Nasher

In: Newton, Cheney Out: Miller, Johnson I'd be happy with any combination of the above. I want to see Newton get a real crack. From what I've heard from Casey watchers, his work rate is good enough; he chases and applies defensive pressure, which makes him a better option than Robertson at the moment. Confidence is his biggest worry at the moment IMO; give him a chance to build on it. If he still flounders it must be just about career over. The worst thing that could happen is we lose. Big whoop. I want to keep Bell in for another week as well. Like Newton he's currently fighting for his career. I don't rate PJ. I'd rather play a small who can get the ball in his place. Cheney is my choice. He's busting the door down to be picked, which is great, and he's been stiff to miss out for the last couple of weeks. I doubt this move will happen though. I think Miller's form speaks for itself.

Some of the comments in this thread have made me a little bit embarressed to be a Melbourne supporter TBH.

I'm totally desensitised to Dwayne. He's easily the worst caller in the business, and I've grown so used to his nonsense that I just stopped hearing it some time ago. 2 and 2 for the others.

I agree with this in particular. Jamar has his obvious limitations, but if I had to choose, I'd choose 10 Jamar touches over 20 PJ touches every single time. I thought Bell did enough to earn another crack next week. Warnock did a fair job on Riewoldt under the circumstances, but I thought the smaller, faster Frawley did a better job in the last quarter. Our number 8 is seriously a dead set gem. If he doesn't win this year's most improved then the whole thing's rigged as far as I'm concerned.

It's different though -- in the case of those, there's actually no rival employer. In the case of AFL footballers, there are rival employers -- 15 of them in fact, but players aren't allowed to just walk over to them.

He's dropped a player who is woefully out of form and not adhering to the team message. It's not tanking, it's doing what any good coach / team manager should do.

I've added Bail. Tempted to also add a Trent Zomer option too just for laughs. I've voted for McNamara, because I think from a list management perspective, it would make the most sense for him to play soon.

Accepting mediocrity bleeds red and blue, and is a real Ryan O'Keefe type player. Gee I love cliches. *spew* On the real subject, Jones is a best 22 player and I can't see him getting dropped. His game has flaws, but since there's nobody better waiting for his spot at Casey, he can work on them while playing at the top level.

That's what I thought too. A light-hearted dig at himself more than anything.

I agree, that's an embarrassingly amateur mistake, and worse than any missed- or soft- free kick IMO.

Last year he kicked 26 goals, 9 behinds.

I don't disagree, but at the expense of whom? Once you include the injured Garland, our backline is chockers at the moment.

That was my take on it too Robbie. Thought there was some cobwebs early that got blown off as the game went on. Very pleasing game. IMO he's currently the best player on our list.

Nonsense. Was alright today. Actually, I'd say that Junior's game today was pretty much the same as the other two-hundred-and-something he'd played before. Just quietly went about the job. I haven't seen any stats, but I'd wager he'd be right up there with the tackle count again this year. Getting 'smashed' by Mitchell is hardly something to whinge about too much -- the guy is the best inside midfielder in the league.

No it didn't. For me it just reinforced what most have already said in this thread. Morton will be an absolute star, and Rioli already is.

Personally I think the best part of those results is that Ablett actually has more votes than anyone else By Freak's logic, since those results indicate that Ablett is not the most skilled player in the comp, then none of those in the vote are, because none have a majority vote. That poll could include every player in the comp, and the results could be the same. What would his conclusion be then -- that nobody is the most skilled player? Too easy.

! Touche, Jarka. I agree with you and Geddy. The assertion that a player's disposal can only stay the same or get worse actually made me laugh out loud. Freak is very fractionally right in that the 'biomechanics' of a players' kicking is usually very hard to change because in most cases they've been doing it since they were pups. However the raw mechanics of a kick is only a very small part of the total story of a disposal -- as Geddy already aluded to, there's a million other variables that can be worked on. Morton's a good kick, there's no doubt about it. There's already been a vast improvement on his ability to hit a target since last year. That's the affect of work on all those intangibles already mentioned, such as adjusting to the tempo of the game and confidence.

There's always changes because we've got a lot of young players fighting for their spots, and their form waxes and wanes - not to mention our horrid run with injuries. Once our best side is settled and we're playing consistently good footy, we'll start seeing fewer changes.

Cheney stiff, but still really happy with that side.

So far, very very happy with our picks. Morton's scope for development is out of sight. At the very worst we'll just get a "good" footballer. The best case scenario is stuff of dreams; better than anything Rioli could deliver IMO, and there's no doubting Rioli is a very, very good player. Grimes seems to have been an absolute bargain at 14 as well.

How about "your team ALWAYS loses, why don't you just follow someone else?". Although to be fair I do ask myself that sometimes, but changing footy allegiances to me would be like changing your blood type. My wife got the hint pretty quickly that that didn't go down well.

Am I the only one who married someone who doesn't follow footy at all? My wife is a completely clean slate. Had never watched a game before we met, but will now suffer through a game and barracks for the Dees purely for the sake of my mood. She wants to visit the 'G with me next time I go (she hasn't been there), so steps are being taken. The kids are well and truly on the way to being brainwashed though. One of the small handful of words my 1 year old son says is "go dees", with fist pumped in the air.

Like any 'best ever' team, there's plenty in there that is debateable, but that's a much, much better effort than the one put in by Adam Goodes in one of the main rags this week.

He's on the extended bench for the seniors, he's still a chance to play.

I/C From: R.Petterd, A.Maric, N.Jones, J.Bennell, M.Jamar, K.Cheney, C.Bartram Hmm. For the first time in a while, I find that bench incredibly hard to pick from. My final four would be Maric, Jones, Bennell, Cheney. So that makes my final changes: In: Frawley, Green, Rivers, Bennell Out: Dunn, Valenti, Petterd, Bartram. Jamar is surely not ready after no preseason, present ruck situation notwithstanding. He isn't fit. I'd rather the extra runner than an unfit ruckman who is 'outhouse' around the ground at the best of times. I don't want to drop Petterd as I believe he's part of the future and I find it unlikely they'll drop Bartram, though it's still my uneducated preference. He seems to hold great attraction to our selectors, presumably for the intangibles he delivers. I think Cheney's future is still in doubt and I think he, more than any of our younger players named on this bench need game time to prove his worth. Bennell's form and improvement for me has him automatically in our best 22, so he should play. I also want Maric in, simply because I reckon the guy is a gun. Jones is in undroppable form and is only on the extended bench because someone has to be. I agree that it's disappointing that Bailey has reneged on his comments about Valenti getting more weeks; I think he deserves it, and needs this opportunity to prove his worth as a player. That said, I also agree that it's just tough luck. I can't find a space for him in that side. There are players whom I rate higher than him that I have had to drop from my 'preferred' 22. I wonder if this is the same thing going through Dean Bailey's mind.