Mel Bourne

Aww hell dawg.... I swore it was around 275 but I googled “How many AFL games has Nathan Jones played?” to be exactly sure. Google tells me 264. I was befuddled but I put my trust in Google. All apologies. Lesson learned. And good news for the co-captain!

For those suggesting he deserves 300 at the club (and he certainly does, however)... If Nathan Jones wants to make 300 games it requires him playing every available game this season and the next, at which he’ll be at 297 games at the end of the 2020 H&A season. We’ll then have to play at least three finals, or else his 300th wouldn’t arrive till 2021. I’d love all this to happen (and having the reason he plays all those games to do with form and not sentimentality), but it’s a big ask...

It might be an idea to get Lockhart and Dunkley into this team, replacing Spargo and Garlett, and getting prepped for a big 2020. Realise Dunkley was recruited as a “versatile inside midfielder”, but we need to test his versatility. It seems a lot of players scouted these days get noticed in the midfield, and then get a forward-education later on.

Srsly though, how is a 19 year-old who made his professional debut last year (and has thus far failed to set the game alight in any tangible sense) considered a leader? I’d love to see him grow as a player (at our club) but how does a word like that get bandied about in this instance?

That’s bizarre. I had him pegged as less “leadership” and more “make-a-wish”.

They often go hand in hand.

Uh....I’m not exactly ignorant to the many aspects of the game that inspire and make for successful teams. Just talking about a thing I saw this morning. However if you were to watch a highlight reel of players backing into packs, sprinting to make a spoil to prevent an easy mark or score against, crashing a pack and putting their body on the line to bring a ball to ground for a teammate, chase down tackles or a player continuing to chase down an opponent when all is lost to apply enough pressure to cause a skill error then you won’t see many clips of our players either. Which is the most unfortunate point I’m trying to make. We may not technically be on the bottom of the ladder but we sure are when it comes to highlight reels, and that speaks to our season and the club right now. Flat, uninspired and uninspiring.

You also get inspired as a supporter of the team seeing moments of skilful brilliance.

The AFL app/site has just put a quite a lengthy compilation of all of the best goals of the season thus far. It was kind of shattering to watch goal after goal with every club being represented (Carlton four times ffs) with an inspired moment in front of the goals except for you know who. About three minutes in we get a little glimpse of Preuss snapping his first goal against the Swans to wholesome reactions from commentators and crowd alike...and that’s it. Five friggin’ minutes and one goal from the Dees. It’s this kind of stuff that brings back that old feeling. The forgotten ones. The non-contenders. The....f$&@ing participants of the Melbourne Football Club. We need a spearhead. Desperately.

What happened to our rich tradition of keeping an effective jackaninny parked around the goal square (Mark Jackson, Allen Jakovich, Russell Robertson)? Bring back the lairiser. Secure the next handstander. Summon our next goal kicking goose.

Despite this rock solid analogy, a player returning to their original club in an official (or even unofficial) role happens regularly in AFL.

I’m going to buck the trend here and say that I’m pretty nonplussed about this. He was a fantastic player for Hawthorn and an average player for the Demons. And though he’s influence behind the scenes may have helped inspire the club to new levels of greatness, that greatness culminated in an appearance in a preliminary final in which he....well you remember. And I remember all the posts here about it too. Having said that, he seems like a nice fella and I wish him well As for folks suggesting he may stay on at the club in some form or another - serious question - is he not welcome at the club he won four premierships at?

Give the big lad a chance to develop. Like many posters have pointed out, he’s got access to the best player in the league for what he’s aspiring to become.

That shoulder hit he took against the Swans the week before looked nasty AF. Then they put him in the team the following week, in a position where it’s more crucial than other positions to lift your arms above the chest, despite the fact he obviously couldn’t. Any criticism of his performance against the Saints should heavily factor this in.

Too subtle, Chook.

Lever said himself that he couldn’t run and took himself off the track before that match so ??‍♂️

C'mon. He's gonna make mistakes, especially when he's run up and down an oval all night in that kinda heat. Also took some pretty nasty hits leading right up to that dropped mark. The guy is our beacon in some very dark weather right now.

Goodwin should at least fake a really fed up and disappointed persona at the press conference. He can apologise to the team straight after.

Has Goodwin ever given them a spray?

&*^k off mate. Nah just kidding. We're a heavily depleted team with some notable under-performers on the ground, and when we have Lever, Melksham, May, Jetta and Tom MacDonald back in the team we'll enjoy a glimpse into a much more enjoyable next season. (What, you mean some of you were still holding hope for this one?)

Nathan Jones is going to win this for us.

Yeah for God's sake I am absolutely correct about Oscar MacDonald.

He's been average. With all the good work, there are still some pretty basic and recurring problems (such as losing sight of his player at crucial moments). I'm nowhere near as harsh on him as other people are here, but with the players coming in it's a legitimate question to ask.

A lot of players that were copping early flak from you lot, have done some redeemable things. All except one. Are we watching Omac’s last game tonight?

Zero apparently