Pates

Having Jamar back will be a great benefit to him, it'll take much of the focus off him and hopefully allow him to play a bit more free. Something i'd like the forward coaching panel to work on with him is blocking space for the other forwards to get a run at the footy, or going up for contests to allow another forward to get easier marks. I'm sure it's a natural thing that can be worked into his game, but currently his leads and weather or not he goes for a marking contest appear to be purely for his self interest. (Not having a go at him, just think this is something that could benefit himself and the team.) FWIW I'd be leaning towards Morton being the sub, perhaps Gysberts to ease him back in.

There are a number of major frustrations i have with him at the moment, one key frustration is that he seems to have a fantastic long kick on him that most of the time favours our players (think Stef Martins first goal v Freo) but then over 15-25m he's deplorable, seemingly chipping the ball giving the opposition time or even just outright missing the target. I will say this, and he's driven me nuts for ages, but slowly the good/bad ratio is getting closer and he is starting to lay tackles and go in when it's his turn. Having said that i still see others with more intent for the footy, but it seems the FD really see something in him and they will try everything to get best out of him.

I love just about everything i saw of him (the "just about" alluding to the....um..."attempt on goal" v Bombers). I think he will be an awesome ruckman for us, and i now feel comfortable that when Jamar does eventually retire we've got some great back up for him in waiting.

From what Baily said after the game it was just a precautionary measure, one that certainly worked well for Nicho!

From what Gary was saying it sounded like if GWS were entitled use to him and were able to trade him to us it makes him eligible to play for us. Sounds all a bit weird to me, i think we keep our eye on the prize for 2013.

I saw the game in patches as I was working, but FWIW these are my changes: In: Jamar, Gysberts, Tapscott Out: Gawn (insanely unlucky), Bennell, Morton Bartram despite his sometimes deplorable skills is currently our best available small defender. The club rates him, I can't see him being dropped and I reckon he'll do a good job on Nahas. Tappy to come back as the sub, can't wait to see the man mountain back in! Jamarr to start and be eased back into ducking duties. At some time this year I'd like to see Baily have a crack at fitting Stef, Maxy and Russian into the one team, but not this week.

Looking at the week ahead I'd say this is match of the round. Richmond is in good form and we've just smashed freo, we're also staring to gain a few players back while the likes of Stef Martin have relished the extra responsibility. I can't wait to see Jordie line up on Martin, that will be an awesome battle. Really pumped for this one, reckon it'll be a bumper crowd too!

We started this well v kangas, plenty of footy to play in this game. Still excellent first quarter, not many criticisms.

I understand that it hurts to see the club being pounded every single week in the media about Scully, but i think you're being incredibly harsh on a bloke that's having to make the biggest decision of his life at the age of 20. He's hot property, why the hell wouldn't he (and his management) try to get the best deal he can out of it? Frankly if he goes i won't blame him at all, if i was in his position i'd find it very difficult to turn my back on the GWS offer. I'm still of the opinion he will stay, but i'm concerned about how much we'll pay to keep him and whether it'll impact on our ability to keep this group of potential stars together. Perhaps it's the Melbourne fan in me coming out, but i think we're almost in a lose/lose situation.

It's an interesting game this one, on paper I'd be saying it's a comfortable win, but the unpredictability of performances has me a little concerned. I reckon there are some players that really need to have a good look at themselves. Melbourne by 8 points. Last quarter comeback to give the dees fans a heart attack.

I vaguely remember straight after the 2007 draft the general consensus from the media was that we were one of the big winners, that we'd got ourselves a ten year star in Morton. You can isolate and discuss all you want but of course with the benefit of hindsight we'd take Rioli, but at the time I'd bet my bottom dollar the Hawks would've snapped up Cale instead if they had a choice. Remember that we've had plenty come through the rookie ranks, Roos fans were livid when they found out Davey was right under their noses at Port Melbourne.

The big problem I've seen with the gameplan is that it requires a lot of skill and effort, both of which can drop dramatically with a young team when they're down on confidence. The defense was completely inundated all day and yet there were times when it looked like we were going to break the lines only to see no one ahead of the play making a lead. Traditionally with us the big kick has been into the forward 50, now it seems to be the kick after we break out of the defense. I've kinda got off topic, but I do agree that it isn't all doom and gloom, and at the end of the day a lot of the young boys could say they had a dip.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Baily loves his buzz words and of all his mannerisms, this is the least I'm concerned about.

Well on cue Cam Schwab was on SEN this morning, unfortunately for him fielding basically all questions Scully related (nothing new, apparently the Ox is 98% sure he's gone) so you could sense the frustration in his voice as he kept to basically the same lines we always have, "our policy is not to play contracts out in the media", "Tom's a fine young man who will make his decision in due coarse" blah, blah, blah....

Petterd will be a Dee for a while, he loves playing for us and when he's on I love seeing him play.

She's a pathological liar, it is impossible to believe anything she says and as such it makes it just as hard to believe anything Nixon has to say. As for his suing of the AFLPA, the very fact he got involved with this girl was a mistake that had the potential to harm his clients after everything they'd been through.

Called this as soon as it happened that he'd be reinstated for the queens birthday match, the whole situation has been very well handled by the club from day dot. Congrats Beamer!

I thought he acquitted himself quite well, didn't star (no one expected him to) and i would've loved for him to kick that goal, but clearly still quite young and raw. Plenty to build on.

My big problem with this is that it eliminates the possibility of a "surprise packet" team, like Melbourne of 1998. Just about every year there is one team that jumps from being an easy beat nobody to being right up there and mixing it with the best. Look at West Coast this year. The other issue I have with it is would there be any interest at all in the "championship" competition? The reason why it works so well in England is that they have a massive and crazy loyal fan base for clubs as low as Div 2, if the Kangas were in the second tier comp for anything more than 2 years they would die, without a doubt, and as good a work we have done rebuilding our club I reckon two years would undo all the hard work we've done to get back on track. While i don't think it's the dumbest idea i've every heard, I just don't think it's right for AFL.

You can mark it down now that if we give them a run/beat them they will say, "well we know this is their grand final". It's such an arrogant comment they make every year after Paul Gardiner said it ONCE during a really bad year. It's a massive clash for us, but it's the equivalent of ANZAC day nothing more. As for our promotion of it, we've got to be careful that we're don't make it tacky. Are they still doing the walk to the G this year? I did it the first year and attended the second year, I thought it was pretty good.

I'd much rather the boys be excited and enjoy a win, than be like the Geelong boys and take every 4 points like it's just another day at the office.

I thought that was a rite of passage for a Melbourne defender!

Took the words right out of my mouth, he continues to be an inspiration. The boys could definitely take a lot from his fighting spirit.

I actually quite liked Buckley when he played for us, during one of our terrible years he was one a very few players who was willing to take the game on and he backed his pace.

To be fair and honest, I don't actually believe Baily could a stuff what the Carlton boys said or think, I reckon he's using it as an opportunity to fire the boys up and to get the Melbourne public revved up for the game. It's very rare for bails to come out with such strong words, so I reckon he might've just seized on an opportunity.