Deeoldfart

Me too!

No mention of Rohan Bail. I know he went off early with a knock to the head, and didn't return. I heard later that he was taken to hospital for scans. Does anyone know the outcome? He's had a very ordinary run with injuries since he was drafted. Also, has anyone heard the nature / extent of big Spencer's knee injury?

On 'The Winners' this evening Dwayne Russell said Col was likely to miss one or two weeks.

That's certainly the way I read it DJ16.

The greatest omission from the Sheahan's list in my mind is the late Ian 'Tiger' Ridley. Our #1 rover during the 'glory days'(courage personified and the ultimate team man), coach for three years (admittedly during leaner times)and went on to serve as Club Chairman. An outstanding contributor to the Melbourne Football Club both on and off the field. I hope his overall contribution wouldnt be marked too harshly by the events of 1996.

I expect Scully and Grimes to be elite players in the competition, but just at the moment they do turn the ball over a bit by foot. I can forgive them that, and I'm confident that they will weed this out of their games as they gain experience, and become more familiar with the pace and pressure of playing at the top level.

I'm not sure about them being 'season defining', but these are important games for us IMO. If we lose them both (especially if we are not competitive and lose them badly), it could set back some of the progress we have made so far. On the other hand, the confidence our young team would take from two wins would be enormous. We all agree that this is a 'development year', and our coach has made it very clear that getting games into our youngsters is a priority, but it's hard to deny that consecutive wins against strong opposition would enhance our self-belief, and have a positive influence on the 'development' of our playing group.

Happy to contribute to such a worthy cause!

I think Jordie McK. was still out there at the end, but that may be because we had limited (fit) options.

Ha!ha! Perfect response!

Exactly right E25.

Agree. Well balanced and objective article. Bring on Carlton alright! Is there a chance we will get 50,000+ at the G next Saturday? .... and isn't it great that our team selection meetings are getting more difficult by the week?

Early days, but the Brock trade is already looking like a master-stroke.

No he didn't! He was one of our few winners today

6. Green 5. Frawley 4. Gysberts 3. Davey 2. Moloney 1. ??

Very ordinary journalism, pandering to the local readership.

Agree. We have been prepared to make hard and often unpopular decisions with an eye to the future, but we have done so with the utmost decency. Compare this with Tyson Edwards scenario, which was a PR disaster for the Adelaide Football Club. Edit: I suppose the departure of CJ might be an exception in our case, but the circumstances were quite different.

Time will tell, but I think you might be right Akum. Nev doesn't have the quite pace or silkiness of his cousins, but he has steely determination and ferocity at the ball and man (tackling) which could see him clearly in our best 22 in the years ahead. Appears to be a smart footballer with a great work ethic, and will undoubtedly get the best out of himself.

I'll double that!

Love it!!

I think it is ideal, for the reasons I stated at post #47.

Couldn't agree more!!

............. but the fact is we didn't lose, and there were so many other positives to come out of the Darwin game, I personally hope it becomes a regular fixture (preferably timed immediately before the mid-season break). ........... and further, I don't think "we are basically conceeding 2 days before the game" but you obviously are.

Totally agree. It was planned from the start that they would be rested around now, and this timing seems ideal to me. Freshen them up before two tough encounters against the Blues and C'wood. and then they have another week off for the mid-season break. Excellent player management for the younger bodies IMO.

Thanks for clarifying E25. I was obviously blind-sided by the ambiguous wording on the MFC site.