Doggo

It was really nice to watch. To see our young guys actually put it all together for the best part of 4 qtrs... there is defintely a future there. And its good for all us long suffering fans who have to put up with crap from opposition fans every week. The number people i know who don't know a thing in depth about Melbourne or our list, and just bad mouth our kids as complete hacks is amazing. A lot of my mates do it! And these very same people Hawthorn are all over now... I know we've been crap this year, but people have short memories, and in terms of progress in our 'Clarkson/Hawthorn style rebuild', we are progressing very nicely to date. At least on par.

Correct, Dunn tagged Black. I also noticed Buckley running with Notting as defensive wingman/half forward type for a bit. Bode spent the majorty of the 2nd half on the bench i thought? I don't remember seeing him on the field at all after half time. I'm probably wrong, but i didnt notice much of he or Stef Martin in the 2nd half, particularly the last quarter.

6- Brad Green (A class above...) 5- Brad Miller (Inspirational performance. His first real 'Neita-like' game.) 4- Chris Johnson. (Best game. By milessss. Wouldve been BOG if he'd hit more targets.) 3- Col Sylvia. (Almost career-best performance today by Col. Could it be a turning point?) 2- Matt Whelan. (Great to have him back there.) 1- Cameron Bruce. (Disposal was a bit shoddy again, but lifted when it mattered and did the hard things better this week. Great shepherd to setup one of Wona's goals) Special mentions go to Dunn for his job on Black, Buckley for his lifted defensive workrate and disposal, Jamar and PJ for the armchair ride they gave our onballers, Garland and Warnock against the odds... Wheatley, Jones, Aussie, Bate etc etc... Everyone contributed today, which is a great sign. A really good, even team effort by the boys. It was also encouraging that we were able to have such a good attacking win without much influence from Davey.

i.e. Everyone/anyone else in the team! Haha, it's easy taking potshots at the big Russian, i guess it's force of habit... Its a good point you make, but I guess the main question mark has to be whether his positives/strengths outweigh those limitations. The last 7 weeks of the year will tell us alot with White out of the team. Today was a very good start. I really enjoyed his game today though. Career-best perfomance Jaayyyy-maaaaarrrrrr!!!!!!

That was against Sydney in early 2006.

tez, #1 for them is Mitch Clark (?) i think. I liked Martin today. Yeh he did look nervous, but he moves really well, good pace and a reasonably strong body that will only get stronger. Got a bit of the ball in the first half though i think when the heat was on in the 2nd half, Bailey took him off and 'protected' his debutant. Could be very good... definitely looks a better option than Nathan Carroll already IMO, and his kicking wasn't as bad as first thought.

If that keep that form up though... we could end up winning many more! haha But i'm not exactly worried that we're going to be jumping up the ladder in leaps and bounds. We'll probably still finish last or 2nd last with less than 5 wins... and i'd be more than happy with that. As is the go with young kids and rebuilding, and as we've seen all year, our ability to play consistent, 4-qtr footy, and be mentally switched on and prepared, every week, week-in week-out, regardless of who the opposition is, has been very patchy. There'll be good days like today, and there will be shockers along the way too. I too think it is important for us to finish low and get that priority pick, BUT I'm stoked that we won today! It could not have been any better for me given the weekend i've had (ex-girlfriend troubles... ). Was a great performance, and easily our most positive, consistent showing for the year. How can any Melbourne supporter be upset about today? If we're on 4 wins come round 22 against Richmond, and we get up, THEN and only then, can we start having a b*tch about it.

Fantastic performance from Miller today. His career best game IMO, equal probably to his performance against the Dockers. He's getting better and better Miller, and we're starting to see that level from him more consistently. I've been a Miller-basher of sorts in the past, but i'm absolutely wrapped with big #7 at the moment, and hope he can continue this good form for the rest of the year. If he can kick say, another 30 for the year and finish with 45 or so goals (big ask, but in this form its possible) and have a top 5 finish in the b&f, he may go a fair way to putting his hand up for the capataincy next year. Speaking of captain's though... can anyone say Brad Green??? His performance was outstanding today... of a truly elite level IMO. Apart from his attempted rushed behind that went out and resulted in Bradshaw's goal, his performance was absolutely faultless in my opnion.

Fantastic performance by CJ today. I thought his 1st quarter in particular was very good. Seemed to win a few hard balls in the 1st qtr, and probably got a lot of confidence from that, because after qtr time, it was like he'd brought his own footy. Just kept getting it and getting it, and getting it! His disposal wasnt always 100%, but that will improve with more performances like today, and given the sheer number of disposals he got, he still mangaed to use the ball extremely well on most occasions.

Just got home... what an unbelievable game! Great chase from PJ, and it looked great seeing the big man lay the tackle, keep his feet then scoot off with the footy and deliver... superb. Thought PJ's second half was outstanding, didn't look switched on in the first half and was barely sighted. But his influence later in the game was great, and his ruckwork was a definite improvement on recent games. He didnt spend a lot of time in the ruck, so his hitout numbers might not be that impressive, but his taps all seemed to go to advantage. Agree about Jamar. I'm pretty sure that kick that went out-on-the-full was his only kick today. He still hasnt improved his ability to find the ball and use it, but the quality of his ruckwork cannot be questioned. He was outstanding, particularly in the first half. His defensive running was something i noticed a huge improvement in today too. He, like PJ, ran hard and chased with real intent to catch the bloke and stick the tackle, something White has never really done. I wonder if DB or anyone else from the footy dept got on here last week and read the ruckman topic on here. Today was a perfect example of that 'scenario C' i mentioned in that thread.

After PJ's encouraging game out of FF against the Swan's, i'd imagine Holland is now even further away from getting a game.

Yeah me too. Such bad luck, he's seem a top bloke and loves the club more than anything! No doubt he's making his presence felt around the place at training and stuff, since he can't do it on the field.

Agree. PJ looks like a footballer. He moves, reads the play and kicks, like a footballer! Jamar is good at the taps, but i doubt, if we havent yet seen glimpses of it after 6 seasons, that we'll ever see him play a good, well-rounded game of FOOTBALL.

White's first year at Melbourne was 1998, where he was instrumental in our rise to 4th, and came 4th in the B&F as a 21yo. Stynes retired mid-season '98 and Matt Bishop(?) was elevated off the rookie-list, so they probably only played a dozen or so games together. Our ruck division in '97 was Stynes and Dean Irving.

Me too. As much as i hate the guy off the field, i'd always back him when he has a tough set shot, and more often than not, he doesnt let you down. The more pressure there is, the more he seems to strive too. For all his mental flaws, one thing that can't be questioned is his concentration when lining up for goal. It's excellent.

I would have said Green in the past, but his set shot accuracy hasn't been what is was for years now, so i'd probably say Robbo. He's the only player on our current list that has shown an ability over the last 3 or 4 years to consistently dob those goals from that angle and distance. Out of the younger fella's, Aussie's technique has been superb so far. If it were 5-10m closer, he would have been my pick.

I'd be happy with those changes. Must say i'm surprised to hear DB throw Stef Martin's name into the mix, as reports have been he's been solid without being great. Wasn't expecting that one, but if he believes Stef is ready and can do a job, then I'd love to see him come into the side and get 2nd crack at J.Brown after Warnock. Valenti keeps pressing for promotion, he's got to be close.

I'm pretty sure Jamar had only 1 handball, 1 disposal against Carlton (?) earlier this year, from over 80% game time! It's not the first time he's done it either- they don't call him donuts for nothing, and frankly after 59 games and 6 seasons in the system, am i outta line to expect more than that? Over the top? I dont think so. In every game Jamar has played this year, he's spent a good amount of time on the ground. One thing DB has not been afraid to do that we rarely saw under ND, is play both ruckman on the ground at the same time. Jamar would b averaging about 80% game time this season by my rough estimate, up from the 40-60% he would get under Daniher. He has only got over 10 disposals on one occassion so far this year, and he's averaging 7.4 disposals a game, an improvement of just over 2 disposals per game up on his career average of just under 5 a game under ND, despite all the extra game time he's getting. Still over the top? I do agree that he has clearly been our most effective tap ruckman this year, but i think his work around the ground is of an unacceptable level.

Great news. Will be very interested to see how he goes (even if it is just at Sandy 2's) in his comeback.

The centre circle rule introduced at the end of 2005(?), meant that ruckman could no longer take the long run-up, leap, then cannon into each other the way they did when White was in his prime. Basically, White being shorter and relying on his leap to win centre taps, was neutralised by the rule.

I'll take Stynes any day over White. I loved watching both players over the years, and don't want to sell White short, but Jimmy at his best IMO was clearly better than White's best, and he came from a hell of a long way further back to do it. One thing many people forget was that Jeff White was a #1 draft pick way back (95 draft i think?) for Fremantle. He was always very highly rated as a junior and was seen as a perfect combination of athletic freak and footballer. White was ear-marked to become a champion very early in his career, and given the expectations of what we all thought he could/would become, he has probably fallen short of the par mark. Just 1 B&F in '04 & Runner-Up in '02, 1 All-Australian selection in '04 and only, IMO, 4 elite years from a 10-season career ('00, '02, '04 and maybe '06). I don't want to sell Whitey short though, because he's been an amazing servant for the club since he came over in 98 from Freo, and was once one of my favorite players. He has carried our ruck division for a whole decade, and i'd be willing to bet he's the only guy in the AFL since Stynes to have done that. On the other hand, Stynes was some Irish smokey John Northey took a punt on. He had never played a game of aussie rules footy before he came to Australia and he developed into one of the premier players in the league in his prime. He revolutionised what we know as the modern ruckman- there was more to rucking than being big and winning the taps. He won a Brownlow Medal and a few B&F's (4 maybe?), a few AA's, and holds the record for most consecutive games in the league! And all this after coming back from the infamous running-thru-the-mark incident that could potentially have killed his confidence as a youngster in a foreign country that was new to the game. That's a remarkable story in itself. And he's now the president of our great club! Loved them both, and agree we have been very lucky in that we were able to have a quality replacement for Stynes pretty much from day one. Would love to see R.Warnock inherit White's #34 should White call it a day come seasons end and Warnock is recruited. I think it would be a great honour for Robbie to get White's jumper, given the career White has been able to have since crossing over from Freo in very similar circumstances. And it's a nice touch little touch too that PJ in the #11 is the same kind of 'tall-follower/ruck rover' that Stynes was in his day. It would be like a full-circle and another cycle complete.

I'm not against giving him a go. In fact i'm all for it, but he must improve the physical side of his game if he's to be any good. I find it staggering the unrealistic expectations some people have given he hasn't shown anything so far to suggest he will be a 'star'. The greatest talent on the list? No chance. I'll be happy if he (and expect he does) develops into a good, solid player. Any more than that i think is a bonus given where his career is at right now. Having said that, if he continues to do well tagging and starts winning his own ball, lifts his physicality and intensity, he maybe even become a very good player who has a long fruitful 150+ game career... but a star of the competition? He has a loong waay to go still, and i dont expect him to ever reach those heights... I think it would b unfair on him to.

And Brad Miller has kicked 11.2 so far this season. Given the scarcity of forward supply this year, its good to know at least they're making the most of their opportunities

How so? He has shown himself to be no more than just average in all facets of the game, except in his negative stopping roles. Either you've seen or know something i don't know, or you've grossly over-rated Lynden... I think he may well become a 100+ gamer and a very good footballer at the club. But, a 'star'? No. I'm happy for him to prove me wrong, i just don't see it happening anytime soon, if ever.