Straight Sets Simon

The aggression and tenacity showed by the players was good (bar a few dumb free kicks given away), that at least is a big positive. That sort of effrot needs to be the norm with more polish to go with it.

Yes, but he gets around it in other ways. At the moment, for me this is the one big thing holding Trengove back. It's his acceleration mainly which is the big concern, he needs to work on his first five steps.

The logo looked great on the jumpers today.

6. Rivers 5. Bate (but still takes too long to dispose the ball) 4. Magner 3. Jones 2. Clark (mainly for his efforts) 1. Howe

He is slow, pure and simple.

Game plan does come into it becuase if the only option is the bomb the ball down the boundary there will be few opportunities to get the ball, run and handpass.

Nice to have some good news today!

Me too, until Morton missed a handpass to a player one metre away.

He said something very similar after the first game, I agree with him.

I just don't think his best is good enough.

I'd love to know how many Melbourne players watched the Carlton game on Friday night. I'd then love to ask them why they can't work as hard as Carlton do.

The players need less meetings and more skill sessions. Their heads are probably overflowing with information, just let them play.

Another Melbourne supporter (the advertising person who WebJet use) brings home the goods, well done WebJet.

I maintain that clubs should always look to have a balance of tall, small, fast and tough players no matter the latest trend in how the game is played.

RobbieF was all over this one like a fat kid on cake.

Our track record with sponsors in recent years: Hankook: Club supporters who approached the club in a time of need, reportedly left the club on bad terms. Kaspersky: Club supporter gets company he works for to sponsor the club in a time of need, reportedly left the club on bad terms. EnergyWatch: Record sponsorship deal announced on August 26, on August 27 the ABC reports EnergyWatch being investigated by the ACCC for "deceptive conduct". Racist Facebook rants lead to dunping of EnergyWatch and further investigations show poor past business operations in the past by Polis. EDIT: Typo.

I would be extremely surprised (albeit pleasantly) if Fitzpatrick plays 50 games in the AFL.

The likes of Bennell, Strauss, Blease, Bail, Trengove and Scully. Then there is Maric, and Morton from the previous draft. Tapscott adds grunt, isn't an inside player as such, while Gysberts isn't big but plays the in-and-under role. The point is, Magner is the first player in a number of years that we have drafter who is a true grunt, in-and-under player and to think we delisted Valenti who did that role very well with limited opportunities (and has won consecutive Liston Medal's since). The point about Schwab having too much of a say in the drafting is valid, but isn't relevant to this thread.

I heard Mark Robinson today on SEN saying that he had a conversation with Schwab at a function a few years ago where Schwab wrote down a hypothetical Melbourne team in a few years time (probably about now) and Robinson made the comment that the team lacked grunt but Schwab was adamant that we would need more running players because that's where the game was headed. No matte the latest or next tactical fad (run and carry, tempo, rolling zone or press) teams always need a good balance of inside, outside tall and small players. I understand that in the past we did lack runners, especially with the likes of McLean and McDonald in the team but it looks as though we went too far the other way in trying to restore the balance.

Coaches too, I think Mark Thompson had a lot to do with developing the culture down at Geelong.

One thing that always frustrates me with people on here is how much they underrate the value of a good "team". By that I mean, we (myself included) look too often at individual performances, and for example underrate how well the good teams work together. Furthermore, Melbourne has a poor culture and for whatever reason if Player A goes to Melbourne, they are less likely to turn out as good if they otherwise go to a team like Geelong with a strong culture. There is too much focus on stars and individuals, we need to develop a strong team and a strong culture.

I went to school with him, always a good player, a bit of a Matthew Bate in terms of looks and style of play.

That gave me a laugh, thanks!

Getting rid of Shane Valenti.

I was thinking this the other day, I'd like to see Martin "tag" Naitanui if that is possible with ruckmen.