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After watching his highlights what I found impressive was his burst of speed and his willingness to break lines. Could he be used as Roos' first 194cm midfielder? It would be an interesting project.

Mitch Robinson. Football wise we could do a lot worse. DH wise not so much. He would be in our starting 22

I agree. That's where our $6m over 6 years will be. Feel a lot better with that trade than i would feel with the Boyd trade.

Who said we would trade pick 3 for him

GNF said its a black and white partner - Collingwood and its not a little bird - it has to be Dane SWAN

Know doubt we have something in mind to use pick 12 with something else to get another trade done. If it was used as part of another pick to get someone like Shiel / Treloar, would you take it?

They might if we give them a player as well, like Watts

Heard this morning on 3AW from Sly of the Underworld who is a barrister in Melbourne that Justice Middleton will be handing down his decision a lot sooner than Nov/Dec. From what he said I assume there is a good chance it could be announced during this final series. Sly was surprised that Middleton has made his decision so soon. I might be wrong but I assume this could be in favour of ASADA more than EFC.

I believe Jack Watts' biggest issue is his level of fitness. He doesn't have a big tank and therefore looks to have a breather more often than others on the ground. What we see is a guy that appears to be ambling around the periphery of many contests and not participating. I don't think Jack has an attitude problem. He tries as hard as anyone else. If you play this game and you are not fit enough to do your role then you are not going to do the gut running or the tackling and other defensive things that the team expects you to do. That said, everyone knows how skilful Jack is. In today's modern football his skills are a perfect match. I would not be pushing him out the door at the end of the year and I would be shocked if Roos is even considering this. What I believe the coaching staff will be thinking is to put Watts through an exhausting long pre-season to build up his fitness to a level where he will have the confidence to run and compete. We have such a talent here that the club has to ensure that they can realise that talent before any discussions to trade him. If it only requires a huge pre-season then its certainly worth the gamble.

I would not rule out Bomber Thompson at this stage. There could be a reason why Roos has not signed up as yet for a third season. MFC could be waiting to see whether Bomber recommits with Essendon in some shape or form or whether he leaves the club. If he does the latter and is interested in coaching Melbourne, I can see a scenario where he will be an assistant coach next year under Roos and coach the year after with Roos taking on a football management role with the club as mooted over the past months. Their coaching styles are not too dissimilar. They both have a high emphasis on defence but Bomber has the score on the board in coaching sides that can use defence as a springboard of attack. He would be coaching at a time when our list will be cherry ripe to introduce a more attacking game plan. With Roos still there I think there could not get a better coaching pair to take this team to the promise land.

If anybody who viewed the Lance Armstrong documentary last night on 7Two could draw disturbing parallels to the way the EFC are trying to prevent any blame onto themselves. Armstrong had so much political power and influence that he even succeeded in overturning US Federal indictment. The only authority he could not taint was USADA / WADA. Essendon might even win this court case as did Armstrong but eventually they can't / won't beat ASADA. Michangelo Rucci wrote a wonderful piece in the Adelaide Advertiser over the weekend.

I thought you should be thanking him. He did us a great service.

As a matter of interest can the EFC be sanctioned by ASADA if the players are indeed sanctioned? I know the AFL sanctioned the club last year but can the body charge them as well? Isn't there a clause that states that if 2 or more players are sanctioned then the club is penalised as well? Also Work Cover haven't shown their hand yet. What penalties can be expected from them?

I'm sorry. Yes it was.

I went down to Casey yesterday only to be greeted with a huge storm at the start of of play which made the rest of the afternoon a real slog. There was surface water everywhere and of course the ball was like soap. It made for an ugly spectacle with large packs forming at every contest. Plenty of ball ups. It was interesting to see how the Melbourne players responded/reacted to these conditions. Most of them stuck generally to their role and their defensive work was OK. That said, their offence was strangled by a Collingwood outfit that manned up very well and did not allow the Melb players to find space. A few player observations: Sam Blease - I would not think Roos has put a cross through his name yet. I thought he played his role quite well. His second half was excellent as he tried to take the game on with his pace and broke clear on a number of occasions from half back. His fitness level has improved and ran the game out quite strongly. Dean Kent - Was a focal point up forward and was strong at the ball. Switched roles a number of times and gathered contested possessions down back. In the top 3 best in my view. Luke Tapscott - He was one of the reasons I went to the game. I thought these conditions would suit his game but then I thought what is his game? He was a little disappointing. Yes he contested well enough and was at the bottom of packs a number of times but so were a dozen others. Dropped a simple mark in front when Casey was surging. He doesn't do anything special that you can justify him being on the list. It could be a confidence thing as he has had a long list of injuries but sadly I do not see any strings to his bow except maybe his strength at the contest. I hope I'm wrong. Aiden Riley - As you can expect these conditions suited him. He was tough at the contest and tackled with a lot of vigour. As we know, he's a real hard nut. As can be expected he tired a bit in the second half. I don't think he will be pushing for selection in the next couple of weeks, not because of form but I think Jordie is ahead of him at this moment. Will be interesting to see whether he can develop his breakaway skills further as his fitness improves. Jimmy Toumpas - As you can imagine conditions did not suit him but he still contested well and his defensive work was good. I assume the coaches would have looked closely at this aspect of his game as it was not a day to exhibit his offensive skills. That said, he did provide link ups on a number of occasions. Quickly the others Dom Barry - Improved as the game went on and was impressed with his tackling. Read the game quite well considering the conditions. Fitzy - Played his heart out in the ruck all day but was overshadowed by Hudson who did some good work around the ground. I only saw Jack take one chest mark. James Harmes - Like Barry, improved as the game went on. Played both ends of the ground. A work in progress. Dan Nicholson - As usual solid in defence. The conditions made his kicking look good. The umpire even penalised him for deliberately kicking the ball out on the full. He didn't realise that Nicko just shanked it again. He's been consistent and will get his chance if there is an injury. James Strauss - Maybe I missed some of his play but I certainly would not have him in our best. He was steady and I guess played his role but there is nothing special about him. Viv Michie - I liked his game. A slow start but was very active in the second half and was a key player in that third quarter when Casey took control for a short time. He is a good size and its not easy to knock him off the ball. I can see him being a regular for Melb next year. Alex Georgiou - Has lost his way. His confidence seems low and has no energy out there. The criticism did not seem to have worked. Michael Evans - Just a game. His inside work was OK and broke free a few times. Conditions didn't suit. Jordie McKenzie - Really good game. Only played a half but was at the bottom of every contest and tackled like the Jordie we know. BOG in the first half next to Kennedy of Collingwood. Will not be a weak link if he gets called up this Monday. These are just my observations from the grandstand. Obviously Allison and Co will be looking at players from all different perspectives.

I think he plays a role similar to Roger Merritt when he went to the Bears. Players felt a bit taller and stronger when Rog was around.

Member numbers are extremely misleading. It includes all types of shifty categories like 3 game members, interstate/overseas members that pay heavily discounted subs, MCC members etc. A more accurate comparison would be to show total revenues received from all membership categories.

Boy, everyone here gets so head up about our turnovers. It wasn't the reason we lost. We had 45 turnovers last night which is about average in the competition. The Swans had an incredible 66 against GWS while the Hawks still had around 40. AFL football is now high risk, high reward. The Frawley / Grimes play is a good example. Grimes instinctively hand passed to Frawley, who was running flat out thru the centre, but just missed his target by millimeters. The reward would have been a probable goal. The risk was the turnover which I think resulted in a goal to them. The turnovers by foot are often as a result of players being fatigued. Yes, its extremely frustrating on the night watching it but the players are conditioned to take these these risks. Like all clubs we just need to improve this facet of game. Even a small % improvement will make a big difference. We lost as mentioned, because we had no forward target, missed easy shots and they dropped an extra man back.

I totally agree with you Dees. On what I saw yesterday Hogan is a long way off in deserving a spot in Round 1. He didn't run enough to create opportunities and thus appeared to be part of a crowded forward line. His body language wasn't great either. He looked frustrated at times with the ball delivery. When he did run into space, they looked for him. As mentioned he isn't fit enough. On form I would have Dawes, Fitzy and Howe as our tall forward setup for the opening round.

I agree BB. From what I saw today I wouldn't be rushing Viney and Hogan into our side Round 1. Hogan didn't create too many opportunities for himself and was rather static. That said, his off-the-ball work was very good. Viney, as we know, is a great tackler and burrows in for the ball. This year he will develop quick hands and will become a smaller version of Tyson. Tyson was clearly BOG followed by Watts and Michie. Watts played as a second-back mid (outside mid) and appears to have a very good understanding with Dom T who fed him a number of times. Watts disposal was excellent. Players that impressed me were: Hunt - will be dominant for Casey this season off half back with his speed and skill. Max King - Natural footballer that appears to possess a lot of self confidence and would not be surprised if he is rated next to Brady Grundy over the next two seasons. Fitzy - I think he will be a permanent fixture in our forward line. Leads well and more importantly marks well. Would have him ahead of Jesse H at this time. The guy who was critical of the Casey players is well off the mark. I thought their presence made the practice match more realistic and they seem to understand the game plan. yes there were a few more turnovers but no more than what we saw last year with MFC.

What a bazaar analogy. You need to lighten up a bit. Its only a game of footy. Comparing our club to a regime that was so sinister…..well "the mind boggles".

I watched Roos closely this morning and he was applauding on numerous occasions how the ball was run and carried the whole ground in the wet conditions.

Thanks 275 for checking this out. Its obvious that Daniel Cross is an elite endurance athlete. Whether he's 25 or 30 doesn't really matter for the enduro runners. There is a lot of evidence around that tells us that these types of athletes don't peak until they are in their late 20's to mid 30's. For him to "only" come 4th says a lot about the other 3. Its rare for clubs to have a large number of players on their list that fall in this category. The only real measurement of whether our list has improved their overall fitness is the number of PB's recorded.

Would be interesting to see where Daniel Cross was placed in the Bulldogs' time trials in previous years. If he was middle of the road then it might say a bit about our core level of fitness. I suspect he has always been up there among the leaders.

I've been enjoying this thread over the past month. Its been insightful and unemotional. The investigative reporting have been top class. I've learnt a lot more about this issue than the confusing info dished out in the mainstream media. Well done guys.