RalphiusMaximus

Magner Subbed.

Yet another freeby to Port. Thank you umpires.

Facepalm.

So I'm thinking rope-a-dope. We've let them throw everything at us with no more substitutes, and now we'll come out and smash them. Right?

Score! We didn't quite go scoreless for the quarter.

And what do I hear right away?

Getting sick of hearing out on the full.

ABC radio coverage is shocking.

Another freeby from the Umps to Port

Take the shot Nev!

Umps give Port a hand again...

End to end goal to Melbourne. Haven't heard that in a while.

Lol. Melbourne get the first clearance and the ump immediately gives an off the ball free to Port. Port into 50 and a mark.

If it sounds like we played well I'll get it from the AFL site tomorrow.

Merrett leads with his knees. It's that simple. If you watch him jumping into an opponent or a pack, his knee is always coming forward into the man in front of him. He's a huge guy and there's a hell of a lot of power being focused into what looks like a fairly innocent contact. Interestingly, on a few occasions we have seen him contort himself while jumping for the ball to ensure that his knee makes contact with an opponent who is not directly in front of him, and I think if anything gets him into trouble it will be this.

No. He showed glimpses of form at Casey, but it wasn't sustained and his fitness isn't up to par yet. This is premature in my opinion.

No Watts?

Ben Reid looks a good bet atm. I doubt anyone from the Hawks is planning a move. Is Sam Reid contracted? It'd be a hell of a coup to get the pair.

2 weeks back. I think he played a half last week. From what we saw this weekend I don't think he's there yet.

In: Watts, Morton, Fitzpatrick Out: Jamar, Bennell, Grimes (if ankle is dodgy) Watts is an obvious in, and the FD said he would only be out for the one week. Morton really stood up when he needed to yesterday and his contested work was fine. Fitzpatrick gives much more around the ground than Spencer, and the PA ruck unit looks pretty shonky, so he won't be badly outmatched when he spells Martin. The outs are all forced ones obviously. Jamar and Bennell are certain to miss while Grimes looked pretty proppy on that leg. Of the other contenders from Casey, I just can't see any of them coming in yet. Jetta started well and had some glimpses of class through the game, but it wasn't a sustained effort, and Gysberts I don't think is quite ready fitness-wise.

I would guess that Bones are hard tissue and everything else is soft. Therefore the multiple ankles and backs count, plus Jamar's calf and now Bennell's knee. I'd be interested to know what the official definition is though.

I have two things, closely related, to say about that game. 1. Sam Blease was hit square on the top of the head while bending to pick up the ball and not only did the umpire not blow his whistle (despite a number of soft high contact frees to Fremantle), but the commentary team on 7 didn't even mention it in passing. Shocking. 2. The umpiring today was truly a disgrace. Not just the questionable calls they made, but the many blatant frees they failed to pay as well. Obviously the Blease non-call noted above stood out for me, but there were many others, such as the one-handed toss to a teammate on the boundary in full view of the ump, which are worthy of note. I think the single biggest improvement the AFl could make to the game is to introduce a proper professional body to govern umpiring, including penalties for poor or clearly one-sided performances.

I don't think you can place blame for the injuries we've been seeing. It's not like we've had a lot of hamstrings. They have all been impact injuries and/or rotten luck. How many weeks have we lost to ankles? Multiple players out with back problems. ACL to Bennell now as well. None of this is a conditioning issue, it's all just rotten luck. Looking on the bright side though, it would be amazing if we had another season like this in the near future.

Is it just me or did it look a lot like one of his teammates told him to turn and go? It looked like he was facing away from goal and heading back to take a shot, then abruptly turned and ran for it. Either way, his first was an absolute gem. Reminded me of a couple of Buddy moments from last year.

Shocking attempt by Cook after the siren. Could have been level at half time. Casey have no right to be this close, but it gives them a chance going into the second half. Morton starting to influence the game. Had a big hand in the comeback. Evans is getting a bit of the ball. Moloney finding a bit of it as well and is hard in traffic. Williams had an influence in the forward line. Forgot to mention his tap on for a goal in the first. Very nice awareness.