Wiseblood

Actually can't believe the footy is back this Saturday. Feel like it's only been gone for a month. Keen to get a look at a few of the draftees and the young kids while getting through unscathed.

I wouldn't necessarily mind him sticking around if we just missed finals, as we would have shown improvement from 2019, but I could understand why others would want him gone. Finals should be the minimum for us. There always other circumstances which contribute to a club missing finals, so we'll have to wait and see. But I do rate Goodwin and hope he is the man who can lead us to the ultimate glory.

Many premiership coaches have had this happen. Hardwick has been on the chopping block, Thompson was, Clarkson was... there is certainly a theme there. Edit - I'm certainly not saying that is the trajectory for Goodwin, but there is a precedent there, and why I'm happy to give him at least another 12 months in charge to see what he can do. If we miss finals it will be hard to argue for him to continue in the position though.

How? He isn't doing any contact at the moment. Did he bring a coffee cup up to his lips too quickly before the session...?

Yep - it basically talks about how we've earmarked some land next to Richmond station as our potential new home, however it might be hard to do as it isn't that big. It adds that we are determined to find an inner city location, even if it doesn't end up being the one mentioned above. It mentions that there are two other car park areas that we have looked at as well. It doesn't mention other potential spots, although we could apparently build a 'sparkling new facility' at Casey but we aren't keen on that at all. Getting something 'inner city' is what we are strongly pushing for. I hope that made sense!

Maybe, but you would like to think we would have had 4-5 selected if it was after the 2018 season (even though they probably wouldn't have played due to injury). I think it's more reflective of the season we've just had than our recruiting efforts.

If we played mostly Casey players, while giving others a run to get the fitness into their legs, then I'd be happy. Even if it's 5-6 Melbourne players, it could make all the difference.

I'd rather hear from Burgess about May's progress, but it doesn't sound all that bad. It smacks of someone guessing more than anything.

Perfect chance to get some game time and fitness into him. He can play a half this week, three quarters the next etc. Whether that is in the Marsh series or in the games against the Bombers and Kangas, there is time to continue to build his fitness base for the season.

It wouldn't soothe me either, Steve. I can understand why some supporters are finding it hard to get behind this one page of dot points, but I have no doubt the club have a clear plan of how they want to achieve these goals that goes far deeper than what they have shared, and I like the fact that we're aiming high. We are not starting this strategic plan in 2014 when we just wanted to keep our heads above water. We have the capacity to do much, much more and I'm happy to see that we are setting higher goals than we would have 5,6,7 years ago.

Do people really think the club has just done some dot points and have no plan to go with it? I mean, take this for example: You don't think for a second that the club has far more information, direction etc behind closed doors, and that they are just outlining to members and supporters what we want to achieve in the next four years?

I like the high expectations they have. It would be easy to aim low, and some supporters might see some as unachievable, but we've got to aim high. They are targets I think we can manage.

I'd be happy for no Melbourne players to get a gig.

There is going to be some assumptions made here on my part, which would be no different to most on here, but this is how I see it: The bottom four are our only long term injuries at this stage. All four are not best 22. The players above are shorter term injuries, many of whom have done the bulk of pre-season and therefore have a good fitness base under them. Some, like Brayshaw, are still able to do some running and many of the others don't seem that far away from returning. It sounds like players like Gus, Gawn and T Mac aren't actually that far away, and neither is someone like Joel Smith. Steven May might take time, which is a shame, but he is the only best 22 concern. I'd put AVB in there as a best 22 player, but how many of us really expected him to be ready to play? That leaves others like Chandler and Dunkley who are nothing more than depth at present. To me, the injury list looks long, but is not really that bad. We might be short a few through this weekend, but I'd expect most to return for at least one hit out before the real stuff begins.

I think we need a few 'landers on Cameo. I'd pay $5 for Deeluded to talk gibberish for a minute, or even $10 for dazzle to send me a one minute video where he fires up over an ANB clanger.

And will, in turn, somehow secure him another long term contract, which will make the smile even larger.

Scully has been okay for them. He certainly hasn't set the world on fire. And time will tell with Patton. He has spent far more time off the field than on it, so he needs to get his body right long term before he can repay the faith.

There are eight spots up for grabs, not two. It's up to us to claim one of them.

I do love me a good pep.

Sorry mate. I'll never do it again. pTGR.

Nah mate, we need to set the bar really high! When was the last time we were down by 100+ points but came storming back to win in the last five minutes? Goodwin needs to add some miracles to his game plan.

We have two Marsh series games and then two practice matches - one with the Bombers and one with the Kangaroos - to go with that as well. What more do you want?

If you look at our best 22, when everyone is fit (which is an issue on it's own), I don't think we have that many gaps in our side. Our back six could be as good as any on the park, our midfield has improved with the addition of more outside run (a gap we have filled) and our forward line has the capacity to be dangerous, although we're relying on improvement from the likes of Weideman and someone like Pickett popping up as our first choice small forward. I'm interested to see how our skill level goes once the real stuff start as you can't put too much on training, but I don't think we really have that many gaps in our list.

I well and truly stand corrected. ?

If we look at the glass half full, then we can say that we play well on the Eagles home deck and I fancy our chances on the G against the Giants. Glass half empty says... It's Melbourne.