Go the Biff

In the Neeld years. I think we had 75 in the duration of his tunure

It’s more than just Reiwoldt and Montagna. Dempster, Gilbert, Fisher are all inching toward the veteran stage but are playing good footy. After Jones & Vince we have who ? Pedersen ? Heretier ? So to the original point " While their more senior players are better than ours " I'd agree that they are. Comfortably. Added to that Armitage is 27 as is Geary. Jack Steven is 26. We're still thin in this age group

You're right - Oliver wouldn't have helped with run but the damage was done in close. In the second quarter when the tide really turned we got smashed in clearances and Clarry would have helped there. I understand resting him last week and managing his loads but I was surprised he didn't come straight back in. I think he makes us a better team It's amazing how much better your outside game looks when you are winning on the inside

Effort more than anything. Summed up by Weller's goal. At around 14:50 to play in the 3rd Jeffy puts one out on the full & Hogan gives away a free. Watts. not really renowned as our hardest defender is between FF and CHF. The Saints take the ball around the wing, assisted by a missed tackle from Vince. By the time they get it to Weller, Watts has run to be the second deepest defender - Bugg the deepest in a 1 on 2. Watts has run past at least 15 of out blokes to assist the (missing) defence. The behind the goals vision of our midfielders & defenders jogging towards the Saints end is damning. Today, the effort wasn't there. I suspect there is a bit in this. Compounded by a bit of inexperience in Hunt & Wagner. Also, after a couple of good years Dunn is cheating again - looking for frees, looking to avoid contests in the air which doesn't help given he is supposed to be a leader. The zone defence is the way to go but it needs to be flexible and it needs leadership. At the moment it appears blokes have set zones. If I'm in the opposition box I'm looking at who we have where and then shuffle my forwards to get a mismatch - which is how you get the likes of Jetta and Hunt standing Reiwoldt. So it needs a bit of re-tooling. You can still play zone with one or two specific matchups and your zone adjusts accordingly. Today, in my view, McDonald should have been on Reiwoldt, wherever he went - not chasing the likes of Ross & Billing up to the wing. I hope they adjust it next week because Lynch will have a day out if he's not competing with someone approximately his size. Many of our supporters continue to forget where we are coming from and assess the team on number of wins or whether we play finals. I couldn't give a flying duck about that. I want to see our defensive zone functioning more efficiently by years end. I want improvement in our forward structure and entry. I want to see our mids continue to improve their two way running & decision making. I'm less interested in the results match by match and more interested in the trend. Like it or not, 2016 is still very much a development year for MFC. There will be highs & lows and there will be those gaps between best and worst football both from individuals and from the team as a whole. It happens to developing teams - ask the Saints last week ! While frustrating at times, it beats the hell out of being stuck in the Neeld years with no direction and no hope.

There's some terrific footage of the two of them when the were drafted. The bond was apparent then. Funny buggers taking the pi55 out of each other. They will play a lot of footy together over the next ten years. Like many though, I don't think it will be this week. For whatever reason, fitness, position being played in, interrupted preparation, Gus is out of form. Not just his lack of involvement, there was the dropped mark, missed handballs. Very un-Brayshaw like. So for mine he goes back to Casey to run into some form. Shouldn't take too long. He's too good a player On the Frost / Pedo debate I favour Pedersen if it comes to a choice. I've suggested that Frost is way overrated on this forum and have questioned what he brings to the table aside from a lot of chasing. In the past two weeks though he's showed glimpses of what he might offer as a hit-up forward target. His hands though make Dawes look like Dunstall. Hopefully that area of his game will improve with experience and confidence. In comparison I think Pedersen offers an equal contribution forward but is better in the relief ruck role. He works better around the ground and gets back quickly to assist the defence where he has been taking contested marks We've got 3 "second tall forward" types that each have different shortcomings. If we had one with Dawes' nous and aggression, Frost's pace and athleticism and Pedo's hands and feet you would have a helluva player !

That's just incorrect. Salem came up for treatment / assessment, warmed up along the boundary (in front of where I was sitting) and went back on. Was still on when the final siren sounded. FWIW one of the radio stations said he'd gone off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Can't have been much in it if he played the game out

My eyes aren't what they once were but I don'r see Joel Smith named in either side

People are either forgetting this or have understandably blocked it out Take your pick - our 0-9 start to 2012 or if you want a shortened version, revisit rounds 1 & 2 of 2013 We were shite. Utter, utter shite. To think that could have been turned around in a year is laughable It's a credit to Roos and Jackson that they were prepared to take the time to do a proper sustainable rebuild And this is still nowhere near the finished product. It's just the first glimmer of light at what's been a long and farking horrible tunnel

He's quicker on the draw than me. Superfluous post deleted !

He has.

M_9 mentioned that Moir was Hunt's uncle in the pre-game thread which was the first I'd heard of it My memories are that Andy Moir was a very talented but frustrating player. Typical of many half forward flankers of the era he could star one week and kick a bag and then barely get a touch for a month. Could take a fair hanger too

Darcy Moore had no choice. Peter didn't play enough games for MFC to qualify Darcy as a Melbourne father/son

If Moore goes out it's likely he will be replaced by Cox - who is taller again !

Same here. I have a sense of foreboding similar to the Round 2 debacle. 'Pies are being belted from pillar to post in the media. I am bloody sick of playing in other team's "statement games". I wonder if Buckley visits Terry Wallace to see if he has any of those "crunch balls" left If I see a double page feature in Sunday's paper on one of our players I'll know we are in trouble

I've seen him catch a footy - and he can clunk it. Good hands overhead. If he gets deep forward, defenders best pay him respect or he may well get on the scoreboard a bit

Didn't know that. Andy Moir was a very talented but frustrating player. Typical of many half forward flankers of the era he could star one week and kick a bag and then barely get a touch for a month. Could take a fair hanger too

A myth. Frost rarely lays a tackle. Runs around a lot. Quite quickly. Not sure what else he brings to the table. Pederson is no tackling machine either but when he does they stick and he is more of an offensive threat.

Worked for me. Got it for NAB3. Surprisingly seamless, Loaded on the daughter's iPad as well which is a bit easier on the eyes when viewing. Don't know how one can enjoy watching footy on a phone

So people want to see him in the side on the back of what was little more than a training session with primarily Casey players. Fools. I want to see him for the next ten years, not the next ten minutes He'll play when the club thinks he's fit, in form and ready

Saw him many times and he and his band the Foster Brothers / Baxter Funt were one of the tightest & best live bands I've ever seen & heard. He was a terrific entertainer with a great sense of humour. RIP It been a shite week

Was fortunate enough to go to this as well and it was a brilliant day. My daughter who was 17 at the time came along & was blown away by both Elvis & the Falcons. To the extent that when I went to see the Black Sorrows at the Caravan Club she asked if she could come too. Which she also loved (aided by the fact that they snuck a few Falcons songs into their set) Agree on Steve Cummings - he had a shocker. It put me off going to see the Sports reunion shows. One of my favourite musical memories is a Sports gig at Martini's and I decided to leave my recollections unsullied

There's no such thing as Pivot. Nor Centre. Nor ruck rover. Not any more. The game has moved on from the old team sheets you used to check in the milk bar window to see where you were picked On the Frost forward or back thing....... Frosty gets a lot of love on here for a bloke who's effectively done nothing. All we've really seen him do is run fast. Briefly. On Garland I noted he was one of few to give run out of the backline on the weekend. He offers a fair bit more than 3rd man up. On the other HBF I'm hoping White develops over the course of the year. I realise Salem is earmarked for that spot but eventually I'd like to see him further up the ground as I believe he can be very damaging forward of centre. As to the question of how far ahead Jones & Grimes are of Billy Stretch, I'd say about a year. In Jones case he gives us run which we lack. Our spread has been dismal. Good signs on the weekend but we still need runners. Matty Jones is no Peter Matera on the wing and will continue to make skill errors & the occasional blundered decision but if he can fix his appalling tackling technique & stop giving away cheap frees, he brings value. Billy should staple himself to Jones at training until he can match him in tank, repeat running, speed, defensive running etc. Because in skills Stretch already has Matt well covered Grimes on a wing is a wait and watch for mine. I also suspect wings will be rotated more on field this season with the interchange restrictions. Guys like Kent, Garlett & Kennedy will move up for short spells, rotating back through the forward line

This is a fair summation. Nothing is there that cast's new light on Bail's dismissal Yes, it's available on Kindle. $9.95

That had the added bonus of us handing the 'Pies the wooden spoon. Their first I believe

You've done a great job mate. You're right about that scar. Impressive