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Young Melbourne star Jesse Hogan back running and set to pen new two year deal He is very happy at the Dees!

Went to training, leaned nonchalantly on a tree and observed the following:- Squad was split in two, Casey and AFL side, Blease and Nicholson with Casey, Terlich and Riley with AFL side Jesse Hogan did more running, speed up a bit on some runs, had a good chat to Andrew Nicol after he finished (Nicol is Player Development Manager, assume this covers their wellbeing as well), Jesse was relaxed and happy. Asked JKH about his demotion, was starting to feel AFL level in his legs, no full preseason, and had a slight dip in form, decided it was better for him to go back to Casey get some game miles into his legs and find his mojo again. For the Clisby admirers, ready to resume next week, fitness/medical rule, you need to complete one week of full training before you are considered for a game, he says he is ready this week but has to stick with the rule, had a bad tear in the tendon in his quad that took two more weeks than it should to settle down. Had a word with one of the forgottens, Dom Barry, they are trying to build him into a fully rounded player, with ability to play halfback and midfield, utilising his natural skills, has been getting run with roles to ensure he develops his defensive side, enjoying playing at the moment with the new challenges coaches throw at him, coaching staff 'are happy' with his progress, trying to just be consistent week in week out (a theme there). Spoke to Dean Terlich, he thinks what some posters thought as well, happened to be the 7th defender at completely the wrong time when team structure changed, just has to keep playing well and wait for an opportunity to open. Last off the track by about ten minutes were Viney and Tyson, practicing picking up a loose ball at pace and kicking for goal. Again any questions feel free.

Has anyone else heard the advertisement on SEN for a parking outfit at Melbourne Airport that starts off with a bloke whistling "It's a grand old flag" and then saying he went to Perth and saw his team get flogged but because he was so happy with the car parking services, he was thinking of changing clubs. Don't these [redacted]s know that they are p[redacted]ing off fans from their own state. I for one will never avail myself of their [redacted] services and I recommend that nobody else does unless they remove the advertisement and apologise to the Melbourne Football Club for their offensive (and misleading because we're a different team now) advertising campaign.

When I was a young man I used to work at windy hill pulling beers below the stand downstairs I worked there a whole season . And all that time I had to listen to Essendon supporters going on about how great their team was. However if we barracked for a team other then Essendon we had to keep our traps shut that's if we wanted to keep working there . They were always trying it on with me, asking who I barracked for and why wasn't it Essendon . Id just shrug my arms and ignore them as best I could. Anyway it was coming to the end of the season and I wasn't going to be working there again next year so I asked my Boss could I wear my Melbourne Beanie to work as Melbourne was playing Essendon the next week. He agreed and so I did So that week, I donned my old beanie and stood behind the bar ready to poor my first beer . It was pretty dim downstairs not much Natural light But then up comes one of the old regulars "Jack "who sighted my Beanie and said for Christs sake you are a 'Essendon Supporter after all' I said no Jack take a closer look . LOL Finally he realised it was Dark Blue and Red not Black and Red He then let out a oath that could be heard across the bar ! For some reason that day I didn't pull to many beers and it only got better for me later on as Melbourne ended up winning the game on the day Definitely one of the more pleasurable days I experienced at Windy Hill I was allowed listen to the results as the game went on above me Almost as good as the one when Melbourne was down and out and Essendon supporters were bucketing on us as the margin only got larger in their favor each quarter. But on that day two Melbourne players took the game by the horns in the last quarter . A Young Ricky Jackson and a very solid Darren Bennett one of the most incredible come from behind games I have ever had the privilege to watch pretty much like this last match last weekend There is one thing I have noticed though , it definitely is sweeter each time we win ROTFL !!!

Sheesh. The bunch of piranahs eating their own on this place continues to amaze me. I too have met Saty at training on a trip down to Melbourne. Here is a guy who makes it to training regularly enough for the players to know him and tell him things that others on here don't seem to find out. He takes the trouble to sit down and write them up so those who are interested can find out things that we wouldn't find out otherwise. Especially those of us living interstate. Saty doesn't matter what you put on here or how you put it. There are people on here who need to vent for their own mental health reasons. I'm sure the vast majority are like me and Hardtrack and grateful for the time you take to bother to put anything up at all.

I can't believe some of the nastiness that starts to rear its ugly head when Saty passes on such information to us. I have met him a couple of times when I've been in Melbourne and managed to get along to training and Saty does have an obvious rapport with the players and they don't just give a passing nod, but do respond well... the fact that he tells it like it is (his relationship with the players) rather than taking a more humble approach should not be a problem.

Bloody hell what a stupid thing to say. I seriously can't fathom the mentality of some of our supporters sometimes, anyone who cares enough to post on here yet won't attend a home game because a player they don't necessarily like might be playing. Get there, be loud and support the club. We're trying to increase our crowds/support and people are as fickle as to say "I'm not going if he's playing", "I'm not going to Docklands", "I'm not going cause it's Sunday" - I just hope you're not one of those who then also complains when we have to sell games to NT.

Great news! Just an aside - the sooner we move to 'high draft picks get 3 or 4 years automatically' the better...

Former Melbourne skipper Jack Trengove cleared by ASADA over alleged use of AOD-9604 Cleared him. They just forgot to tell him...

The latest in yesterday today, tomorrow segment contains the thoughts of Robert Flower! Is there a more humble, self effacing, champion as he?? His passion and love of all things Melbourne Football Club certainly shine through. What a magnificent human being! Arise Sir Robert! Champion among Champions!!

My preference is that we play players that are in our best 22 if they're fit enough. End of story.

Forgot this bit hopefully this is on topic, for everybody that was concerned about a certain Nathan Jones' availability, looks like he becomes a father on Monday Also promised me not to expend all his nervous energy proudly watching his younger brother debut for the Swans at the G tonight, told him I didn't think he would make a very good spectator

Complaining about Denham is like whingeing about stuff in New Idea or New Weekly.

Not only is the ad outrageous but Melbourne Airport parking in general is the closest thing to legalised theft that I have ever seen. It makes printer cartridges and bottled water look like a sound investment.

No way is Denham a Melbourne supporter...

You can dump on my (ex) wives You can even dump on my children. But DON'T dump on my footy team.

I've broached this before. I don't think his skill, particularly his hands are bad. Under Neeld we developed a ball chasing mentality. Too many players rushing to the contest. You would find Jordie many times at the bottom of pack trying to extract the ball to 1 of 4 players standing right on top of him. You can have a little more leeway in precision when the player you are trying to get it to has worked hard to get 3 metres in the clear. Jordie needs to get more uncontested possession but that will never be his main game. He will mainly be in the heat of the contest. Better midfield planning and predictability combined with hard work and a willingness to spread hard will mean more and better clear options for a player like McKenzie. Look at his touches on Sunday - there wasn't too much unskilled about them. Edit - watching Bomber on AFL 360, they analysed the "Salem" play and he summed up where Essendon went wrong. Too many players got drawn up to the contest. That's Neeld like and the point I am trying to make about Jordie.

Nut I'd leave Stevie alone. He's got a problem with Jordie, fails to see his good and only focus's on his bad. Jordie must have taken his girl or something. Or perhaps Stevie is a girl and Jordie dumped her - I could understand why! Having pizzed all over Jordie for weeks our man has shown up Steve for what he is. A pretty ordinary judge of this player. Just for the record Jordie won the ball against Stanton in a marking contest to get the ball to Watts and then Kent. He was also the one who won the clearance that got the ball to Jones who got it to Frawley who goaled. He was pivotal in the final play. He got the ball to Pedersen who goaled in the third. That's 4 pivotal scoring involvements in the last 40 minutes of footy - personally I reckon a "well played" is called for. But for Stevie he's just an ordinary footballer. A couple of handballs, a couple of kicks, anyone can do it.

Yes the posts are informative. I do enjoy them. I dont like the thought that someone may be representing me (as part of Demonland) however the mood strikes them, to the club and its players. I accept my view may be churlish.

Is there no grey for you ? Just black and white ? Jordie was not best on ground on Sunday. What he did do is keep one of Essendons highest possession getters to 13 touches - Stanton's worst performance for the year. But we have seen him tag successfully before. He has been playing at Casey because the FD have said that they need more. They need him more offensively involved. So he show some signs in the 2nd half - dishes off to Watts to Kent for a goal and his part in the last play and yet you give this comment. You well may be right that he wont be around in two years - or maybe he will keep improving and end up our Cameron Ling. All that is necessary is to say that Jordie has a good game on Sunday and play his part in the win.

Thanks, Jesus. You're a real conduit.

Blease does not have the engine to run with Boomer who makes repeated efforts all day long, I think Dan Nicholson may have come into consideration due to his endurance, which will enable him to run with Harvey all day. Would still be surprised if there was any change

That may be so, but in the meantime we need players that will set an example of running hard and never giving up and Jordie fits that bill. We have to change the thinking of the players and you need players like Jordie, Cross and Riley that will kill to get to the ball. Jordie sets an example that hopefully others will follow.

I just love how we don't just roll over when it gets hard.

Let me say before he plays his first game, I am disappointed he is not on our list.

pffft, how hard would that be?

Just cracked one through the covers....

I suppose that's why roosy didn't mention wanting a forward knowing this was in the works, it's consistent with what my best mate told me though Jesse understands we have made a massive investment in him and have put alot of time and resources into developing him, roosy flew to Perth to talk to his family personally, and we have been ultra conservative with his back. Jesse loves Melbourne, roosy and the club and will be around for a long time imo

Great news, now Chip can sign and we will have a finals side for next year.

Melbourne FC ✔ @melbournefc Follow The club is saddened by the passing of music great Jim Keays – a big Demons man. The club sends its condolences to Jim’s family and friends.

You spoke to him? Not a good idea. He'll be back to Perth now, and it'll all be your fault.

No I am afraid he is just running laps and part laps on his own, in his breaks he looks wistfully at the drills taking place, I think they have his program down to the last step and he knows playing is at the end of it, if he sticks to it, he doesn't seem to have deteriorated physically at all with the inactivity

Mate for interstater your posts are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work.

The company doing the ad is Melbourne Airport Parking. Before this shizen campaign they were responsible for the 'raelene and robbo, cheap flight from tulla to dubbo' ads. The only ads I've heard on SEN that annoy me more were the 'shhh don't tell anyone, turn your radio down' ads for St Kilda Road towers...

Jesse was moving pretty well at training today, gave me the thumbs up when I asked how he's traveling.

You can reduce any passage of play down to just a sequence of executed fundamentals and dismiss it. I could argue that Adam Scott winning the 2013 Masters was just a sequence of 286 fundamental golf swings, none of which were particularly special. There are also only so many 'lucky spots' you can be in before it becomes more than 'lucky', or you are purely a 'beneficiary'. And I think a purely 'unbiased' supporter would be holding off making judgement. I've seen it many times before, and it's usually premature. Especially now with Roos as the coach. As long as a player pulls on the red and blue I will support them.

If we're going to lose him then the more the better

Jordie has a challenge to become are regular in the team particularly with Trengove coming back and Roos stated desire for more quality mids. Jordie knows that as well. Both Stanton and Jordie had about 13 possessions on each other. Jordie had more impact as I've evidenced. Who at Demonland wouldn't have taken that result before the game? Too little credit is given to players who can effectively shut down opposition players. Too many like the sizzle but not the steak. Jordie was ordinary in his games against Carlton and GCS but in his defence he did play against Ablett. Prior to that he beat Ablett, Dangerfield and Griffen in 3 or his last four games last year. Interestingly Roos has used Jones and Vince in tagging roles this year. That has surprised me. Cross is usually our first pick tagger but he's much less effective in shutting people down as Zakarakis showed. Jordie's future will depend on how Roos sees his taggers working in future. Jordie is the best "shut down" player at the club but not as offensively orientated as Cross. Cross won't be around as long as Jordie. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. One thing in Jordie's favour is his character. The coaches and the players love him because of his work ethic and footy smarts. As you say I'd be surprised is Roos doesn't just develop him and try and make him a core part of the team. But one thing I'm pretty confident in is that if Jordie doesn't succeed at MFC he'll go somewhere else and prosper.

Of course you are confused - a handball is a fundamental skill - but that whole play ( which included the Jordie handballs) as pointed out by many commentators - was audacious, high risk, under extreme pressure yet perfectly executed. Roos called it our best piece of football for the year. Yes - you are confused - when players have so many options and efficiency runs at around 70%, you don't seem to appreciate that besides the Jones participation which was just a kick to a contest ( 1 on 2 against us) our players did not just perform at 100% - they performed risky maneuvers at 100% efficiency in a pressured situation.

Not trying to make you tear up, but there's a palpable sense of self-importance there, and it makes you say silly things. Why you feel the need to tell the kid he has "30 pages of nervous posters" rattling about his health, is beyond me. I don't think the kid is ignorant, but I also don't think he needs to hear this stuff from a fanboy hanging over the fence. It's just weird.

Sucked in bumbers. U r on your own with no one else to blame or bring in to your BS.

Unlike some others,I don't have a problem with Jordie handballing. It can become predictable if you're team-mates are standing still but an offensive weapon if your team-mate is moving. The simple handball give from Watts to Kent. The handball from Jordie to Tommy Mac. Both great examples of how dangerous good handballing can be. It will be interesting to see how he goes going forward as I have been a great supporter of his and in previous threads have suggested that when the team learns to spread hard and run hard, when the teams learns better running patterns to create space, Jordie can be more than useful. Jordie will always be an extractor and a feeder. What he has been lacking in the past few years is anyone to give the ball to. Whilst I am not comparing to him Mitchell I can somewhat compare the roles. Mitchells main brief is to get the ball in tight and feed it to his faster and more polished outside runners. For the past two years we havent had any of these. Mitchell secondary role is to then provide another attacking running option and whilst he does this less than he "extracts" he does it successfully enough that he needs to be tagged. This is the string to the bow that I think Roos wants Jordie to have.

I am not quite sure which bit you don't get, perhaps it's your comprehension skills, I'll try again, "I jokingly said to Jesse there were 30 pages of nervousness", he appreciated it.......got it now I was enquiring about his health so I could post for the benefit of the many interstate and overseas posters/readers on here who appreciate that sort of thing, not for you or the other ne'erdowells whose sole purpose is not to add anything to a topic apart from spitting vitriol at certain posters Would you like me to ask him how he is going again this morning? I don't hang over the fence by the way, I lean nonchalantly against one of the many fine Australian native trees surrounding the training track Again I'll repeat, don't read my posts, they seem to cause you extreme distress, perhaps there is also some latent masochism being displayed, methinks you take yourself way too seriously, I certainly don't.............you need to have a word with 'hardtack' or 'RGRS' they have successfully completed understanding Saty 101

I don't think he is a superstar by any means - but you seriously dislike him. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Not all footballers are leaders and not all footballers are culture changers but his onfield performances are not grossly overated ( this year) by most- he has been good in quite a few games - not great. You do get that he is 5 games into the playing the hardest position on the ground ? Your judgement is clouded. (4th in our team for contested marks and 2nd for contested marks inside 50, averages 8 marks a game)

Look at any AFL premiership side and they are or have been filled with men like that of Frawley. Not 18 - 19 year old recruits (sure there may have been the odd one or two, but generally speaking a premiership side is men in their prime). Look at our side and the best and most consistent players are men. Not the younger guns showing promise or glimpses of the future. If we were to lose Frawley and take whatever compensation pick we receive to the draft, we would be going backwards. If we were to lose Frawley and trade whatever compensation pick for a player that will perform week in week out (or at least 2 years away from entering the start of their prime) we would be breaking even or even possibly finish ahead - that is if a decent deal can be struck during trade week. Anyway a line must be drawn and the club must now start retaining their free agents (as a continuation from Dunn) and better yet start poaching and obtaining quality free agents.

Have to agree to disagree. I really dont want to hijack this thread. So anyway I just hope Hogan sees there is a future for him at our club and he will re sign soon.

Wrong, no one uses cheque books any more. I believe all transactions will be conducted electronically.

There is one I reckon who might and only might come close to Hogan, and he will go at 1. We won't have that pick. My opinion is that Hogan is the pick of the bunch of young forwards including Cameron and we need to keep him.

I have no direct contact with Jesse but regular contact with ex teammates, school friends and other people close to the family. Very strong word pre the changeover with CEO, footy department etc that his family were not happy and with us being viewed as a basket and uncertainty surrounding the club. The view was he would not re-sign a new contract till he saw how the club was going and if there was to be changes for the better. I have been told after last year games with Casey Freo had put the feelers out but Hogan was in now way responsive to their approaches. As a closing carrot dangler or food for thought Freo allegedly mentioned they would be prepared at that early stage to be guaranteeing a figure around the $400k per season mark. My mail is since Jackson, Roos the older players and all the other changes Jesse's parents are happy with the way the club is headed and how Jesse has been looked after. I've also heard unconfirmed his parents have moved from Perth, possibly down to the south west of the state, so what does that say about any go home factor. So my take on it is all the rumour an innuendo is just the local clubs (not heard anything about Meth Coast other than media) doing their due diligence with WA born players who's contracts are up for renewal. The fact he has not signed at this stage just fuels the media but truth be known the club and Jesse have concentrated on getting him right. I think we have turned everything in our favour where to the point everything I hear now is positive towards Melbourne and how much he is enjoying it there. By all accounts very close to Viney, Toumpas, Dawes and Mitch. I'm like the rest in that I don't know what he will do and think getting out on the track is his major focus

I would be happy if we got pick 5 if he wants to leave. I wouldn't swap him for pick 5. Does that make sense ?