JimmyGadson

Can't believe we finished second. Unreal. We're in it up to our eyeballs!

It's not enough. What's realistic is that they'll be trading for picks to satisfy us. Otherwise they don't get Jackson.

I'd like to apologise to the selection committee for questioning the Harmes inclusion. I hate admitting that I'm wrong because it rarely happens.. Whilst he didn't stand-out and he wasn't on Neale all game, he seemed to be a better choice than Jordan who has only just been going.

Man. Weed looks so lost, feel for him. Hope for his sake and ours a trade is made in the off-season and he can at least find a spot in a team's best 22. The pressure must really get to him.

Home qualifying final is an enormous advantage. Big home crowds are like an extra player come finals. It's silly to think Sydney would prefer to play us at the G. Even if they have a favourable history there. And if we get them at the G, it will be heaving with red and blue as opposed to the poor crowds we generally get in h/a games against them. It's a completely different environment. And we've all been dying to see our boys play a home qualifying/prelim final at the G. Anyone remember how much the boys thrived off us during the 2018 elim final against Geelong? All fingers crossed that results go our way tomorrow because if they do, the rest of the comp are going to be slightly concerned with a charging MFC playing in September back at their spiritual home. Genuinely scary.

The art of commentary is dying unfortunately. Huddo and Gerard on big dollars at Sen, they're the last two of a dying lot. Fox and channel 7 seem far too happy employing average media personalities and ex players commentating games but it just kills any of the enjoyment you get from watching. What was once an art, has now been lost.

Will be watching Harmes energy levels and ability to run out a full game closely. Surprised to say the least given he played an entire VFL game 5 days ago.

I'll say it again. How do people think Harmes will go off a 5 day break playing a full game in heavy heavy conditions? I think it would be a coaching blunder to select him unless we had an injury.

No. I'm of the view that we need some fresh faces and new eyes around Goodwin again so if Ooze leaves for GWS, it might be a good thing. New voice, different ideas etc. We need to keep evolving.

For sure, but not a full game in a slog within 5 days of a potential AFL recall.

Not sure about others, but surely Harmes would have played limited minutes on Sunday if he was in contention to play this Friday.. It was a wet slog of a game and he has five days to recover for what will be our biggest h/a game of the year. Doesn't add up to me and I'd be astonished if he came in to play.

We stole a win. But we're nowhere near the team we were this time last year. The evidence is everywhere. And I think the most telling thing was that we were matched through the midfield which was an embarrassment if you ask me. They had no Hewitt, Kennedy and Cerra. And we have two generational mids plus Viney and Brayshaw. It's positive that we've been able to hang on, thanks in large to our 10-0 start. But we'll be going out in straight sets if we continue to play the way we are. There's no denying that.

Gunston would make sense if we didn't have Fritsch. But we do. And if people think Gunston would replace Brown or T Mac, they're kidding themselves. Because the bulk of his goals come from marks on leads. And we simply don't have the midfield to provide that. I know that's Ben Brown's wheelhouse as well, but his advantage is his height at 200cm and arm reach to bring ball to ground. Gunston can't do that. Imagine having Fritsch, Gunston and Ben Brown all playing. The ball would be run out of our 50 before you could blink. The only way I see it happening is of Goodwin made a complete overhaul of the way we enter our forward 50 and adds players with skill through the midfield as well as on the half forwardline. But I also don't see that happening.

Another bugbear is the way the players and Goodwin talk about working on forward connection at training.. What exactly are they working on if kicks continue to be up and under, or we consistently kick to pockets even when there an open leading player that can be hit up? It says to me that it's a player problem rather than coaching. A lack of composure, awareness and execution under pressure is a weakness shared by too many through the middle of the ground and its killing us atm. Need to add some variety through there in the off-season. As good as Gus Brayshaw was with his ball winning ability, he adds nothing as far as ball use goes. Butchers it as badly as anyone.

Goodwin's refusal to tinker with anything in game will be what brings us undone this year. Unfortunately, opposition sides know exactly what to do to disarm us in cartain plays which Goodwin seems to to ignore. Can't believe we won that game. Surely at some stage of the match, we opt to change the kick out strategy, even slightly. Carlton continued to outnumber us around where May was kicking out to from full back. And we just kept persisting. Why? Our defence and contest have kept this seasons chugging along but next year we need to go to town on some other aspects of our game that are so vanilla.

Wow. Talk about bias. Completely disagree on both. I know, (as we all do) that Gawn is constantly checked at marking contests. But when he goes up for marks, he doesn't need to try and milk a free. And on many occasions he could actually go for the mark or try and at least bring it to ground in a positive way as opposed to looking for a free kick mid-air. And May does the same thing when lunging forward. Of course sometimes they're there. But many times he is also trying to milk it. I would rather our two leaders play the ball 100% of the time and let the frees come. The more you look for frees as a player, the less likely an umpire is going to favour you.

I know this is a Melbourne supporters forum. But last night both Gawn and May were culprits for playing for multiple free kicks in marking contests. Sure there was some blocking and holding from Pittonett on Gawn. But for the biggest guy on the field and our leader, I really wish he'd contest harder in the air and not flop about trying to get frees. Looks terrible. Same with May.

Man, people were whinging about Ben Brown, Melksham, paying overs for Lever and May etc etc. Same old story here. Grundy is a bona fide A grader and would improve our team unquestionably. If Collingwood were prepared to pay a chunk of his contract and we got him for a second rounder, it'd be a no brainer. Just trust our FD because every high profile player we've brought in under this FD has payed us back and then some and clearly if we're targeting him, we'd have a rock solid plan around the way our forward line will function going into next year with Gawn spending more time as that key pillar.

Great key forwards obviously help. Obviously. But we're a hybrid model. And if we're going to continue playing Brown, T Mac and Gawn then we need to change our smalls up. Simple as that. More dynamic players with real forward craft and an ability to kick goals.

Supporters need to chill on Harmes.. He is surplus to needs.

Yeh well I think part of the reason Melk has come in to play that role is because of the trouble we've had with our own key talls either being outmarked or positioned by key defenders so his inclusion was born out of necessity. Harmes is just too vanilla for me. And if he doesn't have a lock down role, I'd much rather us explore a more dynamic mid to take his place at season's end. A player with composure and great ball use.

Yes, he's playing an important role and doing it well. Harmes should be a mainstayer but his inconsistency is infuriating. He is at prime age. So the fact that he can't get back into the side says a bit imo. What's your point?

The fact that Harmes can't get a gig after a loss says a bit about his importance to the team. (or lack thereof).

Have posted about him before but he's not the answer. A late and speculative pick in his draft year due to flaws in his game. Would provide backup but he's not not the player we're crying out for.

It's deckchairs at this point imo. If we can find efficiency and composure from our midfielders through to our forwards from here on, we win the flag. If not, we lose it. All other parts of our game are in shape.