The Jack of Grimes

To anyone that has seen Skully play... How good is this kid really? Will he def go at number 1? He's been likened to Chris Judd quite a bit... is there any truth? Does he have potential to be a Chris Judd type champion later in his career?

My bad, i remember reading something regarding the amount of hitouts he wins compared to the number of clearances they get. So my mistake. But I still think it has less to do with the ruckman and more to do with the strategy.

He and Jones will struggle for games if Strauss and Blease show anything next season. And if Scully comes in, unfortunatly one will be de-listed or offered as trade bait. They are too similar.

Bailey needs to see out his contract. Or at least see out the season and then half a season next year. Some decisions he makes bewilders me. Surely he can see we lack pace and decision making at center bounces and stoppages in general. Hence why we need Davey and Grimes in there with a harder bodied Moloney to back them up. Brock needs a rest as does Jones. Too slow for modern day football.

Has nothing to do with the ruckman. Look at Sandi. Wins the tap every bounce and yet freo rarely have a center clearance. It's positioning of midfielders. They are also too slow to react. No structure or plan either.

To be honest we could possibly lose the rest of the matches we play. They look uninspired and non-interested. We need Davey to play half forward and or Aussie to come back. Serious problems at our club. It's one thing to give away the ball needlessly, its another to lack intensity and passion. Don't think we have to worry about losing priority. And next year could be another downer if those middle tier players don't step up (Bartram, Dunn, Bate, Petterd, Jones, Johnson etc)

Wrong. You would keep him in for this weekends game against West Coast. One of the three remaining games we could possibly win... Could give the kid more confidence. And then you send him back to Casey.

I kind of agree... I haven't re-watched or analyzed the game last Friday against bombers, but i remember saying to my mate that the ball just wasn't bouncing our way. Put that with decisions from umpires, and it could be a recipe for disaster in terms of confidence. This is something the team really needs to work on, confidence. One alarming stat is that Collingwood and Hawthorn actually have younger lists than us. But overall their players have more game time. Would like a few of the senior boys to step down at the end of the year and let the young kids step in. While i think bailey is responsible for a lot of what goes on during the matches, some things can't be helped. He needs some serious time and 1 and a half years is not enough. Also I feel the AFL tends to dictate who's bottom and who's not to some degree with their AFL fixturing (the AFL loves carlton and look at their fixture, and there were high expectations for Richmond and they have a fantastic run home). If we draw a favorable start to the 2010 season, and Melbourne win at least 4 of their first 10 matches, Bailey will probably be signed on for another couple years. It also depends on the average age of the list though. He needs retirements Ala Nietz and DE-listings Ala Yze etc to show he's moving forward rather than backward.

Agree completely. Robbo will certainly go at the end of the year. Hopeless. Sick of him flapping around. Can't take a mark without the use of his chest, and the least you would expect from him would be to show leadership qualities by chasing and tackling. Same goes to Bruce. For a player that had so many possessions and Super Coach points last night, he barely influenced the game at all bar an assist and a goal. Martin, Cheney and Bennell need to stay for experience and learning as does Stef, but those so called leaders need a run in the two's as Miller did.

rubbish, like many of the commentators and critics we have. They see what they want to see, and crap on about what they deem interesting. The boys didn't look happy walking off, but it's better to leave the ground head held high, rather than tail between the legs. We will be a real force in 3-4 years time, get excited and stop listening to all the crap. They have no idea as they only see glimpses of Melbourne's games. FYI on Thursday on Foxtel, Pickering, Shaw and Parkinson were very quick to call us poor, non-improving etc etc. A week prior to the Collingwood match they had nothing negative to say. Parkinson even went on to say StKilda better bring their best game as Melbourne will come to play. They jump on and off, just ignore it.

Really? That soon? I thought he would be out for at least half our pre-season no?

Thanks for the updates guys, missed both interviews by a fraction of a second. DB certainly is well composed. I caught the end of DBs time on the panel though, and loved Billy's comment under his breath... 'Next time we'll get you a pillow to sit on...' hahah

In all honesty IF he's ready, he'll play. I dont have huge expectations for him, but one thing I would LOVE to see... Watts, snap shot from a slight angle, 30 metres out in the opening quarter for his first goal in league football, and the entire Melbourne team swarm him in celebration. That's all I need to see.

In: Robbo, Watts, Cheney Out: P Johnson, Miller, Bell

By game, do you mean Carlton Collingwood? Because correct me if I'm wrong but after Morton and Davey I thought Grimes was close to one of our best players. Certianly around top five. He was reliable, his kicking hits the target almost every single time, he has an amazing tackling ability and footy smarts to get him out of tricky situations. Why wouldn't we be excited by him. He's a gun. Certainly a far greater future prospect than Jack Watts at this point... And by that I mean Grimes has actually proven himself at AFL level, as has Bennell. Doesn't matter how many games theyve played. Either don't post, or grow a brain.

You must be joking? Here's a list of 22 players and tell me if he's in this list? And keep in mind I've left out players like Bate, Bell, Blease, Cheney, Dunn, Jamar, Jurrah, Maric, Meesen, Strauss, Sylvia, Wheatley, Whelan and Spencer. Bartram, Clint Bennell, Jamie Bruce, Cameron Davey, Aaron Frawley, James Garland, Colin Green, Brad Grimes, Jack Johnson, Paul Jones, Nathan Martin, Stefan McDonald, James McLean, Brock Miller, Brad Moloney, Brent Morton, Cale Petterd, Ricky Rivers, Jared Robertson, Russell Warnock, Matthew Watts, Jack Wonaeamirri, Austin It is great to see Valenti get a go and I hope he does well... but I'd even rate an untried Strauss and Jurrah and an old Whelan and Wheatley ahead of him... plus many many more players.

Agree. I prefer the white one for a clash strip. Can't they bring back the old electric blue and red number we wore in the 80's as a clash jumper?

He's an absolute gun. Admittedly I didn't see much of him when we played West Coast, just as I didn't see much of him the week before when he played in the VFL, and yet his possessions and Supercoach stats are always extremely high. Maybe a move to the middle when we regain our injured defenders? Who knows, but it's exciting considering we have Bennell and Grimes and Frawley and Garland running out of our back-line...

Yep ABSOLUTE GUN! It was hard to get angry with our poor kicking when you see the development of kids like Bennell, Petterd and Grimes and now even Morton the last couple weeks. Exciting times. And we still have Watts, Blease and Strauss to come in and hopefully some other young guns in the next draft (I won't speculate as I'm pretty sure Richmond will ruin our chances of securing both Skully and Butcher). If Taylor Walker didn't have such a good game, I would have been screaming for Bennell to win a Rising Star nod this week.

Jetta hasn't shown enough to warrant senior selection, just as Newton needs to prove he can back up his VFL performance by having another one. I don't think there's much use giving Newton the yo yo treatment. He needs to learn to be accountable at AFL level and VFL level for that matter consistently. Grimes Jones Cheney Maric for me.

Agree... he's deceptively fast for his height. Ruck or not think he's a very versatile player. Same mold as Paul Johnson, difference being PJ doesn't seem to assert himself in the same manner.

Come on GRIMESY!

As judgmental as i was when i first read that, it might not be a bad idea. not sure what his rucking stats were like against coburg but seeing as he's useless in the forward line at afl level, maybe give him a go in the ruck.

Agree, the kid can't put a step wrong at the moment. Even if he doesn't win a 50/50 ball, you know he's trying his guts out. I'm growing fonder of him game by game.

Time for mr versatility (Stef Martin) to show us what he can do in the ruck. Could be a good temporary move, however I hear Spencer was only rested last week, not injured, could be a chance for a recall. Id give him a go. Nothing to lose this season.