Bring-Back-Powell

Not this week but I'm confident he'll get one before round 11. I'd say the panel always focus on top 10 draft picks first so no worries there. Does Scully need a run in the 2's?

Just shows that when Didak, Medhurst and Davis aren't firing, Collingwood are nothing. Another interesting stat; Bailey has a record of 2-26 in games played before round 14.

After thinking long and hard: Ins - Sylvia, Garland Outs - Newton, Strauss Sylvia picks himself while Garland is a direct swap for Strauss. With all due respect to Strauss (who will be a good AFL player) we can't afford players making critical mistakes at critical times and I figure a half "match" fit Garland will probably be more effective and reliable than the kid, at this stage. Not sure Newton will survive after yet another "no impact" game. While he didn't do much wrong, he didn't do anything to justify another AFL game and won't be missed if we drop him again.

Adelaide have a very strong side - although a few players are underdone. The more I think about it, the more I think they'll be too strong and too experienced for us. Tipping a 3 or 4 goal loss.

Good luck to Jackson Trengove - after crossing over from Port Power during the week.... No surprise that Strauss was omitted. Needs some game time as a lower level. Plus I thought it was our kids that didn't make the right decisions and panicked a bit when the game was on the line late in the last qtr. We're going for a win this week so experience > youth.

On a serious note, it would be a massive step in the right direction if we get out of the top 4 and win 7 or 8 games.

The threads have become quite interesting of late - what with Petterd kicking 75 goals and Melbourne finishing top 4! I'd say with an injury free year he'll kick 36 goals. Less if Jurrah was in the line up.

Anything less than a premiership this year would be a bit of a let down IMO.

Is Sylvia a monty to play this week? His busted jaw was diagnosed as '4 weeks' and this is week number 4.

De ja vu from this exact time last year. It took till round 8 for Bate to finally play a solid game when he kicked 4 goals V's the Bulldogs. Then he never looked back. I'd prefer to keep Bate in the side as he is a potential match winner on his day and has more upside than the majority of players out there on Saturday. We just have to be patient, as it appears he needs 4-6 weeks of match practice to start performing. I like Bate and Sylvia both roaming the forward flanks.

Me too. We delisted Buckley yet re-signed Bartram for 2 years. I reckon Banfield (red head) from Brisbane deserves to nominated this week. His first 2 performances have been very impressive. Jordie derserves a nomination before Scully & Trengove at this stage.

Probably 4 or 5 wins to be on the conservative side. Last week I predicted 2 wins.

Refresh my memory: McLean, Sylvia, Moloney and Bell??? I can't speak highly enough of this kid. Fancy knocking back an opportunity to play for Adelaide just to stay on Melbourne's rookie list.

In the space of 2 weeks Garland managed to keep Jeff Farmer to 1 goal and a white hot Buddy Franklin to 3 goals in May 2008. How's that for flexibility! He hadn't even played 10 games at that stage. Plus he kicked 3 goals in a NAB CUP game V Geelong to add an extra string to his bow. He'll be a solid player for the footy club and hope to see him kick on in the second half of the season.

Post of the year champ! I'm glad the coach hurts after a loss, and I'll be even happier if the players hurt just as much. Lets beat Adelaide next week and celebrate it one and all!

Would be a dream come true to be 4-4 after round 8. We just need that break through win to gain confidence and belief that we can win the close ones. I'm tipping 2-6 with wins V Richmond and West Coast. That's an improvement when you consider we won our second game in round 14 of 2008 and 2009.

Tipping Adelaide for this game. Adelaide are still a quality footy side. Remember they led Collingwood by 6 goals in a semi final last year at the MCG. They are under-cooked but still have some fine players running around. I just can't trust us yet to back it up 2 weeks in a row. Hope to be proven wrong!

Would a 2 year mid season extension be stupid? Considering GC and WS will be sniffing around for mature aged ruckman.

We still have Sylvia, Jurrah, Morton, Watts, Garland, Rivers, Wonna, Blease, Tapscott and Gysberts to come into the side!!

He could be an astute selection at pick 70 something?

Nice to hear Joel MacDonald getting a few mentions.

Next week it going to tell me a lot about Bailey. A slightly undercooked Adelaide at the MCG... Winnable if we play like today, but anything less than 100% effort will result in another 8 or 9 goal hiding. Can Bailey get his troops up for back-to-back weeks.

Hats off to all our blokes for a fantastic effort. I know we lost, but to be in the game for the entire 120 minutes is a remarkable improvement from last week. The test is to not revert to old habits next week V's Adelaide.

Fair effort mate. You picked Gawn at 34 and suggested Barlow might be a smokie.

Don't worry mate, by round 16 we'll be 1-15 or 0-16 and selling our soul won't be an issue. My only interest for Saturday is to see how Scully and Trengove go in game 2, whether Newton can actually be a viable option for us this year and whether we can be within 5 goals at half time. Sad how far we've fallen since 2006.