poita

The question is where he rated us last year, given that his article is basically a regurgitation of last year's ladder. Answer = 8th. He also rated our midfield 12th and defence 8th ahead of the 2021 season, so take his opinion with a grain of salt.

Massive game tonight. We probably need to win 2 of next 3 to finish top 4, and possibly all 3 to finish top 2, given our (relatively) poor percentage. Purcell was a great get for the team, and I am looking forward to her debut. I agree that we need to find a way to bring the likes of Bannan, Hore and Zanker into the game, particularly inside forward 50, as they are such tough match ups for most teams.

Redrafting will never happen, but there is no doubt that the AFL is doing everything in its power to destroy the AFLW as a serious, elite competition. It took more than 100 years for VFL/AFL to get to 18 teams, and even then there are issues with the viability of several. The AFLW will get there in 7. Where do another 120 players come from for next season, when at least a third of the competition is already is barely competitive? Little or no support is provided to community clubs who were for so long the strongholds of women's football (Darebin, St Albans, Melb Uni, etc). What is the cost of allowing these clubs to die? Part time athletes, who are undoubtedly incredibly fit and dedicated, are being asked to play games in the full heat of summer to meet broadcaster demands and with horrible facilities and conditions. How does this help the spectacle? We now have midweek games and shortened breaks to squeeze the season in a ridiculously short period of time, irrespective of the fact that many players have jobs that they need to attend to make a living. At some point players will decide it is all too hard. The gap between the best and the rest is bigger than ever, and there is little prospect of the rest improving with new teams monopolising draft picks over the next few years. Scoring has dried up, and I find it impossible to watch any game that doesn't involve Melbourne. We ask the women to play on full size grounds when they kick roughly 70% of the distance of the men. There is no doubt in my mind that they need to play on smaller grounds (and ideally ones that are not prone to high winds). The idea of AFLW hub is a good one, but it needs to be way smaller than Princes Park.

Chris Scott: No excuses, but "add fifty five excuses of varying levels of sookiness".

The only way the clubs will let it happen is if you end up with a bastardised touch football travesty like you see in the NFL pro bowl where there is basically no tackling and no contact. And Victoria is still so much stronger than the other states that you would be forced in to some kind of garbage Allies situation that cheapens the whole concept even further.

Pretty disappointing performance on Saturday, albeit with two key players missing from the midfield. We look a long way behind the best sides at the moment. Still, we may have found a way to lose that game in previous years, so it was pleasing that we at least banked the four points. I still think we need to throw the magnets around and try some players in different positions, particularly in a game such as this when we're not able to play the game on our terms. The forward line other than Harris is a concern, and we're lacking at least one more quality defender. Interesting comments above regarding the standard of the game. The players are increasingly faster, stronger and have better endurance, but we're not really seeing commensurate improvements in skill level. If this was an 8 or even 10 team competition, the distribution of the top players would be much better and it would be a much higher standard. At the moment there are too many teams such as Gold Coast and St Kilda who don't have the talent, but who are prepared to make games a real grind. That makes it hard for the superior skills of the better sides to shine.

I hope Mick is more inspiring talking to the players than he is in these videos. Good news on Pearce, although she seemed to play out the game. It would be nice to get some sort of update on Purcell.

We've got some real issues based on that performance. Teams have worked us out, and we already know that Stinear is an awful match day coach. Twice in five games the Crows have physically dominated our midfield, and there is no sign of a plan B. I believe we have the talent to compete for a premiership, but we look set for another wasted season unless something changes. Some concerns for me: - Zanker is our biggest midfielder, but she doesn't particularly like the contest. I'd much rather see McNamara and West on the ball, who will have a red hot go. McNamara is a great player, and will only get better as she adds some size. - Mithen is a dumb footballer, who needs to watch tapes of Jack Viney to see how much more valuable he is as a team player. Perhaps she can be rebirthed as a small forward. - Scott makes our forward line slow and awkward when she is not taking contested marks. I'd prefer to see her helping out the defence rather than clogging up the forward line. - Paxman's decision making and reaction time has dropped by 10%, and kicks that she was once getting in the clear are now under extreme pressure. She definitely needs to be smarter about when she calls for the football. - Daisy is a smart footballer who is in Jordan Lewis self preservation mode at the moment. It's questionable whether we can continue to carry her in big games when she can't make a contest or provide defensive pressure. - I would like to see our forward line with Harris playing out of the square, and Hore and Bannan across half forward. We need at least one high pressure defensive forward, and a resting midfielder who can make a tackle. If Scott is on, she should be part of the rotation, but otherwise she and Parry are giving nothing at the moment. - We have way too many players with poor disposal and decision making in the defensive half. It has always been a concern, but was just diabolical under pressure this week. It has to be a focus for future recruiting, although the expanded competition makes this difficult. - We're not getting value from L.Pearce's dominance in the ruck. Hopefully the bigger body of Purcell will help when she returns.

We haven't won a final in consecutive years since 1990/91 - that would be a nice one to tick off this year.

Very sad. Harley came back and played a few games with my local club, the Parkdale Vultures, a couple of years back, but even then he didn't seem to be enjoying his football greatly. It is so sad when young people with their whole lives in front of them can't find happiness in anything that they do.

Shocking draw from almost every angle. Home games against Vic teams include Saturday twilight fixture and Mothers Day Sunday at 1pm. Don't bother with a kids membership, because they won't get to a game before June. We don't play a home game against a Victorian team from round 9 to round 20, and Collingwood is too late in the year to give us more than 50K at the game. Away to Geelong AGAIN, away to West Coast AGAIN and eight games outside Melbourne in total. How many for Collingwood and Richmond? Hard to see any opportunities for FTA coverage between round 9 and 17 as well, other than QB. Really hard to see the benefits for winning the premiership in that draw.

You need to beat the best to be the best. The fixture is fine - we just can't afford to drop games against the bottom sides as we did last year. Disappointing however not to get home games against any of the big Victorian sides.

The general consensus seems to be that it is not an overly strong draft at the top end, but that the quality holds up pretty well through the top 40. I'm happy with our first selection, and we should be able to get another quality player with our second selection. I would imagine there will be a fair amount of pick trading take place through the second round - I wonder if we will look to bundle our next two picks to move up the order if we have our eye on a particular player.

Ticket sales should be halted until they get this fixed, this is just pathetic. Football club members should be given the highest priority, not the lowest. And the lack of official acknowledgment of a problem is even more disappointing.

37 year MFC member here who receives all sorts of marketing garbage from the club and is yet to receive any communication on this event. It has been eight weeks since the grand final - they have had plenty of time to get themselves organised. I don't see why I should have to call them to work out what is going on here.

Seriously? Should this not be communicated to fans on rollover arrangements before money is deducted from accounts? If anything we should be receiving this for free given that we have been unable to use reserved seats for two years.

As was the case both 12 and 24 months ago, Oskar needs to get much fitter so that he can stay in the game for longer. He is a decent player in bursts when he is able to keep up with the game.

I find it extraordinary that we've locked in a bunch of C graders mid way through the trade period, which severely limits our ability to get involved if other teams are holding fire sales on picks and players. By all means sign them up after the trade period if that's we want to do, but you can't tell me that guys like Baker, Daw & Bedford are going to get other offers in the meantime.

https://selectaustralia.com.au/products/2021-melbourne-premiers-set For anyone who likes trading cards.

3 years on the list for 2 senior games, averaging 5.5 disposals and 0 scores. 3 clangers from 4 disposals in his one game this year. I've seen zero evidence that he is an AFL calibre player, so I'm more than happy for him to leave and wish him well elsewhere.

Can't wait to see guys like Williams, Martin & McGovern talking about selflessness and team first cultures as they pocket half of Carlton's salary cap between them. That said, there is enough talent on Carlton's list that they should be playing finals next year.

Is this the same Buckenara that has rated Geelong's list as having 9 A graders and 16 B graders in today's paper?

Happy with this one. There is not a lot of depth in our key forward positions behind Brown & McDonald, and I'm assuming he still comes reasonably cheap.

Has anyone heard when this might be held? I thought they may have done something with the entire group together in Perth, given that indoor functions in Melbourne are unlikely to be possible for a while. Although maybe it is better to wait until the players are sober again before asking them to give speeches.

Is that actually the case though? Bradtke was a category B rookie, so I don't think takes a spot on the list. Nietschke was also only a rookie. And given that Turner and Declase came in as injury replacements, I'm assuming that we had more players on our list than we would be allowed when Hore & Tomlinson come back off the LTI list. Plus we need to create room for Jordon to go back on the senior list. I wouldn't be surprised to see more delistings before the first list lodgement date.