mauriesy

A "very ordinary" side that flogged us by over 100 points.

Agreed. And Sydney have got a much better premiership window in the next 2-3 years than Hawthorn.

It's a slight on all our current leaders (e.g. Jones, Viney) to think Harvey is needed for "leadership". He's not a leader's bootlace, at North when it came to leadership he was just a much-loved veteran figurehead. If Harvey was worth an extra 1-2 wins per year in 2017, North would have kept him.

I just really can't fathom anyone thinking we ought to give a one-year contract to someone who going to be 39. Have we lost our senses?

Perhaps ask why North let him go, if he'd make them a better side? Or are we somehow different to North? And it's got nothing to do with not liking him. I've never "not liked" him.

Indeed, he is not. He's nearly six years younger for a start. And he was 32 when he joined GWS, not nearly 39.

If poor disposal is an issue, I'm very happy to put de Stoppy on De Goey.

Every player well into their 30s will at some time reach the point where they can no longer do what they used to do or at the same level. They lose pace, they lose the willpower to keep going, and get injured more frequently. It's why they end up retiring. For many it comes fairly quickly, as Essendon found with, for example Fletcher. I suspect Hawthorn will find out at some stage with players like Mitchell, Gibson and Lewis. Given that Harvey will turn 39 not long after the start of the 2017 season (May), the chances get even higher that he will start to lose a yard of pace, get injured more often and miss games. I just don't see why we should willingly put ourselves in that type of scenario for very little benefit. North Melbourne didn't.

Give him a three-year deal then. If it's only one year, then what's the point? I'd prefer to leave those types of stop-gap deals to Brisbane or Richmond.

It takes a space on our list away from someone we could develop, possibly for the next decade. Harvey doesn't add leadership, he's doesn't add anything to the list or fill any holes, and he's 38 years old FCS. We are not that desperate.

FFS, Brent Harvey is 38. Leave him alone to retire.

I don't want any of them. I'd rather hope we're past recruiting ageing players just for experience's sake. It worked for a short time with Cross, but we have a much better list than three years ago and are developing beyond it. Thompson is slow and he doesn't fill a hole in the team.

The reason Spencer didn't play this year is because Max Gawn played all 22 games. Spencer is not a list clogger, he's insurance in case the unthinkable happens.

Any ideas how we'd replace 11 players (a quarter of our list) and what with? Our list no longer needs surgery that radical.

If all we are seeking is another second-rounder, then (in my humble opinion) our current drafting position is not "terrible".

Well you can't have your cake and eat it too. Either we get a first-rounder every year, or we do what we've done and get two last year and none this year. Yes, you can still trade for better draft picks ... but this year those trades and upgrades are likely to be very few and far between. We'll be basically ditching the lower end of the list and we won't get much for it. A return to the second round to replace the pick we'll use on Hibberd would be an excellent but surprising result. I'm not worried about this year's draft position. We went 'early' last year and are getting development and games into two young round 1 draftees, rather than just getting another new talent this year. Roos said the Melbourne approach would be the 'model' for teams wanting to rebuild, and I think what we did with Oliver and Weideman is part of that.

We're in a good draft position. We made it for ourselves by trading our first round pick to get both Oliver and Weideman last year. It's all part of the plan.

Funny how in his second game he kicked six straight goals from 6 kicks. Never came close to that again.

I noticed the stat at the start that said West Coast had nearly 2700 games experience in the 22 that played tonight. At the start of the season, we had 2268 for our whole list.

He took it off before the game started. It was the indigenous jumper to support Eddie Betts.

A free kick differential of up to ±44 over a season is no more than 2 per game. You can hardly claim that's statistically significant, or that it matters much and affects outcomes. So for 15 of the 18 clubs, the differential is virtually meaningless Port Adelaide might analyse why they are giving away about 3 more free kicks per game than their opposition, but I bet they don't waste much time on it. In an individual game, it will hardly make a difference if they get, for example, 15 free kicks and their opposition gets 18. Same for the Bulldogs and North, if they get 20 and their opposition gets 16-17.

6. Jetta 5. O Mac 4. Viney 3. T Mac 2. Hogan 1. Tyson

"The main thing I took from learning these from Roos was a focus on instilling confidence within a group. Under Eade during that period, a lot of us were low on confidence and were afraid of making mistakes but Roos backed his players to lift after making errors. His ability to communicate with someone on a human level was vital. As young men trying to find their way in the footy industry - and the world in general - that confidence was really needed. It wasn't about being sprayed on the phone after a turnover, it was about giving more and making amends." Supporters here would do well to reflect on those sentiments next time they shoot down any player for a mistake. After the bounce in the game day thread today, take a deep breath when a player makes an error, and rather than post some negative while muttering that the player is a "spud" and should "never play for Melbourne again", look at the larger picture. And look in the coaches' box today and ask who you'd rather have ... the relative calmness of Roos or the theatrics of, say, Eade or a Scott.

Lyon hasn't won "2 or 3 premierships".

The current Melbourne forecast for Sunday is "mostly sunny" or "partly cloudy" (depending on your optimism or pessimism). The predicted rain is 0mm and chance of rain 10%. Temperature 15C.