Dee-monic

Time for the usual critics to give some credit to: (1) The club for signing Grundy. How would we have fared without him tonight? (2) Simon Goodwin, for some excellent tactical moves, including the move forward for Petty which gave Sydney quite a few problems they probably did not anticipate. (3) Jake Melksham, who did a solid job as substitute despite his numerous detractors. (4) Kade Chandler, who has seized his chance to prove he belongs at AFL level. (5) Charlie Spargo, for a couple of Kozzie-style moments that led to excellent goals. Of course, being Melbourne, we will probably find a way to defeat ourselves against West Coast next week!

Tough choices in such a fine team effort, but here goes: 6 Oliver - our Mr Everywhere. 5 Grundy - just got better and better as the game went on. 4 Rivers - often goes unnoticed but he was rock solid tonight. 3 Petracca - huge physical impact as usual. 2 Lever - superb positional sense. 1 Van Rooyen - showed enough to suggest he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Honourable mentions to just about everyone else.

No Gawn. No May. No Kozzie. No hope. We are frighteningly dependent on a handful of key players. If Oliver or Petracca went down as well we would be horribly exposed. And Viney looks far from match-fit. This has been a big test for Goodwin's coaching skills and he has not come up with any answers. Our clearance work in particular has been woeful. At least this reality check has come at the right end of the season.

If we take off our red and blue glasses for a moment, I think two weeks is a fair outcome. It is perfectly possible for a high impact collision not to cause serious injury, particularly if players do not connect directly with the head. But Kozzie's deliberate leap off the ground at high momentum showed reckless intention and had the potential to do significant damage. Although his absence will leave a big hole he needs to learn to temper his natural aggression with common sense. We would not like to have seen an opposition player do that to any of ours. A couple of years ago, he would probably have got away with one week, but the rules on any kind of violent and illegal contact are rightly being tightened. Let us at least hope that this season we will get some consistency on this kind of disciplinary action.

6 - Max the Mighty. Gave the Bulldogs nightmares all over the field. 5 - Jake Lever. Really stepped up his game in May's absence, with solid support from Petty and Tomlinson. 4 - Christian Petracca. Power and poise. Top three so close in voting you could interchange them. 3 - Kozzie Pickett. A true livewire but the match review people might just short-circuit him for next week. 2 - Clayton Oliver. Busy and productive as always. 1 - So many to choose from, but I would go for Kade Chandler, who finally proved he belongs at AFL level. Unlucky to miss out: almost everyone else in an excellent team performance.

Life is too short to waste time hating other clubs and their supporters. Sadly, we just have to admit that the Cats are worthy premiers for 2022. But at least Melbourne still have more VFL/AFL premierships than Scott's mob.

I hate to admit this but the Cats played a brand of football tonight that we never saw from the Demons this season. Not a weakness anywhere.

The usual second-half fadeout. Outrun by fitter opponents. Incredibly woeful kicking at goal. How many actually finished out of bounds? Same old bombing into forward packs with the customary result. Salem a mere shadow of the player he once was. Pickett -- couple of magic touches, utterly useless for the rest of the game. Fumbles and missed passes galore. Goodwin, unable to think on his feet and change tactics, totally outsmarted by Fagan.. Please just let Jackson go and get the best deal we can. Spargo, Melksham and Neal-Bullen a long way from premiership-winning material. Sadly, our straight-sets exit was richly deserved.

The usual second-half fadeout. Outrun by fitter opponents. Incredibly woeful kicking at goal. How many actually finished out of bounds? Same old bombing into forward packs with the customary result. Salem a mere shadow of the player he once was. Pickett -- couple of magic touches, utterly useless for the rest of the game. Fumbles and missed passes galore. Goodwin, unable to think on his feet and change tactics, totally outsmarted by Fagan.. Please just let Jackson go and get the best deal we can. Spargo, Melksham and Neal-Bullen a long way from premiership-winning material. Sadly, our straight-sets exit was richly deserved.

6 May - kept Buddy in check throughout. 5 Oliver - what a workhorse! 4 Fritsch - great early but faded. 3 Petty - kept cool under huge pressure at times. 2 Brayshaw - solid performance. 1 Take your pick.

Outfought, outmarked, outrun and outcoached by a vastly superior team on the night. In a nutshell, totally outplayed. Only plus was Steven May's superb job on Buddy. TMac surely has to be considered for next week.

I can see why the club does not want any distractions ahead of the finals. But if Mark Robinson in the Herald Sun (below) is correct, the AFL does not believe any penalty should be imposed for a slur as low as you can get: The sledge by Dayne Zorko to Harrison Petty was something like this: I hope your mother dies. It’s far from ideal and the response from the teary Petty naturally sent Melbourne and the AFL into immediate investigative mode and the Lions into immediate apology mode, first on the ground on Friday night and again on Saturday morning via a press release. Zorko is a classic case of white line fever. It is said he is a decent bloke off the field, but on it, and as we’ve all seen, he becomes crazily competitive. Still, hoping someone’s mother dies prompts several questions. 1. Who thinks about saying that to anyone, in any environment? 2. Just because Petty wanted the issue to go no further, why didn’t the AFL punish the Lions captain for conduct unbecoming? 3. Why hasn’t the AFLPA condemned Zorko for his comments? Because if a fan said that to a player via social media, the PA would have kittens. It was appalling from Zorko and there’s no chance he will be captain of the club next year. As for the AFL, they will have their reasons for not punishing him, but they can’t let it go. How can this possibly go unpunished?

No travel from now on whatever happens, and no early encounter with Geelong or Collingwood. The perfect outcome of this weekend's round. And depending on the fixturing, Papley could miss out in the qualifying final. That would certainly be a big loss for Sydney but fixture dates should be set without any consideration of any club's injuries or suspensions, which are a normal part of the game.

Salem for Bowey seems the only possible change given that Hunt had his best game in ages. Bit sorry for Jordon, who has been a regular starter but will probably miss out on finals.

Kozzie's electric first half, rock solid defence from May, Petty and Lever, vastly improved delivery into the forward 50, ferocious contest work from Oliver, Viney and Petracca, accurate goalkicking and season's best performances from Rivers and Hibberd, who once again blotted out Charlie Cameron. Add in Jackson's return to his best which gave Max freedom to harass the Brisbane defence, and we couldn't ask for anything more.

It's a case of horses for courses. If Harmes can mininise Neale's influence the change will be justified, however unlucky Jordon is entitled to feel. Bit worried about Spargo, though. His impact in recent games has been minimal.

The grounds for an appeal against a tribunal decision are extremely limited. A player can appeal on one or more of the following grounds: An error of law has occurred; The decision is so unreasonable that no tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it; The classification of the offence by the tribunal was manifestly excessive or inadequate; The sanction imposed by the tribunal was manifestly excessive or inadequate. Can't see how any of those would stand a chance of success. If this act had been done by a fringe player, I doubt if it would even have got as far as the tribunal.

The selection dilemma is that neither Harmes nor Bedford have looked like players who would actually be game-changers, whle Bowey had to be dropped after a couple of indifferent performances. For all his faults Ben Brown offers far more than Weideman, and it would be asking a lot of Van Rooyen to make his debut at this critical stage of the season. And Pickett is an enigma. He can be an excitement machine with his bursts of brilliance but he frequently mistimes his acrobatic leaps and does a fair amount of aimless running. Unless Goodwin can sort out the season-long problems in the forward line, I fear any changes are much like moving the deckchairs on the Titanic. Chandler may be an option for Sparrow, but for a coach as conservative as Goodwin it is too late in the season for the left-field proposal in some quarters to bring Joel Smith in, possibly for Melksham. All in all, I don't envy Goodwin's task at the selection table next week. Given that Collingwood are now a pretty good outfit, I doubt if there will be many changes after such a close game.

One team kicked straight from fewer opportunities, the other had more shots at goal and kicked erratically. In a close game, that always makes the difference. Misses by Gawn and Petracca were particularly costly, as was Petty's idiotic push which led to the clinching goal. And the final-quarter fadeout raises yet again the question as to whether the players are as fit as when Burgess was in charge of that department. I suspect not.

Hard to leave anyone out after a great team effort, but sadly there is one exception. Apart from his goal, you would hardly have known Sam Weideman was playing. Big Ben has not set the world on fire this season but he does at least have some presence up front. Jackson injury a bit mysterious. I couldn't spot him during the team song. Harmes for Sparrow or ANB?

6 Viney - brutal in the contest. 5 Brayshaw - thank goodness he's staying. 4 Petracca - revelled in the wet. 3 OIiver - always in the action. 2 Petty - worked superbly with May and Lever. 1 May - but plenty of other candidates too.

Reaction to commentators will always vary. However, it is fair to say that Daisy's comments are measured and based on genuine knowledge of the game. A more general problem with female commentators is that when they get excited they tend to screech in a high-pitched frenzy that assaults the ears. But for analysis and comment, gender is irrelevant.

6 Viney 5 Petracca 4 Oliver 3-2-1 No candidates

Smashed in the contest, wasteful with poor disposals, outplayed aerially, outcoached and worst of all outrun by the Cats' supposed squad of geriatrics. And there are not many selection options, given that without T-Mac that was close to our best 22. Looking at the tough run home, considerable improvement will be needed to stay in the top four. All in all, a disappointing reality check.

Like many others, I have my doubts about Sam's long-term future. He does seem to be stuck at a level somewhere between the VFL and AFL. But cut him some slack tonight. Asked to play a role for which he is not really suited he did his best. You can't ask for more.