Jump to content

Featured Replies

3 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

I want the Christian Salem from 2021.  Was 2nd best player in the GF team.  
He’s lost his sharp disposal.  Erratic up and under kicks. Appears slow to react. Might be form or confidence or just not being 100% right. 

Seems to be one week on then the following week or two he hits a physical wall or something.

Compromised pre-season no doubt impacting.

Not sure where Hibb is at here either but if he was right to go i'd probably be putting him in ahead of Salo for this one.

Keep in mind about 2/3rds of the team did not show last week.

That surely can't happen two weeks running.

If it does then some big questions will need to be answered as to the why.

Fingers crossed we don't have to go there.

Edited by Demon Dynasty

 
15 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Votes

15 - Christian Petracca, Melbourne
10 - Bayley Fritsch, Melbourne
3 - Clayton Oliver, Melbourne
1 - Christian Salem, Melbourne
1 - Caleb Daniel, Western Bulldogs

Salem. 27 possessions. 22 kicks. 5 handballs. 96% disposal efficiency. Repeat. 96% disposal efficiency. 8 score involvements. 7 marks. 7 tackles. 1 goal as a half back.  I should have rephrased as “ I thought he was our 2nd best player behind Trac in the 21GF. “. Yes Fritsch and Clarry also starred. 

4 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

I want the Christian Salem from 2021.  Was 2nd best player in the GF team.  
 

He’s lost his sharp disposal.  Erratic up and under kicks. Appears slow to react. Might be form or confidence or just not being 100% right. 

Or….what the article is about. 

 
4 hours ago, John Demonic said:

Yup! Imagine if some numpty bumped this thread (below) to post an interview article with Christian discussing his AFL journey of recovery from that ACL

:laugh:

 

Imagine. 
 

I just posted this article here, because it’s a fresh article about “Salem’s Thyroid Concern”, which is obviously an ongoing thing. 

And I continue to be a bit weirded-out by a couple of posters even now still saying “yeah but what’s this drop in form all about?”  

As other sensible voices have noted, Salem at “solid AFL level” is not what we’ve come to expect from an “elite” player, but he’s still got his place in the side because “Solid AFL” Salem is better than what else is on offer. We just have to be patient with him. 


8 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Salem. 27 possessions. 22 kicks. 5 handballs. 96% disposal efficiency. Repeat. 96% disposal efficiency. 8 score involvements. 7 marks. 7 tackles. 1 goal as a half back.  I should have rephrased as “ I thought he was our 2nd best player behind Trac in the 21GF. “. Yes Fritsch and Clarry also starred. 

long long time ago

Nobody is questioning his status only his current form

The concern with Salem is the massive gap between his best and worst football. We know how good he can be on his day, and how important he is to the team, but his worst is putrid. 

At present he is in self-preservation mode - safe 20 metre kicks that hurt the team by slowing down the play; half hearted tackles; hospital handpasses to teammates to avoid being hit. He really needs to lift.

4 hours ago, Kent said:

long long time ago

Nobody is questioning his status only his current form

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

 
43 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

yep playing injured and out of form stars is the go with this match committee

Selection hasnt been great in my view all year But thats only me>

3 minutes ago, Kent said:

yep playing injured and out of form stars is the go with this match committee

Selection hasnt been great in my view all year But thats only me>

Who replaces him?


15 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

So, who does he replace in your top two...Petracca or Fritsch? 

(I do agree he was probably third best, though.)

Equal really but 6 goals In a Granny is hard to beat 

1 hour ago, Mel Bourne said:

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

Is this a medical fact because players are prone to form changes it doesn't mean they are injured?
 

With our riches for half backs if he was suffering the thyroid complaint again this decision to keep playing him is as perplexing as last years myriad decisions of the same style. I thought we had firmly moved on from that. 

The forward move has a lot of logic much more than the post to limit him to handball if more than 20m out. 

53 minutes ago, 58er said:

Is this a medical fact because players are prone to form changes it doesn't mean they are injured?
 

With our riches for half backs if he was suffering the thyroid complaint again this decision to keep playing him is as perplexing as last years myriad decisions of the same style. I thought we had firmly moved on from that. 

The forward move has a lot of logic much more than the post to limit him to handball if more than 20m out. 

“That is all part of it. You just have to embrace it. It is all going good now, and I just have to keep on the medication and keep it under control.”

Hyperthyroidism requires constant vigilance and medication (usually radioactive iodine) to keep it from overwhelming the patient and sending them back to the couch. It’s pretty easy to draw the conclusion that Salo, while currently on top of it, is always going to have to work harder than others on team to keep his base fitness intact. 
 

I see this as different to fielding an “injured” player, as nothing suggests that playing him has a potentially adverse effect on his condition. 

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

  • GAMEDAY: Collingwood

    It's Game Day and the Demons face a monumental task as they take on the top-of-the-table Magpies in one of the biggest games on the Dees calendar: the King's Birthday Big Freeze MND match. Can the Demons defy the odds and claim a massive scalp to keep their finals hopes alive?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 47 replies
  • CASEY: Collingwood

    It was freezing cold at Mission Whitten Stadium where only the brave came out in the rain to watch a game that turned out to be as miserable as the weather.
    The Casey Demons secured their third consecutive victory, earning the four premiership points and credit for defeating a highly regarded Collingwood side, but achieved little else. Apart perhaps from setting the scene for Monday’s big game at the MCG and the Ice Challenge that precedes it.
    Neither team showcased significant skill in the bleak and greasy conditions, at a location that was far from either’s home territory. Even the field umpires forgot where they were and experienced a challenging evening, but no further comment is necessary.

      • Thanks
    • 4 replies
  • NON-MFC: Round 13

    Follow all the action from every Round 13 clash excluding the Dees as the 2025 AFL Premiership Season rolls on. With Melbourne playing in the final match of the round on King's Birthday, all eyes turn to the rest of the competition. Who are you tipping to win? And more importantly, which results best serve the Demons’ finals aspirations? Join the discussion and keep track of the matches that could shape the ladder and impact our run to September.

      • Thanks
    • 216 replies
  • PREVIEW: Collingwood

    Having convincingly defeated last year’s premier and decisively outplayed the runner-up with 8.2 in the final quarter, nothing epitomized the Melbourne Football Club’s performance more than its 1.12 final half, particularly the eight consecutive behinds in the last term, against a struggling St Kilda team in the midst of a dismal losing streak. Just when stability and consistency were anticipated within the Demon ranks, they delivered a quintessential performance marked by instability and ill-conceived decisions, with the most striking aspect being their inaccuracy in kicking for goal, which suggested a lack of preparation (instead of sleeping in their hotel in Alice, were they having a night on the turps) rather than a well-rested team. Let’s face it - this kicking disease that makes them look like raw amateurs is becoming a millstone around the team’s neck.

      • Thanks
    • 1 reply
  • CASEY: Sydney

    The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town. However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory. At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
  • REPORT: St. Kilda

    Hands up if you thought, like me, at half-time in yesterday’s game at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs that Melbourne’s disposal around the ground and, in particular, its kicking inaccuracy in front of the goals couldn’t get any worse. Well, it did. And what’s even more damning for the Melbourne Football Club is that the game against St Kilda and its resurgence from the bottomless pit of its miserable start to the season wasn’t just lost through poor conversion for goal but rather in the 15 minutes when the entire team went into a slumber and was mugged by the out-of-form Saints. Their six goals two behinds (one goal less than the Demons managed for the whole game) weaved a path of destruction from which they were unable to recover. Ross Lyon’s astute use of pressure to contain the situation once they had asserted their grip on the game, and Melbourne’s self-destructive wastefulness, assured that outcome. The old adage about the insanity of repeatedly doing something and expecting a different result, was out there. Two years ago, the score line in Melbourne’s loss to the Giants at this same ground was 5 goals 15 behinds - a ratio of one goal per four scoring shots - was perfectly replicated with yesterday’s 7 goals 21 behinds. 
    This has been going on for a while and opens up a number of questions. I’ll put forward a few that come to mind from this performance. The obvious first question is whether the club can find a suitable coach to instruct players on proper kicking techniques or is this a skill that can no longer be developed at this stage of the development of our playing group? Another concern is the team's ability to counter an opponent's dominance during a run on as exemplified by the Saints in the first quarter. Did the Demons underestimate their opponents, considering St Kilda's goals during this period were scored by relatively unknown forwards? Furthermore, given the modest attendance of 6,721 at TIO Traeger Park and the team's poor past performances at this venue, is it prudent to prioritize financial gain over potentially sacrificing valuable premiership points by relinquishing home ground advantage, notwithstanding the cultural significance of the team's connection to the Red Centre? 

      • Thanks
    • 4 replies