Straight Sets Simon

6. Rivers 5. Jamar 4. Warnock 3. Frawley 2. Whelan 1. Grimes

I dare Dean Bailey Bad coaching performance This LONG KICKING to a FORWARD LINE thing could take off... What's a forward line? Where it all began: Wanted: You just said: It only took you two and a half years, but you got there in the end.

Are you serious? He was one of the only players creating space, hitting targets and providing some poise down back when Melbourne were under the most pressure. No clue.

Just about Melbourne's best player tonight. Fail.

But Jaded, I thought this wasn't an issue? Round 1, 2007.

Rate from 1 to 3: 1 = Worst 2 = Disgusting 3 = Terrible

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but by far the worst umpiring mistake happened at the start of the game and resulted in Franklin's first goal. The ball was kicked to a contest on Hawthorn's HFF and the umpire blew his whistle and signalled a Melbourne free kick for holding off the ball by pointing towards the Hawthorn end of the ground. Two Melbourne players then ran to he bench to interchange (thinking that it was a Melbourne free kick) but the umpire had pointed in the wrong direction and gave the ball to Hawthorn instead. By this stage Melbourne were now two players down who had run to the bench, there was now no one to stand the mark and the Hawthorn player then had all the time in the world to hit Franklin on the chest who was able to kick the goal. Those kind of mistakes are inexcusable and something you wouldn't expect from junior umpires, let alone at an AFL level.

You honestly think that there are people out there who went to the football because they have a about a one in 10-20,000 chance of winning $5,000?

I just watched the replay and I didn't appreciate McDonald's efforts from being at the game, especially his work in the contested situations.

I'd start him on the bench. EDIT: He is the ideal HBF for me, pushing up onto the wing.

Petterd is playing forward after always playing as a defender, so I'm not suprised that he is struggling at the moment. He needs to be played as a defender.

I thought Bennell showed a lot today.

6. Sylvia 5. Rivers 4. Green 3. Martin 2. Bruce 1. Bennell

Bate - Slowly adjusting to life as a permanent forward Bennell - Quality without the quantity Bruce - Middle of the road Davey - Due for a quiet game Frawley - Was much better suited to Williams than Franklin Green - Good return from injury Grimes - Still adjusting to AFL football Johnson - I rate him, but just lacks polish at times Jones - Disposal was terrible, bring in Valenti Maric - Good signs Martin - Decide whether he is a forward, defender or ruckman now and stick with it McDonald - Fairly quiet game McLean - Painfully slow Miller - Not damaging in any way Moloney - Quiet game Morton - Good without being great Petterd - Not a forward Rivers - Did very well on Franklin Robertson - Poor Sylvia - Almost the best individual performance from any player I've seen in recent years Warnock - Solid Whelan - Awesome tackle on Franklin

I think you mean vs Adelaide.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bartram struggled to get back into the team for the rest of the year.

I just got mine today. It's interesting to compare it with my old jumper (an LG jumper from around 2002), the red on the new jumper really is much brighter, as is the blue and the red yolk is bigger and sharper on the old jumper. I hadn't been able to compare the two in the flesh and the old jumper looks much better to me, but I'm happy to support the new sponsors and the club with my purchase.

Agreed. Hopefully Petterd is played in the backline. I'm particularly happy that with Frawley and Rives coming in as two defenders, Cheney (unlucky as you say) and Bartram have made way. In the past the team would be full of these defensive type players. P.S. I tipped Melbourne this week.

Rubbish. I would like to see on the bench Petterd, Maric, Jones and Bennell but I just can't see it happening.

This is slightly off topic but I find the idea of a "one percenter" stat the most useless. The whole idea of a one percenter is a player doing something (a bump, tapping the ball forward etc.) that contributes to the team but would otherwise not get put down as a statistic.

He said a similar thing after the game at Casey.

Brodie Holland is back. Morton played well, I never said he didn't. But right now he just lacks that potency that I have no doubt will come as he matures and puts on a bit of size.

Great analysis.

I didn't realise he kicked four in the end, but he still lacked class and smarts.

Bartram - Average game Bate - Lacked class and smarts Bruce - Best game in a long time Cheney - Solid Davey - B.O.G. Dunn - Back to Casey Grimes - Prolific but still finding his feet Johnson - Disposal should be better Jones - Good game Maric - Rarely seen Martin - Stepped up down back McDonald - Hardly noticed McLean - Terrible kicking Miller - Poor game Moloney - Classy again Morton - Lacks damaging edge Petterd - Not a forward Robertson - Academy Award winning performance Sylvia - Slowly improving Warnock - Solid Whelan - Superstar Valenti - Quiet game, struggled to get going but will be better for the run