rpfc

Too slow between the ears. Depth now if he wants to stick around behind Lever, May and Frost.

I think we need to calm down... We have had a terrible start to the year and I really do think that this group having a month less break/pre-season for the first time in their careers is having a pernicious effect on the group. We have played poorly but our midfield finally has a constellation with Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw and Harmes, our forward line has a proven goal scorer when in form, and our backline has solid base to build on assuming (yeah, yeah) that injuries are not permanent features of careers. I don't think we can claw our way back to relevance for this year but we are not what we used to be.

It’s stunning how quickly some players can simply lose any semblance of how to play to a consistent game plan. But we do have to face facts - our top end talent falls away rapidly and our bottom 6 players are VFL calibre. That, and a month less of a preseason than we usually get adds up to this nonsense.

I gulped when I saw the bump but... On point once again.

Powerful

We have had a shortened summer (by a month) for the first time in the careers of all the players. They are not prepared just yet and I hope they get there soon or the season will get away from us. But Goodwin knows, from the sporadic selection of our smalls in the forward line and back line, that we don't have trusted talent in those positions.

Whether or not I agree that we did anything 'wrong' we have been made to face a truth no other club has had to. Every year the AFL allows clubs to sit players and play youth, with the incentive of a higher spot in the draft. We have learnt from it and we are a stronger organisation. But we are alone in that damnation. The AFL are the ones that need to learn.

Really interested to see whether Salem is on the wing in actuality. Would love to see but I do not see a perfect replacement. And once again, a huge vote of confidence for Hunt, or what he brings is seen as so important and different to what we have in the team that he is given every opportunity.

The only question I have is if Ron Burgundy loves Simon Goodwin?

You old drunk...

Encapsulating where the club is at is a difficult thing but that video, starting with the pain of the Prelim my mind refuses to remember with great clarity, and taking us through the mindset of a young coach that knows the power of a buoyant fan base over young footy players is the closest anything will come to defining where the club is at right now. Well done to the club for putting that together and kudos to Goodwin who shed his buttoned down persona mid way through last year and revealed more of himself and what drives him.

I will reveal the meaning on my death bed...

Hunt is highly regarded by Goodwin and co. - how do I know this? (Considering this isn’t coming from a board member I ‘know’ nor talking to staff at training...) Because they played him against Sydney after being out for an extended period. They rushed him in because he’s a point of difference or just better than similar players we have. He will earn his games this year that’s for sure. The wing/HBF will have some pretty handy players fighting for spots; Lewis, Jones, Stretch, Fritsch, KK, Salem, and Smith with Hore and Wagner behind those above. Some will have to find a place elsewhere or stay at Casey.

Well, snorting ice cream will do that...

How much ice cream do you have to eat to get as drunk as that?!

Following around the best players in the game would have helped. And, I harp on this a bit, but he was in his 5th year on the list... As a former rookie listed player, he has had no pressure and plenty of time to develop and be ready for his moment.

You’re amazed? There were reports the AFL were not consulted. There were reports internal staff were blindsided. There were reports that this was less a board decision and more of a Bartlett decision. And yet it is amazing that there is negativity...

Interesting how some of the worst reactions are for those who didn’t read past the headline... If you do this kind of thing, I won’t punish you - the cosmic forces of karma will get you back and real soon. Today? Let me know how it got you back...

@Colin B. Flaubert - My consternation over the Pert appointment was the process which I have heard (outside of Caroline Wilson’s word) was old Melbourne; rushed, the board not fully supportive, the AFL blind sided. I am most definitely supportive of the club and hope he does well, but I hate that Bartlett has allowed even the perception of this kind of amateurish behaviour with one of the most important decisions a club can make.

I am an old cynical person about this now - if any one of these players plays more than half a season in 2019 (or even 2020) I would be surprised... We really should do a draft review of 2013. Wait. Wait... Nah, let’s wait a year to do 2014...

Not as simple as that; we used some of the collateral (ND46) from that trade to trade up to get James Jordan at ND28. So add Jordon and the cost increases by a Bytel...

One of the biggest actresses in the world wore the red and blue and came to Melbourne training. It’s a good thing. You would be he same flake that would bemoan Eddie being able to finagle the same for his team... It cost us the price of a jumper and we got Natalie effing Portman in it! You can nickname the stunt. There you go, that will make you feel better. Jeez.

That would effectively be a 6 year contract from now... Gotta be irresponsible, surely...

All good points, especially the one about hitting Hawthorn recruiters in the face with a skillet...

Just leave the nicknames to @Petraccattack...