Straight Sets Simon

I just thought I'd answer my own question. Match fixing

Is this not match fixing? Tanks for not winning "RETIRED Carlton great Anthony Koutoufides wants to see the Blues lose to Melbourne this week and secure the number one draft pick." EDIT: Sorry, I didn't see other thread.

Bizzell shouldn't be farewelled this weekend. Because this shouldn’t be the last we see of him in MFC colours.

Would it kill you to use a capital letter every now and then?

Many people were calling for Newton to debut weeks earlier, not years.

Captain : Green Vice captain: McDonald Coach: Sheedy Delisted players: Miller, Jamar, Ferguson, Warnock, C Johnson, Neville Retired players: Brown First draft pick: No idea Football manager: Connolly (?) 07 Bluey: Jones

My point is that they still put him in the best despite his low stats-based ranking.

It will play out something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2dnrDwMdpw

That sounds familiar.

I saw something in the Herald Bun last week which pointed out that in five games, Melbourne had more than (from memory approximately) 65 long kicks (what exactly defines a long kick, I don't know) and four of those games they won. There may have been other factors too, but they were not mentioned. I just thought that was interesting.

I honestly believe that with a full list to choose from and under the instruction of a good coach (such as Sheedy) this current side has the ability to be a genuine contender.

Exactly, Collingwood knew that Brown was getting a lot of the pill but weren't worried about it because he wasn't damaging when he used it.

No, there were players there that he could have kicked it to. It was never a matter of the players getting there. So with a few minutes to go and with the team around two goals down, you don't want them to risk turning the ball over by kicking to a contest?

He could have kicked up the ground to a contest. When you are eleven points down with only a few minutes to go, the only option is to get the ball into the forward line. It's about position as much as it is about possession. The difference between Bizzell and Brown, is that Bizzell uses the ball well and is far more damaging than Brown. He can half the number of possessions and still be twice as damaging.

Of course it would have helped. However, you can't use injuries as an excuse when really the team played so badly before injuries were a problem. Melbourne had a chance when they had a full team but did not capitalise.

The game was lost in the first ten minutes before the injuries were an issue.

The only problem is, where do you get nine players to replace them?

Well the Herald Sun obviously.

Maybe I'm just naive, but I really don't think that Melbourne need such a big clean-out. I don't think it should be underestimated just how much of an influence a good coach will have on this list.

Stats mean almost nothing.

What was evident last night was that Melbourne just need to get back to basics. No fancy game plans or set plays, just keep things simple. I just hope that whoever comes in to coach doesn't feel that they have to justify their selection by trying to change things too much.

Well he was also used as a loose man. I disagree that he completely shut Lockyer because Lockyer seemed to have much more of an impact than Brown did.

Johnson should never have been dropped.

I couldn't agree more. Brown was useless last night. He was playing as a loose man and Collingwood simply didn't care. What really summed it for me was with about two or three minutes to go, Melbourne were about two goals down, he had the ball in the back pocket and then handpassed it sideways...

Why is it, that the player who has the skill and ability to get the ball, gets punished? Players are almost reluctant to go for the ball for fear that if an opponent touches them, it will be called holding the ball. If a player is gang tackled and not able to dispose of the ball, then getting a ball-up isn't a bad result for the other team. Because the team that were tackled no longer have possession of the ball so the tackling team has still won. It goes to a 50-50 situation.