Seriously, over multiple interviews he seemed absolutely thrilled with the result and the performance of some of the youngsters, especially Dean. Even saw him having a deep and meaningful with Young. Didn't look like someone the least bit interested in moving to another club.
Talk of Weitering wanting a trade, the club wanting to trade him and/or his alleged demoralising presence in our backline is just baseless "supporter" speculation.
Weitering hates losing games and one-on-one contests but he has never been one to hide his emotions when we win or when one of his teammates does well.
It was quite moving seeing Weiters and Crippa leading the team into the rooms last night
I thought despite being behind in the first, we looked like the better team. They couldn't miss, we couldn't kick straight.
I think there was a part in the second/third when they clearly looked better and we managed to ride it out without issue. From there i think we had it in the bag.
I thought that we were the better team for the whole game. Both teams were a little fumbly and tangle-footed in the first quarter and I don't know whether that was the occasion or the conditions, but both teams settled down fairly quickly. Melbourne worked really hard to disrupt our short-kicking, possession game and we played into their hands with a couple of poorly-executed kicks and by taking some overly-ambitious options. Gawn rucking for the entire first quarter gave them an edge when Pitto was off, but that came back to bite them on the butt later in the game. Our actual and perceived pressure was excellent and, although Melbourne laid more tackles, ours were often at critical moments, seemed heavier, and yielded vital free kicks. Melbourne did have a crack in the third quarter but I thought that we rode it out quite comfortably and always looked confident.
Melbourne missed some easy goals, and our defence saved several more, but we really should have had a few more goals on the board; five posters Our ball use and pressure inside 50 has been a feature of the second half of the season and it was outstanding last night.
While I'm at it, some of our lesser lights or "bottom six" players made excellent contributions to complement the work of our guns. I'm talking about Cerra, Cottrell, Lord, Wilson, Acres, Hollands, McGovern, Young and Evans. Byrner had a quiet game but still played a role in our forward pressure and team defence.
I thought that both coaches spoke very well in their pressers. Minimal cliches, no excuses or whinging and good, honest appraisals of their team's performance.
I know that Pitto would have us believe that it's because they're ruckmen, but how refreshing is it compared to what the Scotts, Lyon, Hardwick and Kingsley serve up?
I had a brief spell from the group a while back and was pleasantly surprised to receive a "welfare check" DM from another member. I know that EB tried without success to contact Capcom when he abruptly stopped posting and I hope Shawny's DM will shed light on EB's situation. 🤞
Pitto’s “ruck nerd” discussion that’s in today’s Age and various other places gives a good insight into how he tackles Gawn. It basically boils down to limiting where Gawn can direct his taps so that our midfielders can shark the ball.
Ison takes a turn in the midfield, Cerra could go back to his midfield role, and we have several small forwards who can pinch hit in the midfield. I don't really think that we'd miss a midfielder.
The interesting emergency selection for me is Reidy after he missed the VFL game last round. He must have shone at training
Melbourne has gone with a very short team. Their average height is around 186cm to our 188cm (and Gawn’s 209cm is a significant outlier).
Melbourne has six players who are 190cm or taller and we have ten. Melbourne has one player over 200cm and we have three.
Now, the old saying is that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Countering that is the maxim, a good big man will always beat a good small man and, all things being equal, that’s true. Dean vs Pickett should mean that Dean wins around seven out of ten contests, but Kosi’s three wins could result in three goals.
Then there’s the old adage about tall players not getting any shorter as the game goes on. While that’s true too, good ball delivery can negate a height advantage.
All that waffle boils down to us having a significant height advantage, but that advantage will only make a difference if we play to the best of our ability.
Our ball use and pressure inside 50 has been a feature of the second half of the season and it was outstanding last night. 
