Nasher

You need to pop in to the "changes against (whoever)" thread and join me in my weekly "sigh, no, Harmes won't be dropped" ritual by the sounds of it.

I'd probably wait until I had seen how the North game goes first

Shoulda dropped Harmes for Michie. Darn those biased coaches.

That kick was woeful and we were lucky Pedersen cleaned it up, let's be honest, but the play that lead to it was excellent. He run hard all the way up the ground to get on the end of it twice; the fact that he was even in a position to deliver an i50 in that situation made me very happy. It comes back to the point I made in the week about our coaches forgiving disposal errors if the player otherwise does the right thing. This shows that we supporters can too if we're in a good mood and there was no negative consequence. Let's not think about what might have happened if he'd done that in the back half.

It might take years to get his body to peak playing size. Slow burner for mine, we're 5 years off seeing his best. It'll be worth the wait if today's start is any indication. Awesome stuff.

I'm sure he's fine. People come and go.

They're 3 games and 10 percentage points clear with 3 to go. Come on mate, anything is possible, but that's such a low probability of happening that it's definitely not worth mentioning.

Back past the Aints again to sit in 10th, will hold it if they fall to Carlton tomorrow - can't see that happening though. Whoever wins out of us and Port next week goes a game clear of the other. Should have our sights on 9th place now.

Clear top 5 for me: 6 - Gawn 5 - Viney 4 - Jones 3 - Watts 2 - Tyson Difficult choice for the last: 1 - Oliver HM: Many

Hard to know if you're taking the piss, given your attitude (that I share) towards another poster who likes to "confirm" stuff. No need to respond though, I'll assume you're serious since it's in line with what I believe anyway

Last visit: July 3. Bring back rpfc!

Hawthorn posters on BigFooty are incensed about the umpiring bias in Melbourne's favour. This is why I try to avoid commenting on umpiring, or let it affect me too much either during games or after. We watch everything through biased eyes, it causes us to only see the poor decisions that go against us.

Just saw replays on the 'incidents': Don't think Rioli will go. I don't know how they assess "high" - but I thought the contact with Oliver looked more like chest and the head throwback might have come from chin contact? I don't think there was a concussion risk with that shirtfront, I'd be happy with it if delivered by an MFC player. The Mitchell one was piss poor and he should definitely get weeks. Will probably be declared "low impact" which will probably reduce it unfortunately, but I can't see him avoiding a suspension. He clearly, blatantly punched Watts in the face.

Nice, from whom? Did you make it to the G today AAC? Could be an excellent double whammy for you tonight!

I don't have any either mate, part of the reason I spend much time on here.

Why even give it oxygen JR? Obviously garbage.

Watched in a room full of neutrals and the pro-MFC atmosphere at the end was bloody phenomenal. Holy crap. Hard to imagine sleeping tonight. Bloody brilliant.

Was okay, I guess.

Not worried about the umpiring. Just focused on the MFC and loving what I am seeing. How exciting is the Weed? Getting some serious love in this house.

You're right in that if all things are equal and we have a crack and just fall short, I'll be able to live with that. There's still plenty of scope for getting p'd off though, make no mistake. If we come out asleep I will be dead set ropable. Not expecting that to happen though.

When has this particular MFC team ever delivered the same quality two weeks in a row? Yes, we were poo and got away with it last week. New week, new battle. We know we're better than we were against GC and I'm expecting a much improved performance.

I agree on the excitement front. I've been itching for this now ever since the teams were named. Regarding the youth of the team, probably the aspect that has me so excited is that other than maybe Weideman, you couldn't say that any of the young players are there outside order of merit. They're talented, they're ready and they're taking over. Bring it on!

Hawthorn got smashed by GWS earlier in the year, did they turn up that week? It's a fine line between playing well and playing poorly. It's why players try to keep their routine the same as possible before matches, because if you're even slightly off in your prep it can dramatically affect the result. Saying players should always "come to play" is a bit like saying nobody should ever have a car accident. Well yeah, but sometimes things can just be a bit off, be it your judgement, your concentration, or your mindset. For footy players, they might be feeling slightly flat physically for no apparent. There's a million tiny things that can all affect performance, which all are summarised by "didn't come to play". It's not as if the players do it on purpose.

No Max, "versed" is not a word. Great interview though. Loved the Mumford banter!

Not surprisingly, these teams look exactly like the current team, but with Hibberd and Melksham in them, so it's a pretty pointless exercise. I suppose it's a good sign that this year, we don't have to put "PICK X" in our hypothetical next year's side.