Pates

Frustrating, we were actually better around the ground but can't buy a goal. Best chance was when Evans chose to centre it rather than go himself. Most annoying part was when we had the ball in the 50, won the clearance and handballed backwards and backwards and backwards until we were at the centre square. Someone take it on to kick the goal!

The loss against the saints still hurts because regardless of what happened last week if we have one win on the board we could still hang our hats on that. But now it's same old same old. I think we're a decent chance today but it depends on the mindsets of both teams. Melbourne has to find a way to believe again, and it wouldn't shock me if GWS start with a poor attitude thinking they've got this won. Welcome back Viney.

He's just dropped our former co-captain who is also in the leadership group. You can't drop everybody and you certainly can't drop our best FB when we're facing two giants up forward. You may not like him and you may not like the way he's currently playing but he is still provides our best opportunity to win that area. FWIW who would you replace Frawley with?

Yes I questioned the worth of bringing him back with the screws still in, it was a rushed choice that was unnecessary to the teams hopes and could've given him proper time to recuperate some the surgery with less discomfort had we not bothered to bring him back. The injury itself is a real bugger of a thing and we've got to remember that it's rare. Further proof that the club is cursed when we finally get a gun player and he gets a rare career threatening injury at a still young age. As for his current state of mind, no one knows what he's going through and anyone pretending to is kidding themselves. It's his own personal demons he's fighting, and clearly they are crippling him. I agree with what someone said earlier though, I'm looking forward to knowing where things are at and where they are going, the uncertainty is tough to deal with.

It's sad and a touch ironic that he feels he is letting the club down when leaving would be doing just that. I honestly do feel though that if his heart is not in it then he should retire, he's going through a life altering period which could decide his quality of life after football. It really is a shame that he can't seem to process the idea that the club is there to support him, not the other way around. Put aside the coin he's on he's just another player that when he takes the field he has a role to play in a team. I was prepared for this when it was announced he'd been granted leave for personal reasons, but part of me still holds out hope that he'll do a Lazarus and decide to fight his way back. That said, if his body isn't letting him there isn't too much he can do. All the best Mitch, do what ya have to do.

Wow didn't expect them to pull the trigger on Trenners but I think it's a good move as long as he's not one of the emergencies for the GWS game. No point in dropping him if he can't gain confidence, that was something I got genuinely [censored] off about with the old regime was they'd drop people but not play them in the VFL.

That's what we need to break, the players mindset when they take the field is as if they've already lost. I know you say it is same old but even the dogs have had a better mental attitude, they may have been down the bottom but they've show a lot more fight than the Dees in recent years and I want our players to kick, scratch, and bite to want to win. Cross is a natural at that, I hope if runs off on a few.

Not me, he's been average but a) he's again had to put up with the ball coming down there too frequently with zero pressure and b) who the hell would you bring in to replace him?!The two worst jobs in football for the last 6-7 years have been a Melbourne senior coach and a Melbourne defender.

I would advocate dropping Trenners but I don't think it'll happen. The bench I would go for is: Byrnes (has kicked our few goals), Kent (kicked 3 against them last year), Blease (has earned a spot IMO), Trengove (it's time for him to stand up, if he doesn't perform this round no doubt in my mind he should be dropped). Blease to be the sub, and he must be encouraged to use his speed. Good to see a Viney back, we all know what he adds but I expect he won't be dominating for a couple of weeks, still I'm very excited to see him and Tyson combining. EDIT: want to add that JKH gets a full game at the VFL rather than playing as the sub. Hasn't done anything wrong but I reckon it's better for his development. The other school of thought would be he's playing against kids in GWS but watching them in round one they are no longer just kids.

I thought the same thing, the tone of the article is very much "if Essendon got sanctioned then so should Melbourne", he makes it out as if we're guilty and it's dumb luck we're getting away with it. I can remember back when it first came out of Melbourne's involvement that a key difference was that Bates actually recorded everything that was given to each player, and the only AOD that was used was a cream (not illegal). I suppose the AFL could've come down on us for failure of governance but it's nowhere near the level of Essendon.

I don't think there's ever an excuse for losing by 100+ points, it's a total destruction of a team and it's rarely just down to the other team being that good, the losing team also has to be that bad. But we are totally directionless when going forward so you'd hope that once he get some sort of forward line that we'll be able to take better advantage of our holding of the ball. Suddenly a movement that ends with us turning it over and it going up the other end results in a shot on goal.

His form is one game as round one doesn't even count, I can't recall how he went in pre-season but I don't think it was deplorable. I think he can get back his form from last year but can't judge him on the first two rounds. Against GWS though he needs to work harder for the ball (90% of the team need to for that matter), because he and others were way too stagnant for the WC game.

The news about Dawes from Misso is encouraging but surprising. I would say he'll have to get through a full VFL game before we bring him in, or at the very least a half. Hopefully the talls pain could be easing over the next few weeks with Jamar and Garlo playing VFL this week and Dawes the following week.

I get that we are bereft of forward options but Dunn in defence has been a rare positive, why would be want to ruin that? This idea of bringing all the players through the VFL is a bit frustrating though, we are crying out for a tall so surely we could just chuck one of Garland or Jamar as a target inside the forward 50. And what has happened to Gawn, one second he's set to come into the side the next he's off the radar. When are we actually going to get some goddamn relief from this horror run of injuries.

I'm no Byrnes fan, but he's the only one actually kicking goals. He ain't gonna be dropped. Fitzy had a bad game this week and played one quarter in round 1. He's the only tall forward option who's fit, barring fitness concerns he will be heading for Sydney this weekend.

So is he going to come out after a loss like that and say we're smelling of roses? We played terrible and made BASIC errors, I'm not talking pressured errors but basics that any AFL footballer should be doing in their sleep. Watts had a shocker (shame, I was really hoping he could back last week up), and a pivotable moment for the confidence of the group was when he dropped the chest mark in the forward 50. Mistakes like that shouldn't be forgotten. We had 11 goals kicked on us from turnovers, he has every right to make statements like that. As did Neeld, difference is that Roos has the runs on the board and the players respect him. I don't know that I could ever say the same for MN.

I must be watching a different game of Toumps, because I reckon he's been alright in the first couple of games. He is one of very few who actually leads hard and doesn't give up after 5 steps. He doubles back and tries again unlike 90% of the team. This debate of Wines vs Toumpas is old and pointless, it also colours everyones expectations of him. The club didn't expect him to star in his first year, and so far he has shown good signs for the future IMO. He is the least of my worries.

Pederson can't stay forward, the players don't trust to kick it to him. He's a spud but if he's in position you should kick it to him, but they ignore his leads. He isn't totally incompetent in defense either, however if he's not playing down but then he's a waste of a spot. Hopefully Gawn will be right and can come in, surely Viney must be right to go by now, and I'd love to see Kent back in the side. Fitzy was very poor this week but if he is ok (which I'm not totally sure he is) then he stays in as a target up forward. My changes In: Gawn, Viney, Kent Out: Pederson, M Jones/Michie, Bail

Dawes was running well on Friday, why am i not surprised he's probably had another set back. Can I propose a mid season draft for the AFL, each club can pick one player to add to their list and it's based on the ladder at the time. Then maybe we could pick up the best forward available in the state leagues for immediate effect.

6. Nate Jones 5. Dunn 4. Frawley 3. Cross 2. Tyson 1. Byrnes (pains me but gotta pay the only person kicking goals, christ that's depressing)

Trengove used to be one of my favourite players, he is now driving me nuts. As you said today of all days we needed to move it quick and he would take a mark and slow it down. I get that we are playing possession footy but when you have run and momentum how about you try to keep it moving before they can set up a zone. What really annoyed me was once he didn't even turn to look to see if there was an option coming up the ground, he caught it and signaled to slow it down. It's one thing to play to a plan, it's another to totally ignore all alternative options.

Get over yourself, he's a professional that's come from highly successful programs (including working with Roos at Sydney) and is widely recognized as one of the best in the game. Injuries happen, Clark is coming back from an incredibly difficult injury that doesn't just affect the foot but the entire body by association. Dawes clearly is injury prone and a poor decision to recruit in hindsight, he will struggle to strong more than two games together for the rest of his career and no medico will be able to change that. Gawn just got a standard injury, it happens. Hogans the interesting one, it started as a knock from the Geelong came and somehow evolved into a stress fracture, perhaps if he hadn't got the knock we would never have known about it and it would've gotten worse. I love the comments by people who think they know more than the doctors and fitness staff.

So the first quarter was absolutely diabolical, nothing to praise from it, it was pure cow dung. After that, from my perspective at least, it was very similar in terms of general play as last week. We had the ball, at times we looked like having a promising thrust forward but we had no one to kick to that could take a mark (even uncontested ). The reason why the margin this week is so horrendous is because west coast have the class and forward line to make us pay. Last week the saints had reiwoldt to punish us, and he was the difference. I'm disgusted with the scoreline, but it's hard to work out where we're at with no forward line. Stats say we're getting enough of it, we need to start making it count.

Matthew Campbell is probably the one that infuriates me the most. Unfortunately it's not that he comes up with comments that make you shake your head but it's the way he commentates the flow of the game. In terms of "gems", Bruce has to have that market cornered. Just pull out any obvious statement or statistic is his mode and his love affair with certain players just makes you want to mute the TV!

A four quarter fighting effort is what I want today, no dropping of the heads, and if we are in the game at 3 quarter time then it's a good result. It's been a long time since Melbourne has had a truly "out of the box" win (essendon for MN's first win I'd say). I would really love to see a memorable win to give us diehards some much deserved joy. Any word on late changes?