ArtificialWisdom

In my defence I was refering to this year alone. 100% he improved before this year. But i dont think playing his role week in week out this year is improvement. He stops his man from scoring and makes contests but he hasnt grown all that much. Its not a bad thing because what he does is vital to the team but I dont think its right to put him next to some of the others you mentioned as a big improver.

No he hasn't, Jetta improved out of sight the year he got rookied and is a valuable role player but he hasn't gotten any better. He does his job but little more. That might be enough for now and I like his will to compete in every contest but if Hibbard does come with Melksham, Salem, Hunt, Wagner all playing as medium-small defenders/rebounders Jetta is going to be in a vulnerable position. Agree with all others. Love Kent (and hunt for that matter) playing as kind of a wing/half back hybrid his pace coming though the centre bounces has been pretty fantastic. Unfortunatly we miss him forward when he plays that role. Hogan though I dont think people quite understand what he is doing. He is left alone in just his second senior year and expected to carry a forwardline alone whenever Watts has to go back or to the middle to put out fires and plug holes cause by others. Hogan is playing to the level most key forwards need 2/3 more years to get to. Give him some support and then we can see what he is capable of.

I like McCarthy, he shows a bit, he has been alright in their recent losses while alot of there others have been pretty [censored]. He is no star but he is consistent and he puts pressure on. He would get a game over Kennedy or Kent in our side Edit: As if on cue he takes a very nice grab

Agree, for a side that kills us on the outside every time I dont like the idea of dropping one of our best young outside runners.

I could not agree more... I hate Essendon the club as much as the next guy but why people are treating this like there is a magical being at the top going by the name "Essendon" that has ruined their careers makes no sense to me. All the people who caused this problem are gone so unless you are given a better offer by another club why would you leave? If Hibberd thinks he has a better offer at Melbourne, fantastic, but i doubt it is because of "Essendon". He'll be playing where he has the biggest future (or maybe the biggest pay cheque idk what kind of person he is). I'd like to see people shed their supporter bias for a bit and actually look at how a trade would work rather than thinking up ways just to [censored] over a team they don't like.

Am I correct in assuming there will be some kind of hearing or something to prove their case should they choose to do this? So if history tells us anything with the Bombers and the AFL it will drag out for 6-12months and a trade will have to be done in the mean time anyway.

We had Howe so we can all say from experiance that a once or twice a month highlight is not worth a consitant footballer. That said Watts has a long way to go to win that debate... talk to us again when his next contract ends or is renewed and see where he is at then

Mayne is the better option of the two, comes at about the same age bernie did when he came across. Could offer 3-5 years, handy investment for experience. Maybe not the type of player we desperately need but if we can get him for cheap then go for it

Is telling Watts to play next to him on a wing crazy? I guess with nobody to play forward that would be an issue but Watts is capable of going with him... If there is any player Watts should be trying to be like it is Nick... I think jack could punish him on the rebound too. Wasn't Roosy saying after the port game they would have liked to play Watts on Westhoff when he was on the wing running a muck. Maybe they will have that in mind this week?

Disagree. As a forward you love the idea of being matched 1 on 1 so for a start Tom is already at a disadvantage. However there are only 2 defenders on our team that i feel can win more 1 on 1s than they lose thats Tom and Jetta. Jetta is ok if the ball is at ground level, in the air he will compete but as soon as he is out of position he is gone. Tom on the other hand no matter where the ball is he will make winning that contest a nightmare for whoever he is up against. He is our best 1 on 1 defender his spoiling is elite and his effort at ground level is huge for a big key backman. There are alot of defenders i would pick to go up against 1 on 1 before I would pick Tom. You can go about (somewhat unjustly) complaining about his disposal all you want but he is an outstanding defender.

There was a couple of instances in the first qtr from Tom where i noticed him get the ball and immediately take the first option, quick movement that generated scoring opportunities. One in particular on the boundry I expected him to let it go out as he usually does but he grabbed it flicked a handball over very quickly and we launched another attack. I hope it was him following instructions and it continues in the future. It makes him (and the whole team) look so much better when he goes quickly.

I'd like to see them put some pressure on against the saints once in a while and see how we go. I would seriously consider a defencive forward every time we get killed against the saints the problem is coming out of our forward 50. The game this year it looked like a training trill. Lock them down coming out and we give ourselves a hope. 8 point game this one. A loss here suddenly puts us a game behind the saints, a team that we would like to think is well behind us. Something we seriously need to reconsider if we cant get the job done. I'm nervous about Petracca he looks tired at times then brilliant at others. If he can bring some of his best flare and pressure to our forward line then he is well worth keeping in. In a game will be lost on the rebound, tracc is capable of helping us stop that. Oscar out for Garland or Wagner (I think wagner needs a run out at casey given he has had a 3 week layoff now) Oliver in for Vince if injured Bugg in for Petracca if rested On form this should be a comfortable win 6+ goals saints have been terrible the last 2 weeks. The unfortunatly reality is Edihad + St Kilda + Darwin adds up to a 6-8 goal loss... God I hope I'm wrong

If that was true Jetta would have been delisted a few years ago. He was taught how to play smart and now is among the best defenders going around. I dont think matt will be among the best wing men but he has improved immensely this year

Mature win, reality is the second half was terrible and our inability to score despite heavy forward half dominance was disappointing. But we need to start having these wins, playing poorly for large parts of the game but still being able to dispatch poor opposition. Not happy with our second half execution but happy with the result. On to next week!

Look trading Salem is not an absurd idea but the price would have to be right. A pick outside the top 10 is not enough. No, he hasnt proved that kind of worth but giving him up for any less means a big loss. If a trade for him involved bringing in some more mature talent who fills a void we need desperatly then we can talk, but until then we should be looking closer at contract extentions for Salem than trades.

Clarry will be managed for the remainder of the year. He will be in and out of the side as they prepare him for a huge pre-season. They will want him to put on some muscle over summer and build a bigger fitness base and hopefully he will be able to play a full or close to full year in 2017. Grimes, Trenners, M Jones and the like will get opportunities to make bids for contract extentions as a result of these rotations. I would expect to see Tracc, possible Stretch maybe Omac and Hunt as well have weeks off or games in the 2s just to give others a run and to prepare for the summer. Yeah they will try to win games but the back half was always going to be about building for next year.

Frankly I'd reather Kent/Garlett at CHF than Vickery

While I'm not sure they would have done it with Grimes I suspect Terlich got a line through his name about round 3 last year (if not earlier). That said I think Matt Jones was an inch away form the same but a solid preseason and suddenly he is in our best 22

Hogan is a CHF not a FF. Every time he plays up the ground he plays better. What we lack is a FF. Hogan has to play FF because nobody else can. We essentially are already robbing Paul to pay Peter . Hopefully Hulett or Wiederman will develop into solid FFs but not likely to help this year or all that much next year. Pedo is our best option but due to injury/illness he cant get in the side.

Oh 100% i think they're fantastic ins I like many rate White pretty high, will be watching closely

Its been a while since i last saw so many people happy with the changes

Happiness abounds

Is it? He is a senior player that should be held at higher standards. His form has been atrocious since returning, on top of that even his effort looked down as well on the weekend and that has always been good. Hasnt shown anything to say he should play at AFL level again. He should be dropped and made to demand his position before he plays again. Alot has to change if he ever expects to play in a successful Melbourne side. If dropped I expect to see him back pretty soon but I damn well hope the play him into form at Casey first.

Thats more like it. 5/6 goal win get out infront early and hold them at arms length. I'll be content with that.

you know you're struggling when a win against a bottom 4 team is 'memorable'. A 100+ point win would be memorable, a win should be demanded