Older demon

Yes, we had enough of the ball and didn't convert but in my opinion, the issue is deeper than that. Since TMac went down we have been shown that we lack marking targets up forward. Our goal to goal line and key forwards are lacking. Weird hasn't risen to the occasion, JVR is in his first season and who else is capable of playing a key forward role? We have been forced to rotate Max, Jacko and Brown as the key marking target. Max missed some sitters and Jackson has absolutely no impact up forward. Similarly, we lack ruck backup as there is no one at Casey who is a backup ruckman (Weid will get the gig). This is not fixable this season Much has been said about the long kick to the goal square and its lack of success. That is due in part because the ball isn't coming to ground for the smalls to pounce, it ends up as an intercept mark to the opposition. If Max is down there he contests as does Brown but Jackson is playing like the 3rd year tall which he is and not only isn't marking he is getting out-marked. Opposition intercept marks end up transitioning deep into opposition forward lines. Weeks out from finals TMac will try and play at Casey in the last round, but will we blood JVR (I doubt it) will Tomlinson or Joel Smith play up forward or will we persist and run the risk of god teams doing what the Bulldogs and Pies did? The forward marking options are pretty thin

We are 1 tall marking target short up forward yet continually bomb it to the goal square or up forward. we got a taste of finals intensity and manic tackling and failed the test as well as being incapable of providing tackling pressure ourselves. The team did not handle the tackle pressure at all well. the worst outcome was to miss a set shot and allow a kick out which continually got slingshot out of the backline upforward Jackson is not yet a ruckman. He doesn’t take many marks, spends too much time on the ball and that is the dips in our play happen. Max is a marking target up forward but his set shot kicking is hurting us.

There was a kicking in danger again when he had his hand on the ball. Looked like it hurt. 6 Oliver 5 Gawn 4 Viney 3 Brayshaw 2 Salem 1 Brown

Agree at the moment he isn’t worth a fraction of what we hear is on offer. Is the knee injury hampering him? Maybe but Freo must be wondering if he is what they need. Ruckman take years to mature and learn the caper. He is well down on form and contributes nothing up forward

Forward line pressure was bad. Look at Pies manic tackling and pressure. We need another marking tall up forward and someone who can lay a take 5 players with no tackles. bring in Smith or play Tomlinson as a defensive forward. Milk not the answer nor is Spargo. Again a marking forward on the opposition kills us 4 goals from 6 kicks. No good Petty

His grandfather, my Dad converted him. Then when he was an impressionable youngster a mutual friend who worked at North Melbourne arranged for him to attend some training and meet Mr Carey and have his photo taken with the team. Not sure who was more excited my son or my father who also got an invite. Every letter he wrote to Mr Carey got a signed reply North marketing department did a sensational job in those days. The framed, signed photo still hangs aloe his bed

My son is a mad Kangas supporter and believes that Zurharr, originally from WA, will return home. Originally from West Freemantle.

3 first-rounders or even 2, I would question the value. We have a very good young list and note Casey are undefeated and I am not sure we need any more youngsters. Certainly will be nice to get back into the first round or keep one and trade the other(s) to move up the order. It may even be better to use whatever we get for LJ into a ready-made player to fill a gap. I also hope we tie Van Rooyen up early so he doesn't want to head back west.

Look we need to draft in a quality ruckman. Max is 30 and has proven with LJ that they can share the ruck load and I don't see any other all-Australian ruckman available. Max has always had enormous respect for Grundy. When he is due to play him he watches everything Grundy does at training and analyses his ruck work. LJ is going west and has made his decision so the club need to look at alternatives as we have no other ruckman in the closet with Weird used in emergencies.

He went off for concussion testing with 4 minutes to go. Somewhere in the rooms getting assessed

I noticed Jackson was taken down to the rooms after a head knock which they reviewed on the monitor. I also noticed I could not find him in the team song. If concussed mandatory 10-day break means he misses next week.

We expected to be the hunted post flag and all of your points are valid and great observations. What we can control and is totally unacceptable is we had zero, nada, not one inside 50 tackle. Last season and on occasions this season we have locked the ball in the forward line and never let it out. This is why a team kicks 110 points against us. Lloy got it right when he noticed in the last play that Fritch chose not to get ahead of Kumis and pointed for someone to come forward and do his job which left the numbers down back limited. Teams that go wide and switch play do so because we don't block that gap and let teams advance the other side unchecked hoping to intercept at halfback. The most damning is the continued down-the-line kick out to the walls and inability to switch or run a ball out of defence. What gets me if it is obvious to us supporters it is certainly down in the how-to-beat Melbourne manual at all clubs. What on earth is our brains trust doing? Bring your mouthguard to training this week and be prepared to tackle or face oblivion

A creative dangerous forward! Carlton has Curnow & McKay, Geelong Hawkins and Cameron, Brisbane have Cameron to electrify the forward line and Hipwood when he gets back to his pre-knee injury. Richmond have Dusty & Lynch the Swan, Buddy, Heaney & Gulden. We are a bit more workman like with Fritch the classy goal kicker but he doesn't always tackle or chase but finishes beautifully. T-Mac on song is vital and Kozzie showed last week what he is capable of but he was the only forward. Spargo, ANB, Jordan, Clarry or Langers don't kick many goals.

In recent memory with both Rivers and Frawley being free agents, Roos played both of them on the forward line for large parts of the season while he developed 2 new key backmen. I believe it was Carlton who dropped Henderson with a month to go when he announced he was leaving before the season ended.

To take on Free as Richmond did and probably should have won you need manic pressure in the forward line, that is currently lacking. Free are quick and run it out of the backline if not pressured they deliver it but under Richmond's pressure they turned it over. Again forward line pressure. The Free calls are good overhead and missed Lobb. The last time we played them they killed us in the air. Lever must come in and I think it was Petty on Ugle-Hagen and naughty and Bruce were not sited. I suspect BBB will not be ready and it is a long plane trip. One of the backs must go forward as a marking target and play defensively. The Gawn/Jackson forward combo isn't working well enough. Lever returns, I would like to see Hunt or Chandler in. I think Jordan may struggle to get up on the 6 day break. Petty goes forward but not sure who else goes out.

Given the lack of height on the list should MFC draft Bell and Ellison for next season. Ellison impresses me as a key position player and Bell could develop especially if LJ goes.

At the moment Jacko is running around with a heavily strapped knee and hasn't been the same since he damaged his PCL. Just as Max recovered from his ankle injury but he is still carrying the back injury from Cox's knee. Both rucks are playing injured at the moment and it shows. Contracts and worth are based on a body of work, not the last month. Jackson has played 46 games to date about 2 seasons worth. In normal circumstances, he is about a $ 500-600 K player in my opinion and even then that is good coin after 2 years. Ruckman take time and peak much later in their career. The money Free is allegedly offering is obscene and way out of sync with others on their list. I would be angry with MFC if they tried too hard to match it. Maybe West Coast offer their first round and Oscar Allen for him. I would take that in a heartbeat.

The question was asked earlier about the salary cap and Gus & Dogga. I would remind everyone before it looked like Dogga is gone the thought was we would have to offload Harmes. It would be ridiculous to sell the house to retain Dogga and far better to keep Angus and Harmes.

It appears that Channel 7 Perth must read Demonland as you heard it here first about the house purchase. I know MFC have made Like an offer, not the actual money but it was for a good length of time and from a very good source. Pert's management has been exemplary so of course, MFC has made him an offer which I am sure his management has given it due consideration. Clubs know they have to pay overs to get someone out of a club and interstate, even if it is their original home. As I stated earlier look to history and how Jack Martin got to Carlton. His manager priced him out of everyone's reach and when a deal couldn't be done (some would say Carlton always planned it that way) and he went to the pre-season draft on ridiculous coin which MFC sensibly did not match. One can ask was his price warranted given his output. Maybe the Freo price tag keeps West Coast out of the frame as they have the much better trading currency. We already have seen a sample of Freo trading Bell style so I don't expect them to be gracious.

It appears that Sumich wasn't far off the mark when he blurted out what Freo was offering. If the figure is close or correct Jackson would be negligent to not take it just as Scully could not refuse the offer put before him. It sets players up for life and is offered at a stage of their careers where they aren't worth that much. Scully had his career cut short but made enough to set him up for life and in retrospect made the correct decision even if we didn't like how he went about it. I would be disappointed if MFC even tried to match it. Clarry and Trac earned their contracts as did Max and Viney. If the usual AFL protocol is followed, everybody knows, but there will be nothing official until after we play our last game for the season. Unlike the NRL where players openly declare their destination a year out. One consideration with such a massive offer Jacko could slip to the pre-season draft just as Jack Martin did pricing clubs out of the market with his financial demands. Yes, we are light on for rucks and without TMac we see how valuable a CHF is. Note Port used Dixon and Findlayson last 6 weeks in the ruck and both played a role around the ground and got lots of clearances from the middle when they didn't win the tap, playing the role we would like Jackson to play. I don't think Weid will leave because he is the obvious choice to play a ruck role even if it is the role Daw played this year. What would be a bold move is if the club knows Jackson is going that they drop him as he isn't part of the future!!

The team selection on paper is baffling and I would be surprised if we lined up .like this. Max has never been a success as a Centre half forward. Again I think we are 1 tall forward short. On previous experience, Melk will play a defensive role on Allir. I hope Harmes isn't down back because we tried that for a season and it didn't work. Good to see Rivers back and I hope Tommo has a great game.

It is often said that Centre Half Forward is the hardest position to play but possibly the most important. Like it or not whether he is in good form or out Tom McDonald plays that role and since his injury, we have not been able to adequately fill that post or find someone to play that role. The game plan that has been successful looks predictable and inefficient without Tom or his successor able to play that role. Last week with BBB playing lead-up forward in the first half we looked good but then he was stuck at full forward and starved of opportunity. Max and Jacko can stretch a backline with BBB, Fritter and TMac and roving smalls in Kosi, Spargo and Nibbler. A feature of the games we have lost was how much we have been out marked specially in the forward line and how the incoming kick has been directed to an opposing back. Look at how Curnow and Cameron straighten up the Dogs and Blues. The impact Lobb is having at Free and the bit part Taberner plays. Mihochek at Collingwood plays a TMac like role and runs far and wide to get marks and possession. When we play Weed and BBB we have them both plonked in the goal square and bomb it long. For all the criticism he gets Tom plays a pivotal role in our forward structure and thus far we haven't had anyone step up to play that role.

The club is confident but I am told the hold-up is the new EB and how much extra cap space we have. As stated elsewhere, Luke has told teammates he wants to stay but that can change quickly. All will be revealed eventually so let's just get on with trying to win and get a prime finals spot

Does anyone have any idea when the EBA for salary caps comes out? We are not the only club sweating on what we can afford to pay players in the shorter term. With the exception of the elite, there are a few good players seating on a pay rise as well as proposed raising of the soft cap.

Two teams coming off 5-day breaks, they had a bye and we had a high-pressure game. I don't think it was loading they just pulled up fresher. The number of times we kicked to the opposition in the forward line beggars belief. We either didn't look or played dumb footy. Too many passengers with Jordan, Bedford and Spargo clearly beaten by their opponents and had very ordinary nights. Jackson hasn't the strength to beat Blicavs and Stanley and many clearances were lost with Jacko rucking. He is only a kid and when you block his jump he loses his effectiveness. Not convinced he was 100% tonight May I remind everyone with 8 minutes to go we were 5 points down when Picket hit the post. I have no idea how we were still in the game and got that close. After that, we had no run in the legs and got overpowered. The ground was slippery and Geelong tackled and pressured well while we tried to break tackles unsuccessfully. We can learn from that The inclement weather didn't arrive and we were one tall short and one short too many In retrospect Weird should have played and Bedford, who was too easily pushed aside should have been sub. He has only played a hand full of full games. Given the way we deliver the ball upfield couldn't hit the side of a barn and even TMac would not have made a difference. We can learn a lot from this loss