bananas

Really liked in his highlights video, he seems to have a knack for getting the ball and changing the direction/angle of play, wrong-footing the opposition defence and putting his team-mates into space. Shows a good footy brain and, as others have said, appears a bit Cotchin-ish. Given how he seems to like being in the middle of packs, he's gonna need a bit of time to get the body that'll let him do it at AFL level, so I don't expect to see him much (if at all) this year. But hey, I barrack for Melbourne, I can be patient.

You rang?

I look forward to having that problem to worry about! :D

I suspect that other clubs have been assuming we're desperate for a 2-for-1, Tyson/Salem style deal, and have been low-balling us because they figure we want to trade more than they do. Mahoney's comments today ("We're perfectly happy taking 2 & 3 to the draft" or words to that effect) are then probably a not-very-subtle message to those clubs that their offers so far haven't been close to the mark, and they need to step it up. If feels weird to actually have faith in the footy department. I might pretend I barrack for the Doggies for the next week, just because it's more familiar territory. ;-)

Very very pleased to pay so little for him. What were the chances we'd have used pick 61 anyway? Given he, Kent & JKH probably can't all be in the forward-line at the same time, they're probably looking at giving all three short shifts through the middle, working in tandem. Smart thinking, keeping pressure off the young guys to do entire games in there as they build their engines. If Garlett gets back to pre-2014 form, he'd be a steal at twice the price we paid. If he doesn't, we're barely out of pocket. That's some great trading.

If his body will allow him to give us anything -- and I mean anything at all -- then I'd snap him up in a heartbeat. When he was at his best, Sewell was a better player than any midfielder we've had in the last 25 years. Todd Viney and Nathan Jones probably go close (and if Jonesy continues to improve he might close the gap), but that's it. If you disagree with that assessment, then frankly, you've been watching footy through red'n'blue coloured glasses. For a couple of years he was nearly the equal of Hodge and Mitchell, and we haven't had a guy approaching that level for (almost) as long as I've been alive. Yes, of course Sewell's best is behind him, but if you don't want our young mids to have a chance to watch him up close and learn from him, you're mad.

I'm *just* old enough to have seen him play, and I have very vague memories of sitting with Dad and my brother and sister in the old Member's guests section and hearing the MCC roar "ROBBIE" in unison as he took off down the wing, and even as a little kid you could tell there was something different, something special, about that particular noise. They didn't sound that way for any other player, and with good reason. Vale.

Agree with that, GTG. I remember being at that Carlton match and being pretty impressed by Strauss' game. Shame he never reached that level again.

Mitchell and Cotchin will share it (if Wikipedia is to be believed).

Fixed that up for you. ;-)

It might take another couple of years, but I'd like to see him moving more into the midfield. The way he moves in traffic (and his body shape) reminds me a little bit of Sam Mitchell: he can do a little hip shimmy and quick sideways step and suddenly have a metre of space that shouldn't be there. When he gets the tank he could be a handy addition to our corps of inside mids.

Slightly off-topic, but the time-on-ground percentage for Tyson and Viney is pretty revealing of the way those younger guys still need to develop their tanks. They're both on the bench for a full 10% of the game more than Nathan Jones (who, not surprisingly, sets the standard for the midfield). Ten or twelve more minutes of Dom Tyson per match next year will help make his stats look even more impressive … and help us as a team. *I don't remember either Tyson or Viney being sub at all, but it may have happened once or twice, which would have an effect on their TOG%.

Last year we were basically the most hopeless (non-expansion) team since Fitzroy … and even that might be being generous. We were the 2nd worst team, but holy hell, we were friggin' abominable. This year we were still the 2nd worst team in the comp, but we were at least the normal kind of 2nd worst team. Most years would have a 2nd worst team about as good as we were. After last year's apocalypse, that's actually a pretty huge step up. It wasn't the year I was hoping for, but after Clark's retirement, it was pretty much the year I was expecting.

If Roos wants to bring in midfielders, and midfielders, and more midfielders, then we need to hang onto some depth at the other positions. All Terlich's re-signing tells me is that Roos would prefer him to Clisby and Strauss as the depth bloke for the HBF. He'll play somewhere between five and fifteen games depending on injuries, and be at least vaguely serviceable doing it. As others have pointed out, you can't cut everybody. (Unless you're Homer Simpson in the end credits of that one episode …)

Nah, the gap's too big to make up unless the shiz really hits the proverbial in a historic fashion. We'd have to lose by roughly 40 goals to go below them.

With Grimes kind of undroppable as captain, you'd think Terlich has been on borrowed time since Jetta's come in and been towelling up everybody he's played on. A pity for Terls, who I like a lot, but if he's forced out because another bloke's playing better, so be it. With our fourth quarter fade-outs, we need more guys in the team who can rotate through the midfield to spread the running load. While I'm surprised to see three changes, I don't mind the thinking behind it.

I couldn't make it. ;-)

Could be wrong about this, but I believe the 'auld acquaintance' line is in there because before the current song we actually used to use 'Auld Lang Syne' as our club's anthem. When they changed to Grand Old Flag, they stuck a line from the previous club song in there. Any MFC historian types able to confirm/deny this? Can't even remember where I heard it. Fact of the matter is, if you love the club then you love the song. I'd be furious if some marketing buffoon decided we had to change it, and I'm pretty sure I'd keep singing the current version no matter what.

Nate Jones. He's earned it. (Also doubles as a tribute to Robbie and Stinga)

Too bloody right! A Pies supporter mate used this line for years and years, eventually I just said to him "I was at the Grand Final in 2000 … they're pretty [censored] different, you [censored]." Did the trick, he hasn't said it since.

The last five minutes of the Footscray game are on youtube. The 4.40 mark is when Hawthorn hit the front. Even now it's electrifying.

Appealed.

GUILTY. [censored] [censored] [censored] (Be interested to know if it was us or them that introduced the idea of 'half a second' into it. Just watched the replay, and it's substantially less time even than that. It's friggin' milliseconds. "Why yes, let me predict the future so that I may pull a ballet move that wouldn't be physically possible even if I was Nuryev and we'd rehearsed it for months, that sounds like a reasonable alternative.")

Wait, are you saying the tackle gave you a man crush … or the tackle crushed a man? (Both answers are correct…)

Finally starting to attract the notice from the wider AFL community that he's deserved for two years now. Better late than never, I guess.