rjay

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Roos, last game v Geelong. Geelong 24:11 Melbourne 6:8 Roos did his job, it was time to move on. If he did his job well then he picked the right successor...

Get's a game at any club...A- to A

I think sometimes the talk of culture is overblown...and can be used as an excuse. In the end winning is everything. If Watts went when it was his turn & played consistent football then I think he would still be at the club.

Why do we keep blaming Neeld for this? It might have been Viney...Jack was certainly in the Toumpas camp. ...but whatever, I would love to know the true story on it and not the Neeld narrative that is continually thrown around here.

Not many of them want to put their body in line with the ball. In the first half when conditions were tough they would put a hand out and the Hawks ran in straight lines. It was some of their stars like Cameron & particularly Whitfield that were the biggest culprits. Surprisingly I would also add Mumford to the list, not committing himself at the contest. He's playing for his super and very little else...tip toeing around like a baby elephant. Davis, Hayne, Shaw & Green the only ones having a go.

Bennell is a much better player than Jack 'binman'... To my mind there is no correlation between picking up Bennell and moving on Watts. You could argue yay or nay on many grounds but not this one.

Thanks for the info 'steve'... This is what I've been banging on about. Happy to know we are not falling for the hype, that's been a real issue with other clubs in the past. When a club overrates it's list it ends up in tears...

What makes you think they're not???? The only club not lobbying against a start of first round priority pick is GC....

I don't think Fritter should play anywhere else but as our 3rd tall link up forward, a role that Lynch plays with Adelaide. CP5 will run through the middle as one of the rotations as he does now & we could use Melk up the ground as he's probably our best field kick into the forward half. Nothing wrong with that strategy.

You've got rotations off the bench, Melk can play up the ground on a wing, off HB or through the middle, Trac through the middle, Fritsch is our 3rd tall not sure who the other 2 are as yet and I rate AVB ahead of the Smiths and Hannan. ...but history shows it's unlikely he will get back on the park.

You had a reasonable argument 'steve' until you mentioned these 3. 3 of the most professional players in the game. In reality you can't put them in the same argument.

Keep up the good fight 'Ethan', and ' @Pennant St Dee'... A year like this coming on top of many, many others and I'm nearly ready to do the Robert Johnson crossroads deal... I'm even finding Hird nearly palatable as an assistant. I mean, what could go wrong?

Doesn't find enough of the ball for me to make it as a mid...good young mids rack up possessions in the 2's. Think Harmes, ANB and Brayshaw when starting at Casey and they were all getting big numbers. Jordon is a good example of our youngest kid who really gets involved when playing midfield and gets as fair bit of ball. I would try Sparrow back, his strength on the ground, in the air and leg speed could be valuable there plus he may read the play better with the ball coming at him. Could also be a tagger down the track, has the attributes. Happy to be proven wrong about the mid thing, I like a lot of what the kid brings.

Not sure on Dunkley yet...he's not his brother. My bet would be good depth (better than what we have) but will wait and see. Pretty sure Sparrow won't make it as a mid. Gus not having a great year but still streets ahead of those 2 so it would want to be something very special to move him on.

Well, I guess it makes sense. We are in need of a small forward.

'Webber' is a physio mate, I trust his view on these issues. He gives good insights as he has in this case. I know we're all p....off with this season and the club but you're off the mark here.

Interesting, I remember seeing somewhere they said he shouldn't miss too much preseason. Thought that strange if it was only a broken jaw...

Personally I think he's a bit overrated. Not a big possession winner, pretty much a vanilla footballer. We weren't interested last time he was on the market, wonder what has changed. St Kilda have been keen for a while. Give me Langdon.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rawlings move on for his own development. You can only stay at a club so long, and it then appears you are treading water in the AFL industry and you become a forgotten man. That is if he still wants a senior job down the track.

He's been on mine since it looked like they had the knives out for him with the Saints. Would be a great get with Burgess...bot responsible with Hinkley in rebooting Port.

I agree that Smith isn't the answer, we just get totally cleaned up when Max goes for a rest and Pruess does his share in this area. Unfortunately he's lost any confidence with his hands and can't hold a mark. I like where 'Nev' is heading here, I would give Petty a run. The kid is a smart footballer and he has just that little bit of mongrel about him. Would also be pretty useful around the ground with his marking. Might as well have some options for next year.

Sorry mate, don't know. All I know is we didn't play him back into form, he's been playing back to his Brownlow best before we got there.

We can be blamed for many things 'chook' but not this one. Martin has been in good form definitely not out of form. Was BOG against C/wood last week with 38 touches & 2 goals (we kept him quiet, 34 touches and only 1 goal)...

I think the only way to do a deliberate forensic analysis of all issues is with an external review. Everything on the table. The only reason for not doing it is if you have something to hide or if your ego is so big you think you have all the answers. We've been here before. I fear Sir Humphrey Appleby is running the club at the moment but hope I'm wrong.

For those who don't think part of the problem is the game plan... Cotchin being interviewed at half time said if they could start getting a bit more contested ball they know they can easily run off Melbourne on the outside. Seriously Goody, I know (hope) you don't really believe what you said above. But this year every team in the competition knows how to play & beat Melbourne. This would want to be a hell of a tinker you're working on...