Adam The God

I'll take being on top of the ladder, thanks. St Kilda won't be playing finals and more than halfway through the season, we're in the hunt for the minor premiership.

You can already tell Rankine is a lazy player, but if we think his attitude would turn in our environment, then he'd add an extra exciting dimension to our forwardline. Really not sure he'd fit into our pressure set up though. I'd definitely target Ben King though.

We got 4 tickets in the MCC as well. Great stuff.

We selected Jackson with pick 3, who was mostly a ruckman, had played a little bit forward in the second half of his draft year, who we thought could develop his forward craft at the top level. If the attributes are tantalising enough, clubs will pull the trigger almost anywhere in the first round. As others have said, it remains to be seen whether Andrews has those attributes.

Very, very average IMO and certainly a missed top 10 pick there.

Collingwood could do with a decent groundsman. I can't help thinking that the amount of injuries they've had over the past 4 or so years are linked to the surface on their training ovals. With our Casey facility upgrades, as I've mentioned previously, a mate of mine who works at Casey says our training facilities out there now match the likes of Liverpool in England. It's a world class set up. So not only have world class facilities become important for attracting players and best preparing the players already there, they've very likely become essential to avoiding mounting injury lists. With the loads of modern day players higher than ever before, it makes sense that the surface on which they train and play has become just as vital.

Dusty is no better than Petracca and only just has Brayshaw covered. The guy dribbles them off his boot semi frequently. A great player, with a penetrative kick, but very hit and miss. As for Cotchin and Prestia, I think we're watching different games. They're okay over 30m, but that's about it. Cotchin was known for his dinky nothing kicks for years. Edwards goes okay, but he's not elite.

The Richmond midfield is no better by foot. I reckon you're looking in the wrong place. It was down to work rate and decision making yesterday. We allowed them to transition the ball through the corridor far too easily, some our defenders were too high on such a small ground (see Salem) and we played hero footy, not team first (see Oliver, Petracca and Kozzy).

Good call. The problem is Fritsch's defensive efforts are few and far between, so if we play a genuine tall alongside Jackson and McDonald, we end up having two non tacklers. When Fritsch said a week or so ago that his game is based around defence I almost laughed. Maybe it's based on scoreboard pressure, not on physical pressure.

Make this guy captain already. It was more Christian's look away handballs that were constantly intercepted that got me.

Our lack of workrate, intensity, focus and decision making cost us the game. Not the SCG.

How about the triple premiers in Richmond? They choked multiple games in 2017 before winning the flag...

Happy birthday mate.

It's pretty rare that every player puts in a dreadful performance in the one week. That speaks to mindset. I'd like to say it speaks to mental fragility, but all past premiers failed to turn up at times too, so no need to read into that too much. Our leaders were well beaten today or played Hollywood football. Petracca, Oliver, McDonald, May and Gawn all dreadful. Jackson possibly our only winner, but even he was caught ball watching in transition a few times too. I don't think Rivers had an effective disposal until the second half. He certainly had 3 direct turn overs by foot in a row. Kozzy played hero, selfish footy. Sparrow was his untidy self. Our forwards barely sighted for the game. Another average performance for Weideman, but delivery to him for most of the day was average. Possibly Lever was our best, aside from that brainfade early. In many ways it was a vintage Melbourne performance though. Expected to win, important game and then we go and let a very ordinary player like Cameron play his PB game. It's extremely disappointing given they'd just won my trust, but I should have known when Ed threw up on his MFC gear earlier today (he'd done similar the day of the Adelaide game), we'd put in a stinker. We'll welcome back Viney into the team, although winning the ball wasn't our problem today. It was taking the first option, not something Jack is renowned for. Clearly, Viney for Sparrow and hopefully Brown for Weideman or McDonald. But McDonald has enough runs on the board to this stage. In footy, things can change quickly and we could well look back on today's game and say that it cost us a top 4 spot.

Clutch from West Coast, but "the Tigers of old..." what a crumble. Yeo is a superstar. Did he win the last 10 clearances? Insane last quarter.

Definitely outside silk, but in his draft year I thought he looked more like Ben Newton than Isaac Smith or a confident Brad Hill.

Unless there's some contractual renegotiations and a few take less in order to win a flag (or another!).

We've traded back into the first round repeatedly. We'll do the same again. That said, a pick in the 30s for Jason Taylor is like a top 15 pick for us.

And 2018 tbh. They were so high in that last quarter and very little two way running. It's a real pity Port didn't win tonight. Not only would it have put the more threatening Geelong on the back foot, it would mean our game against them wouldn't be even bigger (ie to get the monkey off the back).

Yep, agreed, given they'll get the double chance and Richmond won't.

Keep the ball off Geelong's interceptors and get them on the outside. Basically play them how they played Port. Port's defensive system doesn't hold up btw and too many of their players don't hold up under pressure. That is the problem. They rely on too few and moments of brilliance, rather than replicatable system. Geelong have a very potent forwardline if you let them get out the back all day. That said, there was no Cameron, Rohan or Dangerfield when we played them. Also, they were already the biggest figjam's in the league, then they went and added Cameron, Smith and Higgins. The most punchable team in the AFL. And speaking of punchable, see Hawkins try and accidentally whack another bloke tonight? He's a dog. For the record, Geelong and Richmond are our biggest threats IMO.

Yeah, I thought there were a few. An important period for cementing the top 2.

You have to wonder if Carlton's review and now Buckley stepping down shows these two clubs are panicking about missing out on Ross Lyon.

Completely agree, mate.

At 25, he's certainly in our age bracket. Depending on cost I'd go there. I'd equally trust Taylor to get us a second or third round gem that could play a similar position, so cost would be important. No more than a second rounder.