whatwhat say what

Blease laying some great tackles, really pleasing to see.

Why is running around to try to get on his left all the time then? He just laid a brilliant run down tackle. D Rod with a goal, 63-41 now. Fitzpatrick has a real presence as a forward.

Fitzpatrick another strong mark and goal. 57-41 half way through the third. Magner is dominating, and if Matthews was 5-10cm taller he'd be a permanent fixture for any AFL side.

Back to 10 the diff as Blease gives away a 50 for running through the mark.

Dawes with a nice goal after putting his head over the ball and earning the free after copping a hard whack.

Hartlett has never been as timid as Toumpas. It was injuries that held him back, not intensity. In saying that some great defensive work from Toumpas just now on the half back flank, resulting in a forward movement that saw a goal kicked by Bonaddio.

Not much to write home about based on the first half. Fitzpatrick and Dawes are solid marks up front, Sellar and Davis good down back, but the latter is a shockingly poor kick. Clisby okay running off half back. Blease is too quick for VFL players but has no right side, and Davey is too good for this level. Big concern is Toumpas. Has no intensity whatsoever. Big bum and short stocky legs, and certainly doesn't have much pace from what I've seen today.

Interesting that Yeats said he was a flanker at under age level - so too were Trengove and Martin I believe. Perhaps the expectation that all three would become 'pure' mids was erroneous from the get-go. Scully's skills let him down and he's not gut-running like he did in his first year at the Dees, Trengove looks slow (perhaps due to two non-existent pre-seasons in a row) and Martin clearly lacks stamina, but is probably the best prepared if all three, no doubt helped that he's got Cotchin, Deledio and Grigg as midfield cohorts. Perhaps all three are only ever going to amount to being good ordinary footballers rather than stars of the competition.

president - no idea, but i like the idea mooted above of schwarz being brought onto the board ceo - ron gaucci or peter jackson football dept manager - neil balme coach - paul roos defensive coach - sean wellman midfield coach - james mcdonald forward coach - leigh brown ruck coach - darren jolly free agency pick-ups - dale thomas, mark lecras B: GAP (Reilly would be perfect as a free agent, but he's re-signed with Adelaide, hopefully Strauss) - Frawley - Dunn HB: Grimes - Garland - GAP (Barry?) C: Trengove - N Jones - Thomas HF: Howe - Hogan - LeCras F: Clark - Dawes - Byrnes Foll: Jamar - Sylvia - Viney I/C: Toumpas - Blease - Gawn Sub: 2013 DRAFT PICK #3 (James Aish at this stage? Jack Billings to bof part to our 'Jack' collection and replace Watts - traded for pick #10 in the draft) Emerg: McKenzie - Tapscott - Kent

blease will learn nothing going back and playing in the vfl. he's exactly the sort of player that we are desperate to develop, and he needs the experience of an elite-level game, not going back. these decisions just really really frustrate me.

disagree, it's part of stabilisation and continued existence. the reality is we will likely struggle to be an attractive destination of players. fortunately i think we've nailed the past two years thanks to clark, hogan, and hopefully dawes. we just need our draft picks from the last couple of years to work out for us, and make sure we nail the next few.

danke satyriconhome.

Is there easy parking around Port Melbourne oval?

hopefully: Clark, Mitchell Dawes, Chris Frawley, James Garland, Colin Gawn, Max Grimes, Jack Hogan, Jesse Howe, Jeremy Jones, Nathan Toumpas, Jimmy Trengove, Jack Viney, Jack maybe: Barry, Dom Jones, Matt Kent, Dean McDonald, Tom Sylvia, Colin Watts, Jack our midfield has a lot of holes.

First game of VFL I'm going to attend. Disappointed Hogan is missing, but understandable.

Maybe one of the worst Melbourne squads i can remember since the dark days of 1997.

Lyon had three boys and not one of them is interested in footy, right?

doom and gloom on 360. i'm really hoping it's not going to be the case.

I though this thread was going to be about Wines, Fyfe, Zaharakis and Shuey!

We are woeful.

floodgates are about to open.

he's incredibly lazy when it comes to chasing, tackling, shepherding, corralling - basically all the hallmarks of defensive accountability.

the next step is to sub him off. he's useless.

love the way max competes at ground level and around the ground as well as in the ruck