rjay

He's (Kelly) certainly not worth the coin that was on offer. ...and full commitment wasn't on offer in their finals performance again. Salem is a beauty and still very underrated, his GF performance would have opened some eyes. ...maybe not Mathew Lloyd who just see the baby face (looks can be deceiving) and misses the uncompromising tough, contested work he does. Jack Macrae found that out the hard way pretty early in the first Q. I'm going with the player that stands up when it's on the line...he doesn't let you down.

Which game???

As I said on the Salem thread, I would take him ahead of Kelly. Like a few in the overrated society Kelly doesn't get down in the trenches when the going is hot. Nice footballer when allowed, nice doesn't win Premierships...

Played with injury concern a lot of the year otherwise would have been AA...still better than Rich but who cares. Salem a brilliant contributor. Forget the pick swaps and other players, head to head I would pick Salem ahead of Kelly. A proven finals, big game player against a one that has so far faltered.

Bowey was a pretty decent consolation...

Not always...the centre bounce at the 22 mins on this video shows a couple of things. Jackson and Oliver have hands on the same ball. Jackson is smart enough to know that Oliver has some momentum and is moving forward so leaves the ball. Then Jackson spreads back to cover space and give an extra option. The on ball team have really refined their team game now. My biggest criticism in the past was not using each other and playing more as individuals than a team. They really put that to bed this year culminating in a superb GF performance.

Brett Lovett was a master of this... ...getting his arms up and away from the tackle then giving off the ball.

You can't keep all your favourite sons and in reality it's better for them to get out and experience other clubs. Great news for Nev, times are tough out there and these jobs are limited with the soft cap squeeze.

Robbie Gray has been one of my favourite non Melbourne players to watch for a while now but I think he's done & I can't think of anyone who would get me through the gate.

They've targeted players well...and not been scatter-gun like the Saints and Carlton. I guess if they're interested (it's only rumour at this stage) in Dunstan, as I say I don't really see it but they will have good logic to back it up. I'm happy to make our late 1st rounders, 2nd rounders winners...if we get more Fritsch, Rivers, Bowey types then the rookie picks don't really matter.

I don't see it but...you have to trust the list management crew. They've got a good record. That's good to say, isn't it?

Without a lot of exposed form it might be best to hold future picks this year...unless we have a specific target.

You can even see BB there at times...they all cover a lot of ground.

A lot of talk in the media (David King prime example) was about shutting down Lever & how by doing that the Dogs would well on the way to shutting down Melbourne. Lever was serviceable, they put a lot of work into him but others stepped up...Salem for one, Petty, Rivers, Bowey. It's been a balanced team defence all season, whole of ground...why would a so called expert come out with such dribble. The GF defence was a very even contribution (Salem the standout) with great assistance as usual from Brayshaw & Langdon. By the way, watching again it's interesting to see how a 30 game player in Petty sucked Libba in throughout the game. Petty is a very competitive and smart footballer with just the right amount of mongrel.

In the Allan Jeans mould, give 'em nothing.

I wonder if he will be better than Rivers or Bowey though 'A F'...they have a heap of development left in them.

The natural progression of the younger players on our list will strengthen it quite substantially. In the meantime I would be focussing on Max's & May's successors (3 to 5 years) and a key forward (King) in the next year or so.

Totally with you 'A F', he really went to another level when it counted. Great finals series. That centre 4 of Jackson, Trac, Oliver and Jack were the stuff of legends in the 3rd Q onslaught. The sum of the parts.

Poor old 'Cranky' after a premiership win surely you could be 'Less Cranky Franky' or even 'Friendly Franky'... I did say "If"... Sorry for yelling...

One thing really stood out for me last night and that's how much Christian Petracca has grown in his media role. If you look back even from half way through this season to now his transformation is remarkable. ...and he seems like a genuinely good bloke. I'm reliably informed that he is.

I would love it if the best person for the job when Pert steps down is a woman. That would be a huge step.

One of my favourite players in those dark times...

You could see him will himself, he just wasn't going to be beaten. A huge contribution.

How about that '@Macca'? Never thought we were going to see the day (or night as it turns out)...