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Met Brendan at the races yesterday and spoke to him about the Dees. I think he will prove to be one of our best recruits behind PJ and Roos. He is a nice guy, who was quite prepared to give of his time, about 15 minutes on this occasion, to a Melbourne fan. It started with my welcoming him to the club and he then asked about my involvement. We discussed his role at the MFC and where he sees the club. He said that if we stay the course and don't get sidetracked we hopefully will be a good side in the next couple of years. He is enthusiastic about our younger players and is looking forward to working with them and the other Coaches. From the Freo game he thought Newton and Vandenberg showed they are ready to play for us. I asked him about the rumour that his leaving was tied to Griffen and he assured me that is not true. Griffen received a great offer from GWS and with his age and fitness level he had to accept. IMO the Dog's President has done us a real favour by changing Coaches. I think Gordon panicked and wasn't prepared to stay the course. We now have Brendan and that is our good fortune. I can assure you he is a modest man and highly knowledgable about footy. Many say that he is the best development coach in the AFL. Many on here would say his position was the most important to fill. I think we have done it with the best man available. Good luck Brendan and Go Dees.

Guys, as being a local Ballarat Dees supporter I'm just giving you the heads up if you are attending the NAB Cup game v Doggies Saturday 4.10pm start in Ballarat. If travel by train check the VLine site for times etc then a short Taxi ride from the station. By car, turn off the freeway at North Ballarat and the ground is 5 mins away. Parking? They will try to slug you $5 to park next door at the Showgrounds...cheaper to turn East at the Subway/Servo and park down a side street then it's a short walk to the ground. Show this years membership card to get in for free. Last years game here Blues v North had 7850 crowd and I would think max would be mabye 9000? You will be standing! The small grandstand will be full of players families and officials etc. If you can't stand all day you would have to take a chair and get there EARLY! If disabled I'd assume contact the AFL as would be normal practice. The only tiered viewing is the Northern end near the scoreboard behind the goals. If watching from the east (highway side) expect the setting sun to be in your eyes. The ground will have a great atmosphere and the surface is exceptional, if the weather is nice pop into town early have some lunch and make your way to the match. Alternatively arrange to have a catch up for a bbq with friends at Lake Wendouree then off to the game pumped up for a Dees win! Enjoy the day! EDIT BY DEMONLAND: The Game will be LIVE on http://melbournefc.com.au

You really need to get your priorities sorted. This is our grand final.

I've always maintained that if found guilty, the very best the Essendon players could possibly hope for is an 18 month suspension backdated to the date of the infraction notices. This would be consistent with the Ahmed Saad penalty which sounds just about right to me given the level of co-operation Saad gave when he was charged. A six month reduced penalty which seems to have been discussed extensively in the media would surely be a joke. As for the recent meeting between Gillon McLaughlin and the delegation of Essendon players while the AFL Tribunal was still in the deliberation phase, it was totally inappropriate and another example of the AFL treating the competition with utter contempt.

I wouldn't shed a single tear if that club folded.

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere but while the Melbourne squad was over in Perth to take on Fremantle, ten Demons trained with Casey at its main training session. The players all got involved either training or by assisting with drills with the coaching staff. They were Angus Brayshaw, James Harmes, Oscar MacDonald, Max King, Jack Watts, Aiden Riley, Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Spencer, Dean Terlich and Mitch White. And another good article from Paul Amy: Former Gold Coast Suns player Jack Hutchins has signed with the Casey Scorpions

To be fair, he offered his opinion when asked for it by Redleg. I don't see these comments as concerning himself with club politics.

A public lynching? Because the majority see it in a way that you refuse to? Righto.

I'm a moderator so I'm obliged to get on there from time to time to make sure the lads are behaving. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with the thread at all because, deep down I believe Tom is a virtuous soul who has been much misunderstood by the Demon faithful. As you can see from his form since he left Melbourne, he did us an enormous favour when he jumped ship. I also think his dad needs a good meal.

I never understood the criticism for that part of his game either. Have seen him run with the fight of the ball a few times at AFL level and go when its his turn. Hes been a crunched doing it and kept pushing on. I guess people just see what they want to see, or go with what others are incorrectly saying.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/blues-receive-fivefigure-cash-advance-from-afl-20150306-13xin1.html The Visy sponsorship has now wound down with the passing of Dick Pratt so the Blues are now on the end of AFL largesse because they can't manage their books. When will we hear about the club 'relying on handouts', 'unable to sustain itself' and 'should be merged with North Melbourne'?

Yes, but what does it mean?After all, this is a forum and people are welcome to post as much or as little as they like about any subject they like as long as they don't get caught out offending against the code of conduct. Therefore, the volume of posting can only mean that the poster retains nothing more sinister than a strong interest on a particular subject - surely? My good friend Redleg, who I otherwise regard as completely sane and level headed, has posted 2,703 times on the No T$ No B$ Thread. What does that make him if not an avid believer in everything in the world other than Tom Scully and bullsh1t?

Watched the reply and thought id comment on these two. Newton: Very impressive! His kicking and inside work is something im looking forward to this year and he is already in our best 22. He would have easily had 20 plus possession against freo if he played a full game. Said before i wouldn't be surprised if he had a Dom Tyson/Anthony Miles like year where he takes the competition by storm. Adding him to an already growing midfield of Jones Tyson Viney Vince Brayshaw Toumpas Salem will only make us better. Michie: Was our leading tackler for our team with 7 so just shows he does alot of grunt work that some didn't notice including me so its good to see he is improving his defensive efforts as that was one weakness in his game. I would much rather him playing in the side then a Grimes Jones or Mckenzie.. still think he has alot to offer and i will continue to watch with great interest over the NAB challangen to see how he goes.

It may sound like sour grapes, but it's not... I can't wait for Frawley's poor skills and desicion making to be exposed in a near flawless team. I think he'll stand out for all the wrong reasons. Couldn't be happier with pick 3!

I will be watching this one again closely, as when I watched the game the first time (and when they replayed the free kick - or maybe I did) it looked like one of the clumsiest free kick you would see. Matt was standing over the Freo player and jumped straight into his back by my recollection. Will watch it again as I can't for the life of me recall Jones staying to the side

Sticking with the Roos to Goodwin handover would be a start. Making sure we keep good assistant coaches and support staff. Focus on the core of young players coming together. Don't make mega trades for some short term benefit that wont deliver long term. Don't panic in to landing some saviour free agent if it's not the right player at the right price. Maybe don't try to move on the current CEO in the hope of landing another well credentialed CEO.

Best thing the Bulldogs have done in years, other than delisting Crossy.

Thank you WJ. So as not to ignore other threads, let me say on here, I think we will have the Tribunal decision in the next fortnight. Spoke to one of the the Tribunal members, who assured me they were working very hard to get the correct decision given, ASAP. The amount of material they have to go through is massive.

He's not just a one trick pony. He makes an excellent beer snake as well.

Toumpas was alright against Freo. He didn't win as much ball as he should've, but it wasn't from lack of trying. He was constantly banging into the packs and laying tackles. As silly as it sounds, I think his contested work is actually decent and he's very underrated in this regard. Anyone who says he doesn't go when it's his turn is either blind or a liar. His uncontested work is where he needs to improve, which is odd as it was supposed to be his strength. Before he was drafted he was a running skilful goal kicking machine, and was the best performed midfielder at the level. At AFL level he seems to run to the wrong places to link up and just doesn't get enough of the ball due to this. If he can learn our systems better and know where to run he'll become dangerous as we know his skills are usually very good. For what it's worth, he was better than Salem yet again the other day, yet gets crucified on here as usual.

I'll do my part and stop eating mars bars.

Credibility zero!!I have followed your advice in these matters before Biffen and have suffered both emotional and financial hardship as a result. Your credibility would still be ahead of Biffen's, even if you were a blind teetotaler who had lived all your life in Romania and never visited Ballarat! I'll redefine the make up so it is clearly red and blue.

Good luck, MD...congrats to you and your bride. Have a fantastic day!!

Thats how I saw it as well. Dumb frustrating football

The pressures on the AFL that are discussed in this article suggest that the AFL cannot afford to get things wrong about drugs. A long drawn out international battle may be a disaster. Maybe the wet tram ticket will at least be dried out first. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/a-giant-of-the-game-wayne-carey-passes-judgment-on-the-afls-big-problem-20150307-13wykm.html

I don't think we should get upset about this at all. It merely means when the sentences are finally handed out by CAS that they will be all the more severe, with no backdating whatsoever. We should be pleased about that!

Dude, you're always ready to take a shot at the guy for making mistakes. How about giving him a little credit when he deserves it? On a night when most of the team went with the "hit and hope" method of passing, he's nailed a pinpoint kick over the top of the defenders and on to Garlett's chest. We all want him to work on his disposal, but when he gets it right you want to call it luck?

Hopefully this will come to a final resolution, but I think we all know the suspension that essendon gets will be greatly watered down to keep the ALF on side. this crap of suspending a team for 6 months back dated is rubbish, how do you suspend players for games they have already played and the off season is beyond my limited brain to comprehend where is the punishment. years of farce and foolishness. if the players are guilty then how can the coach team doctor etc still able to keep their jobs.

This is where I get frustrated. As a result of our discussion I went and looked at a replay of the first three quarters to see if in fact I'd got it completely wrong. I tried to focus, as far as I could, on who was playing on who and how they went. It's very hard on TV but you can pick up some things. In the first Grimes seemed to play on Mayne from what I could see. Of course with rotations and the such this isn't a "24/7" thing but that's what I saw. Mayne was pretty much kickless in the first quarter as was Grimes. In the second I watch specifically for Walters and Grimes. Walters had two meaningful possessions in that quarter. One was when we turned the ball over in the centre when Pedersen dropped a regulation chest mark and Hill gathered the ball and speared a pass to Walters who goaled. The second was when Hill again had the ball in the centre well clear and kicked to Walters who was corralled by Grimes but was good enough to gather the bouncing ball and get a really good pass away to Pavlich. It was really good play by Walters and I'd imagine Roos would suggest Grimes did the right thing in staying goal side of Walters and not letting the ball go over the back with Walters running into space and goal. Stinga really good forwards to this sort of thing. Rioli, Wingard, Gray, Ballantyne and Gartlett amongst others do it for a living. They do it on all opponents from time to time because they are exceptional footballers. I get Grimes is the new DL whipping boy and I'm not arguing that he's flying and isn't under pressure for his spot. My belief is that people have predetermined ideas on players and when they watch a game they let these ideas frame how they see their performance. Grimes did nothing wrong in either of those pieces of play. Pedersen did and I'd imagine Cross did because again from what I could see he was tagging Hill. And in the second piece of play nobody mentioned that Pav's opponent didn't cover him and was instrumental to us losing the game. Another classic example is McKenzie's game. He basically didn't make a mistake. He kept his opponent goalless and didn't make a disposal mistake. He had one free kick awarded against him when someone handballed to his feet and he was tackled in gathering the ball and pinged. But if you read the comments after the game day thread you'd think he'd committed murder. He's not a creative player and never will be. We all know this and Roos knows it. Roos wants McKenzie to play his role which he did to perfection but he got no credit from the DL critics. Again I'm not arguing McKenzie is a first 22 player, I don't think he is but he does deserve credit for playing well. What we got was all the McKenzie haters using the game to say he's no good. That isn't what happened on the day. With favourites and villains which we all have it's very hard to see their games in an unbiased way. Mo64 dislikes players and focuses on their mistakes to prove his point. He never mentions or perhaps sees the good things they do. I reckon Dunn is a very overrated player and I thought he was terrible but I didn't say so and when I watched the game again he did basically what Grimes and McKenzie did. He stopped his opponent and did little else. The only comfort we all have is it matters diddly squat what we think and those with much more knowledge than us will make the decisions. We'll see what happens with Grimes. If he's as bad as you say there is no way Roos will pick him. Anyway whilst you think I ignore the evidence in front of me I'd suggest you are guilty of exactly that. But it doesn't actually matter a damn.

Grimes is a leader at the club for a reason. He is actually a leader. I am always absolutely impressed whenever he speaks, especially for someone so young. A quality individual. And, prior to the Neeld period, a really good player too - something here several people seem to forget/overlook. He's in our best 22.

Dressed like that??

Why Vandenberg? Still young and potentially could get about 6 to 8 years service out of him if he continues to develop well.

Don't know about the incident but I hope GC go in against us with their best side. I think we need to get over the idea of it being better for us if some opposition guns are out, time for us to stand up and play footy and match it with all other clubs.

Good info, thanks Clucka. Could you recommend a couple of pubs for a counter dinner post match?

Tears of laughter in my case. Essendon as well. Would help the draw!

I stand up every week. Normally behind the goals punt road end. M1 or M2 depending where the posts are. We've got a tight regular group of about 7 that drink [censored] and carry on. More than welcome to join. Late 20's, early 30's.

Great work Clucka thanks.

Essendon neither complied nor co-operated, and that must irritate ASADA/WADA. Not just the infractions, but the unrepentant and aggrievedly names-calling attitude of "leave us alone, ok?" What would happen I wonder if ASADA/WADA got to the point of recognising that a governing body such as the AFL has an increasingly similar attitude? It does appear that the laws about drugs in sport mainly target rogue individuals, not endemic abuse on the scale of Essendon's. Where a whole sport is under management that is not particularly affronted by drug cheating, and wishes to be left alone for business as usual, what must ASADA/WADA do? What sanctions exist - and what power to impose them? I'm talking about law-breaking on the scale of Gandhi's civil disobedience or Islamic State's disregard for the norms of a civilised social contract. Shameless and self-righteous and widespread. Police have to walk away... And, in such a scenario of top-down tolerance of drug-cheating, the governing body tut-tutting publicly but colluding privately, running the place with a mix of self-licensing multi-national-style non-accountability and pie-night indulgence of misbehaviour, what would "clean" clubs in that sport have to do? What would sports-lovers opposed to drug-cheating do? First, the target has been the players, when actually the real problem was the club. But what if the underlying problem is not even the club, but the League?

I have no doubt the AFL would like to negotiate a soft outcome to "protect" the competition. Ultimately though it will be taken out of there hands, where there will be no wet tram tickets on offer. For once, the AFL will be irrelevant here.

GC had a lot of players resting for that game. I wouldn't read too much into it. On the bright side, as you say Lynch shouldn't be playing which will help us slow their scoring. We'll have to choke the game to stop them from killing us with midfield goals.

It's an expression that has been picked up from American football, to the best of my knowledge. From the AFL Positions WIki page: "A player who is really good at setting up attacks from defence, due to their quality ball skills and decision-making abilities, may be referred to as a Quarterback (this slang term is a reference to American Football)." Call me a traditionalist, but I hate, no, despise the adopting of these terms which all seem to be taking away from the unique nature of our game.

That was the last time we lifted the Premiership cup. 50 plus years later, we wait for another. One could blame being complacent or perhaps after the success of the 50's, it was just expected to keep rolling along. You could point the finger at a lot of things that are to blame for a lack of success since 1964. Many great players have been and gone since then. 1987 - 88 might have been seen as our best chance to add another cup. But the planets didn't align. There is still a lot to be proud of, many players that played in those premierships were out and out champions. Names we have heard mentioned and praised but we never had the privilege of seeing them play in the red and blue. One thing that stands out for me, apart from having the talent to begin with, the 2 most successful coaches, demanded discipline and teamwork, hard work and ruthfullness, one only has to reflect back to the winning margins in some of those wins, we just didn't win, we made a statement. It is ok to reflect back, and admire, and read our past victories, but it's well overdue we stood up as a club and demand nothing less than being the most respected and feared club / team in the AFL. We all follow the Melbourne footy club now for various reasons,12 flags is more than most clubs, we have all had our heroes along the way. 12 Premierships is a good start to love this club, and there are many many more reasons why we do. I hope those that read how we won those 12 Premierships got an small insight in how mighty this proud club achieved their success. For me, some absolute legends have played for the red and blue, we are doing them all a disservice if we don't demand to be the best.

Yeah, Nah, Maybe. Ross may help a mate out, but only if it coincides with what his club want to do anyway. Could you imagine what they'd do to him if Pav got injured in a match he wasn't scheduled to play in? Freo have the most players over 29 on their list. The WA clubs have always wanted to reduce the amount of travel their players have to do as it has a substantial affect on their bodies - particularly their recovery. Some claim that it actually shortens players careers. Their next match is on the road against Sydney. Pav and McPharlin won't be making that trip if my theory is correct. I'm not sure what the current thinking is, but I would think most clubs would want all their best 22 to have at least one and preferably two matches leading into rd 1.

Jamar can't ruck by himself, Gawn or Pedo have to be included.

BB (or should I say Deefan), I don't think there was any modification to the gameplay per se, just the structure up forward - if that makes sense. I think Roos wanted to see a competitive team, but I'm sure given the nature of these types of games that a three goal loss was neither here nor there (but a ten goal blow out might have been a real concern for both supporters and playing group). There was a quick comment at the start of the game that Melbourne and Freo had both started with a four tall forward line. My impression was that both Roos and Lyon had some conversations about this prior to the game. I think they were both looking at the experimental aspect of the NAB challenge to try to trial some players and develop some added flexibility. Dermott then spoke about Frost being identified as a swingman capable of playing forward and back. Many may only see him as a key back, but his height, athleticism and his speed (I was very impressed at his closing speed when playing in defence) mean that if he can develop his kicking he's the ideal player for both roles (and maybe Oscar Mac too) whereas I think both Col and Tommy Mac have too many limitations to play them in the forward line. I think come the season proper we will see far more of a Hawthorn style conventional forward line with two key talls and a range of smaller players capable of playing through the midfield as well ( Like others I think Vandenberg may well be a seriously good find as a smallish tall/tallish mid if he can build on his debut). Like many I was disappointed by Gawn's game, but having said that I can't believe so many are quick to write him off. At the same age Mark Jamar played 22 games in the 2006 season and couldn't crack a single B&F vote (he wasn't called donuts for nothing). Now I'm not comparing apples and oranges here, I don't think Max will be as good in the ruck (which is the only string to the Russian's bow IMO and contrary to popular belief he is rarely beaten in the ruck contest), but he can still get better. He is actually nearly four inches taller after all. Ruck men take time to develop and I'm bemused that so many supporters now would have Stefan Martin back in a heartbeat when he was a bee's [censored] away from not getting another contract at the Lions. I think Max has far more potential than Stefan (so long as his knees hold out). Anyway I think there was enough to be bullish about from that showing, but only time will tell whether my expectations have been built beyond the ability of the team to perform (which isn't really all that high anyway. 8-10 wins).

You're passionate but you're becoming a bore Dazzle. You with every opportunity to criticize Saty and C&B with his "golden ticket" just devalue everything you both say. And for what it's worth I reckon playing Frost forward went a long way to costing us the game. It meant Garland played on Taberner where he was clearly outsized. With Frost available on the backline I doubt that would have happened. Saty might have been wrong but he was probably also right. We all get you don't like him, just move on.

I had the same good experience with our team. An aside on CFC membership and their difficulty getting the numbers. There were some very strong rumours 2-3 years ago that Visy enlisted thousands of its employees as 3-game members and paid the membership fee for them. It seemed to be about getting their numbers to around 50,000 because at that level they could argue to the AFL that Etihad was too small for them and they had to have more home games at the MCG. They now have the extra MCG home games (I might add, against the powerhouse clubs so they get massive gate revenue) so those Visy 'supported' members have dropped off and won't be back. At the same time we get crappy time slots against interstate clubs for our home games!! Crap gate revenue! Go figure! Now they have asked the AFL for a 'small' advance to cover membership shortfalls!!! Sure helps to have one of your own as the head of the AFL Commission. Competition will never be equal.

Very harsh on Cross, he a very good consistent footballer.

KISS. FCS. That whole dress up thing, and the tongue waggling, strewth. It's s circus outfit at its height. Now they look like a KISS version of Fat Elvis impersonators. Just bury them.

Grimes is employed as a footballer, something he struggles at. All we have heard lately is his game has been affected due to the pressures of being made captain. Throughout the preseason training report all we heard was how his kicking has improved significantly yet come the intra club practice match he has resorted back to shanking the ball. He might be a leader but if you can't do what you're asking other people to do your message will soon wear thin. He might be a great bloke and a great speaker if that's the case maybe the public speaking circuit might be better suited for him. If he is in our best 22 we are in trouble. JETTA FROST DUNN SALEM TMAC H There's a back six that works for me. He can't play midfield and for the people naming him on the bench........what a copout. We finished 17th and will continue to lie at the bottom of the ladder if we continue to carry people who don't have the skill level required to play at the top level. I'm a good bloke and can speak well, doesn't mean that I can play footy. Roos was employed to make the tough decisions and that's what I believe is doing, hence the relinquishing of the captaincy, that was just the beginning.