Nasher

Is those post a joke? Jetta has plenty of question marks at this stage, but hardness is definitely not one of them. He's actually so hard at the man that it's been comical at times, watching him try to tackle blokes twice his weight. My interpretation too, though it might've just been rose coloured glasses. But like W_J said, I believe he deserves the benefit of the doubt at this stage of his career, especially considering this one was borderline and happened in isolation. It's only a worry if it starts to occur more often.

Was I the only one who thought Newton was okay today under the circumstances? He tackled hard, led well and won the ball, and the delivery in to the forward line was as bad as it has been all year. Could've easily had a small bag if not for average kicking for goal. Must've been watching a different game to everyone else.

Can't speak for others, but I'm not picking on him because his form has waned.

Completely agree. No club has cheated, flaunted the rules or just acted as plain dirty as Carlton in the last decade. And they are collectively so damn full of themselves. Nobody else comes close to my hatred for Carlton.

He's been given a massive amount of opportunity to press his case this year - more than some who are just as much at the crossroads, and has demonstrated that he'd rather lay on the ground or pissfart about with the trainers than work defensively. I find it a bit hard to have any sympathy to be honest. Like I said earlier, there won't be any tough decisions regarding Robbo this year, it will be the easiest decision the LMC have to make. Career over.

I agree; I don't see why it's so difficult to understand. I don't share that attitude, but I can sympathise with those who do. Everyone who is 'pro-tank' agrees that players should be as competitive as humanly possible and should not be built to want to lose, so why is it so unimaginable that some supporters would feel the same? Personally, I want this season to be over. I don't want to be dreading an accidental win. I don't want to feel compromised in my support of the football team any more. I don't want to feel a sense of relief with every loss that we experience now. But I want the pain of the last three seasons to be worth it, and the lure of an elite player will make it worth it.

You know your career is in trouble when there are six forced changes but you still get dropped. In addition to that, of the emergencies, Bail is the only who is match fit -- Buckley and Spencer have come straight from part-games in the Casey twos, so Bail will probably be the emergency to travel. Robbo will be the only fully fit senior player playing at Casey this week. Alarmingly, I'm still concerned that we are at risk of beating Sydney.

It's a rubbish observation. You could make the same statement about almost any player who has passed his prime, or reached a peak in trade value. I've read countless posts on exactly the same topic with White and Yze -- "should have traded them at the end of XYZ season", when in reality, at the time it's almost impossible to gauge when a player is at his peak trading value. There are just so many variables that drive it. It's pretty rare for clubs to get the timing right for trades, especially for older players. It's why we hit gold with the Travis Johnstone trade. The timing was perfect. Imagine what the Lions would get if they tried to trade him now?

Couldawouldashoulda. I don't think that kind of hindsight is relevant or helpful.

Nothing tough about the decision, I reckon it'll be a no brainer. About as tough a decision as those made on Yze and White last year.

I am afraid my subtlety interpreter is (permanently) broken and I have no idea what you mean

Not sure if you'd say Grimes has improved per se, there's no basis for improvement since he spent most of last year out. Jamar's improvement hasn't been as meteoric as people think. It's been a gradual improvement that has been evident over the last two seasons, but people are only noticing now because he's reached a stage where he can influence games. I'd say all in all his progress is just another small incremental step on last year rather than a big/instant improvement. Has Moloney really improved? I don't know. I can't remember how he played prior to this year, he was on the park so little. I've been a huge fan of his this year though, and believe he should definitely be amongst the names discussed for captain next year and beyond if Junior gives it away. It's been nice to see him consistently on the field. I'd probably put Frawley as my main improver as he's been playing at a consistently good level all year. It's amazing what a bit of extra body strength and confidence can do really. His rise has very strong parallels to Garland's rise last year. Sylvia a close second, but his last silly act for me takes a lot of the shine of some very good work he's done, and wasted the huge momentum he had up. Pity really. Let's hope he learns from it.

This does make the list management process a lot easier -- it's probably a blessing really. In terms of influence on the side, those two would be in the top couple in recent weeks. Now PJ and someone like Valenti can pop back in to the side. All we need to do is drop Robbo for Miller or Newton and our list management is done for the week.

Well put as usual. The very worst case from Jurrah (besides injuries etc) is that how he is now is as good as he gets -- even if that's the case, he's proven he's a best 22 player at this very early stage of his career. That's the worst case. The best case is that the sky is the limit. Honestly, I can't see how anyone who claims to be a Melbourne supporter can't be extremely excited by this guy.

It's not 'reverse sexism', it's just sexism, and I agree, she's rubbish. However, I would choose Kelli over Dwayne Russell every day of the week.

He had a good week last week though.

I'd take a well balanced, multi-dimensional forward line over a single power forward any day, and in my opinion that is now where we're heading. I reckon a power forward is a nice-to-have rather than anything we should base our plans around, as I don't think we're going to have one in our side any time soon; and we're not alone there.

Putting him in the forward line was another experiment that unfortunately worked, just like having Jones do tagging roles. Put it on ice until next year! Serious answer: midfielder rotating through the forward line was probably the role earmarked for him from day one to be honest. He's one of a handful of guys we have coming through who are lovely set shots for goal. A midfielder playing in the forward half of the ground sounds good to me.

Yep -- one of the first thing I saw him do was give Courtenay Dempsey a massive shove over the boundary line after a contest, and I've seen him do that sort of thing every game. White line fever - love it. Exciting stuff.

Valenti's on the rookie list. If this is real (which I doubt), all he'd have to do is nominate for the national draft this year and Sydney can get him for free.

What a bunch of hacks in their 'in' line!

PJ and Dunn are both also contracted I believe. IMO that means names like Buckley are in the gun before time. McNamara was drafted as bottom age, he's the sort I'd be looking to delist and then redraft in the rookie draft. BTW I don't think Rhino is suggesting that Wonaeamirri will be or is likely to be delisted, but it's pretty certain his name will be discussed since he's out of contract this year.

Well put. You, H, rpfc and Finks have all hit the nail on the head in this thread.

It isn't rubbish, it's reality. Look at all the recent premiership teams in recent years. They all have one thing in common; at least one elite midfielder. Voss/Aker/Black. Hird. Ablett. Goodes. Cousins/Judd. It's an absolute must. It doesn't have to be Scully but it has to be someone -- but Scully is this year's elite mid and we're not going to get another opportunity to get one in future years. Rest core players during vital periods of the game. Davey or Bruce tearing the game apart? Sit them in the forward pocket or on the pine while the game is up for grabs. Jamar on fire, currently beating everyone in the ruck? Sit him on the bench too and give Martin an extended hitout. This has the added benefit of giving him practice when there's nothing on the line in terms of 4 points/finals. Select players who have clearly demonstrated they are not good enough. Selecting PJ, Miller, Bartram and Newton -- all legitimate fringe players -- in future weeks is another good step. Obviously telling the players not to try is not plausible and won't happen.

That's exactly what I reckon too HT. I hate all this talk of tanking and I feel sick at the thought of not doing everything possible to win. I don't see what the alternative is though. We're still short of an elite midfielder and I can't see a way of winning a flag without one, and I can't see how we're ever going to get one without this pick. You can't guarantee the elite midfielder* will win you a premiership, but you can almost guarantee you won't win a premiership without him. *By elite midfielder I don't mean Scully specifically, just any elite midfielder.