2 minutes ago, gs77 said:

Any word on how Viney is tracking, Ghosty?

He wasn’t there. I haven’t seen him in a while. When I last spoke with him (three weeks ago) he said he’s looking at being right sometime in the next month or two.

I think Max Heath plays this week. I haven’t watched any VFL but read the reports and it seems his form is to good to ignore and deserves an opportunity

16 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

He wasn’t there. I haven’t seen him in a while. When I last spoke with him (three weeks ago) he said he’s looking at being right sometime in the next month or two.

Ominous.

May not see Jack this year.

Makes me wonder if he came back, would he play in the firsts midfield.. already got Steele who’s slower albeit in great form.

Don’t need two slower players.

As Ghosty reported, 12 out in the first group today and 25 in the second group.

The 7 absent were: Salem, Lindsay, Viney, CJ, Melksham, MacAdam and Fritsch.

Joining Bowey, Campbell and Cross in the rehab group was Henderson (bandage on the hand) - shame for him given he was listed as an emergency for Saturday.

I understand Riv had a run with Casey in the scratch match last weekend but he did not join the "games" today and spent quite a bit of time with Selwyn, flexing his left leg. It seems the "mysterious niggle" is real.

So with Hendo added to the injury list, together with Melky and Salem (I presume from the weekend) we are not having a good run at it. Lindsay took a heavy hit on Saturday and Fritsch may be a week to week proposition.

Chandler looked sore today, lower right leg, but I would expect him to get up.

Official injury list due out tonight....

Let's see who can particpate in T1 tomorrow.

1 minute ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Ominous.

May not see Jack this year.

Makes me wonder if he came back, would he play in the firsts midfield.. already got Steele who’s slower albeit in great form.

Don’t need two slower players.

This is the feeling I get too. He used to be at training doing his rehab work and was always in great spirits. Even when he wasn’t doing the rehab stuff he would still be there encouraging the others etc. His absence is felt.

@Ghostwriter Should we be on Luker watch for this weekend?

🤞

5 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

This is the feeling I get too. He used to be at training doing his rehab work and was always in great spirits. Even when he wasn’t doing the rehab stuff he would still be there encouraging the others etc. His absence is felt.

Jack's on AFL 360 tomorrow night - may learn more then?

2 minutes ago, Harvey Wallbanger said:

Jack's on AFL 360 tomorrow night - may learn more then?

As is the case with every loss I give any and all footy shows a wide berth, but I’ll watch it for Jack. ❤️💙

5 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

@Ghostwriter Should we be on Luker watch for this weekend?

🤞

He’s not confident of debuting. He has been confident in the past but not this week. He was surprised by how confident I am this week. He said he hasn’t been told anything yet and at this stage he’s lining up in the 2s.

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

This was #1 on my things to do list. There were no coaches in attendance so I had to ask the boy himself. He said he doesn’t think he’ll be debuting this week. He said, “… because there’s only Jake (Melky) out.” I don’t know what that means.

interesting, sounds like jeffo gets another go potentially

Just now, harveylangfordisthegoat said:

interesting, sounds like jeffo gets another go potentially

Possibly. I chatted with Jeffo and while I didn’t ask him if he thinks he’ll be selected he was in a buoyant mood. Well, buoyant for him, that is. His resting face and body language generally say meh.

39 minutes ago, Harvey Wallbanger said:

Jack's on AFL 360 tomorrow night - may learn more then?

Really? I'll watch then, although he's not the greatest media performer

i’d even rather watch luker have a crack than van rooyen struggle

31 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Really? I'll watch then, although he's not the greatest media performer

I think he might be able to tell us when (or whether) he is expecting to play this year....

How did Checkers train? He looked very ginger at one point on the weekend, and generally seemed 'off'

Hopefully if any track watchers attended tomorrow for training we will find out or get a rough idea who’s lining up for up this weekend. Fingers crossed weather stays fine and clear for our game Sunday 🤞🏼🤞🏼

2 hours ago, BigBadBustling said:

How did Checkers train? He looked very ginger at one point on the weekend, and generally seemed 'off'

It’s hard to glean much from such a light session.

Some info on Dees injuries including Riv from the afl site

In the mix

It was a nightmare on the injury front for the Demons on the weekend, with Melksham and Salem both suffering injuries in the loss to Essendon, while Rivers now faces an indefinite stint on the sidelines after pulling up sore from match simulation with a knee issue. Scans confirmed Salem has a small fracture in his foot, while Melksham suffered a syndesmosis injury. Matthew Jefferson and Luker Kentfield both impressed in the match sim and loom as leading candidates to bolster the forward line in Melksham's absence. First-round draftee Xavier Taylor was arguably the Demons' best and is pushing strongly for a debut to cover Salem, while Andy Moniz-Wakefield also shapes as a viable defensive option if the Demons look to reshuffle. - Alison O'Conno

10 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

Some info on Dees injuries including Riv from the afl site

In the mix

It was a nightmare on the injury front for the Demons on the weekend, with Melksham and Salem both suffering injuries in the loss to Essendon, while Rivers now faces an indefinite stint on the sidelines after pulling up sore from match simulation with a knee issue. Scans confirmed Salem has a small fracture in his foot, while Melksham suffered a syndesmosis injury. Matthew Jefferson and Luker Kentfield both impressed in the match sim and loom as leading candidates to bolster the forward line in Melksham's absence. First-round draftee Xavier Taylor was arguably the Demons' best and is pushing strongly for a debut to cover Salem, while Andy Moniz-Wakefield also shapes as a viable defensive option if the Demons look to reshuffle. - Alison O'Conno

Alison must be a demonland poster. She, like many here, refuses to acknowledge the existence of Bailey Laurie despite him being an emergency for two games and playing one in between.

5 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

As @Dannyz said a couple of weeks ago, Riv was listed as “omitted” rather than “injured” because he was omitted due his form but his form was being impacted by this knee niggle.

Riv confirmed this before the Suns game. He said he can actually train and even play, but they want to address the knee thing because it’s a long season.

This is the greatest piece of gaslighting since Goody said he had the full support of the Board. When fans and media observe a player clearly struggling physically and are told it's "form," the official narrative and the observable reality don't align. The circularity is both mind-blowing and load-bearing. It allows the club to communicate just enough to manage expectations without accepting responsibility for either the selection or the injury management.

Another big thanks to Ghostwriter, Harvey Wallbanger all posters and special comments as GW said you can’t glean much from a Recovery session, however we have learned that Salo, Milkshake and Riv are all possible outs for some time. Opens the door for our youngsters and perhaps Bill. It doesn’t rain but it pours, 2019 anybody?

6 hours ago, Demons11 said:

I think Max Heath plays this week. I haven’t watched any VFL but read the reports and it seems his form is to good to ignore and deserves an opportunity

This is bizarre and nonsensical to me. One of our few big strengths this season is having Gawn in the ruck.

Neither he nor Heath have ever shown much up forward.

So you’d like to take our biggest strength of having Max as the clear number one ruck, around the ball most of the game, and REDUCE that by bringing in a promising but run of the mill backup ruck? Meaning Max then has far less time around the footy where he’s our biggest influence on games?!

You’re actively removing our one big strength over opposition teams by doing that. I’d much rather give Petty those 5 minutes a quarter in the ruck, at least he can make a difference at either end when he’s not in the middle.

Edited Tuesday at 10:552 days by Dee Boys

5 hours ago, dees189227 said:

Really? I'll watch then, although he's not the greatest media performer

His contributions on mfc promo clips are fantastic.

5 hours ago, BigBadBustling said:

How did Checkers train? He looked very ginger at one point on the weekend, and generally seemed 'off'

It's a "flush run" so they don't do much. Just a matter of "getting the body moving". Games are brutal. Checkers looked no better or worse than the other times he has trained...who knows how his toe is?...as I mentioned Chandler looked very sore, but I am sure they get a lot of treatment to get up each week.

1 hour ago, Dee Boys said:

This is bizarre and nonsensical to me. One of our few big strengths this season is having Gawn in the ruck.

Neither he nor Heath have ever shown much up forward.

So you’d like to take our biggest strength of having Max as the clear number one ruck, around the ball most of the game, and REDUCE that by bringing in a promising but run of the mill backup ruck? Meaning Max then has far less time around the footy where he’s our biggest influence on games?!

You’re actively removing our one big strength over opposition teams by doing that. I’d much rather give Petty those 5 minutes a quarter in the ruck, at least he can make a difference at either end when he’s not in the middle.

It was pretty clear from the pre-season and the practice matches (Ballarat in particular) that Plan A was for Kentfield to play as a key forward and relief ruck for Max. That fell apart when "that Richmond player" took him out in an early marking contest. Plan A allows JVR to play as a permanent forward with Petty a permanent back. TMac was an emergency in that plan. We will know soon enough whether King wants to go back and try Plan A this week with Kentfield available.

I back this option but some argue that it is time to give Jeffo a shot.....let's see.

Heath may figure later in the year - particularly against teams that field two specialist rucks - e.g. Freo and Hawthorn. All Heath can do is keep performing at Casey, as the other Max did for a number of years.