Cheesy D. Pun

I get the sentiment but we're struggling to find midfield minutes for Gus, let alone Harmesy. That said, he'd definitely be worth a shot on a forward flank, particularly if Bennell continues to show no interest in tackling and committing the body. The one thing I would say though, is that the fact that some players are not winning as much ball as they used to shouldn't automatically be seen as poor performance or as a waste. Some players can go under the radar and play their role well. The fact that we have enough midfielders to push Harmes to the fringes, should be seen as a positive.

I think that little nugget was designed for us. Your response (and mine for that matter) is exactly what he was after.

Yeah, Sparrow is an interesting one. He looks to me like a Viney clone and I'm not sure that's what we're after. That said, I've liked his game. If you were to list our mids in order of rotation, I don't think I'd change much: Clarry Viney Trac Sparrow (no real potential to play elsewhere) Brayshaw You could leave Sparrow out of the side to provide more inside minutes for Gus and that probably makes sense to me. My point is that it's not a no-brainer. You have to sacrifice something to get Gus in there. I think Trac is somewhat wasted forward of centre given his ability to extract the ball from stoppages and Viney/Clarry don't have other strings to their bows to facilitate the necessary minutes.

I personally saw those comments as strategic and aimed at members/supporters. A lot of what Goodwin has been saying and what young Ben Gibson has been producing, seems to be trying to change perceptions of Goodwin as a coach to try and buy him some breathing space. In this case, his comments about the umpires create a bit of an us v them mentality.

I understand this point but I think it's a little unfair to suggest he can play all his footy in the middle. Who's minutes are you shaving to get him in there? Clarry, Trac or Viney?

This is our biggest worry. Weid and Jacko have been good at bringing it to ground but we have selected a grand total of zero genuine small forwards. No pace, no pressure. While I think we'll find a way of winning this one, I'd expect them to find it pretty easy to waltz out of our forward line.

You can't select your side based on the possibility of someone getting hurt, though. Max either has the all clear or he doesn't. Going short would be an ok strategy if we had any genuine small forwards on our list. We have Pickett and Bedford.

I'm not usually one to be overly critical of selection but these selections make little sense. We lacked hardness and effort last week, so we bring in Tomlinson and Bennell? Both have a serious aversion to body contact. OMac's omission could only be about matchups - our backline has gelled pretty well, even during our losses. Pickett's injury highlights the need for about 2-3 genuine small forwards on our list. He and Toby Bedford are really our only true small forwards. The rest are makeshift or medium sized.

If Gawn is out it leaves a tricky decision. If we're keeping TMac, then Jacko rucks. This is probably my preferred option. I'm not sold on Preuss at all. He has some useful physical attributes but he's not a smart player and unless something significant has changed since last time we saw him, he doesn't have the tank to run out more than half a game. I'm ok with any combination as long as it results in two talls in the forward line (not 1 or 3). I know some have called for Kozzy to be dropped but personally, I think he's our only genuine small forward and I wish we had two of him. His hard running and pressure work is under-rated.

He's the same player that has won our B&F the last couple of seasons. It'd be nice if he developed into a more dynamic player but as it stands, we've got ourselves a very good inside player. If we were winning, we'd all be singing his praises. There's a few issues that this team needs to deal with but bashing one of our best is a fair way down that list.

Goodwin is coping fine. It's the people here that might be struggling a bit.

Totally disagree with this. Salem has developed into a highly skilled half back. Viney is playing out of his skin and has probably hit his ceiling as a player. Trac's development has been phenomenal, as has Gawn's. Our improvement in this area has been significant. It wasn't long ago that being picked as a Melbourne player was a career killer. We were terrible on the weekend but lack of development would be one of the last things I'd point to as a reason for poor performance. I think we need to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater when things go bad. This club has done so many good things in the last 6-8 years to get us out of what was a very deep and dark hole. There are so many examples of strong clubs reaping the benefits of backing their personnel and making subtle changes rather than treating a lack of on-field success as a crisis.

His time has passed. This won't be popular but I don't think jumping on the coaching carousel again is the answer.

Pickett won't be dropped. He's doing everything he has been asked. He's covering a huge amount of territory and putting on great pressure.

Nothing wrong with his positional play - he suits the wing position. His effort against Richmond was awful - he quite simply didn't commit his body to the contest. Blaming it on position is letting him off the hook. He was in and out of the GWS side and I suspect things will be no different with us. He needs to provide consistent effort.

I think he was heading in the right direction. I would have been happy with either of TMac/Jacko, but I'm very happy we have gone with just the two talls.

I'm genuinely surprised that TMac will miss. Not because he's necessarily the right option but because it would have been the easier decision. I guess the condensed run of games makes selection a little more fluid. Form will be important but with four day breaks all over the place we'll be likely to see some interesting sides picked over the next few weeks.

Judging on-field leadership from the outside is difficult. Add in the complete lack of organisational leadership we had for a very long time and it becomes impossible. Coaches and Captains are often unfairly maligned when entire organisations fail. In the period between the end of the Daniher era and Roos coming on board, I think our organisation could have ruined the career of any coach in the competition including Alastair Clarkson. Without the AFL intervening and shaking up Melbourne at a board room level, Roos would likely have become another victim. That said, Roos had enough clout to ensure the everything was in place before signing.

Yeah, it's exciting no doubt but he's a couple of years away from having the tank for midfield time.

He's not ready for significant midfield time yet and Max hardly needs a chop out. Happy to be proved wrong, but I think playing all three will be too tall. The tough call is to drop Jackson for Tommy but I think it's the right one.

Emotion is usually a pretty poor adjudicator and that goes both ways. We weren't that bad two weeks ago and we're not that good now. Our form line is actually pretty consistent. We snuck past two middle tier teams in Carlton and GC, struggled against two good sides in Richmond and Geelong and then pantsed a struggling Hawks.

Yeah, that's fair. I think it's probably the nature of the clangers that perhaps tainted my perception. There was a kick or two, under no pressure, where his foot barely touched the ball. Totally agree on his pressure.

Yep. Since day one. The likeness is uncanny.

My gut feel is that TMac would have had a day out against the Hawks. It's very tough on Jacko but I think Tommy comes in. It won't happen but I'd also like to see Rivers or Jones for Lockhart.

Yeah, agreed. He kicked it terribly but was still contributing in other ways. My comment was more about the inability of some to critique an individual player's performance without being influenced by the team result.