Jaded No More

When you have a full VFL team of players pushing their case for selection and you've been on the list for 5 years with little return, you need to play out of your skin to keep your spot (eg Bartram). Dunn hasn't done that and hence he isn't stiff. We need to improve and Watts will help us do that in the long term.

EPIC WIN! Cannot wait for Saturday.

It's a little pathetic and a little greedy that we;re still so desperate for Watts when we have so many other great young kids to perve on right now. Ah who am I kidding, bring him in... too many Jacks is never enough!

At quarter time And no, we are not at all getting carried away. If I see a Grimes to Scully to Trengove to Watts ball movement I will probably die from an overload of pleasure

Absolutely, I mean what else would Dean Bailey be doing on a Thursday afternoon but posting on Demonland? Clearly the man, the myth, the legend himself has taken up an account and has made it his duty to inform us of team selection news. All hail Dean "Bails" Bailey.

Well if you're gonna make mistakes, make mistakes taking the game on. Btw Bails, if you've just lied to me there will be trouble!

All true, but it will impact every team in the same way. So really the more endurance runners you have in your team, and the more players with bursts of speed in your side, the more likely you are to get on top of the contest, especially late in the game. You do raise an interesting point about our running game plan, especially up forward, but I think that longer term we will adjust that slightly and have one of Watts, Jurrah or Green permanently up forward to avoid needing that constant run.

It's nice to take the moral high ground but the fact remains that pokies machines are not going anywhere and if we can make some money from them then perhaps some good things might come of them. We are too poor to be worried about fixing the world's gambling problems. It is not our responsibility to be perfectly honest. Oh and yes, Carlton just continue to shine as an example of a filthy, rotten organisation that deserves nothing but misery. Bastards!

Amen sister!

Thanks for that. I'm desperately wanting to see Jack play live, but I trust the club's approach to his development. He needs to show some good consistent form and really push for selection over a number of weeks. I still think he'll play 10 games this season, which would be a good outcome.

When Melbourne supporters go bad...

"It's good to have another young guy come through like Jack, and we experience the same things. He's going to be a super player and to have a teammate like that for the next 10 years, we'll build a special bond." I know it's overused and inappropriate but...

Please go and ask him some hard questions about the way he umpires and about Friday night and then please proceed to smack him in the face. Thanks.

My final decision, given the forecast looks good... In: Watts Out: Dunn If not now, when?

So very true. I love and support Melbourne, I don't love and don't support the AFL. If Melbourne ceased to exist (heaven forbid), I would never watch another game of football again. The game is becoming a joke. The umpires have lost control, the MRP are as consistent as a teenager on smack, and the administration is happy to bury it's head in the sand as long as they are making the television networks happy. How Harbrow didn't even get a reprimand for his hit on Bennell I'll never know. Bennell had to leave the field after he was hit in the face. No free, no case to answer. Apparently it's OK to hit players in the head, as long as they wear a Melbourne jumper. If the shoe was on the other foot Bennell would have got 9 weeks

Top half of the bottom 8. We will need a small miracle, and some results going our way to make the 8. Had we beaten Collingwood and not been blindly robbed on Friday night, we would have been a realistic chance to make the 8. However we have some very difficult games coming up, and are yet to travel. If we finish 10th but manage to win at least one interstate game this season, it would be a very satisfactory result, especially given that our entire forwardline has practically died this season.

Words cannot describe my disgust towards this situation or the AFL's response. If we weren't in the financial position that we currently find ourselves in, I'd back the club to go all out and make a huge deal about this and really put the onus back on the AFL administration. That's what a club like Collingwood would do. Unfortunately we are simply not in a position to speak up. Disgusting, pathetic, unprofessional and completely unacceptable. The people running the AFL would struggle to get a job running a nail gun factory

I'm not comparing him to Ablett, but the kid is so good they've already put his Rising Star nomination video on the AFL website... check it out here Love it!

Given our next two games after this week are away, one up in Darwin and one down at Skilled Stadium (kill me now), I think that if we don't play Watts and/or Gysberts this week that they may have to wait until we play Carlton in Round 11 (unless injuries force our hand).

Go read the opening post again and revisit the thread last week that had one poster suggesting we should drop Grimes. Then stop procrastinating and do your assignment. Thank you

MRI came back clean, so it appears I didn't damage any cartilage whatsoever. The break was a very clean one, and only extended 3/4 of the way through the bone. Didn't need surgery, just 6 weeks off the leg in a splint. I have lost all muscle function and have little strength in the leg, despite doing physio a week after the break occurred. I think my physio is a moron

I fractured my patella, and was told at the time that is a relatively "good" knee injury to sustain as it is easier to recover from. Personally I think it's [censored], because my knee is a disgrace and it's been 6 months. Very good news about Morton though. His knees are far more important than mine!

There have been very few players more deserving of a Rising Star nomination. I know it's all rubbish and means nothing, but we still gush over a 38 disposal-game from Ablett, so to think Scully topped that in the pouring rain in a losing team is absolutely outstanding.

1. A 10 goal win 2. Jack Watts 3. 35,000 loud Melbourne supporters

It is OK to raise these issues, and there is no denying Jack does make mistakes by foot sometimes, but I think it is far too early to be worried about these things. Oh and please show me an example of where I criticised anyone who has played 19 games, please. All young players have areas for improvement. That's why experience is so vital, but for 3 weeks in a row now we've had a few posters jumping on his back to suggest that he should improve. Of course he should improve, and he will. Ugh, why are you even bothering wasting your time picking an argument with me when you know full well that some of the stuff that gets mentioned here about young players is completely stupid?! Haven't you got anything better to discuss? And btw, there was nothing "woeful" about Grimes' disposal on Friday night. Given the conditions, I thought he handled the ball well. And this is my issue with this thread, little mistakes being blown out of all proportion with kids who should be struggling to get a kick, but instead are racking up 30 disposals a game!