burnthefushias

It would have been good to see JVR build on his 5 goals but that'll have to wait until next week because Casey have a bye. I don't know how playing a 33 year old who isn't in stellar form himself over our most promising key forward makes sense.

Tholstrup is 19 years old and is 2 games in from a 10 week injury layoff. Might wanna cool your jets on that one

6: Gawn 5: Bowey 4: Rivers 3: Petracca 2: Salem 1: Sparrow

Tough to find just 6, which is nice for a change 6: Gawn 5: Pickett 4: Bowey 3: Rivers 2: Viney 1: Petty

Incredible response, hopefully we can see more of that for the rest of the season because that was very fun to watch

Every year, the worst teams in the competition have good quarters. That doesn't promise improvement, it just means they're AFL players and sometimes things can click. There is nothing of any substance in this email and until results begin to happen, and not 30 minutes every couple of weeks, the president shouldn't be reassuring fans with paragraphs. On the ladder, the team we're most comparable to is West Coast, but the comparison on paper is very different. We are underperforming badly based on personale and that's a hard, simple truth.

The fact we rolled out one key forward who is also expected to play as a back up ruckman was pretty dumb. Get two of Turner, Fullarton or Jefferson in. Expecting that JVR might have a better game today with our second tall being 188cm was a shocking decision. Sparrow should be put on notice, 10 disposals in 2 weeks is simply not good enough. Tagging role last week, no excuses this week. Spargo had a shocking first half but had a good second half. He was brought back too soon off that achilles injury and deserves a chance to build on that. Both games against Fremantle last season we were shredded in clearances. More Pickett, Rivers and Langford, rotate Petracca through and throw Viney on a HFF. I'm beating the same drum but Vines can't keep playing midfield, he's too slow and fumbly. Getting feasted on by quicker, younger and hungrier players. Coaches should consider giving some of our own younger guys such as Lindsay and Windsor a run through there, the latter should be nowhere near the backline. Not sure many of these changes help us defend the oppositions uncontested ball movement through the middle of the ground, that's clearly a system issue and is not an overnight fix. Here's hoping we're not on the end of another bloodbath at the G next week.

6: Langdon 5: Gawn 4: Bowey 3: Salem 2: Oliver 1: Pickett

Brilliant from Melksham

Hopefully this serves as a reminder to some Melbourne fans that despite his poor form he's still a human being. Congrats to Fritta

$2500 sanction reduced to $1500 with an early plea

Melbourne should have focused on young players with potential that were available later in the draft instead of thinking they could bring in guys who struggled to get a game in less talented teams and turn them into something when they were finished products. Especially key position players who sometimes take longer to develop. For example, Josh Treacy was selected in a rookie draft Melbourne passed on. We definitely have some very talented young players coming through, but there are glaring weaknesses in several positions and an overall lack of depth that could take some time to fix.

Thilthorpe is a good example of why some Melbourne fans need to lay off our own young full-forward. Van Rooyen had shown more than Thilthorpe prior to this season and now Thilthorpe has absolutely exploded. It helps being in a good team, and with Melbourne's almost historically bad inside forward 50 efficiency combined with the fact he doesn't have a Tex Walker to learn from or to take attention from defenders, his job isn't an easy one. Not saying there aren't areas he can't improve significantly but he's still only 21 and is being asked a lot of for someone in their 3rd season.

IN: Melbourne's first win of the season OUT: Essendon getting the first pick in the 2025 AFL draft

Those three should be in the centre bounce, Viney should be there for a lot less than half of them, if at all at this point. Oliver is there for his clearance work, Pickett has speed and X factor and Langford for his potential and ball use. Viney simply doesn't have any of those things going for him right now. He's a legend of the club but the coaches aren't doing his longevity any favours by persisting with him in that role.

The one player Goodwin won't give less midfield minutes to is Jack Viney, the guy who is struggling more than anyone else to have any real impact right now. Allowing Geelong to use the short kick from defensive 50, occasionally through the corridor and into the forward line while employing a flimsy zone defense was a baffling decision when that is exactly what they're hoping teams will do. Conversely, Melbourne still just kick it long down the line despite lacking the contested marking as well as the fact the game has completely moved away from that being a successful one wood. Something has to change.

6: Steven May 5: Tom McDonald - 4: Max Gawn 3; Clayton Oliver 2: Christian Petracca 1: Jake Bowey

It does suck to see the team struggling and seemingly unlikely to regain contender status after what many predicted would be a longer premiership window, but at least this team did win a flag. Easy to say it was "only one" but some Melbourne fans had to wait a very long time to see it. There's also quite a few highly regarded young players on the roster, more than you'd normally see for a team two years removed from three consecutive top four finishes, so there are some silver-linings in all of this.

Goodwin's clock is certainly ticking, but the club should be considering hiring a new strength and conditioning coach too. I get that the game is changing, but between the onslaught of injuries and the sharp decline in our contest numbers since 2021, it seems understated how much we miss Burgo.

The only person who thought Viney was going to win the B&F last year was Goodwin. It should have been Gawn by the length of the Flemington straight. Viney almost perfectly encapsulates Melbourne. Repeat contests, effort and emphasis on defense without a plan B, and plan A isn't going to plan right now. I'm not completely writing him off but I do think he should be spending much more time on HF, he's not as clean as he needs to be at ground level, is a liability by foot and is getting burned for speed by some of the younger midfielders in the competition.

My guess is it'll be something along the lines of "learnings, in that space, lost our shape, not where we want to be."

Very slim pickings 6: Langford 5: Bowey 4: Langdon 3: Rivers 2: Gawn 1: Sharp

Well done Langford, he can hold his head high👏

Why is May playing 10 metres ahead of the guy he's 10cm shorter than when he has a strength advantage

Miller having that much space on multiple occasions inside Gold Coasts forward 50 is damning for our midfielders. Zero effort defensively