40 minutes ago, SPC said:

Kentfields ruck work was great, I’d say he is a perfect 2nd ruck/ forward. He jumps well and times his leap.

Dare I say it, he could be a Pederson type ‘Mr Fixit’

I agree, with Max back it's hard to see you gain much playing Moose second ruck as great as he was. Kentfield is much more the utility/ruck. Can go down back or play forward. Ideal as 5th man on the bench. Jeffo also plays a different role to Kentfield who is more JVR or Mihocek. A couple of times Jeffo was in space and showed much more dexterity similar to Fritta. Needs to get involved more though.

Sparrow worked hard and ran all day. But he and Tholstrup had a tendancy last year to get caught too often because they took too long to release the ball. Tholstrup is much better this year but Sparrow continues to get caught too often.

3 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

My take on yesterdays game.

Whilst it was only a practise games against one of the worst AFL teams of this decade then yes, just have to temper expectations.

At the same time, there are many positives and glimpse you can still take from yesterdays performance.

Finally for however long I can remember, we are actually going to be fun and exciting to watch this year. The speed on the ball was something we haven't seen in a long time.

We will leak goals fairly easily this year but I thought our defence was rock solid at times yesterday. I do agree with a previous comment that we will miss having a big bodied defender like Steven May just to take the bigger 198-201cm type forwards.

Quick summary on a few players:

Mihocek - A pity he was out early. Hes got such a big presence up forward and put that alongside JVR and Kentfield/Jefferson then I think we will be fine in that department.

Kentfield - exceptional game. Really surprised me once again with his ruckwork and ability to work hard around the ground. Just an old fashioned tough bastard who doesnt take a backwards step. 3 goals in the 'Pederson' role has him pretty much locked in for a round 1 debut.

Heath - Similar to Kentfield. Just another hulking angry [censored]. He was getting stuck into that thug Xerri and was laying blocks for his teammates. I have always like this pick up the moment we showed interest. What I didnt realise was his incredible leap at the centre bounce and ability to palm it in front of his teammates. Something Gawn isn't good at. He is a round 1 lock imo.

Howes - i am surprised not much has been made about his performance. I thought he was exceptional and would have easily had over 20 plus disposals off half back. His ball use was neat and he actually provided run which we havent seen from his game before. Players like Howes will thrive under the King regime because the shackles have been finally released and it showed yesterday.

Lat Pickett - my god we're in for a ride with this kid. Can I say its heart warming to see the #33 out there dazzling away at half forward. Interestingly he was playing the high half forward role Similar to how ANB use to use. His work rate was exceptional, just needed to tidy his disposal but that will come with experience. Get the ball in this kid hands in the wide open spaces of the G and let him cook. I was thinking of player comparisons.. Nas Wanganeen with a touch of Lewis Jetta?

Koz Pickett - Enough said. He was going at 70% and taking the [censored].

Laurie - I really liked his game. Working hard up the ground and provided some really good deft touches with his ball use. Once again, played the role imilar to the ANB which Laurie is more then capable of locking that position down if he badly wants it.

Steele - Was so clean and neat with his disposal with the added bonus of providing on field leadership and guidance.. something Oliver and Petracca didnt do. Everytime I saw him side of the screen he was pointing away at teammates just marshalling them around. No fuss and just goes about his business well.

CJ - Another who is going to be a bargain pick up. His ability to leap and spoil is going to be an asset down in defence plus we saw the glimpses of the run and dash down back. Him and Bowey down there will provide us with the quick sling shot and rebound.

Langford - he is good on a wing but he is a gun as an inside mid. Leave him there.

Special mentions to Fritta, Chandler, Langdon and Sparrow.

Lastly, North are an absolute shambles.. I'm not one to feel sympathy for opposition supporters but it must be demoralising for them to sit and watch that with the amount of talent they have on their list being coached by a 4 time premiership coach.

Something stinks down at Arden.

Doubt both Kentfield and Heath play. I know there is another man on the bench but Gawn will play 75-80% in the ruck, so that's a lot of minutes for both to be playing forward.

Apologies if this pic has already been posted (I never read the gameday thread).

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

MELBOURNE SCOUTING NOTES

CALEB WINDSOR
The summer standout started in the middle and won the first clearance but wasn’t as impactful as some of his midfield teammates. Only played midfield as he transitions to become a full-time onballer.

JACOB VAN ROOYEN
Presented often but didn’t trouble the scorers until late in the final term and wasn’t needed for the Dees to rack up a big score.

BRODY MIHOCEK
Kicked two opportunistic goals in the first term before being ruled out of the rest of the game with concussion.

MATTHEW JEFFERSON
Quiet day for the young forward and was outshone by Kentfield.

HARVEY LANGFORD
Plenty of inside midfield minutes for the onballer, who showed no signs he will slow down after a very impressive debut season. Bagged a monster goal in the final term.

MAX HEATH
The ex-Saint looks a winner of the new era of jumping rucks as he took it up to Tristan Xerri at ball ups, including a glorious tap to Kysaiah Pickett for a goal. With Tom Campbell injured, Heath is clearly the No.2 ruck. Courageous effort in the first part of scenario play secured the win.

LATRELLE PICKETT
There is not much to him physically he is just full of talent. Knew how to get involved in link play and create some space, and will play for the Dees early. Already Dees fans get up whenever Pickett wins the ball and can run into space.

XAVIER LINDSAY
Had a heap of ball coming off half-back and could be one player to benefit by the loss of Judd McVee and Jake Bowey.

XAVIER TAYLOR
Only came on in the final term and had a couple of moments. Dees didn’t appear to miss him in defence so his chances of a round 1 debut may have taken a step back.

CHANGKUOTH JIATH
Turned into Nedd Brockman as he ripped through a long running session when pulled out of the match at half-time, even doing laps while the game was being played. Took one excellent intercept grab and tried to add run out of defence.

KYSAIAH PICKETT
With ball in hand he was as vicious as a drunk bride at a MAFS dinner party. A genuine class above as he sent a serious warning to the league with five goals.

LUKER KENTFIELD
Wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask to protect a facial injury, came from the shadows to put a hand up for an AFL debut. The big man showed some good glimpses, kicking three goals and jumping hard in the ruck.

JACK STEELE
Has all the markings of being the shrewdest pickup of the trade period. Steele did all the basics right, directed the midfield at stoppages and looked the part in his new colours. Kicked two final term goals.

KOLTYN THOLSTRUP
Playing a new role at half-back this year and performed well, added some rebound will doing enough defensively. Floated forward for a nice goal.

TOM MCDONALD
Absolutely rock solid at full-back and worked well in tandem with Jake Lever.

DANIEL TURNER
Keep buying stocks in the defender. Positioning was superb and he is on track to take another leap towards the better defenders in the game.

BLAKE HOWES
A forgotten man outside of Melbourne’s fan base, played an integral role as a hybrid tall defender in a structure where the Dees were clearly desperate to create a loose man.

Will Brody be back for R1 based off protocols?

Kozzi Pickett

28 touches. Kicked 5.2

He is out of this world

7 minutes ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Will Brody be back for R1 based off protocols?

According to Richo, yes. He’ll be well and truly ready long before round one.

The only player from the 28-man squad who doesn’t appear to have taken the field in the main game is Ricky Mentha Jnr. Does anyone know what happened with him? Did he play in the Casey game?

6 minutes ago, Pink Freud said:

The only player from the 28-man squad who doesn’t appear to have taken the field in the main game is Ricky Mentha Jnr. Does anyone know what happened with him? Did he play in the Casey game?

Saw a picture of him yesterday in a Casey jumper.

Kozzie Pickett could legitimately win the Brownlow this year. If we go okay in terms of win/loss and he plays anywhere near that level consistently he’s going to go very very close to winning the Brownlow and could finish top 10 in the Coleman as a midfielder

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.

Langford and Lindsay look like they’re ready to take the next step, Trelle was electric, Heath looked better than expected. Taylor good when he was on but looks to be down the pecking order. The red flags still there with Kolt and Jeffo unfortunately, but Kentfield looked like a 100 gamer out there. Howes was fantastic too.

OK let’s just say it. Aiming for a wildcard is not an unrealistic hope this year… is it? I’m probably already getting slightly carried away as we belted them in the same fixture last year then nek minnit we zip 5 (including a trouncing from North themselves). [censored] it.

Any reports from the Casey game?

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

Apologies if this pic has already been posted (I never read the gameday thread).

Alien v Predator

9 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Its been mentioned several times on here now that its due to a facial injury.

9 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Its been mentioned several times on here now that its due to a facial injury.

Thank you. But please, surely it's not part of the terms and conditions of this place that I must read every comment on every thread here.

1 hour ago, 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.

Langford and Lindsay look like they’re ready to take the next step, Trelle was electric, Heath looked better than expected. Taylor good when he was on but looks to be down the pecking order. The red flags still there with Kolt and Jeffo unfortunately, but Kentfield looked like a 100 gamer out there. Howes was fantastic too.

OK let’s just say it. Aiming for a wildcard is not an unrealistic hope this year… is it? I’m probably already getting slightly carried away as we belted them in the same fixture last year then nek minnit we zip 5 (including a trouncing from North themselves). [censored] it.

Will never probably know. But it's not impossible that Oliver met the new management, was just about givin an ultimatum and then tried to fire back threatening to leave only to find suddenly he was no longer Melbourne royalty. It may still not have completely sunk in until sometime in Sydney he realized that he'd had to uproot his life to another team, like allr 18 of them, who all agreed he was very much so overpaid. It's possible that if he had stayed at Melbourne nothing would have stunned him back into the realisation of what it takes for him still to be the superstar he was. I know we're going to hate it if he regains a lot of his former ability and consistency. But we have to let it go because it may well be comparing apples to oranges.

1 hour ago, Pink Freud said:

The only player from the 28-man squad who doesn’t appear to have taken the field in the main game is Ricky Mentha Jnr. Does anyone know what happened with him? Did he play in the Casey game?

He did play for Casey. I only saw the last 15 minutes of the match but was told he went well.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Apologies if this pic has already been posted (I never read the gameday thread).

But apparently you must read everything on here. 😂 BTW could this also be from a scene from Eyes Wide Shut?

3 hours ago, Demonland said:

MELBOURNE SCOUTING NOTES

CALEB WINDSOR
The summer standout started in the middle and won the first clearance but wasn’t as impactful as some of his midfield teammates. Only played midfield as he transitions to become a full-time onballer.

JACOB VAN ROOYEN
Presented often but didn’t trouble the scorers until late in the final term and wasn’t needed for the Dees to rack up a big score.

BRODY MIHOCEK
Kicked two opportunistic goals in the first term before being ruled out of the rest of the game with concussion.

MATTHEW JEFFERSON
Quiet day for the young forward and was outshone by Kentfield.

HARVEY LANGFORD
Plenty of inside midfield minutes for the onballer, who showed no signs he will slow down after a very impressive debut season. Bagged a monster goal in the final term.

MAX HEATH
The ex-Saint looks a winner of the new era of jumping rucks as he took it up to Tristan Xerri at ball ups, including a glorious tap to Kysaiah Pickett for a goal. With Tom Campbell injured, Heath is clearly the No.2 ruck. Courageous effort in the first part of scenario play secured the win.

LATRELLE PICKETT
There is not much to him physically he is just full of talent. Knew how to get involved in link play and create some space, and will play for the Dees early. Already Dees fans get up whenever Pickett wins the ball and can run into space.

XAVIER LINDSAY
Had a heap of ball coming off half-back and could be one player to benefit by the loss of Judd McVee and Jake Bowey.

XAVIER TAYLOR
Only came on in the final term and had a couple of moments. Dees didn’t appear to miss him in defence so his chances of a round 1 debut may have taken a step back.

CHANGKUOTH JIATH
Turned into Nedd Brockman as he ripped through a long running session when pulled out of the match at half-time, even doing laps while the game was being played. Took one excellent intercept grab and tried to add run out of defence.

KYSAIAH PICKETT
With ball in hand he was as vicious as a drunk bride at a MAFS dinner party. A genuine class above as he sent a serious warning to the league with five goals.

LUKER KENTFIELD
Wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask to protect a facial injury, came from the shadows to put a hand up for an AFL debut. The big man showed some good glimpses, kicking three goals and jumping hard in the ruck.

JACK STEELE
Has all the markings of being the shrewdest pickup of the trade period. Steele did all the basics right, directed the midfield at stoppages and looked the part in his new colours. Kicked two final term goals.

KOLTYN THOLSTRUP
Playing a new role at half-back this year and performed well, added some rebound will doing enough defensively. Floated forward for a nice goal.

TOM MCDONALD
Absolutely rock solid at full-back and worked well in tandem with Jake Lever.

DANIEL TURNER
Keep buying stocks in the defender. Positioning was superb and he is on track to take another leap towards the better defenders in the game.

BLAKE HOWES
A forgotten man outside of Melbourne’s fan base, played an integral role as a hybrid tall defender in a structure where the Dees were clearly desperate to create a loose man.

"KYSAIAH PICKETT

With ball in hand he was as vicious as a drunk bride at a MAFS dinner party."

😂😂😂

8 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Geez, what a great problem to have when Petty can’t even get a gig as an emergency.

Holding him back because it’s his 3rd concussion. Will play next week

37 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

Thank you. But please, surely it's not part of the terms and conditions of this place that I must read every comment on every thread here.

No its not.

Though I would have thought wearing the mask itself would be pretty self explanatory in itself for some sort of facial protection...

First time I’ve been to Casey & was pleasantly surprised. Amazing ground ..no wind & facilities were fine. We were near the “beer queue “ which was very busy & quite unhappy when everything alcoholic was sold out just after half time (they did do a booze run) Talked to a few people in the queue who were locals ..no affiliation to either team but just tuned up to have a look. You have to think that if they’re watching the Picket’s & a few others …they were so exciting..maybe you pick up some supporters. Some posters have criticised our defence ..totally disagree they were so solid. They had Larkey ..Darling ..Zurhaar & they were blanketed. Lever was jumping like he used to ..Turner ..TMac ..CJ & Howes ..fantastic. It’s a practice match but if I was a North supporter I would be shattered.

20 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

No its not.

Though I would have thought wearing the mask itself would be pretty self explanatory in itself for some sort of facial protection...

Let it go. Of course I wasn't expecting the answer to be for a foot injury. No need for the snarkiness. 🙄

Good first hit out against another team. Good signs across the board. North wasnt at full strength and had players playing out of their normal position. But the fast movement seems to be embraced.

What I did notice when kicking to the key forwards in the FWD line, I actualyl say out players in position on both sides of the contest waiting for the drop. This rarely happened under Goodwin and the opposition would freely and quickly run it out of defence.

Picket was outstanding, but there was no tag or really any pressure. As for his cousin, amazing runs, but his kicking was on. but it was his first game.

Heath was great against Xerri, if we can hang onto him, we;ll do the job for us.

2 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

Let it go. Of course I wasn't expecting the answer to be for a foot injury. No need for the snarkiness. 🙄

Tell me to let it go lol.. I was literally responding to your "Snarkiness" response 👍

Once again you come off being overly sensitive over the smallest things.

Edited 58 minutes ago58 min by dazzledavey36

Has this thread jumped the snark?

20 hours ago, DubDee said:

Great effort from the boys, scratchy at times but understandable

You could see the new brand King is trying to bring in and it leads to exciting attacking footy!!

Pickett looked like he was going at 70% and was BOG by a mile. Best player in the league.

Howes, Steele, Kentfield, JVR all played well. I reckon Sharp played well too, I had given up on him but with his running power, the new game style might give him opportunities if he can realise his limitations.

Mihocek is a broad, big unit and will have a big impact on us this year.

If he keeps getting kneed in the back of the head by poor delivery, he won't.