Dante

Tom's a pretty big guy and is obviously as fit as anyone on the list, but his core strength seems to be poor. I've seen him lose position, get pushed out of the way and fall over in the contest, too many times for it to be just bad luck and its not always by gorilla forwards, he gets out bodied by much smaller players If Tom wants the big bucks he needs to play like a big defender not some medium back who gets caught out against the bigger forwards.

It's all relative isn't it, was Hogan in the top ten, Wagner, Harmes, Garlett, Frost, Oscar or Hunt? How did you rate your old mate Dawes and Kent, Vanders didn't exactly set the World on fire. Do you think Trenners was better than all of them, probably, was he as good as Billy or Nev, maybe, as I said it's all relative.

More likely they head off to the Gold Coast for some Ice.

Actually I think we usually have a bigger percentage of members turn up than they do, they have more supporters there, but when you consider they have nearly twice the membership we have, our turnout is pretty good.

Bernie skates on the edge and he's been close on a few occasions this year, but that isn't a bad thing, never a backward step.

There were a number of players that played in that game that were average OD and in my opinion Jack wasn't one of them, he did a good job, in his first game for two years and will get better. I recall his first year and at that time I thought we had a good one on our hands and if he can find that form again, we will. Get behind him OD, you never know he may surprise you.

Hopefully Grimes will get a look in during the second half of the season, at least to see if he has any chance of a new contract, we owe him that much.

Rioli and Breust aren't on our list so they won't be available for us next week. I thought that Harmes was a bit off yesterday and the previous week and perhaps needs a bit of time at Casey to reboot. I'm a fan of Harmes but he looks like he needs to understand that his position in the side depends on how he plays.

VFL: @CaseyScorpions full time statistics: Disposals: Kennedy 30, Newton 27, White 24, Grimes 24, Neal-Bullen 23

Jack will need a few games to get used to the pace of the game and our game plan, remember when he last played we didn't have one. He was a bit slow to react today but that's to be expected, I would imagine he was a bit nervous. He will be ok and will get better.

That's one area that needs looking at and the other is throwing the ball instead of hand balling it, the doggies have mastered it but now other clubs are following suit. Watching the game today and then a couple of quarters of other games when I got home, it is becoming an epidemic, players don't even seem interested in concealing it, they just throw it and know they'll get away with it. it appears that you only get called for it if your opponent has you pinned and you've only got one arm free.

Jack was instrumental in our first two goals today and kicked a couple, but he loses any impact when he plays ruck and if we continue to play Dawes instead of Pedo, we lose in two areas. Dawes cannot mark and won't play ruck, Pedo can mark and seems to be ok with playing ruck. Dawes had little effect on the game today and another marking target up front would have been invaluable. I've tried to refrain from criticising Dawes but his inability to take even the most simple mark today was the final straw for me.

Once we lose control of the ball we lose the game, we simply don't have the players to retrieve it.

Can we stick a tackle, we look insipid, where's the "hard at the ball" side we are supposed to be.

i think OMac shows a bit of promise and given time he will slot in ok. He's got a way to go, but he'll get there.

The best way to stop this is for the coaches to tell their players they will be dropped if they continue to do this, they have control over the players and their actions. The umpires have a split second to evaluate what happened and will always err on the side of caution.

Hawthorn, their supporters, their former smart arz players, now in the media and their smug supporters who, in the main, have never had to put up with bad times. I have a friend who talks of bad times where they didn't win a flag for about 5 years. Add a zero to the end of that and you've got the plight of the Melbourne supporter.

I thought this thread was a joke but it appears you are serious, is that the case? I'm not sure why North keeps him on the list but I wouldn't expect it to last too much longer, I wouldn't trade the boot studder for him and we don't even have one of them any more.

So was mine.

Jordie was having a shot at goal. Actually it would be interesting to see how his straight line speed compares with some of the other midfielders we have, I don't think it helps if you have good speed but can't get to where the ball is. There have been plenty of times I've seen Melbourne players tailing off behind their opponents.

I noticed in the first half he tried to take marks from behind by hooking the ball out with one hand and hopefully completing the mark out the back, or being able to pounce on the ball if it spilled. Unfortunately it spilled at every attempt, but not where he wanted it too so he was beaten to it. He has to try not be so cute and just attempt the mark with both hands. His game in the second half was ok and he he kicked a few goals, the way he does, if we are expecting Jack to be a pack crasher or a really physical player then that's not going to happen, what he is, he is and he may become a bit more physical as time goes by but it probably won't be much more than what he is at the moment. As long as he goes when it's his turn ok, if he doesn't then it's not. Jack has a way of getting away and putting himself in position to mark and goal and this is pretty important if you want to win games, one failed tackle is not as important as 3 goals, they are whet wins games.

My son and I were talking about this on the way home, we both thought you couldn't do a drop kick if you were caught with the ball, as my son said it is technically a free once you get caught and the ball hits the ground. Then there was the free we didn't get, that I mentioned earlier, when a doggies player scooped the ball out of bounds and we didn't get a free for deliberate OOB or incorrect disposal.

i think that Sunday's game shows that we need a fit Spencer, having Max and Spence operating in tandem would have put pressure back on the Bullies with the two of them changing in the forward line. Pedo gives his all, but is largely ineffectual as a ruckman and it's just a holding pattern until Max is ready to come back on. It would give us more flexibility with Hogan able to move around the ground, Pedo can switch from forward to defence if needed and force the opposition to move a tall to defence.

Why do you think that? We were ordinary today, but I can't see where they should have scored anymore than they did, where am I wrong? I thought the margin was about right.

At one point today a Doggies player, double handed, threw the ball out of bounds and neither the throw or the deliberate OOB were paid against him, of course they are slick and quick with the ball, any team would be if they were allowed to throw like it was rugby. We were hesitant today, we fumbled the ball too much, we dropped marks and the players lost faith in their team mates to win the contest, there were so many occasions when a player would leave his man to help out and when the ball came out it was to an unattended opposition player. Wagner played his worst game today and will probably be sent to Casey next week, the mistakes he made were glaring and really obvious. Hunt was ordinary and will probably have a rest next week. Garland was terrible and Dunn would have been better today. Viney has to stop trying to win the game on his own, there were many times today when we got in each others way and they came out with the ball. We are a side trying to get in the Eight, they are a side looking to consolidate a top Four position and it showed today.