pantaloons

In case you were wondering, Kieran, I wasn't being sarcastic about the sendoff for these four. I appreciate their efforts over a long period of time for the MFC. I think these blokes squeezed every last drop of energy out of themselves for the club, and you can't ask for much more than that from them. I've admired their courage, particularly Brown, Fergie and Bizz.

I'll be giving the four of them a fond send-off on Sunday from my seat not too far from the bench. Actually, myself and a few of the old ladies around me may have to don the blue and red strip at about 4.50pm the way the injury list is travelling too. We can probably also give Heath Neville a warm welcome and goodbye to AFL football as well. Given that we had three listed players available for Sandy on Saturday and have suffered at least three injuries from the Freo game, it could be all hands on deck.

Yep. I wouldn't take Fevola if he paid us to come to the club. If we're genuinely concerned about a lack of on-field leadership at the club, then we can't go and pick up someone who has never played a game in his career without spitting the dummy at his teammates. I can't think of a player I'd rather play alongside less than Fev. It's one thing to be highly talented, but the fact that he's had almost a decade in the league to grow up and play team footy means that he's highly unlikely to change.

Also of interest in the team selections for this game is that my most detested player in the league and a player of some trade interest on this site in Ryan Murphy has been dropped.

If Lucas and Fletcher are champions, then there can be no argument against the fact that David Neitz is also.

You mean Matthew Bate's going to be player-coach next year?

Yep, that's fair enough. I don't think any of us want players occupying a spot in the 22 simply because they are old favourites. I just feel that a fit and firing Yze can offer something to the team, particularly in the skills department. The number of times I tore my hair our last night after Melbourne turnovers left me looking like Christopher Lloyd. I didn't follow our preseason closely so I'm not sure what they focused on in particular, but I hope there's a large emphasis on ballwork in preparation for season 2008.

Maybe it was the noise from where I was sitting behind the goals at the Punt Road end, but I thought that the Melbourne supporters clearly outnumbered their counterparts tonight. I would be surprised if there were 20,000 Maggie fans there for their own home game. Still, we should have managed to drum up more than 30,000 of our own fans to such a momentous game.

Not disagreeing with you Jaded, but nor should Yze walk out on a contract. I certainly wouldn't if I was him! Quite rightly, I'd guess Yze is preparing his body for one strong final season. I think he has more to offer than what we've seen the past couple of seasons quite seriously. I'd love him to bow out after a season more akin to his first decade at the club where his consistency and skills were a feature of his game.

Seeing Dutchy trudge off the field last night with a shocking injury was a very sad moment. As Rhino pointed out, I think whether or not we see Holland on Melbourne's list this season will depend on how his shoulder mends. Holland has rarely if at all failed Melbourne in his performances this year at either end of the ground, and provided his shoulder recovers, I'd like to see him back at the club next year. Given that the injury was more serious than a straight dislocation, the situation is a little more complicated.

Another superbly well-informed snipe piece from Robert Walls. At least have the work ethic to do a bit of research and look into who is actually contracted next year, Walls. Perhaps he should look at joining them in the retirement home, or does he have a year to run on his media contracts too?

This case shouldn't be a test for the tribunal, given the clear visual evidence available to them. Bell's head was down, Johnson had plenty of time to pull out, but laid a forceful bump squarely to the head. An absolute minimum of four weeks should be handed out, and he wouldn't be hard done by with six. It was the worst body to head hit since the 2000 Grand Final, and that includes Byron's bump that landed him six weeks while wearing Port Adelaide colours. Anything less than four weeks will show either that the AFL is not definite and serious about protecting the sanctity of the head, or that the tribunal system needs an overhaul. For the sake of it's image and it's desire to protect players with their head over the ball, the AFL cannot afford to let this go for under 4 weeks, and I'm fairly certain they won't. Whatever remorse Ben Johnson showed after the incident doesn't concern me at all. He can watch Collingwood from the stands in September and have a think about his actions and the fact that he is extremely fortunate to just be missing a finals series and not have cost someone their ability to walk.

I actually enjoyed the articles on Connolly today. I think his genuine passion and love for the club and desire for the coaching job is great to see, and certainly a lot stronger than one prospective coach out there. Not that this is reason alone for him to get the job, I just see it as a positive that the club has the process in place to take a look at all the best candidates, which includes Connolly.

I'm not a mammoth fan of Cooney. Shaun Higgins on the other hand . . .

Hear, hear Jaded. Good call. If we're going along to watch us bend over and cop a fearful paddling week in week out, there might as well be a bit of forward planning go ito it. I'd rather come away from a ten goal hiding thinking "Hey, maybe Chris Johnson won't be a janitor next year after all" than "Wow, Ben Holland's three goals today should ensure that he is installed as Coleman Medal favourite for 2008 come January".

If we got a pick in the early 20s for him I'd have a look at it. We've got to seriously have a look at our forwardline and they way they operate without the ball though. I don't uaually sit behind the goals, but I did yesterday and it was painful to watch the Sydney defenders run the ball out with absolute ease as the Melbourne forwards reached for a pie and sauce and waited for the ball to come back down the field. To Davey's credit, he at least chases, but he's still a boy trying to bring down grown men whe he reaches people to tackle them, doesn't kick enough goals, struggles to mark overhead and goes missing in big games. The final point may rule out the better teams from chasing him. I do like Flash, but I've never been as infatuated with him as many have. However, the forwardline can sit down over the offseason and watch a few tapes of how our opposing forwards have chased our defenders. They could learn a few things in the process.

What would you accept in return for him, Brocky? The Wizard and a third round pick?

For me, the question is not so much "Why has Bizzell been dropped?", but more "Why was Bizzell one of only a few senior players playing at Sandy on the weekend?" Personally, I think Bizzell performed admirably in his appearances this year, and at this stage of his career I don't think we or he could have asked for much more out of him. However, if we're going to drop him seemingly on the basis that he has no future on the list, then there are few others who should be seeing out the year at Sandy and loking forward to another Zebra flag. Realistically there is a list of about eight players who could be delisted at the end of the year and we'd be none the worse for it. I doubt we'd go quite that beresque with the chainsaw, but I'd really like to see as many of the juveniles played as possible in the last four games. I do realise that the young brigade has been completely massacred yb injury this year, but Bode should be getting a run from here on, as should C. Johnson, Dunn and even Neville. I think at 3-15 we can all be in agreeance that the campaign is well and truly over, so why not put young Neville or Johnson in? They could both well be delisted at season's end, but i'd rather give them the chop knowing that they'd been tried and failed rather than let them go wondering if they could have made a career for themselves. Yep, I think Bizzell could have done a better job than at least a quarter of our side for much of the season, but now that it's shot to pieces I'd like to see more of the old stagers mke way for the youngsters desperate for their careers not to end before they begin.

Adelaide: Ben Rutten Brisbane: Jonathan Brown, followed by Jed Adcock Carlton: Bryce Gibbs Collingwood: Heath Shaw Essendon: Matthew Lloyd Fremantle: Matthew Pavlich Geelong: Gary Ablett Hawthorn: Sam Mitchell Kangaroos: Glenn Archer 14 years ago (if that doesn't count, then Daniel Harris will have to do) Port Adelaide: Chad Cornes Richmond: Axel Foley St. Kilda: Nick Riewoldt Sydney: Adam Goodes West Coast: Chris Judd Western Bulldogs: Enry Higgins

Apologies if this has been raised elsewhere, but has anyone heard the reasoning behind not playing Jace Bode on Sunday? I was stunned that the club elevated him from the rookie list (I presume it still costs around $20,000 to do so), and despite the fact that we had two late withdrawals, ended up using our other two emergencies as replacements. If we were going to go to the expense and effort of bringing him onto the list, we might as well have played him for the final five games to get a better idea of whether to keep him on the list in 2008 or cut him adrift.

Jones and McDonald would have established a small gap on the rest by now I would have thought.

Would you be keen on getting Sheedy across to Melbourne if he gets the chop, Rhino?

I was going to ask the same thing. I enjoy your Brownlow predictions DR4, and I haven't been keeping 3-2-1s, but if he's not up there given his dominance this season I'd be very surprised indeed.

I believe Melbourne can definitely grab the pick of the bunch this year. It's quite clear that the Carlton job is a far softer option for a prospective coach to take, and any coach willing to take the soft option is not worth taking in my opinion. Carlton won't be expected to win 10 games in any season for the next 3 years, any new coach has time to learn the caper while developing a list without the pressure for immediate results. They will also have th backing of a billionnaire and a huge supporter base, and be safe in the knowledge that however much they stink, they can't have the side performing any worse than it has for the last 6 years. The coach who seeks out the Melbourne job will be expected to make finals in his first year. They'll have to promote the club vigorously, and deal with substandard facilities at first if this redevelopment takes any longer. There will be a fair bit of extra pressure on top of an already stressful job. Fremantle is an ugly destination. A playing group with woeful off-field behaviour, and a city with too much money and not enough to do. I think the quality of person and coach Melbourne will attract will be very high. As a side note, if Brett Ratten is not highly regarded enough at Carlton that they would look at an untried Michael Voss and others ahead of him for next year, then why should we look at him?

If people want to listen to the Coodabeens, that's fine. My own personal opinion is that their humour is extremely outdated and I can't stand them, so I choose not to listen to them. Don't lose sleep over the mindless ramblings of tired hasbeens.