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You know what I want? Just some luck. That'd be nice.

I like this new parallel universe where Hawthorn uses its second round pick on the biggest red flag in draft history while Melbourne picks JKH two picks later.

It was called off as there were not enough players fit enough to do any drills.

So Tania says that she's not cattle Could have fooled me with the surname Hird... *Boom tish

I was an advocate of using one of our mid range picks on him (before trades) and I don't think there was any doubt of his potential. Dodged a bullet for sure.

I had a flu shot on Monday. At least I thought what the nurse gave me was a flu shot. Come to think of it, I dont know if it was a flu shot. I am not a GP or a scientist so I would not know what is in the flu shot or what should be the proper ingredients in a flu shot. I have placed my faith in the medical professionals that provided me with the flu shot. At this point in the absence of the medical records documenting the work flu shot program, I believe that I had a flu shot but cant prove it.

Confucius say: “The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a darkroom, especially if there is no cat.”

Based purely on their form in the preseason and round 1, I'm not sure that either Moloney or McLean would justify selection in our midfield. I'm happy with the personnel we have there looking into the future and, as much as people might love both these players, the reality is they wouldn't fit in with the club's cultural requirements under Roos.

The playing group will continue to spiral down into a black hole if we can't pull off a win. That's my biggest fear now. The scars must be deeper than even Roos is letting on, and Jonesy's reaction to the loss was pretty telling. It was genuine, heartfelt hurt. I've never seen him so dejected, and that he was so dismissive of all the clear progress (yeah, we lost, but the signs of improvement are there -- hardly a "couldn't have gone worse" result) just shows the mental conditioning these players now have. They expect nothing of themselves.

Neeld was a disgrace. Neeld did more to destroy our club than any other in our history. Neeld never backed his players............ especially those with skill. Bennell was always a highly skilled player, but simply had trouble getting his hands on the pill. Any AFL level coach should have been able to develop him, but instead Neeld failed to back him, destroyed his self confidence, made football unenjoyable and then at the end delisted him on the back of an AC injury. What message does this send to the group? Neeld still makes me feel sick. Neeld had appalling bias to the unskilled battler, he could never relate or develop the underperforming, highly skilled, early draft [censored]. His game plan was an out-dated, copied, embarrassment, developed for a team with completely different strength and weakness to out own. I can't believe it took until round 12 last year to fire Neeld. He sent the club back at least 5 years and may yet be the catalyst to our extinction. I am sure Bennell will smash us this weekend, and although it will hurt, it will be justified to the appalling development, lack of faith and unjust dismissal he endured. Good luck to Jamie. I hope he plays in a premiership for WC. He sure as hell was not going to get that opportunity at the Dees.

Worth a look?

I really like the idea of a forward line restructure HF: Blease Fitzpatrick Kent F: Kennedy-Harris Howe Toumpas go abit smaller and quicker, i remember Carlton exposed the Eagles a little bit this way last year.

He's not dead or injured. AFL isn't for everybody. Maybe its the best thing that happens to him - maybe playing footy with his mates and doing something else with his life is what will make him happy.

Absolutely agree...There were many positive signs over pre-season, but the thing that none of us saw coming was playing without our three key forwards. Clarke, Dawes and Hogan all being out, and the extent of their injuries is potentially the most disastrous thing that could have happened just before round 1. None of their injuries are easy to overcome and it seems they'll be out for an extended period of time which makes playing each game for the rest of our playing group look very worrying... If we continue to lose because of this heartbreaking scenario it'll only contribute to Frawley questioning further whether he'll stay and I'm sure others who are becoming sick and tired of being part of this club. Hogan is another who may question.. While I'm trying to remain as positive as possible, I think there's the potential for things to spiral downward again to a similar nightmare that was last years season... If this were to occur - as in - we started losing games by hefty margins again because of our non-existent forward line and lack of quality through the midfield, then Roos and Jackson would have no option but to consider extending their contracts in order to somewhat calm what could potentially be another extremely damaging first half of the season.. I'm not jumping the gun yet, but I'm sure everyone, supporters, players and coaches are all thinking about this in some capacity.

Wonder what Matt Rendell is thinking right now....

Ok children once you have stopped the 'mine is bigger than yours' in the playground, we signed up 32 last night, so just 1 under a century over 2 nights, will list the intrepid souls later

Amen to that, I just hope the Gyz doesn't burn up the EFL this year we will never hear the end of it

It's indeed a pity that you haven't read more of this thread because it might help you understand why most wouldn't trust Dank. But if you think about it, the very story about him refusing to come forward with proof that the injected drugs were legal (he's apparently also signed a statutory declaration saying he has no records) until he could do so in court is exactly why many don't just not trust him but also hold him in complete contempt. Here is a man who claims the program that he and Hird oversaw at Essendon was completely above board and has proof to back it up has done nothing to calm the distress and suffering of the players affected and their families. Remember, these are the young men who were placed in his professional care and who has tossed them and their club under a bus. If he's telling the truth about the injections being legal then he owes them a professional duty to disclose what he caused to be injected into their bodies. Trust this man? Don't make me laugh!!!

Watts is better than Nic Nat.

Our Clash jumper V St.Kilda Remove Jones (St.Kilda) from the foreground and we can see why the clash jumper had to be worn. (NOT!) In an instant a decision needs to be made, they all look the same. Wearing our real jumpers, the orginal, the one we are well known as the Melbourne Demons. Perhaps someone has a problem defining the 2 teams, I know I havent. Its chalk and cheese to the above. But the clash jumper isnt really about a clash, its about some snotty nosed marketing guru with an agenda. God forbid, reverting back to everyone wearing their club jumpers. The Umpires could revert back to wearing ALL white. (white maggots,anyone?) Home Team = black shorts Away Team = White shorts All that was way too simple. As the OP states, its a farce.

WAFL Round 1 commenced last week and I headed to Lathlain Park to see Perth vs Claremont, with the Demons being in control all day and running out big winners. I was keen to have a look at former GWS U/17 recruit Gerard Ugle and potential first round pick Clem Smith. Ugle- this kid looked very good and I can see why GWS took a punt on him when he was so young.. Showed good cruising speed and acceleration across the ground and hits the loose ball at pace so is very hard to stop when reading the play. Ball use by hand and foot was good and seemed to have a lot of awareness in traffic, but I would like another look at him to see what he is like in a game with greater intensity and physicality as Claremont were never in this and showed little. Not afraid to tackle and catches opponents out with his closing speed Smith - on this show will slip down the pecking order, he will do well at underage level because when he has the ball he does well and if it is within his vicinity will hit the contest hard. However he does not work overly hard to get to contests and I noticed on a few occasions the shaking of the head when being spoken to by runners and during breaks between quarters. I see a lot of Dayle Garlett circa 2012 in this kid plenty of talent but poor attitude, whilst Smith is harder at a contest and a much better tackler than Garlett his foot skills are not as good and his hands are not as strong, nor does he possess good size. At this size he needs a higher workrate and to provide greater x-factor, which I don't see at the next level Darcy Cameron who missed out in 2013 played as back up ruck to Mark Seaby for Claremont and performed well against the older Leyendeckers but was given limited opportunity but he did not disgrace himself and was worth another look. Needs to work on aerobic capacity and second efforts One kid who caught my eye was a young indigenous small forward for Perth Callum Collard who was picked up from Amatuer club Kelmscott and showed some great zip around goal with a real willingness to tackle and harass defenders while always wishing to provide second efforts at the fall of the ball and his efforts saw plenty of turnovers or left defenders hesitating allowing team mates to capitalise on errors. Not many other kids on offer today but a friend who attended the Subiaco vs South Fremantle colts game said South looked very very good. They have a number of boys expected to go this year and he said the standout was CHF Matthew AH SIU(think that spelling is right), good size and very mobile and will lead and run hard to provide options, Jarrod Pickett and Jacob Dragovich were dominant in the middle along with a Callum AH Che whose brother Brandon is already on the Port Adelaide list, I will do my best to get a look at this side for myself because by all accounts they are stacked with a lot of very good up and comers

I know that many think this topic has been flogged to death..but this clash Jumper situation needs to be fixed. On Saturday we wore a predominantly white jumper. A jumper that looked more like st kilda ..we incorporated a colour that clashed more. I then sit down Sunday to watch the Eagles v Dogs and see that they are wearing all red. The same all red the AFL supposedly banned us from wearing as they deemed it a dark colour. I realise nothing can be done about it this season but we need to get firm on this issue. We are the team of the red and blue..i dont care if its red with blue yoke or blue with red..we are not white and never had been..well apparently once in 1858 according to schwabb ..i want the footy club for once to stand up. A red jumper would eliminate all clashes. Richmond, Footscray, Collingwood, Essendon have all held firm..we should not compromise our brand. Fix it please !

he has a lot to say obviously. How exciting looking at that head for another hour..

Laxative in the WCE drinking water I believe is our only hope

mind you hardtack if PR can bring home a flag i'd be happy for him to be knighted. i'll even supply the coconuts

I hope WJ doesnt see your comment H - he's been wanting to use that line for some time now. You could be issued an infraction notice for stealing other people's material (just as I did with the hird line)..

I think you are very much on the money boydie I would add one more His rehab is progressing well -- He will ready for round 1 next year

Glossary of Terms 50/50 - 1-2 Weeks 1-2 - 4 Weeks 2-3 - 4-6 Weeks 4-6 - Season TBA - May not play again

Some would say that "Peds" hasn't done us any good.

If he was a little more accurate we'd all be celebrating a win, he was very unlucky on the weekend not to have 30 touches and 3-4 goals and wouldn't the crows love seeing him do that for another side.

We have 2 people to do all of our web, social media, publications, and all other design including mail outs, reports, membership, promo, etc etc etc... So don't bag out the people trying to do the work other clubs have way more people to do, bag the members who don't join so we can't afford the same resources.

Machsy I do remember reading that he's a Hawthorn supporter last year, but are you talking about this Hawks tattoo across his chest? That one that's been written in Sharpie? Or does he have a real one that's better hidden from Google images?

I got the impression he'd be available to play AFL next week, which made me wonder why not this week. If he's not going to play a match this week and then come in next week, what is the difference. He is either ready or he's not. I don't understand why Garland has to play a VFL game before coming into the side. He's a senior player. Why not play him off the bench this week. God knows with the Eagles firepower he'd be handy.

What part of national comp don't players understand? I'm all for clubs being able to trade players without their permission. To many take everything for granted.

Contract extensions for Roos and Jackson to show they are in it for the long haul would help immensely. Knowing that Roos could/will be gone in 2-3 years would also have to have an impact, it puts even greater pressure on that we have to improve/win now before he exits the building.

I was a bit of a Bennell fan and was pleased to see him go well on the weekend. One of the criticisms that came up on here often was his "squibbing" the contest (based on a single occurrence mind you), yet on the weekend we saw him go into some pretty strong contests and take a couple of pretty courageous marks - did not see him flinch once. And if my eyes don't deceive me, he appears to have put on a bit of muscle definition he didn't have when he was with us.

Not a good analogy. Pike's situation at MFC became untenable due to off field behaviours not because MFC misjudged his ability.

Certainly dodged a bullet there

What about kids like Mitch Clark? Are we suddenly going to stop drafting or trading for them too?

Bennell is garbage And exactly have we let go that has shone on a new team? Cameron Bruce -- was completely useless at Hawthorn Jordan Gysberts - LOL Ricky Petterd - Spud Cale Morton - hahahahhaaha

totally agree - I think that over the last 2 weeks just about all have us have identified with a terrible feeling - that yes, we have made some progress, but we are still so far off the mark, and how exactly are we going to make up any more ground after everything that has already changed...? Well the players, particularly the likes of Jones who have years and years of beltings, must be feeling that about 10 times as hard as we are. How do you generate belief with such baggage hanging over your head.. and having half a side in is just really, really bad timing. Possibly losing your big name forward permanently is just a disaster. The thing that scares me to death is that it won't be long before we are up against a 100-point loss threat, which will just kick everybody in the guts. The other clubs, the media, they'll be all over us again, and pressure will start to go on Roos. It remains to be seen if we are a problem even he can fix, and I certainly can't see much progress with one of the worst injury lists you could imagine. I am just praying that there is a bunch of fine-tuning to be done by the coaches, as we get more match experience, and that there will something in the same hemisphere as our best 22 on the field sometime in the near future. Tough times as usual. Hmmm.

it's also in direct contradiction to what absolutely everybody has been saying about his presence around the club this is what happens when we continue to fail. fingers just start getting pointed in every direction

remember when Clark had 4 goals at quarter time against GWS before getting injured life was sweet for about 20 minutes

I'm with you... Maybe not on that particular quote but the lack of transparency between the club and it's supporter base is pretty disgusting.I mean, what the hell is the point of the 'injury update' hosted by Burgen when Misson gives us absolutely nothing. Misson's response, especially when it comes to Dawes' injury is absolutely pathetic. They should either tell us what is really going on, or not give injury updates at all. Dawes clearly has some ongoing injuries with his 'leg', why do we continue to read 2-3 weeks.. Why is everything kept so quiet. Shits me to tears and expect more as a paid up MFC member.

F--king DAWES!

For the love of god Mandee please do not go there. Delete thread now I see from your number of posts that you are relatively new - assuming you are not an old poster with a new name. As such i can only warn that such a thread is an invitation for the most mind numbing, soul sapping pap you will see for many a year. You have been warned.

For what it's worth, I'd charaterise depression as being more like diabetes than cancer. Needs continuous monitoring. Everything you do has to take it into account. Generally, you've got it for life, at least to some extent. There's no established 'cultural practice' for family and friends to provide appropriate sympathy and support. But Managed well and with good information, the harm can be really effectively contained in most cases, and people can continue to live life in full. - - - - - Anyway, whatever the actual trouble for Mitch is, he is a lucky, lucky man in terms of his contract and working conditions. That doesn't mean he is doing even the slightest thing wrong by the club or the supporters. If anyone wants to be upset about it, try to keep perspective as far as recognising that ithis is a general 'AFL/sports elite distorted pay' issue, not a Mitch Clark issue.

I don't think people see it as mutually exclusive issues anymore. Mental health causes physical symptoms as well.

But when Tyson and also Vince (I think it was Vince) were both blindside-tackled in the third, they managed to "sort of" connect with foot or hand, but got pinged anyway. In that situation, it seems you're usually pinged the moment you're tackled, whether you get a foot or hand to it or not. The Saints got a big psychological lift from those tackles, as we would have if the free was paid against Gilbert, as it should have been. Maybe it's only paid when you can't see the tackler coming. Gilbert knew Matt Jones was there & thought he could outrun him, but got caught. Common sense would suggest that if you try to take on the tackler and lose, you should get less latitude than if you get blindsided and don't see the tackler until they hit you. But what has common sense to do with umpiring??

Thanks for bringing this worthwhile subject up. That mostly white Clash jumper is an abomination & belongs with the horrid Grey one we produced. The Bin. It really.... Really Irks me.. Are we Sydney or are we Melbourne?????? Looks alot like a some other team. Get rid of it ASAP Melbourne Footy Club!!! I cant believe its still used. The training top would be much more ideal...states MFC on the front and has red & blue....NOT WHITE! We are not the dogs....we are not Sydney....clean it up MFC for Demons sake! Peter Jackson...Glenn Bartlett...If your reading please look into this and replace it!