dimmy

I must admit I have not been a Lever fan, but fair enough , the writing is on the board so really good for him and reflects the work he has put in. Stephen May has been our Defence Leader and is a gun. He and Jake combine really well PLUS he provides terrific support for our young defence. We forget that Trent RIvers is a second year player, Petty is realistically only in his first/second year of playing and young Bowey is a beauty but still a first year player. Christian Salem was a bit stiff, would have only come down to how far he kicks the ball cf Rich. I will accept the decision there without rancor. Oliver's mini highlights indicate how far he has improved this year (and he must put in a power of work to maintain his workload) Trac is class. Everyone at Melbourne looks up at Maxy. He has the group humming ( If only he could kick straight !!!(under pressure)) The thing about the AA nominations from MFC was that there are a lot of players not mentioned & who will never be mentioned BUT ARE INTEGRAL TO THE SIDE. And at times we are a little/hugely critical of some of them, but they provide the glue to enable the more gifted players to shine. Just think of Harmesy efforts against Libba the first time around, the cameos of Spargó & Kossie, The improvement of Jackson, Rivers , Jordon,Sparrow. Tmac's form has been a bonus this year because he and Fritsch carried the big blokes role in the fwd line for the first half of the year. The wingers club where Gus has put his ego to the side to be part of a special team and Langers has been a revelation. Can people remember ALL the players in the great Hawthorn , RIchmond and Brisbane sides !!! You could pick another AA side which would still be a sensational side. What a reward for Aliir Aliir and Bayley Dale who have made the big jump into "big kids"Territory

The players obviously respect her. After all she has been/is a legend of Women's Footy and has a brain. She was probably born 10 years too early. Imagine her coming into the current draft ( She would be a female Robby Flower) She at least asks Footy Questions/Issues, not the crap that comes out of some commentators (with Faux burnt tongues) mouths.

Who is Brian Taylor ???

Absolutely agree. We have done (and still doing) the development on these two blokes. Get real !!! Why trade down ????

Admittedly we have not been good in the first half, BUT too much negativeism is floating in the place. !!!!!! Losing at Centre bounce => Defence not ready => easy goals . Quite simple really.

Considering he was a Cat B (I think) Rookie ,you would expect him to take a while to a) develop & b) to adjust to the change in pace of the game. Think how much Petty has come along & developed, just through confidence in being on the ground. On a different player young Bowey is adjusting to the pace of his opponents quite well and seems to be fitting in to the level be it this year or in the near future. The other thing is that we had 2 first year players (Jordon & Bowey) and four "second year players" ( Jackson, Rivers & Kossie plus Sparrow ) in the side today plus the "Developers in Petty & Smith . Pretty good I would say !!!

6 Clarrie 5 Nibbler 4 Harmsey 3 Trac 2 Jacko 1 Gawny Apologies : Rivers & May

The smothers came about from some of our players inability to kick both sides of the body which gives them 2 goes at us ! e.g.AND moved onto Left foot ....clear, but then swung back to attampt Right Foot .......and caught !!! Otherwise I felt he played pretty well tonight.

Jeffrey (Woofer) Guild (RIP): North Melbourne

Viney : Equal Accumulate more DIstribute Clarrie : Lower your eyes Kozzie : 300 Set shot practice Gus: 500 set shot practice Brown : Stay away from TMac Tmac: Stay away from Brown Petty: Keep improving

6 Salem 5 Petty 4 Petracca 3 Gawn 2 Hunt 1 Fitsch Lever cannot hold a direct opponent, Viney cannot distribute, Clarrie bombs-> Fwds suffering, Jackson, Brown & Mc Donald running in different directions

Get Jordan Spieth.

Shift Viney to small fwd (provide tackling pressure ) ala Cyril (but not as quick !!) and use Kozzie as an On Baller (outside Mid)

I am writing this from Koowingebora, looking for players to fill all the changes you want to make. In the paper this morning "The Koowingebora Chronicle"ther is this side called Melbourne on top of the ladder. Some people must have done something right over a period of time to get there. Like Jordan (Spieth) we can all miss 2 footers.

Too much inaccurate kicking from set shots . Not enough kicking to people. DIfference between Spargo & Salems disposal ánd the "bombers". When we play badly we "BOMB"the ball forward. When we play well we move the ball fwd. It does not matter who the foorwards are if the ball comes in like it did tonight then even Lockett, Dunstall & Coleman would be struggling...........and we do not have any L D & C.. Plus the sides that have worked us out : Adelaide, Collingwood & HAwthorn have played keepings off and taken our tall defenders out of the game !!!!

Yeh, Bring back Doug Heywood & Percy Beames with Alan McIlvray for special effects. Eddis McEverywhere thinks he is broadcasting on radio whereas TV allows people to see the actual contest. WHere commentators (the good ones) are handy when they present the wider picture that is not shown on our screens at the time i.e. when a side gets a really good ball movement down the ground. TV does not show that very often.

Have been arguing for some time that JV clogs our midfield up. He would be brilliant as a small fwd. He would have a more restricted role and be more explosive, whereas in the Midfield he does not "clear the area" and it (the midfield ) becomes clogged up

And the reason we play 1 loose in defence is that Lever cannot lock an opponent down . He is an excellent intercept mark, but does get lost a little when dealing with a direct opponent

Salem TMac May Gawny Petracca (apart from turnovers) Oliver (especially after 1/2 time)

I know this is the greatest catastrophe in the history of Mankind but : Too much see ball get ball in the middle. Lever is one of our strengths, but his decision making is sometimes perplexing. A few times today (and many times previously) he continually ignores a shorter free option( in the corridor) preferring to "bomb"it to a contest (or anybody) . He can dispose of the ball well but seems reluctant to use some finesse. Jayden Hunt , I am sure, in the benefit of hindsight he may have not tried to do too much (and paid the penalty each time) Kicking for goal. We work hard to get the ball there and then ....... This what nearly killed us last week too. We have the best CHF in the league, but he is playing as the sole fwd. Give TMac (at CHF)some space because he uses the ball well and is very very mobile & big. He always provides a contest . See above re the inability of the smaller Fwds to match their earlier season work. With only one big bloke providing a contest there is limited supply to them. GWS are not a bottom side.

Obviously we lost by 50 points !!! Probably from trying to do the right thing, but I agree

It is an old cricket saying, that sometime our biggest strength is our greatest weakness. It is well worth noting that Lever is a terrific intercept player. The problem thewre is that he is not a good 1 on 1 palyer and yesterday exemplified that. Collingwood used short low disposals to move into the fwd line and our defence were waiting for the ball to be in the air. Secondly Clarrie and Trac are sensational; footballers, but they were up against Pendlebury , Sidebottonm & De Goey on a day out. However they did not lose the number count, but the quality . As a result our forward line were chasing "bombs" and did not have a real chance. Plus Maynard was briliant yesterday. We need to learn from that.

?

That is so true. Some posters get a ""whipping boy"so that no matter what the player does for a team they get criticised. Some posters, I feel ,look at the stats first and the team efforts second. If anything this year has shown a lot of players doing their team role. The great chinese philosopher Hu Flung Dung once stated : " To be successful ,the sum of the whole has to be greater than the sum of the individual parts"

"Let's not get carried away" but enjoy the ride. I have followed Melbourne since late 40's (years ,not age) and the reason I have done so is because my Uncle (like a father to me) who followed Melbourne since he was at Primary School (a small district PS in the Wimmera) in the 20's and his teacher left the school during the year to go down to Melbourne and played about 20 games. Had a good run in the 60's but have become very patient, but Robbie Flower and Melbourne's rune in the finals in the 80's was an absolute highlight. The pleasing thing about this side is that they back themselves and do not fold. Friday night was the prime example . So I am still hoping