P-man

No it isn't. Theirs currently sits at 16 players. Their list also comprises their best 5 midfielders - Ablett, O'Meara, Bennell, Prestia, Swallow. Imagine our side without Jones, Vince, Viney, Tyson and Cross. GC have been decimated this season. The two are incomparable.

Healy trolling Cats fans naming Selwood as an emergency. I like it.

It sucks but the injury list could be worse in terms of who is injured. I won't jinx it by giving examples, but it could be a LOT worse. The Giants just lost their first choice ruckman, FB and CHB in one hit. Gold Coast barely have enough players to field a side. Grimes is a real shame though as he was building into some decent form.

Just googled "eyeore smiling"

Fair points. I'm still backing him in until I see reason not to, and I'll be disappointed to see him once again given the revolving door treatment at selection.

Yes he was poor as the sub. In his other game as the sub aaginst Richmond where he came on early, he had 19 disposals with 60% game time, many of them pivotal in creating scores. In his total of four games, the other two were against Fremantle and Hawthorn. And we're binning him based on this? He's just turned 23. Matt Jones is approaching 28. If he gets delisted, which I don't think will happen, but if it does, we won't truly have known if he can make it at this level. Like most players, he could excel in a better side, and time is still on his side in that sense.

People seem unwilling to give Michie a proper run at things, something which he's never had. When he was given opportunity to string a few games together at the end of last season, he was more than serviceable. Not overly quick but neat skills and knows how to find the ball. Bringing in Bail or M Jones for Michie is a waste of time. We know what they bring. A bit of leg speed coupled with habitually coughing the ball up and poor decisionmaking. Give Viv a run of a few games. If he can't cut it then so be it. But geeze, give the lad a chance.

Jones still ahead for me but not by much, in fact there's a fair argument to say they are neck and neck. I must have watched a slightly different game on the weekend. Bernie had a good game no doubt while keeping Armitage to 20 touches, however he went at 60% efficiency, often bombing it in hope, and I recall a few turnovers in the middle of the ground. He also didn't impact the scoreboard like he often does. For comparison, Viney only had two less clearances, more tackles, the same amount of contested possessions and went at 83%. I thought Jones had at least as much influence, but Bernie got the plaudits from all corners so I accept his game must have been better than I remember.

Outweigh it by miles too. I can't help but wonder when reading comments about his body needing to mature. The punishment for such comments should be a Jack Viney body slam.

Just the one forced change - Dawes (yippee) for Pedo. And start Riley as the sub.

I wouldn't be so dismissive of the Saints younger players. They have a lot of quality coming through, some of which didn't play yesterday. Toumpas having a breakout game of sorts is big though. The possibility of a complete bust was looming. That takes away a little bit of the sting of the result.

It's abundantly clear the OP was simply using them to illustrate the gap between the two leagues. Nothing to do with expectations on the kids themselves. And he has a point. Tyson and Michie dominated for the Scorps and both were near the other end of the scale yesterday. Bail got leather poisoning on the weekend. VFL performances may be becoming less meaningful if recent history is any indication. Alternatively it may require some time to adjust to the different pace and players may need a few weeks to make this adjustment. Michie came on as the sub and made a couple of howlers so almost everyone wants to bin the bloke again. I cant remember when he's been given a string of four or five weeks to show his wares, so I'm not still not convinced he doesn't have a future at the club.

Overall I think this is true. We accumulated more of the ball and won the inside battle but we weren't the definitively better side. We just couldn't get a clean possession chain in that last quarter. Infuriating to watch but St Kilda's pressure to their credit was as good as we've faced this year. When we did manage to get it up there, Hogan spilled an easy mark and Howe slotted one. If we could've broken free of the press with some quick cleaner ball use and actually got it forward, we had the weapons to take advantage. The hesitation to release the ball at times was staggering, and those kick ins... I don't think I'll live to see a Melbourne side that gets its kick ins right.

In the cold light of day, this is my main take away. Learn from it so if the same situation arises again, which it will, we aren't left with our pants around our ankles. Turn a negative into a positive.

6. Toumpas 5. Hogan 4. Jones 3. Vince 2. Viney 1. Watts HM: Grimes Toump shades it for BOG honours in what was easily his best game for the club. Jones had 12 inside 50s as opposed to Bernie's 4 and was a bit more precise with his ball use.

Your constant berating of him on here has been truly bizarre. But well done on finally pulling your head in, I guess. He will be an important piece of the puzzle going forward if he can continue to build. Decisionmaking needs work but his confidence is visibly growing. Great signs today after struggling early. Stood up at important stages.

Every last nerve shredded and heart stomped on.

Viney and Brayshaw, so much love.

Toump! Get around him!!!

He seems to like this fixture.

My point was that it certainly isn't something particular to our supporters, which seemed to be the suggestion though perhaps I misinterpreted. Everyone does it. Media, fans, even the players themselves. And why not? Being excited about a youngster is a good thing, whether or not he turns out to be as good as Dane Swan.

That's one word for him.

To be fair, everyone does that. When you are trying to provide a player comparison, you set the bar high. You won't hear many people utter the sentence about a young player, "he reminds me a lot of Chris Newman".

Big Max King with 5 sausage rolls if you don't mind.