wisedog

When I was at the Dome on Friday I was actually quite surprised by the number of Africans I saw among the crowd. I've often wondered how immigrants feel about aussie rules, or if they're more inclined towards supporting soccer or basketball, but it's great to see they're taking to the game.

What were people expecting from Watts? He kicked two goals in just his 2nd game, I thought that would have been enough to get people off his back. After the debut seasons of players like Rioli and Selwood, supporters seem to expect an immediate impact from their first year players. The popular view used to be that talls took a few years to come on, and that's still true. Watts could be playing in the TAC Cup this year. He was always going to be a long term investment.

Jetta for Maric is fine by me. They play a similar role, and I don't think Maric has done quite enough to hold his spot. Glad to see Miller and Martin back. I have to say, that's about the most potent forward line I've seen us field in years. And with Watts to come off the bench!

Happy Birthday WJ. Really appreciate the work you do over here. Hope the Dees get up for you tonight.

At first I was against what the Gold Coast did in having no official moniker, but maybe that's the best way to do it. To let a name which typifies the club just form naturally. At least then it has some meaning. Otherwise it just comes out of some market research company, and you're left with something hollow like the 'Power' or the 'Force'.

Another 'honorable loss' aka 'the perfect result'...

37 possessions, 9 marks, 2 tackles, 2 hit outs, 4 goals, 1 behind... What an awesome game.

Yeah it was great to hear those words after years of contempt from the media. I don't know if he was serious about the Miller miss, but Lyon came down on the suggestion pretty hard. -He said the priority picks system is wrong, but while it's in place Melbourne must take advantage. He even went on to say that the club "should be having a word to the leadership group" to ensure it happens.

I just wish supporting your team didn't have to be so complicated. I hate that every win has to be overshadowed by this priority picks debate. It's going to be such a relief next year when we can focus on winning and nothing else. Even after we beat Brisbane in that thriller last year, there was a guy who came on here, shattered that we'd put the priority pick at risk. There has to be a better system than this.

Akermanis has always been fairly complementary about Melbourne, even in his Brisbane days. I've noticed when he's been on the Footy Show panel. For what it's worth, today will be the last time we line up against him. EDIT: Apparently he's just said he wants to stay at the club until they win a premiership...

Maybe not gridiron helmets, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day the players were lining up in the old Nathan Burke style. We've seen in the last week with the spate of jumps racing incidents, how quickly public scrutiny can mount. Now after however many years they've been run, the days of jumps racing in Australia could be over. It may only take a similar spate of head injuries before the debate is opened.

Was hoping for a win, as I do every week, but it was a good result. One good thing about Gold Coast and West Sydney is that it will settle the 'tanking' issue for a few years, and we can focus on winning as many games as we can. It seems we've timed the rebuild perfectly... Poor Richmond.

Remember on Footy Classified last year when Caroline Wilson said one of the teams looked "absolutely rooted"

Probably would have won against Adelaide if Robertson was in the side. In fact, I think those 5 wins are now under threat. Being without a strong forward target for so long has shown me how much I underestimated Robertson. I always thought he was a good player, but I assumed if he didn't kick the goals, somebody else would. I like Miller in the side, but 26 goals just isn't enough.

We've done a lot of culling over the last 2 years but remember, we still haven't reaped the benefits of the recruiting that followed. Only 2 of our 6 first round picks from 2007 and 2008 played yesterday, and we know Maric is much better than what he showed. There's A LOT of potential on the list, but unfortunately we seem to have a history of players with unfulfilled potential. I wonder if the time has come to trade one of our picks for an established young player...

If Melbourne members were voting to become the 'Hawthorn Demons' and play in a jumper that was essentially Hawthorn with a demon printed on the front, I'm sure they would have rejected it as well.

I couldn't be at the game, but it's interesting to read given the amount of times I heard the ABC commentators say that we were "bringing Adelaide down to our level."

The handballing isn't as big an issue as it was a few years ago. He did it once or twice, but another time, it was Petterd who the commentators mistook for Miller, and Tim Watson had a field day. Set shots aren't great at the moment, but they were fine last year. He kicked a few very important goals when needed in our Fremantle and Brisbane wins.

And for much of that season, Rivers wasn't even on the park. I remember the talk on this forum before the 2008 season. No one had any faith in Garland, Frawley, Martin or Warnock. I remember thinking it would be extraordinary unlucky if all four turned out to be duds, but then I couldn't see where the improvement was going to come from... What a great surprise it was though. The silver lining of the 2008 season.

I think we're a good chance against the Crows at the 'G. We beat them in the 2007 season.

Was absolutely brilliant in the 2nd quater... That first goal from 55 metres out was epic.

Richmond had all the momentum in the last quater. That play may well have saved the game for us.

Yeah you have to give CAC credit for picking out McLean. We were always going to pick Sylvia with pick 3, but from memory, Tenace was the player penciled in by most for our next pick.

What a tough time to be a Richmond supporter. When you give up on the flag and start to rebuild, there's a belief that you're guaranteed success in the near future, it's what makes the losses bearable. To be in this position after 5 years. Well, you have to feel for them. They'll lose Richo and Brown over the next few years and it looks like Gold Coast will arrive on the scene when they can least afford it.

One more. Though I have a few others lined up.