Bay Riffin

Interestingly the Demons on the weekend asked the Northern Knights to play Michael Hurley on Watts to see how he would go. Hurley beat him in the first half, so they put Watts on the wing where he started to play quite well. That may not scare away Melbourne completley as he is quick and a good footballer, but it does suggest he is looking more a midfield type than key forward at this stage. He also is not a monster forward type. Off field apparently Watts is just the right kid to bring into a club, a real leader with a good head on his shoulders, just a good kid.

You cannot tell me that West Coast were even remotely trying against a side so down on confidence from last week. That was as soft as the Carlton game last year. They refused to man up, to tackle properly, to run, to do anything. Pricks should have lost the priority pick 18, but now they will get it. We could never beat them in our finals race, and now I wanted to lose to them, we bloody well win. My god they are cheats.

Always has kicked under the ball.

Eagles won by 10 points!! If they beat us next week, they will lose pick 18, so now I have to barrack against us. Yes, the system is working perfectly Demetriou when you want your team to lose.

totally agree on Green and Ratten is meant to be interested. Having his best year and I reckon a player who might peak a short period so happy to off load him when he is cherry ripe as we need to build this young list. Pick aound 20 would be fair and he would do well at a Carlton and kick a few goals for them. I think we need to be aggressive as no doubt we will bounce back up in future years, but we need to get youngsters in now like Hawthorn did when they off loaded Thompson and Hay.

This could be a bigger development than people may think. Defences win premierships (we had the best forward line in the league late 90s but no trophy to show for it). It's fantastic to have 3 genuine tall backs playing and Rivers and Frawley in the background. Still reckon Frawley may end up a very good key back for us. Warnock looks reliable and Martin I will need to look at more, but he could be the big bloke to handle any gorillas in the game. very good one on one. Also, watching Whelan on the weekend, you forget how good he can be. Should have been in the best and lots of great shephards etc went unnoticed by the commentators. Would like to think Pettard is due for a run soon and could slot in at half back, perhaps at the expense of Bell.

Thought our intensity after the first quarter was ok today with an average midfield and makeshift forward line. Thought Paul Johnson and Chris Johnson were both good and Buckley showed some real spark that opened up the game for us at times. I think he is doing the right thing in taking the game on instead of playing safe. better than not learning anything. Though Jamar was ok today as well, but have still yet to see enough in Juice to get me excited enough. JUst too far one dimensional and cannot keep his feet in the contest. Morton played well as well, which was good to see. Less said about Sylvia the better today.

anyone get the feeling every report is rosey from Andy Lovell ? When you read half a dozen players reviews, they all look like they should be in the Dees side.

great idea. well done.

equal best caller in the business with Commetti, as he does not always say the obvious and actually talks tactics and football during a game. Schwartz next to him however, sounds like a punch drunk wannabe commentator who keeps saying "If he thinks he can. blah blah...then he needs to have good hard look at himself", or the most overused phrase by footballers commentating - "Thats an absolute disgrace".

"he was probably right. the stat sheets dont count every time a player trys to tackle another player, they only count effective tackles that force the player to dispose of the ball or lose possession. if it was a high tackle it wouldnt have counted as one of those. " thats a long bow to draw. I think he just f$cked up. let's face it, he is not the smartest cookie in the packet and is lucky to be broadcasting. McAvaney must just ignore him in his own mind when he goes to work.

please don't use Brad Green as a benchmark for hard attack on the ball.

he seems to be good one on one, the type we have few of at Melbourne. Would like to see him played before the season ends.

2 minutes in the Ess v Carl game, he said "Carlton have not touched it yet, have not got near it, not even laid a tackle", just after we watch Mcphee getting up from a high tackle. he must have photos of someone at ch7. he is completely sh1thouse.

I watched Warnocks performance last night and he looked young, raw and quite good. Showed guts to run back into a pack and take a mark in the the last half and one some hit outs around the ground. looks a good kick too. i reckon he shows great promise.

I do wonder what he showed to get pick 8 in the draft, as last week he was worth nothing to Sandy, a witches hat in fact.

No big deal really if they spend one more week down there. If Juice gets amongst the goals again then promote him. Pettard is really not in a position to be rushed back and far too valuable to risk. Let them have another game and see how they go. If Pettard can play out most of the game then promote him. Would like to see McNamara as he is a bit of a smokey late in the draft (our last pick from memory).

I find it hard to get excited about Bode but I remember a young James McDonald who wasn't quick, had an average kick on him but just loved to compete and found a way. Now he is the reigning bluey winner - twice !! I think its mental and even Bode could become a consistent player given time. His attitude is there so who knows he may prove us all wrong.

This season sums up TJ perfectly, sets the world on fire, probably racked up some brownlow votes, so they start tagging him and he turns to water. I am now glad another club owns the mantle of having the softest frontrunner in the league. Said it before he left and say it now. his good is really good and his bad is pathetic. one thing is always consistent though, soft is soft.

I didn't take notice of Buckleys opponent I must say. He is noticeable for his pace but in contests, I don't see anything exceptional from Buckley. Jury is still out for me as I'm not sure he has got it. blokes like Cheney look like footballers, and I get this feeling he isn't really a leader, just a gut feel, but doesn't always do the accountable thing. He is worth persevering with though as he can get the ball.

Well TJ, I wonder is you are pulled into line after todays game. He was tagged out of it and became the umpire whingeing pathetic soft front runner he has has been for 10 years. Fair dinkum, watching todays game, he is next to useless unless left to run 20 metres in the clear. Lethal is a good coach but we know something he didn't and they will pay.

My review of the game on the demons players is as follows: Stef Martin - like the look of him and very good one on one. quite tall and nullified his tall opponents well. was rarely beaten one on one. would have liked to see him attack a little more but good game. Cheney - like the look of this kid. always looking to position himself at stoppages and pick up loose men. looks like he thinks about the game. was slow to get in the game but after the first quarter played a consistent game without being flashy. surprisingly solid build for a kid. Jamar - dominated, especially early but kicking let him down. mind you both sides flooded terribly so most forward 50 entries were difficult. Took lots of grabs and was a leader for them. Meesen - really focussed on watching him as the game wore on, and I must say i am perplexed. he just sort of exists without any real intent to go for the ball, to block, to shephard to punch, or to do anything with purpose. At lease Jamar goes 100%. I am wondering what our recruiters saw in him. he is meant to have a good engine but did not seem to cover much ground. He seemed like an inert footballer. apart from a few hit outs, was of no influence on the game. Trent Zomer - kicked a good goal early on, but just did not sight him after that. they appeared to prefer Jamar and Meesen up forward. dm't know what happened there. from his one kick, i hope that isn't his normal kicking style though as he kicks like Primus releasing the ball 3 foot above his foot. Valenti - superb, great skills and can't help thinking he could be just like Mitchell at Hawthorn. hand skills were excellent. great in close as well. Carroll - played well when he attacked but conceded too many goals and got reported and probably deserves a week or two. thank god our younger backs show more promise. can't say his game was that bad though. Buckley - great dash but someone please please teach him to stop with the flippity p1ssy handballs. follow though and punch the ball properly. he breaks the lines, does the hard work then releases it like its going to explode. Missed too many targets and does not deserve a recall as yet. Bell - overall good game after a completely woeful first quarter. I think every possesion in the first quarter he turned over. To his credit he got better as the game wore on and was excellent in the last half. overall you give that a pass. good sign is he did not lose confidence after a bad start.

Thought Martin was very good today down back. Like the look of him and always seemed in control of the one on one contests. I think I swa him outmarked once but beat blokes like top 10 pick Ben McEvoy easily.

I will sign

The title is an amalgamtion of 2 titles so take little notice of that. i thought Jim was excellent on the footy show and for the first time in ages we seem to have someone who is popular and knows how to handle himself in the media. I think if someone is that passionate about Melbourne its good for the club and love the fact he mentioned people have put money on the table provided he is the man in the top position. I am intrigued to see who and what that would be.