Waltham33

All things considered Bate was worth a punt and as others have said he was not our worst and showed some encouraging signs. However if our midfielders bomb it on his head he has no chance. I think he gets another game should Jurrah not come up. What is the word with LJ anyway?

6 - Martin 5 - Rivers 4 - Petterd 3 - Jones 2 - Howe 1 - Green

Could not care less if he is in trouble, great hip and shoulder.

Not sure you can really say we had a dip - 5 straight goals to none at the start? Very ordinary in the contested and uncontested stakes all day. Hawthorn have us physically and mentally. Also not sure why Bailey thinks playing effectively the same game plan which has brought us 7 straight losses to the Hawks would result in a different outcome.

This is a positive post The inability to shut down other teams when they are on a role.

6. Martin 5. Pettard 4. Frawley 3. Moloney 2. Trengove 1. Sylvia

Could not agree more - a strange miss by Emma

A shame for them, they have to find something else now to fill the pages.

Agree. Tight shceduling catches up with teams in most professional leagues.

Multiple 6 days breaks do catch up with you. It represents part of the reason we lost and by so much. Also look at the Tigers yesterday, it seems both teams had a hangover from the 'hype' of last week. The team is still at least 12 months away from serious finals contention, maybe more if we don’t learn how to shut teams down when they are flying.

6. Trengove 5. Watts 4. Petterd 3. Frawley 2. McKenzie 1. Howe

There are tons of debates like this – especially on US sports sites. Effectively I think WCE are very happy with Nik Nat and we are very happy with Watts. Jack is starting to hurt teams on the scoreboard which makes him slightly more valuable at the moment IMO. Watts and Tomic - maybe Watts can add the headband???

Was evident from Jurrahs first game when they started the game sitting next to each other on the bench. They had a similar introduction AFL football, both tall slight forwards on a bad team getting knocked around. Similar experiences tend to build respect. On a general note, the team spirit is great at the moment.

6. Moloney 5. Watts 4. Frawley 3. McKenzie 2. Jones 1. Martin

One of the disappointing aspects of the early season for me was the lack of skills and passion on the team. Things have turned around and Jack has been leading the pack. Really enjoying his work as an onfield leader in the last month.

That team was the fittest MFC team I have ever seen. How many teams did we run over in the 2nd half of games that year - great memories.

Essendon trained all out over summer. It was always going to catch them out at some point. Their goal as I see it is to weed out the players who cannot play how Hird wants them to play. From last night, that could be quite a few.

Watts

Exactly

Great post - if he can eliminate the brain fades entirely he is a real asset.

As long as I get one opportunity to see Jack Watts standing up on the last Saturday in September holding the cup in a MFC jumper, Nik Nat can win 100 brownlow medals for all I care.

Not uncommon to be on crutches for an ankle as a precaution.

Less OTT celebration after winning – we still have some work to do but after the game we looked more like a team that expected to win. Otherwise Flemo, I second yours.

6 - Martin 5 – Watts 4 - Scully 3 - McKenzie 2 - Howe 1 – Nicholson

I would only bring back one player who has missed significant time – so assuming they are both fit that means Tappie gets his touch back as Casey and Jamar comes in with Gawn very unlucky. Gys comes back if fit. Looking forward to it already.