Lord Travis

No doubt he's a beast and will come straight back into the team. I just think it will be a few weeks before we see quality footy out of him. He hasn't played at AFL level since July last year, so will take some time to get used to the speed of it again. No doubt he will bring intensity as he always does, I just don't want to see people disappointed and having a go at him on here if he doesn't come in and dominate straight away. He'll probably still win the BnF though ?

Probably should temper expectations a bit... He started last season in poor-average form after having surgery and not having a full preseason. He can't be expected to come in and be a superstar after being out injured so long. He'll probably take a few weeks to start playing decent footy again. The positive will be in having another leader out there on field, as that is our biggest weakness as a club by a mile.

Agreed. Absolute dog act and I'll always dislike Rance due to these sorts of acts. He's raked the eyes of a few players and given cheap shots to the back of the head multiple times throughout his career. He's a dirty player. As a defender he's also seriously suspect one-on-one. This year alone he got destroyed by Jenkins, then got beaten by Melksham. Teams need to play through his man and make him accountable, because one-on-one he's average and when isolated he repeatedly loses. Because the media love him, he never gets pulled up for all the negative aspects of his game and personality though. After we played them and Melksham kicked 4 on him and repeatedly beat him in one-on-one contests, Mooney interviewed him and kept saying he was "excellent", and even Rance was confused and replying "don't think I was great..." each time. As for Oscar, he really has been good this year. He's yet to be beaten badly, and has improved dramatically in one-on-ones with opposition number 1 key forwards. Don't think he'll be All-Australian this year, but he's developing well and is now a reliable rock down at full back. Anyone denying that is judging him off 12-18 months ago when he was weaker in body and mind.

Need to win all 3. We are currently in the easiest part of our draw for the year, so we need to take advantage and not only win, but add percentage that we butchered as we're currently ranked last of the teams on 3 wins. Second half of the season is our tough run, so need to get wins on the board now and build momentum for the tougher period.

No idea if there was a catalyst, but he got involved in a scrap and we won. I’ve pointed it out on Demonland before - when Jones gets into a fight/scrap, we win. 100% success rate. He usually gets into scraps when he’s playing with confidence and it always galvanizes the boys around him. Just wish he’d start more fights, it’s a proven method for us winning!

Just another scalp in 2018 for Oscar!

Melksham is so efficient with his kicking. Brilliant field kicking and great shot at goal too (first few weeks of this season aside). He always makes something happen when he gets it, we just need to get the ball to him more often!

Salem had a good game with exception of that horrendous kick out to give up a goal. We just need him to string games together without interruption, as he seems to take a few weeks to find form again even after small niggles or decent hits in games. Great to get the win today with our midfield missing Viney and Petracca, and Oliver struggling to find ball. Brayshaw and Salem stepped up, and Jones had another good game crashing in. He appears to be finding form again which is good considering Viney is still out for a few weeks yet.

Great debut today! Was in everything early, loves the contest, clean hands, reads the drop of the ball well, 100% disposal efficiency. Loved him getting into a scrap with Goddard too! As soon as we drafted him I knew we were onto a winner, injury is the only reason he wasn't a top 10 pick. All he needs to do to solidify his place in the team and thrive is bring that intensity consistently and play to his strengths. Well done Spargs!

Disappointing to give up much needed percentage here.

Sums up our on-field leadership. The talented kids come in and have the enthusiasm and team-first ethic drilled out of them at this club and become battlers just trying to hold their spot instead of playing as part of a team. Spargo has been good on debut. If only the senior players shared his hunger and drive. Some things never change at this club.

Clog the [censored] corridor. Stop this high press [censored]. Hell revert to flooding or man on man. We will beat no one on current form and gameplan and it’s a pathetic waste of a talented list at present. I’m furious at how [censored] this team is playing this year. This is a top 4-6 underperforming massively. Disgusting.

Daniher is playing

Not confident about today. Petracca our is a big loss as he’s one of the few players we have with kicking skills and X factor. He’s also a proven goal scoring option forward. Good luck to Spargo for his debut today. I reckon the kid’s a real goer and hopefully he shows his trademark fight and aggression today.

He’d be a great get obviously, but we have no way of getting him. He’s not a free agent, so we have to trade for him. We don’t have a first rounder this year, and we’re not allowed to trade next years. Unless we trade one of Hogan, Oliver, Petracca or Gawn, then we can’t get Wines. We won’t be trading any of them, so may as well close this thread unless you enjoy torturing yourselves (which you may, being Melbourne supporters and all haha).

Don’t believe we can under the rules in place. We have to use next years first rounder at the draft, as we haven’t used one since 2015. So no first rounder to use this year, and can’t trade next years. Unless we trade a Hogan, Oliver, Petracca or Gawn, we aren’t featuring in the first round this year unfortunately.

Best of luck to Spargo on his debut. Though small in stature, he's big in fight. I think he can be a good player for us long-term, so excited to see him out there!

If we lose to Essendon I think finals are off the cards for 2018. We’re a quarter of the season down and we’re a rabble at the moment. We’ve had a good run of games in Melbourne and are yet to play a number of top teams or travel. What a horribly disappointment this season is turning into. You think I’d get used to it after following this loser club for decades, yet here I am getting disappointed still!

Yeah that was idiotic that attempted kick. It was only ever going to go out on the full, but he didn't have the smarts to just work the ball over the line to reload for a throw in. Depth player who tries but isn't good enough.

I don't care how far he's run, ANB has been a disappointment this season. He was good last year, as he laid lots of tackles in the forward half, applied constant pressure around the ball, and made the most of his scoring opportunities when he got them. This year he seems to be running around aimlessly and even appears scared of the contest at times. He's not winning ball, he's not scoring, he's not tackling as much, and he's having an overall negative impact on the team.

For starters, that footage is from 3 years ago. I think his leadership has improved since then, though he's not a natural leader. Jones is a good hard player who leads by example. He obviously isn't solely the problem, but he contributes to what I believe is the key thing holding us back, and that's on-field leadership from the players. The coach can only do so much from up in the box. Our problem is we don't have on-field leaders who act as on-field coaches and organise the players. When you look at leaders like Hodge, Selwood etc they are barking orders and constantly organising their teammates. They're organising at stoppages, they're directing players where to move to push/pull they defensive zone, directing when to switch the ball etc. None of our leaders (bar Lewis occasionally) do this, Viney included. Yes, they're hard players who lead by example, but when we don't have momentum they're not recognising how to stem the tide and regroup quick enough. It's the key reason we traded in Lever, who's clearly a vocal leader and organiser. I think our defense actually played well last night considering the quick ball that was coming in, and Lever was a key part in that. We need those on-field coaches around the ball, and until we get them I don't think we can improve much unfortunately.

I'd suggest the following delistings at years end. VandenBerg - can't get on the park, 2 years since he's played, was borderline 22 when he did play, 28 years old when/if he makes it back from years of injury. Delist. McKenna - can't get on the park, 0 games in 4 years. Delist. JKH - Decent VFL player, can't translate his game to AFL level. 5-6 years on the list. He's depth at best. Delist. Johnstone - struggling to even get his game up to VFL level after 2 years. We have a number of other options in his forward pocket/flank position. There are a number of others on the list who are likely not going to make it long term (Wagner, Harmes, Stretch types), but we have to consider contract status and the need for depth. We also don't have any first round pick again this year, so we won't be bringing in elite talent to replace whoever we delist. VandenBerg and McKenna are the only certain delists, as we can't afford to waste spots on the list for guys that aren't even an option to play, and are not certain best 22 even when they are available!

Our changes are decent IMO. They've lost some best 22 players to injury and suspension, so that helps us. Let's see if the boys can fire up this week after sh*tting the bed last week against the Hawks.

Richmonds changes IN: Broad, Higgins, Lloyd OUT: Caddy, Graham, Vlaustin

OFFICIAL CHANGES IN: Tyson, Stretch, Weideman, Hunt OUT: Lewis, Bugg, Frost, Fritsch