poita

It is amazing that AFL clubs have more coaches on the books than ever before, and most of these can travel under the radar for years without the general public knowing exactly what they contribute to their club's performance, yet the scrutiny and pressure imposed on senior coaches is greater than ever. It is a broken system and hopefully this will be the catalyst for change.

In the interests of balance, note also: 11 - Brent Grgic (had some talent, but never had an AFL body) 22 - Alistair Nicholson (underrated on this site) 30 - Hayden Lamaro 45 - Clayton Gardiner 59 - Anthony McDonald (very good player) 68 - Russell Robertson (delisted, and re-drafted in rookie draft) plus some other late picks than amounted to nothing.

I was sure that Neitz or Stynes would be number 1, but I fully agree with having Lyon at the top. He is clearly the best MFC player I have seen, and played better in the big games than either Neitz or Stynes. Stynes is a tough one for me - he did a lot of things really well and it is a great story, but did he actually win games of football for the team? I'd have Viney, Yze, White and Schwarz ahead of Gawn at this point - Max has still only played three full seasons of football and a few that have been interrupted by injury. For sheer talent Schwarz would be number 1 and his 1994 season was the best I have seen by a MFC player. Neitz and Stynes only get him for longevity and consistency. S.Febey and J.McDonald should both clearly be on that list. Febey for sustained excellence over a long period as the only player on the list that was part of the Northey, Balme and Daniher eras. McDonald for two B&F victories and for being one of our two All Australian midfielders in the past 20 years.

Another game where we gave ourselves no chance of winning from the outset with poor team selection and by playing underdone players. It took Goodwin just six months to take us from 4th to 17th, but he has clearly spent the past 12 months ensuring we will stay there for years to come. Our forward structure, our two-way midfield running and defensive accountability are non-existent. Our effort is generally okay, but we undo this with skills and decision making of the highest ineptitude. Viney was excellent and Pickett showed plenty of promise. May and O.McDonald beat their direct opponents convincingly, but West Coast played around them for the most part. The rest were utter tripe. Worst on ground by a mile was Spargo. I knew we would be bad when I saw he was in the team, but that was next level stuff. 3 effective disposals, 0 scores, 0 tackles and 3 mind boggling turnovers kicking sideways or backwards into the middle of the ground. There is not a single aspect of his game that is AFL standard. Gawn was beaten by Hickey and flogged mercilessly by Naitanui in all significant respects - he is clearly not fit. Oliver was lazy and disinterested. Ditto Brayshaw. Petracca continues to tease and deliver little. Tomlinson was unsighted. Langdon worked his backside off and undid it all with terrible disposal. And Harmes, our best defensive midfielder, ran around the half back line like a headless chook. T.McDonald continued his descent towards being a VFL player. Melksham continues to strut around and avoid the contest. Bedford is miles off this level and Brown, who I have time for, made a bucket load of school boy errors. Jetta is two years past being an AFL player and should retire. Ditto Hibberd. Lever continues to save his best work for directing traffic whilst ignoring his opponent and making elementary skill errors. All in all the type of performance that makes me wonder exactly what we have been doing for six months and makes me glad that I don't have to see them play again for another 2 months.

AFLW teams are 23 players, not 21, but the point remains that we need to find at least 3 players to field a full team this week.

That's a great result really - I'd certainly rather have GWS than Brisbane, and presumably we'd get North the following week if we win.

Really? Players earning an average of $350K plus a year need words of encouragement from mums and dads who are worrying about their jobs and putting food on the table. It would be more appropriate for the players to be offering support to the people who pay their wages. And sorry, but there are countless community sporting and other groups that will be feeling the pinch much more than the AFL clubs. Is the AFL going to step in and help out the junior clubs that provide their players, or just let them all fold?

Sure, but are they actually going to have any games to show?

The AFLPA once again show that they are living on a completely different planet from the rest of us. I'd argue that player (and coach) salaries should be capped at $200K per annum until this situation resolves itself. Given that membership and sponsorship dollars pay for a significant portion of player wages and both will be hugely impacted over the next few years, I can't see how clubs can survive unless they can massively reduce wages. In an environment in which there will be massive job losses, surely the players can't continue to hold out their hands for their massive pay packets.

Another kick in the nuts to every struggling local team out there by an organisation that cares for nothing but itself. Take the best players out of these teams mid season and leave to them to fend for themselves.

Bitterly disappointing result on Saturday night after such a strong first half. Even though Carlton were clearly the better side in the second half we still had chances at the end of the third quarter to open up a 2 - 3 goal lead which might have been enough. Cunningham, Newman and O'Dea have been liabilities this year, but with club already into top up players we have no alternative but to persist with them. O'Dea has been a great player for the club, but she can barely run at the moment. The St Kilda game was always going to come back to bite us - Collingwood play Richmond and the Bulldogs in the last two rounds, so we are going to need to win both games by a decent margin to play finals. I can't see how Stinear can survive a fourth year of missing finals with the talent at his disposal. Finally, can someone please explain to me the logic of isolating players all week, then sending them on a commercial plane to Alice Springs to play at a closed venue. Surely they could have played the game at Casey Fields and saved a truck load of money and effort.

Is this actually going ahead? Surely it is a bigger risk to have players at airports, on planes and in hotels than it is for them to train in front of 20 people at Goschs Paddock. Our best football is good enough to beat Carlton, but whether it is displayed for four quarters is the big question. Any idea why Downie and Pearce aren't back this week? I thought both had only minor issues last week.

So the AFLW team, which plays at Casey Fields, trains at AAMI Park while the AFL team, which plays across the road from AAMI Park, trains at Casey Fields. That makes perfect sense.

This is exactly what happened. $2M or thereabouts down the toilet on three year contracts for Vandenberg and Kolodjashnij, plus whatever they are costing in medical expenses. As soon as Sydney started the bidding war we should have folded and moved on to which draft pick they were going to give us in return.

You guys are kidding yourselves if you think opposition coaches won't have exploiting Lever as their number 1 avenue to victory against Melbourne this year. He will be dragged back to the goal square at every opportunity and teams will play through his opponent as much as possible. He simply has to get better in this respect. The alternative is that May or McDonald has to beat their own man and Lever's as well.

Throw in Nietschke as well, and the band is back together. Time for this club to grow some balls and make some tough decisions on players who can't get on the field regularly. Bad luck only stretches so far - at some point you have to accept that certain players don't have the bodies to play at AFL level.

I've been a member for 35 years, but I in no way judge others for how they choose to spend their money, particularly in light of the disgraceful efforts on and off field last year. This club has got a lot of work to do to redeem itself in the eyes of many.

I was at Casey Fields on Sunday and I was certainly happy with a 10 goal win after an underwhelming first half. Melbourne is very capable of challenging for the premiership this year if they can keep their better players on the park and playing well, but they still need to learn to play four quarters against all opposition. Re Perkins, I can't believe she hasn't done more to get herself fit as she otherwise has all the attributes to be a good player at this level. Unfortunately she is not eligible to play again if we get players back from injury. I thought she helped take pressure off Cunningham and Hore, and she is a better kick from long range than most of our players. As an aside, the crowd was really disappointing and there was little atmosphere. Clearly playing an interstate side and the lack of a contest didn't help, but I thought we would have had more people there. Perhaps another sign that we are getting very little out of this arrangement other than $$$ from the local council.

Every time we get one player back we seem to lose two more. Even with Downie out, I don't think we need to get too clever this week - just back our midfielders to win the ball in the middle and hold it in our front half for the majority of the game. Hopefully our defence barely sees the ball, so it doesn't matter who is down there. We need to win and win big with Carlton and Fremantle both interstate to come in the next two weeks.

The Bentleigh Club has been a disgrace in recent years. It feels as though you are imposing on them to find you a TV and a few chairs, and half the staff can't work out how to turn the volume up or get a decent picture. Last time I went (GC last year) we were sardined in a tiny room. It is not surprising that barely anyone goes there any more.

This club is as weak as [censored] sometimes. I'm absolutely for looking after Kade and his long term health, even though the club didn't do its homework and gave a three year contract to a bloke with significant health issues. But that clearly is not going to be as an AFL footballer, and we need to do what is right for the club. Let Kade get himself right so that he can live a normal life, give him all the support he needs, but get him off the list and find someone who can help the club in 2020.

Thanks to all those posting and offering their views. Also thank you to those VFL players helping out today - I'm assuming that most have full time jobs that they have stepped away from for the afternoon.

Lauren Pearce is a massive in if fit. Parry is a tall forward, so hopefully she can help us be more efficient inside 50, although we become very tall with Cunningham, Zanker, Scott and Hore down there as well. Maybe Scott moves into the midfield, even though she has been our best forward the last two weeks. Goldrick was important in the first two rounds so it is good to see her named as well.

Membership numbers are almost irrelevant this year. We may come close to matching last years membership numbers, but I expect a massive drop off from the higher categories, especially those relating to grand final guarantees. You can almost guarantee that most of the memberships being sold after round 1 are 3 game memberships which are barely worth worrying about.

I went for the first time this year on Friday , and it was simply an atrocious game of football. One team spent the entire game trying to lose and the other spent the entire game sitting back and waiting for the ball to bounce its way. Coupled with the howler monkeys on the PA, it was a tough night. Mick Stinear is a shocking coach and should have been replaced at the end of last year. He simply cannot find a way to structure the side so that players are taking set shots from inside 30m of goal. We have so many centre clearances and inside 50s each week for so little result. As with Goodwin, he is more worried about structuring rotations and managing game time that he forgets making positional changes to alter the course of the game. Birch is the worst kick I have seen this side of an Auskick session - it is incredible that we would give up a first round pick for her when there are so many talented kids coming through the draft. That said, she has plenty of mates in the same boat. Thankfully Downie and Pearce can generally clean up her messes. Cunningham and Newman provide nothing up forward - far better to move them out and create space for Zanker, Hore and Scott who at least contest. Perhaps push Hanks forward to provide some physical presence. If Cunningham is not fit enough to ruck I can't see how she can hold her spot. Paxman is a star, Gay has started strongly, but we desperately need O'Dea to find form. If we don't beat Collingwood this week I can't see how we play finals, and that is going to be a big ask with a massive injury list.