Ash35

Dean Kent received a MOTY nomination against Geelong earlier in the season, while Hibbard was nominated in the last round vs the Pies, but yeah, pretty lean pickings this year. Mitch Hannan vs the Suns for me.

Hunts torp was the best. Assessed and executed a difficult skill of the game beautifully.

Certainly Oliver should be in the squad. Very similar to Zach Merrett missing last years squad. It's as if the selectors want these young guys to back it up a couple of seasons in a row to earn their spot. Which is dumb, the team should be picked on that seasons performances, nothing else. Garlett lucky, Bont lucky, Seb Ross perhaps lucky. I'd replace those 3 with Oliver, Fantasia and Cotchin. Awesome to see Hibbo in there.

Yep, I wasn't blaming Petracca for the loss. He was one of the few that stood up at different times during the game. But I thought he had limited impact in the last quarter against NM in Tassie, and today the same. Obviously he is a very good footballer, and I'm sure with more time and preseasons his tank will grow which will help him play 4 quarters. He could be anything, a real X factor that can really influence the game, not so much an accumulator, so I guess it's more noticeable if he goes missing. Just a scenario to "hope we don't make it" crew out there, Richmond lose to St Kilda tomorrow, with Dustin Martin doing his hammy. Adelaide beat WCE and Melbourne qualify and are in an Elimination Final match up against the Tigers at the MCG without Martin playing. I reckon you'd be pretty happy to be involved in September action then.

Please don't tell me to boot off cos I barrack for Essendon. I'm not here for any other reason that making a comment (not gloating, which I seem to get accused of) Anyone who says "I hope we don't make finals, we don't deserve it" are kidding. The big game experience that the team will gain from playing even 1 final, whatever the result, will be an important building block to future success. If you qualify, you deserve it, it's simple as that. North has knocked off Brisbane by 50 points today, so perhaps after last weeks performance against Brisbane, todays result isn't surprising. But I think the week off will help all teams to regroup. If I was a Dees fan, I'd be barracking hard for Freo and Adelaide and hope like hell you can play a final. You just never know. On todays game, what were peoples thoughts of Petraccas last quarter? Obviously he is still young and probably needs to build a greater tank, but failed to impact the game when you needed him most.

Dees are going to win this Collingwood doing what Collingwood do

Here come the Dees Melksham

4 mins to go in the 1st quarter, Melbourne have had 3 tackles so far. I still think Collingwood will fade but the Dees need to lift

I agree, because you will beat Collingwood tomorrow and qualify. IF, and it's a big IF Essendon lose to Fremantle on Sunday, I honestly feel we aren't good enough to play finals, simple as that.

Definitely, but my attitude all week is if Essendon can't beat Freo at Etihad on Sunday, we hardly deserve to play finals. Especially after dropping the Brisbane game earlier in the year as well. Yes, it will be disappointing to miss, but no one to blame but ourselves if we don't get there. If we miss, I'll be comfortable in the knowledge that we aren't good enough yet. Melbourne winning or losing doesn't effect us making the finals, just final ladder positions [finishing 7th or 8th provided we win]. I really do expect Melbourne to win. Collingwood will have a dip early, but will fade. I'm hoping Fremantle are the same.

Shoenmakers from Hawthorn to Bulldogs is getting some air time this week.

you beat Collingwood and Adelaides actions are irrelevant. The 2 outs certainly help WCE chances, but they are still no certainties in that game. Melbourne and Essendon do what they should do, and WCE vs Adelaide is a dead rubber.

Yep, I like this comment. Richmond probably don't get the credit they deserve. Not saying they are unbeatable, far from it, but Anzac Day eve was a long time ago. Essendon should have beaten Sydney in Sydney in Round 14, doesn't mean I want to play the Swans in the finals.

Why would Adelaide rest players this week? They have a week off before finals, and if they win their first final, another week off after that. Resting players could mean those players play 1 match in about a month leading into a Preliminary final.

Yep, and I'm not saying you can't beat Richmond, but I like Melbournes chances against Port more. You've already won in Adelaide this year, against a better team. Ports performances against top 8 teams this year is very poor. As a neutral, I would love to see a Tigers vs Demons match up at the MCG, but I just have a gut feeling Port are more beatable.

I think for Melbourne that Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval is more beatable than Richmond at the MCG, but I can understand people wanting to play the Tigers as it gives the opportunity to attend the game.

Does everyone on here that wants to play Richmond first week of the finals do so because it means you can go to the game, or because you think Richmond is the most "beatable" side of all the likely opponents?

Tippa was rookie drafted by us and elevated last year. Melbourne could have drafted him if they wanted to.

Yep, Craig certainly did back in the day. I had an interesting exchange with him back in 2002 before I knew it was him. Trade period was coming to an end, and Melbourne had traded for Chris Heffernan. One media outlet announced he was a straight swap for pick 12. I was on here talking about it and Cameron posted that Melbourne also got Essendons pick 17 in the trade. I was like "that's not what was announced", and he confirmed he was Craig Cameron and indeed the trade was Heffernan and pick 17 for pick 12. I just said, "yep, you would know" lol He was a good bloke, I actually did some work with him cutting video highlights for the guys Melbourne was looking to draft in the 2004 draft. You only ended up drafting one of the players I did videos for.

Lachie Neale the same for the Dockers. There's going to be a few more before the H&A season is done

Was a good midfielder in a team that won a lot of games. Always gives you a chance for the Brownlow. Gone are the days of the likes of Jim Stynes, Scott Wynd or a Tony Lockett winning a Brownlow. Midfielders medal only. I prefer the coaches award these days.

Agree that the Brownlow is very overrated. Shane Woewodin is a Melbourne FC Brownlow medallist, yet Robert Flower isn't.

Tonights loss has made it difficult, although I never expected Essendon to win. As I have said all along, Dees in the box seat if they win tomorrow. WCE has their destiny in their own hands, while due to poor %, both Saints and Bulldogs will be relying on other teams to lose. But despite our poor record against bad teams, I would be disappointed if we didn't finish of the season with 2 wins against the team that conceded 22 goals to Brisbane today, and the other team that lost by 104 points. If the Dees make it, they will have deserved it with the amount of injuries to key players this year. If we don't play finals, I hope Melbourne do.

Hawks will want to keep him, thus wanting a bit more than he is worth. But surely they will be keen to get back into the early part of the draft in some way. Problem is I don't think he is worth your 1st round pick whatever that turns out to be, but he is worth more than your 2nd round pick.

I agree that just locking in obvious wins is dangerous this season. And on top of that, there are some real 50/50 games. Plus there are a stack of unknowns, things like which teams have "Checked out", which players might be rested, Rocket sacked from Gold Coast, how does that change them. I really am being honest when I say I think Melbourne are in the box seat. Simply Melbourne have the best run home of all the teams vying for a finals spot. The Bulldogs are a game ahead, but they probably have the toughest run home. Unless there are some crazy results, Melbourne could lose this week and still make it.