Patricia and ANB both sidelined with knees (of various degrees). The harsh realities of a contact sport, but a downer for all.

Which leaves Bradshaw and Stretch. Fingers crossed.

and Newton.

Look at it this way... think of how we have all been getting excited over Hogan's imminent delayed debut in the AFL... well, now we have the same thing to look forward to next year!! (sow's ears to silk purses, my specialty).

and Newtown.

Geez, I hope Pretoria doesn't get struck down as well.

Patricia and ANB both sidelined with knees (of various degrees). The harsh realities of a contact sport, but a downer for all.

Which leaves Bradshaw and Stretch. Fingers crossed.

No not Patricia as well.....

Geez, I hope Pretoria doesn't get struck down as well.

Or Screech. He'll be a ripper.

Thanks for the report.

While Hogan is running around ragdolling people I'll say that God doesn't totally hate us. He just really does not like us very much.

Edit: [censored]

THERE IS NO GOD .

Utter nonsense. ACL reconstruction is as common as muck, and it is still very unusual for players not to make a full recovery. I rehabilitate dozens per year, and it's a streamlined process now.

It is a shame that the many AFL level players of the last 5-10 years whose careers were forever damaged did not get a chance to see you for their rehab.

This sucks a lot of [censored], mods excuse my bad language, but surely this is a time for bad language.

Common as dust?

Ok thanks for clarifying, now I understand. Feel much better about it now.

Curse of the Red FOx strikes again.........

It is a shame that the many AFL level players of the last 5-10 years whose careers were forever damaged did not get a chance to see you for their rehab.

Perhaps you could supply the stats?

As shattering as it is for all of us, it's nowhere near what he'd be feeling right now so I recommend many of us put the sharps away.

He's a 19 year old who's not played a single game yet. Sure, there's obviously a lot of potential in him but it's not as if he was going to be a vital cog in our push for Premiership glory this season.

We coped with Hogan missing the entire 2014 season and are now all brimming with excitement for his debut. Let's now look forward to doing the same with Petracca.

It is a shame that the many AFL level players of the last 5-10 years whose careers were forever damaged did not get a chance to see you for their rehab.

name them.

As shattering as it is for all of us, it's nowhere near what he'd be feeling right now so I recommend many of us put the sharps away.

He's a 19 year old who's not played a single game yet. Sure, there's obviously a lot of potential in him but it's not as if he was going to be a vital cog in our push for Premiership glory this season.

We coped with Hogan missing the entire 2014 season and are now all brimming with excitement for his debut. Let's now look forward to doing the same with Petracca.

Its what we lost by not having Hogan playing last year and again the club will loose in more ways than one without Petracca.

No, he made his name as a forward and only last season pushed into the midfield to show he had more strings to his bow when he went into the draft.

I saw him play at St Bede's a couple of years back against a nephew of mine. Christian was certainly playing in the forward half but as a bit of a ball magnet, very often drifted to what we'd call a centreman role in the old lingo. He is a very strong/clean mark and stand out leader on the field. But even then, he struggled with his precision disposal skills and in his own flamboyant way, let everyone know.

He seems a good young fella. This serious injury seems so cruel.

okay wise old dee i have great respect for the elders of this site. but let me go to the bar and have 5 or 6 whiskys to settle down.

I might join you if you can come up with a couple of decent single malts!

Its what we lost by not having Hogan playing last year and again the club will loose in more ways than one without Petracca.

We have no idea what we lost by not having Hogan as he was untried at the AFL level... same goes for Petracca now.

Its what we lost by not having Hogan playing last year and again the club will loose in more ways than one without Petracca.

I don't disagree with any of that.

Just got make the best of a bad situation and at least now there's a much better list to draw from and we're not hanging our hopes on first round draft picks to make an immediate impact.

We have no idea what we lost by not having Hogan as he was untried at the AFL level... same goes for Petracca now.

Spot on hardtack.

I really feel for the kid. Let's just hope he has a nice clean recovery so he can hit next year with a flying start.

As for the curse, has the club tried hiring any witch-doctors or medicine men to bless HQ and try to remove it? I think it would probably be worth the effort at this point.

I think it takes 45,000 Members to brake a curse. We all better jump on board just to be sure.

There is no curse just bad management for the 40 of the last 50 years.

Every club has injuries to important players.

Brendon Goddard did his ACL in 2007, came back in round 3 of the 2008 season, then went All Australian in 2009 and 2010, starring in the 2010 drawn grand final.

Lenny Hayes did his ACL in 2011, then came back in 2012 and won St Kilda's best and fairest.

Joel Selwood had four knee operations in the space of two years before even playing a game for Geelong (not sure he ever did his ACL though). 4 x All Australian, 3 x Premiership player.

Alan Didak partially tore his ACL in 2005, then came back and won Collingwood's best and fairest in 2006.

Christian Petracca tore his ACL in the 2015 pre-season before going on to win 2016's rising star medal and playing a key role in Melbourne's first final appearance in 10 years.

Very sad for the kid, and the club.

There is however no longer a savior mentality at the MFC and amongst its supporters. It's terrible for Christian, as it would be for any player, but he was not going to star for us this year as it was all going to be about his development and education. While obviously this will be impacted, it will not be an entirely wasted year for him. Lots of rehab, lots of cardio, lots of footage review with the coaches, gameday observations - the opportunities to improve his understanding of the game are immense. He can shed some pounds and be ready to hit the ground running next year with JT.

Sunny-side-up view... perhaps.

Fark I hate the heading of this thread.

The footy gods definitely hate us.

Wish u all the best P.