Wiseblood

The first 5-10 minutes will be big - if we kick a few then it's game on, if they jag a couple then you could argue it's game over. Let's hope we have adjusted at half time and we can lift.

Exactly. There has been an air of arrogance about our performance so far that is totally unwarranted. We are playing like we did in the first half against the Bombers, except this time the opposition have the players who will make you pay for it.

Ignore him, dazzle. He only shows up these days in the gameday thread to try and troll other posters here with comments like that. He doesn't actually add anything of value, and in fact I'd wager he isn't actually a Melbourne supporter at all.

It was Vince. As soon as he went for it I hung my head and refused to watch as I knew what was going to happen. Bugg did it earlier in the term when he won a ball, looked inside and literally kicked it to two Hawks players.

You could argue that our forward line as a whole is not putting on the pressure - Hannan, Trac, Garlett etc. are not exactly giving us much on the defensive end so far. The bonus is we have a half to turn it around, if we can.

We are winning the clearances 21-11, have had 29 more touches and have generally been first to the footy despite not having a proper ruckman. The problem is that we are handpass happy due to their pressure. They have had 40 odd more kicks than us, even though we have had more of the footy. We need to put the pressure back on them and turn that ledger around if we want to have a chance of getting back in to the game.

Even for someone as optimistic as myself, that was an absolutely disgusting half of footy. Poor second efforts, bad decision making and turnovers all over the joint. The Hawks apply the pressure, wait for the turnover and then smash us on the rebound. It's as regular as clock work. Don't even get me started on how poor our usage is going forward, Watts and Hogan don't stand a chance. How we are only 5 goals down is a minor miracle and we will need to do some serious soul searching at half time to get ourselves back in the contest. The only bonus is that they are already one down on the bench if we can hang around for long enough.

A game like this, with a small time developer, was always going to end in tears. Games like FIFA and NBA 2K set the bar high and it will always be out of reach for a game like this. I wish they would fund a game that was similar to Football Manager instead. A robust management mode including drafts, trades, gameplan etc would be sensational. I know we've had them before but they've always been rather basic. It looks like I'll give this one a miss for the time being, though. The plethora of bugs and obvious mistakes would annoy me too much.

He'll square up on Rioli when he kicks the sealer late in the second quarter after a 25 possession first half.

For some reason this makes me nervous...

Agree with @Clint Bizkit that the Hawks won't be a pushover, and I highly doubt they'll allow a side to pull down their pants again like the Saints did last week. They will come out all guns blazing and it will be up to our side to match it. On the flip side, I have faith in this side that they can get the job done. If they turn up to play and do it all day then we'll be okay. If not, then the Hawks could well beat us.

Fair enough mate. I won't argue with that, I'm just holding out some hope that he can be a serviceable foot soldier in our back six over the coming years.

Calling him a dud pick after 6 games is a little short sighted, mate. After a year out of the game he deserves a little time. If that time has to spent at Casey then so be it, but to write him off already doesn't make sense. And yes, we all make mistakes. No doubt about it. But to say Goody was already playing favourites WAS a little silly. Now that we have guys like Hibberd and Lewis both playing in the same side makes Melksham more expendable, not to mention that others like Wagner are fit again and putting pressure on him. Over the past 6 weeks he didn't have many other options at his disposal and, now that he does, he made the right decision in dropping him.

Melksham is out is fair, but it makes others look silly for entertaining the thought that Goodwin would play favourites. I reckon Tyson and Salem are the locks on the bench, while ANB and O Mac would be nervous. I don't think Kent plays, so it's 2 of Wagner, Stretch, Oscar and ANB. Who that ends up being is anybodies guess.

I'll wait for the reviews on this one. If it's at least decent then I'll get it. If it's a train wreck then I'll steer well clear.

You could well be right about that. Kent can't rest on his pace and rangy left foot kick to get him a game anymore. Goodwin set the precedent with Watts - he took the hard line approach and it's paying dividends.

Possibly, but then Mitch Hannan came in and kicked a couple in his first game for the club, so it's not impossible for him to do. He may need a little more time but he's played two games and, if memory serves me correctly, he hasn't troubled the scorers at all. That's not great for a small forward. As I said, he may be asked to play more defensively than someone like Garlett, but then Jeffy can lay some ripping tackles and still kick a few goals (although admittedly he plays much closer to home than JKH does). You know me well enough by now LH to know that I want all players to succeed and I'd like to think I don't get stuck into any of them, but I do feel as though JKH needs to add some goals to his game to give himself a chance of keeping his spot longer term. I'm a Kent fan for sure, but he deserved to get dropped and his form at Casey doesn't necessarily get me excited. But I think he's a better prospect long term than JKH is.

Me too, OD. He said he was happy with his pressure, not that he was happy with him not scoring goals. He isn't going to publicly have a crack at someone like JKH who has worked his backside off to get back from injury. Behind closed doors Goodwin may well be happy with his output, but to me that seems strange. A small forward needs to hit the scoreboard and he just isn't doing that. Not to mention the myriad of fumbles as well, but hopefully that improves over time with more confidence.

I still think Kent has it in him, and it may be that the FD are really putting it on him to do even more defensively. He is coming off an interrupted pre-season so I'm willing to cut him a little slack. He's been able to do it in the past, but he may just be a few paces off at where he wants to be at the minute.

It seems to be a small, missing ingredient to our forward line at the minute. Jeffy does both of these really well at the minute, and we need that other small forward to do the same. Kent was good offensively, JKH is good (supposedly) defensively, but neither have been able to do both. It will be great when one of them does.

The only thing I would disagree with there Dappa is that, as a small forward who plays a large percentage of the game forward of centre, you need to hit the scoreboard. Hannan and Jeffy both did so, with Hannah scoring a few opportunistic ones, while we also got good service out of Watts and Petracca. I don't know the exact role that JKH was given (none of us do), but to me he still needs to put pressure on both his man AND the scoreboard. I agree that we have a functioning forward line right now, which is close to a miracle without our best forward, but I think JKH lets us down in too many areas to be considered a regular in our side. He may well get another week, but the pressure is on. Kennedy and Kent are waiting in the wings and they may take his spot for good if he doesn't life his game from here.

Let's not miss the point re: JKH. Pressure acts are fine, but he is in the side as a small forward, and they are required to hit the scoreboard. He hasn't done that in the 2 games he has played. To cement a spot in the side he will need to do both, like Garlett has been doing. Kent was dropped for doing the opposite from two games (hit the scoreboard but didn't put on enough forward pressure), and on that basis JKH deserves to be dropped for doing the opposite. His pressure might be fine but he is bringing little else to the table.

I wouldn't go that far. We're missing Gawn, Spencer, Hogan and T. Smith (third tall forward) and we went alright on the weekend. There is certainly room for improvement, but it's not as bad as some may make out. As for Sam Reid, I'm torn. If he came for free then I'd be happy to take him on, although if there is a fight for his services then that may push his price up higher in terms of dollars. His injury history doesn't exactly fill me with confidence though, and I could see us recruiting him and then having him go down with injuries early on.

With clubs like the Swans and Hawks languishing down the bottom of the ladder there is a chance we might be able to pick up a handy player on the cheap. Those clubs may look to refresh their lists and we could possibly be the beneficiaries of this. Who are those players? I have no idea, but I have no doubt the club will be monitoring the situation closely.

No he wasn't. Goodwin was asked about our small forwards and getting the right mix and he mentioned many of them. He admitted that JKH didn't get much of the ball but was happy with his pressure. He did not single him out at all. You're a liar.