Straight Sets Simon

I agree he is the best midfielder in his prime, are you happy he retired after all the drama he put Melbourne and other clubs through when he came back to Victoria?

We've seen all three ruck options this year (King still has a way to go) so based on what we have seen who is your first choice ruckman?

I thought the combination of Gawn, Vince, Viney, Jones and vandenBerg (until injured) were brilliant.

Wrong, when we got a run on early in the second quarter it was man-on-man.

When Oxely was loose in defence Melbourne couldn't score, when he wasn't we could. It's that simple and was clear for everyone to see, were you at the game?

His lazy attempt at a mark in the first quarter was horrendous, his willingness to take the game on afterwards was excellent.

I'm surprised by all the Garland love, he looked nervous with the ball I thought.

But the coach should see at centre bounces when the opposition has a loose man in defence and we have a loose man in defence, yet each time no player is moved to stop that player loose in our defence.

I think most people are blaming Roos for the loss, who in turn is blaming the players.

I think we are much better than last year.

Fair point, Gawn should have told him to turn around becase he was clear. Still, good players have the awareness and know what is around them before they even get the ball.

Either way it was the wrong decison to go backwards and sideways when he was in the clear. Anything that happens after that is irrelevant.

His best game was against the Bulldogs and he did two things really well. One was a shepherd which set up a goal, the other was the little sidestep on a flank. Hopefully for his sake it is just a confidence thing but I just don't see it in him.

I like the idea, his execution and when to do it needs some work.

I see a timid, slow player with poor football smarts and not a very penetrating kick.

Toumpas marked the ball 10 metres in the clear, but he handpassed backwards and sideways to a ruckman. That's the not the best option. The best option was to turn around and kick it into our forward line.

But at the centre bounces they had Oxley free and we had a player (Cross I believe) free in their forward line. Therefore, Roos was allowing Oxley to be free unless Cross was setting up in the wrong end of the ground.

A bit like Dane Swan in that regard?

My question is was Cross playing loose in defence under instruction from Roos? If so, why is Roos slamming the players for leaving Oxley free if he was playing Cross loose in defence?

It's all in the technique, he tackles with his body and not just his arms.

I'm amazed by this (if true). Surely you get Brad Miller (our runner) to take a player by the hand and walk him to Oxley and say don't leave his side. EDIT: In this article Roos concedes that Cross took five marks playing as a spare player in defence, however blames the players for not playing on Oxley? If Roos is playing a spare player in defence (Cross) that means Collingwood will have a spare player in defence (Oxley), yet he blames the players for letting him go free?

This is a classic case where the statistics don't tell the full story, he was timid and didn't hurt the opposition. This was clear for us at the game, not those just looking at the stats sheet. His handpass backwards to Gawn (while himself in the clear) was a clear example of this but it will just be measured as an "effective disposal".

Sadly, a lot of those possessions weren't damaging. Just handballs sideways that didn't impact on the game.

Toumpas. I've always a been a Gawn fan, even more so after today.

The umpire signaled a throw. I cannot believe a person who is paid to play football would even think to do it.