Adam The God

I'd prefer we hear nothing. We know a football club led by PJ won't be sitting on their hands. In regards to the rest of your post, I agree. The Essendon guys underwhelm me, but I wouldn't say no if they come cheaply. I think Hurley is certainly the pick of he, Melksham and Hibberd though.

I'd try to get both Hibberd and Hurley to enact their clauses and go through the DFA route. However, the AFL won't want that and will discourage this. If so, I'd look at trading Grimes to Essendon for Hibberd and I'd discuss Salem for Hurley.

Or they might tire severely in the second half of the year, much like we did last year. Particularly, as the Saints have finally started playing some young guys. The majority of their best players are 26/27+ though in Stevens, Armitage, Riewoldt, Montagna and Fisher. Their young guys in Dunstan and Acres don't have the same class as their older guys.

Lounder was also picked in an age where far less scrutiny and resources were placed in getting the right bloke with pick 1.

Yep. We'll beat them if we bring the right attitude, intensity and work rate. My fear is that backing up the sweltering conditions up north will make that difficult. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Agreed. And the beauty of Watts coming on is that it allows Hulett or Weideman to come in next year and play his role in the shadow of two performing forwards. This is what depth is all about. It's exactly what Roos has been trying to build for three years. Exciting times ahead.

How exciting is this kid? One of my favourites already. Keep going, Jayden. I'm happy to cop the occasional turn over or holding the ball if you give us 5 or 6 dashes a game.

Jack is a hard worker and by all reports a terrific clubman, but his limitations as a decision maker and disposer as a footballer will see him at another club next year. Jack will play his 100th game this year, he may even play more. But after Round 23, we'll thank him for his services and when Round 1 2017 rolls around he'll be playing in opposition colours.

Yep, fair enough.

I'm not against White, but I want Wagner back in this week. Does White stay in at the expense of Wagner?

My query on Harmes is his kicking. Agree with everything else you've mentioned there though. Can Harmes improve his kicking?

Agree on Frost. And RE: Dunn, they did eventually turn to him though, so I guess that's more what I was thinking. Cannot wait for Oliver, Petracca, Salem and Brayshaw to get 50 or so games under their belts either.

We won't overpay for him. We'll follow the Geelong and Hawthorn models. Take less to stay together and build something special. We will, however, pay what we deem is fair.

Despite a lot of negative talk about how our defence 'leaks goals like a sieve', I'd argue that our FD would be quietly confident with this year's return. At the start of the year, they tried some older heads, hoping the Dunn's and Garland's of the world would provide some much needed experience down there, to steady the younger heads that would eventually get games. Things didn't go to plan and those older guys were dropped in the first quarter of the season. That meant we were bound to struggle for consistency back there as inexperienced players were teamed together to play a defensive system that none of them had ever played before and required a bit of game day learning. I'd proffer for the betterment of our team, at this stage of the year, we've now got multiple games in a row into Oscar McDonald, Sam Frost, Jayden Hunt and Josh Wagner. Tom McDonald and Jetta have obviously been mainstays, but now that there's a bit of continuity and understanding back there, I'm excited by what this new-look defence offers. They're brave, they're bold, they're decent spoilers, they're quick. The major deficiency as everyone knows is our disposal coming off half back. Some of that will be eradicated by game experience and hopefully the rest will be solved by gaining new personnel for that area of the ground. Due to the lack of experience in defence, we'll still make stupid errors from time to time, but IMO, this area of the ground is a work in progress that is further along than I think some posters give credit. I've no doubt we'll look to strengthen our list with defensive reinforcements and they'll have to come in and learn the Melbourne way. We now have a defensive brand. That is, turn defence into attack as soon as you take possession. This is worlds apart from previous years, even under Roos' leadership. I can see where this defence is going and I can see how important they are to our attacking prospects, but ultimately, hopefully most games will be won in the midfield and with a young midfield currently second in the competition for contested possessions and clearances, we have a team on the rise with exciting options all over the ground.

I agree.

The new Melbourne is trying to move the ball on as quickly as you can. We're trying to be a fast transition side. That means being able to make quick, efficient decisions under pressure. Grimes has never been good at that. Look at a guy like Frost who hasn't been tarnished by years of Neeld football. In his first few weeks down back he'd take a mark and already be running out of defence. Occasionally, he'd turn it over, but as we've seen across the last fortnight or so, he's started to eradicate those errors. Watching Grimes play, his first instinct is to go back over the mark and look down the line for an option. This is a clear hang over from the Neeld days. That said, I thought he got front and centre and into the right position last night a number of times. So he's getting to the right positions now, which is great, but with ball in hand I still question him.

I said '[Bugg] understands the new Melbourne a lot better than Grimes does'.

I'd agree with Mach5 here, Jaded. I'm not Bugg's biggest fan, but he understands the new Melbourne a lot better than Grimes does. Unfortunately, Jack spent too much time under Neeld as a pup and it has meant he's struggled to shift gears.

This is a great post as usual, LH. Quickly becoming one of my favourite posters. RE: Frost playing back, not forward, I think in general our defence is a lot more settled than it was in Round 6. The guys have played at least a month of footy together on end and are getting the nack for two-way running. But I think as always, this game will be won in the middle. Can Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince step up? Can Viney and Tyson continue their outstanding recent run of form? Do this and we go close. RE: Jesse loves to kick a bag at ES, more specifically, he loves to kick a bag against St Kilda at Etihad. I think there'll be extra focus on Jesse this week, which will hopefully allow Watts a bit of extra freedom.

We absolutely should beat them, mate, but I just don't hold much hope the side won't be lethargic. We often save most of our lethargy for Etihad anyway. But absolutely no doubt we're the better side. They seem to match up well on us though. And Riewoldt manages to kill us every time even though he's practically in a nursing home. Bit like Brent Harvey. Don't get me wrong. I'll be annoyed if we lose, but our inconsistency as a young team this season, with little leadership in the older brigade has continually hurt us. It'll be a big step forward if we can take care of the Saints next week.

Just on this, listen to Roos' press conference. 'Do you feel like there's a role and position for him [Grimes] this season and beyond at the club?' 'Well, look, we've tried to change his game a bit...' - Roos then went on to talk about how our wingers were really effective. That says everything really.

Lol. We're not keeping him, mate. He was pretty good tonight, but there's no way he stays on our list next year.

Harmes is a messy player and at this stage looks to be a fringer. Petracca looked stuffed half way through the first quarter. I'm not sure they'll bring Bugg straight back. Oliver seems a likely in, as does Wagner. Given the fast deck and the taxing conditions tonight, I'd be inclined to rest a couple. Petracca, Stretch, Harmes and Kennedy probably in the gun.

Exactly. All these posters whinging about us having to play these games as in the NT, just stop it. If we're good enough, we should win anywhere. If these deals are financially beneficial, then I'm all for them.

Reckon we'll get smacked next week.