Deeoldfart

Good that there were few fumbles in drizzly conditions, and to hear that signs are positive for the rebab group. Thanks for the feedback DD DDC

Good progress this week. Now 31,200.

Agree pb, but some people around here will find that concept impossible.

I agree H. I've only seen glimpses of Jack's talent (in much the same way as we saw early glimpses of Travis Johnstone's talent) but it's enough to satisfy me that he has the potential to be a very, very good AFL player (superstar?). I guess there's always some risk that he won't realise his potential (as per TJ), but I'm reassured by Chris Connolly's words: "He's been outstanding. We can't fault him in any way. What you see is what you get with Jack. He's not ahead of himself in any way shape or form. We profiled him as a person, that's why we took him at No.1, and he's ticking all the right boxes to show that our profiling was right. We've got a pretty special player in our midst and he's going to be around for a very long time." I'm delighd with the way the Club is 'managing' Jack this year, and have every confidence that it will reap long term rewards for Jack, the team and us supporters.

Good post SRO. Thanks for going to the trouble of putting Scott's comments into perspective.

Was injured (hammy?) playing for Casey last w'end.

Will need another contract extension, but will get there IMO.

Martin Flanagan ..... another outstanding story.

or Laurie Fowler ... one of our best and toughest defenders ever? Three times Bluey winner and Big V representative.

Not sure how this is relevant to the topic, but I remember Graeme. Wore #20 if my memory serves me correctly. Premiership player in first season. Was cleared to South Melbourne after a few years with the Dees.

Definitely wouldn't be meddling with our back 6 at present. Riv will have to wait until injury or form dictates his inclusion. The 'form' part of the equation certainly isn't pressing at the moment, and there is no suggestion of injury to anyone in our back half.

Great bit of selfless team play! Put his body on the line knowing he would get crunched, got crunched, and came up trumps.

Exactly! All part of the learning curve.

OK, I'll compromise. He's always been a long kick ...... or alternately, he hasn't always used his good kicking skills to advantage.

Agree Clint. His kicking has been a distinct weakness until this year. In the past he mostly bombed it long, and often to a contest, but recently he has been looking for options (long or short) and usually hitting them. I suspect he put in a lot of work on this over the pre season.

Magnificent piece (looking at the screen through watery eyes).

I reckon there's still a lot of undeveloped talent in Marto, and his size, pace and developing versatility make him a potential asset in what we all hope will be a quality team. I'd love to see him use his bulk and strength more in body on body situations, and hopefully this will come with experience.

Congratulations Jack. Nice recognition of a great start to your AFL career. With an ounce of luck, more prestigious personal and team awards will come your way over your career with the Melbourne Football Club.

May not get the recognition of Scully and Trengove, but will be every bit as important to the success of our midfield as we go forward.

And Aaron Davies. Double pathetic!

First Saturday in June ie. the w'end before QB clash against the Filth. Now wouldn't they be two nice scalps? .... and based on current form, not a totally outrageous proposition!

Agree Swampy, bit it could get there ...... and if it does it will be even better because of the pain and deprivation we have endured since 1964.

I thought we had a slender hope of a small victory against the Lions, but if last night's form is anything to go by, we have progressed far more quickly than I expected. I thought we might win 2 or 3 games in the first half of the season, and 5 or 6 in the second half ...... but if we can maintain our present form and intensity for most of the year(which is probably unlikely given our youth and inexperience), we could press for a finals spot.

Yep ... but it's all part of the game. The great point for me was that it didn't seem to phase Benny one iota, and what's more, he put his body on the line plenty of times during the game.

Great crowd. I hope lots mon-members signed up last night, or plan to do so during the week.