Jaded No More

No, but we should really replace the trumpeter and 3AW bloke with a live band and Hamish Blake if we want to attract youth to the game.

Imagine if, just to mix it up a bit (no offense to our brilliant trumpeter) Hamish did the pre-match talk on the ground during the Youth Game we're planning on having. Nothing like turning tragedy (i.e-our season), into comedy!

Should definitely get him on board. He is the perfect face to attract younger supporters to our club, and he is absolutely massive at the moment with the radio and Rove and so on.

And another groin bites the dust...? Good luck to Martin. Hope Brown goes easy on him if they cross paths!

Perfect, except if Rivers continues to battle injury I would say he won't make it into the group. Needs to get fit before anything else. Also wouldn't mind to see McLean and Green share the role as co-captains, but I know a lot of people hate that idea.

Textiles is another major industry. We provide a huge amount of wool to textile industries around the world, and of course the petroleum used in making synthetic fibres. India is currently big in the production of natural woven fabrics, but they're slowly moving towards knits and synthetics since China is becoming too expensive. However textiles is not a consumer brand, so I don't know how that could possibly relate to sponsorship, unless we're talking corporate sponsorship. This just seems so incredibly random. Sure if one of us had billions lying around, a large donation wouldn't seem strange, but why would a rich Indian have any interest in AFL, and our fairly unsuccessful club nevertheless! If he donates $20m he can be King of the MFC for all I care! He can also adopt me as a charitable cause

Completely... I know every single one of the 56 mentioned. I hear number 17 is a big Melbourne supporter, but it's definitely not number 20... he is a Collingwood supporter

Except a good portion of the crowd (myself included) would die of heart failure between the time he lined up and put boot to ball... it would make for a rather dull post-win celebration

What I would like to know, and maybe you can tell us this much, is what will this investor get for his $20 million? Or is he just donating the money for the fun of it? Usually when something sounds too good to be true, it is.

His premiership medal is adding a few extra pounds no doubt

Nick Davis thanks you for the compliment.

And you can be a soft front-runner at 21, and end up winning a Brownlow. I agree 100% with you that Dunn needs to apply himself physically to be a part of our future. But after 30 odd games (his age is irrelevant, his experience is what actually counts in this matter) I'm still willing to cut him some slack. I wasn't there to witness some of the incidents you talk about, so I can't comment. I have seen every one of his AFL games thus far, and Sunday was the first time his lack of physically really cost us. It was unacceptable from a team perspective and I'm sure Dean Bailey will pick him up on it. On the other hand, he kept Adam Goodes quite, and that was a major win for the team. I'm very confident Dunn can get better in this area of his game. Many other players have. Btw, even teams that regularly play and win finals have some players who do not willingly put their bodies on the line. You'll never find a team of 22 players who are all on the same level when it comes to their physical attack on the contest.

I think Stef would play on Jesus Christ, if it meant he was given a senior AFL match. What players want and what players are capable of is a completely different story. Martin is new to the game of AFL. He has spent half a season playing FB. To go into his first match, against a team that is likely to annihilate us in the midfield, and play against the best CHF in the game (screw Buddy <_< ), is frightening and it's unfair. The only worry I have with Garland playing on Brown, is that he is conceding 17kgs We'll need to double-team Brown and give Garland help, because one-on-one he can't beat him. It's physically impossible!

When you say "it should have been fixed yesterday" or words to that affect, alongside Hannabal's comparison to Judd and Brown, it makes it sound as if he is a lost cause. We just tend to write players off far too quickly. I remember people questioning Bate last year because he squibbed a couple of contests. Not every player is as comfortable physically, and for some players adapting takes longer. Ricky Petterd ran into an oncoming Hall in his first AFL match. He is a freak with no sense of danger. That not everyone is the same, doesn't mean they are incapable of becoming physical. Gary Ablett Jnr was a bit of a soft front-runner when he started out. He is Brownlow favourite now. For every example of a seriously tough player, there is an equal example of a player who started out timid and grew in their physicality.

Brad Green was not a physical player early on in his career. As time went on, he has developed into a brave and physical player and he is one of our best now. I have never ever argued that.

I don't think we need to play with 3 ruckman. The problem is, that if we want a contest in the middle, we need to keep Jamar in the side. He is most suited to playing against Charman, who is very physical. It would be a brave move to drop White, but a correct one. We can't afford to have one ruckman on the bench at all times, especially on the MCG. It significantly cuts down our midfield rotations and it keeps a deserving player like Valenti out of the side. For me, it's time to drop White and bring in Valenti. That's the only change I'd make. Poor Martin shouldn't have to play on Brown in his first AFL match. If he gets smashed, it will ruin whatever confidence he's gotten playing well at Sandy (remembering he is new to AFL). Garland could play on Brown. He'll concede strength but Brown won't be able to stop him on the rebound. Alternatively the job goes to Warnock. At the end of the day, if Brown kicks less than 5, it's a win for us. If Bradshaw returns we're in deep shite.

Brad Green was widely known as a soft front-runner, well into his 20's. It's only in the last 3 or 4 seasons that he has really started to show the way with his attack on the ball. And Dunn may have been in the system for 3 years, but he's only played 32 games. By his 3rd season, Brown played nearly double the amount of matches, with 57. Chris Judd was on 68 matches in his third season. You cannot underestimate experience when it comes to putting your body on the line. Dunn suffered a pretty serious facial injury from memory in the VFL last year, and mentally he could still be recovering from that. Certainly he absolutely MUST start to apply himself physically on contest, there is no question about that. But to infer that if he hasn't done it by now, he probably never will is rubbish.

If Dunn turns out to be half as good as any of these players, I would be over the moon. Reality is, he won't ever reach the talents or the feats that these players have. The comparison between them is just silly, and it also has nothing to do with putting your head over the ball. Yze is in his 30's and he still hasn't put his head over the ball consistently...

Yep, and with that I hope we can finally kill off the myth that Miller can't kick!

I worry about throwing Garland from one end to the other. He has been doing such a good job down back, and gaining a lot of confidence, we should probably let him play out the year there. On the other hand, our forwardline is shite... But are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?

The only way we'll even come close is if I get very very drunk with Jonathan Brown on Saturday night...

White was poor, and once again Wheatley keeps missing crucial targets. At his age and with his experience, his disposal is unacceptable at times. Thought Aussie made the most of his limited opportunities. 3 goals from a small forward is a good return.

From memory they are Victorian. Didn't Warnock play for Sandy before being rookie listed by us?

I absolutely agree that he needs to get better in this area. It is not acceptable for players not to put their bodies on the line when they have to. However I really don't think that dropping him is going to achieve very much. What it comes down to is courage and self preservation. If you drop him to the VFL will he suddenly become braver? IMO a talk with the coach, maybe a chat with David Neitz, will do a hell of a lot more than dropping him. I don't think that he doesn't put his body on the line or squibs contests because he is selfish. If his attitude was the problem, then you'd certainly drop him. But if what he lacks is the confidence in his body and the courage to go in, then that really won't change no matter which level of football he is playing. All it takes is putting yourself in one contest, getting hurt but getting up, to eradicate that fear. It's a bit like when you teach a child not to touch a hot stove. You can yell at them everytime they get near a stove, but if they actually hurt themselves you can bet they are never touching that thing again! He needs to make a conscious effort to become more physical, as it clearly doesn't come naturally to him. This is something that he will hopefully learn overtime, it certainly can't be taught in a weekend at Sandy.

It's a shame that in the end he got suspended for something that really wasn't all that bad, purely because of the media pressure and such placed on him from his previous incidents. We don't want the tribunal using this incident as an example in the future, but he certainly deserves to be suspended for his pathetic weekly cheap shots. You play with fire long enough, you'll eventually get burnt.