Inner Demon

P Johnson Miller Bell Those guys are all in big trouble. Hard to see them holding onto their spots. There will inevitably be another player, as the year progresses, whose performances slip away and will come under pressure. Remember there is the ever-present spectre of GC looming over the uncontracted players as well. Recently my thoughts have drifted towards Jared Rivers being the top of the list of potential candidates they might be looking at from us. I continue to be bemused by people's fixation on GC only being interested in players born in QLD. Scott Clayton isn't an idiot.

You can't just put players on the rookie list at will.

I'd suggest Addam Maric is closer to delisting than Tom McNamara.

Did I just see Tommy McNamara nominated as a likely delisting???? I don't know where some people come up with this stuff... Hardly surprising I suppose, last year people were tossing around Rohan Bail as a delisting despite it being just his first year on the list.

That might be 5 or 6 people now that've done this. Amazing. On topic, I went to the Casey game on Saturday and found Gys really hard to track. Partially because he always seemed to be amongst a pack of players going after the clearance and partially because I stationed myself in our forward line where most of the action was happening. When I did spot him in the congestion he was very clean and impressive. I would imagine he is our next debutant, will be tough for him to crack in though.

One would imagine so. There is a fair bit still to do in readying the complex for the Clubs to move in. Obviously the priority for the development was getting it ready as a live event venue, fitting out the facilities, office space, training areas, change rooms, etc would be secondary.

He played very, very well. The question now is whether Bails will consider this to be good game #1, #2 or #3 in terms of where it puts him on his path to the AFL.

Really no reason for concern on Blease. Remember he's only first year out of school as well. There's nothing negative about a player who doesn't get a game until his 2nd year out of school, it's extremely common, particularly considering Sammy is a very small bloke.

Bail's been out for 3 weeks with that injury now, he's going to have to come back through Casey as well. It's shocking luck for him, he was playing great footy, but that's what it's like playing in a competitive, emerging team. Rivers was one of our best last week, won't be dropped.

The clubs have a program which shows every involvment a player has throughout a match. The boys spend quite a bit of time re-watching themselves during the week to illustrate the instructions they're being given by the coaches.

I'd be expecting him to take an early step in a very long journey at AFL level. It doesn't matter how quickly he's given his next game, he's not going to come in and dominate. It would be nice if he got on the end of a few nice passes and kicked a goal or two, but sometime over the next 3 weeks I think it will be time to get the ball rolling. I'm not particularly fussed whether it's this week or not.

What is that 1 reason??

I know we're all very excited about Jack, but his selection absolutely does not translate to 5,000 people deciding they will go to the game when they otherwise wouldn't have. The idea of players who "put bums in seats" is all very well, but I find the idea that 5000 people wouldn't go to a Melbourne game because Jack Watts isn't playing fanciful.

I can really see Morton making the move up forward. He's listed as 192cm, but the player I saw on Saturday looked significantly taller than 192cm. I didn't get a chance to see him standing next to someone taller to give a comparison, but going on the anecdotal mentions of his still growing, I'd reckon he's closer to the 194-196cm range.

Some centre bounces he was in the goalsquare with nobody in front of him, others he had Miller down there with him, others he was up at half-forward and running into the middle after the bounce. I'd say he and Miller were both the key forward focal points, though Jack had more time moving up to half forward and had a couple of I50s to Miller on a lead. The only thing Newton was a target for was well earned derision from the supporters. He's so ordinary in every single way. He should never get a game ahead of Miller.

Something that really struck me about Jack yesterday was his changed body shape. The concerns regarding him not being physically ready for AFL are no longer valid. Last year he was noticeably a boy, he is already becoming a man. There's no way his listed 196cm 83kg is still correct. He spent most of the game standing alongside Miller and I would estimate he's really closer to 198cm 88kg. I appreciate that weight isn't a visual thing but I'm 184cm and about 83kg myself and there's no way on earth I weigh the same as Jack now. He is big. And GG, how does waiting another 1-2 weeks beyond next week constitute "facing a long term wait"??

Law of the Game 8.2.4 (d) Goal Umpire Unsure If a goal Umpire is unsure whether the ball crossed the Goal or Behind Line, or is Out of Bounds; he or she shall seek the assistance of the Field and boundary Umpires. If the correct decision cannot be determined following consultation, the goal Umpire shall give the lesser score. In at least the Brad Green situation, the goal umpire can be clearly heard saying he is sure it wasn't touched. That doesn't sound to me like being 'unsure' and he most certainly did not seek the input of the other umpires. However, (a) Duties Unless otherwise determined by the relevant Controlling Body, the duties of a goal Umpire include: (i) judging whether a Goal or Behind has been scored; (ii) signalling that a Goal or Behind has been scored upon being given the All Clear or Touched All Clear by a field Umpire; Based upon that, it would seem that judging whether the call should be "Touched All Clear" is in fact the duty of the field umpire, in which case he was within his rights to seek the assistance of the goal and boundary umpires before reaching his decision, which in this case, was "Touched All Clear". Once this ruling is made by the field umpire, the goal umpire cannot award a goal.

He's just about had 2 now.

6 Scully 5 Trengove 4 Warnock 3 Bate 2 Bennell 1 McKenzie

Glad I'm not the only one who saw a quality contribution from Rivers last night - The Age

Watching the replay and thus far can't see a lot of what is being said here. I've seen Dunn working hard and making an option all over the ground, particularly up forward, as well as laying some good tackles. I've also seen him win the ball back with a couple of fine second efforts. I've seen Rivers lead his opponent to the ball in every contest and put his body on the line to win a pile of contested ball. A number of people here seem to go to games with pre-conceived verdicts on how players will play which then aren't altered by what happens in the game. Bartram's another that suffers from this, he's been back to his first year form all season but he gets no recognition here.

If it was the only word he said in the whole interview it would've been truly representative of the feelings of the whole supporter base.

Dennis Cometti picked this up 20 minutes into the first quarter.

We'll never move lock, stock into AAMI Park. We never want to lose our presence at the MCG.

Really???? But haven't you been advocating his inclusion???? What are you basing that position on if you can't even identify the bloke?!?!?