18 of our best 22 in this weeks team... only Gawn, Hogan and Brayshaw missing from this weeks team due to injury. Weideman out due to form. Big Maxs absence is a killer.

jetta t.mcd o.mcd

salem frost hibberd

hunt viney melksham

petracca watts vince

garlett (hogan) (Weideman)

(gawn) lewis jones

oliver tyson bugg (Brayshaw)

anb Pedersen hannan jkh all now in but need to take their opportunities.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

18 of our best 22 in this weeks team... only Gawn, Hogan and Brayshaw missing from this weeks team due to injury. Weideman out due to form. Big Maxs absence is a killer.

After the JLT series I'd have VDB in the best 22 along with potentially Joel Smith in time.  VDB's importance to the structure, particularly with Watts going into the ruck and providing the decoy  option so we aren't kicking it to Jeffy in one on one marking contests shouldn't be underestimated.

Wasn't able to follow the game

Did we get thought unscathed for a change?

Petracca on sen re his knee injury against the tigers: "i actually thought I did my acl...the scans came back negative, thank god it was just bone bruising"

that's some neo level bullet dodging right there.

Edited April 30, 20178 yr by DemonAndrew

2 hours ago, monoccular said:

Wasn't able to follow the game

Did we get thought unscathed for a change?

 

Yes, no injuries to report of! 

Slight improvement in our injury/unavailability situation with Jesse Hogan's return from his family bereavement and Angus Brayshaw from his week's rest after suffering a head knock playing for Casey:-

Melbourne injury list: round seven

Angus Brayshaw (concussion) – available
Colin Garland (knee) – season
Max Gawn (hamstring) – 8-10 weeks
Declan Keilty (concussion) – test
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 4-6 weeks
Joel Smith (shoulder) – 8-10 weeks
Tim Smith (ribs) – 4-5 weeks
Jake Spencer (shoulder) – 5-6 weeks
Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – 7-8 weeks

1 hour ago, Chelly said:

Slight improvement in our injury/unavailability situation with Jesse Hogan's return from his family bereavement and Angus Brayshaw from his week's rest after suffering a head knock playing for Casey:-

Melbourne injury list: round seven

Angus Brayshaw (concussion) – available
Colin Garland (knee) – season
Max Gawn (hamstring) – 8-10 weeks
Declan Keilty (concussion) – test
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 4-6 weeks
Joel Smith (shoulder) – 8-10 weeks
Tim Smith (ribs) – 4-5 weeks
Jake Spencer (shoulder) – 5-6 weeks
Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – 7-8 weeks

still the core 7 unavailable

6 players with long term injuries plus Garland gone for the season.

Great to read that big Maxy ran for the first time on the weekend. Long road ahead obviously, but great progress!

1 hour ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Great to read that big Maxy ran for the first time on the weekend. Long road ahead obviously, but great progress!

When he first did it he repeated in the media a couple of times that the doctor that treated him got Nicky Dal back in 7 weeks from the same injury. Now I don't want to tempt fate, and TBH I would worry if we brought him back too early, since he could reinjure... But it gave me cause to be optimistic that he shaves a week or two off the time he has out.

12 week injury

Minus 1 for the bye

Minus 2 as suggested above

Already missed the Freo, Tigers and Dons games.

That makes it 6 more games. Hawks, Crows, North, Suns, Pies and Dogs. And if it works out that way, then back for the West Coast or Sydney games.

So that's McEvoy, Witts and whoever's playing in the ruck for the dogs. None of those worry me. I would argue Watts and Pedo will do very well running with Grundy, as his main asset is his round the ground work.

Goldy/Preuss could do a number on us with their size, but I feel like elsewhere we have the edge over a rebuilding side.

That leaves, basically, only Jacobs and his Crows... who currently would win a game against 22 superman clones the way they're playing.

And if I'm wrong and he comes back later? It'll be only against WC with all their ruck stocks out. Or Sydney who will potentially be playing the kids by then.

It's all coming up Maxie!

9 hours ago, Dappa Dan said:

... But it gave me cause to be optimistic that he shaves a week or two off the time he has out.

.......,,

It's all coming up Maxie!

He has only shaved once, I believe. 

Selling it for the Reach Foundation according to Titus 

On those dates we'll have Jake back ahead of Max for 2-5 matches depending on the scenarios.  That will be good because Jake's injury won't affect his running fitness so he should be ready to go.

Maybe Jake back for QBW and then Max back for the big Friday night home game against the Swans.

3 hours ago, monoccular said:

He has only shaved once, I believe. 

Selling it for the Reach Foundation according to Titus 

Good form Mono, good form.

2 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

On those dates we'll have Jake back ahead of Max for 2-5 matches depending on the scenarios.  That will be good because Jake's injury won't affect his running fitness so he should be ready to go.

That's a good point. And yes, running wise he'll be up and going. Good solid pre season too. My only worry would be that the type of player he is... his body will be hit from pillar to post. The aerobic capacity and ability to repeat sprint is a huge and underrated feature for Spence. People don't realise how quick he really is. But with Max out, and going through the midfield, it's his spoiling, tackling, and clearance work that makes him a respectable option. I remember when he strung a few together two seasons ago I was surprised to see he did all the "other" stats really well. He's going to need to be prepared for physical punishment. And it's almost more critical than his engine at this stage.

It'll be interesting to see what decisions are made. Watching Pedo against a career ruckman... he was an absolute matchup win. On the Couch showed footage of him runnign back to take the mark he scored on. Bellchambers just couldn't keep up. That kind of workrate... that's hard to drop. Gee he was good.

19 minutes ago, Dappa Dan said:

Good form Mono, good form.

That's a good point. And yes, running wise he'll be up and going. Good solid pre season too. My only worry would be that the type of player he is... his body will be hit from pillar to post. The aerobic capacity and ability to repeat sprint is a huge and underrated feature for Spence. People don't realise how quick he really is. But with Max out, and going through the midfield, it's his spoiling, tackling, and clearance work that makes him a respectable option. I remember when he strung a few together two seasons ago I was surprised to see he did all the "other" stats really well. He's going to need to be prepared for physical punishment. And it's almost more critical than his engine at this stage.

It'll be interesting to see what decisions are made. Watching Pedo against a career ruckman... he was an absolute matchup win. On the Couch showed footage of him runnign back to take the mark he scored on. Bellchambers just couldn't keep up. That kind of workrate... that's hard to drop. Gee he was good.

Pedersen was tremendous, but it was Bellchambers 1st game for 18+ months - he will be the easiest opponent we see over this next period.

2 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

Pedersen was tremendous, but it was Bellchambers 1st game for 18+ months - he will be the easiest opponent we see over this next period.

Yeah. I think had they rolled with Bellchambers and Spence been fit, we'd have seen a massive game from Spencer too. I think it's encouraging though. There's ruckmen Pedo will play against that he'll be able to run off their feet. Maybe not the way he did to TB, but certainly to some degree. Says a lot about Pedo's work ethic in the last few seasons. I remember seeing him in the rooms a few years back and he looked just like me physically. I was disgusted that an AFL player could slip so far. Now he looks like he's carved out of granite.

2 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

Pedersen was tremendous, but it was Bellchambers 1st game for 18+ months - he will be the easiest opponent we see over this next period.

Pedersen lost the ruck battle and always will against legitimate ruckmen, it was his work around the ground and ability to push forward and take marks that was what impressed most.

6 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Pedersen lost the ruck battle and always will against legitimate ruckmen, it was his work around the ground and ability to push forward and take marks that was what impressed most.

Yes agreed he was very good. Two points assisted him there though: 

• using TMac as ruck in the back 50 enabled this
• Bellchambers is the least fit opponent he'll come up against

Just had a chat with a mate(and former Casey player) of Tim Smith. He was just released from hospital last Friday,

and there is no talk of any return to football at this stage. He is at home resting. It will definitely be much more than the listed 4-5 weeks. Poor guy - he is obviously shattered.

Pedersen lost the battle perhaps, but he didn't lose every contest.

Did the role ok.

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Pedersen lost the ruck battle and always will against legitimate ruckmen, it was his work around the ground and ability to push forward and take marks that was what impressed most.

Did he?

He might not have won the number of hitouts but in the post game interview he said he was jumping into Bellchambers at an angle so Bellchambers would hit it towards a triange we were aiming for.

If Pedo was dictating where the ball was going without winning the tap he still won the ruck battle imo.

 

Great to hear big Max say he is only 4 weeks away from full training as the usual hammy recovery now he has stared running. Could play in 5 weeks perhaps!

5 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

Yes, but will the beard grow back in time?

Please lets not risk our best and most valuable player for the sake of rushing him for a game or two. We are not exactly staring a premiership in the face this season. I want him fit and firing from now until 2027 please, not breaking down again after a week of being rushed in too quickly.

 

From HS website:  Good news for Melbourne fans, ruckman Max Gawn was spotted running and doing light ball work at training

Good work.  Speedy recovery, Maxy!  We need you...

Edit:  Update:  http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-05-09/gawn-spencer-progressing-strongly  “He’s starting some faster run throughs this week and he’s still only four weeks’ post op, so he’s four to six weeks away. “Jake is going well. He’s got very good range in that shoulder and good strength, but he’s probably four to five [weeks].”

Looks like both Max and Jake will be ready about the same time.  Sometime after the bye on my reckoning.

 

Edited May 9, 20178 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Melbourne Injury List: round 8

Colin Garland (knee) – season
Max Gawn (hamstring) – 6-8 weeks
James Harmes (lacerated eye) – available
Corey Maynard (concussion) – 1 week
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 4 weeks
Joel Smith (shoulder) – 6 weeks
Tim Smith (ribs/punctured lung) – 3 weeks
Jake Spencer (shoulder) – 4-5 weeks
Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – 6 weeks

Edited May 9, 20178 yr by Chelly