At the break of Gawn

Harmes was amazing in that first qtr. Didn't even have an opponent I reckon. Pederson was industrious and reliable. One of his best games. Lewis' best game in red and blue. BoG for me. He actually committed to the contest a lot more. He must be able to smell September. Hannan was invisible in the first 3 qtrs but grabbed his moment. Forgot how good Brayshaw is. So much more composed now and his kicking was elite. A few negatives though: Petracca is badly out of form. He almost does things. Reminds me of his first year. Weid looked slow and not AFL ready. Laid some good tackles but couldn't commend much at all. 1 game in the VFL for Watts might not be enough though. I'd like him in ripping form before coming in. Wagner was sub standard. Salem would come straight in if he didn't get suspended. Garlett had Geary which could explain his quiet game.

Sounds like Keilty is really coming a long and sounds like an awesome intercept mark. Would love to see him in the seniors.

Marc Murphy

I'm looking forward to reading Plappy's report. That's normally a good indication. Would think he'd need at least 2 weeks though.

Jones is one of our best ball users. Really interested to see how him and Viney go tomorrow. Apart from Viney's first game, he's been poor the last two weeks. If both continue to struggle to regain form I'd put down this injury to form issue a systemic issue across the club.

Salem's hit sounded very crude. Maybe due to frustration. He's been playing quite well though.

Slobbo loves his hyperboles, too.

Goody just stated on SEN tht Watts was probably in the top 2 or 3 players in the team at that point before getting injured. I Think that's a pretty good answer to all the posters on here calling his season average before the injury.

Didn't get dropped at all last year. 2015 rnd 23 was the last time and it spurred him on to have a great preseason. Just think it's a bit horses for courses when you have guys like Bernie Vince playing average footy all year, getting suspended multiple times, costing us games of footy (rnd 4 against Freo) and still keeps his spot because he's in the leadership group. The leadership group shouldn't be untouchable and if our poor form continues then someone from that group needs to be dropped to make a real statement.

Don't think it's"body on the line" stuff, otherwise Jordan Lewis would've been dropped for his disgraceful effort against North in the last qtr. It's contested work, flying for marks and gut running. Not happening enough and hope he comes back better than ever.

In football, which is such an outcome focused industry, I can't see how you can assess how good a decision is until the result unfolds.

I was hoping Watts would get one more chance at a proper AFL venue but another failure would've been a disaster for him and the team. He probably needs the wake up call and will be better for it and may incentivise him to kill it in the VFL to have a chance at finals footy. There's 3 best 22 coming out of that line up so it's pretty big risk taken by Goody, so I'm hoping it pays off.

Mitch Cleary reckons he's omitted for this week. If Dees lose and Weid plays a poor game, I reckon Goody will cop some flack for this decision. But on the other hand if we win and Weid plays well, I'll salute the decision.

This is a fairly accurate prediction on his current state, but It just depends where his career goes over the next couple of years. If he got traded to an interstate club (particularly a Gold Coast or Sydney based team) you could see him fading into the background with an early retirement if the team doesn't have much success. I don't subscribe to the "lack of desire" comments completely though. He clearly gets frustrated on the field when things don't go his way and even seeing footage of him from Saturday where he kicked some bags in frustration walking into the rooms, (although this may have been to make up for his 0 kicks in the first half) he does care about his performance and the team - and he has stated in interviews that he hates the commentary around his lack of desire for the game. When we're playing well, and the structures are working, and the delivery is good, he can look like a star as everything clicks into gear for him. But I've noticed in contested situations when the kick isn't to his advantage, he clearly struggles and maybe even excuses himself from that extra 10% as he knows the kick should've been better (I think Jesse also does this but he's more demonstrative). Really good players can still mark/win the ball even when it's not to their advantage.

We'll know by 10:30pm Saturday night how big Sunday will be. Either Dogs and Dons will have to lose as I doubt they'll drop either of their last two.

What if we win the last 3 but still don't make finals due to miraculous form by Essendon? That'd mean due to the North loss, the season then becomes a failure from that logic as that was the only game in this back half that we expected to win but lost.

VdB is a butcher of the highest order specialising in prime cuts of the sherrin going straight to the opposition.

I disagree on that. Richmond are a very solid side and play team first footy and have only lost 1 of their past 6. Their last two weeks even without Jack Riewoldt they've had a good spread of contributors. As much as I hate saying it, they are a superior team to us at the minute and I think they will make top 4.

Going off that, the pattern after two 0 goal games and a 1 is then a 3.

Giants will beat Eagles at Spotless stadium. There won't be Nic Nat out there kicking a goal with 5 seconds left.

Steven dominated in the last qtr with like 11 or 12 disposals. He's fine, unfortunately.

Just doing the ladder predictor again... If we win all 3, then it comes down to 1 game... Ess vs Crows - Essendon has to lose. The alternative, Melbourne has to thump the Lions by 10 goals.

Not if our midfield delivered the ball like they should. Melbourne has the lowest scoring efficiency for forward 50 entries in the league. Even Buddy Franklin would hit new lows playing in our forward line. The butchering of the ball is our ultimate downfall.

Why is it that Collingwood or Essendon don't have to play on these suburban grounds? Melbourne has played on 4 suburban grounds this year. This club has got to stop taking [censored] from the AFL and request AFL venues only. Knowing our luck, we'll get Launceston next year as well as Hobart. It's no wonder our two worst performances have coincided with playing on foreign grounds that are highly susceptible to the elements and are very familiar to our opposition. Next week is the ultimate litmus test.

You realise 6 of those marks were probably taken in defence? Garlett, Pedo, Watts and Tmac kicked a combine total of 3 goals from those inside 50s so I reckon there's more of a story on the entries and the structure. Watts kicked 1 and set up 2 directly. Where's the thread for Pedo or Garlett?