Jaded No More

I would hate to see us ruin our defense and more importantly our defensive run out of desperation for a key forward, because IMHO good defenses win premierships. So while the idea is not completely crazy, we have to think long and hard about whether robbing Paul to pay Peter is the right thing to do. For me, Garland is more a natural forward option and I'd be happy to experiment with him down there. Frawley is the sort of kid you build an entire defensive 50 around.

That makes me feel physically ill!

The paranoid Melbourne supporter in me says season-ending flare-ups of previous back/groin injuries and hence doom. Hopefull somebody has actual proof that they really are just being rested with mild toenail soreness, and nothing else

Things are really conspiring against me seeing the team this pre-season. First my knee, which means public transport and long standing periods are a definite no, and then the massive storms in Melbourne which damaged my car, so I can't drive to Casey Will be relying on updates from the good members of Demonland!

Oh my god, Jurrah has one arm... we're doomed... DOOMED! Cheers for the update. I have no doubt that while this is a setback for him and us, it will actually be a good experience for him to learn what rehab is like for a professional footballer and what sort of commitment you need to have if you're going to fully recover from a major injury. It'll make him a better, stronger footballer in the long run.

I'm not one for over-dramatic "woe-is-me" reactions, but... WHY US? FFS GIVE US A BREAK! I hate 2010 already

I understand the logic, but there is no way Warnock isn't getting a game in Round 1 (fitness aside). Regardless of the forwardline we are coming up against, it's important to keep the backline group playing together for as long as we can. Our tall defenders have really come on and they are working well together. I wouldn't mess with that, especially when Frawley is versatile enough to play small so you can adjust his role depending on matchups.

Great news about Aussie, and thank goodness we're resting our senior players, especially the injury prone ones in Davey, Moloney and Sylvia. The last thing we need is another long term injury sustained in a meaningless practice game.

No, the mods would like for you to stop disrespectfully airing your nasty opinions about a player of the Melbourne Football Club. Your constant bagging of Miller goes against our very clear Code of Conduct, and you're lucky that you haven't copped a suspension yet. It took us a long time to rid this board of Miller bashers, so please don't start up again.

Or anal retentiveness But seriously, all players should have either had socks up or down, and hands by their side or crossed, not a mixture of both. It's very distracting to those of us who suffer from obsessive compulsive behaviour (and is ruins the balance of the photo)

Brilliant! (But Sylvia needed to pull his socks up)

8-10 weeks recovery has been confirmed by the club (check out the club's Twitter account). Crap news. Poor Cale!

Well it gives us a bit of confidence and a win, which is always a good thing. Plus it could do wonders for member recruitment up there. A cheap win is better than a loss, especially when we're going to get smashed this weekend again.

Didn't he injure himself backing into a pack?

Ugh, knee injuries are a piece of crap (says the angry one still waiting for her knee to heal! ). I really feel for Morton, although a PCL is a relatively mild injury. Morton has been extremely lucky with injuries thus far, which is why he has already notched up 40 games. This isn't a major setback in the big scheme of things, but annoying nevertheless. We certainly don't need anymore bad luck. On the plus side, he can eat something while he's lying in bed recovering

Normally if you damage your ACL you don't ice the knee, do you, because ice won't help muscles or ligaments. Also, does the knee swell when you damage muscles? From experience, swelling could be a sign of bone damage. I f'ing hope he didn't fracture his patella, because after 2 months I still can't even walk properly, but then it's better than a reco! It's probably too early to swear, but #%&^!!

Agreed. I think that if Scully and Trengove are feeling good physically, that they should both play Round 1 and every round after that, with a few rests along the way to avoid stress injuries. Same goes for Watts. The quicker they gain experience, the quicker we'll climb up the ladder. They are arguably our 3 most important players, so we need to stop worrying about the results right now and start thinking long term.

Does anyone know the state of the seating at Visy Park? Is it still in the midst of demolition? I was very much hoping to go on Saturday, but I'm still in a semi-crippled state so anything involving standing or too many stairs is a big no no.

I want people to stop hallucinating. If the club saw any merit in Newton as a viable forward option whatsoever, he wouldn't be on the rookie list right now. Currently on our list there are 4 realistic CHF targets for the future. They are Bate, Watts, Morton and Garland. Bate to me is more of a third tall, and Watts IMO will end up playing closer to goal. Morton needs to put on a bit of size (he doesn't need to become a beef cake, contrary to popular belief, he just needs more strength in his arms and core to hold his ground) before he can be a viable forward option, but he has the marking ability, motor and height to play there. Garland is the unknown quantity. Played as a forward in his junior years and we know he can mark and kick. Question is, do we rob the backline to enrich the forwardline?

I think next week can't come quickly enough. We need to really put this game behind us and move on. While last night was horrible, we did have a very young team (Jamar and Bruce didn't play and Davey only played a half, which is 50% of our senior list right there) and chose to play first gamers ahead of more experienced players in Bartram, Dunn and Bell (and rightfully so IMO). Everyone will be smarter for this loss and hopefully would have learnt a lot. The first hit out for the year is always a little dodgy and I suspect nerves played a big part for many of our kids who have only played a handful of games (Scully, Trengove, Strauss, Maric, Spencer etc...) While this is no excuse for the horrific setups, decision making and lack of intensity, it is a valid reason to show some restraint and see where next week takes us. I expect a better showing, but then my expectations of our club at the moment are very mild.

Not to ruin this positive thread but I'm surprised Cheney is getting so much love. I think defensively he is nowhere strong or smart enough and his decision making in general play is generally woeful. He's an inexperienced kid so I'll cut him some slack but I don't see him as part of our long term future. Bennell is similar in his complete lack of defensive pressure, which is so frustrating because he's such a good ball user and finds lots of space. But you can't be a defender if you can't defend, and I don't care how great you are at rebounding. Strauss seems to have a better balance of the two at this early stage. He was good last night.

To be fair the players should be nice and rested after yesterday's efforts

People are very harsh on Maric. He hasn't even played 10 games yet, and he has very good awareness and agility. I thought Strauss was good, and Grimes is, as always, a pleasure to watch. I like him in the middle, even if it will take him some time to adjust to the pace. Rivers had a good game too, particularly with his disposable, and Frawley was great on one of the best forwards going around. He is in for a good season. Realistically I didn't expect us to win, and while the margin is very very disappointing, you can see that the ingredients are there. We've got ourselves two seriously great players in Scully and Trengove, and McKenzie looks a ready made replacement for Junior. All we need now is a lot of patience, because these things take a long time. We also need a forwardline, which is not going to be fully functional until Watts develops and Jurrah gets his sticky hands back.

Oh good, all we needed was Nostradamus here to make his opinions known

I'm over this game. We're asleep, nobody is even close to their opponent, we still can't kick out of the backline, or kick at all for that matter. Oh oh, the umpires are a disgrace!!!! Thank god for Trengove, Scully, Grimes and Frawley.