Jaded No More

I want some of what you've taken tonight! Miller, Bell and Jones are the only real positives in my mind, but it's very hard to remain upbeat after not only losing the game, but also suffering injuries to key players. Hopefully the inclusion of some young players next week will bring about more reasons to be optimistic.

How long is this rebuilding process going to continue? Our club may not survive through another sustained period of crap.

Bell deserves votes. Nullified Dixon, then went on to shut down a red-hot Williams. He also showed good pace and composure with his disposal. Made one stupid mistake, giving away the 50m penalty, but overall was our best defender along with Rivers. Small comfort, having two of our more maligned players play good games.

He did fluff a few kicks, and drop a few sitters, but overall he was good, especially in the last quarter. I agree that we cannot point the finger at guys who have barely played 10 games. Their job is to learn from their mistakes, not take the blame for the mistakes of our senior players and leaders. He and Jones are the least of our worries.

Not bad. If Pickett is fit, he gets the nod ahead of Buckley. Not sure giving Yze one week in the VFL is going to change the way he goes about his game, but given our injury woes, we are not left with much choice.

Ch. 7 news just said Robbo couldn't walk into the rooms, he was in that much pain. He was running up and down the boundry trying to recover, why the hell did they bring him on with 5 minutes to go, when the game was gone anyways? He hurt it again as soon as he came on. Stupidty from everyone involved!

Newsflash, PJ cannot ruck. I find it extremely worrying that Melbourne supporters are pinning all of their hopes on an extremely mediocre player who is yet to do anything at senior level.

Well apperantly Neita could be out for 3 weeks or more, and Robbo couldn't even walk into the rooms, so PJ may come in by default.

Sorry to break the news to you, but PJ is not the answer to our problems, not even close.

Another one to add to the list is attitude. At the start of every quarter I watched our players closely, and a lot of them had their head down, hands on hips and they just looked defeated. Hold your head up, and take some pride in the jumper. It may only be a minor issue, but it's part of a bigger problem in regards to mental fragility and loser mentality.

Every game he doesn't play, just adds to my theory that he is our single most important player. Not just because he is a damn good player, but also for his leadership, his hardness and his attitude.

Completely and utterly disagree in regards to Bell. Was our best defender along with Jared, but an absolute mile. Not sure why he is rated so poorly around this place either. He showed Whelan how it's done today! Carroll was ok, nothing out of the ordinary. He is a solid FB, but he is no star. Miller was also good. How anyone can say he failed, is beyond me. Marked nearly everything that came his way, kicked 2 very good goals and led hard all day. He was the only one still presenting in the last quarter. White was awful out the middle. Jamar had more influence in the ruck than White.

Had a very good game despite the broken nose. Should be proud of his efforts. He totally killed Dixon, and did well on Williams too.

Heard nothing about Moloney. The Doc on MMM said Neita was doing the warm-down and looked fine, and we shouldn't rule him out for next week.

He cannot kick, pure and simple. His disposal for an elite player is shameful. He fluffed more kicks than I care to remember. Started like a house on fire, but as soon as we started losing he disappeared. He apperantly had 29 possessions, but his influence was minimal at best. Bate did make a couple of mistakes by foot, as did Jones, but gees at least they were out there running and trying their guts out, and they had VERY limited support from senior players who are meant to be carrying the side. Poor coaching from Daniher to play TJ up forward when he couldn't get near it and Bate at FF when he is clearly not suited to the role. Also, Whelan on Williams for far too long. Bell pretty much nullified him in the last, apart from giving away a silly free kick which resulted in a goal. Speaking of which, Wheatley... what are you thinking?? White was really poor in the middle, which made us look even worse in the middle. Really I thought our most useful, hardest working midfielder was Godfrey (honorable mentions to Jones and Junior as always), which in itself should tell you how badly we played today. But, it's only round 2... we're not allowed to panic yet, right?

- The hardwork that we became known for last year, gone - Cannot compete in the ruck - Too many senior players who cannot dispose of the ball, yes Bruce I'm looking at you! - The same passangers go missing when the heat is on. Typically TJ, Bruce, Green, Davey - Davey. Enough said. - Heavy reliance on two extermely inexperienced players in McLean and Jones to win the clearances. Jones' disposal under pressure is shakey at best, and with McLean out the entire midfield lacks direction. - Injuries to key players.... again. - Godfrey was our best midfielder. Hang your head in shame Melbourne midfielders! - DISPOSAL, DISPOSAL, DISPOSAL - Daniher Feel free to add to the list...

Neither age nor gender defines your knowledge or passion for the game or this club. BTW, I think I was 16 when I first started posting here

They may not post, but I assure you they read. Hopefully that makes people realise that while they can hide behind their screen name, they are still accountable for what they say and how they say it!

I hope you don't think I'm actually advocating Godfrey plays. It's not as if I'm jumping for joy that Bartram got injured. All I'm saying is that he is the most logical replacement because we've lost a tagger, not a defender. BTW, how do you think Brown, Bell, Whelan, Bizzell, Wheatley, Rivers, Carroll and Ward all play in the one backline? Assuming we play 7 defenders at most, at the one time, what happens to the extra player? Godfrey may not be much of a player, but at least he'll run all day and give our midfielders a break. We can't afford to have 2 players on the bench again with no fresh legs. I agree that he is a poor tagger, and an appalling user of the ball, but Ward is not far behind him. At least Ward runs fast when he makes mistakes. :D

Because Bartram would have tagged one of Crawford, Hodge or Mitchell. With Wheatley and Brown already in the side, we're left with too many one-dimensional defenders if we also include Bizzell. You could argue that yes, Bizzell is indeed a better footballer, but he won't be able to cover the role of Bartram. Besides, with McLean out, we're already down a midfielder. *Sigh* It's extremely depressing having to decide which D-grade footballer should be placed in the side to replace your A-grade players.

If we lose on Monday, Daniher. Watch all the previously keen 'drop Yze' supporters turn on their position and blame the loss on Daniher dropping Yze. If we win, probably Miller

Yep that's it, glad I make sense to someone

Really good news in what has been a pretty ordinary couple of weeks injury-wise (and form wise!). It's not really the type of injury you can re-injure if you come back too soon. He will either get the green light from the surgeon, or he won't. If he had a plate inserted in the area (not sure), it should now be stronger than before. Lets just hope nobody feels the need to elbow him in the face again!

Well Neale just confirmed on "Before the Game" that Bartram won't play on Monday, which means Godfrey is in. Luck is really on our side so far

Congrats to Greeny, who is one of the best transformed players in our side. He has really come on since his early days of being a soft-ish forward, and is now a very deserving senior leader. Hopefully the team can mark the occasion with a big win!