Chook

Not to Stef, it would seem. Although, I've read that he has had some personal troubles recently. I guess we all have problems from time to time.

I like the "run into space" game plan, but I would like to see a situation when we're deep in our own defence, instead of having every forward inside our D50, we would have one up around the centre square and a marking target inside the offensive 50, just so we have some semblance of a get-out kick on the fast break. Other than that, our forwards will need to have very good endurance in order to work this game plan for 26 weeks of the year.

Exactly. The guy gives me so much confidence when he's one-on-one. Runs and carries the ball and doesn't just dish it off for the sake of getting rid of it. Sometimes makes people nervous cause he hangs on to it for longer than they'd like, but I think his disposal is more effective than it looks.

Easily my favourite player at the club. You can tell he's a guy who actually LISTENS to what people tell him. He has all the physical attributes plus a brain the size of a small European nation, and I can't wait to see how good he'll end up.

Richmond Away G WIN I honestly think we're a better side than Richmond, and can't see us losing Doggies Away ES LOSS Etihad...need I say more? BYE Port Home TIO WIN The Brotherhood up at TIO should get us over the line. Hawks Home G LOSS The start of a crazy-hard four week run. If we can win any of the next four games, we're right in there with a chance. I rate this one as our hardest, given that we suck against Hawthorn Gellong Away Skilled LOSS Unlikely to still be "up" after all this time, I'm predicting a close game, given our similar playing styles Carlton Away G LOSS Carlton seem to have our number, but we'll be breathing fire for this game. Definitely not "bruise-free" footy. Eagles Home ES LOSS This is the pivotal game. Playing against a side who works the press very well (something we cannot deal with) at a ground we can't play at. Huge game Richmond Home G WIN Port Away AAMI LOSS Have you noticed where this is being played? Port Adelaide may have totally put the cue in the rack by this time, though. I only give us three certainties, but I could easily see us winning against the Dogs, WCE and Port Adelaide the second time, which would put us on 11.5 wins. I doubt this would get us into the Eight.

"When a rocket reaches the moon, the rocket always has had very few technical difficulties. But when the mission messes up, the rocket almost always has had some trouble. Therefore, the rocket is a down-hill skiier." Failed logic, right there. People say similar things about Brent Moloney's game, but honestly the only Melbourne player who's consistently good even when the team sucks is Colin Sylvia, who I'm sure we all know has some serious talent and ball-winning ability.

BUMP Thoughts? This is our performance against each team so far #2 Collingwood - lost by 88 #3 Carlton - lost by 47 #4 Hawthorn - lost by 45 #5 Sydney - draw //home #6 WCE - lost by 54 //away #7 Fremantle - Won by 89 //home #8 Essendon - won by 33 #9 St Kilda - lost by 20 #10 Melbourne #12 North - lost by 41 #14 Adelaide - won by 96 #15 Brisbane - won by 11 #17 Gold Coast - won by 90 Our effort drops right off when we lose, but we've really beaten every team we should be expected to beat. There's a chance our "on-off" form is simpy a side-effect of our draw. Based on our performances this year, I would expect an easy win over Richmond next week.Our only losses against teams close to us on the ladder have come at Etihad (St Kilda and North Melbourne), where we've been known to play quite poorly.

6 Jack Watts - Very good at ground level for a tall player. Has good kicking skills and makes great decisions. Can also take a contested mark from time to time, too. 5 Stefan Martin - Rucked well, drifted forward. Very coordinated for his size, and has really developed almost every area of his game. Can't wait for next week against the Tiges. Jamar and Martin - together at last. 4 Jordie McKenzie - "See ball, get ball" at its' very finest. Has patches from time to time where his handballing is a little slow, but he has been so important for us. 3 Tom Scully - Was on fire early in the game. As a marathon runner, he makes a pretty good footballer. 2 Jeremy Howe - Has a fantastic leap and a very high work-rate. Petterd + effort = Howe. 1 Moloney - Could have given this to Sylvia, but Moloney's centre work is brilliant. Gets his best friend back next week, which should be nice.

Say hello to running, weight-lifting and the like. They're some of the only sports not bastardised by new technology.

Can we have a [sacktheCoach] or [scully'sGoingtoGWS] button? It would save everyone a whole bunch of time.

Defenders veryh rarely cost you games, because if the ball gets down there, someone else has screwed up first. Our young mids were not very good yesterday, and that is why we lost - as it is every week. The midfield is where it's at, folks.

I meant GAAWWWWWNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't know why I put Fitzpatrick down. EFA.

Well he damn well should with a body like his.

Oops. My mistake. I thought it was obvious that I was comparing a thirty year-old David Neitz to a 30 year old Brad Green. Sorry.When your midfield is not winning, rotate anyone who can play there through, to see if you can spark something. When you're on top, change of any kind can really halt your momentum, and we didn't change enough, IMO.

This has been true as long as I've watched Melbourne (and apparently in the decades before that, too). I remember watching us warm-up in the old Daniher days. We'd lazily perform our drills, take a few pot shots, then hey, what do you know? The game's about to start, so we'd saunter to our positions, engage in a little ruff stuff and promptly get flogged - unless it was an even year, in which case the floggings would be confined to just the top four teams and anyone we happened to get paired up against in the finals. I know for me, it takes about ten minutes of full on work before I'm operating at top notch. That should be what our players aim for. I don't think these guys get it at all - and they haven't for years.

Jamar full forward/ruck, switching with Big Max Gawn. Martin ruck/follower. This should help us a litte in the "big-bodied forward" regard. EDIT: Apparently I don't know the difference between the AFL's second tallest player and a dude who can't get on the park.

I love Greeny in the forward-line as much as anyone, but why the heck was he never tried in the middle? David Neitz couldn't be blamed for getting stuck in the goal-square because he really couldn't play anywhere else. Brad Green can. When things aren't working, change them!

The Good - Collingwood (unfortunately) The Bad - Melbourne (hopefully not for much longer) The Ugly - This forum (after a loss)

6 Sylvia - Practically kicked our entire score 5 Morton - Beat Shaw who I rate unbelievably highly. His hardness is something he has to work on, but he played well today. 4 Watts - Kicking is brilliant verging on shocking - but that's usually not his fault. 3 Moloney - One of the only men in a team full of boys. 2 Howe - Lively forward and a hard worker (unlike some of our other lively forwards). 1 McKenzie - Effort personified. Our young midfield let us down badly today. Don't blame Rivers for balls being put to Cloke's advantage time after time.

Actually, talking about the opponent's form over the past 18 months says nothing about us at all.

People who are saying effort is the problem have no idea. Collingwood are playing like the Premiership side they are. This is a development year and I can see development from our players . . . so that one day we can be where Collingwood is at. Poor disposal has really cost us today, though.

I like the clash strip as it is. Best one we've ever had and second only to our awesome home guernsey.

Over Nine Thousaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd!!!! But seriously, I think we'll get around 68234. I would have said more, but the big Cats/Hawks clash only got that many, so I would'n expect this game to beat it by much

For god's sake don't put him on a leading forward. That's all I have to say.

Karma is all about attitude, if you do something with a poor attitude, or for the wrong reasons, then Karma may not be your friend. Stabilising what we already had might have been a better option, given that the Dogs, Roos, Power, Lions (and until recently, us) are all in debt at the same time as this corporatisation push is occuring. But on the topic of Cale Morton, he probably is not very happy with his recent performance, and wants to play well for the rest of the year in hope that he can turn his form around and pick up a few more dollars. In a way, that's good for Melbourne.