Jaded No More

It's so hard sometimes to be enthusiastic about this club and where it's going... Very disappointing result for mine.

You gotta feel for poor Brock. He would be on his way to a 2nd B&F tonight if it wasn't for all the damn injuries. Just goes to show that he is by far our best and most valuable player, and should captain the side from 2009 onwards... and hopefully a change of role will bring a change of luck and he can stay away from crutches/slings/casts for the rest of his career.

If I didn't love him so much, I'd definitely hate him. Gotta despise people who just have it all... how dare he!

It will be priceless if Melbourne draft Watts, as you will no doubt label him "the greatest footballer to ever walk the earth" and call him a superstar if he so much as handballs in the right direction. You are as predictable and as boring as ever, which is why nobody can take your opinion seriously. I have never once seen you stick to your guns about anything, and I'm sure that this passing infatuation with Naita will change as well. If Freo pick him he'll be "a complete dud", won't he?

Any player that will bring us success is marketable, dreadlocks or not.

Awesome player, but he's too old for our plans and he'd be looking to go to a club on the verge... of a premiership, not a wooden spoon.

Nobody finds such nice things to say about Melbourne unless they know they're coming to the club

I feel for him and his dad, but that really is not an excuse for the way he behaved on Mad Monday or many times beforehand. He needs to leave football and seek help.

Deanox; not afraid to deal with the tough issues. I hear the UN is having an emergency meeting to discuss the deeply disturbing phenomenon of placing extra line spaces

I think it has something to do with posters linking every single out-of-contract player in the AFL to our club... and they're all Ryan O'Keefe type players too would you believe I'm not at all fussed about these hits and misses. I'd rather use our picks to draft young players who grow and develop in our club and who WANT to be there. Two years ago nobody wanted to go to Carlton or Hawthorn either.

Even if we wanted him at Melbourne, he wouldn't want us. He doesn't have 6 years to wait for a flag. He'd want a club that is likely to challenge in 2-3 years.

It's a pity Ferguson is no longer on our list If Hawthorn are after an experienced defender, they certainly won't get one from us... unless they want Wheatley

McLean and Garland.

I have become more optimistic as time goes on, which is a little bit strange given that things have actually gotten worse since I first started posting here (2002?). Maybe it's because I've become delusional at my old age, or maybe it's because I've seen plenty of teams bottom out and then rise to the top. Our time will come, it has to. We just have to stick together until then, and don't let anyone tell us we can't, or won't, make it.

Chook, our day will come, and when it does, it will be sweeter than anything we've ever experienced before. And we won't have to stand up on the podium with a giant 'TASMANIA' sign on our jumper, and we won't have to thank the AFL's administration for helping us (because they didn't). We'll be able to stand up there and say that we did it against all the odds, that we fought on our own and we triumphed. I know it's hard going year after year without a flag, but things turn around so quickly in football, and we just have to stick by the club and hope that we'll once again be a powerhouse of the competition. It seems that football is as much about hope, as it is about winning.

Proof that fat people CAN play football Really dreading going to Geelong on Monday... they'll probably call a day of mourning at work now

I think you'll wish it was us every year... I'd rather see John Meesen up there than Shane Crawford (although he does deserve it and I am very happy for him).

I'm working in Geelong at the moment, for a company that sponsors the Cats. If I barracked for anyone else on Saturday I'll be an outcast for life. Oh and I hate Hawthorn.

Love Brad Green, and so does everyone. But the reality is, he won't be part of a premiership side at Melbourne and hence is expandable. We have to look beyond our emotional attachment and think with our heads. This is why I also advocate trading Bruce, who IMO is overrated by the AFL community and we should try and get something for him while we still can.

Nobody will pay what he's really worth to us because of his injuries. Trading him for a speculative second round pick will do nothing for our future. We have to hope he can get himself right, because there is no doubting that he is an absolute gun when he's fit and the possibilities of playing him up forward or as a rebounding defender are endless (especially given we're developing other defenders). Two years in the big scheme of things is not the end of the world. Sylvia missed nearly as much football as Rivers has.

Never judge a player by their first 4 matches Garland= Jared Rivers + Pace - Injuries* *everyone knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder and spit on a black cat immediately

Has something we sorely lack... football smarts. Love him.

Of course it doesn't. I was just pointing out that Jones and Buckley are regarded around here as future key midfielders, and they both lack smarts and awareness at times. So to simply dismiss the idea of Bell playing in the midfield (not referring to you) based on the fact that he gets caught a lot (he doesn't by the way, it's just that when he gets caught in the backline the cost is magnified and so it seems he does it more often than not), is silly. IMO Bell's disposal is better than Jones' and Buckley's and he wouldn't struggle in a foot race against Buckley. With Davey, Aussie and Maric I think we have enough medium/small forwards, but we could really use some more pace in the middle Tried finding one for ages, but couldn't.

Which of course never happens to Buckley or Jones

Initially Bell was recruited with a midfield role in mind. The hope was to get McLean, Sylvia, Bell and Moloney to become the nucleus of our midfield for the future. Clearly that plan bombed, however Bell does have midfield credentials. Secondly, Bell has extremely good pace. He is one of the fastest players at the club, however his long struggle with injuries, especially an ongoing groin complaint, have really stopped him from developing and understanding how to best use his run. Whether he can or can't play as a permanent midfielder successfully I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball and I don't predict the future very well, however it is certainly worth trying him out.