layzie

Certainly can. It started as a labrum tear while playing indoor soccer and then x-rays showed the genetic ‘weird shaped’ hips where there isn’t quite enough room in the joint for the hip to move as freely. This inhibits the natural range of motion to an extent, for example sitting on the ground when you bring the knee up to a 90 degree angle and then pull it over the opposite leg the range of motion is quite a bit less than the average. So had the re-shaping done in the form of a hip arthroscopicy. I was told if there were any issues on the other side that I’d have to have that side done as well but none thus far 6 years later! It’s about 2-3 months off running, hydrotherapy and plenty of exercises to build the strength back up. I remember seeing Jobe Watson when he had his hip issue doing some kind of rehab where he’d throw a medicine ball against a wall side on and thinking what a great idea that was! But I digress. Definitely a good idea to have the procedure done now I reckon.

Was under the impression the winner of his signature would need to offer a 5 year contract and had St Kilda in the box seat UNTIL this news about Hawthorn came about.

I’ve had one of those! They do exist

Like others this appointment left me feeling weird initially. The work that PJ had done to build his club back up really had me wanting a ‘mini-PJ’ understudy who knew the way. Pert, while a credible CEO in his own right I just feel will come in and stamp his authority. The ship needs to sail on to an extent and I did feel that Mahoney was the guy for this. Im warming to the Pert idea more but I really hope we have put our club in the right hands. Big shoes to fill

Barry Richardson the Richmond premiership player and physiotherapist played the majority of his career without an ACL. Said he had to learn to jump off the opposite knee and things like that. Not ideal but possible I guess.

Excellent time to reflect. What do you rate our performance out of 10 to this point? Why? I’d go with a 7/10 and I think that’s more than fair. Haven’t beaten anyone amazing but I have to take into account getting the job done against sides we should beat. I think this is a step forward considering we would have fluffed a few of those games last year. Credit where its due. Which player has impressed you the most? Clarry. The stuff this guy is doing week in week out under 50 games is nothing short of amazing. Jesse needs a mention too as he’s really stepped it up. Which draftee has made the biggest impact? Bayley Fritsch. Had a great feeling about the guy and was stoked when he fell to us in the draft. Looks a natural. What has been our best win to date? Has to be the Adelaide game. We were really on and looked like a side. 4 quarters of great footy. Which player(s) needs to improve in the second half of the year? Christian Petracca. What has been our most disappointing performance? The Hawks game. No contest. Where do you see us finishing? Give a win/loss and finishing position 13 wins, maybe 7th or 8th. Fancy us to still finish Top 2? No I really don’t and haven’t at any point this year. We are a good footy side and I see us around the 6th to 8th mark as a solid final 8 team but I really don’t think we mix it with the big boys yet Reckon we'll fall at the last hurdle again? My head says we’ll make the 8. I think we’ll have the points in the bank to avoid the heartbreak again. But my heart and my guts are questioning why as a Melbourne fan I would think that.

A fair and thought out answer there. I agree Bernie has his moments but surely he hits more passes than he misses? I think the clangers just stick out because when they happen they are completely woeful. I'll admit this supports your argument somewhat. I do agree that the high half back role is one of the easier positions, hence why so many guys retire there. I do see where you're coming from but I still feel Jordan is a required player.

Who are the replacements for Lewis and Vince though? Grape said it on the podcast a few weeks ago and he was right. We ideally would have other guys there but we don't have the guys who are ready to be those composed and steady BP/HBF types. Wanna throw Wagner into that role? Sure, its your funeral.

Pretty much the case unfortunately. The opportunities were rarely there to control possession early on. Not much you can do when you get smoked in the clearances and their pace and ball movement is lightening. It's definitely something I'd like to see a bit more of going forward. Our game style is very focused on doing our thing and doing it well, which I like. However the times will come where the opposition has a run on and we just need to throw a spanner and jam their bike spokes.

Its games like this where if the other team is getting a run on I’d like to see us do more to slow the game down and frustrate our opponents. Our game style when up and running is great and the quick ball movement is the thing of beauty to watch. But it feels like when we are down and things aren’t going our way we rely on this to get back into the game while the opposition momentum just continues for what feels like forever. I understand this isn’t for everyone but I’d like to see a bit more lock down in these situations. Keeping possession, making the opposition starve a bit. In other words, frustrate the heck out of them. I’m not talking about full on Ross Lyon 101 but to be able to do this when required would make us much harder to play against.

Pretty poor to see this again today. And then seeing droves of Collingwood supporters who’d just been to the function take up 3 or 4 rows of reserved seats.

A general negative tone to the 3 word analysis and rightfully so. Thought Smith was ok. Probably the only one I disagreed with

6. T-Mac 5. Oliver 4. Jones 3. Fritsch 2. Jetta 1. Lewis

What can you say? We were massively shown up today. Collingwood were way too good. Smashed the clearances and ran hard and fast. We got burned by their pace so much it wasn’t funny. They were able to hit up open targets at will and heir skills were bang on. Every single time we looked like getting our game going they had the answer and held firm. They just wouldn’t budge, because of this it never ever felt like we were going to win. Our ball movement has been something to salivate about lately, today was the first game for a while that we pretty much got a taste of our own medicine in that area. Nothing much more to say. They made mince meat out of us. And that all too familiar feeling of leaving the G after being beaten by Collingwood and dealing with those scummy fans. I’ll get my coat

Collingwood have played the game very well. We had no answer. Reality check time, we're a good side but have a bit of a way to go.

Pretty nervy about today. Hope it all goes to plan. Need to put some time into atom Phillips he’s been getting away with murder lately. Starts with Big Max, let’s go Dees time to make a statement!

Really get the feeling Billings would do well in a better team. Clearly has talent

The game against the bulldogs hammered this home once and for all for me. The number of times he extracted it and his lightening hands started something was incredible.

Leadership material in spades. Only gonna come back stronger.

I can’t remember who it was but last year they had that excellent spreadsheet of the out of contract players, players signed till 19, 20 and so on. Would love to see it again!

One on one machine. His performance on Sat was what you go to the footy for.

It's looking like Frost will get the keys first but I'm warming to the idea of Keilty. Good size and from I've seen good in the air. Would like to see it

That sport is made for television. I'd like to see what the crowd attendances are

That’s a good point but I’m sure it was a tough road back for him too which was merely what I was saying about Jake.

Absolutely tragic. 2 recos at 22 that’s a hard road back.