Dee-tonator

So far that looks like a practice match in which an AFL team is thrashing VFL opponents.

A fact that opponents have unfortunately recognized as a weakness that can be exploited despite his other positive qualities.

Captain's challenge, similar to the system used in rugby league, would be an excellent innovation. With a maximum of two unsuccessful challenges per game, it could help avoid a lot of anger and bitterrness. I don't envy any umpire, who sees fast-moving action from one angle only, with his view sometimes impeded by players. Fans of all clubs naturally tend to remember mistakes that hurt their own side, while forgetting the errors that hit the opposition.

6 Lever - made amends for last week's shocker. 5 McVee - calm and efficient. 4 Oliver - showed pleasing energy. 3 Viney - strong in the contest. 2 Rivers - adds much-needed speed in midfield. 1 Langdon - our running machine.

Without him we would have been slaughtered again. Not surprisingly, he ran out of gas towards the end, but the question I would ask is why the club did not secure a back-up ruckman before letting Grundy go. Goodwin has made it clear that he would not even consider Fullarton for the role.

May - below his best. Lever - rock solid showing. Bowey - lacked physical presence. McDonald - slowing up rapidly. McVee - usual calm display. Langdon - ran heart out. Windsor - offered little threat. Moniz-Wakefield - showing good signs. Oliver - energy was encouraging. Rivers - held his own. Neal-Bullen - tireless but ineffective. Billings - back to VFL. Pickett - glimpses of class. Van Rooyen - never got going. Gawn - showed some spirit. Viney - good contest work. Woewodin - needs to improve. Petty - unsure of role. Fritsch - couldn't find space. Melksham - quiet all night. Chandler - classy late goal. Bailey Laurie - jury still out.

In the end it could have gone either way. We lost against a top-four team because of some crucial errors, not because any of the umpires cheated. That's tough to take but hardly a reason for some of the venom being aimed at the players.

Good fightback at the end, but you just can't concede four soft goals in five minutes and hope to win a tightly contested match. And Max, not surprisingly, looked cooked in the final quarter. A big opportunity missed, unfortunately.

On a serious note, some of the venom being aimed at the players should be reserved for the club management. Imagine what our year would have been like with no backup ruckman if Max had gone down with a season-ending injury in the first few rounds. If Fullarton is not the answer, why did we sign him?

Votes? For that performance? Maybe 1 to Langdon for trying to teach Fritsch that the game involves running, chasing and tackling.

Was Lever Fremantle's biggest asset? Was Fritsch told "always jog, never run?" Was Pickett there as an official observer? Is Sparrow the slowest midfielder in the AFL? Does Goodwin actually think Petty is an adequate ruckman? Is Oliver still worth his enormous contract? And is anyone taking responsibility for the fact that the cupboard at Casey is bare?

Even if the umpires had cheated for us we would have lost today. Totally gutless performance.

Never has the absence of one game-changer from a team been more glaringly exposed than today. Or the failings of a club which signed a backup but then decided that under no circumstances will he ever be given a game.

Shambolic. If Goodwin persists with the lunacy of (mis)using Petty in the ruck this will end up as a 100-point demolition. Sparrow and Bowey, among others, might as well have stayed in Melbourne for all they have brought to the game so far.

AFL's "expert" tipsters this week: Essendon 11-0 Adelaide Geelong 11-0 Western Bulldogs Hawthorn 6-5 Collingwood Fremantle 11-0 Melbourne

On the field Max is a wonderful player and an inspiring leader. Off the field he comes across as the kind of person everyone would love to have as a teammate. Even to suggest he has an inflated ego is absurd.

Wakefield-Moniz may not have been among the standouts tonight, but for my money he has already shown enough to suggest he's a better prospect than either Woewodin or Laurie. Any thoughts?

Special praise for Van Rooyen for outstanding effort in the ruck, which helped turn the tide after Petty's woeful first-quarter effort. Add Petty's underwhelming performances as a forward and his trade value must have dropped by at least 50 per cent this season. Maybe he needs to return to the backs to move his game forward.

6 Rivers - all-round excellence. 5 - Pickett - always a threat. 4 Langdon - never stopped running. 3 Van Rooyen - great rucking effort. 2 McVee - cool under pressure. 1 Neal-Bullen - snuffed out Merrett. Unlucky: almost everyone else, especially Melksham.

1. The Grundy experiment was worth a try but didn't work out. 2. What AFL-standard ruckman would want to join a club where he would normally have no chance of playing AFL football? 3. Fullarton might just surprise everyone.

Only three scenarios this weekend: Big win - season still alive. Narrow win: season on life support. Defeat: season over.

Jack Viney wouldn't even be scared against a steamroller.

Points to ponder: 1. Forward structure still a major problem. Could Melksham's return make any difference? 2. Last quarter showed how much we have been missing Lever's calm defending. 3. North showing definite signs of improvement. 4. Tholstrup one to watch for the future. 5. But for Kynan Brown's never-say-die chase and tackle we would probably have lost. 6. Kozzie still an enigma. Cameos of absolute brilliance, then invisible for longish stretches. 7. Big worry that Goodwin seemed clueless as the tide turned in the final quarter. 8. Will Oliver ever fully regain his dominant pre-troubles form?

6 Viney - contest work outstanding. 5 Rivers - classy performance. 4 Sparrow - lifted his game. 3 May - won key battles. 2 Gawn - another solid outing. 1 Tholstrup - looks a real prospect. Special award: Brown - what a chase and tackle!

Does anyone know whether Petty prefers playing as a forward or in defence? Lately he is performing like a man who would rather be on a beach in Honolulu than playing AFL football. Maybe he and Goodwin are on different wavelengths.