rjay

That's a pretty harsh comment on a kid who's body is only starting to grow to meet the demands of AFL footy. Hardly yet built like Tarzan. He's been willing if not always able. I haven't seen him putting in the short steps and not having a go. At 21 he has time on his side. I jokingly refer to Jenkins of the Adelaide variety as Jane ('Nasher' doesn't like me doing it), partly because of the alliteration... but he's had years in the system and is built like a brick.... ...just he seems to like playing the small forward role.

I think you are talking about Heppell...

...and he kicked 4 in a tight game against the dogs. 6 against the Hawks last year...so... Spent more time in the ruck. Played a lot of footy in inclement conditions where you might even struggle to get a kick. Look, we're in a time where no one is kicking the big bags of goals. There's no Frosty Miller or Freddie Cook around these days, that time has passed us by. It's not the measure of a player now. Weid will fill a role and do it better than anyone else we've got at present. His time has come. Like it or not we need to know if he can step up in a big game and it might as well be now because if he can't then there's no point us being in finals just to make up the numbers. Better to have good intel coming into the trade/draft period. Hogan, Lever and Viney leave a big hole in our structure. As an aside, remember how Boyd was at the Dogs??? Couldn't catch a cold then suddenly turned it around at the end of 2016. You just never know.

Come on 'Wise' you're getting sucked back into the pack here. He's 22 yo and has barely played 50 games... Despite what others think I reckon he's tracking ok at the moment. Whether he becomes X-factor or not he will still be a very good player. Just a little aside, I believe part of our game plan is to set the ball up close in to goal. There are a number of occasions where I would prefer Trac to have a ping from around 50 but he does the team thing.

There you go... You see I think he does provide a genuine physical contest. What I would like to see him do more of is hold his grabs. Time at AFL now will tell us if he's a keeper or not. Has to come in...

Wish I shared your faith 'P-man'...

Would be ok if we had some decent small forwards. We're struggling here and it's one reason our forward efficiency isn't great. Definitely no Pedo, but I think Weid has to come in to take the 2nd ruck role... Max has been cooked for a few weeks now and he needs a good rest during the game. If Tommy was our only key forward he wouldn't be able to give a chop out and I wouldn't like to see Harmes having to do it again.

No, for all is great service etc. Pedders has shown he is not quite right as an AFL level player/forward. Had his time in the sun last year when Max went down and seems to play his best footy as a running ruck a position not open at the moment. Time for Weid to step up.

Is 'goodwindees' 'GNF'????

Who do we have in the team that can do that? Salem, the other dedicated kicker would give you the same Lewis result. Maybe Pedders...if Hunt was fit then him. As far as playing on and grabbing some metres? Again Hunt if fit or Frost...with either of those who knows were it would end up. In both scenarios it would have been Hibberd if he was there but he wasn't.

I hope he stays well away from that area 'old dee'... We know that's a recipe for disaster.

No, he's totally wrong. At the moment I would think finishing 8th would be about where we are at. We can beat the 10 teams below us (given I think Geelong will finish above us) and can't beat the 7 above. That's what the ladder is for Garry...that's not default. His argument about performing on the big stage has some merit, that's why we are sitting just in the 8 and not top 4.

It tells me a few things... We can't cover the loss of serious high end talent...Lever, Hibberd. We are also trying to cover the loss of another couple for handy players in Viney and Melksham. Our match winners are still too inexperienced against the best teams. As far as talent goes we are not a complete list and need to invest in another class mid, defender and serious small forward. Also need proper back up for Max, he's had to carry way too much load this season and needs a break that we can't afford to give him. There you go, without trying too hard you've mentioned another reason. Selection has been an issue all season. I also think you are being a bit harsh on Petracca...I don't think he will be the superstar many had hoped for but his is a good contributor and streets ahead of serious underachievers like Watts and Silvia.

Agree on the state of umpiring this year 'titan'...so frustrating. I'm not a Nichols fan at all but funny listening post game on the radio to a Swans supporter complaining about the same umpire saying he never gives them a thing. I just think he's a rubbish umpire, an opinion that is reinforced when I'm watching a non Melbourne game as a neutral.

I'm definitely one of the Frost bashers but all credit to him. He's played some good footy since coming back in. Let's hope he keeps on the improve as we need his leg speed big time. Although I'm still not convinced he is our long term answer...

If Hibberd needs another week, he needs it. A thigh will go early if he's not a 100%, then we are one down. Hardly the way to win a game. He may well be chasing that injury for the rest of his career if he does further damage. I get players playing sore or not at 100% but something like this is not smart. Similar to Viney last year, it just screws things up down the track. We went top heavy today to cover for Max (Pedders) in case he went down. We were already top heavy down back. We took in Hunt when Goodwin said last weekend he needed at least another game. Wagner should have played. Hogan has been playing sore. We've been carrying Spargo for a while and against the Swans he was always going to come unstuck. Vince would have been handy on McVeigh...or Lloyd. I think selection has been pretty average most of this year. It has cost us games.

We rolled the dice on a couple today 'titan' and took in insurance. It didn't & doesn't work...

I'm not sure Hibberd is right to go yet. I hope we don't rush him in because on the off chance we make finals he is vital to us putting up some kind of a show.

A few random observations on Matthews... Remember we used to do preseason training at Wattle Park and at the time Hawthorn used to train there as well doing hill runs. His (Matthews) legs were as big as the tree trunks. No wonder he was hard to move off the ball. It always amazed me no one took action on Matthews and knocked him out of existence. As many point out it was a different time and if I was coaching I would have seriously considered taking him out. I don't think he would have got a lot of support from teammates, as he says he was selfish and arrogant. His ongoing feud with Scott is legendary, they didn't speak and from what I'm told when they did the medicine ball sit up exercise together they seriously tried to knock each other out with it. Apparently he used to pack up his bag and leave at the end of the game and had nothing to do with teammates. Great player, I really can't be bothered crucifying the guy over things from the past. Think he is an average commentator on the game, don't put much stake in what he says but that's based on current commentary and has nothing to do with the past. If what Bruns says is true then it's pretty average of Matthews not to meet with him but then again everyones different, it's his choice. As a coach I think he got the keys to the Ferrari with Brisbane, I don't rate him as highly as his record and others.

'A F', Richo's a great assistant coach. Would love him at Melbourne. ...but the Saints have committed to him for next year. I guess they could backflip. They don't seem to have there act together at all. In prematch Lethlean indicated they would like to have a Hodge/Lewis situation. Short memory...they had one in Reiwoldt but forced him into retirement. That was such a dumb move, they could have played Nick anywhere on the ground if they wanted to develop their forwards. Would have been a handy winger or ever coming off half back. These guys don't grow on trees. St Kilda seem reactive rather than proactive. Even the move to keep Richo on has been justified using the Hardwick example. If the don't think for themselves they will keep disappointing their fans.

It's not a long tradition and I truly hope the AFL shelve it next year. It's such a let down to the start of a season and should probably be the GF replay game.

Happy to argue with you about that but then again the list would be pretty short to non existent. Rock is a live experience, films & documentaries about it are for the most part self serving and/or fan boy rubbish. The best thing about the Last Waltz is it gave Rob Reiner good material for Spinal Tap. In many ways Spinal Tap got closer to reality than many of it's more "serious" counterparts.

I doubt it. The only risk to culture is if he takes up too much salary cap space, it will have nothing to do with the punch. Lewis is a serial offender and has been very lucky not to have caused more damage in the past...he's said to be a positive player in our development of culture. Gaff will be a big plus if he comes to us.

I've seen this covered before... It's because we take more of our shots from close in to the goals. Seems part of the plan.

At the risk of derailing the thread... Ego got the better of him, totally full of his own self importance. Boat anchor of the highest order. Could write a tune though...