poita

Does he miss playing football, or does he miss the $100K plus salary and the perks that brings? I have nothing against Dom but he had his chance and threw it away. He's simply not a good enough footballer for us to take him back.

Kent and Jetta had seven touches between them on Friday, so their continued absence is hardly going to leave us worse off. Tyson clearly would be a massive loss. Grimes should be a certainty, and unfortunately Bail looks to be next cab off the rank. Maybe Terlich if we need a third inclusion, and Grimes can play midfield instead of defence. I want to see Toumpas in the side, but the timing is not right, At some point this season we are going to have to play Spencer and/or Gawn. Firstly, we can't expect Jamar to consistently ruck with next to no assistance like he did on Friday. Secondly, we have to work out whether those guys can play before year end. Spencer hasn't played first ruck since round 5 last year, Gawn since round 18 2013. If we're not going to play them, there is no point keeping them on the list.

It's all about our (in)ability to take our chances when they arise. We are more competitive in the midfield, despite having a useless ruckman, so hopefully the days of 30 inside 50's for a game are over. Garlett and Kent should do nothing other than take goal kicking practice this week. Dawes should do nothing other than practising leading, marking on his chest, and kicking for goal. The most important decision that the coach / selectors have to make this week is the second ruckman, because Frost is not (currently) the answer.

Whilst the Anzac Day game is a sellout (or close enough to) each year, there really is no argument. It's all well and good to say that the game should be shared around, but it would be embarrassing to have a crowd of 50K there for Melbourne and whoever. We have been give the opportunity to turn Anzac Day Eve into an event of significance, and that is what our attention should be focussed on. Yes, it is a Richmond home game this year, but MFC 11 game members get in as well, and a crowd of 70K may well give us a lucrative event to host next year.

I used to go the Leighoak in the through the 2000's, and it was fine for the purpose, although numbers dropped off when the side started stinking it up. They used to film DeeTV there too, and that was a good environment. I went to Bentleigh Club last week for the first time in at least a decade and was fairly underwhelmed by the experience. The TV was blurry, and the only way I found the room was by following other people - there was no signage and nothing to indicate that the game was being shown. Still, the atmosphere was okay and I didn't feel obliged to buy drinks or food to stay. That is extremely poor form by the Duke and is a sure way to stop MFC fans coming back, on game days or otherwise.

There are three main flaws with Dawes: 1. He is a forward who seems to spend most of his time wandering around the wing / half back flank. 2. He couldn't take a contested mark if his life depended on it. 3. He doesn't kick anywhere near enough goals - 32 in 31 games for the MFC. I don't think he is capable of playing the role that we ask of him, so I'm not convinced he is in our best 22 at present. You could never question his workrate or intensity, although he is becoming increasingly ill disciplined. Ultimately B&F finishes of 19th and 16th are utterly unacceptable for a player who is presumably in the top 3 highest paid players at the club.

Interesting topic for discussion - where would Ablett and Rockliff go if the league was redrafted today? Rockliff has a fairly clear date for return so maybe still a top ten pick; Ablett might be harder to justify with a first round pick if there is no guarantee that rest will help. You would assume that Lewis (29) and Fyfe (18) would be very high selections now.

Well, lucky we can blame something other than a soft, lazy playing group for that dismal performance. What will the excuse be after this week - too humid? too noisy? the pillows in the hotel were too hard? there were no peanuts on the plane?

Nice jumper. I'm surprised we're actually allowed to wear blue against Richmond - don't all dark colours clash with each other?

When has Roos ever done anything during a game to alter its course? Players come off at pre-determined intervals for a rest. He swaps his ruckmen around occasionally. Every now and then Watts sets off for the backline. It seems to me that if something isn't planned during the week, it doesn't happen. That either suggests that the players are too stupid to have their instructions changed on the fly, or the coach doesn't have any ideas. Perhaps both of these are true. The inability of Roos to stop the run of goals by getting any one (or all) of Dunn, Howe or McDonald into the heart of the action during that third quarter was inexcusable. Instead we spent 30 minutes watching Garland getting flogged by McCarthy, and a steady stream of runners trotting through our forward line unimpeded, whilst those three players were dragged miles out of the contest by their opponents. That is to say nothing of the calamity that was our centre square work after half time. Instead of having Jamar waving his hand feebly at the football we should have put Dawes in the middle to earn his pay by sticking his knees into Mumford for a while. Or perhaps tried manning up occasionally.

Having Dawes in the team destroyed everything that worked for us last week. He runs around like a headless chook, drops everything that comes his way, and doesn't kick goals. His undisciplined acts set a terrible example, and he provides no protection for Hogan. JKH should never have been dropped and should come in for Dawes. I can't see that Frost is any better than Pedersen as a forward / ruck. Maybe as back / ruck. Roos slaughtered Howe by letting his opponent drag him out of the play at every opportunity. He should have been sent forward in the second half, but I wouldn't drop him. Jamar was pathetic in the second half. Would Spencer or Gawn have done better in the ruck? Possibly not, but they sure would have made a contest around the ground to stop GWS bringing the ball in through McCarthy at every opportunity. Grimes in, maybe for Kent? Dean wasn't the worst, but his inability to execute the simplest of skills at key times is a worry. As an aside, I think we found out exactly why Lumumba, Garlett and Vince were unwanted by their previous sides. As soon as the pressure is turned on, they just turn to water.

"Put your brain into gear and if you can add to what's on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up." Thanks Richie for your massive contribution to the game, on and off the field.

I know it is in the AFL's interest to keep publishing membership numbers like they do currently, but it would be far more informative to report members as full membership equivalents. In other words, all Hawthorn's 3 game, pet and junior memberships would equate to around 20,000 full memberships. Hence why they only get crowds of 30,000 to most of their games.

Re Jamar, you don't need to touch the ball in the second half to get in the team of the week? The other three were very good.

Vince for Toumpas is a given. Either Gawn or Spencer for the giant blob currently playing in the ruck (0 touches in the last 2.5 quarters = pathetic). Dawes can have some time at Casey to learn how a key forward should play.

Plenty of teams / coaches are presenting a pretty decent brand of football at present. Port and Hawthorn in particular play very attractive football and win plenty of games as a result. The Bulldogs go okay as well for a lower ranked side. Unfortunately Roos is stuck in the dark ages and seems determined to keep us there, so MFC supporters should get used to watching boring games until he moves on.

I can't think of one player in our entire affiliation with Casey who has benefited from a prolonged spell in the VFL. Fair enough, players such as Stretch and O.McDonald need to grow into their bodies and spend time playing against men, but Brayshaw is already too good for that level. Most players who go to Casey come back worse, eg JKH last year. Give him a few weeks in the AFL and see how he goes - if he struggles, you send him back to Casey for a couple of weeks to get his confidence up and try again; if he thrives, then everybody wins.

I love how people point to our recruits as being a sign that we have improved, yet conveniently forget that other teams may have improved also. I'll be amazed if we win more than 4 games this year, and there is not a single game that I would confidently say we will win. Let's not forget that we had less scoring shots than our opponents in every one of our losses last year, considerably less in three of them. Bad kicking for goal was the only thing between us and a winless season last year.

Hopefully we have a few autopickers so the draft finishes before midnight.

Not sure why this information can't come from the club. We know that Petracca and Trengove are going for the year, so they don't need to be on the injury list each week. Far better to mention the players who will be available at some stage, even if we don't know when.

Stynes and Lyon are the only Demons with any kind of claim, but they would be borderline at best given that at least 1/3 of their careers happened outside the period in question. 3 of Jimmy's B&F victories were won in a complete rabble, so they are more a tribute to his consistency than his brilliance. Neitz finished his career with decent statistics, but was hardly a superstar, and rarely dominated in big games. Most of the players on the list thrived in big games, as the best players should. As with all of these lists, they are aimed as a conversation starter, not as a definitive list.

This is a great day for young supporters - my four year old had a ball. Luna Park is a great venue at present, but it would be horrible with a few more people in the place. I'm not sure it could handle a membership of 50K. Jones & Grimes were fantastic with my boy (as always), and Watts is another who has been brilliant in the past. I thought Petracca was fantastic as well, as a young bloke. Interesting that Garland was mentioned - I am a fan, but from a distance he didn't look like he wanted to be there today.

Thanks again to Robbo for his great work in organising this. I'm not overly worried about the categories used for scoring, but I am a bit concerned about increasing the size of the league further. If we end up at 16 teams that pushes the possible draft time out past five hours. That is a hell of a long time, particularly if it goes after midnight. It also dilutes the player pool a fair bit, which I guess could sort the wheat from the chaff (so to speak).

Eleven heads on the banner, and we'll be lucky if more than five of them will be part of our next finals team.

I really don't see what the issue is here. If you think something is overpriced, don't buy it. It's not like not having a pie and a beer at the footy is a life and death situation. The only way prices will come down is if they don't sell anything because everybody is bringing food and drink from home. Then you'll be sure to see a readjustment in pricing.