Dante

There is no doubt that he is contributing more than Sam at the moment and in fact he is playing very well, but obviously, long term, Sam will/should take over from him. He has been very good and it's a pity he was injured in that game last year, which effectively ruled him out for the remainder of the season, he's shown the form that Drunkin knew he was capable of and hats off to him for that. I love the way he plays the game and his strength around the ball and his clean hands and vision have been a revelation, to some of us that is, I was a bit apprehensive when they picked him but rapt that they did. He fits in well with the rest of the group and he certainly doesn't detract from our on field performance, of course if he keeps this up it will be difficult for Pedo to get a game with is a seems but that's just how it is. Great effort so far and let's hope he can build on it.

Always loved the way Gus goes about it and his left foot/right foot kicking it exceptional, there are, of course the good judges who wanted him traded and said there wasn't a spot for him. I guess some of these judges were also the ones that wanted ANB traded and Harmes delisted, but fawned over the pace of Hunt ( I like Hunt a lot but he needs to modify his game) and said OMD wouldn't make it. Gus is a smart footballer who knows were to go and where to deliver the ball, Salem is the same and will be a gun for us, one through the middle and the other coming off the back flank, got to love that. You can see the way the players gather around Gus they love him and he loves playing with and for his teammates, he won't be going anywhere and will be a long term Demon.

Balic was essentially out of football last year and this year he's been given the opportunity to settle in which allows the club can see where he sits, I think he will get another year and that he could become a handy player for us, he really is like a first year player and will get a look in when the club thinks he's ready. It's not always a situation of players competing with other players for a spot, sometimes players move to a different position or suffer a loss of form or are injured, if he's good enough something will open up for him and he'll get a game. Look at Bull Smith, how many on here would have thought he'd be in the side and playing well at this time of the year, who was he competing with, Pedo, Sam or did a need arise.

I'm somewhat surprised that we aren't given more credit in view of the absolute crap served up by most other clubs over the last few weeks. We play an incredible brand of football which is both hard and skilful, not the slog garbage that's been served up by other teams. Who wants to see 4 or 5 goals kicked between two teams in a half of football, if you do go to the soccer. No one wants to stick their neck out and call it how it is because they've been burnt before by us, but eventually they will have to, and to be quite honest I couldn't give a rat's about any of the midget brains in the media.

If you have the time and inclination, it's worth a look at the Crows board on BigFooty, my son sent me a few snippets through last night, it goes from Before the game - We have a few outs but we'll smash these frauds - They are downhill Skiers Then after the game - The umpires are to blame - They had a midfield full of Faux tough guys - We fielded our B team - That free to ANB against Milerra should have been a push in the back to him - Jesse's handball in the first for a goal was a throw - It is a Vic conspiracy to push us to a flag - The Crows are so bad they made a dud like ANB look good It just goes on and last night there were 75 pages of the tripe.

I get the feeling that Lewis is playing much better at the moment and maybe it's because he senses something special going on here, Bet he'd love so snare another flag, wouldn't that be the way to finish off a career, two flags in your last two years. That would give him one more than the 5 Dermie likes to brag about.

Did you go on one of those 24 countries in 24 days tours, is that really all you saw in Paris?

Have to agree with that, I've spent a lot of time in Paris and if it wasn't for the Dees I'd live there, it is a wonderful city. I've stood in plenty of Dog [censored] over the years in Melbourne but never in Paris. And as you would know, not all french are Parisians.

They did target him, they kept kicking the ball to him.

ANB is so important to our structure, he bobs up everywhere and is involved in so many plays that result in scores or forward 50 entries. He was very good today. How good will Fritsch be when he’s got 50 games under his belt, he is just such a good user of the ball and rarely makes a mistake. Best Melbourne side I’ve seen in 50 plus years of watching, the first time since 64 that I really believe we are good enough to win a flag. We’ve had better players but not a better team.

I think he got his weeks mixed up, it was this week we beat up on a VFL team.

I was being sarcastic, I'm a big fan of Weid, read my post again

He may not necessarily be groomed as a ruckman, chances are he will, but today you see players that size playing key position, Daniher is nearly the same height, even Paul Salmon was 6'6" tall and played at full forward. Forward/Ruck may be his ideal position, then he'd be competing with Weid.

Find a talented junior and put him in to another sport for a few years and grab him free of charge, sounds like a Swans Academy player.

You obviously don't read Demonland too closely, don't you know that Weid is barely VFL, let alone AFL standard. He's not really injured he's been left out because of form and to save him embarrassment they've faked an injury. Etc.......

It looks like pick one in the 2008 draft has finally paid off.

1. Yes it is 2. Yes they will

Gee, not so long back there were (quite) a few on here that didn’t want to see him get another game, let alone another contract. Some pounded him mercilessly, you there, Picket and then say they got it wrong, yes you did.

No, I think you are missing the point, that's exactly what has happened, perhaps you should read through this thread again. He was 19 last year and didn't dominate, well howdy doody, what did you expect, he's had a taste of what's required and now he knows what to do when he gets back in the side. Get off his back and just learn to be happy that we have a team that's good enough to allow him to develop before he gets thrown to the wolves.

Exactly, he's 20 and hasn't shown the talent yet to win a game off his own boot. Who cares about all his injuries and interrupted pre seasons, we want stars, nothing less will do. The season, for us, hasn't started yet and we have a side that appears capable of playing finals football this year but who cares about that, let's rip in to a kid who hasn't been given the chance to prove himself. Unbelievable.

Didn't Richmond change their mindset by Mindfulness and Meditation, they have been considered as a club that lacks Mental toughness in the past so wouldn't you think that they would have been clamouring for this type of program? High Altitude and other programs are probably good for some but not all, the Richmond players embraced their Mindfulness program and it did them no harm, you don't always need to belt players over the head with a brick to prove how tough they are.

You'll be going for this, I'd imagine. So, what if we win the flag, what will you have to offer up then. Is Caro your mum?

You left this bit out, most of our players did this last year, so why the need to send them again? Wilson saw how we played against them last year and we were on top until we got some injuries to key players, don't be fooled by her, she would do anything to destabilise us. Expect more negativity about us from her. Soft? How many other teams have completed this course? generally Bellamy only sends first-year players or older recruits new to the Storm on the camp.

Correct, what we need to know is how Richmond won a flag without doing the camp and why Hardwick didn't deem it necessary for his players? It was a stupid idea in the first place and to do it again was even more stupid. Rugby players are totally different to AFL players and if Bellamy feels it is right for his players that's ok, they are different body shapes to our guys and what suits one code doesn't necessarily suit another. The real storey should have been written last year as to why we did such a stupid thing and came out of it with two injured players.

It appears that the boys call him Frittata, that may have been mentioned before, or not.