defenses turn the ball over occasionally when pressured hard enough, especially when the opposition man up the outlet players. Tom is very aggressive and a good strong physical player. He can work over an opponent and beat them consistently by the end of the game. He is a bloke you can build a defense around. As to his deficiencies we need to work as a team to limit them because in my eyes his strengths are very, very good. Maybe Rawlings needs to be held more to account.

I hope Reimers sues McVeigh to within an inch of his existence for his slanderous comments at the start of the investigation. He deserves "##### all" does McVeigh. Just another bozo I have to switch off when he comes on the tele.