Nasher

On that bench, it's gotta be in: Frawley, out: Green.

Absolutely this. It was an appalling look, especially with how sensitive we are about players walking out the door with all the recent events. I think the worst Moloney is probably guilty of is hiring an idiot for a manager who apparently doesn't understand the dynamics of our sport. Anyway, I'm expecting him to sign soon, and if hopefully he can continue to turn his form around and we can all get off his back once and for all.

What the deuce? His career does not need redeeming! No doubt he's always been a FTB and he's had a poor year, but you make it sound like he's never played a good game ever. I've been disappointed in both his output on the ground and the words coming out of the mouth of his reckless manager, but let's give some credit where it is due.

Yikes, that's not good at all if it's true.

I can't shake the mental image of a grown man standing in his living room, full rage face on, fists pumping in the air, pants around his ankles, screaming obscenities at the TV. No wonder your fiance thought you were crazy! I'm laughing again

There's no doubt he didn't just toss the whole thing out holdus boldus, but I could be persuaded to believe that he modified it after assessing the result so far. It's not a weakness to be dynamic and flexible, and having hard and fast "non-negotiables" doesn't preclude fluid thinking. Edit: I say "could be persuaded to believe" because I don't watch live, so it's hard to form a concrete opinion of my own. I could just as easily be persuaded that it was all due to improved execution as well.

No doubt Bailey viewed him as a defender, and he's a very good defender. He had an excellent game as a forward, but it was just one game where we caught Hirdy and his merry men with their pants down. Buckley's not going to fall for the same trick; it'll be one possible scenario they look at as they prepare for this match and they'll have had time to devise a way to limit his impact if he plays forward. For me it still remains to be seen whether Garland forward is a viable option in the long term. At worst he's demonstrated he can offer something at least on occasion, and it's a great "plan B" for Neeld to have up his sleeve.

Not sure if it's additional, I found it hard enough getting the rules as it was! But to what end would we nominate Sheahan? As I understand it he's been playing for Casey as a defender, what would we get out of playing him that we couldn't get from playing Troy Davis who is already on the senior list and has been in form?

What he said.

McDonald is too inconspicuous to ever win a nomination for this. He doesn't have the flair of a mid or forward, and he doesn't have a "trick" like Rivers did in his winning year (play reading). He's just not the sort of player that gets people talking; he'll play 50 games before anyone outside the club even knows who he is. If he keeps playing the way he has been then that's fine with me.

Which long term injury? We've got three rookies "nominated" at the moment (Nicholson, Couch and Magner), one under the "every club can nominate one rookie at the start of the year" rule, one under the "every club can nominate one rookie per vacancies on the Vets list" rule (we only have one vet: Green), and one nominated under the LTI of Max Gawn.

Your reaction has got to be the funniest reaction I've ever heard of. I've started giggling each time I read it. What the hell, man?!

I'm pretty sure their automatic sensor does that when they type the real "f" word.

To be fair to B-H, I don't think quoting Freak is the best way to drill home... well, any valid or relevant point at all, really.

Sellar? Martin? Both proven to be largely ineffective as ruckman/forwards. It's what we recruited Sellar for and that dream seemed to have died but was revived against Essendon for mine. Agree that Rivers has been exposed against the resting ruckman.

Tank is still an issue obviously - saw him get it in the last quarter and he was willing the legs to go but they wouldn't and he got tackled. He was clearly absolutely spent. He got poleaxed a couple of times too - once by Fletcher where he went in to the fence (nasty) and once by Hurley while in the back half. Got straight up and on with it both times, and we know he can give it as good as he gets it. Love this guy, but think it'll be a couple of seasons before he starts making an impact consistently. Byron Pickett with a work ethic...?

Nicho could be Peter Walsh circa 2000 or he could be Daniel Ward or Luke Williams. Let's hope for the former - the signs were excellent on the weekend. It's a shame he was robbed of that goal, it would have been the perfect finish to an excellent game.

The 24 year old, 124 game veteran eh? So durable, and each year he turns up just that bit better than last year. His best footy is still ahead of him.

I'm pretty sure my wife was shitty at me for something, probably for walking past her when I got home from work and changing the channel on the TV to put the footy on. Didn't notice a damn thing at the time though

Likewise, and to be truthful I'd be happy with either outcome. These decisions sure beat the heck out of which deck chairs to shuffle after another bad loss.

I agree that Green and Dunn in particular were probably "worse" (relatively) speaking, but on a like-for-like basis, which I did say in my post, Macdonald is an inferior player to Frawley and how Green or Dunn went is irrelevant to that end. He might have played completely out of his skin and earned three Brownlow votes, but that wouldn't change my view that he is just filler and will lose his place when the better player competing for his spot comes back in. It's not because I don't like him or because I didn't think he wasn't good - he was - it's just the tough reality of being a middle of the road player.

As for votes, I found this unbelievably hard 6. Grimes. Played in the guts and absolutely relished it. Perfect 10/10 for mine, I couldn't have been happier with his game. Still getting shivers. 5. Rivers. Has hardly put a foot wrong all year under some seriously intense pressure. 4. Watts. Neeld said he's not playing loose man (from TV it's hard to tell most of the time), he just has the time and smarts to end up on his own a lot. If that's the case then his performance down there was exceptional. Loved it in the last quarter when he was all that stood between Watson and the goals and he won the contest, and his use of the ball back there is excellent. As others have said in other threads, I want so badly for him to deliver on what he was born with and if that's in the back half that's absolutely fine with me. 3. Jones. Enough said. 2. Nicholson. Used his pace to great effect defensively and surprised me by being a genuine offensive threat. Disposal was fine on the night. Was shattered that he was robbed of that goal; it would've capped off an all round excellent game. 1. Garland. Watching him charge out of the goalsquare for that mark on the lead in the last (the one he shanked I think) was the most spine tingling moment of the match and I can't believe I'm only giving him 1. Could easily have kicked 5 in the last quarter - as it was it was his scores were the winning ones. So many players I feel I've jipped here too.

What say we lay off other MFC members just for a little while? I think we're all pretty happy with how things went last night and I'd prefer we left the reaming each other for next time we get smashed.

Joel Macdonald.

It feels ok.