praha

Wow. We are in no need of a "rebuild". A few players will go, but I mean gee, we aren't in bad shape. Right now we are, but for the future, no. Practically, we are rebuilding now and have been for a few years. We have the talent and squad to go all the way, just not the culture or coach imo. We will be top 4 next year.

McLaren is just terrible. He has no idea...

Power rankings are common practice in the States to rank teams in the major sports in accordance to the weeks performance, as well as minimal reference to their record, instead of simply looking at the ladder for who is the better team. For example, you'd have to say that after round 8, Melbourne was 16th and Richmond was 15th after our shocking display against the Eagles. Anyway, here goes; 1. Geelong - 1 game behine the West Judd Eagles. After a great win against them two weeks ago, as well as the "curse breaker" against Port this past round, the Cats are flying. 2. West Coast - 2 losses in three weeks against two of the leagues in form sides (Cats and Hawks), with the one win coming against injury-hit and winless Melbourne in Perth. Seemingly unbeatable at home. Obviously beatable away. 3. Hawthorn - A few years a head of plan, according to the Clarkeson of 2004. They're playing hard, rough and sometimes ugly footy, but if it gets the wins on the board... 4. Adelaide - No number of injuries can stop this fit and consistent group. Roo is also a possibility to return this week against the Dees at the G. 5. Collingwood - Came away with a rare win in sunny Queensland against a disappointing Lions outfit in Brisbane. Not quite flying, but a big win against Freo in Melbourne this week will prove its worth. A loss however... 6. Sydney - Had disappointed many with a 4-4 record, but after their pounding of the Dogs in Canberra on the weekend after their impressive wins against Melbourne and Collingwood, they seemed to have found some form - form that got them to the past two GF's. 7. Kangaroos - 6 straight wins. Who would have thought? However, was never able to put away a poor Melbourne team and, after leading by 35 at the start of the 4th, almost lost the game before a last-minute Swallow goal gave them a 1 point game. Needs to finish games off better. But still, 6 straight is an unexpected performance. Enourmous challenge against Eagles this week in Perth. 8. Power - Was leading the league a few weeks ago but was never in the contest against a superior Cats outfit. Has struggled in previous weeks. Big test against flying Hawks this week at AAMI. 9. Bulldogs - Still an almost certain finalist, but needs to find some consistentcy. Came back against all odds to beat a flying Magpies team at the Dome, before being very disappointing against a Swans team low on form. Expect them to bounce back against the Blues this week. 10. Bombers - Started the season ok, had a sour patch, started flying, pounded the Lions and then almost lost against lowly Richmond, if not for the call against Richo. Still plenty prove. You just don't know what Essendon team is going to come out against Sydney; the ANZAC day team, or the Round 8 team. 11. Fremantle - Lost against a disappointing Lions team, beat a flying Hawks team, was incredibly disappointing against the Cats at Skilled (don't let that scoreline fool you; they were terrible. They only added some respectability to that scoreline towards the end) and then anniliates the "ugly" Saints at Subi. You just never know what you're going to get from Freo, the team that was flag favourites only two weeks before the season started. 12. St. Kilda - The "Ugly" team of the AFL. Garry Lyon's dad seems to have brought a gameplan to the Saints that not only frustrates fans, but also the G-Train; they've been shocking for the past two weeks. But, they also have an absolutely horrendous injury list. 13. Brisbane Lions - Were pummled against Essendon and then lost to a Magpies team that hadn't won at the Gabba in years. A good centre, but an average foward and back line. 14. Carlton - Too many times this year have the boys from Lygon St. had an oppurtunity to win; they had against the Crows, but inexperience and possibility the lack of knowledge on how to actually win cost them dearly. Blues fans still have a few years to go, unfortuantly. 15. Richmond - Has been in a winning position in 7 of its 9 games this season. You could say that the opposition didnt win those games, but rather Richmond lost them. Up by 18 with 6 minutes remaining against the Bombers hurts. But so does being pushed in the back. But don't ask Richo. He wouldn't know... 16. Melbourne - What to say about a season that has just gone down the tube. Injuries and a "lack of leadership" have hurt this club dearly. As opposed to Richmond, Melbourne have only been in a position to win in 3 of its 9 games, and their performance up to three quarter time against the Roos was less than impressive. If not for Richmond 157 rape at the hands of Geelong, Melbourne would have been last on the ladder for weeks.

QFT! Herald Sun team. Average like 300+ points per game as captain.

Thank christ as well; he has been great in defence all year imo.

Officially the worst season, injury wise, in the history of the club. This is getting beyond belief. Something is wrong...

i thought they were consistent on Sunday. Our boys just didnt seem to get the point; jump on the ball and get pinged. Everytime either team did it, it was holding the ball. Only difference was, we did it more often.

8/10. Highly optimistic. Even moreso if Whelan, Rivers and Sylvia are all back in.

2 years left imo

I can't really tell as I always sit on the wing in the Southern Stand, but it seems as though there is one group behind the goals, and another in the foward pocket where the cheer squad used to be before the ground redevelopement; they seem to go with the royal blue and red rather than our current navy blue and red.

And to think Miller would have one day captain this club

This is why Moloney needs to be in this side; only play who thinks one dimensional - kick the ball long and hard into the foward 50.

Let's just agree to disagree. I think I've lost the plot on the topic...and interest.

I can't imagine getting much for White or Miller. White is past his day. 2 seasons ago, yeah, but I don't think anyone would be prepared to take on his contract. As for Miller, he is tradeable, but what would you get for him? Bruce and Green are our most tradeable imho. Throw in a 1st round draft pick and bam, you have Judd in a Demons uniform

So that equates 11 in the 3rd quarter as well...so he practically had the same amount of impact, which is what I said earlier.

You have absolutely got to be kidding me...? Brock? Jones? Davey? Rivers? All those players have had more influential games than Bruce has.

Stats and influence, imo, are completely different. Bruce had little influence when it counted. He had influence when we were down 35.

Ok. You've missed my point here. I'm not delegating Bruce to the bench or to Sandrigham. All I'm saying is that some of you have to take him of that high purch. You hear "He was fantastic yesterday" because he got 30+ possessions. Most of them were in the quarters where we butchered the ball and when we trailed by 35 points. I'd love to see the stats of how many inside 50s he had in that last quarter, a stat you'd expect to be fairly high considering the stature of player he is according to many on this board. I don't think he had a big enough influence, or ever has a big enough influence, to help us win a game or when we need him. I am very critical of him being considered our "best player" and our next leader.

And we should beat the Roos next time round; it's only about 6 or 7 weeks away.

Are you having his babies? Honestly, you cannot surpass the play of Jones, Bizz and even Godfrey in that last quarter. He may have made a few good plays that got us closer, but he was as far away from bringing this team back from the dead as Daniel Ward was.

I never disagreed that Wheats shouldnt be sacked at the end of the year, actually I think he will be, but to call him the worst 100 gamer ever is extremely harsh. He helped hold up out backline with Rivers and Whelan for a few years.

Fixed.

Agreed. He is a ball magnet, granted, but he doesnt have enough impact on the game imo. For example, so people don't jump all over me. He had the most possessions of any Melbourne player at three-quarter, yet we trailed, big. Last quarter, he played an identical game as he did earlier in the day, and we came back. How? Through the games of Jones and Bizzell. They led by example and brought has back. I don't think Bruce has done anything like that for about 3 or 4 seasons. Bruce is a good player, no doubt, but hardly a leader and hardly our best player. I'd have 10 players on this ahead of him in a flash, that's for sure.

He probably wasn't there, but that has obviously been included in the game plan all of this year. They absolutely butcher the ball. They did yesterdat big time. If it wasn't included in the game plan by Danners, I'm sincerely worried about the mental capacity and football smarts of our players...

Thank god we are playing Adelaide and not the Power or Freo this week. Crowd estimate - 25-30k If we were playing freo or port - 10-15k It's the sad truth. Crows fans come out in droves in their caravans with their tea and blankets. I can't be there because I'm working start at 1pm. Sunday was my last match before I go overseas. Leave the day of the Pies game.