Mel Bourne

So this practice match produced a net-negative, overall. Are they really worth the roll of the dice?

He obviously can’t go anywhere physically, but I’m not sure how you get 100% out of a player who talks about his contract like it’s a pr**on sentence. (I had to spell that word as such to circumvent our very eager censor bot. For the record - it is a metaphor)

“Have to do my time there” He’s checked out.

It gets even worse when the abusers of the word launch into a defence, citing some arcane example of how it is “correct”. Those people are clutching at straws. Like, figurativelehhhhh.

Hearing word (via here) that Clayton’s hand has finally healed is genuinely exciting. The combination of physical pain and mental drain he endured last season would have been formidable. That handball aspect of his game was, for understandable reasons, completely absent this year. Coupled with lacking fitness, we all knew he was warming a bench while simultaneously out on the ground in ‘24. But he seems in ten times better shape/spirits than he did this time last year. Both him and CP are looking down the barrel of playing “defining seasons” in ‘25, and I’m very much here for it.

Good to be back on DL. Some classic shyt goin’ on Love It.

Nah, not since 2005.

Centre clearances could do with a lube and service.

I totally agree, and I’ve got too much respect for him to “bag” anything about his skills/kicking. Nor do I have any “jobs for the boys” issues. He’s a club champion, and not a nepotism case I was just saying that I have concerns - and concerns with a lower case “c” - about one particular aspect of what he may (or may not) bring as a coach (because it’s, y’know, Demonland) But I also think his presence will be a stabilising force for our currently-a-bit-rattled champs in the midfield, and that could bring a whole lot of other positives I’m most happy to sit back and see how he pans out, and of course, I wish him all the best. I do bluddy love Jonesy.

No love lost for the guy. Don’t blame him at all for accepting the offer, as he obviously is still very passionate about the club and wants to be involved. But I don’t think it’s disrespectful to question the appointment. My biggest concern is that he’s been in the “system” for so long, and might not be brimming with fresh ideas or bring any constructive criticisms to Goodwin’s methods.

Certainly a selfless player who pulls off some pretty miraculous stuff, but not enough mongrel for my mine. Pretty sure the Saints are going to pick him up, anyway.

What’s your issue with Bob?

I totally agree that the moment on the field itself shouldn’t be enough to deter a would-be professional athlete. Don’t know if you can recall the broadcast, but it was a very intrusive shot through a window, into an area where he probably thought he had a degree of privacy. I was quite struck by it at the time, as it is rare to see such a thing after a match. Particularly when it isn’t a high profile player.

That moment broke him. He wept in the change rooms, and the broadcaster chose to put cameras on him. Was a vile decision from them to add public humiliation on top of the personal misery of a young kid still trying to find his feet in the game. He never found the confidence to bounce back from that.

The most accurate, non-opinionated and subjective answer I can provide for this question is: more people than those who love Perth.