DeeSpencer

Great to see. Also very happy that big John Meesen has made it off the indefinite list, he's got 17 weeks to get fit and show some of that talent I believe he has in their!

Well spoken and polite. Way to ruin his tough man image! I remember seeing Jamar and Moloney at Chadstone one day in 2007 I believe. I saw the sheer size of these big boys and just thought what a waste of size and talent that they weren't making it in the AFL at the time. Both of them now are excelling at what they do best.

Think back to Moloney's first year at the club - 2005 I believe. I think he came 3rd in the B&F, and from there you would have backed him to become the player he has been in 2009 and so far this year. But its a far cry from 06,07,08 where he couldn't get on the park.

Thought Petterd's early form drew the best defender in Patfull which in turn made Maguire go to Bate. Bate could then run him off his legs. It also meant Johnstone had to play on Green in parts, which was a promising match up. I just wish we had Jurrah out there, it would lead to a situation of having 5 forwards - Jurrah, Bate, Petterd, Green, Sylvia of which none could be taken lightly. Combine that with a big body, or a small giving incredible pressure and opposition defences (beside maybe Geelong, Sydney and StKilda) will be troubled.

The highs and lows of young players.I expect to see Bastinac V Scully on the weekend. Why wouldn't you put pick 20 something on his best mate and pick number 1 if you were Scott. Both incredibly fit young guys.

I'll be tipping North. Why? Because they generally put on more pressure than the 3 teams we've beaten, and probably more than the Collingwood side we played. Pressure is our greatest enemy (see round 1), it's also our greatest strength at the moment. North don't have the talent of Brisbane, but they should bring more pressure. Our game plan is about smooth and quick transition from backline to midfield to mid-sized forwards (Petterd, Green, Sylvia, Bate being the 4 main ones). Getting bottled up, especially on the smaller Etihad ground is a real danger. 2 exciting young midfields, with very good young key defenders and modest forwards lines will be on display.

Martin is important in the longevity of Jamar and the development of a proper second ruck option. He also had 13 hitouts against Clark/Leuney, the stats aren't everything but it shows he gets his hands to it. Also liked his positioning when in the ruck, floated around half back nicely. If by some miracle we make finals then play Dunn as the back up, but we if we don't keep developing players we might hit a roadblock with our development similar to where Essendon appear to be at the moment. They are playing too many guys who can't be dropped but also aren't going anywhere. In their case its their midfield - they didn't inject enough young talent when they needed to. For us its in the ruck and up forward. We might have to sacrifice a Bail or Bennell for a while, if they are good enough they'll bounce back anyway.

Gave Jamar the proper rest he needs. Won his share of hitouts, I will be interested to see the % to advantage. Had one ripper to Moloney I believe. Up forward kept presenting despite average delivery, unlucky not to bag a goal. Took a great grab on a strong lead around half back at some stage. Offers more than Dunn and Newton in the position, no offense to those 2, but they are only stop gaps where Martin has the height to be a real option for the future. Keep playing him!

I'm with Hell Bent. Didak first, probably Milne second. I didn't like Fev tonight, but when we aren't on the end of him I like him at times. Warnock played one of his best games. Don't worry about the 4 goal score line. The umpire invented a new prior opportunity rule when giving the free against Grimes.

Ricky was off and on at times throughout the match. It seemed shoulder, then hammy or other leg injury. Hopefully he should be right. Bail might have to sit it out. I'd say Dunn or Bennell are most likely to be dropped. But thought Dunn was serviceable tagging and Bennell was lively as always. Hard to get Rivers back in the backline. Garland did a great job on Staker and offers more versatility.

Sounds like Rivers played as expected from a quality senior player in the VFL, nothing to be excited about. The question on him is whether he can take an opponent or play as an effective zone off player at AFL. Or can he do a bit of both to the right effect. Personally I'd like to see him play as a true CHB again like he did when he won the RS. I'm very excited about the Fitz. Hopefully he gets his chance in Casey seniors soon. He has nice hands and his pace is awesome for a really tall guy. Hope Blease is ok, could be 100 different reasons for a limp after a game. Such as someone stepping on your foot, or a corkie. I currently am sporting both of those.

Go the Fitz!!! Good to see Wona on the scoreboard.

That's a good point. Although I wouldn't be disappointed to see them bring in Martin to play ruck and forward, giving Jamar more rest. I'd suggest Dunn goes to a medium forward position and Bennell might have to come out. I still think we could provide strong enough forward pressure.I want to win every game, but I still think we have to look after Jamar and develop ruck and forward options for the long term. Dunn is not a long term back up ruck option.

I really like Bartram. I hope for his sake and the clubs he can keep improving to hold his spot. If a guy is playing well when he comes into the side then he isn't a list clogger. If Bartram keeps the pressure on Strauss and Bennell to earn his spot as the small defender then I'm happy with him. Dunn still needs to find a gear as a forward or midfielder, because I don't think he has the height to be a long term second ruck option. Then again he just has moments of clean skill, a good goal sense and a really strong body. He has to keep striving to find the improvement needed. Worse players than both have won premierships.

I'm not too keen on giving away a good pick for a ruckman, but I'd seriously look at big White from Sydney. He could be a suitable back up for Jamar and then the big body up forward to let other players develop around. All I know is that at the end of the year we will have to make a call on some of our big guys. Hopefully by then they have sealed their fate one way or another. I still have some faith in Spencer, he has really nice size and can win a hit out, he has some potential. I've really gone cold on Martin as he had a big chance leading up to round 1 to seal his placed and failed. I'd love to see Meesen get back, I like what I saw from him in his games last year.

Oh wow, you clearly missed the sarcasm. That's a good report. If he keeps having games like that then I'm happy we've got a guy who can play a bit! Jordy McKenzie probably had similar reports all last year until he got a game, and he's coming along nicely after a preseason. I think its a real boost that we have these guys who win their own ball. They all just have to keep harnessing the experience of Junior and Scotty West.

Deevoted we will need to do a backflip on youth at some stage. Whilst next year will most likely be too soon, at some stage we should add some experienced players if they are at the right price. For example Hawthorn got their timing exactly right on Dew. If they waited another year before adding the experience to their youth you could argue that they wouldn't have won the flag. Just like how the dogs could have done with Barry Hall for the last 2 seasons. Really now they have him the boat may have sailed as Aka, Johno and others slow up.

Casey 2's for Wona if passed fit I would think. Due to the fact that it is unfair to play guys who can only be available for half a game in a senior side. Take him slowly, slowly because its been since 2008 that he's played an AFL game. That said I really hope that in 4 weeks time he's been able to get enough form and fitness to play up in Darwin.

It's been a pleasant change has it not?

He's not too old. As long as his knee is right then he has 4 years of good footy left. If this group of kids is going to take us anywhere then it will be very close to doing it in the next 4 years. But I'm not sure he will be worth the price to get him. That's what it all comes down to for mine, both the draft pick we have to give up and the $$$ we have to pay him.

Astbury got one goal from rubbish manning up, another from a turnover caused by Warnock that should have been a free to Grimes as he got crunched front on and kicked a beauty of a third which I believe came from an out on the full. Watts could certainly do likewise, except that Melbourne are no longer in the business of rolling over and getting done by 10 goals each week. We also don't have 4 guys out with club suspensions. You now have to earn the right to play for us and hopefully Jack will soon. He's gathering form and fitness, not rotting away. I'm sure once Watts does make it into the team Bailey will give him ample opportunity to stay there for a long period.

You obviously weren't at the preseason Melbourne V WC game at Casey. Martin was horrible. He jumped at shadows and didn't look like taking a mark up forward. He may have kicked a few in the VFL but goals alone can be deceptive of his performance. Martin would not have given as much as Dunn up forward and through the middle in these last 3 weeks.One thing we have to be careful of next week in changing our style too much to counter Brisbane's talls. Against Collingwood they had plenty of talls but we backed Newton/Dunn as second rucks, and Bruce/Joel MacDonald to play tall and we should have won the game. We might not be able to afford to give up our runners that have been so effective in executing the pressure on the opposition.

If they hadn't already given it to him in round 2.NicNat is a sure thing. A good performance in a winning team on a Friday night, combined with being the overall favourite for the award, combined with good performances in all his other games. He's got it locked up.

To be honest I don't think you need the 'perfect' set up in terms of playing stocks to be top 4. We certainly need someone to help out Jamar, but the bulldogs have shown you can get to the top 4 without big forwards. The main thing we need is more players capable of executing under immense pressure. Mainly I mean using the ball, because that is the critical area, but I also mean position specific skills - taking marks, kicking goals, breaking the lines, winning hitouts, spoiling in the backline. If you look at Hawthorn last night too many of their blokes just couldn't do it. It was the same story for us in round 1. As we got our pressure up to a required level, the pressure on us eased, which resulted in the reasonable results in the last 2 games. When I think of Melbourne players able to do this I think of Frawley, Grimes, Green, Sylvia, the skipper. At their best I don't think Petterd and Bate are far away. It's a bit different for a ruckman but I feel Jamar is starting to do this. Scully and Trengove look like they will. Morton is probably able to do this, Garland too. Bartram is only a 10% improve in his kicking to be really useful. Jurrah is a freak who only needs a small gap to be able to hit the scoreboard. Davey, Moloney and Bruce aren't bad either. To get more players able to do this we need to get the games into them. Scully, Trengove, Watts, Bennell, Strauss and whoever else from the untried brigade who step up (Blease, Gysberts, Tapscott, Gawn etc) need that 40 or more games.

I wonder if Miller will try the move to the backline to save his career option again. Also not sure about this Watts on the wing business. I know they want to get him match fit and into games but we've got better options on the wing for Melbourne, what we don't have is key forwards. Come on Blease! Get on the park.