Dame Gaga

Sorry, but I think we are all missing the point of this campaign. It is called the Round for Reach. The club has dedicated the match day to raising funds for the Reach Foundation, which has been running programs to support kids affected by bullying for 25 years. Only now the focus is online bullying, an unfortunate reality for our children these days. To donate to Reach, text Reach to 0455 021 021 or visit roundforreach.org.au Jim Stynes will be proud his legacy continues.

Can't believe Reach is now 25 years old. In these times of media and online bullying we need them more than ever before, unfortunately.We also need great, compassionate men like Jim Stynes. Miss him.

How is Hooker right to play after being predicted to miss the first four games of the season? Must have some healing vitamins on hand down at Essendon. Oh, what?

I agree that last year's rise up the ladder and finals appearances have brought more attention and scrutiny onto the club. Expectations are high, especially when the media run stories all summer about how good Melbourne is going to be, how good their young players are etc. I have said elsewhere on this topic this is the worse thing that could have happened to these young men. This stroking of egos does no good for players who must step up and work even harder this year to achieve the desired Premiership. It can become too easy to rest on the laurels of your past achievements and coast along in the same lane. Hunger, burning desire and the aggressive will to win must exist to take the next step. I worry some players are just happy they are playing AFL footy every week and getting paid well for it. Us supporters want to see more. That is why we are so disappointed. We need to see some leadership on the field as well, not meek surrender.

I don't think this is the right way of proving all the tipsters wrong. Apart from Malthouse, of course, who didn't pick Melbourne to make the eight. Who wants to hear his smug ' I told you so ' at the end of the year? Grrrrr...

When the media started printing article upon article about how good Melbourne were, how good their young players were, how they were about to break their Premiership drought, how the new rules would suit the team etc etc, I thought it was the worse thing that could have happened. Footballers should be banned from reading such publicity. I'm sure much of it seeped into their brains and they began to believe it. All of a sudden Melbourne players were in demand to be interviewed like they were the flavour of the month. This mindset can apply to any player, and Petracca is no exception. The majority of them are young boys and not immune to flattery. We used to call it "being full of yourself". The job has not yet been done. There are other teams who are hungry to win a Premiership as well. Melbourne players need to get their hunger and aggression back. What they did last year was great, and admirable, but it is not the time to relax like the hare did and watch the tortoises win the race.

Oliver - champion bounces back Melbourne - must bounce back Umpires - must reread rules

Speaking personally, I was suffering from the heat. Just walking into the MCG was a drain. Football is a Winter sport for goodness sake. Stupid global warming. Then the shock of seeing the players slipping over and dropping the ball, not holding marks etc stunned everyone into silence. Agree the supporters and the cheer squad were quiet overall. Perhaps they were busy slurping Zooper Doopers.

Petracca- Light and Easy (Needs to be on it.)

No one knows and neither does Fremantle. Doesn't their song go like this? " Heave ho, heave ho, round and round we go, where we stop we do know". At least that's what it sounds like to me every time they play that terrible dirge.

Maybe? I don't know for sure. But now we know the drugs control him. "Such is life"? A life wasted now, if his family is asked.

This is true, but I was thinking in the context of elite athletes, which is what footballers now claim to be. It is not ideal to be either drinking in excess, or taking drugs, especially in the season. I also previously referred to Ralph mentioning Hogan and Cousins in the same breath. Perhaps Cousins thought he could control his drug intake while playing football, but since then it has all been tragically downhill for him. I do not wish this to happen to anyone, footballer or otherwise.

You are probably right, and Ralph would be able to back up his story, but us poor souls who follow our club and invest our money, heart and souls into the fortunes of these young men always hope for the best. Call me naive, but I try to be optimistic and like to think the best of people. Taking drugs has probably become the norm in today's society, and athletes are not immune from temptation, but I still don't like it. I have seen the damage it does. To call these substances "party" drugs is a misnomer in my opinion. There is nothing fun or sparkly about becoming a drug addict.

I didn't see it, but if Ralph compared Hogan with Cousins, that is indeed shocking. These kind of statements should not be made without proof. There is too much gossip taken as fact these days. This revelation can be damaging to a person's psyche. I dearly hope Ralph is wrong and Jessie doesn't have a drug problem. Drugs are destructive, and hard to turn away from once on that path.

"We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out." - Winston Churchill.

Always wondered why ANY player would wish to go to Fremantle.

I agree. Isn't it a journalist's duty to report facts, not give a slap to the club without any supporting evidence? I know through experience people with mental health issues can be given every support available, but it is up to the individual to make the effort themselves as well. On the other hand, I truly believe instead of going home to be more supported and closer to his family and friends, poor Jessie inadvertently brought even more pressure upon himself because he is in the limelight in a two team city and hailed as the answer to Fremantle's forward woes since Pavlich retired. How can a young man who is already emotionally fragile cope with this pressure and scrutiny? He cannot. Something had to give. Stress can cause all sorts of illnesses, mental and physical.

Let's give thanks to Paul Roos and Peter Jackson for their fantastic work, and their foresight in giving us the coaching recruit of the decade. Making Melbourne great again! Just like a good relationship, there is a lot of love and stability at Melbourne. Yes, extend Josh Mahoney's contract as well to show the faith.

Lots of love in the room from the boys for Goody. Great news.

Good photo, but looks like Maxy stole it. He's not wearing a Premiership Medal.

I have two cats. Where do I sign them up? They would love to wear their own membership tags.

So pleasing to see our good players signed up before the start of the season. Got totally sick of the constant speculation from the media about whether one of our champion young players were going to stay or leave, causing a distraction during the season. Time to keep eyes on the prize. All focus should be on the Premiership now. Let's all enjoy the ride.

He's come a long way from the chicken parmigiana and chips with no salad. Now he only has an appetite for the Brownlow, Premiership, and a Norm Smith. ( More than one of each of these will be tasty).

Yes, I agree with you. I didn't want to bring up specific examples, but the Gary Lyon one was in my mind. But this excuse is not limited to the AFL. How many times have you heard, "Why did you beat up/ assault/ road rage/ steal etc." "Because I have mental health issues/ I was depressed/ I had a bad childhood." What an insult to all the good people who have suffered all these things and never harmed anybody. It seems this is the way society is heading now. No one takes responsibility for their actions. It is always someone else's fault, or something made them do it. My father spent 4 years as a POW in Berlin in WW2. He didn't do bad things and then blame it on his horror experience. Claiming mental illness seems to be like a fad now. It makes me burn.

I just don't like the vague description "mental health issue". I grew up with someone who suffered from major mental illness all of their life, and saying you suffer from "depression" as an excuse to get out of certain situations, to me devalues the very real suffering of people struggling with this issue. We all get depressed sometimes, but most of us do not get to know the "black dog" of utter despair. To cite mental health issues too many times risks the public becoming immune to the real problems of people with mental illness living their lives out of the spotlight. The public will become cynical and less sympathetic to ALL sufferers is they suspect players are using the system to cover up something else. Sorry to be so heavy, but this is a sore point with me.