Lord Travis

Brown - usual doogy game Carroll - great contested marks Warnock - surprisingly good goal Rivers - our defensive rock Bell - reliable as usual Bruce - not enough damage Johnstone - starting to build Petterd - fantastic 2nd game Moloney - struggled with injury McDonald - usual junior game Godfrey - another good game Davey - not too shabby Pickett - not doing enough Dunn - good shutdown job Miller - absolutely no impact Yze - another decent game Neitz - decent return game Johnson - starting to build Bate - his best game White - good rounded game Jones - is a star Sylvia - getting better also

Bell would be leading methinks, with Moloney not far behind. Bell hasnt had a bad game yet, and has beaten all of his opponents convincingly. Noone else in our side can say that this year. Whenever someone has been kicking bags on us, Bell has been switched onto them and shut them down. Go watch the match against Hawthorn. Williams kicks 4 on Carroll. Bell switches onto him. Holds him to only one more goal (from a soft free kick I might add), and then Williams kicked another as Bell came from the field after a heavy collision and left him without an opponent. Add the drive he gives also to his great defensive work, and you've got a good reliable backman. The guy has improved his decision making, is free of OP finally, and really is having a great season. Moloney has also been consistently performing well in the midfield, even hampered with injury. It's sad to see him struggling to run out games. Was bad in the last quarter yesterday, he went to chase someone on the wing and just couldn't take off like he should. You could see the pain on his face that the groin was really hurting and holding him back, and also the pain of being beaten. The guy is passionate and hates being beaten. He bleeds Red n Blue. If he ever gets free of his OP, I reckon he will become a really good player and surprise alot of people.

Dunno about the next Tingay. Different sort of players IMO. Hope he has better luck with injuries! Very pleased with Petterd thus far though. Kid is really showing he has the skills and smarts to become a good player. Add a few KGs to his frame, and more games under his belt, and he will be owning the HBF and pushing up into the midfield with great effect for years to come.

Nathan Jones is a star. Quickly becoming my favorite player! For someone so young with less than 20 games under his belt, he is already so important to us, and is having an impact. I like that he is constantly smashing his way in and working his ass off no matter what the circumstance. Short career thus far, but whenever Melbourne are in trouble, he seems to lift. In many games already he has been a spark for us. I really think he is going to be a great leader at the club for the next 10+ years, and have a fantastic football career. The thought of him, Mclean, Moloney, Petterd, Bell, Batram, Bate, Sylvia, Dunn all up and firing...pretty exciting. All these kids have got real grunt and desire, so much so that they're the ones leading our senior players more so than not these days. That's obviously not a good thing, but it is exciting to know that barring catastrophe, we've got a great new breed coming through the club. Keep up the good work Jonesy!

Fair tackle, and a damn good one. Pretty much picture perfect text book stuff. Pinned both the arms so he couldn't dispose of the ball properly, just unlucky that Cornes landed the way he did. As stated, very similar to the Guerra tackle on Bruce in 05. If Byron goes for that, I refuse to watch football for the rest of the year. That would be PATHETIC. One of the highlights of the game yesterday, and what sets our great game apart from other soft boring sports. Sidenote; hope Byrons ear is alright

Glad to see Jones back. The kid is a real hard goer, and is already very important to us IMO.

Didn't see a thread on this, so figured I'd start one. It's Travis' 150th game this weekend, and while he hasn't had a good year thus far, and some of you may go bash him for not living up to his #1 pick etc, I want to congratulate him for his 150 games for the MFC and counting. He has been my favorite player since 2000, and I wouldn't have gone to nearly as many Melbourne matches if it wasnt to see him play. His performance in the 2002 semi against Adelaide remains the greatest and most exciting game by a player I've ever seen in the flesh. His skills are, simply put, the best going around. When he is on song, there is noone more mesmerizing to watch IMO. If we are to win a flag within the next 5 years, Travis will be key. If he is fit and firing, we are an immensely better side. He cops such a heavy tag these days, because the opposition knows, shut down Travis, pretty much got Melbourne beaten. Here's hoping he has a great 150th and kick starts himself into some of the great form we know he is capable of. We need our midfield to start getting on top. Congratulations Travis, and here's to a stack more games for the MFC in the future

Didn't have a great game last night, but he was still hard at it. He layed the best tackle of the night IMO

BB, who else would be leading our B&F? Bell has been solid-good in every match this year. Calling him a hack is the dumbest thing I've read on here in a while, and there's been som dumb sh*t on here recently! Only other solid contributers have been Bruce, Moloney, Miller, and Rivers. Moloney and Rivers have both missed time through injury. Miller is Miller, tries hard and does alright, but not the best. Bruce has been OK, but not great, especially by his standards. Bell however, has shutdown his opponent every week, while giving drive out of the backline also. His disposal is now one of the best at the club. He has come along way in the last 6-7 months. Based on this years form, he has taken over the mantle from Whelan as best small defender, and most reliable player. If he is not leading the B&F, he is definately top 3. I don't see how this can be argued. I think this also says how poorly performed our team has been this year.

All these people on here knocking Bell clearly have no f'ing idea about football. Bell would currently be leading our B&F this year, and barring injury will finish top 5. Knocking our best player for this year shows your incredible knowledge

Good news regarding Sylvia. Hopefully he can string some games together and show us all what he made of :D Also great to hear Rivers in good spirits. Him, TJ and Moloney will all be very valuable inclusions back into the side. Petterd getting amongst it. Good luck to the youngster this weekend.

Awesome news! Not only has Ward been dropped, but we'll finally see some debutants too! I don't mind if we get smashed, as I'll be happy seeing some of our future prospects in action!

He has been rucking better than White for a good year now. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't watching. He doesn't do enough around the ground, but he has some pretty good ruckwork. He was in really good rucking form before he got injured late last year. I seem to recall numerous instances where he he fed off clean taps to Mclean, Mcdonald and Jones. White is serviceable in the ruck now. Lost his leap, his touch, and the ruckman around him are all taller than they were a few years ago when he dominated. He has been a great player for the MFC, and we are now seeing the struggle of what it's like not having a consistently good ruckman. We've had Stynes and White for years, and now have no heir apparent. Do we trade to get one? Draft one? Or go with an average ruck division in the future and hope our up and coming midfielders will dominate regardless?

There is no obsession. We admire his courage, but as a footballer he isn't up to AFL standard, and fact is he is 26 years old and can barely crack into the team! Only reason he is being suggested is because we have a horrible injury list and there really isn't any other option.

If that's true, then we are royally screwed. Out of our 10/11 most important players, that's the following out; Neitz Robertson Mclean Johnstone Rivers Green Whelan With only these remaining, and not exactly in super form. White Bruce Davey Carroll It's no wonder we're winless. Take 7 of any teams 10/11 most important players out and they would be winless too. Even West Coast.

He obviously didn't show anything if not one single club bothered to rookie him when they had the chance. Went off and played a solid season in the SANFL, and now look where he is; playing good consistent footy at the highest level. I don't want to sound like a traitor or anything, but if Alwyn maintains his current form so far this year, he will be better than Aaron. Kicking 2-3 goals a match, laying a stack of tackles, and his pressure inside the forward 50 is incredible. It's like what Aaron was before his form slumped off late last year and this year. Alwyn is having a real big impact just as his brother did a few years back. Also, I think he's too old now, but if he is eligible I'd put money on him for the Rising Star. I just hope Aaron can build on his match from last week and get back to playing good consistent football.

Injuries are definitely a reasonable excuse. We have played 31 of a possible 38 players already this season. Pretty scary!

Hope to see Petterd playing next week due to our injuries. He may not be ready, but there isnt many other options :S We have played 31 of a possible 38 players already this season. Pretty scary!

If they both got the midfield support they needed, they would be fine. Last year when our midfield was applying good pressure, laying lots of tackles, and pushing back into defense properly, Carroll was good. The fact is at the moment he is playing one on one against talented players, being bombarded by masses of ball coming in, and doesnt have Rivers or any decent defenders helping him out. When the midfield gets up and running, and Rivers et all return, he will be fine. As for Miller, he is having a good season. Already kicked more goals than he did for the entire year last year, and is trying his ass off week in week out for decent results. If he got better supply from the midfield, he would be better off also. Both these players are fine, and will be fine. It's the midfield that's the problem, and the current injuries arent helping!

Cheers for the link. Amazing.

One of the best games Yze has played in a long time. Cannot be faulted on yesterdays effort. 38 disposals, not all of which were effective, but most were. 12 handballs. Doubt Yze has had even half that in any match in his career. Reason he had these handballs was because he was in the contests firing the ball off. Here are the 2 important stats i like. Contested possession: 11. 11! Basically double anyone else in the side for the match. Contested marks: 2. The entire side took 6 for the day, so he took a third of the entire teams contested marks. Kicked a freak goal, and layed 6 tackles. Bloody good game by Yze. Glad to see him earning his pay packet again in such spectacular fashion. If he keeps up that kind of form, he will win the B&F and be All Australian again.

Why? Because he is hard at it and playing with some heart? We don't like players like that at Melbourne do we...

Bell has a harder body than Whelan, has more pace, and has one of the best kicks in our side. He was recruited as a midfielder, and could very well play there. He played one of his best games for the club solely in the midfield against Adelaide late-ish last year. He could play there, but only part time IMO. He is not designed to follow the ball around all game. Doesn't have the awareness and concentration to stick to it a full match. He'll play in defence the majority of his career, with stints int he midfield, and I'd be happy with that. Happy to see him finally up and running and having an impact. Let's hope Syliva can follow suit eh

Moloney out is a bad loss. He is just so passionate and has an impact out there even if he doesn't rake up 30 touches every week. Has been one of our best all year, even battling injury and fitness. Under-rated footballer IMO. With him, Brock, Sylvia, Pickett all out, TJ in average form and under injury cloud, Green not performing well in the midfield, Bruce not playing in the midfield, Junior having an average season....our midfield is really struggling. I marked it in as our strong point at the start of the year, but it is really being flogged. Has been beaten convincingly every match this year. Jones has been great for someone so young and inexperienced, winning a stack of clearances and making his presence felt. Apart from him, haven't been any other shining lights. If TJ had been out for 6 weeks like originally suggested, I'd have said finals are gone. God I wish Brock was healed up already!

1. Kicked 4 on Whelan, 1 on Bell, and 1 when Bell was coming from the ground injured and he had no opponent and thus got handed a freebie. Bell shut him down, as he has shut down every player he has played on this year. He has been our rock in defence this year, taking over from Whelan who has been uncharacteristically sloppy. We cant afford to push Bell up into the midfield at this stage. The backlines already missing Rivers, Whelans been average, and the rest have been poor. Take Bell away, and you've got a likely backline of Carroll (having a poor year), Whelan, Ward, Brown, Wheatley, Holland. Doesnt exactly inspire does it I think Bell could well play midfield in the future, but only in a part time role.