Leaderboard

I hate Essendon as much as the next person. However this will be a sad day in Australian sport.

Stats from the game: Dom Barry 14 disposals 7 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 8 tackles 74 Dream Team Points Sam Blease 29 disposals 25 kicks 4 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 110 Dream Team Points Michael Evans 24 disposals 13 kicks 11 handballs 2 marks 13 tackles 1 hit out 117 Dream Team Points Jack Fitzpatrick 2 disposals 1 kick 1 handball 1 tackle 11 hit outs 21 Dream Team Points [injured] Alexis Georgiou 10 disposals 6 kicks 4 handballs 4 tackles 42 Dream Team Points Jayden Hunt 1 goal 1 behind 14 disposals 7 kicks 7 handballs 1 mark 44 Dream Team Points Jordie McKenzie 1 behind 30 disposals 18 kicks 12 handballs 2 marks 8 tackles 110 Dream Team Points Viv Michie 1 goal 1 behind disposals 16 kicks 7 handballs 7 marks 3 tackles 1 hit out 104 Dream Team Points Dan Nicholson 22 disposals 11 kicks 11 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 91 Dream Team Points Aidan Riley 28 disposals 6 kicks 22 handballs 1 mark 11 tackles Dream 102 Team Points James Strauss 1 behind 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 1 marks 3 tackles 43 Dream Team Points Luke Tapscott 2 goals 20 disposals 18 kicks 2 handballs 3 tackles 82 Dream Team Points Jimmy Toumpas 21 disposals 12 kicks 9 handballs 1 mark 15 tackles 2 hit outs 118 Dream Team Points

Give it a rest DO

My mate just posted this reminiscence he had about Hafey on Facey, sums him up i feel: Sad news about the passing of Tom Hafey. As an 8 yr old I didn't believe my cousin that he lived near their house and that he'd actually been around there and met him. So on the push bikes we went and rocked up to this modest house in Highton. Tom Hafey answered the door and invited us in for a lemonade and a choc chip cookie. We sat with him and his wife on the couch and he talked about the Cats side,(who he coached at the time). A humble and kind fella who gave an awe struck boy the time of day. RIP.

Sassy: No, however, the club is aware that Roos is looking at MFC as a long term commitment (assuming board and administration perform professionally). If all is good he will either continue as coach or as Director of Football long after his current contract expires..

Essentially it was a three week ban but with the early it was downgraded to two. Fair call I reckon.

I can see both points of view on the 'sad' day for footy vs clobber the cheats issue. I'd just add if a club had to be made an example of I'm just glad it was one of the big boys and not us, the Dogs, Kangaroos, St Kilda etc. I'd be reluctant to express any glee if they were in the firing line. But it being Essendon, I don't feel too guilty expressing a bit of glee at the same time as feeling sympathy for the players (to some extent) and for the game.

Same. I was expecting a developing midfielder, not an instant gun.

Thanks Song! That is very re assuring, if wine buys you time, then I should live to be about 143!

Forget the Friends crap.Their livelihoods depend on results there will be no sweet heart deals if it comes to trading.

How does a St Hallett Gamekeepers Shiraz sound?

Some of the numbers in those stats speak volumes about the kind of coaching and development that is now being put into the not-quite-first-22 players, as well as the trust that is developing between coaches and players. 15 tackles for Toumpas, 30+ possessions for Blease etc. Impressive work by all concerned. (not that one swallow makes a summer either …)

Fair point Hardtrack, I am not always right. I only pass on what I am hearing from within the club and that info is sometimes an opinion and sometimes does not pan out. Other times I pass on my own opinions which are regularly wrong. However, when it came to the signing of Roos last season, that was an outcome that had already been confirmed before Neeld had even been dismissed. For all the reasons, this will always be denied by those inside the club and Roos, but mark my words Paul Roos had made his decision to coach us more than 1 year ago. The play with the media was an absolute charade.............. mind you a well played charade. Well done Paul Roos... .......... and for once, well played to the MFC board.

I have no sympathy for the players, they knew what was going on, and if they didn't then they deserve a two year ban for being mind numbingly stupid

Awesome, well if true they will need to throw the kitchen sink at us to get a trade done.

Comparing McKenzie to Magner, Couch and Valenti is like comparing the crack in your granny's dining room wall to the Grand Canyon. McKenzie has won Brownlow votes for BOG on two occasions, he's played fantastic lock down roles that have been crucial to us winning games and he is a leader within the club. Why do you think he won the Coaches award for 3 years in a row? I acknowledge that with the introduction of Vince, Tyson, Cross, Michie, Riley and Salem his place in the team is far from certain and I acknowledge that under Neeld where his focus was purely on defence his game has surely suffered. Roos has sent him to Casey to rediscover his attacking attributes and he is regularly getting high numbers to the stage that two weeks ago he was tagged. The comments on his disposal being poor are overstated and fit in the Tom McDonald "lets wait until he makes a mistake so we can sledge him" catagory. McKenzie may not now be a regular AFL footballer but don't depreciate his past performances because in the past when the rest of the team has thrown in the towel and gone home he's still there putting in. At least recognize his contribution rather than a totally insulting and inappropriate comparison.

At least this time you had the grace to name Clisby instead of Tapscott this time, but your idea of dropping Bail and Terlich is no better than it was last night. Dropping Bail is particularly laughable; he's one of our side's hardest runners, he gets in space and his ball use has improved significantly. I get the impression that the coach is a fan.

I find it hard to believe the players didn't know what was going on, all they had to do was make a phone call to their own doctor or perhaps the AFL, for advice. They were told this was right on the edge so there must have been some concern; ignorance is bliss. They tried to cheat their way to a flag and got caught, you roll the dice and sometimes the wrong numbers come up.

Unless I'm mistaken, which I'm not, the kid hasn't played a game yet. And people are talking trade....staggering.

RIP Tom Hafey. The world will certainly be a worse place without him. I hope the dees help the tigers really celebrate his life and amazing contribution to football this weekend.

1. McKenzie in 2011 received two best on ground Brownlow credits, against Freo and Essendon. Can you show me Valenti and Magers BOG Brownlow achievements. 2. McKenzie kicked a running goal in Round 5 2010 in his eighth game. You said he never kicked one. You were wrong. I can't be bothered going further. 3. McKenzie finished 9th in the 2011 Best and Fairest playing just 15 games. On a pro rata basis if he'd played the full 22 games he'd have finished 3rd. 4. McKenzie won the coaches award on three occasions, can you show me Magner and Couch's similar achievements? 5. McKenzie has played a series of lock down roles including Ablett, Griffen and Dangerfield in three of the last four games last year. This forum was full of "I was wrong" posts. 6. In the fateful game against Geelong in 2011 McKenzie had 25 possessions, 8 tackles to be MFC leading possession winner. Nathan Jones was next with 19 possessions. In 2012 came along and Neeld's mantra of "defence" cruelled the team and McKenzie, like Trengove, embraced the change. My post asserted that McKenzie was in a different class to Magner and Couch. I conceded that he would struggle to regain and maintain a place in the seniors from here on. Please analytically present Magner and Couch's career highlights to show they are as good or can even be compared equally to McKenzie. I've taken the emotion out of this Steve so you can "debate" me and Saty on the facts. I'm waiting. I don't want opinions I want facts to back up your assertion. Go to it.

RIP Tommy.

Handball receives in the goal square, i believe.

Does anyone have any faith at all in Blease as a backman though? Sure he's fast and can break the lines but what chance that he can - Lock down on a quality forward - Be reliable by foot (and mind) when under pressure I see the backline as a way to get his form up and going at VFL but don't trust him at all as an AFL level defender.

The Doggies caused a lot of Professional Free Kicks. Which stopped us numerous times from taking advantage of getting the ball moving. Professional fouls should be penalised like in basketball. Crameri grabbing Dunn around the neck as McDonald was about to set off. Garland getting his leg held and not being paid free kick down field but Grimes given free kick further back. They did a lot of man handling which got passed the umps eyes. It was a disgrace.

Would be a pretty dog act, IMO, for Hogan to jump ship at the end of 2015. I know footy's just a business these days and these players don't have the same emotional attachment to the club that we do, but come on... I'd hate him more than Scully if he walked.

The justice system is not a revenge system. Compensation is not owed; only disensentivisation and re-education of the guilty party is necessary.

Yeah I'm just forgetting about Hogan tbh, can't see him playing a a significant role for this footy club moving forward. I wish that wasn't the case but just seems to me like Mitch Clark all over again.

Yay. I've been absolutely *itching* for another round of this. I believe in Jesse.

It may well be a sad day for Football, but i have no sympathy at all for the EFC. They planned all this. It was a 2 year programme. They got caught and must pay. Yes it will hurt the comp but if they are let off it will be far sadder and a very dangerous precedence. Full force of the law thankyou.

That would be funny if you weren't tapping into decades worth of Demons fans' punished psyche over retention of very good players.

I wouldn't take much notice they have Michie on 2 weeks. I believe he played on the weekend

It might be sad but if it happens it will also be a day on which drug cheats are caught and punished so there should be no need for tears.I've said it before but the people we should feel most sad for are the likes of Raelene Boyle who worked her arse off to reach the pinnacle of her chosen sport only to have two or three Olympic gold medals stolen from her by drug cheats. That's who I feel sad for. D-Day looming for up to 40 Bombers ASADA issuing bans will not mark the end of the sorry saga

Not joking. Just stupid. (Apologies to all).

I'm still not sure about the Frawley experiment up forward. Our backs were only ok at the weekend, and we did get found out a couple of times by their tall forwards. This will be even more so against the Tigers. The last real "swing man" we had was Neitz and particularly early in his career used to alternate even in games. It seemed to work well.i see no reason that this could not work with Chip, particularly given his record against Reiwolt. I have my doubts about whether Frawley is a good enough shot for goal to be a permanent forward. This week I think I would put him back to fullback for Terlich and have Garland play on the third tall. I would bring Gawn in up forward and second ruck (there were time both this week and last when Frawley was doing the ruck work - doesn't make sense to me). Max is a big powerful presence up forward and I still think outside Dawes, who is doing a sterling job, we lack power down there. Max is also an excellent pack mark - base him in the goal square and tell him to out muscle his opponent - he will out reach anyone in the competition anyway. The othe change is Byrnes for Riley. We need some more run from our half forwards up the ground and Riley would give it to us. The other change, Salem into the 21 for Matt Jones. I don't think he deserves to be dropped but I think this would make a point to him and others that the sort of clangers he exhibited Saturday will not be tolerated in the longer term. Emergencies: Bleese, Evans, Clisby. I think we might knock off the tigers at the weekend with this side......

Zac Jones...just getting in early and stirring the pot a bit here.

He did one or two really nice things last night and he's actually frequently involved in the team's push forward of center. He has a presence where even if he doesn't get the ball he's involved some how. It's easy to miss but with a stronger and improving midfield he'll win more ball. He is invaluable to a GOOD team. He's not the role player we need him to be in a poor side. The better this team plays, the more valuable he is to the side. Harsh reality but still a positive one. If (when) this team is up and running, he'll be one of the fastest. Just can't expect him to be Nathan Jones.

thought there was a big improvement the past few weeks. Some of his kicks were just sublime last night and he saved us at least 2-3 goals by laying some ripper tackles. Some people can't see the forest for the trees of jack watts insults. I was over him at times this year, yes, but the kid is noticeably trying to improve himself.

Blease will have to do a lot to stay on the list at all. He's still a long way from call-up. Seeing Terlich motionless on the ground for such a long time, I can't believe they'll play him next week. Clisby, or perhaps Georgiou - depending on whether they need run and attack or a shut-down job on a Tiger forward. Byrnes does the 1%ers and that will keep him in the team until Kent is ready. Kent may have to play another good game at Casey, but in the end he must come back. I'd like to see Salem in the starting 21, but they'll have to manage his time carefully. I think he's still coming back from the thyroid illness, and a full game is a stretch for him. He had moments of brilliance last night, and I loved the way he gave the elbow to a Doggie in the goal square after his goal - not just a pretty face.

When will people realise there is no longer an attitude of shifting the deck chairs on a weekly basis. Unless you are not attempting to play your role or unless someone consistently smashes it at Casey there will not be changes. Calls for Blease who has had one week of getting some decent ball in or Bail to be dropped who is running his guts out and has one of our highest tackle counts is laughable. The only two I would expect that will be considered will be Riley or Clisby who have put multiple weeks of good form together but truthfully I expect no change.

Bail? i think he has earned his spot in the team - has potential as a half forward who can rotate through the middle. At least the kid tries to tackle (had 7 tackles - third most) - unlike a couple in the team. He provides important run and carry.

Geez, loving the optimism here! Club does the right thing by sending him home to a familiar and safe environment to help boost the kid's morale, and we're on the club's back like a bucket of leeches. GWS sent Patton home to Rowville while his shoulder healed. This is perfectly normal behaviour for a football club.

McKenzie, just like Magner, Couch and Valenti before him, will always standout at VFL level because their hardness and ball winning ability at that level is high enough to make them standout. AFL is another game, requiring a hell of a lot more than what McKenzie offers the side. People continue to see the number he gets at VFL level and suggest that he comes in... Roos and co wouldn't care less about his numbers. It's about what else he has to offer? And it's not much. Unless a miracle happens and McKenzie suddenly becomes damaging with his disposal, can kick goals, provide an option, mark the ball and make the right decision with ball in hand, he won't be going anywhere. Tyson, Jones, Viney and Cross all offer more as players as contested ball winners. Unless we get injuries or McKenzie develops some other attributes that will contribute to our team, he'll be playing VFL for the rest of the year. I understood the arguments about playing him when there were literally no other options. But now we have options and upgrades. So why are people calling for him to come in? And for who?

Probably more unfair that we let him kick 4 goals hh.

I thought it was a forum based on wood working with thin woods.

agree with all this Song. I listened to T Wallace n Finey on SEN this morn and they pointed out a moment where the Dees crowd seemed to get stuck into JW on the members wing for not making enough effort to tackle. What the crowd missed was the previous 300 metres of gut running from one end of the ground to the other.

ANOTHER DOM TYSON PLEASE!

I feel those that keep calling for Bail to be dropped don't really understand the brand of footy Roos is trying to instill.

It was hard for anyone to get the footy today. Players would receive a handpass and prepare to kick and the ball would slip out of their hands. Walking out to the huddles, it was like a cattle yard out their and smelt like it too. Either very slippery and muddy or just water skiing. Carlton must have been in the middle of the rain last night. Blease was a ilttle unlucky when Northern got a goal in the second quarter. I didn't see the third quarter turnover. I just felt he got involved in the play today in a way that really surprised me considering the conditions. Both sides dropping marks today with such a slippery ball and the congestion around where the ball was dropping because of this, or if it did get out it was a race in the mud that resulted the ball going to the boundary line. It was amazing that Smith took so many marks in the second quarter - they were really rare. And nothing wrong with the Toump's game today. I was watching him, Hunt, Michie and Riley. Toumpas came back on after an injury at the start of the second - winded or knackered I think. He contributed all day and in the last took a couple of handy marks and nearly held a couple more - they were hard to come by with the slippery conditons and packs everywhere. The most common thing happening all day was players receiving a handball but not being able to dispose of it in time because of the greasy conditions. Riley has thighs on him like a tree trunk and didn't look out of place at this suburban ground. Didn't have the impact that Michie did or McKenzie and probably is lacking some fitness. Michie looked very comfortable at this level as did Evans who was very reliable at this level and in these conditions. Dom Barry also surprised me under these condtions. He got kicks sending us forward a few times (remember, this was rare for the whole game on this ground, which was far from anything we are used to these days; it was really really substandard. They couldn't have any drainage there). In the second quarter in particular I was really impressed with Dom. I could not criticise any player's game today - they all put in and it was really quite impressive with the injuries and with Carlton coming back so strongly in the third and fourth quarters where they were able to get a lot of clean possessions (and in the third quarter some umpire assistance). Finally, Jayden Hunt. Even before his winning goal I thought he had looked like he belonged in the second half. In the first half he was on and off the bench and when he was on he would be looking after some empty wing of half forward flank where the ball was not coming.He contributed to our only goal in the third quarter (kicked by Tapscott) and got that great goal to finish the match (our only goal in the last quarter) with 3 or 4 minutes to go. It was not a match to show any of his wares but the final goal showed a lot of composure. And It was not a match to start worrying about any player's future. It was a mud wrestle and then hoping the luck went your way. All the players put in today. I can't name all the players. I love Georgiou and Evans who are so reliable - but this was a swimming pool today. I'm not at the G tonight. I have to cook for guests. This report is just passing on a normal spectator's observations - like I like to read the training reports in Dec Jan and Feb.

The additional point I think everyone is missing is that if Essendon players are rubbed out, what remains of their coaching staff at that time (ie Hird) will be rubbed out too , thereby ending his career. All I can say is "hooray to that!"