FarNorthernD

Does anyone actually think the penny will actually drop for Jack? In a perfect world if he could put some steel and hardness into his game he could be a valuable player. Surely coming 18th in the B & F has got to be a wake up call to him?

Christian will be part of the core group of players at the Club that will help drag this team through mediocrity and into becoming a very good team. He is almost as important to us as Hogan

It must kill Carlton supporters to watch him. Already kicked a couple and hand allied off another

If Melbourne had the choice to take any young midfielder in the comp I'd hope they would take Bontempelli

Apparently Jesse is also the 1,313th player to have pulled on the Melbourne guernsey. For some reason I can't explain I consider this to be a very auspicious number and a clear sign of greatness

Tie me to the stake and set me on fire but, at the start of the season, I didn't have the same belief in Jesse as many on here did. I thought that his kicking action would be found wanting in both distance and accuracy and he seemed to two grab marks which I thought would be a big liability in the top grade. Jesse was also always going to get the oppositions best or second best defender, was shorter than some of the new age forwards (Daniher, Moore, Boyd) and I thought would naturally struggle against mature bodies. Crucially, he was also a year out of the game. I figured a 10-15 goal season would be a good platform for future years. He then goes onto kick 44.19, including a couple from on the 50m line. He makes most of the competitions best defenders look a bit second rate and is far more mobile than some of his taller contemporaries. His work further up the ground was a revelation to me as was his field kicking which is probably in the top half dozen in the team. But easily his hugest accomplishment was his contested marking. For a first year player to get 3rd in the entire comp is extraordinary. A number of times this year he ended up with the ball in his hands when he had absolutely no right to. Whilst he has said he wants to create his own brand there were things he was doing, in his first year mind you, that were reminiscent of Carey who I regard as one of the top two players I have seen

Big, bad bustling Barry said it took him 4 (I think) years to feel comfortable playing as a key forward. Cam said it wasn't till he was 26. They can't believe how Jesse has done it in his first year. Better than Carey at the same time. Has a huge presence

Barry Hall and Cam Mooney just dribbling and dribbling hard about Jesse on 360. These boys are in awe

Farmer!!

Yes, Mitch White has been quite good. Looks like he isn't scared of contact and has nice hands

Fair pass from JKH to Hogan.

If the footy gods have a sense of humour North will find themselves up by 13 points with 6 minutes to play. I would then like to see Coach Scott work his way through that conundrum

Yes, it was a typical Melbourne and Bail moment

I know everyone hated it inc our coach but I never really understood why. It was introduced to eliminate the clear advantage one team got when the other had a game ending injury. As far as I know it was successful in that regard. Not a valid enough reason to keep?

Like many on here I was initially sad to hear that Cross was not to play on for another year. Who doesn't like a bloke who has obviously squeezed every last bit of talent out of his body? A bloke who was consistently "last off the track", a true professional and someone you could tell was giving everything for the club. No one wants to lose a person of that quality. But hopefully we won't have to There is every reason to believe that, if Daniel comes back to the club in a developmental role, he will apply the same dedication and single mindedness to his new job as he has done to his footy career. He could be a most valuable addition to the coaching staff

And 25 + 28 = 53. Accidental too?

"I'm just going up to look at the facilities"

Or Betts Or Garlett

Yes, my mistake

And three goals

I would love for Melbourne to be a club that was successful on the back of home grown talent where no players changed clubs. But changing teams for one reason or another is on the rise and I have to deal with that. The flip side is that we have Garlett, Dawes, Tyson, Vince, Michie, (the much loved) Cross etc running around in blue and red. Honestly eventually I end up wishing pretty much all ex Dees well, including Rivers, who was a favourite player of mine. The only player that I maintain the rage for is a former number 1 draft pick who currently wears orange.

1). Nathan is not immune to criticism 2). We have a think about if he is currently the best man to lead this club of the field. 3). He is

Thankyou Biffen For what it is worth your namesake was a favourite player of mine as I was growing up. A true tough old school full back who was arguably even better at full forward. By memory he was another player who was a victim of lethal Leigh's thuggery? I have a vague recollection of Ray being felled behind play in the back pocket at one of the suburban grounds.

Dees still up? Score check please

Well that is a bottoms. Probably played one of his best games for the year last week.