titan_uranus

Like Hannabal, I'm not a fan, but I'm happy that Cox didn't run rampant yesterday, and I'd say at least part of that should be attributed to PJ. Were you listening to 3AW/6PR, because they're very biased. SEN didn't sound biased at all. Gossage was calling and he was very positive towards us.

Bartram - a great effort Bate - a little better Bennell - looks a star Bruce - better up forward Davey - played well again Dunn - another useless performance Frawley - his absence hurt Grimes - level-headed performance Johnson - never gave up Jones - career best game Maric - way, way better Martin - not a ruckman McDonald - saved by captaincy? McLean - he's worrying me Miller - looked quite dangerous Moloney - strong and tough Morton - signs of improvement Petterd - better up ground Rivers - gonna miss him Robertson - just one quarter Sylvia - an OK performance Warnock - did job well

Bennell looks a future star, and yes Dappa, I see the McLeod in him. Love his pace and his willingness to take the ball and run. Grimes looks far more mature than a second gamer.

That was my first thought too. With a few defenders out, this is a good time for McNamara to come in.

6 - Jones 5 - Morton 4 - Miller 3 - PJ 2 - Bruce 1 - Moloney Really? I didn't think so, I thought he improved on last week. Still not great, but I wouldn't call him WOG.

I feel the same way. When our crowds are low, it's: 'where are the Melbourne supporters'. When North has trouble pulling crowds, it's: 'oh, poor North, they need help'. Not that I want to see them die, but they really should get the same treatment from the media that we got after the Adelaide match, and that we will get after the Freo, WCE and Port matches this year.

Was it today? If so, does anyone know what happened?

I assume you're refering to Lloyd, McVeigh and Fletcher(?). They seemed to cope fine last night without two of them. And I would argue that Stanton is in front of Fletcher now.

There's more to it than just that (though it would be a pretty decent start). For starters, there's the other 17 players. Ruck? Midfield support? Then there's the game plan. You're right in that getting Butcher and Scully to the club would improve our chances of success over the next 5 years. But I completely disagree with those who claim that if we don't get those two this year, we will have no chance at all. Can't see that happening M2W. I wouldn't rule out a Spencer/Meesen ruck combination by 2012.

Two sheds was responding to people like Digga who make ridiculous claims like this: Its simple, if we win over there its going to dim our chances of winning of getting a flag. No more than 4 wins. If we don't get picks 1 and 2 we will not win a flag. It's stupid and OTT to suggest that our chances of rebuilding will be shot if we don't get picks 1 and 2. Yes, it would help, but two sheds rightly pointed out that it isn't the be all and end all of this club.

You obviously don't watch a lot of Essendon, do you? Last night their spine was Neagle, Lloyd, Ryder, Pears and Hooker. Lloyd was close to best on ground, the rest are all long-term young prospects. They beat Hawthorn by 7 goals with two 'senior' players in their side (Lloyd and McPhee). Essendon has been out of the finals since 2004. That's 4 years of top-10 drafting. They're entitled to be in front of us at this point, and they should be too.

No. Silly gimmick.

Well, I'll be listening for, rather than watching, but anyway; Bate - must have an influence this week. Lucky to be playing, needs to justify the selectors' faith Dunn - see Bate Martin - I'll be very interested to see how this all plays out. Maric - hopefully he won't be so nervous this week and won't be rushing all his disposals

Brilliantly put two sheds. Great post, one of the best for a long time.

Very unhappy with the extended bench. Bate and Dunn should have been shoo-ins. I'd love it if it happened, but I think we all know that's impossible. I'd just be happy if Bate kicked 2 goals, and actually had an influence on the game. Anyway, I think the bench will be Jones, Maric, Bennell and Grimes. My reasoning is that they wouldn't have named Grimes if he wasn't fit to play. Newton doesn't deserve a recall until he shows consistency at Casey.

31,556

Disappointing for both Aussie and Meesen, more so Meesen. I would think/hope that he's done enough to stay next year. Jamar and Johnson are going to have to lift their games in the second half of this year as it's possible that they might be fighting it out for one spot on next year's list. As for Aussie, well, we know what he's capable of, we know he's likely to be in our best 22 once he regains his fitness, and we know he's not going anywhere next year. Never good to have injured players, but let's at least try to look at this one optimistically. As pitmaster said, this gives Maric more time to cement his spot.

Now that Meesen's out: In: McNamara, Cheney, Spencer Out: Dunn, Bate, Meesen

That would be assuming we don't play any rookies, and you'd think Spencer will come into consideration considering our ruck stocks. If it came down to it, Valenti would also be considered too.

Yeah that's what I thought. Boy, that's a pretty lacklustre team.

Change to Dunn and you might well be on the money Steve.

Haha, good summary.

No, there probably weren't. Certainly anyone who saw the Coburg game wouldn't have called for his inclusion.

Me too, though that may be a reflection on PJ's crapness in those first 3 rounds than Spencer's ability. Nonetheless, from what I saw of Spencer I think there's talent there that could well work out for us.

For those who want or believe that Wonaeamirri will return this week, DB's said he won't: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsart...69/default.aspx That article also has this quote from DB about Stef Martin: "We'll just take it week by week with Stef. We just thought on the weekend, we could get another marking player up there, as we weren't quite marking the footy as often," "He's quick and he's 198cm, Stef, so we might look at it (playing him up forward) again, but we're trying to groom him as a backman … he showed a little bit Stef and he had a goal assist to 'Robbo', which was great. "He can ruck as well; he did some ruck work when he was down at 'Sandy' (Sandringham), so he's got some elements that we'd like to expand on for him." Leaves the door open for him to go forward again. But that bit about rucking is interesting. Maybe, if the Meesen rumours are true, we'll see Martin get a go in the ruck this week.