Deeoldfart

6. Scully - Outstanding. To see him directing traffic around the stoppages was awsome for one so young. Our second Rising Star nom. for the season? 5. Grimes - Decision making and execution first class in very tough conditions. So cool under pressure. 4. Trengove - Lots of hard-earned posessions and used them all to advantage. 3. Bate - His best game for the year in conditions that didn't suit him. Really stepped up in our depleted forward half. 2. Bruce - Worked tirelessly and used it well. 1. Warnock - Kept Hall to zero influence. Apologies to Jones, McKenzie, McDonald, Davey and Bennell. The skills, composure and commitment of our youngsters were amazing last night. After the initial disappointment of the loss, I'm now seeing so many positives. The future is indeed rosy.

Yes. The final margin flattered us today.

That sums it up pretty well, but its not just the players names. Yesterday's call was riddled with errors from all the commentators.

6. Green 5. Grimes 4. Dunn 3. Bruce 2. Scully 1. Bartram

Couldn't agree more!

Agree Rogue, but I guess my point was that Barts seems to have worked on his disposal and it looks to have improved. Maybe Bucks could do the same(?). Don't get me wrong though, I'm pleased that Bucks is now a 'pie, and his departure created space on our list to draft (Fitz?).

Very true, but it wasn't very long ago that that we were saying similar things about Clint Bartram. Anyway, good luck to Bucks at his new home. (He didn't make the cut by the way, and will be an emergency on Sunday).

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.