Young Blood

All the talks of his football career at Melbourne being over or should be over is just crap. The whipping boy isn't ever going to be a consistent star forward. He is a third forward whose best football is really valuable and the club has invested in him to keep working on his intensity because he does so much well when he is in form. Too valuable to trade. Roos said on League Teams this week exactly what FD says here above. He is simply lacking the intensity. Hasn't played well since returning from the injury and just needs two solid weeks in VFL. Roos said two weeks is usually the standard to get guys back into form. He expects Jack to play well again this week and lineup against Collingwood.

Hasn't he been playing through and working around his foot injury? Misson stated that he can't do further damage. It's just about managing the pain. I think he will definitely be playing against the Pies and/or finals.

Jeez having Viney out for this one hurts. Even though he wasn't as effective last week, his inside work to win the ball in close and wrestle his way to releasing the ball for the next clearance was crucial throughout the game. If they tag Oliver it will be interesting to see who plays that role. I actually think Kennedy will play. I think we'll be looking for some pace with some of our younger quicker players tiring of late (eg Hunt). They can use him for some outside run, his inside work at Casey has been pretty good and we know he can be used as a crumbing forward pretty effectively. Will be interesting to see if they roll the dice with him. Stretch would be the most reliable of the three that could come in for Viney. Generally uses the ball well and gets into the right positions. I think thats where we will need to be better then Brisbane on Sunday with our composure and keeping structure.

I think we've really missed him as a depth player this year. Has terrific toughness and size around the ball as we as good marking which we've totally lacked up the field especially. Hope he can get his body right well before pre-season. The only fault for him is I found him a bit slow but I definitely think there is a role for him leading up high half forward/wing with his ability to mark and win the ball around the contest. Hope he stays.

Regarding Salem if he was injured they wouldn't bother having him as omitted. I know he hasn't found form yet and had a bad game last week but I thought his ball use and touch of pace off half back would be pretty key against this faster side who really feast off poor ball use coming out of the oppositions backline. As for Frost I thought he would potentially be the best match up (in tandem with the Macs) for Roo with his closing speed. So I'm sure its probably not true but would the club know that Reiwoldt is out?. Anyway I guess they're wanting more from Sam which hopefully he can achieve with a week at Casey.

cool

Or create some opportunities to kick goals. I didn't watch the whole game but did Watts play up the ground much on Saturday? When he's at his best is when he is the link up player across half forward while alternating that with running deeper to switch the defenders. I know we've had injuries so he's had to player deeper as a marking forward but surely he can spend more time up HF with McDonald and Weed/Pederson playing forward this week.

Without Hogan now I would think this would be the best 22 we would want in form for the remainder of the season: B: Jetta Frost Hibberd HB: Hunt Omac Salem C: Tyson Oliver Lewis HF: Hannan Watts Melksham F: Garlett Tmac Petracca Fol: Gawn Viney Jones Int: Vince Harmes ANB If we need the extra tall so Tmac can play deeper fwd obviously Pederson would come in with backup ruck duties where he was successful earlier in the season.

A few people calling for ANB to be dropped. He definitely had a poor game yesterday but he has played pretty consistently over the past few weeks. I think considering he's in our best 22 and has only missed 4 games this season it seems a bit odd to drop him in the most critical part of the season.

Look forward to seeing the over the top reactions of some temper as the week goes on. We looked flat at times throughout the game and turned the ball over but North won this game. They played better for four quarters, had a better game plan with their forward structure and played the ground far better especially in the last quarter. They were so much more composed then us. Kudos given to North. This team is going to continue to drop games as they're still young, (missing some experience yesterday which might have helped). It's just a reality. I hope the team can move on quickly and realise they're every chance to beat GWS who looked shaky once again against Freo. I think if we can make the 8 this season it would be a terrific accomplishment. Clearly we not quite ready to have a greater impact. We can build from there for years to come.

Hawks are starting to cough it up. Sydney are trying to shut down their short passing game. Hawks will needs to take more risks through the corridor and counter attack if they want to stay in it. Been very impressed by hawthorns tackling. They're sticking tackles and removing the ball from Sydney possession causing turnovers Sydney haven't been used to. Gotta keep that scoreboard close. I think they could win this if they can keep it close.

Hawthorns game plan certainly worked really well that quarter. Controlling the ball and tempo of the game nicely as they did when they beat them last game. Some of their young guys a super impressive. Just need to make sure they can get players back quicker when they turn it over. Getting caught out the back quite a bit.

Really hoping we get a good start especially on this ground. Also hoping North come out a bit flat after a disappointing loss. They played really well last week for three quarters and really could have won it if not for some Essendon fast ball that their younger players were too tired to defend. Always dislike playing against North as they're a difficult team to beat. Kind of like Collingwood they always hang around. They're also a great scoring side which makes it even more difficult to get a substantial lead on them. They don't go through significant periods without scoring like a lot of teams do. A real challenge tomorrow. Go Dees!

Looks to me like Charlie Dixon is 22cm taller and just grabbed to high. It's possible Nev might have ever so slightly dipped his shoulder at the last minute before he went to ground (I've seen him do it before) making it look worse then it was but either way a clear free kick with no obvious duck.

thanks wobbles.

I think players like Harmes, ANB and Stretch are really vital in that they must keep improving to take the club to the next level. They are the next tier of players that have a really good strong foundation in their competitiveness and are starting to show they belong in the best 22. The best teams have these sorts of guys that play consistently each week to bridge a teams worst and best performances. I think its terrific how the club has shown persistence with these players, giving them games to develop even when they haven't stood out. They're not the most explosive or skilful but all three are so hard at the contest and are learning to find ways to be effective in their roles. ANB has definitely taken the next step this season. His vision and creativity with the ball has really stood out to me. He's got a great tank, tackling and contested ball work thanks to playing through the midfield often with Casey and has really carved out a role for himself thanks to hard work and trust/belief from coaches.

I think it was on the footy show Jones seemed to indicate that its more likely to be the week after North that he returns. With that in mind I would probably go with no changes but I would love to see Maynard get a game if he's ready. Anyone know how Smith responded down at Casey last night?

You can feel the pain and discomfort of Viney's foot through your gut? That's impressive

I think he will end up a Harry Taylor type. He will swing forward when the team really needs another tall option. What a great option to have!

I think if we weren't so injury depleted people wouldn't be whinging so much. The fact that we won't have him for the next two crucial games as an option to tag where he has been pretty successful this season is a real loss.

He will get a deserves six weeks. Like others have said it will be good for him and the club to step out of the limelight and really build himself on the training track. Get some respect back internally from the playing group that he has let down with a stupid act.

I'd say they're also making sure they have another back that can play on a 2nd/3rd option forward. He compete's really well in the air and I think is insurance knowing Tmac could spend the majority of the game in the forward line like last week.

Yeah he's super tough against probably the toughest team in the comp. Would have thought Wagner would be the best replacement for Salem. Might mean another back is out this week...

Gee Watts is a big out. Along with scoring 6 goals in the last two games he creates a lot of scoring opportunities and genuine marking contest. Really hope Gawn can help out the forward line as much as possible.

I'm sure thats been said a few times before. But you're right the playing group seems really committed and connected. I think we've seen clubs build a strong core of 5-10 players to build around for sustained success which we're now seeing at Melbourne. Hunt is such an important player. Even if he is having a bad game he is the type of player that can ignite a team when it needs it with courages, competitive acts.