3183 Dee

I can't work the permutations, but the three outs are huge, especially Viney, who drives the standards in the mids and lets Trac and Clarry do their thing. I would put Sparrow in, to rotate through the guts with Jones and Brayshaw. Jones will be the old head v Kennedy and Parker. Put Petty back - May really rates him, according to a recent interview, so let him find his feet down there. TMac to the wing and maybe Weid in for Melk (not direct swap)? It looks a bit too heavy, but who else do we have to put the pressure on in the F50?

Love it WJ - I’ll read this to the soccer team I coach, who looked yesterday as if they had been up playing FIFA until 3am. Regarding today, I’m not nearly as bullish as some. The Kangas are on their home deck and would be desperate for a scalp. We, on the other hand, have rolled the dice with a big team change and a reputation for drinking bath water before these games.

I think I read somewhere that Watts, Frawley and Rivers were the others, hence my beer snake question.

Were they doing a beer snake?!

Good call - I think that'll be it.

Brian Cook?

I thought that was almost Hunt’s best game for the club. He’s creating a great understanding with Langdon and the crowd always lifts when he puts the jets on. His chase down and spoil of Henry (I think) was incredible, especially as he directed the ball straight to Brayshaw. I’d love to see a clip of that, as I didn’t get to see the TV coverage.

Not overly rapt about this - I don’t see Melksham as much of a team player: his pressure is non-existent. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but if I see any spaghetti arm tackles tomorrow, I’ll SPEW!

I feel your pain - we have a family GA membership, purely because (for us) we prefer the view from L4, next to the MCC Reserve. I don't know why they haven't opened it up - there were people up there during the Freo game - but maybe you can just wander up?? Meanwhile it's behind the goals tomorrow, but at least we're at the footy!

No, it's not the case: we have a GA family membership, so you just enter the barcodes and get the tickets. Ironically, the reason I got the GA membership was that I prefer sitting on L4 wing, right next to the MCC Members, as I like to see the full ground, whereas we previously had reserved seats on L1. At the moment, you have to take whatever seats they give you, which for us are L1 behind the goals!

I find SEN pretty lowbrow these days, although I actually don’t mind Off The Bench on Saturday mornings. It’s become a vehicle for horse racing, punting and adverts, with a bit of sport in between. Even Gerard Whately’s show, which I used to rate, has gone a bit 3AW as someone said previously.

Earl, I had problems too, where I couldn’t choose a delivery option and so could not proceed with tickets. This was on my desktop computer, so I tried on my phone and it worked straightaway. Hope you get it sorted.

Fantastic piece - well balanced and insightful, I really enjoyed reading it.

Fantastic! Got me hook, line and sinker!

No thanks - I’d just about erased that shower of merde.

That’s a good idea - have stipulated times, each club paying a proportionate amount of the upkeep fees, council pays the rest which ensures pick up games can take place at all other times.

I think there’s a lot that’s right about those figures, but I believe it points to success for Melbourne in the next few years, rather than this, once the list has organically developed to that age/games demographic. Another positive thing is that recent recruitment (past 5 years or so) will hopefully lend itself to sustained success.

A great point W4TA - if you look at the pressure acts inside F50, watch how many repeat efforts Spargo and Kossie make. They harass the first guy, who gets rid, they then harass that guy and so on. It leads to hurried kicks out of defence, which are then gobbled up by a Gawn/Lever/May, ready to rebound again. I still believe we have even more room for improvement, but the pressure all round is so much better than last year.

Great summary - the only element that’s lacking is cleaner kicking and skills. We have become much more confident and calm.

We won a lot more out of the middle today - some great passages of play. Our turnovers and inaccuracy were the blight on the game. Fix those things - or at least reduce by 50% and we have the makings of a v good team. Loving the toughness this year, also.

We are keeping StK in this game - should be 4 or 5 goals clear. Only ourselves to blame if we duck this up.

It is Spud’s Game, but that doesn’t mean StK need to be helped to victory.

What is great, is that the young guns are showing the way. With a legitimate tall in the 50, we could be very good. Kossie, Sparrow, Dogga, JJ, Rivers - keep it up boys!

Me too - but my gut tells me that the Saints will jump us early, we’ll come back, but end up losing by about 20. Let’s hope my guts are crook!

6. Lever 5. May 4. Oliver 3. Pickett 2. McDonald 1. Langdon