poita

The problem with the VFL team is that it largely consists of developing key position players (and Pedersen) and more established flanker / utility types. When the injury list consists of elite midfielders and key position players, the cupboard is bare when it comes to like for like replacements.

If you are ever going to do without Hibberd, this is probably the week. Geelong have Hawkins, Menzel and a bunch of quick, small types. Yes, we lose Hibberd's run and carry, so I like the idea of Fritsch playing back, but we can cover him defensively. More of an issue is whether Lewis and Vince can keep up with their opponents.

I can think of ten players I'd move on before Keilty. I'm more than happy to see him kept on for next year, even if he doesn't make his debut this year.

The problem Balic has is that we have so many half forward flankers on the list. He needs to show that he is capable of playing a different role at VFL level to force his way into the AFL side. The fact that he is not getting midfield time at Casey really hurts his case. Even playing off a HBF for the remainder of the year would boost his chances given that Vince & Lewis are nearing the end. I'd rather see him get another year over extending contracts for the likes of McKenna and JKH, but you couldn't blame the football department if they choose to move him on either.

The role for Bugg is providing very deep depth in a bottom 6 side, there is no way he should be getting a game in a finals contending side. Seven years into his AFL career I can't see how he has improved his game from his first year at GWS. Sure he's playing a different role these days, but only because his poor skills no longer allow him to play in the midfield, even as a tagger. The coach is clearly a Vandenberg fan, but he has the same issues as Bugg. He is not particularly young, he has gone backwards from his first season (even before his injury), he is slow and his skills are well below AFL standard.

I'd be happy with Gawn & Oliver. Anybody else would be very lucky, although we are owed a few from previous years. Hopefully both Gawn & Grundy make the team - both should be in the first five picked.

Tyson is a straight swap for Viney, and clearly should have played on Sunday. JKH was just atrocious for three quarters, albeit better in the last, and proved once again that he is not an AFL standard midfielder. Nine tackles means he was second to every contest, and he showed his lack of pace and size on a regular basis. I hate seeing McDonald ruck. It destroys our forward structure and he had no impact in the middle. Pedersen coming in would give us a decent back up ruckand three tall up forward to replicate the structure that Adelaide beat Geelong with last week. He can also provide cover down back if Hawkins gets on top of McDonald. Hannan is a clear out as he goes missing far too often and we have too many similar types. I want Vince out as well as his disposal is shocking and will cost us big time against quality opposition, but I can't see a worthy replacement at Casey. Maybe he can be redeployed to the forward line.

Just another example of Goodwin being too clever for his own good. Next we'll probably see Oliver playing full back to stop him being tagged.

Far, far better looking side, but it genuinely feels like Goodwin has no idea how to pick a team at the moment. Guys like Petty get picked from nowhere on a whim; other blokes (eg Tyson) come in and are played out of position; others (eg J.Smith) are given one role at Casey and another in the senior side. Frost should have been in the side for a month already, but we we have tried J.Smith & Petty ahead of him, and both have failed. Garlett was sent back to Casey three months ago, didn't do anything in that time, and is now back. Spargo has played one game in a month at any level, but is back in favour for some reason. I'm not saying any of these are bad selections this week, but what are the messages that are being given to the players? In the past five weeks we have gone Smith --> Pedersen --> Smith --> Weideman --> nobody for the second ruck / third forward rule. I'm no fan of Smith or Weideman, and Pedersen didn't grab his chance on QB, but surely all of these blokes need more than one week to find their feet. Hopefully it is Frost backing up Gawn in the ruck, but more likely we'll try to destroy our forward line by using Tommy Mac.

Yep, we'd obviously be 14-0 with a percentage of 180 if it wasn't for the umpires. Bastards.

Good to see Harmes locked away for a couple of years. I'm not a fan of Wagner particularly, but a one year deal is fine. There are about ten players to move on this year, before Wagner's spot on the list is in jeopardy.

Nice idea and all, and I'm sure the hippies that dreamed up the idea went to bed feeling warm and fuzzy, but really it is just a way for opposition supporters and uncommitted Melbourne barrackers to get into a free game of football. The queues of people lined up at the tent outside gate 3 would suggest that everyone has cottoned on by now. It was a poor crowd anyway for two Melbourne teams on a nice winter's day, but I would hate to think how many people got in for free that shouldn't have. We probably made a loss for the day, which is totally unacceptable. It would be far better to give every Melbourne member a couple of free tickets during the year that they could use to bring a friend along. At least you know opposition supporters aren't benefiting.

The Collingwood & Richmond losses were tolerable given that we were beaten by two very good sides, and didn't really drop our bundle under severe pressure. We should have beaten both Port & Geelong, but didn't take our chances. However, yesterday's game and the Hawthorn game were both disgraceful. In both cases it was a diabolical combination of disrespecting the opposition, overrating our own abilities, poor team selection, and woeful coaching and strategy. Gawn was quite outstanding, we got contributions from Fritsch, Harmes, Hibberd, Viney and Oliver, and that was about it. Hannan has been disgraceful for a month and should be at Casey. Melksham had one of his regular 'can't be stuffed days'. Weideman is not an AFL footballer, and almost certainly never will be. Ditto Smith (both of them actually). Lewis is lazy and should never be allowed to play as a loose man. Tyson is being played out of position. Jetta and T.McDonald were both clearly unfit and should not have played. Salem is a constant disappointment, and I would happily trade him for someone with some leg speed. Neal-Bullen still can't handle the heat. Our inability to get around a player who is struggling is just mind boggling. Petty was obviously struggling, but when did our senior players get over to him and try to help him out? Oliver was being scragged and molested all day, and nobody flew the flag for him. More than any other, Jones disappoints me in this respect. Yet again Goodwin did nothing, tried nothing to change the course of the game. T.McDonald had no impact on the game, so we could have put him to half back to help out Petty & O.McDonald. Hogan could have gone into the middle to get some touches in the first half. We didn't man up their loose players coming through the centre. Why not have Melksham run with Steven, or Hannan play across half back to get them in the game? The Casey game was pretty ordinary, but we clearly need to bite the bullet on a few players and give them 3 weeks to find their feet in the senior team. Garlett, Frost, Pedersen and Stretch are the obvious ones. I'd even consider Bugg if it was to do a tagging job.

Clearly Goodwin doesn't rate Frost (I don't either), but it is good to see us with some balance back in the defence. Good luck to Petty on debut - I was excited about his recruitment more than any of other picks last year. We desperately needed another tall to free up Hibberd. Joel Smith gets a chance to show his worth in a more suitable role after an ordinary game last week. I'd prefer Pedersen but more likely Weideman will come in to replace Tim Smith. That makes it four weeks in a row we have changed that role. FCS just pick someone and given them a few weeks to gel with Hogan & McDonald. I'd give Vince the week off, and keep both Harmes & Tyson, but I wouldn't be surprised if both are dropped and Vince and Spargo play. Goodwin is seemingly making it up as he goes along at the moment.

Good in theory, but we'll cop a home game at Etihad if we leave the NT deal. We'd be lucky to get 15K for any of GWS, GC17 or Freo there.

Great news for one of the nicest blokes in footy. I wish him very, very well.

Totally agree with all of this. I would never, ever contemplate trading Hogan, but if someone wanted to make us a ridiculous offer for Petracca I'm starting to think it would be worth considering. Hunt has some value, but he offers something that we desperately need - I hope he stays. We desperately need to add top 30 draft picks to the list this year, given our lack of high picks over the past two seasons. Otherwise we face having another imbalance on our list in a few years time.

I can live with Smith over Pedersen, and Tyson should have been in weeks ago, but otherwise that's not a great result at selection. We clearly need another tall defender in the side. We were horribly exposed against Collingwood, and Port have more tall forwards than Collingwood. Clearly McDonald takes Dixon, but that presumably leaves Smith on Westhoff / Ryder and Hibberd on Marshall, neither of which is a great result for us. Ideally Frost, but even Petty, had to come in for Vince. This was also the perfect game for Garlett to come back in. Hannan has plenty of upside, but still goes missing for 3 in every 4 quarters. For all his flaws at least Garlett will make a couple of big chases and tackles each game, particularly when motivated after a lengthy VFL stretch. Oh well, it is probably all irrelevant unless the midfield plays a million times better than they did last start.

The club needs to get a bit smarter at this. Obviously you want your best players available for the senior side if possible, but it is pretty dumb to have players 23-25 on your list not playing games for multiple weeks. Having Tyson miss a week after being dropped surely set him back a fair way, and since then we have had Garlett, Pedersen and Hunt miss games whilst on the cusp of senior selection. Given how rarely you need to call on your 23rd player, I'd rather hold over a player further down the depth chart (Bugg, Wagner, Stretch, etc) and keep the better players playing regularly.

Delist: McKenna, Vandenberg, Kennedy-Harris, Johnstone, and one or both of King / Filipovic Retire: Vince Trade/Delist: Kent or Bugg Retain on short-term deals: Keilty, Balic, Smith, Pedersen, Wagner Resign on long-term deals: Brayshaw, Harmes, Jetta, McDonald That gives a minimum of seven picks across the national draft and rookie draft before further trades. I hope we can keep Tyson, but Frost would be surely looking for more opportunities. Clearly Kent has small trade value and Bugg no trade value, but I can't see the value in keeping both. Maynard is very lucky he has a contract for next year, because I can't see him getting a game unless we have a truck load of injuries. If it was up to me I would delist both ruckmen and find a decent mature age state league ruckman. King and Filipovic are light years away from being AFL ruckmen, and even then they'd be more likely to be poached by another team before Gawn retires.

I'm more than happy to see him go. There is no doubting his ability, but due to injury and lack of application (he never plays more than two decent games in a row. I can't see how he has any bargaining power at Melbourne given his past two seasons, and would happily take a top 50 draft pick for him. I'd be interested to know where this talk of midfield time has come from - he is not within a million miles of having the endurance to play in the midfield.

Says the guy who repeatedly said that Cam Pedersen would never play another AFL game.

I didn't mind Smith's game overall, but he is clearly not a direct replacement for Lever as a genuine second tall defender. I gather he has been playing as third or fourth defender at Casey, so why the fork would you expect him to play as second defender at AFL level? I'm more than happy for him to replace Vince or Lewis on a flank, with Frost to slot in at CHB.

I honestly don't understand why the same old sad sacks read this thread when they know what they are going to get each week. For what its worth I think joeboy consistently does an excellent job and I thank him for his contribution.