6 hours ago, durango said:

Supporters of opposition clubs always use some way to justify their club allowing players to go.  Bomber supporters said the same about Melksham to feel good about their team letting a player go.

In fairness Melksham was rubbish at Essendon. 

3 hours ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

they way my bombers mate put it is 'you pay overs for melksham so you get hibberd for unders'

i can't believe the turnaround in milkshake since he became a forward; has been sensational

Melksham was Essendon's whipping boy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that played a big part in his form there.

He comes to the mighty Dee's and after a brief stint as a potential whipping boy (to continue the tradition), the coaches put a whopping amount of faith into him (Goody, Jennings, Egan), he matures a little, gains confidence and hey presto - gun! 

If he can shake the injuries he'll go to another level again. Exciting stuff

 

Edited December 19, 20186 yr by Satyriconhome

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 20186 yr by Satyriconhome

4 hours ago, deeology said:

 

Essendon supporting in laws were happy to see Melksham go as he was too inconsistent, Hibbo, they were gutted to lose. I feel we won both of those trades thou.

depends who you talked to......

my wife's cousins are all mad bomber fans. they thought melksham was a good player who would probably blossom in a new environment. they thought his last year's average form was more due to the fallout of the drugs scandal and that his best was really good. at the time i was a bit 50:50 but happy with how it turned out. goody obviously (as you would expect) had better inside knowledge than any of us.

 

7 hours ago, Vagg said:

Does the rock of Gibraltar move very fast?  Stand in forward line.  Mark the ball.  Kick the goal.  Easy Peasy...!

 

7 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Essential stuff, Mr Vagg, well nailed. That is going to be his big asset, at FFwd and then, back-up to Maxxy. The Weed can ruck on the fwd line, as can Gawny. Rotation, rotation: Gawn, Weed, Preusse/

and bash/crash Preussy.

I think his aggression/hurt factor, will be the missing link for our talls...  I hope he plays with a bit of mongrel out onto the Mcg... hurt the opposition, leave em bruised and hunched over.

 

Up forward, I don't expect him to dominate the marking, more than any others around, but I hope he can palm the ball away to our smalls advantage. bring it to their areas.

.

 

 

 

 

 

One advantage of having Preuss which I hadn't thought about previously is that Gawn now has someone decent to train with. In the last couple of years he's had beginners who didn't make it and a retired ruckman against whom he could hone his skills. Now he has to contest at training with someone his size which, I would think, should be good for his continuing development of both ruckwork and contested marking.

And thanks Saty for the photos. That's what made me realise that Preuss's value might be more than just gameday.  

The "Preuss insurance policy" is a good one to have as I think there are more than one area he can help us get better. The obvious is as a back up to Max and a training partner to help improve Max, but with Hoges going as well there is a lot of pressure on TMac and a still young Weideman to deliver in the forward line. I think playing Preuss as a ruck/forward could help our forward structure a lot. He will make Weideman a better player with his physical presence, we become more flexible and unpredictable with our forward structures and more consistent in the ruck and harder to match up on. Imagine Preuss versus Grigg!

I don't think we'll necessarily play three talls in our forward line every week, but there is certainly a lot of sense in recruiting him, and you'd have to think he has been promised games. With the addition of Pruess and May we may be the equal of West Coast who would probably have been considered the best tall team in 2018. Add that to our rising midfield and I can understand our "champion data" rating as a very strong "on paper" team heading into 2019.

I hope the plans pay off.

12 hours ago, DV8 said:

 

 

and bash/crash Preussy.

I think his aggression/hurt factor, will be the missing link for our talls...  I hope he plays with a bit of mongrel out onto the Mcg... hurt the opposition, leave em bruised and hunched over.

 

Up forward, I don't expect him to dominate the marking, more than any others around, but I hope he can palm the ball away to our smalls advantage. bring it to their areas.

.

There is an undertone of intended mongrel in what you say, DV8 and I really like it; it has been overtly missing from the Dees' players since Ray Biffen's time - and he played at full back where its impact was less influential across the board.

Viney has tried with great success (eg: Selwood is the best example of that outcome) but is still a little bloke relative to Preusse; and Biffen, whilst shorter than most fullbacks, knew how to throw it around as a toothless marauder. I would hope that the big 'P' can dominate many marking opportunities - he seems to have great judgement on the fall of the ball as is a rock of Gibraltar to move 'outta  that territory, no matter who hits him and how. He might well create a tap pathway and body slam corridor for our smalls - this seems to also be one of his traits and when taking and delivering in the crush, he is not intercepted too often by opponents, for some strange reason (?) so your theory on the '...missing link...' is most likely to be realised. Hell, this is going to be an exciting baptism of fire, this approaching 2019 season, and one in which May, Hibberd, Tracca, Harmes, Viney and Preusse can impact, literally, the grittiness of the game we all love. 

12 hours ago, Satyriconhome said:

 

Looks physically well-developed; nice look of 'far cough' in his eye with the ball in his hands. Could be a forcefully reliable asset.

13 hours ago, daisycutter said:

depends who you talked to......

my wife's cousins are all mad bomber fans. they thought melksham was a good player who would probably blossom in a new environment. they thought his last year's average form was more due to the fallout of the drugs scandal and that his best was really good. at the time i was a bit 50:50 but happy with how it turned out. goody obviously (as you would expect) had better inside knowledge than any of us.

I think we are all tearful for poor old Essendrug, these two very sad losses to their line-up have won us games over the past couple of years and there is a strong likelihood of them both regularly excelling from now on for the MFC thanks to our 'muscle' recruiting wins for 2019. Carna Dees!

i think a lot of clubs will need to employ panel beaters to repair the damage inflicted by Preuss.

29 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

i think a lot of clubs will need to employ panel beaters to repair the damage inflicted by Preuss.

Yes they will.

 

3 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Looks physically well-developed; nice look of 'far cough' in his eye with the ball in his hands. Could be a forcefully reliable asset.

The only one who still looks like a bit of a stick is James Jordon who is 18 today, so no issue there

27 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Yes they will.

Did he get suspended for that?

11 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Did he get suspended for that?

No, $1000 sanction from memory.

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

No, $1000 sanction from memory.

Hawkins does exactly the same thing whenever he feels he can't take the mark.

5 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

There is an undertone of intended mongrel in what you say, DV8 and I really like it; it has been overtly missing from the Dees' players since Ray Biffen's time - and he played at full back where its impact was less influential across the board.

Viney has tried with great success (eg: Selwood is the best example of that outcome) but is still a little bloke relative to Preusse; and Biffen, whilst shorter than most fullbacks, knew how to throw it around as a toothless marauder. I would hope that the big 'P' can dominate many marking opportunities - he seems to have great judgement on the fall of the ball as is a rock of Gibraltar to move 'outta  that territory, no matter who hits him and how. He might well create a tap pathway and body slam corridor for our smalls - this seems to also be one of his traits and when taking and delivering in the crush, he is not intercepted too often by opponents, for some strange reason (?) so your theory on the '...missing link...' is most likely to be realised. Hell, this is going to be an exciting baptism of fire, this approaching 2019 season, and one in which May, Hibberd, Tracca, Harmes, Viney and Preusse can impact, literally, the grittiness of the game we all love. 

My concepts role-model Re the rucks  crash'n'bash  at important times of games...  is  'Clark Keating'  of the Lions. During the great 3peat.

He would crash through the centre ruck-duels... risking his body, and really bashing the oppositions bigger rucks, bruising them, and splitting packs really hard, thru the middle sector of the ground, between half-forward to half-back.  No big men were safe from hurt and it brought the ball to the Lions tough smaller running players and midfielders.

He was tough as teak, fearless and uncompromising.

He went in the shadow of other Lions Tall Players...  but he was a major key factor in the Lions dominance.

He made the game to be played on the Lions terms,  when the ball was in the Air.

Peoples... make no mistake,  hurt does distract other players of lesser mental ilk... from their focus.  it divides their focus from the ball, onto themselves.  This loss of focus shows a lesser commitment to the cause... than the true mentally committed and tough players. (see Harmes, 2nd half of last year) relentless toughness.

... thank goodness, Goodwin has cleared most of the questionable minds out of our list.

I want to see Preussy crashing through midfield packs when the ball is in the Air, spread-eagling the pack... seeking out opposition colours as front and centre.  hit bodies hard.

I want to see us demons  becoming the  Antithesis  of bruise free footy.

The Demons of the 40's, 50's and 60's were NOT Bruise-Free types...  under 'Checker Hughes'  and under 'Norm Smith'... 

I want US to bring that back, and were not there just, Yet.