Pirlo

Every single decision going their way today. They can elbow us in the head freely, but we can't tackle them.

He is out of his depth. He needs to dominate for Casey first.

There are five kids at Casey who should be playing over Kolt. Doing neither him nor us a favour by playing him now.

Never seen Rivers play so poorly. All that hard work...

We've gone from flag favourite in round 7 to bottom 6 and 4 losses on the trot. We've kicked 2 behinds in 20 minutes. What do you want from them?

It is crazy how far we have regressed. Haven't seen us like this for many years.

Rudderless. Big change is needed. There is no pride in this jumper from those who wear it.

Good for him for playing through the pain, but why did he do so when he was not fit to play? A hand injury does not excuse the lack of running and chasing. A hand injury does not excuse the hack kicks forward. And if it does, then why was he playing? We are a footy club with ambition, aren't we? We thought we could play finals last week, even though it meant 3 10 goal victories.

The more I consider it, the more frustrated I am at the short term thinking here. Teams don't generally release news like this until after the season, when the player requests the trade and the club releases a statement saying they will assent, but they're a valuable player and the compensation has to be adequate. Petracca leaks a statement that he's unhappy with our culture, Houston's manager rings and says they will be looking elsewhere, so what does the MFC do? Release the news that a much loved clubman wants to go home, and we're the kind of good hearted institution who will let him go. Richardson, as Richardson does, releases a milquetoast statement that we "will now work with the SA clubs to organise a trade that benefits Melbourne and Alex". But what's in that for the Crows or Power? We have told the bloke he's going home, we have made a song and dance of how kind we are to our players ("please reconsider, Dan!") and we now have precisely no leverage as Goody then made it clear that his family issue is important and we want him to be at home. Adelaide held us over a barrel for an inferior, older player with less time left on his contract last summer. We handed over a second round pick, and he has played VFL all season. We now have to sing for our supper to get that pick back from them, for a far better player who they know they will be able to get for a token pick as there is no alternative. We have robbed Peter (Jason Taylor and team, the most functional part of our club) to pay (take the heat off) Paul (the guys presiding over a fast-sliding footy program). Just like we did last year when we traded two seconds for a three pick upgrade in the teens as part of an attempt to get Harley Reid.

North wants Viney, and Todd has stepped away from their team for these negotiations. Viney may or may not want out. Petracca is upset at the direction the club is going in, and wants out or at least big change. ANB wants to leave with two years on his deal, cites family reasons. All break within a week of the club exiting the finals race. But there's nothing sinister at all? Just three of our five club leaders wanting out? Think critically and be uncomfortable. We've had one player ask to go home in about five years before this year.

Is it easier to get out under contract if you torch the coach, or is it easier if you defend him and ask for a favour in return? I guess we'll see this trade period, if either or both of them leave.

The club owes it to its members to drive a high standard. It doesn't owe anyone wins, sure, but it certainly owes it to those (like myself, and many others here) who pay a lot of money every year to support the team to ensure that everything is being done to prime us for success. Keeping the same forward coach and giving him three seasons to fix a problem that gets worse year on year? That's not ROI for members, and we have every right to demand that errors like that are rectified.

McVee, Howes, Turner, Tholstrup was my initial count. I missed Hore because he's 28, so didn't click for some reason. Who is the sixth?

One thing to be optimistic about is that the Tiges don't have any kids near the level of Windsor or McVee. One issue is that they're being belted even with their Pickett (Bolton) and Rivers (Baker) playing every week.

Multiple stars = 2? Petracca and May. Please don't say Brayshaw, who has become a byword for damage control. He's been retired since February. Windsor, granted, is a miss too. People aren't falling over themselves to feel good about a 2 point loss because we did it in the most suffocatingly boring way possible. 100 points scored total on a beautiful night for footy. The only way we can get near a win against good opposition is to strangle teams. We're 13th in round 21, when the club was going full boar for a flag this year. The message has changed from Goodwin and co because they know that acknowledging their failure could see them in the gun. I'm not going to fall for the PR, nor will I infantilise a group full of Premiership stars who've forgotten how to play footy. That team last night had FOUR players who have played under 50 games, and one of them is McVee.

A really honest assessment of this group would say that Windsor, JVR and McVee look like real prime talents - although JVR's second form slump of the season has me concerned when other young forwards are finding a way to kick 3 every other week. Making him ruckman for a fortnight after his best patch of the year was robbing Peter to pay Paul. Rivers and Pickett obviously stars, but they'll be in year six next year and can't really be considered young guns in the build. Bowey has barely had a good game in two years. Rubbish by foot at the moment and has a lot of work to do if he doesn't want to continue the slow journey towards Casey. Turner has some good assets. Sticky hands and a good kick at goal. Fades in and out of games too much at this point. Moniz-Wakefield has dash. No idea why people are pencilling him in as some star though. Was getting the ball 10-15 times off the flank in his first few games and doesn't seem damaging by foot. Lots to work on, but has some tools to develop. Tholstrup has a huge amount of work to do. In my eyes, he has no obvious strengths at AFL level. He had some form in the VFL where he'd win clearances and kick goals on the run, but he's showed neither of those at AFL level yet. Not pencilling him in by any means but obviously hope he comes good. Woey could maybe be a player long term. Good endurance runner, brave and actually has an eye for goal on the run. Again, lots would have to go right because he isn't taking his chances just now. Jeffo - who knows. Much better back half of the year for Casey and should be playing AFL this weekend. Brown - great tackler. The coaches don't have much faith, but I'd love to see more. Howes looked good early in the year, but has looked lost at sea since he was dropped after the Eagles game whenever he's come in. Don't think he's a defender, but don't know where else he'd shine either. I've been a fan, but am concerned.

Port were 13-7 this afternoon and would have sat sixth if they lost that game. They're not some juggernaut We lost 6 games in 22 and 7 in 23 with an extra round. The effort was there, the polish was not. Shouldn't dismiss people's concerns as "rubbish" as if we'd just taken it right up to the 07 Cats and hadn't come off 2 shellackings in 3 weeks.

I am a bit confused re. Clarry. What surgery does he need? Didn't he already have the hand op?

Hard to blame him too much for the miss, but I am definitely concerned about what I've seen so far from a kid who has a bit of a frame already. Not great by foot or hand, lacks awareness with the ball, and isn't laying tackles. He needs to develop at VFL level, not AFL level.

That was actually a good effort. Umpires did not reward our tackling pressure - so many Port players dropped and threw the ball and play on was called. I'm glad they put some pride back in the jumper. Observations: - How many times do we get the ball on the 50 arc and none of our forwards present? Stafford just has to go. Its disgusting how much they've protected him because he's one of the boys. Its a clear and obvious issue that costs us games every week. It has nothing to do with him having once been a ruck, playing position is irrelevant to being a coach. He just has no [censored] idea how to set up a forward line. People need to be more upset about this. - Tigers fans will tell you that their midfield was never at its best under McQualter. We should have listened. A little better today but not by much. Sad to waste a ruck like Gawn. - Billings dropping that mark and missing the snap sums up his career. No idea why we thought bringing him in was a good idea. - Subbing JVR was bizarre, especially as he got the call right after a big mark. Minute he comes off, the Power put more men into Gawn and Petty and wrestled back momentum in the air. - Love and respect Melky but the last two weeks show that its time to get him away for conditioning and let him have another go next year. Ineffectual when he came on. - TMac struggled against Dixon and is fortunate Dixon is barely mobile. That's three weeks in a row he's been dodgy by foot too after a great season. - Pickett was awesome - McVee was awesome - Cannot afford to give up pick 6 for Houston. We have three quality kids under 23 and the rest are iffy at best. - Howes had a good start to the year but it is panic stations now. IMO he isn't a defender, but three years in as a mid-sized players and I have no clue what role he is best suited to. Doesn't appear mobile enough to intercept. Maybe back to the wing? - Hate digging into a kid, but Tholstrup doesn't show any clear strengths to his game. That miss from 35 on a slight angle wasn't even close, he didn't look like he wanted it. 0 tackles too, which should see him back in the VFL for Brown or essentially anyone else. Lots of time to improve but I'm not convinced trading 27 and 35 to move up three places and claim him won't come back to bite us. Would look better in a good team. Needs to work on his skills for Casey. - Viney was much better. - It is tragic what has happened to Oliver. I am close to giving up hope for him and I almost want him to request a trade and start again. I hope he's doing okay in his personal life because he doesn't front up like he's interested.

I am wary of this, as a rule. The North players have consistently voted Luke McDonald skipper. Is that because he's a star with amazing standards? Or is he a nice bloke who they aren't intimidated by and tells them what they want to hear? Coming off a season like ours, I don't know whether the group - many of them young - should get the final say over who leads the team.

I'm personally not a fan of co-captains, feels a bit like not committing to either of them. Perhaps I'm just burned from the weird shoehorning of Viney into what by rights should have been the Jones captaincy.

Will be interesting. I hope I've expressed my admiration for Max clearly enough, but suspect plenty will skim read and be ready with their torches!

Very odd decision not to play him this week. Petty could and should have filled May's spot. Casey having a bye is very disappointing. Feels pretty clear to me that we're looking to mitigate risks this week. Safe options in for the kids. Goodwin absolutely does not want to see another finals team have their way with us.

An uncomfortable question - Max is the oldest captain in the league, with the next-oldest being Witts who works in tandem with another. Most teams' captains are from the 2013-14 drafts, and Max is 4-5 years older than that. I love the man. Best Demon since the 60s in my view, but could it be time to move on. I have absolutely no issue with him personally. Four factors make me ask this question: 1. He's reaching the point in his career where most greats slow down significantly. He'll be 33 in December, and has now gone down with niggling injuries for weeks at a time on a number of occasions since the flag. He really is one bad knee injury away - and he did two ACLs years ago - from having to give it up. As it stands, he feels compelled to play through pain and return early because he's the skipper. 2. Most great players give up the captaincy, and all that comes with it, in their mid 30s to focus on lengthening their careers - Cotchin, Fyfe, Walker, Pendlebury are all recent examples of this. 3. The level of effort across the board this year has been uncharacteristic. I'm not talking results, I'm talking pure effort. Max not included in that, his standards are elite (reminds me of Jonesy during the bad years), but he's the guy who leads the others. Could a fresh voice at the top be an option? Max's comments after last week were telling - "I don't care about finals, I care about putting some pride back in the jumper". Some people felt he was being cavalier there, I didn't. I feel like he's struggling to deal with the poor showings from a number of our players who just don't look invested some weeks. Tonight's game will be telling - will they do what he's asked? If not, and they show up as they have against Freo x 2, the Pies, the Dogs...we'll know they're not listening. 4. This one is painful, because I think he's the best media performer of his AFL generation and has every right to both play and be a regular media personality, but I listen to Max every Monday and Friday on MMM. He's on there to have a laugh with Wil Anderson and get himself primed for what he'll do post-career, but there's now been multiple weeks where we get belted on Saturday/Sunday and Max is laughing on the radio on Monday. He never excuses poor efforts, he more says things like "oh we were terrible, yeah" before moving on, but perhaps its for the best he's doing regular segments like these whilst not also being the skipper. I reiterate that I've got no issue at all with Max. I'm just wondering whether its time to look to the future and let Max just play footy, keep himself fit, and carry on his slow transition to his post-footy life whilst still dominating in the ruck for a couple of years to come. I'd probably favour a Lever/ANB or Lever/Petracca ticket to replace him, but there's definitely no obvious candidate.