RalphiusMaximus

It didn't look great, but remember that what we saw was a few seconds during which he was sitting alone. We don't know what the circumstances were. Maybe he has asked to be left alone for a while. Maybe they'd given him a huge dose of painkillers and he was stoned off his head. Maybe the doc had stepped out to grab him a blanket. The reality is that we will probably never know what the situation was at that moment. All we have to go on is an isolated bit of footage.

I do question Goodwin on our forward structure. We are one of the worst sides in the competition for converting forward 50 entries into scores, and the big reason for that is that we consistently bomb to the top of the square. It's far too predictable, we don't have the forwards to take the pack mark at the end of it and it doesn't fit in with the rest of our gameplan. Last night it not only cost us the opportunity to score, but it repeatedly turned into a 12 point play when Adelaide ran the ball the length of the ground and goaled. As much as Adelaide looked better than us on the night, if we'd actually scored those goals instead of conceding them we still could have won. The reason I think this is a massive coaching fail is that Goodwin consistently plays an undermanned forward line to get extra players into the middle. At the centre bounce our half-forwards are at the back of the square looking to charge in and rush the contested ball forward. That's great, but when we get a clean clearance the players are banging the ball long in to the 50 (presumably on instruction) to a 6-4 outnumber where the defence is already set up to protect that space because WE ALWAYS PUT IT THERE! The only time our attack has looked dangerous all year has been when we had no tall options and had to work the ball around and find the open man. I do love the direction the club is going and the work Roos and Goodwin have done, but this is a clear fault in the way we play and I can't understand the coaching group allowing it to continue.

I do question Goodwin on our forward structure. We are one of the worst sides in the competition for converting forward 50 entries into scores, and the big reason for that is that we consistently bomb to the top of the square. It's far too predictable, we don't have the forwards to take the pack mark at the end of it and it doesn't fit in with the rest of our gameplan. Last night it not only cost us the opportunity to score, but it repeatedly turned into a 12 point play when Adelaide ran the ball the length of the ground and goaled. As much as Adelaide looked better than us on the night, if we'd actually scored those goals instead of conceding them we still could have won. The reason I think this is a massive coaching fail is that Goodwin consistently plays an undermanned forward line to get extra players into the middle. At the centre bounce our half-forwards are at the back of the square looking to charge in and rush the contested ball forward. That's great, but when we get a clean clearance the players are banging the ball long in to the 50 (presumably on instruction) to a 6-4 outnumber where the defence is already set up to protect that space because

One thing I really want to know. Will Riley Knight be the first player suspended for staging?

Hell of an effort. The kid has some serious swagger to him.

I think you've entirely missed a very important point here. Many keyboard warriors have very poorly developed skills in debate and critical thinking. When confronted with an argument they don't like, they lack the skills to construct a well-thought-out counter that will stand up to scrutiny, so they only option they have left is to attack the source of the argument rather than the argument itself. It's another form of the common far-left tactic of crying "that's racist/sexist/homophobic!" whenever someone challenges what they consider to be self-evident truths.

I saw Dom playing in the NT a few times last year in NITV. He looked to be one of the better players in his side there. Lots of class and clean handling. His clean hands were something that were noted by commentators in his few appearances for Melbourne as well, and it's something we desperately need given how often our players fumble. If he wants to give the AFL another shot then I'm all for us trying to get him back in the red and blue.

Playing Hogan in the goal square and bombing the ball onto his head is unfair to him and a waste of his talent. He needs to be playing CHF and roaming about the ground. He has bloody good endurance and his field kicking is also strong. We get more value from him upfield than as a deep forward.

One of those Monday Night chat shows, a panelist gave us an interesting compliment. He said something about the proof that Melbourne is relevant again is that they are talking about us on these shows. What they are saying isn't as important as the fact that they are saying it about US. As you say Mazer, once upon a time, not all that long ago, our players could do anything and barely rate a mention. Now a youngster mouths off to an unwashed Carlton supporter and it's a headline. People are talking...

Not a hell of a lot football-wise. I'm pretty sure the posters on this board getting ahead of themselves will have little to no impact upon the team.

Walker and Cotchin both get away with fines? Who'd have thought?

Little known fact. The Umpiring fraternity have a secluded resort where they can unwind during the off-season and breaks. It is donated to them by the Goldstein family in thanks for their services to football. I am very peeved at Richmond and West Coast. They just can't get up and win when I need them to.

Happy with this result. With the outs this was a huge danger game. The blues were up for it because they knew they were a great chance.

It was all skill. He knew exactly what he was doing.

That was a deliberate pass that put Harmes into a paddock of space.

The damning part of this footage is the way JJ's body bends as he's pushed. He clearly put a lot of force into that shove.

It looked a lot worse from the back than from the behind the goals camera. From behind it looked like he ran JJ right into the post. Other angle shows him push him in the back causing JJ to crash headfirst into the post. Perhaps not that much difference, but it could be the difference between deliberate and careless. Either way, it's significant impact to the head, so if they decide he's liable he should be gone for a couple of weeks.

I have a feeling Big Tex Walker might not be coming to the NT next week. That didn't look good what he did to JJ there.

The thing about that footage (apart from the lack of love for Hibberd's spoil) that gets me is that nobody gives Oscar credit for a great pass. That was an incredibly difficult thing he did with only a second or so to look and execute. Here's what they had to say: 3AW "a little dribbler.: MMM he "hacks it forward." ABC "a little toe poke." AFL Nation "dribble kick out." I know it gets overshadowed by the awesomeness of the finish at the other end, but Oscar deserves more credit than that. Everything that Harmes and Watts did came off the back of his quick thinking.

I would guess the Great Spirit above might have.

Volunteer at a hospital. He can have a really good look at what happens when you clobber someone like that. Plus he'd look great in the pink dress.

Was he being paid by the AFL at the time? If not, then they have no right to dictate his behaviour.

HELL NO. This absolutely drives me up the wall. The notion that an employer has the right to dictate the behaviour of their employees when they are not on the clock is utterly absurd. It's the same as trying to punish an employee for something they post on Facebook or twitter. Unless they are claiming to represent your business at the time you don't get a say in what they do when you are not paying them. It doesn't matter that he holds a senior position with the AFL during the week, on the weekend he is a private citizen engaging in a recreational activity and what he does at that time is nothing to so with the AFL. If the media hadn't made an issue of his job, he'd just be another suburban footy thug getting suspended. Does he need to be suspended? Absolutely. Should he be charged with assault? Probably. Should he be sacked for something that happened when he wasn't acting on behalf of the AFL? HELL NO. That would be his brother.

IF he cant get a game with our entire engine room out injured then he won't ever play for us again. Right now we have a huge opening for him to step in and play a role that doesn't require burst pace so much as endurance and hardness. It's more or less his ideal position.

In 2012 Jack Ziebell got four weeks for collecting an opponenet's head while legitimately contesting the ball. The MRP said, and the tribunal agreed, that while he was entitled to contest the ball, he also had a duty of care to ensure he did not injure an opponent while doing so. The footage is remarkably similar to that of Jack Viney last week which was dismissed. Now admittedly, that was five years ago, but it seems the whole notion of "duty of care" which was the justification for so many decisions, including the infamous Trengove ban, has been entirely discarded.