Jaded No More

Out: Bruce (hamstring), PJ, Rivers, Sylvia Sylvia has been a passenger 3 weeks in a row and he is the exact sort of player who needs a big kick up the arse to get going again. Has been deplorable. One game with Casey will do him some good. In: Gysberts, Miller/Martin (depending on fitness), Morton, Aussie I know Scullgove struggled a little today, but that is to be expected. They are the future and if their body feels good, they need to keep pushing through those mistakes.

He only recovered when he was left to play as a loose man in defense, which is the point I was trying to make. If he struggles one on one, he is basically nothing more than a third man up in every contest, and a rebounding defender, which would be fine if he was quicker and a better ball user. I just don't see what his role is going forward, when we have so many defenders pushing for selection. A guy his size should be able to play on big talls, but in the modern game talls also possess a lot of leg speed, which Rivers doesn't. So what do you do with someone who is big but slow? Can we try and move him up forward?

You'd think I would have remembered that when I went on about how Martin should be playing Clearly we had no choice but to scrape the bottom of the barrel, however as you said, Aussie would have been better than PJ out there today. PJ has to go, be it for Spencer, or another runner until Martin is fit to come back.

I have always been a big fan of Rivers, and anyone who has read this forum would attest to that. I've held high hopes that when he gets his body right he'll once again be the general down back. Sadly, I think my convictions were misguided by false hope. Rivers was given a hard task today to play purely a defensive role on a big guy. He completely and utterly lost that battle within the first few minutes of the game, losing Kennedy on the lead and in the contest. Kennedy then got smacked in the head and struggled to play out the game. When Rivers plays as a loose man in defense, he excels defensively which is great, but his disposal is not great and he lacks speed. I left the game today wondering whether we can afford to carry an attacking defender who struggles to defend one on one and has mediocre disposal and pace, when Grimes, Frawley and Garland are all better defensively and offensively. Are we carrying Rivers? And should we?

MMM said Gysberts had 30 possessions, Miller kicked 4 and was BOG and that Morton, Jetta and Aussie all got through. Surely Gysberts is getting a game next week. He has really pushes his case in the last month.

One of the biggest positives of the day. Was really happy with his strong marking and he showed us what a clean one-touch player he is. Very few players his size possess the sort of touch and smarts that he does. Baring injuries or horrendous form, I hope he plays out the rest of the season. And hopefully on days when we can actually use the ball, he might benefit from some decent delivery. P.S.- Watts > Mop Head

I know Martin hasn't set the world on fire, but I was really disappointed that they dropped him in favour of PJ. The reality is that no matter who we bring in to help Jamar, they won't be much good. The difference is that Martin and Spencer have the potential to become good solid players who give us something in the future, whereas we know that PJ is just not cut out to play footy at the highest level. Have you ever seen a player his size who is that bad above his shoulders? It is unbelievable how poor he is when the ball comes in high. He has to go and we have to persist with Martin for the short term at least, until Spencer and GAWN are ready. At least Martin can take a mark!

Bad luck for Bruce but a good opportunity for someone else to come in.

The hangover got worse and to top it off I had to sit next to one of those moles who thinks everyone is wonderful and should never be criticized. I wanted to deck her more than I wanted to deck the umpires. Crap day all round.

Inconsistencies are to be expected but today the inconsistency in intensity between Melbourne and WC was unacceptable. We didn't come out wanting the ball. Really disappointed particularly in some of the guys who have been around for a while. Sylvia was terrible, PJ is a poor poor footballer and as much as I've been a great fan of Rivers, he is really struggling. His lack of pace is so glaring and costly. Of the kids I thought McKenzie was brilliant and Grimes as always is superb. Junior as always was leading from the front. We played like crap and had little intensity at the ball. I know we had some injured players but our lack of run was obvious.

Everything starts and ends in the middle. Jamar is playing well but our mids are struggling to get clean use of the ball so they bomb it in long to nobody. Good to see Wattsy take two strong marks and his roving effort in the first was beautiful. I'm sure the commentators are only talking about the pineapple though. Did they all die after he took that screamer?

Me and my disgusting hangover (thank you to the kind people who bought us copious amounts of champagne last night, I loved you then but I hate you now) are very much looking forward to watching the glory that is the Melbourne Football Club.

There is a reason why we are trying to extend's Scully's contract, when he has only played 7 games. It's because every club, from Richmond to GWS will want a piece of him and will go after him. The stupidity of Richmond supporters is not that they want to get him, but that they think he would come to them when he has not ever expressed any desire to leave Melbourne. That's the difference between what we did with Judd and Warnock, who were both on the move, and what they are doing with Scully. The kid has a two year contract and will probably have a four year one by year's end.

Well I'll balance out that story with one where I saw Jack in the off season out with mates and he did not drink, and was extremely well behaved. I guess the truth lies somewhere in between those two scenarios. He isn't perfect, but if he was a habitual mid-week drinker he wouldn't be getting a game for Casey or for Melbourne. Ever. Not under Bailey anyway.

That's gonna be hard to top as news of the day. Great news. Well done Chip! Now for the remaining boys to follow suit. Just read the article and wanted to add that I'm madly in love with the MFC. That is all.

Great to see Bail back playing football. It will be hard for him to break back into the team, if we don't sustain any injuries (fingers crossed), but nevertheless, good to see that he's recovered from that corked thigh.

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!