RalphiusMaximus

Much as I'd like to thrash Carlton, I think I'd prefer to not win any of the remaining games and get the best possible picks. It would ensure us bottom spot, putting us ahead of Freo and should WC somehow slip up and win another one it would guarantee us the top two picks. Winning is simply not worth it at this point.

Personally, I think he's viable trade bait. The Dogs, Sydney and Richmond are all in the market for another forward, and Port probably aren't that far behind them in needing one. The Bulldogs are even looking at Barry Hall! That's desperation. If we could get a third or even fourth round pick for him, I'd be thrilled. I think he'd be best of fat the Bulldogs out of those options, and perhaps they could do something about his kicking, given that they pride themselves on that aspect of their game (all evidence from the weekend aside ).

Tank? Us? However, i'm thrilled that we have a chance to see McKenzie and Bail play (hope they both make the cut). Delayed telecast on Sunday means I can actually watch this one! I am however a little nervous about Jurrah. He's the sort of guy who can win matches on his own. Perhaps it's getting to the point where he needs a rest? ;p

Is he the young guy Davey convinced to come and play with us? What are the odds of him coming to us in one of the drafts?

Nope/ We have plenty of good quality young players who can give us run off halfback. No need for an oldie in the spot.

Freo are putting up a fight and Bradshaw is down. Upset could be in the air...

He has one of the best records against Scarlet in the league. One of the few forwards who has regularly beaten him. Sadly, today he was terrible, but don't write off his whole career because of his shoddy games after a major injury.

What bothered me most about her was that she hadn't bothered to learn the players' names. That's just a lack of professionalism.

A bit harsh on Robbo. I think he'd be better off to retire at the end of the year than try to play on, but he's still been a better goalscoring option than Miller or Newton this year. McLean I'm willing to give a little time to. He's been great in the last few weeks. Today he was awful, but overall his form has improved as the season progressed. See how he does next year if he can have an injury-free pre-season. Spot on with the other two though.

Not the Dogs. They still lack a spine, and against the best teams it's going to kill them. Pies, Bombers or Lions are all a better bed for the GF.

She could at least learn the players' names! How many Bates do you think we had on the field? 6 - Moloney 5 - Bate 4 - Jones 3 - Bartram 2 - Morton 1 - Grimes

You need to leave your preconceptions at the door when you go to watch these games. Judge the players on their game, not your opinion of them.

Absolutely agree on Jurrah Grimes Bennell and Morton, but i'm surprised nobody has mentioned Bate. He was really good today, kicked some great goals and put on a lot of pressure up the ground. He may have been crap early in the season, but lately he's been showing a lot. If he keeps this up he's definitely going to be sticking around.

I agree that Davey would be a great choice, as would Green. Davey has been working tirelessly for our club the last couple of years, not just with his playing, but his efforts to bring in indigenous talent and increase our profile in indigenous communities. Green of course is one of our best on-field leaders and in the short term would be an inspirational leader for the club. As a long shot, I'd like to see Liam Jurrah in consideration in a couple of years. We already know that he's a community leader back home. He's used to setting an example for his peers and the younger guys. It will be very interesting to see if that translates to the club environment once he's settled in. Plus it would be a huge boost to our profile with indigenous communities.

Entirely hypothetical, but what if the kid assured you that he would contribute nothing, not play his hardest and reduce his value so drastically that you will be lucky to get a third/fourth round pick for him trading in two years? Stupid of the kid, but how could/would a club respond to that?

I like it. Very good move and will give guys like Valenti other options if they find themselves no longer required.

Sounds like a good thing to me. I've been thinking for a while that Morabito could be a dark horse for no.1 if either Freo or WC get the pick. Nice to have a little more information pointing in that direction.

Bail! Great notion! I'd be quite happy if we decided to "blood" him about now. Perhaps let him play out the season in the hopes that he learns from the pace and intensity of the game...

I can't see us beating the Tigers or North. Freo will be our fourth win of the season, and the rest are pretty safe losses against sides that want the points for their finals campaigns.

I'd love to be able to watch the whole game. Sadly, I love being able to pay my bills more, so I work weekends. Still, it must've been a hell of a first half from him.

I think we need to remember one little thing here folks. There is only one other team who can get a priority pick, and they are above us on the ladder. While Fremantle can take the spoon off our hands, they can not get an early priority pick this season. While this win didn't help our chances of getting Scully, it hasn't done them too much harm either.

Why all the votes for Bruce? I only caught the second half, but it looked to me like he orchestrated the flattening of at least two teammates and turned the ball over repeatedly. It's no good having 30+ disposals if you keep doing such dumbass things with it.

I'm proud of our team today, they played a great game and beat a pretty good side who thrashed them earlier in the year. However, they couldn't have picked a worse time to find some form. We now need to have a very hard look at the remaining fixtures and find a way to get that no. 1 pick. I honestly think that Richmond will beat us, but Fremantle could be a very big problem.

Ok, so I can't resist adding a little to the Robbo debate. In all honesty, I can say that there are few players in the modern era who have done so much to harm their club. In the last few years playing alongside a declining David Neitz and then without any real support in the forward line at all, he has continued to present and kick bags of goals. Indeed, he has topped the club's goalkicking on no less than three occasions in 2001, '05 and '07 and won a best and fairest in 2003. Now you may be asking how any of this is harmful to the club, and the answer is simple. DRAFT PICKS! This is a team that should have bottomed out years ago. With an ailing (and mediocre) full forward, Brad Miller as CHF and little more to offer, Melbourne should have been winning the wooden spoon consistently for years. Just for one moment imagine if Robertson hadn't been trying to win games off his own boot in those last few years. Kreuzer would be on our list, so the Ruck problems are solved. Gibbs? Well, hardly worth the effort really, but Joel Selwood went that year. I willingly concede that had we been so fortunate as to draft those two, we might not now be in a position to get Scully, but then our forward line is still in disarray, so perhaps we could. In conclusion, allow me to say simply "Damn you Russell Robertson. You're insistence on kicking goals has doomed us all!"

Wow. That is a truly ridiculous thread. And to think it started out so well as an attempt to give credit to two guys who showed improvement this week. Isn't it amazing the little things that can set the Trolls off? Let's get back to the point a little shall we? One thing I absolutely loved about Rivers' game was the way he was twisting from side to side as he ran back either to attempt a mark or after taking one. It's something he used to do before all the injuries. It gives him the opportunity to get a bit of a look at what's around him while still contesting the ball legally. I saw that and had flashbacks to his breakout season. Hopefully I'm not wrong in thinking that it's a sign of returning confidence in his body. As for Robbo, I didn't really love his game. I was happy to see him getting into it and enjoying his footy, because that's when he has the greatest impact. It was good to see him get a decent return on the scoreboard. If we're going to win any more games this year he'll have to keep on kicking 4 or more a game.