Dee Zephyr

6- D. Nicholson. The complete game in my eyes, especially his efforts in the last where he backed his

pace and constantly sprinted past his opponents around the boundary line.

5. T.McDonald. What a find! Stripping Alwyn Davey a highlight!

4. J.Rivers. Destroyed them last year, ditto last night!

3. J. Watts. Great reading of the play, the kid can play and was not even sweating when ling

interviewed him after the game.

2 J. Grimes. Unbelievable handling of the ball on a slippery surface at crucial times.

1. Rest of the team! Super effort!

Hi guys, I'm not sure if the following has been mentioned before but I believe the club has its sights firmly on 2 Victorians currently interstate. Someone would have to confirm if the following players are out of contract at seasons end. I'm speaking of McKay from the crows and Dion Prestia. Prestia's father is apparently a keen Melbourne supporter who donates fruit annually to the club from his business. We have the power to trade with their clubs and they would add what our midfield is lacking. Pace, poise and class.

I was at the games last night and it's all too comical with the team bashing. You can not get a proper indication from this shortened version. It all went too quick for my liking. You will get a better indication next week so settle down people, there were positives last night.

Clarke will make a big difference!

Bail and Bate were very good.

Jones looked really good and was best on ground against the suns and then was subbed off 5 mins into the second half, so that tells me last night was simply experimental.

Davey showed glimpses by his clever crumbing.

Grimes all class, just by the half volley pick up in the wet rebounding out from the back.

Sylvia will have a huge season, believe in him everyone, his chasing and closing speed were highlights for me.

Dan Nicholson can out run superman for all i care, he is not in our best 22, has no awareness what so ever and makes really poor decisions.

Magner and Couch are not speed machines by any means but they certainly know how to get the ball.

Good move by neeld to put Sellar forward second half against lions, caused a bit of havoc and kicked that clutch goal in terrible conditions.

Overall i was pleased.

Sorry guys but my reply to thomo's post was actually posted amidst thomo's post. Not sure what I did there.

Not much time today, but I'll be all over this next week.

In brief, can't defend one on one, poor kicking skills, slow, offers very little rebound, does not offer a target from kickout, can't take kickout.

He was exposed badly by Collingwood last year, so I assume Neeld knows his weaknesses already.

He has got courage, but that's it. Third man up is not a full time roll if he can't offer anything else. Will struggle to get a game from now on.

His recent best and fairest results tells me more about the previous coaching group than how good Rivers is.

You do not know the game if you make statements like that thomo. What is with the rivers bashing? Poor kicking skills? Rivers disposal efficiency last season was around the 85% mark in just about every game. He held the defense down on his own until chip came into his own half way through the year and to state he did not deserve his place in the B and F is astounding. Yes, Rivers did get beat up by cloke last year simply because bailey got out coached once again. When Malthouse saw Rivers heading to Cloke at the start he sent Cloke straight to the goal square and that is where Cloke stayed the whole game. Dawes played CHF that day and Chip destroyed him but did bailey swap them? No, poor Rivers was left on his own with the ball flying over his head left, right and centre due the incompetence of our midfield. Rivers is not a full back but he is a hell of a courageous defender who puts his body on the line week in, week out. True club man!

"JACK THE RIPPERS". Nice move.

Instead of pondering why certain players were left out of the leadership group we should embrace the decision and talk about it in 6 months. Moloney won't be sulking under the covers, he is a man worthy of wearing the red and blue regardless of title.

This is about the MFC!

Hi guys, name is theo, I moved to Bris a few months ago and I'm as passionate as they come for the red and blue. How do I become a QLD Dee? I'm also more than happy to put in for chip's sponsorship.

Not a bad selection method but maybe you should have included a speed criteria because that team lacks some speed. I would include Bail, even though he's not super quick he is a must, Bennell and Davey for their nimble movements and I agree with Wadda We Sing on Jordie.

I love this site but i don't post often. How do we get this bloke? Looks like he can run all day like scully, can kick better than scully, can mark and goal better than scully. I realise it's not the strongest league but geez there are worse running around in the AFL. This kid should get snapped up!

Straightforward poll. Let's see what the fans want ...

Mitch Clark, The FEV and Butcher.

Melbourne had a chance to prove themselves tonight and they're failing big time!

all bailey had to do was do his homework on 5 players from the dogs. cooney, griffen, gian(who i do not rate), boyd and cross. they smashed us. Absolute disgrace?

! Go back to port and assist primus will ya! Had enoughh!

Jurrah's useless as the number 1 target. In a top side he'd be taking the oppostion's 3rd defender. Pretty hard to lead a 3rd world fwd line of Bate, Newton and Petterd.

Really disgusted in Petterd and Morton's games tonight.

Really upsetting to hear Jurrah getting bagged. Before everyone puts their opinion forward how about finding out some facts. Jurrah had the ball kicked to him twice as the forward option for the entire game. Twice! For crying out loud, they kicked to Evans as the first forward option twice also.

I hope the Rivers bashing stops now. Clearly our best reader of the game, best last night, disposing the ball around 88% for the year and leading by example. Should have been CAPTAIN.

Holey Moley. He's gone from 3 weeks to test in one single week.

He must be Superman!

Sorry if this has been mentioned already but fox sports last night stated that Scully will be lining up in the VFL this week. Not quite sure how true it is but it was definately stated!

Yep. And big Max Gawn is now named as an emergency...

Does this mean Stef is going in under some doubt?

Confirmed. Jetta in. GO DEES! Show these muppets how unified we are!

Bailey - Useless as [censored] on a bull.

Thats six words but I dont care. Sorry

Totally agree.

Grimes on Darling in the first half had me throwing the remote at the tv. He is an offensive player and he is not accontable at the moment. Whats the point of having grimes and tappy in the backline when all we did was kick the ball to a flock of eagles standing on their own in the centre square. Not once were they used in the middle. Bailey is destroying Grimes!

My top 10 are based on the 10 most important players to the MFC, the 10 players that we need firing to have any chance of making the finals

Sylvia

Jurrah

Grimes

Frawley

Davey

Green

Jamar

Aussie

Garland

Watts

Wow. If we are talking importance im amazed no one has included bartram. He conceded the least amount of goals for a small defender last season just about.He shut down a heap of dangerous small forwards and god knows those small forwards have carved us up in the past. I understand his disposal is questionable at times but its not his role to carry and deliver.

Well, with all the hysteria and doomsaying on the other threads, let's move on to a lighter topic surrounding the fallout of Brock's departure:

Who gets number 5?

Scully?

Trengove?

Pick 11/18?

Second year player? (Blease, Strauss, etc)

Off the top of my head, there's not too much history involved, Schwartz the only significant #5 I'm aware of.

Let the debate begin!!! :D

Give it to JURRAH! Bring back the High leaping Number 5 to the "G".

How did Bate, Bell, Moloney and Sylvia play.

Did any of our rookies play?

I don't understand the constant negativity when it comes to Bell. Not sure what game some of the other readers were reading Adam magic but bell was very good today. He was tagging Brock in the middle in the first half and kept him very quiet, then followed bruce for a while, had time to go forward and kick a goal. Got a lot of the ball and was very clean. Moloney seemed to be struggling after of all people spencer ran him down in the first quarter and had a slight limp after that. Bate and sylvia were quite for their standards but bate kicked a couple in the end.

How true is it that MFC players were asked by Bailey about trading Trav? I read it on here a while ago but didn't pay much attention to it until i saw him own the GABBA in the fourth quarter on friday night. Apparently only one player told Bailey to keep him.

The rest were happy for him to go. Is that because they thought he would no longer benefit the club with his off field behaviour or they just wanted to save their own backside and showing no loyalty to the only playmaker we have had the last 6 years. After all, Trav did reject big offers from Sydney and the Filth to stay with us.

This is what really hurts me at the moment, especially with some players we decided to keep. Thoughts, anyone

Even though I am a regular reader, I don't often post but I thought the following observations might please some of you.

I was passing by the Junction oval yesterday morning and noticed some of the boys running around. Training consisted of about 18 players and it's safe to say that none of them would be participating in tonight's scratch match.

The following reports are based on what I witnessed:-

Cameron Bruce - trained on his own and was put through a series of sprints, turns and twists. Moved ok.

Mark Jamar, Robbo - took part in some easy drills but sat out most of the session. I would say rest or some general soreness. Nothing to worry about.

Simon Buckley - seemed to be favouring his right hand but still managed to take part in most drills including handballs. No concern.

Nathan Carroll, Lynden Dunn, Benny Holland, Brocky, Neitz, Wheatley, White and Frawley - all went hard at it and moved really well. All took part in most drills with high intensity and most pleasing was to see Brocky talking it up and moving like the man we know.

Chris Johnson - where is this man at? Obvious to me he is carrying something as to what I have no idea. Took part in some drills and looked slighlty restricted in movement.

Matthew Whelan- I would suggest the only major worry at this stage. Personally, I have no clue as to what he is carrying or to what extent but could not muster more than a slow jog even when he took part in kicking drills. kicked the ball ok though. Participated 20% of the session. I love this bloke but if he has a season like last with his injuries he might be the first on the long term injury list which might give Valenti the go ahead.

The following two pleased me the most!

Jared Rivers and Clint Bartram - both looked super impressive in their movements. Both were able to twist and turn very easily, both went at 100% and even when the were involved in a 4 on 4 handball match they were hard at it with the physical aspect. Rivers kicked on both feet and Bartram got a lot of penetration with some of his kicks in a long kick drill. As to when they return I'm unsure but from yesterdays observation I would think its very close. I hope so, all!

Andy Lovell was running the session and good to see him back at the club.

I hope you enjoy the report but I have been starved all summer and was happy to see some of the boys even if it was by chance.

Would like to hear if any of u know anything about Sam Hunt. Saw him run around for the cats in the vfl final and was actually impressed with his size and speed. I realise he hasn't grasped his chances at both clubs he has been at but i wonder if it's due to injury or the fact he is simply not good enough. Any comments?