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I have just read this article from The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/three-losses-that-raised-eyebrows-20121030-28hpu.html (Yes, I live in Queensland, I'm a little slow on these things) The basic tenets of the article, however, do not sit well with me. It raises questions over 3 games in 2009 - Sydney, Richmond and St Kilda; and the proffers arguments as to why Melbourne were 'tanking' these games. However, similar coaching moves were made in subsequent years (a few of these games we actually won), with no questioning. Sydney - R17, 2009 Questionable decision to put Morton on to Goodes - yet not seen as questionable exactly a year later, when the Swans were smashed by 73 points, or in the drawn first game of 2011? Richmond - R18, 2009 Talk was made of Frawley and Warnock playing forward - in 2012, Rivers and Garland played forward, and it paid dividends.......it seems the difference between 'looking for flexibility' and 'outright cheating', in the eyes of the author, is the result, but how is that to be known without trying the experiment? Also, were Geelong tanking this year, when they sent Taylor forward in multiple games? Fremantle when making Tarrant a KPD? Miller in the ruck - I'm sure that subsequent to this game, Juice, Dunn and even Sylvia have had to contest hitouts, due to stoppages occurring with no ruckman in the area. PJ at fullback - come on, it's not as if he were to be much more useful in any other position on the ground. Nathan Brown sent deep into defence - wait, is that Doggy, who retired at the end of 2007, or the Richmond player of the same name........ ".....a centre-bounce set-up featuring flankers Ricky Petterd and Matthew Bate also raised eyebrows" - I seem to recall a 'superstar' centre bounce team of Spencer, Nicholson and Bail in round 22 of this year, yet there were no suggestions of 'strange coaching moves' from this game. St Kilda - R21, 2009 Frawley being moved from Reiwoldt - I seem to recall that Frawley didn't play on Reiwoldt this year, but a certain 2nd-year player did. Didn't perform too badly, either. Is it so hard to accept we may have more than one capable defender? Jurrah on the wing - was Bailey also tanking 186, when Jurrah also played up the ground? Yeah, that seems legit.......... Perhaps, being a Melbourne supporter, I've had reason to see these similarities, but surely, if you're going to put your name into a national newspaper in print, you'd do some sort of research? Why is it so hard for the media to accept that in 2009, we were just rubbish?