ignition.

I'd rather pass on Adelaide's Lynch. Signing T.McDonald should be much higher on the priority list. Not only do I think he's the better player but it's also beneficial for club culture. If the club sees a need to target an additional tall forward, out of fear Hogan may not re-sign next year, then do it properly and go for Gold Coast's Tom Lynch.

Tim Smith looks like a rabbit in head lights.

I missed what happened with that quarter time Carlton goal. It looks to me Gawn got a hand to a poor kick from the point of the mark. Can someone please explain what happened and why he was given a 50m penalty?

Both sensational players with bright futures ahead. I could rave on about Clarry but I'd be letting my bias side take over. My heart backs Clarry, however, I believe Cripps will have himself a good game as he has a point to prove after Lewis cracked his jaw last time they met (he certainly eluded to it in a recent interview with Garry Lyon).

I wasn't sure what to think of the Hawkins incident. At first, I figured a fine or one-match ban. I believe the outcome was just. When I saw May contact the umpire, immediately I thought fine. It was foolish of him but unlike Hawkins it wasn't done in an aggressive or defensive manner. Conversely, I see Ed Curnow's incident to be the same if not worse than Hawkins as he pushed the umpire in the chest, albeit with little force, out of frustration. I expect him to get one-week. I haven't seen Charlie Curnow's incident yet.

6. Oliver 5. Salem 4. T. McDonald 3. Hogan 2. Gawn 1. Jonnes Honourable mentions to: Lewis, Harmes, and Fritsch. Hard one to rank today.

I made sure I watched Tyson today. Don't see how Tyson can be called a momentum killer or turnover merchant. From what I noticed he only once had a clanger and held up the momentum, respectively. By half time he had the highest disposal efficiency (just above 90% by memory). On the contrary there was Harmes, who if it were Tyson you'd be saying "prolific but wasteful" as he got a lot but many of the possessions had little impact and/or missed targets.

It was a good mistake to make (too much depth to think about)

Firstly, if Max Gawn is in the list so should be Jack Viney. With those above, I see Oliver, Viney, and Hogan on par with each other. I really can't separate them. Furthermore, Weideman has shown enough glimpses, we'll see more of what he can do as he continues to mature into a man's body. Overall, yes I agree, we have an excellent young list. I just hope our list managers don't become complacent when thinking it - I'm sure they won't, as they continue to better it every year via the draft and acquisitions of additional "stars" via trade. Additionally, club culture driven by the players and staff will be crucial for player retention, especially when convincing out of contract players to stay on less money as opposed to what may be offered elsewhere.

Great thread. I think you praha and bandicoot have summed this up perfectly. I was thinking something similar after watching the two Etihad games. I've also complained in the past as to how we run in a wave from contest to contest (or out of one), which is good at the smaller Etihad but appears to come undone with an opposition kick out the back on the big MCG. I think the game plan is good, it certainly looks great when it comes off well, but it seems go be incredibly exhausting and needs to be supplemented with a more conservative Plan-B Paul Roos-like or Hawthorn-like game plan (switching between the two). If we're to play finals, or even compete to win a grand final, the game plan MUST be more suited for the MCG, not Etihad as Goodwin has eluded to.

There is nothing wrong with what you said, nor should we question his integrity and ability to do his job in an unbiased fashion. However, there are eight other matches in the round, and the AFL should have the umpires rostered accordingly to prevent the inevitable questioning of his integrity (especially on game day).

He's worth a shot if the price it right. If the club can acquire him with a 3rd or 4th round pick so be it, anything more would be silly.

Another great write-up Whispering Jack.

Here's hoping the club signs Tom and Oscar before the years end. I hope neither contract stretches out or buckles the club's financials. The size of Lever's contract is a concern, however. I'm sure this will come into consideration for Tom, as last time he took his due diligence to investigate the market before re-signing (I recall him approaching it as a business, just like the club does). Hogan is also out of contract (OOC) next year, so again money will need to be set aside for him. Hopefully, the contract's of Melksham, Jones, and Lewis (OOC next year) were all front-ended.

I find it hilarious, especially after seeing the Essendon banner last weekend (snow joke). After watching the B-grade news tonight I threw a few quiet fist pumps in the air. That smart-ass infested club really is cementing their drug-related reputation.

I've been enjoying the footy the last few years, but that may be because Melbourne are performing better. Quite simply I'd hate to see the addition of zones, less players, or a reduction in holding the ball (players already get away with it). I'm also sick of hearing about "what rules can we change" this week. It's got to epidemic proportions. There will always be people complaining about the game, mentioning how it was better in the old days, and how they believe they can fix it. If the congestion is truly that big of a problem (a general consensus among most AFL fans) the only change I can see or accept would be a reduction in interchange to say 40 - 80 (instead of 90) (keeping in mind there was once no interchange). Most other proposals are more likely to damage the very essence of our game. But as above, I'm happy with how it currently is, and as AF has said the game will likely evolve to something else regardless.

IMO Wines is one of the better on-ballers in the competition. I see him on-par if not ahead of Viney. He may not have speed to burn, but he's not slow. He's a smart natural footballer that wins a lot of one-on-ones as well as clearances. He also has a fantastic defensive game. While we have Harmes, ANB, and Tyson on the ground, I can't justify any argument against having him.

I'm sick of hearing Goodwin claim we haven't been getting "reward for effort". It epitomizes the poor-me snowflake society we're in today. When the game plan is so ridiculously inefficient, of course the reward is so god-damn tough to come by. F*** instead of pulling out the "poor us" card, I wish he focused on figuring out how to improve efficiency in order to gain the reward/s. The writing is on the wall, two consecutive smashing whilst "the effort" has been there indicates something is very wrong with the game plan and/or disposal skills, which must both be worked on.

Lynch > Gaff > Dahlhaus > Sloane > Wright Lynch and Hogan together would be a headache for any opposing team, only issue would be the competitive price tag and our poor performances. Gaff could very well be serviceable, I don't think he worth an over-inflated price tag. Same applies for Dahlhaus. Sloane, IMO, is approaching the twilight of his career. He's a great player but we may only get two very good years from him (like Vince). I don't rate Wright, I'd only want him at his standard or below standard market value. Finally, I'd rather see the club aggressively target Wines and trade. For me Viney, Oliver, and Wines on ball, with the addition of Lynch rotating with Hogan between FF and CHF would tranform the team entirely (if the game plan was fixed as well). Just don't think we'll have the dosh.

I'm curious, who else here has lost interest, in some form or one way or another? For me, I don't know if it's due to the hype and expectation to make finals or just related to other matters in my life. This for me is quite the contrary to those Bailey and Neeld years where I went to nearly every home game and as frustrating as it was, more so than now, I got my kicks from watching individual performances by Jurrah or the ever so reliable Jones. I apologise as I don't want to fuel the negativity, I'm still here and in it for the long haul, just curious else has felt interest waiver since half time of the Hawks game (after that brilliant first quarter). I just hope we get up and beat Essendon, I think all us fans need a very good win so we all feel back on track.

I'm curious, who else here has lost interest, in some form or one way or another? For me, I don't know if it's due to the hype and expectation to make finals or just related to other matters in my life. This for me is quite the contrary to those Bailey and Neeld years where I went to nearly every home game and as frustrating as it was, more so than now, I got my kicks from watching individual performances by Jurrah or the ever so reliable Jones. I apologise as I don't want to fuel the negativity, I'm still here and in it for the long haul, just curious else has felt interest waiver since half time of the Hawks game (after that brilliant first quarter). I just hope we get up and beat Essendon, I think all is fans need a very good win so we all feel back on track.

The game plan is still the major issue. There does not appear to be a Plan B. Again, the team is bunched trying to run in a wave. It's why we generally win the contested possesion count. However, it attracts a lot of the opposition, causes congestion, resulting in either overuse or bombing on the boot to a contest. There is nothing efficient about it, it fatigues the players and in my belief the major reason for lapses and fade-outs. Additionally, when a turnover occurs the opposition generally gets it out to space for a run on resulting in an easy score against (it has happened time and time again, we try incredibly hard to score, yet the opposition do so with ease). Roosy has shed light onto this as to why we get scored against so easily. If the coach opted to run with it in patches, in conjunction with an alternate plan utilizing basic spreading, chip, mid, and long range kicking to space and lead up targets, GREAT! I'm sure it would work. But again, there is just no plan B, and the current style is just not sustainable over the entire game. More frustrating is the fact that Goodwin got questioned on the game plan last night in his post-match interview. He spun some rubbish PR response reverting back to the players, yet the bloke doesn't seem to realise how damaging his style is. I'm getting sick of it and him very quickly. It's time he takes responsibility and adapts and/or supplements the current plan.

The biggest issue is the game plan! I feel like a broken record saying it. I find it hard to judge the players when clearly they've been told to run together in a wave. Yes, they seem to win a lot of the contest. But everything is rushed. They bang it on the boot inside 50, they handball to a teammate in danger. Then when it's lost the opposition gets out far too easily because they were all in or around that wave. It is just so incredibly inefficient. The inefficiency is the cause of the fade outs. If it was one of two game plans fine, I wouldn't see an issue running with it for half a quartet at a time. But it's not. There no plan B. There's no spread. There's no hitting up the short chip or mid-range kicks. In fact they're very little kicking to a lead up man (because there was no spread in the first place). Yes we got out classed, but it was only because of a [censored] poor game plan. I'm sick of it. The coaching staff need to improve "their" game first and foremost!

Ideally a Harry Taylor like swingman. But I think he's more suited as a key defender than forward. In time I'd rather see our second tall be a targeted Tom Lynch or developed Sam Weidmen than persist with T.McDonald up forward.

The only thing letting down Gawn at the moment are his set shots (the blatant obvious). Watching his two misses on the AFL website it's quite clear he runs out to the right on his approach, which causes him to kick across his body to the left. If he keeps it all straight, it should be an easy fix.