DeeSpencer

You need to go to the footy with some new people. Might've been third best for Collingwood.

TOM MCDONALD believes a permanent move to the forward line will allow him to play with newfound freedom, with the Melbourne swingman glad to be free of the pressures of defence. Following surgery on both of ankles at the end of last season, and integrating into main training in the past month, McDonald said he was relishing his time training at the opposite end of the ground for the first time in his career. "I don't know why but it's taken a bit of the stress away from playing footy," McDonald told AFL.com.au. "Sometimes as a defender I was so worried about making mistakes. The pressure that comes with being a full back or centre-half back can be overwhelming at times, and I tend to get overly frustrated with myself and it costs me." http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-02-12/mcdonald-ready-for-his-crack-up-forward I was paraphrasing but I stand by it. The guy was making mistakes and I'd be pretty sure he meant with the ball more than defensively. Either way, he's a whole new player as a forward and my point was that Tom openly admits he had issues playing as a defender. I'd love to find a new position for Lewis but there's no where to hide a plodder these days. Half back is the best option but eventually the time comes from there as well.

Bummer, just not his year this year I think. Has looked out of form since preseason. Actually looked really tired all summer as well. Keep one of the old timers in the side then. Probably Bernie.

0 impact. How many did he get from playing on from the kick out.

Has Tom McDonald played as a defender since then? Or did the coaches eventually - through injury or otherwise - wake up to the fact it wasn't working and move him forward. Even Tom himself admitted he'd lost all confidence in his ball use as a defender. If you got them to speak honestly I think you'd find a few team mates who have lost all faith in Jordan Lewis as capable of winning a one on one contest or willing to really put his body on the line for his team.

FB: Jetta Oscar Hibberd HB: J Smith Petty Salem ? Fritsch Oliver Stretch HF: ANB Hogan Spargo FF: Viney Tommy Melksham Foll: Gawn Brayshaw Jones Int: Hunt, T Smith, JKH, Harmes Out: Vince, Lewis, Pedersen, Hannan, Petracca In: Petty, Hunt, T. Smith, JKH, Stretch That's my 5 as of tonight. Let the bye and actions of players demand if they be picked and not dropped. I think Harry Petty deserves a shot as a genuine CHB and I just want Hunt back in. Had enough of the old battlers. Bull Smith is an obvious one to come in and offer more than Pedersen as the third tall. Thought Pedersen went ok and still has to be an option if Hogan or T Mc get injured but we need the forward pressure, we can't have 3 non tackling talls. Otherwise I think it's time for midfield reinforcements even if guys have had a rest after the bye. That means Stretch in on a wing to tag Polec and in more of a surprise I'd give JKH one last shot as a midfielder. I'd be resting/rotating the mids more through the forward line, starting with Jack Viney opening the game in a forward pocket and setting the tone for forward pressure. But Harmes, JKH, Fritsch, Oliver I'd rotate them all through. No more rotating Tom McDonald on a wing. No more Hogan on ball either unless he's not getting in the game.

Not sure they are all that tall but they are very solid and they can all compete with good size/speed/strength profiles. Besides from getting smashed on the inside they just seemed like more ready made primed AFL footballers. Guys who could run and contest and really crack in. I think we need to start picking some higher quality athletes to return serve against the best teams. He made some skill errors but Joel Smith was able to do things with his athleticism. In the first quarter he looked ready to play when and able to physically get involved. A backline featuring Maynard, Langdon, Crisp and Greenwood as flankers is some serious beef. However with appropriate pressure they should start coughing up the ball. Sadly we couldn't chase or tackle any of these guys to force mistakes outside a patch in the 2nd quarter. Stephenson and Hoskin-Elliott had a field day. I'm not surprised. I thought Jetta and Hibberd/Vince could largely restrict them if given the right midfield support and that's where Salem and Lewis could beat Josh Thomas and Daicos. ANB and Spargo (and the rest of the forwards) couldn't get the pressure. Melksham, Hannan and Petracca couldn't get the goals. Everyone looks better in wins than loses but we need more consistently applied grunt.

When you burn a quick play by holding behind the mark only to chip it 20m sideways you'll often look good. For a tall forward he can't execute the same inside 50 kicks as some of the good ones like J Riewoldt even Tommy Hawkins, yet alone the great ones like Tex and Bud.

When he's in the middle or around half forward he doesn't take the game on enough for a good player. He loves taking little backwards stutter steps. I know he's not slow nor quick but I think he has to add more go forward. He got a handball on the forward flank today, 3rd quarter I think and just danced around backwards. Sometimes his field kicks are very good but it's all across his body which means unless he marks and can swing wide and stick a 30m kick he has little confidence. He won't weight it over a defender or change the flight or angle of his kick. In fact I think it's a huge weakness of the team. So few players who can really run with the ball and execute on the run.

What the heck is the point of a defender who can't defend. What role is that? If he could run, kick long and tear the game apart I'd accept his lack of defensive skills but he can't. What he can do is find the ball but Hibberd and Salem can do that. Find me a defender who can't defend who's ever won a premiership. If they do exist I bet they are bringing more to the table than racking up little dinky kicks.

The day it was all over red rover for Jordan/Jordie/Lewy/old fake hair

The 5 forwards and spare off the back doesn't stand up to good inside mid pressure. We can't link through the middle so it's a quick kick forward to a spare defender. They went back to 6-6-6 for the 2nd and 3rd which served us far better. Time to go 6-6-6 permanently because it gives the inside mids an out. Plus we don't have the right sort of player coming from the back of the square. ANB from the back of the square is such a waste, he's not skilled or creative enough to be useful. So back to 6 forwards and then time to get the composition and positioning of those 6 better. A quick kick from the middle should result in Hogan, T Mc, Melksham or hopefully T Smith competing for it and a crumber should be sweeping in front and centre. Do the simple things Melbourne.

Bernie is just as concerning as Lewis but Bernie can at least defend. He's a willing puncher and can tackle. Bernie's ball use is sporadic but when it's on he's more damaging than Lewis is, he still has penetration in his kicking and can make the big switch. We aren't changing the way we play for Bernie though. He takes an opponent and has a crack.

My grandpa could've played well at half back for the last month. And he's been dead for 30 years.

Easy to give a 2nd effort when your first effort is non existent.

He played wing against the Dogs as well. Personally I'd rather Gus on ball and Harmes given the negating wing job. Or bring Stretch or Bugg in to the wing defensive job and use both Gus and Harmes elsewhere, we could've done with allowing a good midfielder to either go forward or back.

Brayshaw nullified Phillips. Fritsch was on Mayne. So the problems weren't outside. The concern on the inside is Pendles, Sidebottom, Wells and then more so DeGoey, Adams and Treloar, are those guys really that much quicker than Oliver, Jones, Viney, Harmes and Petracca? He's not at his best but there's not many more explosive than Viney when he is and he's often been sent to Treloar to limit his breakaway run. Jones can run the lines at a good clip. Clarry can read the play and burst. Petracca is meant to do the same. Those guys should be able to keep track of De Goey. Looked to me like the spread was way out of whack and when we got the ball we couldn't do anything to make them chase us. All backwards handballs and inviting pressure. I think we need more speed in the flanks, we couldn't catch their half forwards or run off them at either end of the ground. In the guts we need smarts and a better plan or to execute the plan better.

I'm done with this pretender being unable to stand any half decent forward with an ounce of leg speed or overhead ability. I'm done with him falling over or giving away free kicks because he knows he's physically incapable of even halving the contest. I'm done with his futile efforts to change direction. I'm done with the way he picks up the ball protecting himself and only on his left side so he can't move on to his right. I'm done with his handballs that go to grass. I'm done with him taking kick outs despite only being able to kick 45 metres. I'm done with his stupid fake hair. I'm just absolutely done with Jordan Lewis. Vote. Tell me where you stand. If you're sucked in by the stat padding that invariably occurs when he's a mile from his opponent or even playing 7 defenders then good for you. If you think some of his nice short kicks justify his ongoing selection then let me know. Personally, I can't have the team playing a guy who will get so badly found out by a good team. I don't see what that achieves? I think we've got 2 really nice rebounding defender options in Hibberd and Salem who whilst not perfect are tough, courageous, pacy and can beat good opponents. They are the guys who should be getting 20 cheap kicks a game and around them we should have defenders who have the ability to actually defend.

How often do we see him on a hard lead up at the footy at genuine CHF? That's what he did so well in year 1/2. Now it's all over the top tic tac toe stuff. A lot of it is game plan and modern footy stuff but there's still room to get a one on one forward of the ball and kick to them. Tommy makes it happen by timing his leads. Against North as the sole tall forward Hogan was coming up the ground and winning contests, we weren't getting that today, every long kick was to a big pack (or to Collingwood players).

I thought he was building after a very nasty injury. Only missed a week but it was nasty. Flashes today where he looked like our best player but a lot of nothing. Would have no issue sending him back to Casey if that's what the coaches think. He's one I'd put it to now that he has to impress with his actions between now and the next selection to show he's fair dinkum.

There's value in Hogan's game but it's also a worry just how glaring his weaknesses are. Provides little pressure, is a poor field kick, can't run and break lines, can't clunk a grab in a pack or even one on one without the sit. Lots of positives from him so far this year and I understand why the club have sung his praises but his stats overvalue his influence. Beating up on bad sides when it's coming in easy but apart from the North game where he was everywhere he's let us down against good teams.

Kent showed a lot of improvement at the start of this year. Wasn't falling over, was holding his marks and kicking his set shots. I don't think he's the pure pressure forward we need - Garlett's the best chance of that on the list - but he's good enough to be an option. If he gets back fit I think he can push out Hannan - who has to kick his goals and hold a few more marks and tackles to really cement a spot. Vanders I rate really highly and I think the footy department do to. Yeah his kicking is scratchy but his size/speed/hardness combination is suited to our game plan and to finals. At this stage he's not much more than a prospect to come back, play some VFL, stay healthy and get ready for next year but things can change quickly.

Summer pastimes are the summer pastimes that they used to be! Most people get 2 weeks holiday max. Most people have no interest standing in the sun every Saturday for 8 hours a day. There's way more international cricket and far more sporting choice now. No one is watching or covering the Sheffield Shield for a reason, but you'll still get passionate debate about selection on social media and forums before a test series. The recent broadcast deal does put a bigger percentage of cricket on foxtel but there's still heaps on free to air on 7. I think Sutherland overstayed his welcome and probably like the players in South Africa there was a lack of leadership and some burnout from some difficult negotiations - both with the TV deals and with players. But it's a suggestion of a name who has worked in high level sporting admin. Josh Mahoney has managed Melbourne's footy admin which is probably about 40 million in revenue to work with. As mentioned above Sutherland is dealing with 500 million revenue! Sporting admin is a very shallow pool of talent, but other business administrators in sport often fail to grasp the important factors in running a football club. It's not an easy appointment to make.

Won't happen. Tom butchers the ball down back and besides from that he doesn't play the with the same confidence in attacking the ball and reading the play. He had a defensive contest in the 2nd quarter on the weekend and ended up under the ball. You're right that our backline remains strong. But it's the forward and midfield pressure and work rate allows the backline to dominate which then drives the side. There's no point weakening 2 positions to strengthen one.

I think he's clearly working on sharing the ball with smarter decisions and on his goal kicking. That's a couple of things to get better at and then they'll move to the next thing and so on. But if the conversations don't work I've never been a fan of coaches who don't take action and the action to show him where his work rate is at and where it could be is to make him tag. I certainly wouldn't do it this week. In fact I wouldn't even do it this year probably. But just as key forwards should have a go down back as part of their development I think guys like Tracc should be thrown the challenge of tagging at some stage.