Monbon

Yep, the hidden injury list has not been taken into account by a lot of gloomers and doomers on this site.

There were many more than 7...

Surely the 'May Issue' has been overblown. No matter what the sport, what the circumstances, if you get a bunch of blokes together, when alcohol is involved, there is and always will be a potential for fireworks. It's hard enough to get a man and his wife to not niggle the bejesus out of each other during their 'team' internment, let alone a room full of Catholic Bishops from different diocese's, let alone a bunch of young blokes, all from different backgrounds and cultures. You imply that all 'Happy' teams contain no friction or personality clashes. May and Melksham are mates again, from what I gather.

I was on the Northern wing. What annoyed me was that Matthews - as usual- got away with it. I'll never forget standing on Camberwell Station listening to the Geelong Hawthorn game on my Trannie - a Trannie was a Transistor in those days - on the famous day Matthews got his comeuppance. After the fireworks began, all of the commentators blamed one man - a certain ex Demon, Mr Jackson. Years later I watched the build up to the Bews hit on Matthews. Geelong had kept bombing the ball towards their forward line,, Jackson kept flying, Ayres or anyone else, repeatedly punched the back of Jackson's head, Jackson kept looking at the umpires, it went on like this until Job Jackson blew up. It was all Jackson's fault, see...

Wayne Gordon (RIP), Henry Coles were about the only 2 ex Collingwood players who arrived at Melbourne who did us proud. Dawes and Lumumba tried their butts off, but Dawes was simply a one-dimensional footballer, Lumumba's attention drifted elsewhere. You can add Phil Carman to the list of ex Colly Wobbler duds. Long may the Colly Wobbler curse span tonight.

Keep drinking: you'll feel better soon.

Some 'Facts' re 2022 Draw: First 10 games: North Melbourne: Played Interstate 3 times. * Against 8 Teams vying for the 8. Geelong: Played 2 Teams Interstate * Against teams vying for 8: 5 Collingwood: Same as Geelong.

Upon deaf ears...

Also, what hasn't been mentioned, is that Melbourne had THE toughest draw in the second half of the season. All the games were against top 8 sides. They led most of the games, including the finals at half time. That, plus the ongoing bruising from injuries would sap most teams. In the end, the Draw needs to be universally homogenized. The same question always arises: How many Interstate games do Geelong and the E Coli Wobblers play, year in, year out???????

Sauce? (sic)

We should always keep in mind that 2021 was Dreamtime in regard to Injuries. We began 2022 with 2 of the 6 Backline available. McDonald departed in round 10. Max, Salem, Lever Langdon etc all played under niggled stress. That surely played a part.

And Brussel Sprouts and vegemite sandwiches, not to mention Bex. Whatever happened to the good ole Bex?

And a pile of injuries on top of that. Then came playing underdone essential players like Gawn, Lever, Salem, Langdon etc

Injuries to key players for one. Players carrying injuries when they returned.