Pates

I'm pretty sure you're correct in that it is essentially a squad list and the teams put forward a team sheet with names on it nothing more. Nev Jetta could line up in the forward pocket and we could swap Hogan into defence, it's not set. But generally speaking if your in the "starting 18" you will be playing. The extended bench is usually where they drop names from. JKH will very likely play. My prediction for the final bench will be Salem, Tyson, ANB, and Stretch. Kent needs to back up his game at Casey with a repeat performance, he doesn't seem to have much consistency. I don't see us needing OMac, unless they want to play TMac as a relief ruck at times and need another defender for Roughead. But with Frost and Watts as back up rucks, and Pederson can drop back into defence if needed, I think we'd be too top heavy with Oscar in. I'll probably be completely wrong though!

Dunn is bubble gum trying to patch a leak in the titanic, he's past his best and the club had already committed to keep Garland on. I always kinda liked Dunny, he was an honest toiler and like many others suffered from our clubs inept ability to develop our players so I feel he wasn't able to reach his full potential with us. As for OMac v Dunn, Dunn's ahead but he's more experienced. I think OMac will improve and become a solid defender for us.

You're not wrong on that, it seems that seeing our boys in the traditional good old red and blue are becoming something of an event. That said this is a fantastic cause and I'm glad we are doing what we can to help, as long as the umpires don't go pink again (I still can't fathom that one!).

Wouldn't surprise me if you're correct on the theatrics side of things. The face he did it as a drop punt as opposed to a checkside probably also downgraded the showman ship of it, even though it was probably harder.

I think it was a joint decision by Melbourne and BCNA to make it every second year to make it a more special event. I agree that there hasn't been much coverage and it being the BCNA match for the year. There should be plenty of spruiking to get people donating and wearing pink at the game.

Pederson has been and always will be depth, there was a period in Roos's first year I believe where he played pretty decent football and had a good run of games. But he's pretty limited so when we have our full compliment of talks back I would expect him to be relegated back to Casey. But for now, in his first game back at least, he has done exactly what was asked of him and probably exceeded expectations. He's just got to keep battling as best he can and try to run off his bigger opponents to make them accountable.

Sunday was far and away Jack's best game for the year. His form hasn't been good prior to that, being caught trying to bust through packs, and some pretty average kicking. Sunday was a welcome return to form, but we start again this weekend.

I think even though Hawthorn are having a bad start to the year, the perception is that they are still a club to be respected. I would be disappointed if any of our players were going to be taking this match lightly. I feel like if Jesse is keen to return than that will be the only change.

To direct it back on topic, the numbers this kid is getting in his second year is phenomenal. Put him in a Collingwood, Essendon, or Richmond top and I reckon he'd be the talk of the town. Personally I'm quite happy for him to keep flying under the radar a bit.

It wasn't pretty, but when the game was in the balance our class showed. I found it strange all the negativity going into the game surrounding our lack of rucks, our ball winners are good enough to shark opposition taps and when the contests breaks even they are also able to get the ball in the clinches. My question mark was more to do with our forward line functioning as it should. It really hasn't properly since the Saints game. The second half was definitely an improvement on that, Petracca is showing some signs that will have the competition on notice while it was great seeing Watts stick to what he's good at; being a forward, kicking goals, and delivering with class when no one else has it. As for the criticism of Tmac, his marking and spoiling is elite, he competes very well most of the time, and he generally has an attacking mindset. But his disposal and decision making is concerning, he saves goals with his good acts and coughs up with poor kicking and decisions. If I was an opposition coach I would be fairly comfortable to see him with ball in hand. That said he was good today, he just had his usual moments of brain farts. Credit to Pederson, competed really well all day, I feel he did exactly what was asked of him. Overall a solid win, next week is the real challenge.

If Vince's ability to kick the footy properly has been affected than he can not be trusted with kick ins. He is a liability in the defensive 50. On the game, this is genuinely one of the worst games I've ever seen.

Has been an absolute rock this season, having a very good start to the year. Well done to him fighting back from being delisted to cracking 100. This got a few more years in him so keep up the good work!

Thank you for sharing that Mark and my deepest condolences to you for your loss as well. Everyone grieves in their own time and own way, I'm sure the club and supporters will be respectful to Jesse and his family, and let him have whatever time he needs. I also tentatively hope the media will equally give him space during this time.

Look I'm not expecting a win, not like I was against Carlton, Fremantle, and to a lesser extent Richmond. But we have to come into this with a positive attitude, not a defeatist attitude. Midfield wise we can beat them, and if you win the midfield you can win the game. We just need to be more efficient when we're in control, we also need to stop giving up stupid goals.

What Watts has been able to bring to his rucking time is pressure when it hits the ground and good ball use. He may not win the tap but it's his follow up work that has been good. I expect Pederson to be able to win more hitouts and bring more directly to ground, backing our inside mids to be able to get their hands on it. I also expect him to be able to compete hard when it hits the ground. Around the grounds if he can provide a solid mark option than that will also mean for me he has done what is expected of him, kicking a snag or two would be quite nice as well. [EDIT] And please for the love of god don't get injured!

Wasn't Cotchin the one cited for inciting the melee from the start? Arrogant [censored]. If both teams make finals, I hope we play them first week and knock em out (obviously a long way to go before that!).

This is one week I truly have no idea how the selections will go. I don't think they will make any further changes beyond the forced changes as they could be as many as 4. Smith & Spencer are certainly out, Petracca will be touch and go, and I would expect Jesse to have the week off to be with family. With what has happened with Jesse, Pederson has to be a certainty to come in with Spencer out as well.

I hope all the family was able to be with him.

My deepest condolences to the whole Hogan family. It certainly explains a lot about everything that's gone on, it all seems so insignificant now. If he doesn't feel like he's up to play I would completely understand. Do what what feels right for you Jesse. [EDIT] And well done to the club for keeping all this information in house, a media circus surrounding Jesse and his father would've been the last thing they needed.

It is interesting because during the trade/draft period there was a thread discussing the hunt for a decent back up ruckman. It was discussed that the best option would be to look for a taller more genuine ruck/forward than Pederson who I'd classify as a forward/ruck. A lot of us seemed to identify that it was an area we're were thin in and vulnerable should we get a bad run of injuries, the club took the gamble to bank on Spencer being there for coverage. It hasn't paid off, as someone said earlier if Gawn and Spencer are fit right now this isn't registering a thought for us. As for Melksham, I don't know if it's because he's one of the former suspended players or what but I haven't seen him as being a terrible player for us thus far. I think it's fair that he could be in line to be dropped for Lewis but I don't get the hate towards him. Lumumba was a gamble to bring to the club, it definitely didn't pay off. Roos backed his ability to be able to get through to someone that's outside the box, but it didn't happen. Injuries also played a part with him.

Given our situation I'm just taking a one week at a time attitude. Adelaide currently is the only team I fear as I think they look bloody good this year, all other teams on our day and even with our injuries I feel we can beat. In a strange way I feel like our club should take inspiration from the Bombers of last year when they beat us. They were depleted and we'd just come off a good win, everything was pointing to a bid win for us but it didn't happen. Now you can look at it as Melbourne failing in that game and there was plenty of that in there, but at he end of the day the Bombers busted their guts harder than us. We can definitely win next week, even without a genuine ruckman, in fact both games we've played on Etihad this year we've played well, it's just one of them we decided to kick ourselves in the butt. Start with winning next week and reassess after that.

The last three games is exactly the reason why we brought him to Melbourne. To be in those positions and needing his guidance and leadership out there does make it infuriating that he got suspended. That said I feel both he and Hogan got hard done by by one week each. It's been interesting to hear his change in attitude on screen when speaking to Fox Footy. The immediate week he was mostly unapologetic, I think he sort went the line, "it's unfortunate but we move on". After Geelong he started to recognise he felt could've helped, and after Freo he definitely could feel his absence had hurt the team. We've missed him and all the teams we've lost to should be very thankful he wasn't out there because in at least one of those games I feel he would've made a difference.

I don't know if I'd say 9 out of 10. Gawn and Petracca are definitely best 22 (obviously); AvB, Wagner, and Weids are regular "thereabouts" so they float between the seniors and Casey, while the others are either depth or too early to say if they're in the regular conversation for seniors. Gawn is the biggest hole (obviously) but I was fairly confident in Spencer being able to cover and I actually felt he was winning the ruck battle before he went down. To lose our first and second line in arguably one of the most important single spots on the ground hurts is the most and the others hurt our ability to cover niggles throughout the year. God I hope we can get through one week without getting another injury.

Vince was close to BOG against the saints but is it just me or has his other games been well below his best? And he's not alone in that, players that we usually expect more from are not performing to their full ability. I'd put Hogan, Viney and Tyson also into that category. The positive of that is there means the scope for improvement from established players are there, while the younger players start to come into their own. I don't see this as a game we lost at the selection table and I don't see this as a game we botched because the players weren't putting in. We lost it by not making the most of our dominance when we had it, and not finding a way to curtail Richmonds momentum in the final quarter. Of course the injuries on the night and they outs of Lewis and Gawn play a part, but it's time to start finding a way to get through them. Finding a way to win when the odds and the luck is against you is another step we need to take in our development.

In fairness to Jessie, a few minutes beforehand we were streaming towards goal in a very similar manner and Hogan lead right out in front but was completely ignored. And earlier in the night Hogan again lead hard back and forward and had clear space but was ignored. I do have this niggling feeling he's a bit petulant when he doesn't get his own way. He seems to play for a lot of frees as well. For someone who kicked 3 goals tonight, Jessie was off his game.