Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Well, we certainly shat all over the Cats in the first quarter and most of the rest of the game.

Loved the sight of us standing arms linked as a tight knit group during the anthem before Friday's game. http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-09-10/in-pictures-melbourne-v-geelong If I recall correctly, Geelong by contrast stood spaced a bit apart, arms by their sides without contacting each other. I looked at it at the time and thought that body language really told a story and so it played out with the pressure we applied and how hard we worked for each other as a team. This kind of comradery is so important to sucess, can't just be manufactured and turned on at will and I'm hoping it gives us some extra edge going forward this finals series and beyond.

I thought Gus was pretty good first quarter. Has such good connection with Maxy and I think he has become a big part of us winning so many clearances in general, but that was a key part of that first quarter. Also seem to recall hI'm providing some pretty good run through the guts, but I don't recall specificly which quarter.

Without checking the record books, I think Nev and Hibbard are getting on a bit in years as well, so positions in the backline will open up over time (Jones in future seasons also). The other thing is that apart from Hunt, Lever and Smith, we have had a pretty reasonable season injury wise for backline players. Hunt has wepons that are rare to come by. Interesting to see North dump Hartung, but I think Hunt also has excellent defensive intent and execution, which I understand were Hartung's shortcomings. I think the reality is that players often take a number of years to fully develop and play their best footy, but many on here seem to think that if they haven't made it in their first 2 or 3 sesons, they will never make it. Similarly, I love it how some will claim players to have inherent deficiencies that will prevent them from keeping a spot on a list in the long run. Many here put Frost and to some extent Harmes in that category.

Quite liked Whately as a match caller on the ABC. Use to like him on 360, but must admit, he has been grating of late (I really only watch 360 for Jordan Lewis on Tuesday's these days). Give Whately his due credit though - he's been saying for weeks now that he'd love to see what Jack Viney could do in a final and thankfully he was right on the money with that one.

Agree. He has always had most of the wepons and has been steadily increasing his midfield time, duration and consistency of output over the last few years. A few of the games over the journey that really stick out for me where he had a big impact are 2015 Vs Hawthorn, 2016 Vs Gold Coast at Metricon, 2017 Vs Gold Coast at Darwin. In each of these games he demonstrated his characterisic ability to break tackles and break lines, hit up quality inside 50s and hit the score board. Sorry, but those who thought he was fringe or wouldn't make it must have been watching a different game. All this from a guy off the rookie list. What a great example of quality recruiting and development.

Jessy is a gun, just about to come into his prime in a team well and truly on the way up. After coming out of contract a few years back when we were ordanary, he signed a pretty decient medium term contract with us. As far as I'm concerned he is one of ours and no MFC supporter should be speculating over his future at another club. Can someone close down this thread? It really doesn't deserve any oxygen.

Some were saying he was past it a few months back and whilst he is no longer our most dominant mid (too much competition), I think Jonesy's last month has been awsome. Just keeps going about it in a tough, uncompromising, workman like manner and has been bobbing up and ramming home some important goals. Recon guys like Harmes, Brayshaw and Olivet walk taller with him around.

Agree 100%. What really peeves me off it that this was all totally obvious from the moment that FA was introduced, so what are we paying these glorified half wits like Dil McWhatshisface all the millions for.

We were within a few kicks of finishing in 4th place and had the third best %. We beat the second placed team on their home turf and then smashed a team in form and on a roll - That's not falling in. Or alternately, two or three weeks out everyone from Collingwood down was at risk of not making finals (like Port didn't), so I guess most of the finalists just fell in. West Coast last year are probably a decient example of a team that fell into finals.

If I recall correctly Deledio was traded and not FA. Still even with trading players, the top teams seem to have more currency. My memory fails me as to how Bergoin and McAvoy were viewed at the time, but they were probably the other two big player movements that kept a strong Hawthorn in the hunt...possibly others as well, but they are the ones that stick out. Granted they were trades and I forget what was received in return, but it does all feed into the problem with the power imballance between weak and strong teams. ...of course now that the MFC is embarking on an era of strength, I'm in no hurry for them to fix it, ass long as we can actually out manouver the other top teams like Richmond, Collingwood, West Coast etc.

I wonder if beard has the same effect as blond or red for attracting Brownlow votes?

He has always show glimpses of doing the things he has done over the last few games, but would only do it in a few passages of play and would fade in and out of games. He's now doing it for whole games and week in, week out. I get the feeling that the difference is that Harmes along many in that similar stage are now have developed strong mature bodies and the confidence and understanding/coheasion with their team mates to fully utilize it. On the whole, we really looked so much more physical and agressive at the ball and man than GWS yesterday, a team that I think we are at a similar development stage at. The contested ball stats for the season also back this up. Hoping that it is a sign we will be in a position to bully and dominate most of the rest of the comp in the years ahead.

16th yes, 16th I get the point. We are also 1st in the competition for scoring . I say that again 1st and have the 2nd best percentage in the competition, so I think some of it comes down to game style and a deliberate decision that we will allow more scoring against us than some teams, to enable a more attacking game style. Clearly it's all about ballance and the stat I really care about is the wins Vs losses columns, which admittedly has taken a bit of a pounding over the past few weeks. To suggest that we are no good one on one is flawed thinking though when more than ever, it's a team game. I actually think the area of our game which has lost us the past two games particularly is the inability to make the most of our scoring opportunities, but that's a whole other discussion. We are not that far off the pace at the moment, but we do need to get back onto the winners list and start racking up the four points. Yes tightening up and few things defensively will help that, but it's no where near and dire as is being made out to be there case by some at the moment.

You don't rate Jetta or Hibbard? Say what you will about his lack of pace, but Lewis is pretty decient one on one as well. Salem is hard as nails an always brings tackle pressure. Oscar had a brilliant start to the season, but has obviously gone to [censored].

Agreed. Bar that one game where we had a complete brain fade, if you look at the respective sides played, won Vs lost and the ladder, I think we are going at least as well as Hawthorn. Yet they keep getting talked up as a strong finals bound contender and us a good chance of missing out again. I guess it's reasonable from an outsiders perspective when you look at the recient history of the teams over the past 10 years, but hoping we prove them wrong, that we keep improving and they have peaked this year and start dropping off. Can't stand those Hawthorn f#! $ers, so pussed with the way we lost to them.

On the flip side it was refeshing listening to our own Daisy Pearce on the ABC's call of the Lions V Dogs last night. Some great special comments. I particularly liked one she made after Hipwood missed a fairly elementy set shot: "Do you think a haircut would help?" lol Gold - telling it like it is!

Puss off BT for starters. Wheatley is a moron - he has nothing on BT.

I know what you are saying, but: a) I really don't mind if the media and rest of the footy world underrates us, so long as we keep improving and winning (when they will inevitably and regrettably jump on the band wagon); b) Some of our lapses within games still righty cause the objective observer to question the MFC's present capability to be a finals side. Until we consistently put together convincing four quarter efforts against all commers, I think many will have trouble having any confidence in us - refer point a).

Yes, the over [censored] zealous auto censor.

Sorry, I am going to sick my neck out a bit and compare him a bit with the asertion that at this point I think he uses the ball better for is than Lever does. It's actually a bit more of a statement of non confidence in Lever at presemt as much as anything. Where I think Oscar makes sound, safe decisions and generally passes within his capability with good execution, I think Lever is the complete opposite and I would go as far as to say that I think Lever is the worst ball user in our backline right now. Whether it's because he is uncertain of our system of ball movement and his teammates positioning and that he will get rapidly better once he finds his feet more, I couldn't say, because I didn't take much notice of him at Adelaide, but right now, I recon his ball use for us is rubbish.

Well the boot studder and the orange boy have also resigned in disgust, so must be something to this suposed rumor.

Hence my comment "from the limited exposure I've had to him)" i.e. O'Brian. But O'Brien wasn't even clucking his grabs when we played the 2016 (granted it was a shiity wet game). Also I get how the mode game needs pretty reasonable mobility (which Weid actually seems to have in spades for a guy his size), but I really still think you want your key forwards taking a good contested mark, otherwise you would just have a team of Jeff Garlets. Think you are missing my main point about big guys typically taking longer.

Have great faith in Pedo, he crunches packs like few of our other players do. I actually think he is a better pack mark than Hogan at this stage. Still I get your point about him seeming to perform better when given ruck duties. In this regard, I think the team should actually be looking to use that to best effect in the circumstances. I see a huge potential for Gawn to be targeted by opposition rucks this year, so I think it would be more than handy for Pedo to come in and give Gawn a bit of a chop out and take some of the pressure off him at times. Will keep the oppositions resting ruck more honest and possibly also mean that they will need to keep their main ruck on Pedo at times. Gawn can be pretty handy resting and drifting into the forwardline in his own right.

I've certainly been critical of the club playing the Weid over other players at times last year, when I didn't see him as being anything like ready and it costing us games. Still think we would have beaten Geelong and Richmond last year if Pedersen had played instead of the Weid. That said, it's more a criticism of our coaching and selection than anything directed at Weiderman so much. Like most big guys, I think this guy needs time to develop and establish his game. Tom Hawkins is the classic, but the more recient example I can think of is Tim O'Brian for Hawthorn. When we played Hawthorn for the first time in 2016, I thought O'Brain looked like a passenger in their side, failing to make much of an impact (ironically, asides from one late goal which helped sink us that day), but watching him last year, I think he started to look much more imposing as a player and gave me the impression (from the limited exposure I've had to him) that he looked like he might have a good future as an AFL player. O'Brain is 3 years older and longer in the system than Weid. If we can pick up guys with gammy hamstrings from GWS and keep them on our list for a few years on the basis of potential, then I think it's well worth continued perseverance and patience with the Weid.