Bring-Back-Powell

Woeful lack of attention to details. It’s almost the “you’ve got one job guys” scenario.

Yeah I heard him too. He's the sort of bloke you can't stop listening to once you start to hear from him. He was instrumental in Richmond's 2017 flag. I wonder if was of any use to us since his appointment? Loved his quote in reference to your children going to school: "Don't say to your kids that you've got to go to school. Instead say that you get to go to school"

Good question but he had two concussions last year. I hope for his sake it's the third in his career and not pre season.

For those who are quite partial to a death ride, Rowell couldn’t have broken his finger at a worse time. Whilst he could be missed against Geelong in opening round, they have a laughable 3 weeks after with WC at home, Richmond away and then the bye. No doubt he’ll be fresh and ready to go for our game in round 4.

Not too fussed about Gawn and the new ruck rule. He was still pulling off some nice hit outs to advantage the other night. The new rule also won't preclude him from taking his signature contested marks all over the field and being a high possession gatherer which sets him apart from the rest of the rucks. Or, maybe he finally has a down year....

Shattered he's no longer with us as he was clearly one of my all time favs. Although after Easter Monday the dust will settle and he'll be just another opponent from then on. Who doesn't love a damaging goal kicking bull of a midfielder that stepped up in the biggest moment possible - the 2021 grand final. I take solace that he doesn't play for a local power house though. I don't think I could handle him kicking the winning goal on Kings B'day as they beat us by the obligatory 3 or 4 points where we do everything we can but win the game.

Yeah there was a report (may have been on Fox Sports) last week that mentioned that he was running really well. He might not be far away...although famous last words with this particular player.

I'm surprised the club hasn't said anything official about Salem. Given he's been in the rehab group for a month now, I think we're entitled to an official update.

This hasn't been confirmed but I was of the understanding that Pickett, Gawn and Rivers won't be playing this game because of their Origin participation.

That was my first thought but he may have been referring to the day North pumped us in round 2 at Marvel?? I'm hoping for the following: 1) CJ, Petty and Salem play some minutes to ensure we have some depth to choose from in round 1. 2) How the new game plan works against opposition. 3) How our skills are looking overall. 4) Looking forward to seeing if Windsor and Langford can continue their pre season momentum against oppo. 5) Whether Jeffo can put his hand up for a round 1 gig. He's showing bits and pieces in the match sims. 6) Whether Latrelle is in round 1 contention. The intra club potentially showed that he might not be ready yet. Not fussed about the result as we'll be missing Gawn, Kozzie and Rivers. If we're to win a game of footy, Gawn and Kozzie are going to be the key drivers and are central to our game plan. Will take more notice of the result against Richmond as we should have close to a full squad and we're probably swimming with Richmond at the shallow end of the pool this year if we're being honest.

So in summary it sounds like the only way we’ll get a new player on the list is if May retires just before opening round??

Our opponent next week, North Melbourne, also had an intra club game yesterday. They’re in far better shape than us injury wise so could afford to play a team stocked with senior players and regular best 23’s v a team of fill ins and kids. The senior team won by a surprisingly small margin of 9 points…

Kade Chandler would have to be in the top 5 field kicks in the team. Really like his low dart passes on the left. Some of his inside 50 entries were top shelf.

That might be curtains for GWS in terms of a flag - already down Kelly, Darcy Jones and (now) way more critically Green. Can see this going one of two ways for Clarry: 1) He takes Green's role and runs with it. He gets back to his best and the AFL lauds the player and club for making such an astute list management call as they finish top 4 or 6 or 2) He can't get back to his best. GWS give him a huge responsibility as the premier inside mid but he can't fill the void that Green's left. GWS miss the top 10 and Clarry has another middling year such as 2024 and 2025.

Yes I get that Melk has his defensive flaws and is far from the perfect modern day player as others have pointed out, and there's no way he'll be playing 23 games this year. However, it's hard to imagine King overlooking a player too often that rendered Mac Andrew (the AFL's current and next big thing) completely useless in a game last year, along the way to 11 scoring shots in the game. Round 1 will obviously tell us where he stands in the pecking order as we assume he'll have some praccy matches under the belt.

Thanks for your report. The above view seems to be prevailing a little around here and I wonder if it's to do with his birth certificate. However, I hope the club doesn't share this view, considering he's come off easily one of his best seasons. He's in my opinion the second most skilled player at the club behind Kozzie. He can kick long bomb goals, he's the best and smartest field kick at the club, he can takes the opposition's Harris Andrews, he can kick his 4 or 5 every and now and then. In an off season where we've lost a heck of a lot of familiar faces and already lost a few senior players to injury, I believe Melksham should be a regular (i.e. 16 -18 games) in the side for a bit of stability and can guide the younger forwards such as JVR, Jeffo and Latrelle. Furthermore, the extra interchange spot should cater for him as he can play less minutes per game. However, If he's fighting for a spot for Brodie, then Brodie will probably keep him out.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they call the thing off on Friday. There will be a stack of fill ins…

And yet I hear clubs like Port Adelaide and Gold Coast who have had like one player in rehab this summer. What is going on down there?

Going to assume Salem is at the tail end of a 3-4 week hammy and he'll be good to go for the praccy matches?

And they'll probably be absent for the Norf game the following week?

And in Jack's defence of the contract extension, he did poll 24 brownlow votes the prior year including 7 "three voters". If you're polling 7 best on grounds in a season, you have to be considered an A grader for that season and then into the next IMO.

Probably didn’t help that Viney played one of his career best (if not best) games against Gold Coast a week or so before he extended with us. I remember the sentiment on this forum after that game was “please stay Jack”

I think it's fair that the media has written us off. We've lost 26 of our last 38 games which is a success rate of 31%. On what planet are we entitled to some respect and high hopes from the media going into a season after two back to back failures? Add into the fact that we traded 3 clear best 23 players from last year and we're already down Bowey and Viney for likely half the season or more. Can Steele, Mihochek and CJ go some way towards offsetting the loss? Time will tell. We're a rebuilding club IMO and behind closed doors I don't believe King has any expectations on making the top 10. I could be wrong, but if he was aiming for finals then he would've dug his heels in by keeping Trac at the expense of a tremendous draft package that is designed to pay off in the future, not 2026. He also would've given Oliver one more chance by gambling on that bounce back year that's been due since 2024. I hope like any other that we surprise the world with a 12 win season, and play a final in late August at the G, but my mindset is on the future as that was the message I interpreted during trade week. King's building us for a crack at the future, not 2026. I don't expect to win anywhere near 12 games this year.

I had a listen to David King this morning on SEN and he went to Casey last Friday to see us live for the first time this pre season. I know people on here ridicule him but it's still worthwhile to listen to a neutral who's casting a fresh set of eyes on the club. He raved on about Windsor. He and Cornes are expecting big things from him this year. The other player he loved was Jefferson. I found this to be an eye raising comment/observation. He also gave JVR and Heath some positive feedback. King said we look completely different from an offensive point of view and the shackles have been taken off. I hope we can take a few clubs by surprise in the first 6-8 weeks if indeed we play an unrecognisable brand of footy. On another matter, I've recently watched the first 15 games of 2025 in those 20 minute mini packages. If I had a dollar for every time the commentators would say "Melbourne are up in contest and clearance but haven't capitalised on the scoreboard."

I see the chef still hasn't been selected for the VICS. Might be a bruise to the ego.