Adam The God

Bail was excellent in the second half. Maybe I am being a little harsh on him. Grimes was certainly better. I'd take his second half performance every week.

I don't disagree that Bail runs hard to present, it's when the opposition have the ball that he barely moves. A number of times Carlton were rebounding from defence and Bail was jogging inside our forward 50.

It helps when you've got uncontested possessions. It's a lot easier to hit a target who is by themselves too. You don't have to think about it too much.

You're right, P. We had something like 66 tackles to three quarter time. I said if we cracked 80, we'd win. It's very rare that you lose a game and lay 80+ tackles. That needs to be the benchmark now.

I don't think so. I'll call it how I see it. I watched Bail jog after Blues backs in the first half. You might not get that sense on TV.

Spot on. There was one handball (I think or perhaps it was a kick) that missed the target, but fortunately we recovered the ball quickly. Every other time though, I thought he was pretty much 100% efficient. He just has that composure. It's great to see.

Bail had a really good second half, but was beyond ordinary in the first half. My worry with him is that he really is the epitomy of a down-hill skier. If it's all going well, he runs forward, but just jogs around otherwise. The other bloke I think is being heavily overrated, both on here and in the votes today is Grimes. His first half was bordering on poor. However, he came into the game in the second half and showed a little bit more composure. He was even hitting targets with his left foot. Viney and Cross were the guys giving Jones the cut out today. Apologies for being the fun/realistic police.

He's about the only MFC midfielder that regularly breaks into space from the stoppages. He's a little gem. We're very lucky to get him for pick 27.

There is no way Jones is elite. He played a very good game today, but was still caught with it far too often and I felt he failed to recognise his limitations a few times today. He gave Murphy a bath though. What a great move from Roos to get them to go head-to-head.

You little beautie. A suspicious move from Malthouse putting their only forward in Henderson down back at the top of the last, but we tried our hearts out today. Frawley was fantastic. Jones was solid. M Jones played his best game for the club. Spencer was very, very good. Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn are the teams I'd rather beat than anyone else. So sweet.

Haha, maybe. We're ranked 18th for clearances, aren't we? There's certainly a modicum of improvement from last year, but we are coming from so far back, you'd bloody hope so.

Thank you, sir. Had no idea.

Blind 'Freddy' could see that Carlton's recruiting has been rubbish for a long time now. Sheedy should have retired post Essendon. He was finished. Just as Malthouse should have given up the game post Collingwood.

This is an important point too, PSD. I'm always sitting at games going, "know your bloody limitations!". So many of our players bite off more than they can chew. Even Nathan Jones. I think his improvement over the last two years though is the realisation that he has certain limitations. DIspose of the ball as early as possible, rather than being tackled every time you gain possession. Our lack of spread from stoppages hasn't helped him there, but he's certainly a better player for being in touch with his limitations. Tommy Mac needs to realise this, as do Grimes, Terlich and Matt Jones.

I see that we're well behind on clearance numbers, inside 50s and scoring shots. The first two stats are misleading and slanted in our favour because of our short kicking, possession game.

I think our team of 2013 was the worst AFL team of my lifetime (26 years). Hawthorn were rubbish for a very long time too. The 80s was their golden era though. That's where they picked up all their fans from. How do you explain Terlich or Grimes playing then? I think Nicholson is a reasonable VFL player, but Grimes and Terlich are VFL, perhaps even VFA standard.

We haven't lost Frawley yet. Let's not be defeatist. I support Liverpool in the EPL and they could have simply let their best player go over the English summer, but instead they dug their heals in and said no. We don't have the same leverage, given there was a contract still in place, but it says everything about the football club - how easily you roll over. That player is Luis Suarez and he's probably the best player in the world right now. I want the MFC to fight for Frawley. Show we're not a pack of spineless twats.

Except, you'll note all those guys (with the exception of Gawn and McDonald) were high draft picks. I agree that we need to change club culture. I don't think rjay is debating that though. I agree with this. There is also the element of luck in all of this, which I'm sure we all acknowledge. -- I think in order to fast track some of this though, IMO, we'll need to receive PPs, as we require assets to trade and/or recruit. Personally, I think if we draft well over the next two to three years and we start to lay the foundation for cultural change, our list's current core can still achieve success. That is, providing they can overcome the psychological battering they've taken.

I'm inclined to agree, RM, but the one thing that makes me think differently is that it will rain. It'll be a day for the little blokes. I think we can get away with less KPPs. The ball will fall to the deck the majority of the time and we'll have to be clean for once.

Waite is pretty much their Dawes. He just straightens them up structurally. It's a massive call to drop him. Very fishy. And Gartlett - dropping your best small forward for a very likely rainy game - it doesn't make much sense to me. Tanking this early also doesn't make much sense, but who knows?

Let's start by getting him on the ground first.

And at least we're not paying Spencer $1.6 mill.

When were we ever offered that?

Come on, TM. Grimes has never been a good footballer. He's always been a turn over machine. Even when he used to win a bit of the ball, he would butcher it with horrendous decision making and even worse disposal.

I feel like we've been waiting for a line in the sand game for about four or five years. It never comes. We just limply front up and get our arses handed to us. I agree - it would be great to see a few flying the flag.