Jump to content

Featured Replies

17 hours ago, Action Jackson said:

I don't think Tommo will ever go to the wing. Howes, Jordon and Woewodin would be given shots on the wing before him.

I'd say the club are now just waiting out until Tomlinson's contract finishes, while also having a pretty solid depth option at full back if required.

I still can't believe his contract doesn't finish until 2024.... that is probably the worst long-term contract we've done out of the current crop.

I wonder if things got tight, can we pay him out the final year to get it off our books? Or would it still come under the salary cap?

Do not agree that Club are just awaiting Tommo to be out if contract. Clubs can't afford to generally cast aside 3 or 4 players as finished as no one knows how good or bad injuries strike.

On the contrary Tommo for  his part has lost some weight with a view to greater mobility flexibility and pace. All to  give himself a chance of returning to AFL more consistently. Unfortunately Goody seems to write players off occasionally ( Lockhart, perhaps Bedford and Chandler last Year ) . 

Guess we won't know the full story till the end of 2023 but I believe Tommo May even as a depth player perform a part in our season if he recovers more from the ACL this year along with his fitness program. 

Could be Tmac all over again!!

 
18 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Maybe Hunter can play half fwd?

Just because he has been a wingman doesn't mean he will stay one.

Jnrmac

Still haven't answered my question of why if we recruited Hunter snd he is training on the wing we would prefer other "wingers" to him? 

He prob  could play HF flank but no indication so far as wing is his to lose on the training notes. 

10 minutes ago, 58er said:

Jnrmac

Still haven't answered my question of why if we recruited Hunter snd he is training on the wing we would prefer other "wingers" to him? 

He prob  could play HF flank but no indication so far as wing is his to lose on the training notes. 

He most likely will but that shouldnt preclude him from playing elsewhere.

Thommo was recruited as a winger. How did that work out?

Brayshaw came 3rd in the Brownlow as a mid.

Pickett will likely spend good time in the midfield.

Flexibility & unpredictability will or should be the mantra this year. 

 
13 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

He most likely will but that shouldnt preclude him from playing elsewhere.

Thommo was recruited as a winger. How did that work out?

Brayshaw came 3rd in the Brownlow as a mid.

Pickett will likely spend good time in the midfield.

Flexibility & unpredictability will or should be the mantra this year. 

Agree that flexibility is king and your examples are good and sensible.
BUT Tommo was a spare parts player for GWS and we gouncc do that he didn't come up to scratch as a winger. If he recovers or improves his flexibility and paces key defensive post as depth is his for the taking behind May Petty snd Turner or Adams who may need half a season at least because of pre season delays. ( Lever not really a KPD but very valuable interceptor) 

3 hours ago, binman said:

To be fair, his knee injury threw a spanner in the works. Wiped out his 2021 season (when he was in the starting 22).

And he never seemed to regain his mobility and lateral movement (which was not great even pre injury) in 2022. That's pretty common though.

Hopefully he is back to his optimal physical shape this season.

Though even if he does I think it is unlikely he'll make the ones

 

I do hope for his sake that he's able to throw everything he has at it and what will be will be. 


Hawks say they like a bit of fighting between players and it has happened a few times this pre season.

Wonder if that includes at restaurants?

On 1/22/2023 at 11:17 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

Would really liked to see Tomlinson trial as a  tall high half forward.

His endurance levels and work rate would easily blow up a lot of defenders which would be a huge strength to team structure.

Not a bad suggestion Dazzle at all. Now something else of interest. Spoke to a bloke ( Outside the Fence at Casey last training session) and he was checking out this venue  and he said his son is playing at Casey this year, but didn't provide his name. He is ( was) a Bulldogs supporter and has been to training this year and he stated very emphatically that DEES TRAINING INTENSITY AND FITNESS WAS THAT FAR AHEAD OF DISHLICKERS IT WASN'T FUNNY!. Interesting !!!!🤩

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

 
On 2/2/2023 at 6:48 PM, 58er said:

Do not agree that Club are just awaiting Tommo to be out if contract. Clubs can't afford to generally cast aside 3 or 4 players as finished as no one knows how good or bad injuries strike.

On the contrary Tommo for  his part has lost some weight with a view to greater mobility flexibility and pace. All to  give himself a chance of returning to AFL more consistently. Unfortunately Goody seems to write players off occasionally ( Lockhart, perhaps Bedford and Chandler last Year ) . 

Guess we won't know the full story till the end of 2023 but I believe Tommo May even as a depth player perform a part in our season if he recovers more from the ACL this year along with his fitness program. 

Could be Tmac all over again!!

Look I tend to disagree that Goody "writes players off". We have to remember that we have over 40 players eligible to play senior footy and a good balanced group of players vie for a position in the best 22. That is the way a great Team wins through competitive spots. Thommo by all accounts is a great Club man and gets involved in the Club culture. Teams do not do well culturally from within if players and Coaches clash on a "write players off " mentality. The Team is bigger than the individual. 

To avoid the pitfalls of limping into the finals, with this list, surely the club will be rotating tired players out of the team in the second half of the season. Cherry Ripe we must be in September.


14 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

To avoid the pitfalls of limping into the finals, with this list, surely the club will be rotating tired players out of the team in the second half of the season. Cherry Ripe we must be in September.

Yes, I recall seeing Chris Scott interviewed prior to finals where he said - everything had been planned to the minute so the players were fresh for the finals. I think we could have planned a lot better for finals rather than limping to the line.

14 hours ago, DeeMee said:

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

It must be a very committed group of Casey non listed players with limited spots available, particularly given the firsts relatively good run with injuries.

 

On 2/1/2023 at 10:09 AM, Deemania since 56 said:

Just an opinion when prompted by an article to consider his footballing role. I do rate Hunter whilst at the same time consider him to be very suitable for HFwd Flanking and using his good kicking to score on occasion. That left me thinking about the other wing and the speculation that he could fill it; or, was there someone else who could do the same? Tomlinson once again came to mind, simple as that in the argy-bargy about who, what, where, when ('23 season), why ... etc.

 

That's your mistake right there.

12 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Look I tend to disagree that Goody "writes players off". We have to remember that we have over 40 players eligible to play senior footy and a good balanced group of players vie for a position in the best 22. That is the way a great Team wins through competitive spots. Thommo by all accounts is a great Club man and gets involved in the Club culture. Teams do not do well culturally from within if players and Coaches clash on a "write players off " mentality. The Team is bigger than the individual. 

I actually think the evidence is there to see. His refusal to give some players a go last year was so disappointing especially as we had some players injured and others tired and past best. 

Must not happen again this year we must use our full list and keep players on edge fighting for positions. 

19 hours ago, picket fence said:

Not a bad suggestion Dazzle at all. Now something else of interest. Spoke to a bloke ( Outside the Fence at Casey last training session) and he was checking out this venue  and he said his son is playing at Casey this year, but didn't provide his name. He is ( was) a Bulldogs supporter and has been to training this year and he stated very emphatically that DEES TRAINING INTENSITY AND FITNESS WAS THAT FAR AHEAD OF DISHLICKERS IT WASN'T FUNNY!. Interesting !!!!🤩

Probably either a friend/relative of Josh Schache or Lachie Hunter. Not too difficult to guess I would say. That sort of backs up David King's post about a month ago of our intensity in our training being elite from all he has seen. 


On 2/4/2023 at 8:13 PM, DeeMee said:

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

Schache is heading into his 8th year of footy. I think it would be hard to see a dramatic improvement in his known form. He is an upgrade on Weideman but would need to show significant improvement to be considered best 22 if all were fit.

13 hours ago, 58er said:

I actually think the evidence is there to see. His refusal to give some players a go last year was so disappointing especially as we had some players injured and others tired and past best. 

Must not happen again this year we must use our full list and keep players on edge fighting for positions. 

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

2 hours ago, David-Demon said:

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

DD if it was'nt my theory then OK why have so many Dees fans supported the theory that we should have used more players last season when clearly about a third of our 23 played  injured and also some down on form. We know the results of the last half fade outs of the team and no attempt was really made to solve this issue. 

3 hours ago, David-Demon said:

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

so you play guys with broken legs

We finished 2nd after the H&A. Do people really think we would have won the finals against Sydney and Brisbane if we played Dunstan for Oliver, Jordon for Petracca, JVR for Brown and Bowey for Salem. Realistically they were the options we had.


Bowey for Salem for sure.

Jordan for Petracca, was the leg broken before both those finals? Yes for Sydney at least.

Gawn for Majak Daw, who should have been encouraged to hang in there as he was monstering VFL.

Watching the finals again, these small changes may have made a big difference, but not enough for a flag.

Was Goody wrong in not playing our Flag winning VFL players? No doubt in my mind. In fact my personal jury is out on my support for him this year.

Is it because I have memories of not seeing my name for the 1sts on the board late on a Thursday, when some named haven't attended training? Yes. Still, I see Goody differently now.

4 hours ago, 58er said:

DD if it was'nt my theory then OK why have so many Dees fans supported the theory that we should have used more players last season when clearly about a third of our 23 played  injured and also some down on form. We know the results of the last half fade outs of the team and no attempt was really made to solve this issue. 

Because we're fans and not the selection committee. It's called group think, "yeah, those fools , that's right , I could do a better job, correct, what are they doing, gee Goodwin is stubborn, blah, blah, blah", ad nauseam. There are some very astute people working at the Club. I cannot imagine they haven't gone back and looked at how they could do things better and not in a looking for blame way. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of posters on here seem to have perfect vision. 

I'll pass my soapbox to the next person now.

Edited by dworship

 
2 hours ago, Damo said:

Bowey for Salem for sure.

Jordan for Petracca, was the leg broken before both those finals? Yes for Sydney at least.

Gawn for Majak Daw, who should have been encouraged to hang in there as he was monstering VFL.

Watching the finals again, these small changes may have made a big difference, but not enough for a flag.

Was Goody wrong in not playing our Flag winning VFL players? No doubt in my mind. In fact my personal jury is out on my support for him this year.

Is it because I have memories of not seeing my name for the 1sts on the board late on a Thursday, when some named haven't attended training? Yes. Still, I see Goody differently now.

We had a very tough fixture into the finals and I think plan A was "play our best players even if injured, finish top 4 and win the Qualifying final so we get a weeks break into the PF to get some injury recovery time". On this path, we might have won our way into the GF if we could finally get past Collingwood, but I think Geelong would have beaten us in the GF anyway.

It didn't work out because Sydney were too good for us in the QF and then we were too beaten up against Brisbane in the SF, and if we had won that then Geelong would have belted us in the PF anyway.

The other path would have been to rest injured stars late in the H&A, finish 5th to 8th and have to win 4 finals in a row for the flag.  That wasn't happening, I preferred plan A even though it didn't work.

Geelong were always winning the 2022 flag.

2 hours ago, dworship said:

Because we're fans and not the selection committee. It's called group think, "yeah, those fools , that's right , I could do a better job, correct, what are they doing, gee Goodwin is stubborn, blah, blah, blah", ad nauseam. There are some very astute people working at the Club. I cannot imagine they haven't gone back and looked at how they could do things better and not in a looking for blame way. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of posters on here seem to have perfect vision. 

I'll pass my soapbox to the next person now.

Far too generalised DW.  We are not all parrots just copying each other. What was presented by many about our Finals campaign was common sense. Your astute comment is noted but really that's assuming astute people always make smart decisions.  That was certainly not correct and in this case IMO and others and did not happen.


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • FEATURE: 1925

    A hundred years ago today, on 2 May 1925, Melbourne kicked off the new season with a 47 point victory over St Kilda to take top place on the VFL ladder after the opening round of the new season.  Top place was a relatively unknown position for the team then known as the “Fuchsias.” They had finished last in 1923 and rose by only one place in the following year although the final home and away round heralded a promise of things to come when they surprised the eventual premiers Essendon. That victory set the stage for more improvement and it came rapidly. In this series, I will tell the story of how the 1925 season unfolded for the Melbourne Football Club and how it made the VFL finals for the first time in a decade on the way to the ultimate triumph a year later.

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: West Coast

    Saturday’s election night game in Perth between the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne represents 18th vs 15th which makes it a tough decision as to which party to favour. The Eagles have yet to break the ice under their new coach in Andrew McQualter who is the second understudy in a row to confront Demon Coach Simon Goodwin who was also winless until a fortnight ago. On that basis, many punters might be considering to go with the donkey vote but I’ve been assigned with the task of helping readers to come to a considered opinion on this matter of vital importance across the nation. It was almost a year ago that I wrote a preview here of the Demons’ away game against the Eagles (under the name William from Waalitj because it was Indigenous Round).  I issued a warning that it was a danger game, based on my local knowledge that the home team were no longer easybeats and that they possessed a wunderkind generational player in Harley Reid who was capable of producing stellar performances playing among men a decade and more older than he.  At the time, the Eagles already had two wins off the back of a couple of the young man’s masterclasses and they had recently given the Bombers a scare straight after their Anzac Day blockbuster draw against the then reigning premiers.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 08

    Round 08 of the 2025 AFL Season kicks off on Thursday with a must-win game for the Bombers to stay in touch with the top eight, while the struggling Roos seek a morale-boosting upset. Friday sees the Saints desperate for a win as well if they are to stay in finals contention and their opponents the Dockers will be eager to crack in to the Top 8 with a win on the road. Saturday kicks off with a pivotal clash for both sides asthe Bulldogs look to solidify their top-eight spot, while Port seeks to shake their pretender tag. Then the Crows will be looking to steady their topsy turvy season against a resurgent Blues looking to make it 4 wins on the trot. On Election Night a Blockbuster will see the ladder-leading Pies take on the Cats, who are keen to bounce back after a narrow loss. On Sunday the Sydney Derby promises fireworks as the Giants aim to cement their top-eight status, while the Swans fight to keep their season alive. The Hawks, celebrating their centenary, will be looking to easily account for the Tigers who are desperate to halt their slide. The Round concludes on Sunday Night with a top end of the table QClash with significant ladder implications; both Queensland teams are in scintillating form. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

    • 66 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: West Coast

    The Demons hit the road in Round 8, heading to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. With momentum building, the Dees will be aiming for a third straight victory to keep their season revival on course. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
    • 526 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Richmond

    The fans who turned up to the MCG for Melbourne’s Anzac Day Eve clash against Richmond would have been disappointed if they turned up to see a great spectacle. As much as this was a night for the 71,635 in attendance to commemorate heroes of the nation’s past wars, it was also a time for the Melbourne Football Club to consolidate upon its first win after a horrific start to the 2025 season. On this basis, despite the fact that it was an uninspiring and dour struggle for most of its 100 minutes, the night will be one for the fans to remember. They certainly got value out of the pre match activity honouring those who fought for their country. The MCG and the lights of the city as backdrop was made for nights such as these and, in my view, we received a more inspirational ceremony of Anzac culture than others both here and elsewhere around the country. 

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Richmond

    The match up of teams competing in our great Aussie game at its second highest level is a rarity for a work day Thursday morning but the blustery conditions that met the players at a windswept Casey Fields was something far more commonplace.They turned the opening stanza between the Casey Demons and a somewhat depleted Richmond VFL into a mess of fumbling unforced errors, spilt marks and wasted opportunities for both sides but they did set up a significant win for the home team which is exactly what transpired on this Anzac Day round opener. Casey opened up strong against the breeze with the first goal to Aidan Johnson, the Tigers quickly responded and the game degenerated into a defensive slog and the teams were level when the first siren sounded.

      • Clap
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland