Young Blood

Nice to hear that Sam Rowe is going to give support to Jesse after going through the same experience. Strange to think that it was only a few weeks ago that Jess got rubbed out for his uppercut to Rowe's jaw. Hope he can help Jess get through this. Great to hear that everyone's behind the kid.

I forgot that Nth Melbourne have the option of playing two Ruckman. Bit of a worry if they opt to go for the two bigs especially with Waite coming back in. They're a very tall side.

I'm pretty sure I heard Dave Misson say the other week that he was slightly ahead of schedule. I think he's started running sooner then they thought. Still wouldn't wan to rush him would you. Will be interesting to see if finals becomes less of a reality whether they bring him back even slower.

Another less serious comment: Oliver being called a genius is pretty funny. Has anyone heard him talk? A lovely country lad. But seriously what a start to a career. Clay, Viney and Trac willed themselves to win that game last night.

Really glad Harmes is knocking on the door again. I think he's a really important player for us as is ANB. I see Harmes, ANB and Stretch as three players that can play multiple positions and all great contested ball players. It's these types of middle of the pack players that the Bulldogs were able to make into consistent, team first footballers with an edge. We need more and more of them for depth if we want to be great over time.

Is it possible that Hogan has been instructed not to lead up us much when we're kicking into our forward 50? I agree that we tend to focus on kicking to Jess a bit too much, but I do like the option of having Watts and another mid size forward lead out to give Jess a one on one deep OR have all the small forwards stay deep to crumb Hogan's contest while leaving the top of the 50m area open for forwards to run into as a marking option which we have seen much of this season. Guess what i'm saying is that Hogan might be instructed more often then not to stay deep and be a consistent marking contest which creates other options in doing so.

Stephen Hawking agrees with you on that one D-OX

Yeah you might be right. Gives him some confidence. Seems to work well for Caleb Daniels.

Have a look at the Northen Blue vs. Casey thread. Think you'll find that most people agree that wearing a helmet does not help that much with concussion as the brain still rattles around in the head when knocked.

Far out they would be so disheartening. Dominating an entire 4th quarter when you looked like steam rolling the dockers.... Only for Mundy to kick one after the siren. Did anyone see all the Richmond players signaling to get every player back behind the ball after they hit the lead with 30 seconds left? Still seemed pretty open to me. No one in front on Mundy

Hoping he just got a minor knock and the club is being cautious. One of the toughest young players I've ever seen. Will be really missed by the club if he has to sit out long term. I think we should slow down a bit on the kid retiring if it is indeed another concussion. I too believe his health should come first before anything, but I am almost certain that Angus will try to do anything he can to keep his very young, promising career alive.

Really liked Weeds competitiveness around the ground. Thought he played a very important role especially leading up the ground where we were really lacking last week. I actually think they will look to keep Weed in even if Hogan comes back. North are a tall, great marking side. Can see us needing the extra tall options to free up Watts to move up the ground more.

Hannan was vital in keeping that forward pressure especially in the second half, I really like how well he competes in the air, launches are every marking contest with purpose. He created a lot of opportunities and explosive around stoppages at times. His team low 8 possessions were very important. I very much doubt he is dropped this week.

Nah watch it! It's a great test to see how we can compete with the best!

He will definitely have to play as a leading forward through parts of the game. Would prefer him getting more touches/involvement further up the ground. It's a catch 22. Without hogan does Adelaide forget about having the spare man to block Hogan's leads and float around for intercept marks? I can see them taking the risk early to test our forwardline with the lack of marking ability.

Jesse's father just died. Has been ill for most of the time he has been at Melbourne. I don't blame him for his heart not being entirely in it right now. I'm not going to bother explaining my disagreement with you opinions on the club's inability to fast track new players, the problem Melbourne has of not having a 'next big thing' or the picks that we deserve from the AFL. Do you even follow this team? Are you thinking of Carlton or something maybe? "Personally" i think you should just have another glass....

Its bizarre that we're only no.5 in the competition for handballs per game. We're no.3 for kicks. Shows that we're over possessing the ball just a tad.

Anyone watching the game right now? Both teams doing a terrific job of playing through the corridor. From the back pocket they're kicking in not too wide to about the 50m mark where the player marks and takes the riskier (but not rushed) kick into the square where another player marks and is met by runners coming through from Centre half back to group a string of handballs together, running it through the centre square. Depending on how well the opposition transitions back the ball is then kicked short to the players staying out at half forward or sent long over the top if its there. Most teams will aim to do this and teams like the Bulldogs and Westcoast are particularly good at doing it consistently. I think Melbourne has been playing too wide and against Adelaide they must take the risk getting the ball back inside. It is probably the most risky team to do it against as they're incredible at attacking once they force a turnover, especially through the middle. The only other time Melbourne were effective in a different game style was against St. Kilda where they possessed the ball more and widened the ground to create more space. I think in the hostile environment and with Adelaide's pressure we wont't be able to cope with that style of play. Need a lot more older heads with greater composure (ala Hawthorn types). Would just love to see us attack and really spread quickly from each contest to make a game of this!

You're right either will be better then the weed!

I don't know if Goodwins going to forget the tall element. I don't think its touches you really worry about with a marking option. Weed just needs to create a contest for our smalls in this game: Garlett, Hannan, Petracca etc. And he we need another tall besides Watts and occasionally Pederson to compete with Talia and Harigan. That being said I still think Goodwin might take this opportunty (Hogan out) to take some risks with experimenting with Tmac or Frost playing forward or at least loose across HF as Tmac did against St Kilda.

Ok then. But on the DL who does he think should be our backup tall forward/marking option? Keilty? who else is left????

Hope Hogan just slept in this morning to get the extra rest to help his 'sickness' and will catch a later flight today. If not is Weids an automatic in? Do we play Billy on a wing and get creative with the forward line? T-Mac at CHF? You would think with the ruck issues (especially against big Jacobs) we will have to go safer in Weids to allow more flexibility for Tmac/Watts/Pederson

I liked the swiss cheese analogy. The captain cooks one was a bit of a stretch.

I can only really remember Bugg doing a great job on Sidebottom one game against collingwood. Only hard tag that I can remember for Melbourne where he was quite successful in shutting his opponent down. Had quite a few tagging assignments with GWS (including shutting Garlett down a few times funnily enough) He did OK tagging Sloane last year but it wasn't a hard tag. i think it's definitely worth having him in for the option. He is a similar size to Sloane and has a good tank and could run with him through parts of the game.

Lets face it the majority of this site is for demons fans to complain about their club. I sometimes take on the challenge of finding some positive posts!