Temporarily Hopeful Demon

Tbh I'd possibly leave Fritsch out of that category. I think he's at about the same level as he was last season. He's currently sitting on 40 goals and this time last year he'd kicked 37. Yes, he has gone missing in some matches but he's been one of our only forwards who can be trusted to kick multiple goals each week. I think that his brilliant finals series has made people forget that he also had many quiet games last season.

As others have said, this is a very tough question. There have been some games which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Brisbane and St Kilda games are the two prime examples. That being said, I still feel as though we are a much better side than what we've shown over the past 8 weeks. We're not playing with the same kind of composure that we saw last year. Whenever teams would challenge us last season, I never actually felt worried because we'd always have the class and fitness to get us over the line. In recent weeks we've been panicking and losing desperation whenever the opposition fights back. I still think we're good enough to finish in the top 4 but we need to get back to our best as soon as possible. If we manage to win two or three of the next four games, we should be a formidable side in September.

That was certainly up there with the most stressful games I have watched. We may have been in front for the vast majority of the game but we never really looked as if we were going to put the opposition away. We made far too many mistakes by foot and too many of our defenders played unaccountable footy. I understand that our season is not over yet but we seriously need to lift if we want to secure a spot in the top 4 and have another crack at the flag. This is the fourth time we've capitulated after being 20+ points up.

Fritsch really does love playing against the bulldogs.

Excellent ending to the quarter. I'm very pleased about the way in which Melksham and Weideman have started. They're going to be hard to drop if they continue to play this way for the rest of the game.

And that's why clearances are important.

Yeah I don't understand the animosity towards Melksham. People might point out that he only got 6 possessions, but his last quarter played a huge role in our win. He could've easily ended with 3 goals if he wasn't so selfless.

A win's a win. That was a very forgettable game but a win was all we needed given that our place in the top 4 was on the line. Our forwardline functioned better than it did last week. Pickett can take a bow. All his hard work finally paid off. It was nice to see Brown work his way into the game in the second half. While Melksham was relatively quiet, he rarely wasted possessions.

This game would be very different without Pickett.

Pickett's been our only forward who's looked dangerous around goal.

Our midfield looks really bare without Oliver.

I'm a big Fritsch fan but he hasn't been playing team football lately.

It's simply embarrassing that some people in this country still think this way.

It's possibly Deedub's new account.

Bedford is passionate. I like him as a player.

Nice to see Oliver nailing set shots.

God Selwood is a protected species.

They were both elite today. You won't find a better midfield duo in the game right now.

Easily our best win since the Grand Final. We were tough, quick, aggressive and relentless. We couldn't have played any better. Viney was simply elite. He may not get a lot of attention from the media but he has certainly been good enough to at least make the AA squad this year. I was very pleased with Jackson's performance. He seemed to relish the extra responsibility. Maybe we still are the team to beat after all.

This is giving me 2021 finals vibes.

Pickett is a genius.

That quarter was peak 2021. Our pressure was our elite and we finally looked threatening every time the ball moved into our forwardline. We better maintain this momentum in the second half. Brisbane look flustered at the moment.

Lever's looked a lot closer to his 2021 self.

Beating them three times last year was certainly up there with the most satisfying moments as a Melbourne supporter.

It's very unusual for me to show negativity on this site but our form has been extremely worrying lately. We seriously need to get out of the habit of capitulating after being 20+ points up but our forwardline is a total mess atm. We simply don't look like scoring. Something's not right. The bye has come at the perfect time.