The Chazz

3 changes to a team that won by 12 goals and all players you have out are all omitted? I'm glad you're not a selector either!!!

Sweet. Thanks for that info. Jordie will go close this week for sure.

Essendon guy - 4 goals on debut, will go close this week. Time running out for Jordie and Jack.

And how great to see some Syndey supporters doing so.

As I said RR, it will depend on other results. If they go our way, we can make it even with 3 more wins, if they don't - we wont. And you're right, if we win all games, we still may not make it. I'm not getting ahead of myself either by saying that we can make it with 3 wins. Just highlighting the eveness of the comp this year and a possible (not probable) outcome.

If he puts in 2 more solid games, I'd love to bring him in for the Hawks match. They are a physical team, this boy loooooooooooooves the physical stuff. Regardless of the next 2 weeks, the Hawks match could be a belter and hopefully not a belting!

I think we could still make it even if we lose to Hawthorn (likely) and Power, which means winning the other games. Soooooooo much will rest on the results of other games (sorry for stating the obvious!). I've tried a couple of different scenarios, and can even see Hawthorn finishing 5th and Freo 6th. Personally, IF we were to sneak 8th (and it wont be a higher finish than that), I'd prefer to be playing the Dockers rather than Hawthorn, even given the home ground advantage. For the record, I don't think September is calling this year but selected the 7-9 option. Couple of things - I'm sure I'd get good odds for this; Geelong to go out in straight sets, multibet with Collingwood v Melbourne Grand Final. Anyone from Sportingbet on here want to give me a quote?!

Am the first to put my hand up and apologise to Jordie. Think I posted on here after round 1 that he would struggle in the big league, and how wrong have I been!!! Now that I am an official member of the J McKenzie Fan Club... This kid has the ability to be as good, if not better than Cameron Ling. I see a lot of Lingy in Jordie - more than just the lovely red locks upon the top of his dome. What he has over Ling is pace. This was the first game in 5 years that I have been at the ground when we have won. I have been living in Qld for the past 4 years, and will again turn up to the Gabba wearing my colours, copping abuse from the crowd, and hopefully this time seeing the boys win! It was even more special for me yesterday as I took my parents for a day out (all of us red & blue blooded), as my father is facing some health challenges at the moment. It gave him great delight to belt out the song at the end of the game, and just to see that smile on his face reappear after a couple of months of it missing was a big enough buzz for me. The fact that I was at the 'G and the MFC smashed another team just topped it off. Still be patient Demon supporters. Incosistency may come. Don't jump off and bag our boys if it does. Who knows, it may not, maybe we have a team that wont stand for that. I sure know we have a Coach and a President that will continue to steer this Club in the right direction over the coming decade. If there are games when they don't meet our expectations, I will look to Bailey and Stynes for reassurance as I know they will deliver it. Go Demons.

I can't see many changes at all if any. I think the mentioning of Maric being omitted is a big slap in the face for the kid. He worked his ass off at Casey, and played frequent good football. He got his oppotunity yesterday, not as a late replacement, but as a guy that made the first 22 named. He played very well, he showed pace, and was very smart with his positioning. He added extra pressure in the forward line, and helped contribute to the amount of turnovers the opposition had. In the first quarter, he and Aussie really stood out in my mind - 2 guys not given many chances this year with a point to prove. If anything, I can see Scully having a spell for Junior. This is not an omission of Scully, just s straight forward rest. Would prefer to see Beamer have another week to get over his niggle, then come back thorugh Casey. Trengove to play at Casey. Would love to see Warnock come in to play on Brown. He smashed him earlier this year, as did Frawley on Fev. Maybe he could replace a very, very unlucky P Johnson, but only if we have no injuries (re earlier post regarding Dunn). Johnson has been excellent over the past 2 weeks, and I think Russian is loving him in the team (allows Russian to go forward which he obviously enjoys doing - Our big pack-busting KPF once Gawn arrives?). I like this idea of injured players who miss more than 2 weeks coming back thorugh Casey. Even if they don't end up in the best (like Jnr this week), it gives them a good blow out and has them cherry ripe for their senior return. We have Richmond after Brisbane. They will come out hard as they will see that as a winnable game for their club. Maybe keep Junior fresh for the Richmond match? Win the next 2 games and the Club will throw everything at the Hawks - enter Brent Moloney. Ah, gee, how bloody hard will it be this week? The more I think about it, the more I believe our best chacne to beat these blokes will be to have Warnock in. I don't want to see Scully rested for Warnock as it will mean we sacrifice a runner for a defender. Brisbane are bloody slow, let's run them in to the ground. In: Warnock, Trengove Out: Johnson, Scully Sorry Johnno, it's only a match-up think, nothing else.

For me to sing the theme song after the match for the first time in 5 years (live) with a number of other supporters. Also, Goodes to have a quite day and be kept to less than 20 disposals, and have minimal impact on the game.

Watts doesn't have to become a superstar. He has to bulk up and be a player that can be counted on for kicking 50 odd goals a season. He has the potential to be a superstar, so while he is still young, and because of the wraps everyone at the Club have on him, I will assume he will turn in to one. An interesting side note on J Watts; the other week when Stynes was on TFS, Lyon asked Jimmy's son who his favourite player is. Of all the guys on our list, and especially with Scull and JT coming through this year, the boy said his favourite is Jack Watts. Not sure why I picked up on that, but it was a statement coming from the President's son, and was about a kid of the game who hasn't had a huge impact to date.

Please read one of my earlier posts. We are dreaming if we think we can get him. The reason he is behind the other forwards at the Lions? Because he is behind Fev and Brown, PLUS he was picked up in the same draft as Watts. FWIW - Cornelius is playing this weekend. Will be interesting to see how he goes.

Can someone teach me how to multi-quote???!!! LOL

Russian has clearly shown he can play Full Forward, but this year has obviously doing this ruck thing mostly (therefore not getting much chance to play forward, only when he drifts down in general play). My bet would be that they will play Gawn next year, but only as a 2nd ruck, then hopefully the year after, he will be up to playing as number 1 ruck, with Jamar up forward. Before people start bashing me about rushing Gawn, how long did it take Carlton to start pumping a lot of games in to Kreuzer? Hale = pass.

Why would Brisbane part with Cornelius, a bloke who was drafted in the same draft as Jack Watts, and like Watts is a developing KPF? Brown and Fev are closer to the end rather than the start, so unless they are completely mad (I guess Voss IS at the helm), they wont get rid of him. Besides, what would you expect to have to pay for him? Keeping in mind my OP about these types of kids being project players also?

Why do we need Garland to play forward? Sorry Jungle Dee, but this is the main reason I started this thread. I was sick to death of hearing about playing Garland up forward, especially considering he is one of our better backs. Why, just give me 1 reason that we should shift Garland from our strongest part on the field, to try him in an area where we are developing other players to fill these gaps? He's not the big body that most on here are crying out for, and will never be able to play that role.

Why do we need one of these types? How many Clubs have won flags with this type of player? If you really have your heart set on someone like that, and especially the Goodes-type, it there anything wrong with a bloke named Cale Morton?

Moloney only came to us via the Ottens trade. Wouldn't be at Melbourne if Geelong didn't want Otto.

Says a lot for how they were travelling that year! 2004 was the year he put his stamp on the game. Thanks for your quality input in to this thread though. The joys of public forums!

I know this topic has been done to death, but I want to get a few things off my chest, and as this is a public forum, there's no better place! Still don't fully understand the urgency in regards to hunting a young, big-bodied key forward, especially if they are struggling to get a game with their current club. Firstly, they would still be considered a project player, not unlike Stef Martin. Why would we sacrifice draft picks or even a player to trade, in order to take a risk? As I have mentioned on other posts, if we are going to target a KPF, we would be far better off paying big dollars for someone young and proven. I'm talking your Roughead, Franklin, Tippett, etc. As you can see, the type of player that I think we would be better of chasing is near mission-impossible, but if we are serious about getting a top KPF, let's get one that will make an immediate impact, not a project player. Further, shifting the likes of Garland is a ridiculous, knee-jerk reaction that so many on here would love to see. Why take one of our better defenders out of a position that he is excelling in? This brings me on to my second point, what is wrong with what we have got??? Watts, Fitzpatrick, and maybe even Gawn, all are project players in their own right (although Watts obviously has the class factor already). They will build up over the next couple of pre-seasons, they will get better. Let's face it, if Watts develops in to the next Nick Riewoldt, we will be fine in this department, especially if Fitzy, Gawn, or even Martin can hold their own. Look back at other Clubs that have had successful forward lines over the past decade or so (and probably even further back if you wanted to). Start with St Kilda - while Riewoldt was bacomming the superstar that he is today, they had the big G-Train to be their "General". St Kilda obviously picked him up from West Coast, and he played his part well during Riewoldt's development. While J Brown was developing at Brisbane, they had a guy named Alastair Lynch to play that General role. They were lucky as he was already on their list. Geelong picked up Mooney in 2000, who had experience and a premiership, but had bugger all else, hence them fighting hard for Ottens. They have since had Dork-ins developing over the past 3 years or so, but have had the luxury of Mooney being their General. Hawkins is starting to play pretty good footy (far from a star), but it will be interesting to see what the Cats do in the coming years when Mooney, Otto etc move on. The other premiers in the Naughtys - Essendon (Lloyd), Sydney (Hall) and West Coast (Lynch), always had a KPF to play the General role, but where these clubs failed (in my opinion), was that the developing KPF they had didn't take the next step when needed to. As a result, these Clubs are struggling now, and have been for a couple of years. Hawthorn were lucky enough to have 2 KPF developing at the same time, and both reach that A-class level around the same time, 2008, and we all know the result that year. 2 other Clubs that need to be mentioned - Western Bulldogs and Collingwood, both haven't really had a power forward over the past 5 years (although it could be argued that A Rocca was this player). Both Clubs have been in the top 4 or so for the past few years, but neither have won a flag. The Dogs obviously chased Hall this year, and let's face it, they look a better team when he is up and firing. I think this is significant proof that a Clube really does need at least 1 KPF to win a flag. So, where does this leave Melbourne? Do we chase a ready-made KPF, take a punt with a early 20-something player from another team, or do we look out in to our own paddock and be patient? Personally, I think we have got our main KPF, our General, that can play the number1 forward role while Watts is developing. The man, Brad Green. Ok, he is just as valuable on the wing or across half back as he is in our forward line, but let's think about it, he is nearing 30 years of age. At this stage, he may have 2 years left in him, but we might be able to squeeze 1 or 2 years extra out of him playing him as our Full Forward (a la G-Train, Alastair Lynch, etc). He has proven this year that with the right delivery, he is more than capable of kicking around 60 goals a year (if only playing FF). If we could manage to get 4 years out of him at FF, what will J Watts be like at the end of that time (and even in the bnext 2 years)? In that time, we wil have the ability to develop Fitzy, or even another project player from this years draft (by the looks of it there are a number of decent talls that are worthy of a first round pick). Our premiership window wont be open until 2012 at the very earliest (even then it will only be slightly adjar). In 2012, Watts would be in to his 4th year, and ironically, Riewoldt had his first "big season" 4 years after he was drafted. So, when we can consider ourselves a threat, a true contender (2013+), Green will still have 2 years or so left, Watts will be a man by then (he's still only a boy!), we will have 1 or 2 other KPF developing (and maybe even pushing our best 22), and other goal kickers like Jurrah and Petterd to help. A midfield that oozes class, and a top class backline. Where does this leave guys like Bate? Safe for the next 2 years, after that, it doesn't look good (Schwab hinted a while back that the great Clubs have around 14 players that can rotate in to the midfield). For the Demonlander's that can't be bothered waiting for this to happen, maybe we should have chased Bradshaw (or even Hall for that matter) for that "quick fix" that we would so dearly love, but a fix that would harm the Club's future plans. Hopefully after you read my above words that you can see the big picture, and maybe, just maybe develop that patience that is required to produce a great team. I've waited 30+ years, others a lot longer, but another couple wont hurt us, especially if it means years of success rather than the rollercoaster ride we used to have in the late 90's-early 2000's where we were in finals one year, out the next. I hope the above makes sense. I too get frustrated with this great Club from time to time, and do question some of Bailey's tactics, but I still think we have everything in place, and the right personnel to make this current group one of the greatest sides of all time. The impact that GC17 and GWS make could determine this statement, but as Tony Shaw continues to say, we are the best placed Victorian side to handle the introduction of the new teams, especially over the next 5 years. Edit - to keep Thomo happy by getting rid of the 's at the end of some players surname.

Dunn? The same bloke that tagged Pav for big parts of the game and restricted his impact? You want easy? Out: Bate In: Trengove - really missed him today.

Doesn't excuse his outburst. Lack of leadership again.

Has to be up there for "Worst Post of the Year" award for mine.

While I'm as frustrated as everyone in here about the first half today, the thing that sticks out like the dangly bits on a male dog (in my opinion) is the lack of "team" work. You look at the top sides compared to us, the biggest difference is how they play for the other bloke wearing the same jumper. The biggest frustration for me is the lack of shepperds that we lay. Why this is the most frustrating thing for me is because it takes that extra bit of effort to protect your team mate, to allow him that extra bit of space to deliver with less pressure. It is extra effort, not skill, to lay a hard shepperd, and until we can improve in this area, you can throw everything else out the window. Thoughts...

Don't normally publicly question people's votes, but Bartram was on Balentyne(?), kicked 4 goals and won the game for them. 6. Frawley 5. Bennell 4. Scully 3. Macdonald 2. Johnson 1. Dunn