Adam The God

The same way SOS over at Carlton keeps getting it wrong over and over again at the draft/trade table. He's not very good at his job. When you have key decision makers who are not very good at their job, other poor key decision makers are employed and it's a self-perpetuating cycle. The MFC was a cesspit, but time to move on.

What "embarrassing circumstances"? He was headhunted by us and left Collingwood early because of it. I'd be a bit careful about this type of speculation.

Rubbish. If Kent or even Tyson are fit, they'll come in.

Billy's decision making and for the most part his skills are really promising. His biggest weakness is that turning circle of his. For a guy who's quick, he turns like me (very slowly). It almost got him into trouble a couple of times yesterday. He didn't do this enough yesterday. He lost his feet more than usual in fact. I want to see more from his tackling though. Harder and at the hips, rather than the guernsey.

None of the Saints supporters behind me knew any of their players either. Pretty sad state of affairs when half of your 15 supporters can't even name their own players.

Nah. He was ordinary early on, but worked himself into the game. Amazing what a bit of midfield and half forward pressure will do for one-on-ones inside defensive 50. I think he goes out for Kent if he's fit. I thought our spread after quarter time was superb. We spread hard and fast. That was one of the main differences IMO. Move the ball fiercely and quickly and you get results. That's our brand - Goody Footy. I've read this a bit now. I thought Melksham was pretty good. And I certainly wasn't for his recruitment at the time, but he was okay today. Offered some great run and attack and defended reasonably. Goody'd be happy with his performance I'd think.

Yeah, panicked under pressure really badly quite a few times and that snap he had was ridiculous. He had a team mate at the top of the square all alone. I'm waiting up to watch the replay in halfa. I'll be interested to see how he looks on the replay. I still don't think he's good enough to be a mid. Whenever the heat was on he crumbled, but if he can make it as a half forward, that's his go. Otherwise, no deal for mine.

Jonesy is probably A grade now, but I wouldn't call him AA/A+ personally. That goal on the run was a cracker too. Nice poise. He's still got that great little side-step. Amazingly, the opposition is often fooled by it. It's a lack of respect or it's a bloody good side-step.

I'll probably get pummelled for this, but I felt Vince continued to make some real rookie errors. He's far too fancy at times. He did some good things, but his position in the best 22 remains one of the most intriguing subplots of 2017 for me.

Yeah, that's what I originally read too, but Clarry actually had 36 to go with the game high tackles.

A couple of other things I noticed that I hadn't seen from us before. 1) How organised we were right across the ground. For example, we had guys front and centre at almost every contest. We swarmed in numbers, but it was the long kicks to 2 on 1s, where a tall MFC player would either mark or have a Hunt or Salem or Jetta at the foot of the contest to whisk it away if it wasn't marked. 2) Our ability to change tempo mid game. This is the big one and shows the greatest sign of maturity IMO. We seemed to know where and when to slow the tempo. And unlike previous games and seasons, where if we weren't moving the ball quickly our game plan would disintegrate, we moved the ball precisely and methodically from one side of the ground to the other. We also used the wings better than I've seen us do. Short little hit ups until we could get it inside 50. 3) Our spread. Our spread after quarter time was the best I've seen from a Melbourne team. We seem to have finally got it. If we play like this for four quarters the Bulldogs', the GWS' and even the Essendon's won't trouble us anymore. It'll come down to whoever wins the stoppages and with Oliver, Jones, Viney and Lewis bringing even and dominant contributions, we've seemingly learnt how to kill a team on the spread. Importantly, this means we can also stop teams on the spread. Maybe Misson is deserved of a bit of praise here too?

C Oliver. He is a freak. As soon as he lifted in the second, the entire midfield lifted. Eventually, St Kilda, who had tagged Viney for the first half, were faced by a rampant Jones, Oliver and Lewis. This eventually freed Viney up and he worked himself into the second half pleasingly. Jones played a real captain's game. One of his best games for the club IMO. Gut running both ways. He was everywhere. Made some errors, but more than made up for them with his impact on the game. Here's my big call though. As I mentioned in a post the other day, Watts' ruck work in the second quarter turned the game. Max then had the momentum and changed his tapework to keep his taps within a 5 metre radius. This worked a trick. St Kilda players couldn't get separation and then we outnumbered them at the stoppages. Hannan was really impressive in his first game. Kudos to the MC. What a selection. Everyone played their role and how good was Nev Jetta? Hope Smith is okay. An unexpected win, but extremely satisfying. Go you mighty red legs!!

I just watched that 6 times. Never gets old. Kick started his year too. Let's hope he and a few other Demons can do the same today.

Not that I'd like anyone tagged, but if we were going to tag someone I'd go with Vince. Bugg is a fringer at best and isn't the future. There's no way ANB would ever be sent to tag someone like JS.

Agreed and that all makes sense to me. Because we had more pressing needs last off season. If there was a cheap ruck/forward option, I'm sure we would have taken him, but instead we looked to strengthen other frailties on our list. This is quite a likely scenario, but I'd also proffer an equally likely scenario, and that's Watts needed to prove himself, and so without him and a fit Pedersen, Spencer was given the chance to prove himself. In the JLT it seemed to work. That gave the MC a 'good' head ache. But eventually, the speedy Saints on a fast deck at Etihad ruled out playing Spencer and by this point, Watts had ticked off his requirements. And you're right. If Gawn wins out, I think we win, but if it's close, I think we'll struggle. My feeling is we'll struggle.

So have you Macca. I never said you'd said that either. Just that by your rule of having an incompetent ruck you risk losing the game. Watts was handy. Watts more often than not broke even in the ruck. That doesn't mean he was winning lots of hit outs, just that he was able to neutralise his opponent and that's what we want, IMO. Our mids should be good enough to do the rest. I remember a half dozen or so times last season where Gawn was being beaten and the ascendancy was with the opposition, and Watts started rucking and managed to impact more than Gawn had. As for the concern when Gawn's not rucking, I held that view earlier last year until I realised Watts could actually neutralise the contest most times. I know don't hold that concern, although like most Melbourne supporters who watch every match, we'd certainly be strengthened by a B grade back up that could play well forward. I'm not saying it's our best team, but only Tyson, Kent, Hibberd and maybe Frost are best 22. Frost is debatable though. If we're serious, VDB isn't. So I don't think you're going to be that pleased this year if this side is "awful".

Watching the game in Sydney last year against the Swans, I knew Jack was finished then. Seems like a ripping bloke and I hope that's not the case, but he's simply too slow nowadays. I hope you're right, Goff. I am more worried about this game than I have been for a while. I think they might just slice and dice our zone defence. I like that at least we've tried something. They just seem to match up very well on us, for a side that's pretty middle of the road.

I don't think we're concerned with matching them for height at the back. It's all about the zone and intercept marking. We do that well and it doesn't matter how tall our guys are. Tyson is a massive loss. Salem does not play the Tyson role at all. Tyson is our extractor and arguably our most important mid. Oliver will play his role though and can hopefully be so dominant we can cover Tyson's loss. I'm glad we're not taking any chances though. As has been said, the Brayshaw selection last year set him back the entire year. I agree that he's a fumbler under pressure and panics, but it's his leg speed playing the forward role that worries me the most. I think this'll backfire. I hope I'm wrong.

Unfortunately, ANB has shown absolutely no sign he's capable of playing midfield at the highest level. Really strange call and wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't near it if Kent was fit.

Watts was actually pretty good in the ruck last year. i'd say far from incompetent.

Rance looks like the old Rance. It's hilarious. Weitering is a star. Should target him for our backline.

I think this is actually Goodwin applying his football philosophy. Every Melbourne player shoulder be adaptable and able to play multiple positions for the team. Flexibility is the key and every player, from Hogan to Gawn, needs to exemplify this. Gawn should be able to play ruck and take marks playing as a forward, instead of only in situations where he floats forward during spells in the ruck. To be unpredictable is a weapon to Goodwin's game. That's my reading of it anyway. That said, I'm not saying I don't necessarily agree with the flirting with form comments.

In your opinion, D1858. I could present an alternative case for each of those points that shows his decision making could be right on the mark. I'm not saying he's not off the mark, just that I think it's too early to tell. For example, having been around the players for two years now, Goody would know (at least a lot better than us) what motivates each and every player. So he may well see Jones being able to elevate his game with Viney joining him. If his read on Jones is such, he may well feel that due to Jones' competitive nature, this will drive him to improve as a player and a captain. Likewise, taking Trenners to WA could be seen as a "you're on the cusp, Trenners, keep working hard and improving your game, and you're thereabouts". Once again, his read on Trenners may well be that he's a tough resilient lad (from the outside this seems fair) and he just needs a little bit of encouragement to remind him he's on the right path. Making the extended bench is still better than nothing. Trenners becomes motivated to push even harder to win back his spot and Goodwin's a genius. Who knows? As for point 3, you admit that you/we don't know what's happening. So to speculate that Goodwin's decision making could be off on that basis is pretty thin and I'd say poor. And finally, point 4 is merely your opinion. IMO, Spencer is up to it in the right situation. Is the St Kilda game the right situation? Perhaps not, but as a foil, he's a C grader (and improving) that is better than Watts or Pedersen in the ruck and despite the claims of some, is actually pretty quick and can provide pressure at ground level. I'd prefer Kent at ground level, but I'd prefer Spencer in the ruck. Not to mention also, Spencer hasn't been selected yet, so maybe hold your horses on this one too.

Not surprising. Fairfax journalism lowered its standards years ago. Nothing but a tabloid these days. You could see it coming though. And he played straight into their hands. Let's hope he and Viney perform on Saturday. A bit of added pressure now I would have thought.

Disagree. I want to know how mentally tough he is. How much has it hurt him and will he be distracted by it? It seems not. I hope not.