Je Roos Salem

I'd forgotten about him. Would be a great upgrade on Rohan Bail

Not at all. I think his hair suits him. A little lengthy and slicked back

Thought he was the type that would be shoehorned as a flanker/defensive forward but today proved he's a midfielder

Is it possible to love Hogan too much? His work rate is phenomenal. The handballing, ground level work. It's hard to keep track of him as he can lead anywhere and be a target within a few seconds.

Looks like the way is being paved for a Cavs-Warriors finals that most savoured. Lebron pretty much willed them through games 4 and 5 and Irving can even play like a superstar when injured.

I think Dunn should run up the ground more. Seems to have been more of a stay at home back this year, he has a decent boot that could get us some entries

The facts are that Hogan has asserted his dominance for 6 games straight when you could almost excuse a young key forward to have one or two unsighted games in there. Has fought hard and found a way to get involved. I'm confident he's gonna be a really good player, barring injury

Under Roos we've showed signs of flirting with more direct 50 entries rather than the slow half-back, a couple of short kicks and then a poor one down the line. Last two weeks we've clearly been intimidated by loose men in defence. It's all about finding space inside 50 but not vacating it completely, because when we get the ball in that situation we rarely beat the opposition back inside our arc

Doesn't even need to be a great kick, if it goes near him he's a good chance

Thought he was going to have his first bad game, but then he got involved on the wing and monstered forward. I'm confident he will kick 5 in the next few weeks.

We have to play GWS at Etihad in the final round. That's embarrassing.

He's a solid contributor, pretty quick. His kicking used to be woeful, it's improved a fair bit. McDonald isn't really a problem, it's a difficult time for our defence, Garland hasn't been great, Questions over Frawley, Grimes is struggling, Terlich too, is Howe comfortable down there? Only real standouts in recent weeks have been Dunn and Jetta

Whoa, incredible and thought-provoking post. So tragic, I hope you left a lasting impression with that passion towards those close to you. You certainly did here on Demonland. I also have seen that video when searching Raw Comedy, well before I was aware of this thread, and thought it was terrific. Makes this more special for me. So sad for this to happen to such a great guy R.I.P

Also had a huge say in putting us into several finals series. Yze was a versatile, highy skilled player. Robbo kicked 428 goals in 228 games, won a fair few off his own boot. Watts has kicked 60 in 73. Don't see much validity in the comparisons though obviously hard due to the quality of the sides they've played in

Regardless of what side he's in, he continually makes inexcusable errors that other players don't. If he was dangerous around goals (for the second week in a row, he made a terrible decision in front of them) he'd at least warrant a selection. But he simply doesn't have enough going on in any area of his game at the moment.

It is pretty silly, but I'm giving it my best shot. That sort of attitude doesn't really work both ways though, because players who've had very good first years (eg. Scully, Trengove even Morton) are generally perceived to be stars of the future that will only improve. Just based on what i've seen so far, Toumpas I haven't had a great feeling about, whereas Viney I have mostly admired and he's fit in well. Some of it with Toumpas seems to be structural, as I don't think our game plan has helped his development and he doesn't really seem to have a position. As much as I detest to re-watching one of our worst games and worst spectacles of all time (in which was I soaked through the skin at the ground) i'm having a look at it now. A breakthrough game, such as Viney's in Round 1 (should've gotten Rising star nomination) , clearly hasn't come though

He is, but please, I follow the team as close as anyone and it's clear people are overrating him based on what he's done so far. Think of all our recent draft failures, surely it's a bit ambitious to suggest a 200-game future for the club? I don't think he's really cemented a spot in our best 22 but where we're at I'm probably happy to see what he has to offer for the rest of the season. His first few games were certainly a poor start to his career, effort wise, plus he melted under pressure, whereas Viney immediately asserted himself. He's improved a bit and has shown signs of class and hardness since but by no means have I seen signs of stardom and I think to call him an "elite" user of the ball is a bit much

I didn't say there weren't contributing factors, just merely correcting the previous post by using examples of consistent first year players

The Harvey incident did show passion, true. I'm just over this waiting game as a Melbourne supporter, of course he may become a fantastic player in two years or whatever, whoever may be his teammates then, but I'm just going to judge him on what I've seen him, an AFL footballer, do so far rather than make excuses as to why he hasn't done what he can apparently do. I understand some people feel a connection with him and think he represents the future and he'll be a 200 game player etc. That's great- we've heard it all before! Us, as Melbourne supporters should now know that it's difficult to forecast the future. I'd rather analyse things as they happen and gather my own understanding rather than take a blind faith approach with every decision the club makes. Our team is a horrible unit for Toumpas to prosper in. But that doesn't mean I can't point out his shortcomings, as I and others do with other players who are responsible for beltings most weeks. As for first year players (midfielders) with consistency (or a considerable amount more), Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O'Meara, Brad Crouch and Wines are all good examples

I understand our lack of movement up field, he just didn't show enough dare or passion to impress me (looking backwards instinctively, indecision). I won't be quick to praise Toumpas on the basis that he's quite a good kick and can run around quite well; based on what I've seen this year he's been mostly disappointing and has shown huge flaws like awareness, a contested game and decision making (such as having a chance to kick a goal in the pocket but second guessing himself and panicking). He's shown a couple of glimpses, mainly V Sydney and Geelong but not enough. Hopefully he's a confidence player and that once the Neeld storm settles he finds more desire, flair and consistency. Just doesn't impress me very much and looks like another under performing first round pick

I was at the game, and noticed Toumpas' intentions were rarely to move the ball forward with a decent kick. Not entirely his fault, since others do it too and since the team's been taught that's a good tactic this year, but it seemed like a tactic to just get him the ball and give him experience as opposed to a team enhancing one, which would've been to put Grimes back who has actually played defence well in the past and couldn't find the ball whilst following it all day

Maybe it says that keeping Lindsay Thomas quiet didn't excuse the fact that he was responsible for turning it over to all the other North Melbourne players

The fact that Toumpas can only find about 5 possessions in the midfield, and has been used as an unreliable spare defender just so he can find the ball doesn't really give me too much hope

Don't worry, it's not about Neeld. All the players back the coach and the direction the club's going in, until they are able to leave for a reasonable offer. (Looks like Neeld will need more than 5 years). A new coach next week who is serious about winning as opposed to rebuilding>>>>Watts averaging 20 pos. and kicking 40 goals for Freo next year. No reverse Jeff White please.

Nothing wrong with that, unless of course the merger ends up with us being called the Bentleigh Demons