Young Dee

It been a long year, actually the last 8 years have been long years! We had an optimistic looking start to the season but the last 9 weeks or so has confirmed that I need a break from footy. I have wasted enough time already scrolling though countless pages of draft material only to find out it was a waste of time. You can study the players all you like but at the end of the day the club will pick who they pick and no one will know whether it was the right decision (till maybe 5 years down the track). On a brighter note the sun is out and I sense spring/summer around the corner. Instead of following trend and heading to the mountains mid-season (doesn’t work) I have decided to ride the season out and then forget all things footy over the off-season. Time to soak up the sun and come back preseason fresh and rejuvenated. Yours sincerely, Young Dee

...and another vein will appear on PJ's head.

Cheers - well i guess that's good news.

Isn't the club best-and-fairest standing also a factor - hence why the article talks about his form?

As you said Grimes isn't a great kick (definitely not a penetrating kick) - we miss enough goals already. Not to mention that it would only add to the amount of lofted bombs inside 50. We will always struggle to kick over 10 goals when we are bombing into a stagnant 50m arc.

I can't really see Grimes taking his game to another level (and he needs to). Unless he can miraculously improve like Pedo, I don't think he will be captain for long.

I would like to see if Roos can make anything of Strauss - I still think he has the attributes and its probably his last roll of the dice. (never know - could find a diamond in the rough like Jetta) We really do need a rebounding backmen with pace and a good kick - I think the thing stopping him getting a game is his one on one work. JKH, Bail, Watts and Jones would all be on thin ice if Casey was any good. I expect Bail will bounce back quickly, JKH is forgiven for being inconsistent for its his first year but Jones and Watts are lucky they received contract extensions recently.

Will always remember him for his tap combo with Jamar - knew where Jamar was going to tap even before Jamar. Was probably the same year Jamar got all Australian so he probably has Beamer to thank.

Smart enough to realise Neeld was hopeless - that's something

2 men down if you include Watts. Some of his efforts or should I say lack of efforts are just pathetic

serious question - is there such thing as incorrect disposal? Freo dropped the ball more then they handballed

Casey Website: 'Melbourne Football Club - Building the best alignment in the VFL'....mmm As Roos has said several times the 2nds are really important for this club going forward - I hope they are looking at options. PJ has been awfully quiet lately - maybe he could twist the AFL's arm again and get some funding for a standalone team. Casey is too far away for players and supporters - we should centralise. Melb Uni?... probably not.

I predict Bernie will wear him like a glove

I can't stand when they do that - they need to drop that rule and start paying the frees where they actually have prior opportunity. I think they also overdo the 'pulling the ball in' rule I understand paying those in the late stages of a close game but really they are just discouraging the players from going in and getting the footy.

They need to take the rules back to the basics and find consistency again. I think they should let the game be played and only pay free kicks where really necessary - that way players might stop staging free kicks and you get a free flowing game. Leave goal reviews for the finals. Interestingly I thought I would see where we rank in free kicks awarded and we are 6th - more surprisingly Collingwood have had the least free kicks http://www.afl.com.au/stats

I think some may be jumping the gun - yes we were poor today but I think some need to go and watch a couple replays from 2013. Effort was nearly there - just some silly brain fades. We need to bring in some classy players at the end of the year that can lead this group and scrap a couple (Nicho, Terlich etc.). I think we also made a couple poor selections - Michie should have come in for cross not Nicho

Perfect example of the failure of the holding the ball rule. Pay the ones where there is no prior/opportunity (tyson) and yet don't pay the ones where there is prior and they drop the ball (murphy) Pretty poor performance from Melbourne today!

The whole midfield needs to lift and Dawes needs start taking clean grabs.

Bull dogs have earned one of their goals at best today

is there such thing as prior opportunity anymore? The AFL needs to address the holding the ball rule ASAP - they give the ones they shouldn't and don't give the ones they should Should be an even game - doggies have just had some lucky goals and made use of our turnovers

Would kind of name is Honeychurch?

ah the iconic Pedersen leap

I would also like to see if Garland can find some of his 2013 form. He will need time to adjust to a new game style - I know he is trying to play his role but we could do with some of his rebounding flare out of defence,

Does anyone know if the roof has been closed all morning or is it going to be a wet weather game? Don't like watching wet weather footy but it could level out the disposal efficiency.