Straight Sets Simon

Now I've seen it all, Melbourne supporters blaming the BOM for poor crowds.

Not a headline, but a banner idea from Natanui over at BigFooty that gave me a giggle.

Melbourne's future will always be at the MCG, that will never be questioned, however the Casey deal will allow Melbourne to grow and expand whilst also holding on to its roots.

This is fantastic news, a massive step in the right direction for the football club.

With Martin out, PJ will stay in. Martin is stiff, but if they do want to make him into a forward then playing a game or two at Casey won't hurt. From the extended bench listed I would like to see Johnson, Bennell, Maric and Cheney.

Go back to eating your Mission tacos.

I noticed on the Melbourne website that Kaspersky Lab will be handing out free six month trials of their internet security at the game on Monday. Kaspersky Lab Free Trial As someone who has purchased Kaspersky Lab already for myself and for my girlfriend's family, I can sincerely guarantee that it is a very good product that is easy to use and goes about its business quietly in the background. Not only that, when I encountered some problems with having to remove the previous anti-virus software, the Kaspersky Lab staff were extremely friendly, helpful and fixed my problems in a matter of minutes. I wasn't put on hold, talking to a machine or operators in another country; I got straight through to the staff here in Australia. In contrast we were having to deal with another anti-virus company and Bigpond at the same time and Kaspersky's customer service blew them all out of the water ten times over. If you do get an opportunity to take up the free trial offer then I highly recommend that you do so.

I'm hoping that it is "Watts the difference between Melbourne and Collingwood" and not "Watts wrong". Either way I'm excited about seeing the guy run around the MCG.

Agreed.

Whelan was one of Melbourne's best last week, won't be dropped. I'd like Cheney to play, but I don't know who would come out for him.

With Watts now playing I give up.

I didn't realise that McDonald was in doubt is all.

IN: Valenti, Robertson, Cheney OUT: Jones, Miller, McDonald* *If injured

One to two thousand went to just watch an intra-club practice match earlier this year. I would say that ten thousand plus would not be out of the question as there are a couple of key points that you have missed. 1) Casey locals turning out the the game. I know that if any AFL team started to play games in my backyard I'd happily go along to watch, no matter who was playing. 2) The appeal of watching the game at a suburban ground. The MCG is easily the best venue to watch football at, however from speaking to other people who have seen Melbourne play at Casey Fields, the general consensus was the appeal of watching a game at a traditional suburban ground at more of a "grass roots" level. It would never replace the MCG (and would only be used for three to four games maximum), but it makes a great alternative and would reinforce the connection with the Casey community.

Over the last two weeks Rivers has destroyed Kosi and kept Franklin quiet when he played on him.

Melbourne needs to grow its supporter base. The studies the club has done suggest that Melbourne has the lowest number of young supporters. Melbourne isn't going to grow its supporter base by relying on playing at the MCG and being associated with the city. This hasn't worked for decades. The alignment with Casey gives Melbourne a chance to grow the club and the supporter base in an area that is genuinely growing quickly, in a way that will see the club firmly entrenched within the community. The Melbourne brand won't be damaged with this alignment (if it is agreed upon) as the club will still be predominantly based in the city and MCG. As was mentioned at the Youth Summit, Casey Fields will be seen as a "campus" of the MFC which is a great way of describing the facility. If Melbourne can play games at Casey Fields then it is most likely that it would only be three maybe four, as I pointed out last year the trend in stadiums is no longer to just go bigger, but to go smaller and fill them up.

I'm all for this as I have mentioned for the past year or so, however isn't the sticking point the contract agreement that prevents a new stadium in Victoria being used by AFL clubs for 25 years?

IN: Valenti, Robertson OUT: Jones, Miller

Robertson would have been handy, but I'm not worried about dropping him as I am sick of watching him carry on all the time and play for free kicks. It's just disappointing because he destroyed Scarlett a few weeks ago.

I like Bell, but he looked to be lacking confidence to me.

Skills are poor, but as we have seen since Round 1, 2007 when there are no targets to hit in the forward line (or the targets are out-numbered) then it is difficult to hit those targets.

Just to highlight how much Dwayne Russell clearly hates Melbourne. At one point he mentioned that Melbourne had won six of nine last quarters this, but this was because Melbourne were often out of the game by half time* and the opposition had stopped trying. However, after scanning the records I found that there are only three games where Melbourne were in any real trouble at half time, but even then no game was over by then. I'm not here to deny that Melbourne have been poor this year, but he clearly lied to suit his agenda. *He mentioned this same statistic a second time, only this time he said three-quarter time instead of half-time after realising his own stupidity.

Bate - Good then went missing Bell - Looked like Tarzan... Bennell - Developing nicely Bruce - Poor skills Davey - Quiet game Frawley - Improving each week Green - Solid Grimes - Rising Star Jamar - Great tap-work Johnson - Lacked the quality finish Jones - Very quiet game Maric - Classy touches Martin - Poor game McDonald - Good on Dal Santo McLean - Poor skills Miller - Casey Moloney - Solid Morton - Lack potency with disposal Rivers - Destroyed Koschitzke Sylvia - Solid Warnock - Good on Riewoldt Whelan - The General

Johnson provided the best (his 50 metre pass across the ground to set up the Frawley goal) and the worst (just about everything else). I still rate him.

When Melbourne play anyone deep in attack I might agree with you.