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Sorry everyone, this one hurts Genuinely ashamed to share a stadium and city with players who would chant while an opposition player is prone motionless and injured on the ground - only to then one up themselves by cheering on the perpetrator. I've never felt visceral anger towards a player from the stands before like I did tonight at Maynard. I hope he gets weeks but have no faith he will. Anyone suggesting he had no other alternative has rocks in their head...players jump to smother all the time...they don't turn and hit players in the head on the way down. I'm not going to wish injury on him as I don't need to. If he has a semblance of human decency he will feel awful, which is good enough for me. And if he doesn't feel a thing, he is beyond help anyway and he'll end up alone. I'd rather be a better person than win the game

Starting to think that the Pies form struggles are being exaggerated. Smashed Essendon by 70 (sure, questionable opposition but if we'd done it we'd be confident), lost to Brisbane by 4 goals (it happens), beat Geelong with 29 scoring shots, lost to a red-hot Carlton but had more scoring shots (remember, we also lost to Carlton) when they arguably should have won. The only 'concerning' game was the Hawthorn one, but it appears at this time to have just been an aberration. They've been navigating some major injury concerns over that period too, which other than Naicos, are now resolved for them. Before that, they beat Port in Port and barely lost all year other than to us. It really isn't as unconvincing as everyone is saying? Comparatively, we've had a far better scores against profile (with 3 tall defenders, which we have moved away from), but for long periods we struggled with Hawthorn, gave Sydney a significant run-on, struggled with North and barely beat Adelaide & Brisbane. I'm not sure we've been as convincing as people think either. Unlike the Pies, our injury issues have actually impacted us structurally at selection too, missing our best key forward and dangerous defensive forward too. The old "things are never as good or as bad as they seem" truism seems...true Help, the MFCSS is taking over!

Reckon you could just about justify anything in long form Binman Not a criticism btw

I've always thought he was a handy player who hasnt had a really good extended run at it. Reminds me a little of when Charlie Cameron left the Crows, though I really doubt McAdam has anywhere near the upside Charlie clearly did

Wonderful. Well done

? This isn't hard to understand. You know it and every semi-informed Melbourne supporter knows it, including those choosing to ignore it in favour of hope. Let me spell it out for you. May and Lever's intercept and contested marking is one of our main weapons. When it's wet, this weapon is somewhat nullified. Nearly all marking players are less impactful in the wet, this is true. But some cope better with this being taken away from them - for example they might have a terrific ground ball game with which they can offset. Rivers is one such player and Quaynor would be another. Darcy Moore is an intercepter, but he is more accomplished at ground level than most key backs of his size due to his athletic profilr. Ergo, poor conditions would arguably impact his performance less. May and Lever, who have different athletic profiles that serve them in different ways, are at best average ground ball players. Lever in particular is considered a poor ground ball player by a lot of opposition coaches, with many quoting over the years that going in fast and low is the key to getting around him. This is a reference to his speed (or lack thereof), and by extension, how his strengths as a player diminish somewhat when the ball isn't in the air. Given their prominence to our gameplan in normal weather, and how their demise often correlates with our teams demise, yes - May and Lever come in for special consideration as a discussion point. I'm not attacking their character, but discussing their strengths and weaknesses and how conditions impact those. I'm not going to source "comprehensive" stats because 1) I don't have the time and 2) I don't need to. I can have an opinion - which I know many would share - without needing to cite supporting evidence. This isn't a news article or, as you point out, a scientific journal. Find your own stats if you're keen. I wasn't under the impression I needed to research before posting. Proven is commonly used as a verb, for what it's worth.

This is not even mentioning the impact on Gawn. We all know how we look when he isn't taking marks down the line...our wet form is not a mystery if you know what makes us a good team

Our 'defence' isn't ground ball...it's aerial. Lever and May are both very poor in the wet as it becomes very easy to prevent them (anyone) taking marks...ball hits deck, they're below average and our weapon is no more Results in the wet speak for themselves this year, not sure why you would question the theory when it's already been proven

What he needs is a whole lot more than muscle. Most of this sport is between the ears. He should improve in time in the system and may have some good days at Casey like Weideman did and Schache has, but he reminds me of them just in his lack of physicality, intensity and competitiveness. Physicality is very rarely developed - you either 'get it' (Hogan from game 1), or you don't. Despite being the poster boy for softness I thought Watts actually did improve in this area over his career, but let's face it he was probably given more time early days than other non-messiah draftees. Weid dominated juniors with his running jump and long arms - as soon as he met defenders that could put on a body, he had his only weapon taken away. No fun writing a kid off, and Jeffo is at the end of a very long first season playing a key post in the VFL, but gee there is plenty to be concerned about. He was insipid today. Couldn't get to a contest, couldn't get the footy, didn't look like he even wanted to be there. It was fair dinkum embarrassing at times. And he'll play on far better defenders than Ryan Gardner...

Went along, the Melbourne boys were very nice to my little man (trac in particular). Not a lot else to excite. AMW has a future and I think Verrall will too, even though he made some errors. Have significant doubts on Jefferson across a number of facets - competitiveness, athleticism, fitness. Moved like a 35 year old and just did nothing to make defenders worry about him. Adams could be something but needs work. They missed Dunstan tremendously. Bill Laurie and Schache were walking the boundary - told them they should both be playing. Tomlinson is massive in person and Melk walking around without crutches, weird to think he needs the best part of a year of rehab... A large chunk of the Melb team attended. Didn't see Grundy, koz, Fritsch but struggle to think of too many others who weren't there.

Thanks - have purchased two $15 tickets. Kiddos free.

He won't be in the middle for any more than 5/10% of the game - so yeah, he can (& will) play on him on the night.

Does our MFC membership gain us entry to this game or do tickets need to be purchased?

Quaynor has Koz's number big time, so we'll need to find another avenue to goal I think. Has him well covered for speed, strength, height, jump and weight. Plays kozzie extremely well does IQ.

When we first got good I enjoyed seeing Melbourne players be a big part of these awards. Now I barely care. Jack won't either. Bodes well and also makes logical sense that the two teams in the league that have now been top 4 the longest - us and Brisbane, have only 1 player each. It just means people don't notice how good we are anymore because they expect it, and because our contributions are very even across the side.

Correct. You could see in Humphreys first game that he will be crazy good, has a lot of top line attributes. We offered two firsts for him and on his (albeit limited) showing so far, I'd have been comfortable with that in hindsight. He would have added significantly to our team this year. Those saying we need a trac in the middle and a trac up forward - we would have had it. Reid is just as good - although more pure mid than Humphrey who is a capable forward. You never know what it could do for our chances next year. Need to add high end quality when we're already at the pointy end. Hell, not getting Humphrey could have been the difference this year. We'll know in a month.

Add me to the M50 crew - 5 of us in row G. Not my preferred spot - you dont see much that low & close - but it seems its a Melbourne bay so if nothing else the excitement (or disappointment...) will be palpable Those of you who can actually see the sport from higher up, please guide us with your cheers

3 devices, not one has been let through yet...

Any trick to it?

Not convinced finals or September experience counts for much at all tbh. We had basically none heading into 2021 and swept all aside with relative ease.

The amazing thing shown here is how much worse every team (including us) is compared to many premiership winning teams. Vs our 2021 side, we are worse defensively and significantly worse offensively. Also a function of how even it is across the board - in that no team has dominated for the whole year (and therefore everyone has pulled down each other's ranking)

Agree. He's always had a lot to work with and was a fairly dominant junior (admittedly his size was less of an issue there). Looks like a player that needs continual exposure. Unfortunately for him he probably goes out if Fritsch returns

Apparently the swans player slapped the padding at the exact time - meaning the spike on edge was also rendered useless Absolute farce

I flew to Adelaide and made a weekend of it We tried very very hard to drink enough that night to forget the result

I said a week ago our entire season is on the line against Hawthorn