Watts Jurrah Dunn?

Spot on. Some were deluded enough to talk about 6 list changes because of a "weak draft". Spare me. Last year was supposedly weak too and vandenBerg was about the 70th player picked. They're out there.

We need good players all over the park so I'm not against The Connector. But the form he's in will mean Adelaide asks for at least our 2nd round pick. Shouldn't we be putting that pick 23-25 toward a pacy, skillful mid or half back flanker, rather than a 3rd tall forward?

WTF does he mean by this? Are we running marathons during the week to help us achieve sustained success in the future?

I'm not excited by this so called 'improvement' either. Firstly, any club that adds a 40+ goal a year forward to its side is always going to win an extra 2-3 matches. Hogan was the one positive legacy from the Neeld era and was a 'free hit' for Roos in 2015. The 2014 side + Hogan was always going to win a few more matches. So why hasn't the rest of the playing list improved? Secondly, isn't this the first season where the AFL grouped teams into lots of 6 so that you play more games against similarly placed sides? So our draw for 2015 was more friendly than in 2014 and we've played more games against bottom 6 sides? Again, you'd expect an extra win or two if you are playing more games against bottom 6 sides? I know that we have been smashed by injuries and ordinary sides can't afford to be regularly missing 4-6 best 22 players, but I would have expected to see more improvement from side coached by a bloke on $1.5m a year. Western Bulldogs seem to be getting the most out of no-namers like Jong, Hamling, Dickson, Redpath, Darley, Johannisen. Why is Bernie Vince the only Melbourne player that has been consistently better this year?

Not sure if serious? Trade bait? For pick 100?

Todd Viney on Triple M yesterday was honest enough to say that we have enquired about every young midfielder that wasn't sure what they were doing, the likes of Shiel, Treloar, Dangerfield, but we are just not an attractive enough option yet for these type of players. Bennell is absolutely everything we need on field having loaded up on one paced midfielders over the past couple of years. I'd be staggered if we weren't at least doing our homework on him. Obviously it's a huge punt with his off field stuff but it might be good for him becoming a smaller fish in a bigger pond. Apparently Barrett reported on The Footy Show that the Saints have done a lot of homework and will be making Bennell an offer. I hope we are doing our research too.

Has anyone got any mail on why we haven't even been mentioned in the same sentence as Treloar by the media? The talk is Collingwood is almost a done deal, and that North Melbourne and Richmond are also really involved with big offers. Did Treloar tell us he's not interested and not to waste our time? We must have so much money. I'm really surprised not to have heard we've made a big offer.

My mail is the same as Chook's. Howe is really disappointed that Roos was basically trying to pack his bags for him throughout trade-week last year. When the special offer did come from GWS and the Dees tried to get it done on the final day, Howe was disappointed and almost offended that he had 3-4 hours to consider his football career. Let's just hope there is plenty of interest and we can play a few clubs off for a good pick.

What happens if Adelaide match the offer put to Dangerfield by another club? Does it then go to a trade situation?

Watts sounded fine on his SEN Morning Glory interview on Thursday (?) morning. More likely to be an allergy to two good games in a row.

I was there and you can give up on Toumpas. Will be lucky to get pick 50 for him I'd reckon but if you can, start again with a kid that possesses some of the right traits: pace/running, competitiveness and elite kicking. Unfortunately Toumpas has none of these. He panics with the ball even in the vfl. Put one out on the full when he had more time. Dropped a chest mark that he had to wait under which BH took straight down for a goal. Not powerful or strong enough to break a single tackle, and so slow that he continually gets caught. I have never seen anything in a game to suggest he's an elite kick, as the talk was when he was drafted.

Isn't that supposed to be Watts? Doesn't bode well for Pedersen or Fitzpatrick going after Lynch. I'm struggling a little bit to see how all the talls fit in. Frost is a long term Key Defender according to Roos' mid season review. There wasn't room for him down back in pre-season so they played him up forward. If we got Lynch Frost would have to play down back, and there's no room there unless the club lets Garland walk? From what I can see Lynch was part of a 3 way trade a few years back involving Maric and a 2nd round pick? He's improved based on this season's stats and is now in his prime playing as a 25 year old next season. Crows would certainly ask for our 2nd round pick which looks like being around 23-25. I'd prefer to see a pick like that used on another midfielder.

You blokes are very generous with Tyson. Thought he was poor to half time. Missed that 35m set shot in the first quarter, got done a couple of times for holding the ball and once again so one-sided. Much better in the 2nd half. Thank goodness we got Salem as part of the deal because he is looking like a good solid footballer. One-paced, ordinary kick. Not the sort of player pick 2 should be used toward. Maybe Salem will be worth pick 2 and Tyson will be worth the pick 20-odd that we gave?

Fitzpatrick has to play on Brown. Perfect match up for height and pace. Can also back up ruck against him so Dawes doesn't get murdered when Gawn tires. Just give him the job and tell him he's playing for his career. Might have to go super tall back there as Garland should play on Thomas and then Ziebell when he rests forward. Dunn to Petrie. McDonald to Waite.

Excited by the sound of White. Would love for him and Salem to be delivering off half back in 2016. Jason Taylor might have hit the 2014 rookie draft out of the park with vandenBerg and White.

We just need good footballers all over the ground, so while you'd like him to be 6 ft 2" we can't be picky with a 23 year old that averages 25+ possessions a game. It's also worth noting that if we don't use our first pick on Prestia (I give us no chance of landing Treloar) we will use the pick on Darcy Parish who's about 178cm. I think things are too bleak now for the MFC to wait another 2 years for an 18 year old to develop, so a proven 23 year old makes more sense. Apparently Trent McKenzie and Brandon Matera will be very gettable this year as well. What about pick 4 and Howe for Prestia and McKenzie? I know he's stagnated the last couple of years but he is an elite kick and was exceptional in his first year or two. Doesn't fill our midfield void but would certainly fill our skillful half back void.

Good to see that Neal-Bullen, off an interrupted pre-season, is already too good for VFL with 40 possessions. Funny that we weren't going to use that pick if Dom Barry and Evans stuck around, who couldn't get 40 possessions between them in 3 weeks at Casey. All the more reason to pay out a guy like Terlich and draft in another kid. We know that Riley, McKenzie, Bail etc aren't up to AFL level so I'm not too interested in seeing them recalled, but I would like to see Hunt play as sub, because aside from Garlett he's the only player on the list with genuine pace and we are screaming out for anyone that can break a line and take the game on. It would be so refreshing to see a Melbourne player evade an opponent and take a bounce. It would also be great if they could give King and White a taste before the end of the year to let them know the level they need to get to in pre-season.

They just have to pay Terlich out. Seriously, we must have so much spare cash. We cannot be paying our list anywhere near what the Hawthorn list is being paid. Surely we are at about 80% of the cap with half our list not up to AFL standard? Terlich should not be on anymore than $150,000 a season. Just pay it out. If he's on more than that then the bloke that re-signed him should be sacked.

Spoke to one of the top Player Manager's over the weekend and he told me that providing Darcy Parish looks like being available, our first pick in the draft will not be going anywhere this year. The Dees are in love with Parish who is exactly what we need as a pacy outside midfielder, and this Agent was really bullish that with Salem, Petracca and Parish to come into the side that already includes Brayshaw, Hogan and Viney, we have a lot to look forward to. So it would be up to Free Agency and/or Pick 22 & Howe to try and land an established midfielder.

I agree mate. But we seem to have been saying that for a fair while now. 'Oh Dal Santo and Goddard are gone we should go past them soon'. 'Oh they lose Milne and Hayes this year...we'll get them soon'. 'Oh Riewoldt and Montagna are almost gone we should just about go past them'. We've never got there though because the Armitage's and Steven's of the world have improved in the meantime, and yes that's because they've had strong leaders at the club to bring these players through while we were a basket case. And that's why we had to bring in Cross, Vince, Lumumba - leadership and experience. So these are the games these blokes need to step up in. We've got the $1.5m coach and we're not that young so I'll be shattered if we can't beat them at the 'G.

Agree with how cringe worthy the Viney comments were. The last quarter of that game was played in their half so the Dees would have snatched it. I wish the players would just shut up and let their actions on the field do the talking. I'll be shattered if we can't beat St Kilda at the 'G with Riewoldt on one leg. Honestly, they went out and got the $350k a year coach. We got the $1.5m one. They have taken kids, kids and more kids and we've gone a little bit older with the likes of Vince and Lumumba, and even went for Tyson who'd been in the AFL system for a couple of years. These are the games where these players really have to deliver. These are the games we recruited them for.

I agree, we should. Vince is the perfect match up for Heppell and McDonald is the perfect match up for Joe Daniher. But the NAB Challenge this year where we lost to their U23s and top ups at Etihad proves we can't take anything for granted.

Out: Spencer, Toumpas, Bail, M Jones, Howe In: Lumumba, Harmes, JKH, Riley, Fitzpatrick The decision to play Spencer in Darwin was as baffling as Jordie McKenzie starting sub against Freo. At least Fitzpatrick is quick and good below his knees, where the ball spends a fair bit of time in Darwin. Toumpas is no where near it. Howe is a joke. Bail and M Jones are beyond a joke.

I don't agree with this at all. Roos is showing signs over the past couple of weeks of almost being at the end of his tether with this group. He looks fed up. 'Message not getting through', 'sometimes they don't listen' etc. I don't think he'll tread water with minimal changes and be content with another 6-8 win season next year. If a player is clearly not up to it they should be moved on immediately, regardless of the draft. Last year was supposedly a weak draft as well and we've brought 4 quality mids in with 4 picks in the top 42, and found a 150 game player in vandenBerg with a rookie pick.

They were the same posters claiming Bail was going to have a break out year after 6 years in the system. A hard runner perfectly suited to Roos' game style, they said. Viney's a beauty and seems to have taken the next step with his footy. Had a sloppy poor first quarter/half against the Pies which stands out because in every other game he has been excellent. Viney, Brayshaw, vandenBerg, Kent, Hogan...finally some players that just love it rough and tough.