bing181

Somewhat disingenuous. Not all countries have the same systems of internal governance, nor for that matter the same geographies or travel infrastructure.

Shame that Jack's career should basically be ended by injury.

Impressive from Caleb Daniel. Dogs have a decent list, better than ours I'd venture (more depth).

Which is why he kept getting games. We had a bunch of kids up forward, and in the absence of the likes of Jones or Lewis or even Tom Mac, there had to be someone with a bit of experience. The fact that he got the stand-in captain job also says something about how the club - and players - see him. Also, and in spite of everything, he was still 3rd on our goal kicking. (OK, he played every game, but still ...) Doesn't excuse poor performances, but the comment here for me is not so much how poor Melksham was, but our lack of depth in maturity and experience.

Yes, cannot believe that anyone here seriously thinks we'd get a second-rounder for him.

He's a fringe player, and not a very good one at that. If we get a third round pick we'll be laughing. This has "traded for pick 78 and a future 5th round pick" written all over it.

Regardless of what happens here on the football side, just hope Harley can (continue to?) get the support he needs. Self-destructive behaviour like this can take a lifetime to learn to manage. And even then ...

Confirmed. You can't back up your claim.

When the facts don't fit your agenda.

The lack of a strong KPF target - yes, Tom Mac, looking at you - is the single biggest factor in why we haven't gone further. We haven't been able to replace his 53 goals from 2018. Next biggie for me is the falling away of Nev Jetta. He was close to AA in 2018. While May, Lever etc have managed to keep the big boys quiet, we don't have a solution to cover opposition small forwards. Apart from that, improving 8 places, getting a few decent wins against top 8 sides, and never really being annihilated by anyone are all positives to build on. Let's not forget we were close to wooden-spooners last year, and never really looked like it.

All you need to know. We finished about where we should have. Higher would have been a fluke, lower would have been under-performing.

"I understand Melbourne will be fined 50K, none of it suspended and Bennell be suspended for four weeks. Will be told to leave the state as soon as possible" "Bennell left the club's hub and went to a friend's place when not authorised. Four weeks at least gives the Demons a chance to re-sign him next year if they see fit."

https://twitter.com/RalphyHeraldSun/status/1307629635060998145?s=20

50K fine, Bennell 4 match ban.

Our list is a mid-table list at best, nothing to do with the coaching that we're not in the eight. We don't have the cattle, or anywhere near it. Bulldogs are in the finals because they're a better team (= better players, and more of them) - and watching this only confirms it.

Apparently in the hub with him. Or now they are and he isn't.

Perhaps. But the 7 players who could replace them are in the same boat.

Hard to argue with.

a) Tom McDonald. We've lost his 2-3 goals/7 odd marks/15 odd possessions per game b) Jordan Lewis. Hard, ruthless, experienced. Just having him out there made a difference and the players walk taller. c) Bernie Vince. See Lewis (though to a lesser extent.) d) Nathan Jones. See Vince

The logical extension of this is that you could put out a VFL-level side with great "attitude and instructions" and have them compete. Sooner or later you need good players, and to go deep into finals you need a lot of them.

Oh no we don't. Not past the top half dozen or so in any case. It's one of the problems here, supporters are constantly over-rating the quality of the team. We're a long way off it at the moment, and each week we're playing a handful of players who would not get picked up by other clubs if we delisted them.

Can someone perhaps start a thread following all this, together with info on percentages etc.?

Only in hindsight. Brown was poor against Swans, and has been mediocre all year. Still, hope he can back it up against his old club, hard to see him getting dropped on that performance.

If Harmes is available, worth including. In the absence of Brayshaw, he's a better mid than VDB or Melksham. Hopefully Hibberd as well. Hard to see any other changes, especially with injuries limiting availability.

Not really. Lockhart really ran out of puff at the back end of last year, and not hard to imagine the same thing here. Still a young player, and this is his first full season + pre-season. Not sure that Jetta is the answer, but with the injuries we have, hard to see what the choices are.