1 hour ago, JAG001 said:

I think we will have at least two first round picks.

MFC 1st round pick + GC 1st round pick (part of Petracca deal)

How about a 3rd first rounder? haha

We could acquire the pick in all sorts of ways not the least being to trade our future 1st (2027 draft)

And what if another club comes with a big offer for one of our players? It might suit to trade

What we do know is that the club is adept at getting hold of the picks that are needed

Especially prior to when Tassie get involved in the draft

7 hours ago, dice said:

Tholstrup and Kozzy kicked goals from the centre square too. Questionable 50m arc

Have you been to Casey?

19 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Are we going to revolutionise the game by playing with 15 on the ground and leaving out the HF line?

HF: Chandler, van Rooyen, L.Pickett

On 21/02/2026 at 08:51, Demonland said:

If Kozzie did that, he’d get a life suspension.

8 hours ago, waynewussell said:

Have you been to Casey?

Yes, it's a sh**hole in the middle of nowhere. Wind swept, no train station or major freeway nearby, and only one traffic clogged major road leading in and out of the joint.

With the regards to the arcs, obviously they are 50m but it just didn't seem that way last Friday

"With the regards to the arcs, obviously they are 50m but it just didn't seem that way last Friday"

I'll take that as a retraction!

This gives a close-up view from a player's perspective of the ground we play on at Casey, with an indication of the development of the facility in the background.

An Immersive Look at Training with Kade Chandler

Our ground at Casey is one part of a massive sporting complex being developed in this location.

On 21/02/2026 at 21:30, BoBo said:

Latrelle dodging and weaving through multiple players and then NOT just bombing it in, but waiting to find the right target and hitting said target, was very promising. He did it twice too.

Fast in legs and in footy-brain

On 21/02/2026 at 16:36, BDA said:

its normally blowing a gale out there

I wasn't there, so what would I know, but didn't several players kick goals from inside the centre square?

20 hours ago, Redleg said:

I have said a few times, I think we have a good one in Luker.

Does he live on the second floor?

12 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

@Ghostwriter are you aware how Onley and Matthews went in VFL practice match? Saw on Demons page they both scored, did you get to see them live and can give insight?

Also unsure if anyone is aware, we had Ah-Mu playing for us, but I thought we couldn’t touch him. Is that correct or only have no space currently?

I didn’t see much of the Casey match but Tommy Matthews was great in the short time I did get to see. He almost pulled off an incredible hanger (I read somewhere he actually completed the mark, but he didn’t, that is, it wasn’t paid). He was into everything, fearless and moved really well. His teammates seemed to look for him.

I didn’t see much of “Ron” (Onley) but Richo said they were very pleased with his performance.

I was told we’d need to free up a list spot for Tairon. My personal belief is that we’ve seen Maysie’s last game with us and he’ll be paid out for the year.

Edited yesterday at 00:521 day by Ghostwriter

2 hours ago, waynewussell said:

Our ground at Casey is one part of a massive sporting complex being developed in this location.

I think Manchester Melbourne City moved their entire footballing operation there from their original Bundoora complex as well WW.

Didn’t watch the match initially, but decided to watch the replay in its entirety to escape the dreadful sight that is Tottenham. Despite being a pre season match, there are always genuine things you can take out of practice matches.

In the ‘21 pre season match against the Dogs, we saw a first glimpse into what a fully fit Steven May would be capable of and he dominated that match with something like 25 possessions and 10 marks, looked really good in terms of fitting into the team structure and was a true sign of what was to come.

If this is a sign of how we play, we can shock a lot of “experts”. Howes looked incredibly strong, moving well, Latrelle is just an exciting watch and can form a dangerous and underrated partnership with Chandler. Latrelle had been building for quite some time and not being drafted as a teenager, he could explode in his first AFL season.

I feel we have a lot of untapped talent/potential on paper that we didn’t truly see due to Goodwin’s more restrictive game style and circumstance. Hopefully someone like Chandler will be given the license to just play instead of worrying about being a defensive pivot.

All in all, really liked what I saw and re-affirmed my optimism in 2026.

Edited yesterday at 00:401 day by VNightCityLegend

This has nothing to do with the actual game but at the ground there was a heap of freebies from our sponsors/partners. Hertz’s contribution was a range of car stickers…

We were given a stack of these to give to customers and some found the Gawny one distasteful. I don’t have a problem with it but it is something folks might feel is un-Melbourne like.

42 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

I think Manchester Melbourne City moved their entire footballing operation there from their original Bundoora complex as well WW.

It certainly did.

In December 2020, Melbourne City officials announced the club would move training and administration facilities to Casey Fields in Melbourne's South-East. In 2019, the football facilities at Casey Fields included four floodlit pitches and a one-story administration building. The club announced that, in conjunction with the City of Casey, it would add an elite training tablet pitch, expand the size of the administration building to two storeys and leave space for potential future construction of a 4,000 capacity boutique stadium.

The total cost of the project was $18.7 million, of which City of Casey contributed more than $11 million. As well as two and a half grass training pitches, there are three synthetic fields, 16 changerooms, a 60-seat theatrette, hot and cold hydrotherapy pools, two gyms, community classrooms, and extensive sports medicine, sports science, and administration spaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Football_Academy_(Melbourne,_2022)

18 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

This has nothing to do with the actual game but at the ground there was a heap of freebies from our sponsors/partners. Hertz’s contribution was a range of car stickers…

We were given a stack of these to give to customers and some found the Gawny one distasteful. I don’t have a problem with it but it is something folks might feel is un-Melbourne like.

At first glance, I thought that first one said ‘Drive By Demons’. As for the Gawn one, I find it a bit puerile, but i wouldn’t consider it distasteful.

On 21/02/2026 at 13:37, Bang Bang Bang said:

First glimpse of KingyBall and I absolutely love it. He seems a good bloke too, long way to go but the shock of signing him ahead of Bucks is disintegrating with each passing week.

Not much to add from others views on the game TBH. I thought Steele was fantastic and brought a skill set we haven’t seen from a Dees mid for a long time. The media will mock us if Clarry has a bounce back year, but everything he does should be compared to what Steele does for us. I think we’ll be OK there.

Skimmed the thread but have to agree Kingy Ball looks good. I think from a strictly football perspective both Clarry and Trac are not suited to the plan. Steele brings a different dimension, but based on the first hit out is a win for us. Really unbelievable we got him the way we did. Clarry and Trac will do well in their new teams but we now have a different plan which doesn't rely on their skills.

On JVR I have to say he is a different player this year (thankfully he wont ruck!) as he seemed to put in some very hard yards up and back, one effort in the 3rd (?) saw him run about 100 from one wing to the opposing flank then battled for the ball to deliver it front and center. Outstanding effort.

As for the Kossie and Trelly.... to quote BT woweee. That was fun to watch.

23 hours ago, binman said:

• Our defensive line often pushed up high last season, but they look to be pushing even higher now

• Apart from aggressively pushing up the ground, I haven't really been able to work out what our defensive system will look like - but leg speed in defence will be critical as defenders will need to sprint back when we turn the ball over- even if May was not having off field issues and an interrupted preseason, I honestly think he's too slow for our method (and was last year too for that matter ) and i worry Lever and Tmac are in the same boat (I can't see both in the team when Petty gets back)

I watched the game again and focused on the defensive system. To argue against myself, on second viewing, i could get a sense what they are trying to do defensively, or at the least what some of the key elements of that system are likely to be.

In addition to our defensive unit pushing up aggressively, and the resulting need for players with leg speed to get back on turnover, i reckon some other key elements of our defensive system under King are:

• As noted by Harriet Cordner (one of the two commentators) a couple of times, we were creating a spare in defence

• Related to the above, when our defenders pushed up the ground to compress the ground, and ideally trap the ball in our forward half, Cordner noted a couple of times we were keeping a defender in our back half, which provides some protection for when we turn it over and the oppo get it past/over our defensive line

• Creating spare and leaving a defender in our back half when we push up (ironically, two strategies Goody employed between 2020 and 2023) both put pressure on the rest of the team to provide defensive cover and support, which in turns means lots of all team gut running and effort

• They are clearly looking to 'ping' of half back quickly and get it out of defensive half as quickly as possible

• Trading in CJ was an obvious tell in terms of the above point - he's obviously going to be given freedom to play on ASAP and run and carry out of the back half

• As i noted earlier in this thread, ditto a number of other posters, we are going to be looking to be aggressive with our kicks out of defence - not only will we go fast, but we'll be taking on more high risks kicks into the corridor and/or across lanes on the 45

• XT was selected in large part because of his ability to move the ball quickly aggressively out of the half back, and take on high risk/high reward kicks that have become so important in footy to beat zone defences, get behind oppo defences and set up high quality scoring opportunities

• I really liked Howes game, and with his good pace, ability to read the play, make good decisions with ball in hand and hit targets by foot he looked right at home with the new defensive system - and his height gives us terrific flexibility in terms of his ability to play on medium forwards, and at pinch taller forwards

19 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Hi Binman. When can we expect a podcast? I’m keen to hear what you three think.

G'day @Fanatique Demon the first pod of the King era (which follows the brief Chaplin interregnum) will be coming very soon, possibly next week.

1 minute ago, Coolx2 said:

Rumour has it that the reason why KENTFIELD was wearing a mask was because he wanted to audition for Phantom of the Opera.

6 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

This has nothing to do with the actual game but at the ground there was a heap of freebies from our sponsors/partners. Hertz’s contribution was a range of car stickers…

We were given a stack of these to give to customers and some found the Gawny one distasteful. I don’t have a problem with it but it is something folks might feel is un-Melbourne like.

@Hawny for Gawny