FarNorthernD

Think I'd almost rather Hulett

Absolutely. It is a credit to Melbourne supporters that there are still so many of us. It annoys me no end that we are painted, by the media, as fair weather, "go no. 2" type supporters. I doubt there is a more passionate, rusted on and more knowledgable group of supporters in the league.

The Richmond game would be kind of apt

I'm certainly hoping that is the case. The bloke came third in the Pies B & F just before he came to us. There has to be more to him than what we saw last season

Wonder if he is any chance they may give him a run this weekend? Back to Vanders for a moment. He was next to M Jones on the weekend and was quite a bit taller. Both are listed at 188cm. Find it hard to believe that Matt is that tall and Aaron that short. It is a good situation for us when an irresistible force like him is behind N. Jones, Viney, Tyson and Vince in the midfield pecking order. Starting to get good depth running through the middle

...and I believe we swapped pick 12 to Brisbane for Clark not ten. Shame as I really liked the symmetry of CBDees post

Woo Hoo!!. A no injury game away from home, against quality opposition is going to make for a very happy week Is that blue sky through the rain?

Carlton are missing most of their starting midfield and aren't playing four of their interchange a half. You can tell Weitering will be a quality ten year player for them Parish doing better than what I would have liked but that is only because of my dislike for the Bombers

Agree and Gawn V Jamar in Round 2 could be a different kind of epic

I suppose the good news in all this for the club is that Jesse's current contract no doubt sees him being one of the few Melbourne players over the past decade being paid less than he is worth.

Yes, I was going nominate Trengove too. We already know what you will get with Hogan and I'm already expecting 6-10 games from Oliver but I'm dead keen to see what Petracca will offer too. He has that "a bit different and could be anything" aura about him. So Trengove by only a nose to Petracca

Quadruple like. It is so, so pointless arguing about what could have been

I must admit I am in the Spencer-is-a-good-back-up camp. At this stage it seems to be a group of not many. As TPF39 says he is super aggressive and won't get pantsed by anyone aside from the elite rucks. Who knows perhaps he can build on the contested forward line mark and goal in the Cats game. There is no way that Gawn will play all 22 games (+ finals?) and Jake will prove his worth I believe. We will shortly see what life is like without him as Gawn will play a max of two Nab Cup games.

Didn't we have the quintessential young, high draft pick who tore the opposition (multiple) new one(s) last year?

Wherever the women's game goes from here I am proud that we, along with the Bullies. will go down as a foundation Club. I can see Daisy Pearce will become one of the first "revered" pioneer names in the game.

If you are feeling we are no chance to make the finals then glance Richmonds way. They suck, hugely. They are the definition of mediocrity. The Tigers should give us hope and confidence I don't see any reason why we can't be better than them, take their top 8 spot and play first week of the finals

Yes, much better to undersell and over perform Who was the coach a few years ago who came out before the season and said they they would play finals and got sacked half way through the season after barely a win? I like the speak softly but carry a big stick approach

Nice article. Like the Clarry nickname and looking at the vision he is quite a solid lad. Best part though, as others have mentioned, is there isn't the expectation from Club or supporters that he and the Weed are going to drag us up the ladder over the next couple of years. They will be left to develop whilst the pressure to improve the team will rightly fall on our older young guns like T Mc, Tyson, Hogan, Viney, vnB, Kent etc. Almost like a proper football team

He would be mad not to renegotiate his contract. At the moment he is stuck, for the next two seasons, on the type of money offered to a player who may become be one of the power forwards of the competition. Now he could be on the money offered to a player who you know will be one of the power forwards of the comp. It is just a question as to how many more years he will sign on for the opportunity to upgrade. My guess is an extra two years which will take him out to 2019.

Fit and Big is very good Fit, Big and Kick could = a proper football team

He won't turn into a Stefan Martin. Martin had already shown a fair bit before he left particularly when used as the sole ruck. Fitz has really only shown he is a good VFL standard player. I may be being harsh but if Hawthorn are honestly looking at Jack for a tall forward role I may have to reevaluate their chances of a 4peat.

Agree about the only one I was 100% sure on was the bloke who took the pack mark on the edge of the square. We should sign him up

It is highly unlikely to happen but I'm barracking for both Terlich and M. Jones to show significant development and become top 15 players in a rising Melbourne side this year. Some on here have been particularly unkind about these two. For whatever their failings both are competitors who have played well above the pay scale in the past. It would be nice if they could shut up some of their harsher critics

Good call ManDee although I think Bennell may be Emo Maric. I remember Addam was billed in his junior days as possessing "clean hands and elite kicking skills". I sort of pictured him as our next Yze. Unfortunately we beat those attributes out of him and saw a fumbly, small player with Melbourne kicking skills instead.

i wouldn't love him too much. He also highly recommended Neeld. He still owes us. A lot