Match Preview and Team Selection - Round 1

[deelete my account 1,194]

10 minutes ago, Franky_31 said:

I cant see Brayshaw doing more than playing a part. Id rather have Bugg who has faults but could easily find his way into the best. I cant see Angus being back to his best yet.

Brayshaw is a pick 3 coming into the round with full fitness, easily ahead of Bugg. Bugg will be replaced by Fritsch/Hannan anyway imo, not Brayshaw.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Doodle Dee

[TeamPlayedFine39 8,508]

I know there are a couple of stars in the line-up and football is more about system, tactics and gameplans nowadays, but that Geelong team is very, very average on paper without Dangerfield.

[dl4e 5,851]

With fritsh and garlett then maybe no hannan with frost as a back line runner. I would pick the first 4 interchanges depending on weather.

[Deemania since 56 6,639]

55 minutes ago, Demon77 said:

 Bernie had a ripper pre season. He’s usually good for one brain fade a game but he’s one of our better ball users and his experience will be crucial. 

His kicking enriches our side when picking longer targets. At least he does not 'bomb' it up there...he actually can go for the goal himself from at least 55m. His best work is to a teammate running to distant space.

[Vineytime 847]

Evenly matched teams imo, Best Team we’ve had on the park round 1 for a long time ??

[Demons11 7,014]

1 hour ago, Franky_31 said:

I cant see Brayshaw doing more than playing a part. Id rather have Bugg who has faults but could easily find his way into the best. I cant see Angus being back to his best yet.

Cmon mate please!!  Brayshaw has got so much upside and is 5 times better than  Bugg 

[Redleg 40,926]

If the rain looks like holding off I think we have to play Frost, who can replace an injured tall if necessary. He also has pace which can help.

I am surprised Stretch is not on the bench as he actually played well in the JLT.

He and Hannan could be the unlucky ones.

[DV8 2,271]

16 hours ago, Demonland said:

AND IT STARTS AGAIN ... by The Oracle

Melbourne goes into the 2018 season full of the usual hope that fills up an coming teams that are starting to show maturity and it comes up against the perfect opponent to show its wares against in Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster at the MCG.

Aside from Richmond which by far exceeded everyone’s expectations in 2017 including its own, Geelong is a club that certainly surprised many with its third placed finish and a home and away record of 16 wins and 6 defeats that paved the way for a Preliminary Final appearance after beating the Swans in a Semi Final. They weren’t supposed to go that far but the Cats ended up a mere whisker away from a grand final and their fans are adamant that they could have gone all the way had they been given a chance.

But the Demons were the real coulda, woulda, shoulda team of the competition as they failed to put away some of the competition’s lowly sides and stumbled late when the opportunity was there to build on percentage lost in the last-round to Collingwood who had nothing to gain while Melbourne had everything to lose. The result was that they not only missed September action by a record 0.5 percentage but had to wait an agonising 24 hours to brood over their fate.

The team had a bad year with injury losing Jack Viney and others at the end and Max Gawn  and Jesse Hogan for half a season soon after the start but they had a place in the finals all but wrapped up halfway through the last quarter of the penultimate game of the season only to permit 45 minutes of game time to destroy the dream.

Along the way, there were a few missteps apart from the injury problems. The Demons were in the wars from day one with Bernie Vince reported in round 1 and Jordan Lewis copping three weeks and Jesse Hogan two in round 2 against Carlton. Clayton Oliver was involved in some uncomfortable on field incidents and then there was Tomas Bugg ...

In light of the above, the controversial cancellation of the pre season training camp and the PR fiasco that followed has the football world wondering whether the Demons are made of the right stuff to step into what is for them, the unfamiliar territory of finals football.

THE GAME

Melbourne v Geelong at the MCG on Sunday 26 March 2018 at 3.20pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 84 wins   Geelong 128 wins 2 draws
At MCG   Melbourne 51 wins Geelong 52 wins
The last five meetings   Melbourne 1 win Geelong 4 wins
The Coaches Goodwin 0 wins Scott 1 win    

MEDIA

TV -   Channel 7 and Fox Sports Live
RADIO - TBA

LAST TIME THEY MET Geelong 20.6.126 defeated Melbourne 13.19.97 at Etihad Stadium in Round 3, 2017

In what was a disastrous game for the Demons’ 2017 aspirations, Max Gawn tore his hamstring, the team dominated for much of the middle part of the game but bad kicking is bad football.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE  

B: Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Neville Jetta
HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Nathan Jones
C: Bernie Vince, Jordan Lewis, Christian Salem
HF: Christian Petracca, Cam Pedersen, James Harmes
F: Bayley Fritsch, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett
Foll: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Alex Neal-Bullen
I/C (from): Angus Brayshaw, Tom Bugg, Sam Frost, Mitch Hannan, Corey Maynard, Jake Melksham, Dom Tyson, Josh Wagner

GEELONG

B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Harry Taylor, Zach Tuohy
HB: Mark Blicavs, Tom Stewart, Jed Bus
C: Cam Guthrie, Joel Selwood, Mitch Duncan
HF: Cory Gregson, Rhys Stanley, James Parsons
F: Daniel Menzel, Tom Hawkins, Brendan Parfitt
R: Zac Smith, Gary Ablett, Sam Menegola
I/C (from): Charlie Constable, Jordan Cunico, Lachie Fogarty, Zac Guthrie, Tim Kelly, Jordan Murdoch, Mark O’Connor, Esava Ratugolea

I think Frost will play looking at this.

Maybe Lew, and one other are in some doubt?

I reckon Melksham, Tyson & Frost will be in, surely.

[Ethan Tremblay 30,861]

7 minutes ago, DV8 said:

I think Frost will play looking at this.

Maybe Lew, and one other are in some doubt?

I reckon Melksham, Tyson & Frost will be in, surely.

Lewis was on AFL360 on Tuesday night. He definitely playing. 

[DV8 2,271]

13 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Lewis was on AFL360 on Tuesday night. He definitely playing. 

I thought Melksham had been going really well?

And he's not in, nor Tyson?  I'm finding that hard to comprehend.

Running through our team again, there is none who might take a backward step.

[ding 5,126]

Any suggestion Melksham wont play is bordering on lunacy.

Someone other than him will miss.

[What 18,810]

Might come down to Frost vs Brayshaw, depending on the weather.

If its raining we wont need Frost.

[binman 42,972]

6 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

Might come down to Frost vs Brayshaw, depending on the weather.

If its raining we wont need Frost.

If it's snowing we get frost

[ding 5,126]

Geez ,its a new season but it seems we cant shake last years tired old cliches....

Goody is trotting out the old "We'll prepare for their best" and the season hasnt even begun for us yet......

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-03-22/well-prepare-for-cats-best-goodwin

I wish the club wouldnt print this rubbish. as its nothing more than a cut-and-paste from practically every game last year.

 

 

[deelete my account 1,194]

2 hours ago, binman said:

If it's snowing we get frost

And the winner takes home the Clint Blizzard Cup?

[Deemania since 56 6,639]

4 hours ago, DV8 said:

I think Frost will play looking at this.

Maybe Lew, and one other are in some doubt?

I reckon Melksham, Tyson & Frost will be in, surely.

Melksham must be automatically selected, the same with Tyson. Frosty might be ranked next to strengthen the backline. Brayshaw would be my next best pick against the Geelong game style. Jordan is lucky to be there IMO and so is OMac for this round,

[At Least I Saw a Flag 5,248]

4 hours ago, ding said:

Geez ,its a new season but it seems we cant shake last years tired old cliches....

Goody is trotting out the old "We'll prepare for their best" and the season hasnt even begun for us yet......

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-03-22/well-prepare-for-cats-best-goodwin

I wish the club wouldnt print this rubbish. as its nothing more than a cut-and-paste from practically every game last year.

 

 

Hopefully we don't hear "we didn't bring our A game" after the match ....

[Josh 1,420]

I think this is going to be a common theme all year. If Viney and TMac were available even harder, but I guess your always going to have injuries.

 

Melksham and Tyson are certainties, I personally would like to see Bugg and Brayshaw but Hannan, Frost and Maynard would be stiff. 

On a side note, my wife is a house cleaner and cleans Melksham's parents house. I'll try and get some inside info ?

 

[Deemania since 56 6,639]

6 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Might come down to Frost vs Brayshaw, depending on the weather.

If its raining we wont need Frost.

We are looking pretty potent, forward-wise. We are looking a little less potent for this weekend in the full-back line - perhaps using Lever in the stated FB position just isn't going to occur; he is fairly light and only moderately powerful. Hawkins, Menzel and Menegola need to be stopped. Some clever and possibly rotational placements will need to be implemented across the game to combat these players. The absence of TMac is at this point, felt and in the midfield, Viney sure is going to be missed. Our mobile muscle options are most likely to be Pedo, Frost and Gawn. OMac and Lever are light but may surprise given team improvements seen in the pre-season. It will be fascinating to see how Goody assesses this concern and if change is needed, what he does. The game could turn out to be a shootout between the two teams' fwd lines. Around the ground, in general, I'd expect the selected 'us' to be quite a bit stronger and capable of winning against this selected 'Catty Put' team.  Great start to the season, just the same. A good test.

[CBDees 3,167]

I suspect interchange will be Melksham, Tyson, Brayshaw and Frost (but Hannan is certainly unlucky to be squeezed out)! Considering Viney and T.Mac aren’t options it will get even harder to cull to 22 when they are.

[Lucifers Hero 39,812]

Lever seems so entrenched as a Demon its hard to believe this is his Debut game.  It will be fascinating to see his role in our team with different styles of defenders around him. 

Taylor had his eyes on him since his draft year and Taylor eventually got his man!  So its been a bit of a wait to see him in Red and Blue on the MCG! 

He is the sort of player that just via his presence gives his team mates confidence and they 'walk a little bit taller'.  Hope he has a cracker of a game. 

[JV7 2,351]

Hannan will play, he's forward pressure is what our plan of creating forward half turnovers. 

 

INT: Tyson, Brayshaw, Hannan, Melksham

[—coach— 3,496]

1 hour ago, bingers said:

Hopefully we don't hear "we didn't bring our A game" after the match ....

I’m ok hearing that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

if we win!

[DeeZee 7,396]

I think it’s Hannan rather than Frost, as he can be part of the midfield rotation, can play tall and is a genuine goal kicker.

Played a great game in the last JLT

Edited March 22, 2018 by DeeZee

[Skuit 10,031]

Even with JV and Tmac out there's still a huge amount of arm-chair selection pressure. Our club is in a pretty good place as a reflection of such. But I'm confused - we have eight named on the bench with three to be omitted? Did I miss something re. interchange numbers?