Ned

Couldn't agree more. We need a big unit who can intimidate the oppoosition and belt people as needed to protect the young guys. At present, only Jamar is capable of doing that and he could do with some help. I wouldn't turn him down. Can kick a goal from the centre square to boot.

Hear, hear! I don't understand all the carping. Syliva obviously comes back in but I wouldn't drop anyone.

Nice one. Congrats on the birth and the team's rebirth!

Very astute observations there LG and good call on the final result!

We can beat the Crows. They've got injuries and are traditionally slow starters to the year. They'll also be pretty fired up after yesterday's performance (the coach was reportedly booed off the ground). If we bring our best game we can do it (though as was mentioned above, our young team is likely to be incredibly inconsistent for a while yet).

I really hope we're up and about again next week. Crows supporters apparently booed Neil Craig off the ground yesterday. He's a proud man and they'll come out hard. But if we replicate Saturday's commitment we'll win. It'd be great to see a big Demons crowd out there to make their life as miserable as possible!

Nice post. You confirmed my suspicion that the poker face and bland comments are just for the media. I also appreciate that he didn't dump on the umpires. I don't think in his media conference he said he was pleased with the result. I think he said he was pleased with the players' efforts. And how could you not be? They played better football than a premiership contender.

That's so true. Whenever the ball spilled there were three or four Melbourne guernseys around it. That speaks to work ethic and commitment. Great stuff.

Yep, fair call. I didn't wince once at Scully's errors. He was absolutely going for it. The whole team was -- and that's all any of us can ask. I'm like your Collingwood mate, we basically won that game. Just a little too inexperienced to kill it off. Outstanding effort.

I totally disagree. Strauss is going to get better and better, particularly after a game like today's. I don't think any kid should be dropped (outside of possibly Bennell) because they've got to grow together.

Yes, totally agree. We wouldn't have been in a position to be on the cusp of victory without his brilliance.

Yeah, I don't think the umps were particularly pro-Collingwood, just particularly useless. No consistency.

Couldn't agree more. He cost us the game. Two potential goals were lost from his dogging it. I know he's young and that's terribly harsh, but almost everyone else stood up today. That was a heartbreaking loss but reminded me of Melbourne circa 1987. A young team full of guts. Absolutely outstanding. Jamar, Pettard, Davey, Grimes and Green were incredible. Hats off to our young Demons for standing up like that.

It's character-building. I'm not sure why everyone is so surprised. I think the first practice-match against West Coast showed where we're at. I thought Scully looked really good at half-back and Trengrove and Strauss had their moments, too. Davey was disappointing and we don't have a forward line (though again that was already clear against West Coast). Hawthorn are also a top-flight team. That 22-point loss someone mentioned earlier should've been a 10-goal loss. I was at that game and Hawthorn just tuned out in the second-half. The biggest problem I see is that we don't have an older, absolute champion to set the standard for these new young guys. They're going to have to find their way themselves. But at some point Jurrah, Sylvia, Watts, Woenamiri, Blease, Trengove, Strauss, Davey and Grimes will play in one team (and that's an outstanding half a side). I understand the frustration with Dean Bailey. But give the guy a couple of years. Mark Thompson took 10 with Geelong. If in a couple of years Bailey doesn't seem to be making much progress, there will be a queue to coach our level of talent (again as someone already mentioned). But it's way too early to make that call. Keep the faith and keep taking your kids!

It was a shocking performance and the more so given we started our pre-season early and should have been raring to go for the NAB cup. It was an important game for the credibility of our club. Melbourne isn't in a position to pretend everything will click together when the season actually starts. Sunday night reminded me of the game against Hawthorn in Round 1, 2008. I don't have any problem with the kids, anything good they do is a bonus. I do have a problem with the senior players. My footy knowledge isn't strong enough to attribute the problems to Bailey's game plan. But I didn't get much sense of a plan at all -- hence the 2008 comparison. On the positive side, I thought Frawley was terrific. A rock.

I agree. His performance against the Dees last year was farcical. It was great to see a kid work really hard and show his potential. That's what I want to see from Watts -- just working really hard and getting the best from his talent.

I don't think going for Jack Watts over Nic Naitanui was a mistake. The simple fact is that one is from Victoria and the other from Western Australia. Imagine Naitanui got homesick? It would be a disaster. I also think Watts is incredibly talented and full of class. Melbourne could do with a player like that, someone with a hint of arrogance about them. What I really want to hear is that Watts is working hard. Naitanui clearly has really pushed himself over the pre-season and I felt really happy to see him perform.

I was simply noting how far you can advance quickly with work, if you'd bothered to read it.

I hope Jack Watts was watching Nic Naitanui last night. The standout for me is just what hard work can do for your game. Naitanui was a spaz last year (outside of that last quarter against Hawthorn). He was terrific last night. He's done a lot of work and is very committed, that much is clear.

I think Carlton's experience tells us not to get ahead of ourselves. They had tons of good draft picks, tanked and got Judd, and already had Fevola, and then had a billionaire throwing money around and still aren't that great. We don't have Judd or much money and are perhaps coming from an even lower ebb. The point being that high draft picks and an end to tanking don't equal a quick run up the ladder. I think our club has a lot more heart and spirit than Carlton and that may overcome the money. But we have a long row to hoe.

Nice one. Couldn't agree more.

The Freo win was terrific. But they are a lamentable team. West Coast came to play and Melbourne beat them with aggression, desire and skill. It's only my opinion, of course, but to me that was the win of the season. I would like to believe Crawford is completely wrong. But I agreed with almost everything else he wrote.

I didn't have a problem with any of Crawford's predictions, outside of Freo and our beloved Demons. The Dockers are pathetic away from home and Mark Harvey can't coach. But I was shocked that he rated Melbourne so poorly. My fear is he may have a point. We often look like we're playing in slow motion and our turnovers are terrible, and in games against good sides they seem to play down to our standard. The exception was the West Coast game after the announcement of Jimmy's illness. We looked like a proper football team then. I really hope Crawford is wrong, or at least the young guys can stand up and make the second-half of the season decent.

Western Bulldogs Adelaide Hawthorn Brisbane St. Kilda Collingwood West Coast Sydney Geelong Carlton Essendon North Melbourne Melbourne Fremantle Port Adelaide Richmond I reckon Geelong is going to be lacking the burning desire it had last year to avenge 2008, and all is not well at the Saints after Lovett and Ball. Neil Craig can't win grand finals and Sydney's list has potential. I think the Blues are in trouble without a forward line and Matthew Knights is just a fool. The dogs for me (would love to see that though Hawthorn could turn it all upside down).

Cards, that to me is the great unknown. Switching players all over the place and running few interchanges made it difficult to judge -- other than when we didn't do it we seemed to win! That's the great hope for me (outside of the new faces and everyone being fit).