Please Note: The Outsider is an Irish dentist who once performed a root canal on Jim Stynes’ father, making him a Melbourne fan for life. His views do not represent those of the players, officials and staff of MELBOURNEfc.


It’s hard to work out what Neale Daniher has done wrong over the first six weeks of the season to upset the football gods. If there were an All-Australian team of injured players Daniher would be the honorary coach and he could fill the forward line and midfield almost entirely with Melbourne players.

As bad as it is to see any player go down, the Outsider was almost relieved to see a couple of Swans players get injured last Saturday night, just to prove that players from other teams get hurt too.

The odds are against the Dees from here on, but anything can happen in a long season.

Neitz to fire up the forward line- 3-1
Some fans were rubbing their hands together prematurely early last week at news the veteran skipper might be back to tackle the Swans. But after another week of rest, he will be frothing at the mouth ready to hit the ‘G and help maintain a perfect home record against Port. In the absence of Neitz and Robertson, more players have been tried at full forward than West Coast has had controversies. Although Brad Miller and Lynden Dunn continue to improve and have battled hard, it will be good to have the skipper’s mitts on the end of a few long bombs into the forward arc.

Petterd the goods- 4-5
During tough times, the sign of a promising youngster can warm the heart of the most frustrated fan. Even though he didn’t get the official gong this week as NAB’s Rising Star we can expect Ricky to be around for plenty more games in the red and blue.

Everyone getting a game- 20-1
This one is fairly unlikely, but it is almost unheard of for a team to have used 35 players after just five rounds. The question now is whether all 40 senior players can get a game in the remaining 17 weeks of the season. With boom youngster James Frawley likely to debut once he returns from injury, Simon Buckley on the cusp of selection after flying to Sydney as an emergency last week, and Michael Newton kicking six in the VFL there may soon be only a couple of players who haven’t donned the Red and Blue.

A Zebra Quartet- 4-1
If watching the Dees lose is getting you down, there is always the age-old remedy of watching the ‘seconds’. Doom and gloom is the last thing on everyone’s mind down at Trevor Barker Oval, with the Zebras sitting 4-0 atop the VFL ladder and on track to win their fourth consecutive flag. Although only six senior-listed players are in the Sandringham side at the moment, Michael Newton kicked six sausage rolls last weekend in an 80-point demolition of the Casey Scorpions. This week, the Zebras travel to Frankston to keep their perfect record in tact.

Tip of the week- Port have never beaten Melbourne at the ‘G but are playing some exciting footy. The Outsider is tipping a draw.