Little Richard

I would rate Cross as a better leader than Dawes though not by much.

Good point, I'd much prefer Dawes too, not only over Howe but Watts also. Is Dawes still in the leadership group?

Dawes has exceeded my expectations so far this season. Last season he was underwhelming and I wasn't holding high hopes for his ability to make an impact after returning from injury this season, however he has been great. His hunger for the contest, presenting and work rate is already great and will get better as he gets fit. Note: He still looks a bit funny to me when he marks the ball, like he doesn't really have natural aerial ability. It's as though he just sticks the arms straight up and hopes the ball drops in his outstretched hands, but it seems to be effective enough though I'd like him to take a couple more contested marks.

Don't believe it. I'd be happy if it happened for I think Jay will be a good player for us, however it makes no sense. Just incoherent trolling again.

Let's not get too carried away... We just won our first game in 12 matches.

Never too early... Nostradamus played Nostradamus 500 years ago!

Added question - when a rookie is elevated, does their pay arrangement change at all? I believe rookies are on about $60K a year, anyone know if that's true?

Jetta replaces Trengove on senior list Good on him. Looks like he's playing some good footy at the moment so hopefully he can take it up into the firsts if he gets a game. Best of luck to him with reviving his career.

I think Todd would definitely have wanted Wines, being Jack's best friend and obviously a very good footballer - good enough for pick four by a mile anyway.

There's no way he'll be going anywhere. Todd will threaten him with physical harm if need be and that will be the end of it.

In the context of our form over the last few seasons, I think a win is definitely turning a corner, particularly over an opposition we haven't beaten for 6 (?) years. It doesn't mean we are going to come out this week and thump the Suns and continue to do it week in week out but I think with the confidence of a win, we'll be more competitive, more aggressive and play with a bit more flair. We can definitely win it, it just depends whether we can carry the momentum and confidence in from last week.

We won't have pick one as we won't finish on the bottom this season. We either need to trade for a middle tier, developing ruckman or recruit a prospective mature age ruckman from one of the lower leagues to shore up our stocks and let King and Gawn continue their development.

He'll be back - see Grimes and Garland. It's also great he's got support of those guys who've been through a similar injury.

Freudian slip when he says 'career' instead of 'season' ending injury?

If it did it would have surely been picked up a lot earlier. If there was a crack or a fracture in the bone and it wasn't picked up for two years, there would have to be some serious questions asked.

Hope he makes a full recovery and has a special chip inserted into his foot which increases his speed tenfold, like the roadrunner.

I'm really looking forward to Riley coming in but I think he's still too underdone and should have another week at least in the VFL.

You must actually have a gif for every single thing imaginable TSFKA.

No I don't, that's my opinion. I'll be happily proven wrong though.

The problem is that Spence has being playing the game a lot longer than Jimmy had when he started. I don't think Spence has a whole lot more development in him, unless he can somehow become a lot more coordinated.

Wow. Not sure if serious. Spencer has just begun to take steps towards becoming a consistent AFL standard player and he's being compared to one of the greatest ruckmen to ever play the game. Stynes was a once a generation player and I don't think Spence is going to be that ruckman this generation.

Maybe in some cases but on the whole I don't agree. Players like Hogan and Fitzpatrick who've already shown their dominance up forward in the VFL should be playing forward in the firsts, not back. I'd much rather have Hogan playing forward rather than do a Frawley and play him in the backline for 8 years first. Dunn was a different story as he struggled to find a position, playing up forward and in the middle until settling into defence last season.

Terlich is a definite out but JKH is a must keep for his spark and chasing pressure, while I thought Evans was good when he came on as sub. May get a full game this week, especially as his pace will be an asset against the quick Suns. Garland to go another week in the VFL to gain some touch and Salem and Toumpas to keep building their confidence for the next couple of weeks.

It's pretty rare that a journalist provides that perspective actually. Usually it's just, 'Melbourne made a critical error in selecting player A over player B'. Even though there were often 10 players selected by other clubs before player B who were also under performing.

Perhaps, same difference?