Wiseblood

Your fascination with his efforts on Friday night is interesting. It's like you're basing your entire feelings around Gaff on one game. His year has been stellar outside of that game and he has shown, numerous times, that he can perform when the heat is on. With so many in and under types he would complement our midfield group superbly. Billy Stretch has been on our list for years now and, if anything, his contributions have gone backwards. He doesn't have the footy IQ or running capacity to be on a level like Gaff's. I'd love for him to do it, but on the output I've seen I highly doubt it will come to fruition.

So why is the club interested in Gaff if he is nothing more than an accumulator, Saty? Seems like you know more than the club. Again.

With all due respect, we aren't turning over close to a third of our list now.. We did that in the early Roos days when we had to because our depth was non-existant and we had only a few decent players on the list. That's changed now. There is absolutely no chance we not only delist 6 players but trade six as well. It's not good for the stability of our list and we aren't going to top up with lots of kids at this stage. It just won't happen.

Bottom 4. Not big 4.

So how is Pert going to help us win games? That's what we pay Goodwin for.

You could probably make a call on a couple right now, but with half a season still to go I don't think anything is certain at the minute. If there are a few injuries (god forbid!) then someone might get a run and show themselves to be quality depth worth another year on the list. I've seen a few wanting to delist both King and Filipovic, but I doubt we will delist both. Especially if we don't recontract Pedersen, which is highly likely, at the end of the season. King has had more time on the list than Filipovic has, so you would assume that if they feel they have gotten as far as they can with King then he might be the one to the get the flick. The ones who will get a new contract are obvious. Jetta, Harmes, O Mac and Gus will get new deals and are crucial to the side going forward. The rest? That's anybodies guess right now.

You've got to love a bitter Mick Malthouse taking pot shots at Pert already, claiming they never really 'got along', although you would believe that Pert wouldn't be the first or the last person not to get along with angry Mick.

Amen to that, LH. Gary Pert is no Paul McNamee.

I think, on the face of it, that it's a terrific appointment. If the AFL and Peter Jackson are happy with it and endorse it, then I can't see a problem with it. The bloke knows the game, knows how to be a CEO and has a good track record of doing good things. Outside of rumours ad rumblings, which we have no idea how true they are, this seems like a great move for the club.

Yes, I should know better, but sometimes I can't help myself. It just seemed like such a random attack on a bloke who gave his all for the club. Maybe he can regale us with a 'BEST INJURY PRONE 22' to make it all better... ?

I think I'll use this as a reminder to never read your contributions again. You clearly know bugger all about football and your attack on a bloke who, before injuries and the burden of the captaincy at a young age, was destined to be an absolute star of the competition, is nothing less than a disgrace.

It's the one thing that sets him apart. His field kicking is up and down (sometimes he can hit a 60 metre pass, other times miss one 20 metres away) but his tackling pressure (especially against North this year) can be good and he can provide some real pace through half forward. The FD clearly rate him as he keeps getting chances, it's just every time he gets one he gets himself injured (shoulder last year against Adelaide, hammy this year against the Tigers). I agree that I think he still has a role to play for the club, and I think he can give us more than Bugg IF he can keep himself fit. If he broke down again before the end of the year then I'd give Buggy another year instead.

If we had been struggling a little, or had more injuries, then I think he would have been in line for some game time. As it stands we've been in good form and had minimal injuries, so he's probably a little unlucky to miss out to this point. I'd like to see him get a run in the coming weeks as, from all reports, he really has something to offer up forward with his pace, skills and footy nous.

Also, he has played just 33 games over the last 3 and a half seasons, indicating that form and his run with injuries have hampered his ability to stay in the side and make an impact. As you say @Lucifer's Hero, a club in the bottom four might take a punt on him, but in the grand scheme of things I think we have more important players to retain and he may be squeezed out anyway. It's a shame as the bloke does have some talent, but he hasn't harnessed it enough or consistently enough to keep his spot in the side.

Sam Edmund in the HUN is reporting that Dean Kent may look for more opportunities elsewhere next season as he wants more midfield minutes, something he is not guaranteed to get with us. Here is a little bit of what he (Edmund) had to say about it: DEAN Kent could leave Melbourne in search of greater opportunity. Kent remains sidelined with a hamstring injury suffered in the Round 5 loss to Richmond, but is understood to want more midfield responsibility ... It's understood Kent would prefer to stay at Melbourne, but is unlikely to get a deal to his liking at the Demons and is assessing his options. Thoughts? I think he has something to offer, but he is far too injury prone and I don't think he will get the midfield minutes he desires with us.

This is a needless post. I've got no problem with anybody still 'loving' Jack Watts - they are well within their rights to do so. Seeing Watts dropped is not an opportunity to sink the boots in, but a chance to reflect on the trade and understand that for us it was the right decision going forward. Nothing more than that.

All I get from this is, as you say, the vindication that the club made the right decision. Even in a new environment, in a new state, he is still doing the same things that frustrated us for so many years. There have been flashes of brilliance but too much of the inconsistency that has plagued his career. It also means he may not be playing the following Friday night against us.

There's nothing 'apparently' about it. His leadership at the club, from what I've heard, has been excellent since the day he arrived. He's never been quick so why we're all up in arms about him being slow is baffling. He hits way way way more targets than he misses (and plenty at our club are prone to horrible turnovers) and his discipline this season has been good. DS has just decided yesterday that he needs someone to sink the boots into. Lewis seems to be his man. He's done this before though where he huffs and puffs and stomps his feet (Tom McDonald) and has been made to look silly, so there's no reason why it won't happen again.

Don't argue it. Just be thankful that Tom McDonald hadn't had enough of us.

We have seen how we go with these two, and it hasn't been any better. Hunt has more upside and better games in the bank, but he's hardly banging the door down at Casey.

Perhaps said poster has learned from his lessons and has decided to just pot older blokes who are closer to the end, thus leaving him less room to look a little silly?

I was waiting to see who would drop their bundle the hardest. Well done, DeeSpencer. You've won by the length of the Flemington Straight.

Paging @stevethemanjordan The bloke is definitely in a rut. Hasn't been the same player since his finger injury. He should be past that by now, though. I know for a fact that McCartney loves him, but also acknowledges that he frustrates the coaches because he doesn't do the hard things often enough. Will do the flashy thing, but sometimes won't run hard enough to get to position or run hard defensively. He needs to build his tank and improve this if he wants to be a midfielder.

He's soft, but he's also someone who I believe they have totally misused this season. He could be a weapon for them through the midfield, but either through poor fitness or an unwillingness to play him there, he's languishing in their dysfunctional forward line. I don't think I'd be interested in him, but he's just the sort of player who could leave and dominate elsewhere.

You're right, but at the end of the day you can't fit everyone in. The only reason the Viney omission annoys me is that he has clearly been a gun player for years now. He hasn't popped up this year, or only had one good season. He's been excellent for a long period of time. You could argue McDonald has as well. Petracca has been less consistent so I could understand him missing out. Regardless, we all know that we have some serious talent in the Under 25 bracket who are going to drive us forward to success for years to come!