P-man

Ha. It's funny how eager people are to point out that they don't watch it. They've had a pretty good run for a show that nobody watches

JV may not be the best public speaker the world has ever seen, but much like his now no co-captain, I think his lacking in that area gets overstated. He will improve over time. The thing with JV is he has a simple, honest nature about him. One that will endear him to many people. See his appearance on TFS as an example. Like Fifty, I place a lot of importance on the captain's media role, but I'm not concerned about him developing in that capacity.

Suits up for the filth tonight. Good luck Dunny. Not too much luck though.

After having played every team once? Yes. As Clint says, think of it as a 17 match season first and foremost, with a pre-finals series to cement the order. I'm not gung ho on the idea, but far too often everything the AFL does is met with torches and pitchforks.

I am a massive JV fan and don't want to take anything away from his appointment, but I still see Brayshaw as an important future leader of the club. If leadership can be quantified, the kid has got it in spades.

All for Viney as vice, but co captain off the bat seems a bit hasty. Well done to JV all the same.

If you're 13th after 17 games, there's a decent argument that says you don't deserve to play finals that year.

I'm undecided as to whether the top 6 teams playing each other as a precursor to the actual finals series will be an advantage or a disadvantage when compared to the teams in 7th and 8th position that will have been playing teams of lesser quality. One argument says they will be more battle hardened. The other says they will be more strung out. I'm willing to keep an open mind, but it's not difficult to envisage it going [censored] up, especially in relation to the amount of interest in the bottom 6 teams playing off against each other for the remaining weeks. Although to be honest, the AFL will generally double fixture those teams who are likely to finish near the bottom anyway. Wait and see approach.

Sure, but you stand a better chance the higher up you go. They acquired the Hawks' first round pick so have two first round picks going into the draft, both of which I would think will be used on mids.

Still a couple of young gun midfielders shy of a side that can challenge, but they should be able to acquire them in this year's draft. They should be a direct competitor for a top four spot in the coming years. Building nicely imo. That said, I wouldn't cast aside the potential impact of losing of Montagna, Riewoldt and co. It's a test that still needs to be passed.

Skills are interesting.

Never would have guessed that was Pedo but for the number on his back. He looks like he's almost halved in size Clearly not mucking about in 2017. Good on him.

Yes.

The lack of external love for Billy the kid is intriguing to me. I imagine it will be a different story this time next year.

Top man.

Great first post, doug. Nothing suss there. Go Pies. Melbourne's midfield was ranked 5th for clearances and 6th for contested possession. There's two of the key functions of any midfield where Melbourne was objectively in the top third. Only the most self hating supporter would think we're dead last. Any system that rates Mitch Wallis as 'elite' and V.iney as 'average' is a broken system that clearly doesn't place sufficient weight on a player's last 12 months.

Going to be good gag source material next season. "Not bad for the worst midfield in the league" will see a bit of airtime.

Jack Crisp ranked ahead of Jack Viney ffs. They should be embarrassed releasing this garbage. It's a step away from pulling names out of a hat.

I tend to think the opposite. Shopping himself around can be as much about pushing up the price at his existing club as anything else. Dusty has an established support network at Richmond with players and coaches who know him. I don't see him taking the risk of entering a completely new environment. Looking down the list, outside of the obvious in Fyfe and Dusty, these two and Breust see the ones that stood out.

Gawn and Watts for Vince and Gus makes sense to me. I don't think the banner should become a popularity contest every year, but Gawn and Watts are arguably the two biggest cult figures at the club and will remain so for some time to come.

It was amazing the number of players who performed poorly that day. Was more than a few by my recollection. Newton, Grimes, ANB, Spencer...They weren't just average. They were awful. The occasion seemingly got to too many, though perhaps some of them played knowing their papers had been stamped.

Giving this a bump now that we have our full list assembled. Will take predictions up until the start of the NAB

He's one of the big stories of 2016 for the AFL, not just the MFC. Who was the last cult hero that stretched across the entire league the way he has? Max is a rare player in many regards, and he's elevated himself at a perfect time.

Yep, I made that point myself. Looking at the top end when comparing the ins and outs, it's an obvious improvement. Jury remains out on Melksham. He's certainly no walk up start to my best 22. The other two are no question.

His 2015 output wasn't far off the mark. He averaged 4.1 tackles per game. By way of comparison, this season Devon Smith averaged 4.7. Puopolo averaged 4.6. If he can match his 2015 output I think that's acceptable. Garlett needs to maintain consistency to retain his spot, but there should be a level of acceptance that he's the cream on top of the cake. He's the one who can pull a much needed goal out of nowhere.