poita

Why the kerfuffle on this issue? Should Gold Coast have to move their game against Collingwood to the MCG so that 60K Collingwood supporters can attend. If the answer is no, why should Geelong have to move their games to that Essendon supporters can attend. Perhaps at some point in the future Melbourne will have so many members attending matches that we can lock away members out of our home games. As to why the ground currently only has a capacity of 21K after twenty years of constant redevelopment, you'd have to ask the state minister for pork barrelling.

I don't care whether we list Grundy as rested, managed, omitted, injured, unavailable or anything else, the fact is that the two rucks experiment isn't working, hasn't worked all year and won't work in the finals. We need to push on without Grundy in the team and find a combination that does work. If he is upset by this, bad luck - he hasn't held up his end of the bargain this year. As I posted last week, I would play JVR and Brown as permanent forwards, with Schache to play as a roaming forward / back up ruck. That probably doesn't leave room for Melksham, so either he or Smith should be the sub. Neither is part of our future, so I'm not desperate to get games into these players at this time of the year. Our small forwards are a major problem, but surely Chandler has been marginally less ordinary than Spargo and offers more upside. I would strongly consider playing Dunstan this week as well, with Jordon to come out of the midfield group.

I'm not sure why people get so worked up about membership numbers - it is the membership dollars that matter. We could buy our way to 70K members by giving away $10 memberships for the last three home games, but what does that really achieve? My son gets a free 3 game St Kilda membership with his SMJFL fees each year. That is potentially several thousand kids included in St Kilda's membership numbers each year that neither barrack for St Kilda or contribute to the club. As an aside, they also gave him two free tickets to be used during the year, so we used those to attend Saturday's game for nothing. Thanks SKFC.

The mean man on the telly didn't say nice things about my football team. Mummy, please make him go away.

Truly moronic changes by a coach and his assistants who are totally clueless and out of their depth. We haven't kicked a decent score for 6 weeks, so let's not play a forward line at all. Jordon and Spargo have both been putrid all year, but let's give them yet another game, Spargo having played 30 mins (poorly) since King's birthday a month ago. Melksham should have been retired 2 years ago, but 5 touches a week are enough to keep him in. Meanwhile JVR, who is part of our future, can't get a game. And clearly Goodwin is going to go down with the Two Rucks ship, and take the rest of the team with him.

Do Melbourne members have to pay for away VFL games, or are these covered in the AFL membership also? I used to love getting down to TBO to watch Sandy play when we were aligned with them. That 3-peat of premierships from 2004-06 were fantastic to watch.

Great news and well deserved. I feel like he is one of those players who, while they might not become a champion, will just find a way to become a really good player at whatever level they are asked to play at.

The club needs to come out at some point and give us the full story, because this entire episode is completely unacceptable for a supposedly professional sporting club. Firstly, allowing Oliver to play on after the initial injury. Then, allowing an infection to get bad enough to result in a lengthy hospital stay, having him train in the cold and wet after the Geelong game, taking him to Alice Springs for no reason, and every other ill advised training session he has done in the past 7 weeks. Finally, the lack of meaningful updates that resulted in the ridiculous rumours that circulated a few weeks ago. Goodwin needs to shut up and stop saying every Monday that he is a chance to play this week, before he is then ruled out two days later. It reflects badly on him and the club.

Agree with this, on many levels. Our forward woes are not solely Gawn's fault, but he is certainly a significant factor. 1. Gawn does his best work in the ruck and behind the ball, and is elite in these aspects. Everything else is taking away his strengths and is distracting him from his main tasks. He's also not resting when forward, and is probably copping more hits by having five defenders jumping into him in every contest. Okay to send him forward on occasion as a point of difference to exploit a matchup, but no more. 2. Gawn has no idea where to run as forward and ends up dragging his opponent into spaces that Brown/Fritsch/JVR are operating in. He is also offering nothing in the way of blocks and shepherds to create space for his teammates. 3. Dropping the ball on Gawn's head is a cop out for our midfielders and stops them looking for short options. If he is not there, they are forced to look elsewhere and honour quality leads. It also makes our other forwards get active. 4. Gawn's goalkicking is nowhere near good enough for him to be playing regular forward time. He last went above 50% accuracy in 2018, and that figure excludes complete misses. He probably averages closer to 1/3 accuracy. 5. It is embarrassing watching him trying to provide pressure when we turn the ball over and the opposition walk the ball out of our F50. He can barely raise a jog at present and every team knows it. 6. The less said about Grundy as a forward, the better. I know he's kicked a few goals this year, but very few have been the result of good forward craft. I think he has generally been pretty poor in all parts of his game, particularly in recent weeks.

More chance of us missing the eight than finishing top four now. What a waste of two years out of what should be the best part of the careers of guys like Petracca and Oliver. The big question for Goodwin is whether he merely follows Beveridge into a gradual decline for the next few years, or sinks like a stone as Simpson has done out west.

Except we had 20 scores from 73 i50s, at 27%, so not sure what point you are trying to make. Most people would suggest that 5 goals from 73 i50s at 6.8% is slightly less than optimal, even playing blindfolded on an ice field.

Can someone please explain to me what Joel Smith's role was yesterday (and in the second half against Geelong). I'm not a fan of Smith, but I accept he has some traits that can be useful when he is let loose to lead up at the football, and provide some defensive pressure. But I don't see the value in him standing ten metres behind an intercepting defender (Haynes and Stewart in that period), providing zero physical presence or doing anything other than moving up to stand the mark. Do we imagine because it is wet that Haynes is going to drop an uncontested mark and that the ball is somehow going to land in Smith's arms? Because if so, that is the dumbest thing since I've seen for a long time (well at least since we lined up with three midgets across half forward last week, and our marking targets another kick away).

Unfortunately we have both structural issues and personnel issues to resolve, and are rapidly running out of time on both counts. I'd prefer to tackle the structural issues first, and hope that solves some of our other issues at the same time. For me, the two ruck experiment is a confirmed failure and has to end now. Grundy can go back to Casey and try to get some part of his game working. Gawn to ruck 70% of the game, and Schache in to back him up, plus JVR/Brown in the forward line. I don't think we'll lose anything from Schache as a second ruck given Grundy's recent form, and he will clearly give more as a third forward. I think Gawn will benefit from more ruck time, and from being able to rest when not rucking. If Gawn goes forward, it is as a tactic, not an expectation. Van Rooyen to come back in to replace Melksham who is officially finished as an AFL footballer. Van Rooyen to play across half forward so that he and Brown stay out of each other's way. Smith to play up the ground where he can use his athleticism. Pickett to play closer to goal where he can use his speed & smarts. I'm okay with Neal-Bullen, just wish he'd do the instinctive thing a bit more often. I would prefer to see Bowey tried forward over Chandler or Spargo, but I'm not sure we have a defensive replacement available. Either way, a small forward must be at Brown's feet every single time. Woewodin to come in for Langdon who is just a shell of his former self. Harmes is a major problem as well, but I don't see the value to swapping him and Jordon every week. I'd be inclined to give Dunstan a go now that he is back in shape. If there is any thought of Petty returning forward, then Tomlinson clearly has to return.

And that has been an issue with this group of players for a long time. Viney, Gawn and so on.

Check out 2016 certified release #128 or 2015 honours release #131.

How are those long term contracts to Brayshaw, Chandler, Gawn, Grundy, May and Spargo looking at this point? And clearly all of Brown, McDonald and Tomlinson should have been on one year deals at this point of their careers. For all the talk of us being a destination club, we are still having to cough up in a big way to retain players. I'll be very disappointed if we don't have 6 list spots to take to the draft / trade period at year end, plus a couple of rookie selections.

You know you are watching Melbourne play when: - the coach picks the same tired, old players each week, regardless of how underdone or out of form they are, and ignores those who are performing in the VFL. - the sub is a one position midget who is totally unable to impact the game (on an unrelated issue, well done to Charlie Spargo for achieving negative metres gained in his 21% game time). - the goal kicking accuracy is south of 40%. - the team lines up with 175cm players across the half forward line, all manned by opponents 10cm taller. - (excluding Fritsch), no forwards lead at the ball carrier and all play from behind. - the team would prefer to have 8 handpasses sideways and backwards before snapping under pressure, rather than kicking at goal at the first opportunity. - both wingers are midgets who struggle to kick over a jam jar. - players call for one metre handpasses, even when under pressure and facing away from goal, instead of making a shepherd or block to release a teammate. - the captain spends more time on the ground pleading for free kicks than attacking the football. - two supposedly elite ruckmen tap the ball to anywhere other than their teammates at centre bounces. - centre clearances, as rare as they are, travel further upwards than forwards. - the wetter the conditions, the more team wants to handpass in circles whilst the opposition kicks off the ground and moves the ball forward any way possible. - defenders refuse to guard the opposition goal square. - kick outs go to the same area of the ground 95% of the time. - the side collapses when put under any sort of pressure in the final quarter.

Any chance of Gawn doing anything positive this year? There's more to being a leader than doing media appearances. Viney is putting him to shame at the moment.

Out coached, outplayed, outworked. Imagine thinking that Smith, Van Rooyen and Gawn is a finals standard forward line, or that Spargo is a worthy sub option, or that our goal kicking is not a massive issue.

Would you retire if you were a chance to play in this team and you were contracted to receive a salary of $300K - $400K next year?

I don't understand why people get so worked about the size of our bye. There are only so many days between the start and the end of the year - if you get a shorter break between games one week, you are going to get a longer break another week. Every team is still playing 23 games in a 24 week period. The players might prefer to get a shorter break now, and an extra day or two between games closer to finals.

Why do we need 8 games spread over 5 days, with 4 night games? Surely tonight's game could be played on Friday, and Friday's game on Saturday.

Robbo's All Australian Team B: Charlie Ballard, Harris Andrews, Tom Stewart HB: Nick Daicos, Darcy Moore, Jack Sinclair C: Josh Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Nic Martin HF: Jordan De Goey, Jeremy Cameron, Toby Greene F: Charlie Cameron, Charlie Curnow, Brody Mihocek Foll: Tim English, Christian Petracca, Zak Butters Interchange: Lachie Neale, James Sicily, Zach Merrett, Jordan Dawson

ESPN's 2023 (slightly early) mid-year All-Australian team: FB: Ballard, Wilkie, Sicily HB: Sinclair, Moore (c), N. Daicos C: Dawson, Liberatore, Butters HF: Petracca, C. Curnow, Greene FF: Daniher, J. Cameron, C. Cameron R: English, Oliver, Bontempelli I/C: Darcy, De Goey, Neale, Anderson, Serong

You need to navigate to Casey Demons under Teams, but you are correct that MFC could do much more to keep fans updated regarding Casey. It almost makes me long for the days of assistant coaches putting out a post game review each week and describing every player as good.