MadAsHell

Do we take a punt and promote White from the rookie list to play off half back? Hasn't put a foot wrong at VFL level. Because Fitz will be playing in the back 6 on Walker.

Yarran at his best v Howe at his best. Yes please! And that's no disrespect to Howe.

Howe to Richmond Richmond's first round pick to Carlton Yarran to Melbourne Done! I hope anyway.

I thought Stretch showed a bit on the weekend. Certainly looked better then he did in his first two games.

Don't think anyone said he was going to be delisted. But he's surely a player that could be used as trade bait at years end.

Given the injury news today, and the fact there's still no news of anyother rookies being elevated, i'm now going with. OUT: Grimes (inj), Pedersen (inj), Michie (was poor), Neal-Bullen (victim of lack of run) IN: Bail (need run), Dawes (for Pedersen), Fitzpatrick (cover for the cats talls), Terlich (no other half back options on the senior list) FB: Fitzpatrick, Dunn, Jetta HB: Cross, T. McDonald, Terlich C: Lumumba, Vince, Tyson HF: Watts, Dawes, Bail FF: Howe, Hogan, Garlett FOLL: Gawn, Brayshaw, N. Jones INT: Riley, Toumpas, Viney SUB: Stretch EMERG: Jamar, M. Jones, Neal-Bullen

Considering he'll be out for about 6 weeks and will then have to return via Casey, i wonder if Grimes has played his last match for Melbourne?

From what I've seen of Gorringe, and I'll admit it isn't heaps. He seems an aggresive style ruckman who'll really smash in at the ruck contest, and he's still yet to fully develop. He can also take a mark. Not saying I'd bring him in as our number 1 ruck, but I wouldn't mind bringing him in for competition with Gawn. Spencer doesn't inspire me with confidence as our back up to Gawn going forward. As for Plowman, I see him in a different light to both Frost & Oscar. I see both them as genuine key position defenders, and when fit I'd have Frost in the 22 with T. Mac, Dunn & Garland. Plowman is more in the Sam Fisher type mould where he'd be playing on a third tall rather then one of the two keys, and he's a guy who's hands it'd be good to get the ball into when coming out of defence. But I'm happy to draft one of those positions & trade in the other. Will be another interesting off season.

True, you rarely do. Unless your our opponents from last night who only had three on their injury list. Those 9 I've mentioned may not have done much, but in all likelyhood they would have contributed more then say: Michie, Neal-Bullen, Stretch, Riley, Pedersen, Gawn, Grimes contributed. And that's not having a shot at those guys, just stating the obvious. If players not being available isn't such a big deal, then why is it always a big story if a player is reported in a Prelim final and you see appeals lodged so the likes of Hall, Dunkley, Cloke, Rocca etc are available for the next match? Because the teams better off with a player in their best 22 playing then if they weren't. That's why. And Gold Coast were tipped to challenge for finals. Things change. How would St Kilda have gone last night with another 6 players out? In all likelyhood, we may have seen a different result. As for the players mentioned, only two carry weight in Jamar & Dawes. JT was dropped a year ago just before his injury was diagnosed. Think we now know why he was so down on form. And think you'll find JKH was injured, not dropped. Also we've had a decade of shocking drafting and have only started to get it right from the 2012 draft onwards. It will take awhile, but at least we've got a young core to build around now.

Spot on! I've now come to the view that we may just look for an outside mid with pace = Yarran And one of either a young ruckman = Gorringe Or a young third tall rebounding defender for post Dunn/Garland = Plowman Get Yarran & one of the other two, then go to the draft. Howe, Grimes, Fitzpatrick for trade. Starting to warm to the idea of holding onto Toumpas & Watts.

It's frightening isn't it, yet haven't heard much made of it in the media. FB: Dunn, T. McDonald, Jetta HB: Garland, Frost, Lumumba C: Vandenberg, Vince, Tyson HF: Trengove, Dawes, Kent FF: Howe, Hogan, Garlett FOLL: Jamar, Cross, N. Jones INT: Brayshaw, Petracca, Salem, Viney EMERG: Kennedy-Harris, Toumpas, Watts Entire half forward line out. No wonder we couldn't get it out of our back line in the final term. At least the injuries have allowed the likes of Toumpas & Watts to find form.

He's completely turned around our ability to score from stoppages. Been a huge jump in the two weeks since he's been in the side!

Watts was one of our best last night. After his dropped mark against Collingwood I thought he was very good also, and I thought he was one of our best in Round 1 v Gold Coast. He's our best users of the footy and from all reports is an absolute great bloke who loves the club, Roos, McCartney & Goodwin. The issue we face with Jack is his form fluctuations, and the fact that if we keep him, he's a free agent at the end of 2016 and if he were to walk we may loose him for less then we could get for him if we were to trade him at the end of this year? The other problem I think is that to me, I think he & Howe are competing for the one spot, the third tall forward who's also agile enough to push up the ground, but can still take a mark and kick a goal. Howe certainly a better contested mark and goal kicker. Watts is a much better user of the footy and over the last two weeks has shown an ability to win his own ball at times in the middle. Both can push up onto a wing or half back, so which way do we go? I don't have the answers. Howe could get us more in a trade this year. But he's one of the few highlight reels the club has, especially with young fans, and as our midfield gets better, he could really prosper from better supply. But same could be said for Watts. So for me it's one or the other. If Howe signs on the dotted line soon, then I think we should trade Watts. If we trade Howe out I hope we keep Jack and back him in all the way!

Yep. Garland, Frost, Vandenberg, Tengove, Kent, Salem, Petracca Throw in Dawes & Kennedy-Harris not fit for AFL selection & then Jamar (who on form is still best 22) into the mix and we're one short of half the team!

From a personal point of view I'd of thought it'd be Harmes, but that's just me. Main thing we lack is midfield depth as well as run & spread. This is something that Harmes has an ability to bring. In weeks previously with Neal-Bullen, Michie, Riley, McKenzie etc in Casey's team, Harmes was more often then not playing half forward or wing and not getting much time in the middle. His form in those positions was quite solid without being spectacular, however he's one of those players that even though he may only get 15 touches in those positions, he stands out. Case in point was our game against Richmond VFL on a Saturday Night, where he only had 14 or 15 touches, but got some really vital ones in the final term, putting the ball inside 50. The weekend gone was his first real chance to play pure inside and he had close to 30 touches, while doing a number on Uysal from Coburg who is one of their best players. His pace is very good and he's also strong overhead. So he's a player who's shown an ability to play inside & out while also at half forward, has an ability to hit the score board also. Think he's kicked maybe about 5 goals this year including 2 v Essendon. King could be everything we're looking for, however he's certainly a work in progress. Not long ago I thought he'd be gone at seasons end, so he's certainly shown me up. That forward/ruck role in a really important slot, and he's showing a potential to be the man to fill that role for us, but we shouldn't try and fast track him as he's coming from a long way back from a development point of view. He also had a bad injury last year, so giving him that 3rd year on the rookie list is no harm. Then there's Mitch White who plays another vital role we need filling as a half back with a beautiful left foot penetrating kick. Like Harmes, he seems strong overhead and although he has an awkward running style, his pace seems ok as he's normally playing on one of the opposition's small forwards. From memory he would often play on talls in the TAC Cup with Stingrays, so he could become a real valuable versatile defender. Given it's his first year this year though, I'd expect he'll get a 2nd year on the list like Harmes & King did last year. So yeah coming into this years draft which is pretty weak, it wouldn't suprise me to see us only take maybe 2 live picks in while upgrading Vandenberg & one other. In my opinion that other would be Harmes, however depending on who we get in through trades/free agency it may be more appropriate to upgrade one of the others. So the good news is for the first time ever in my memory, I think all of the rookies on our rookie list could become good players for us. But there's still a lot of water to pass under the bridge yet.

Surely not!?? And I'd rather keep Col then let him walk. Don't have an issue with any of your other suggestions, although I believe all of M. Jones, Michie and Terlich are contracted...

We lacked speed and spread. My changes: IN: Dawes, Fitzpatrick, Harmes OUT: Pedersen (inj), Michie (omit), Neal-Bullen (omit) FB: Fitzpatrick, Dunn, Jetta HB: Cross, T. McDonald, Grimes C: Lumumba, Vince, Tyson HF: Watts, Dawes, Harmes FF: Howe, Hogan, Garlett FOLL: Gawn, Brayshaw, N. Jones INT: Riley, Toumpas, Viney SUB: Stretch EMERG: M. Jones, Neal-Bullen, Terlich I'm concerned about both Hogan & Brayshaw, as they both looked to be on one leg by the end of the game, but hopefully they'll come up. Neal-Bullen a bit unlucky, but just think we need a few more runners and Harmes provides that with his pace as well as ability to play forward. Think Alex is still pretty much just an inside mid at this stage. Billy Stretch on the other hand I thought showed a bit last night, so happy for him to stay in as the sub. So match ups in defence, I'd expect T. Mac on Hawkins, Fitzpatrick to follow Walker around, including when he goes into the ruck and Dunn on Kersten. Looks like Blicvas will have to ruck for Geelong, given the injuries to Stanley, Clark, Vardy, McIntosh and I think Simpson also? Which helps us, as if Blicvas was allowed to just play as a midfielder again, we'd struggle for match ups. Was thinking we'd need to move Dunn into the midfield to run with Blicvas and get Grimes or Lumumba to cover Kersten which is always an option. Anyway, expecting a flogging, especially if Hogan & Brayshaw don't get up, but hoping we can bounce back and score a famous win! I have no doubt we have the ability to do it. Just a question of beating our own Demons in order to do it. Just shattered we couldn't do it last night. Edit: Wrong player name.

I was at the game and personaly i would of had him in my top half dozen for Casey at least. Thought Morris, Harmes, Hutchins and Bail were best and would probably been a flip of the coin as to who to name next between King, White & Jamar.As i mentioned earlier i'm amazed Newton was named in the best and although Matt Jones got a bit of the ball, i didn't think he had much of an impact.

Got home from the game and drank half a bottle of red to try and forget about it. Woke up at 4:15am still spewing! Slowly getting over it now, but it still hurts! We were poor bar the final 5min of the 2nd term, i put this as our worst performance of the year after the Hawthorn game and that actually helps. If we can play that badly with 9 of our 22 out, loosing Pedersen and having both Hogan and Brayshaw on one leg and be in a position where we should have been able to close out a win against a team that only has 3 on the injury list. Well, then i guess we must be on the right track! Last night still really sucked though! I've been with my st kilda supporting wife now since 2008, and am still yet to notch a win over her.

Would explain his demeanor at the 3/4 time huddle then.

Ventured down today and was good to see them get the win while not playing their best. Credit has to go to Coburg for turning it into an arm wrestle, but Casey certainly missed Neal-Bullen and Michie as they were smashed out of the middle. Here's my thoughts on Melbourne's players: Chris Dawes: Competed hard all day and laid a lot of hard tackles which was good to see. Didn't really clunk any big contested marks, but kicked the sealing goal late. Needs another week at VFL level baring injury to Hogan or Pedersen. Jordie McKenzie: Was busy and kicked a goal in the final term. No major blunders, so not a huge amount to say about Jordie today. Ben Newton: Was very suprised to see Newton listed in the best. I barley sighted him today, especially after half time. Not saying he was, but at the 3/4 time huddle he almost looked disinterested with his arms crossed. That just could be him though, so i stand to be corrected. Oscar McDonald: Solid game without being spectacular. Spoilt well and is starting to back his pace at running off his opponent a bit more which is good to see. Mark Jamar: Was very good today i thought. Dominated his opponent in the ruck and took a few marks and got more of the ball around the ground. Missed a shot at goal in the third term he should have kicked, but i reckon we'll see him back in the team for Darwin Mitch White: Very good today defensively and offensively! Reads the play well and constantly peeled off his man and set up a number of offensive plays. Was quieter in the 2nd half, but another encouraging display. Jake Spencer: Solid game from Jake. Managed to take a few marks around the ground and kick 2 goals which was good. Wasn't as dominant in the ruck as Russian was, but he's kept his name up there. James Harmes: If it weren't for Max's bag of 5, this is the guy we would have been talking about. Was BOG to half time in my book, winning plenty of clearances and getting it on the outside also. Seemed to drift out of the game in the 3rd term and early part of the 4th, howevet when the game was in the balance he came back late winning some clearances out of the middle and driving the ball forward. Was the guy who set up McKenzie's mark and goal for Casey's 2nd last. Another thing i liked about his game was when he did make the odd mistake, he fought to win the ball back and make sure any error wasn't costly. Rohan Bail: Probably the best game i've seen him play. Was a real link man providing plenty of run and actually used it pretty well. I wouldn't love the odds of that translating into AFL form though. Matt Jones: Got plenty of it and ran hard, but he didn't seem to have the impact that Harmes & Bail had for me. Seemed reluctant to move the ball quickly and i thought stifled a few potential quick entries in the 3rd term. Max King: What can you say. A month ago i had this guy penciled in to be delisted. Now he could be anything! Played stay at home forward, but he's agile and kicks it beautifully. Don't think we'll see him lining up for the Dees anytime soon, but he's certainly one to watch. Also i should mention i though Morris from Casey was great and most consistent over the 4 quarters. Very creative and was our best when Coburg were on top in the 3rd. Hutchins was also great. Was a one man wall across half back, cutting off several forward thrusts from Coburg. End of the day Casey probably should have won by more. Were 7.0 at one stage, and from there kicked another 7.13, while Coburg kicked straight all day. Thought they were in trouble at 3/4 time, so did really well to fight out the 4 points and end of the day, that's all that matters. I'll also say for those worried, don't be concerned about Viney withdrawing tomorrow. Goodwin said Fitz has pulled up with a niggle, so Terlich is the carry over player.

Jordie McKenzie Viv Michie Jack Grimes Mark Jamar Rohan Bail Dean Terlich Have to be the main suspects. Matt Jones has been in the side recently while Riley & Gawn's back in so doubt it would have been either of them.

And that every player on it is in our best 22!

Well certainly still think Tyson & Grimes are certain to come in. For me it then becomes a question of one of Michie/Neal-Bullen to come in as an inside midfielder and one of Harmes/Stretch to come in and play half forward to provide some run, spread and forward pressure.