Swooper Northey

Of course losing Gus has hurt, but you can't blame the club for the timing of his retirement. From all reports he was progressing well in the preseason until results of a regular scan showed newly discovered deterioration in his brain. I'm sure had the neurologists detected it earlier, the decision would have been made earlier.

Fair point. But we obviously didn't make a compelling case for him to stay nor did we really try to replace him in the trade period, noting he and Billings are not like-for-like.

We need to look at what Sydney have done. They added Adams and Jordon to their midfield mix which has allowed Heaney more freedom. Crazy when you consider we let Jordon go.

Our midfield, considered the competition's best in our premiership year, is now seriously short on depth, leaving too much to too few. A team like the Dockers today had no shortage of quality and strength rolling through the middle of ground - Brayshaw, Serong, Young, Fyfe and O'Meara to name a few. We rely far too heavily on Petracca, Viney and Oliver, a player we can't forget came off a highly concerning and interrupted pre-season. That lack of depth (plus preparation for Oliver) and line-breaking speed is fast becoming an issue as shown against the Lions, the Eagles and now brutally, the Dockers. We obviously haven't been able to replace Gus as a mature, skilled and smart midfielder which is understandable given the timing of his retirement, but his absence without a natural successor is really noticeable and it's something we must address post season, particularly if we want to remain a strong contested ball team and have the flexibility of sending Petracca forward. Clubs like Carlton meanwhile, have been able to add depth to their midfield ranks and therefore better support their star on-ballers such as Cripps and Walsh by picking up other strong, big bodied mids like Hewett, Kennedy and Acres. Sydney too have added Jordon and Adams to their midfield mix which has allowed Heaney to play the way that he is. By comparison our stocks look slim and one-dimensional .

I'm not microwaving my membership card, screaming 'sack the coach' or even declaring the window closed BUT that reality check has been coming and there are things we must address in the off season if we are to seriously contend again. Otherwise we're simply putting our heads in the sand and wasting the generational talent we still have on our list. Our midfield, considered the competition's best in our premiership year, is now seriously short on depth, leaving too much to too few. A team like the Dockers today had no shortage of quality and strength rolling through the middle of ground - Brayshaw, Serong, Young, Fyfe and O'Meara to name a few. We rely far too heavily on Petracca, Viney and Oliver, a player we can't forget came off a highly concerning and interrupted pre-season. That lack of depth (plus preparation for Oliver) and line-breaking speed is fast becoming an issue as shown against the Lions, the Eagles and now brutally, the Dockers. We obviously haven't been able to replace Gus as a mature, skilled and intelligent midfielder which is understandable given the timing of his sad retirement, but his absence without a natural successor is really noticeable and it's something we must address post season, particularly if we want to remain a strong contested ball team and have the flexibility of sending Petracca forward. Clubs like Carlton meanwhile, have been able to add depth to their midfield ranks and therefore better support their star on-ballers such as Cripps and Walsh by picking up other strong, big bodied mids like Hewett, Kennedy and Acres. Sydney too have added Jordon and Adams to their midfield mix which has allowed Heaney to play the way that he is. By comparison our stocks look slim and one-dimensional . At the same time, our approach to forward entry and connection remains a concern and it's the inability to fix this as a persistent issue which is most troubling and now borders on negligence given our lack of improvement in this area. Our personnel are a worry too. Right now, Petty isn't the answer up forward and would seem an obvious replacement for the inhured Lever as a quality intercepting defender. Instead he had another two possession game where he seems desperately short of confidence. It feels like we're killing an excellent backman by insisting he play forward due to a lack of suitable options. Quality forward targets to support Van Rooyen and replace the ageing Ben Brown must be high on the list of our national recruiting team. Whilst I think these issues leave us too vulnerable to genuinely challenge this season, we have enough talent on our list to reset, restock and reload for 2025. It starts with Tim Lamb and Jason Taylor. Over to you.

Made last year's U16 All-Australian team. Described as a tall defender who showed he can also go forward and really excite with his athleticism and outstanding overhead marking. Has a supernatural leap and the size to win the contest or bring the ball to ground to the benefit of his team. Rarely beaten one-on-one, averaging 7.3 disposals and 2.3 marks playing predominately in deep defence.

He will be a Demon. Saw Kalani and Jeff at training last year as special guests of Tim Lamb. Kalani spent lots of one on one time talking to coaches and senior players who were all showing keen interest in his progress. Watch this space.

Max is a brilliant clubman and leader who I'm sure would love to see Kalani at Melbourne, but with a wife and two babies I don't think we should expect him to run a boarding house for potential recruits. There's plenty of good Melbourne people who would could take Kalani under their wing in the hope he will thrive in the red and blue.

Am confident that common sense will prevail and that we'll get the salary cap relief that we're requesting. While we'll never be able to replace Gus as an outstanding player and brilliant team mate, we'll get some room in the cap to either retain or recruit players.

Well written Jack. Sunday's West Coast disaster reminds me of those awful loses to the Swans when they were at their worst in the early 90s. We made a habit of making them look like heroes during what was otherwise a dark chapter in their history.

The challenge for the recruiting team ahead of season 2025 is to bolster our midfield. Right now we're far too reliant on Petracca, Oliver and Viney. A couple of quality, experienced mids to complement our current crop will be really important given how much we miss Brayshaw and how one dimensional we look at times. Add to that the need for smart recruiting that can land us some more genuine outside run like Windsor. With that being the aim, a kid like Angwin could be worth a look.

Thanks binman I was watching Sparrow in the replay but couldn’t work out what his role was, have Salo and Billing’s edged him out a bit.?? Sparrow played on a wing for a large portion of the match. He's definitely not a natural winger and I reckon it robbed our midfield of an important rotation. For mine, Woey would have been a better bet on the wing.

Thanks binman I was watching Sparrow in the replay but couldn’t work out what his role was, have Salo and Billing’s edged him out a bit.?? Sparrow played on a wing for a large portion of the match. He's definitely not a natural winger and I reckon it robbed our midfield of an important rotation. For mine, Woey would have been a better bet on the wing.

Looked like they started Sparrow on a wing which I think robbed the midfield of an important rotation. Should have started Woewodin there and let Sparrow run through the middle.

With Langdon out this week, I thought Taj should have been selected on a wing.

We're overly reliant on Petracca, Oliver and Viney in the midfield which makes us predictable. Over the summer the challenge will be to add another quality experienced mid or two to that group. We've spoken at length about the loss of Gus on this forum, but his absence from the midfield right now is really noticeable.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/operation-oliver-clubs-believe-melbourne-star-could-be-available-20231003-p5e9gf.html

It's not a complaint. I'd just like to know the reason why? As I said at the beginning of this thread, it's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but I'm curious about the decision. I haven't seen too many games where Melbourne has run onto the G wearing hooped socks.

And how do our socks clash with the Bulldogs?

We didn't in 2020, 2019 or 2018. And prior to that, when we have had to wear alternate socks, it's been when the match was played in Sydney. It should be our home game, our home uniform.

If there is a clash of some sorts, surely it's up to the away side to make a change? It was our home game, yet we were the side that had to alter our uniform.

This piece about the AFL's consistently inconsistent uniform policy is also worth a read from today's The Age. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/clashes-of-the-titans-the-afl-s-murky-uniform-policies-20210506-p57pcm.html

I realise this is minor in the grand scheme of things and in no way detracts from last night's win, but why as the home side did we have to wear hooped red and blue socks against the Swans? Surely if the AFL or the host broadcaster identifies a uniform clash of some kind, it is up to the away side to come up with a solution? We didn't wear these socks in recent seasons so I'm wondering what changed?

Meanwhile, the Dogs have today entered into a multi-million dollar partnership with local council to develop Skinner Reserve in Braybrook as their 'second' training base.

Or Chopper Lovell...