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I saw this posted on BigFooty

Gosh winning feels good. Had my 3 boys all watching and barracking for the first time ever too (rather than fleeing the house in fear). My 7 year old son said he wanted to go to the MCG and watch Melbourne play because the crowd sounded awesome. Win games and the fans will come, MFC. So stoked.

Hogan's handpass to Pedersen with the game in the balance. Oh my [censored] God.

Fitzy turned Boyd into a million dollar potato in a red vest

To every who questioned Paul Roos and you know who you are. Eat a bag of D#$ks!

Went along tonight and boy was it cold! Very enjoyable though, a good win for the Scorps considering they only had nine Melbourne players out there in very greasy conditions. Crowd was a bit better then their last few games also, maybe they should try and play a few more night matches? Anyway, here's my brief overview: Max Gawn: Best game I've seen him play for awhile. Had to play mainly ruck after Jamar went off early in the second term, and I think that actually helped Gawn as he's a ruckman who can rest forward, not a forward who can ruck. Took several strong marks in conditions that didn't suit and kicked three goals when drifting forward to create an option. His tap work was pretty good also, putting the ball down Neal-Bullen, Michie & Harmes throats and he had the better of Hampson. Assuming Spencer has a similar game tomorrow to his last two, then Gawn surely has to come in. Jordie McKenzie: Always tries hard and gives it his all, but he did a couple of classic McKenzie turnovers that resulted in goals or shots on goal for Richmond. Gets plenty of the ball at VFL level, but he's not damaging at all. Said it before, but I would be suprised to see him at AFL level again. Viv Michie: Was busy and got plenty of the ball and ran all night. Another poster mentioned earlier that he doesn't hurt the opposition, and that's probably a fair comment. Would like to see him kick more goals from the midfield seeing as his defensive side isn't top notch, you at least want him to be able to score the other way. Haven't given up hope on him, as he can find the footy. Just needs to work out how to bring his game to the next level. Oscar McDonald: Did well tonight I thought Oscar, was tight defensively and he used the ball reasonably well on the few occasions he got it. Is still getting used to the pace of VFL footy, got caught late in the game trying to take an opponent on, but he defended well I thought and also took a few nice marks in the defensive 50. Won't be ready for AFL this year, but there's enought there to work with. Alex Neal-Bullen: Very good first half where he got plenty of it and he covers the ground better then I realised he does. Second half didn't get it as much, but he still linked up well and he can get the ball on the inside and the out. Think he'll play this year. Just a matter of when. Mark Jamar: Injured early in the second term. From where I was it looked like he copped a knock to the head in a tackle, got up very groggy and went off not long after that. He and Gawn were tag teaming from deep forward to ruck, and Russian was struggling to have much of an impact up to that point. Mitch White: Really like the look of this kid. Beautiful left foot, strong over head and runs well also. We could have something on our hands. Not saying he's going to be a gun, but could turn into a very handy half back/wing in the Josh Hunt type mould. He's one to keep an eye on. Got plenty of the ball and kicked what I think was his first goal in VFL footy tonight. James Harmes: This is a kid that excites me. I'd like to see him get the ball a bit more, but he's one of those players that whenever he does get it, something seems to happen. He was very good in the final term, especially early in that term after Richmonf got to within 10 points. Won the ball a few times on the outer wing and was able to get the ball inside 50 showing some real pace. Also nearly took an absolute screamer late in the game on the same wing. He probably only had it 15-20 times, but he's got something about him. Dean Terlich: Started really badly and was caught out defensively a few times, but from about half way through the third term, I thought he lifted. Took a few important intercept marks and didn't have any clangers that I remember from that point onwards which is probably part of the reason why the Scorps were able to run away with it as comfortably as they did. So yes, all things considereed, it was a very good win by Casey and a good night for footy out in Casey and good to see a few more people at the ground. Also good to see so many people from the club there. McCartney, Rawlings, Mahoney & Tom McDonald just to name a few that weren't there as part of the Casey coaching panel, more so just to observe. Anyway hope tonight is a sign of things to come tomorrow.

Brayshaw 11 disposals in the last qtr Vandenberg 29 disposals and a staggering 11 tackles Riley 10 disposals in the last qtr Hogan 21 disposals and 3 goals Toumpas 20 disposals 6 tackles and 2 goals. The future looks pretty dam good.

Tom McDonald must have reveled in the opportunity to be just a boring defender, for once, rather than the gatekeeper between the MFC and complete oblivion.

Please... The kid has coped criticism most of his career and probably rightly so, but today he deserves a pat on the back.. Was probably his best game for the club. Give the kid credit where it's due

This game gives some perspective. We are miles away from challenging the top 3, but we are handing ourselves pretty well with the rest of the pack.

So on Friday afternoon when I was still working my Bulldogs supporting boss says to me, as he was leaving, "Sorry about the game on Sunday" What a [censored], can't wait to drape my scarf over his chair ready for when he walks in. Sucker.

I think Leigh Matthews has dementia.

All credit to the coaches. After 3 heavy matches and a humiliating loss last week, to get the team up for this, believing in themselves, and staying the course under a couple of serious Dogs' challenges ... massive. Also, a special mention goes out to the MFC players who are regularly pilloried on this site by all and sundry ... well done. Fitzpatrick, Spencer, Toumpas ... nice work gents.

Cam "the people's second forward" Pedersen. Chris Dawes needs to work his way back into this team.

Bail & Jones did their jobs. If you'd seen much of Footscray this year you'd know that so much of the Dog's attack this season has been generated by the run & distribution off half back by Murphy, Johanniesen & Wood. Our two "spuds" significantly reduced their impact. Good planning from Roos.

Believe it or not, there wasn't a bad article in the Herald Sun. Touches on our use of leading teams, and the belief our young brigade-- Viney, Hogan etc. have that we are onto something as a club, and they want to stick around to be a part of it. Hogan touches on saying no to luring advances from Freo too. I'll post it below for those with no HS paid website access, but it shows that YES we may still be shite, but our recent few years of drafting/trading has brought a great nucleus for our club to build around (the picture of them standing there, says it all): http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-to-use-lessons-of-recent-losses-against-western-bulldogs-at-the-mcg/story-fnp04d70-1227366592985 JESSE Hogan had to fight all his natural urges as he punched Paul Roos’ digits into his mobile phone. Like teammate Jack Watts, the hulking Melbourne spearhead reluctantly volunteered to miss last week’s game. Not because Hogan wasn’t feeling confident, like Watts, but because the goalkicker was still too sore from the loss to Sydney the week before. In the past, the Hogan, 20, admits he just would have just played against Hawthorn, at the risk of making his niggles worse. But in the big picture of Melbourne’s rebuild, where every inch of improvement is considered critical, Hogan had to show greater maturity. “I really learnt from last year having a stress-related injury, that you are not going to play 22 games of AFL footy, when you are the size and carry the weight that I am,” Hogan said. “So I called ‘Roosy’ and he was super supportive of my decisions and understanding, but I have come along way with that because usually I would just want to play. “And I would have loved to be out there, absolutely I would, it (105-point loss) was hard to watch. “But like I said, I had to put my club first rather than be selfish and just put myself out there when I couldn’t give 100 per cent.” Hogan is back in against the Western Bulldogs, desperate to help the club snap a run of three-straight losses to the competition’s heavyweights, Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn, that has put the club’s development in the past year-and-a-bit back under the football spotlight. On Tuesday, the club headed off-site to Brighton Grammar, where the players and coaching group sought answers from each other in a series of routine Leading Teams sessions. The focus was not on centre bounce stoppage positioning, or kicking angles, but rather attitude and energy. They drilled into each other’s mindsets. While the Demons firmly believe they have come a long way under Roos, gun key defender Tom McDonald, 22, says the poor form over the past month has tested the players’ confidence and recent growth. “It (heavy losses) takes it very close to tearing it (players’ belief) apart, if there are not certain individuals who can stand up and pull it (their performance) back together. It can fall apart very quickly,” McDonald said. “In my third year (in 2013), we won two games and midway through that year we had lost our way and there was no coming back, but we are not at that point, yet. “We have had three bad weeks and if we can just get enough guys to buy-in, and really have a crack this weekend, it can turn around just as quickly as it has gone the other way for us.” Hard-nut onballer Jack Viney, 21, added: “100 per cent we don’t accept the performances we have dished up over the last three weeks, but I know improved performances are just around the corner.” Slick utility Christian Salem, 19, said: “Our two wins this year have been a real positive in that it shows when we play our brand of footy we can match it with anyone. The last three weeks have been pretty tough … as a whole club we have to make a stand.” McDonald said that means, first and foremost, playing with intensity today. “This week is going to be about attitude on the training track and bringing the energy and excitement,” McDonald said. “I think we have had the fun sucked out over the last few weeks. If we bring the energy and the excitement, then all of sudden the intensity and the attitude at the contest will be there on the weekend.” What the Demons have in their favour as they face another critical juncture, perhaps as opposed to recent years, is a stable coaching group, a more balanced list profile and seven of their most important and talented young players recommitting to the cause in the past year. While much of the focus on was on James Frawley’s free agency departure last year, it was more important that Hogan, McDonald, Viney, Salem, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Angus Brayshaw, and today, Christian Petracca signed on for the long-term. Hogan says his future was “never in doubt”, despite a lucrative advance from Fremantle last year to become the shiny new spearhead of a hometown club in premiership mode. Instead, Hogan agreed to a new two-year extension, saying he would not back away from the opportunity to change the course of a club which has been stuck in the lower reaches of the ladder since 2007. During wins against Richmond, where Hogan climbed above Tiger Alex Rance to kick the sealer from the boundary line, and Gold Coast, the Demons’ power forward saw glimpses of what the future may hold at Melbourne, if they work hard enough and stay together. “At the start of the year, when we won games, (the players knew) how big a deal it is for us and how exciting it was,” Hogan said, in a rare interview. “We are not accepting of losses. We want to win (games) back-to-back-to-back and be a strong side. “With the list and resources we have around us, we can develop into a team that’s a juggernaut. “If we can (do it) from where we are now, then, you can look back at this and say ‘look at that’. We can be one of those (success) stories that everyone wants to be.” Viney has similar visions for the young midfield group. “You think back to (a young) Collingwood, they had ‘Pendles’ (Scott Pendelbury),’ Swanny’ (Dane Swan), (Dayne) Beams. Everyone knows that midfield,” Viney said. “That is something I want to get to and when you think about Brayshaw, Petracca, Salem, (Dean) Kent, (Aaron) vandenBerg these guys who are coming through, we are trying to create something special. “I’m going to be doing everything in my power to get this club to where it deserves to be, that’s winning a flag, pretty much.” Of course, that all starts with being consistently competitive from today, but Hogan and Viney, unashamedly, are believers. For No. 3 draft pick Brayshaw, the hair still stands up on the back his neck when he runs up the MCG race, admitting he was surprised “how positive” the atmosphere was at Melbourne when he arrived last November. “Having watched football you know the performances Melbourne has been putting up and the big beltings were common, too common,” he said. “And I expected that to be reflected in the environment when I arrived, but it was actually the opposite. “When you are walking up the race at the home games, we can hear the big bells (from the AC/DC song Hells Bells) ringing in the background and the crowd starts building and the whole thing is really special. “’Roosy’ is great at the pre-game pump-ups, the way he starts slow and builds and builds and builds and you just want to get out there.” Coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin said there would be “blips on the radar” in their journey to build a gamestyle “that hopefully resembles a team that is going to be involved in finals in the not too distant future”. He said that started with “bringing great effort and intensity around the ball” today against the Dogs. “It was something early in the season that we were doing, and it was something that people were attracted to,” Goodwin said. “It really is about getting back to that. It is the first thing we must get right, getting the ball and making the tackle and doing the things that helps the team at the contest.”

Before the season, I had round 8 pencilled in as our first win of the season. Before the game today though, I couldn't see us winning due to the injury list. I haven't been wallowing over the previous three games. Those teams are clearly in a different weight division, and while I'd prefer not to have our trousers dropped in any game, I'm more concerned with how we measure up to the rest of the comp, and cobbling together as many wins as we can. This was a superb win today. Career best games for spencer, Fitzwilliam, Toumpas and van demon. Meaningful contributions from almost everyone. I was happy for Grimes too - his best game for a while. Hopefully we'll get a couple of players back next week, get on top early and go from there. We seemed to use a bit of third man up at ball ups as the game wore on, often ineffectively. Something to work on.

How unbelievably good is that Hogan quote.

I got bored

This thread wasn't on the front page and I thought that was disrespectful to Jesse Hogan. I love how he has 21 touches, 9 marks and 3 goals, which may well be as good a game as a key forward has had for us in a decade (and probably the most complete forward performance in the AFL this round), yet supporters are neither shocked nor surprised. I think we supporters may be getting 'superlative fatigue' with Jesse. He's a 20 year old playing his 7th game. He's just just phenomenal.

Funnily enough I thought his first half was his better half. Not every player is a crash and bash like N.Jones or Vandenberg.. You need some outside players and when there time to go they go just like Toump did on the half forward line at the city end when he went back and created that spoil. Toughness doesn't always have to be measured in physicality... I saw Toumpas will himself from the members wing to the far pocket when he got on the end of that Watts pass for a goal, that's toughness just in a different sense. His never gonna be a physical player but if plays games like he did today than I think MOST supporters would be more than happy

Nick Maxwell "I think the Demons fans have a new cult hero, when Fitzgerald took a mark they were chanting Fitzy, Fitzy"

Great to see one of my boys on TV celebrating the win. Two work for the club and I'm proud beyond belief of both. They'll kill me for this post if they see it, but good show guys.

Great Win. Great Day I took my son, his girlfriend for her 1st ever game, and my mum for her 3rd ever game. 3 rows back from the fence. What a great afternoon. The women's match was fantastic to see, great skills, and we won!. Something Melbourne has handled really well. The whole lead up to the game for the 'newbees' blew them away. ... And the game they got right into. Mind you they did resort early to the cry of the innocent...'just KICK IT!' But they loved it. We really have the makings of a great team and I really think we will see the rebirth of a great club. It was a great afternoon. And my MUM (she's 80) loves Howe, everyone loves HOGES.... and my favourite today.... Fitzy.... WOW! He has got something I never knew he had. He CAN play at this level. Go Dees

Is Toumpas the only player that's not allowed to make mistakes?

Are you related to Picket Fence? Ran extremely hard, laid six tackles and backed into a pack, Made two blunders but Nathan Jones made an even worse one, showed his class with the ball by foot. In the words of Christian Petracca.. ''Be Quite''

Oh, one more thing and I'm done for tonight.....smiling too much. Anyone who continues to opine that JW should play for Casey, watch the replay.....time, space, composure, decision making. As Roos said, the highest footy IQ going around.

Toumpas disappointed me twice today. The ridiculous panicked handball in the square in the third that cost us...enough said. And going nack with the flight on the wing in the first, he stuck his hand up and did nothing when he should have taken the mark. BUT immediately after he ran about 150 hard metres to end up with a mark and shot on goal. All was forgiven. i hope he kicks on I really do..i want to like him so much.

Riley was just what we needed the last quarter. Needed to smash bodies and he did. Hard at it, tackled like a man possessed and all but one disposal was a sharp handball (and spot on). Important role and great sub strategy!

There is no god. Just Vandenberg.

According to Leight Matthews, Hogan has no game when the ball hits the deck. What a win. You know when Jake Spencer is bursting through the centre and hitting blokes on the [censored] it's gunna be our day.

Stuie and all you other naysayers who gave it to me pre-game I await your humble apologies.

Great effort to pull away in the last. Hope The Rev enjoyed it

Don't like to 'boo' other posters but which game were you watching?

Yu bloody beauty. Is anyone gonna give Spencer any credit today? Won about 5 clearances by himself in a row in the 1st or 2nd quarter. He's still rough, but he's come on leaps and bounds. What a sweet feeling that win was. Bloody Vanders and Gus. What ripper games. And Pedo was almost unbeatable one on one. Edit. Fitzy's game was magnificent. And Toumpas made a few silly errors, but great to see him getting involved.

When the Doggies kicked that first goal in the last quarter, I "thought oh, please, not again". The way we responded, via some serious grunt work and some 2 way running which I thought was such a weakness, was absolutely fantastic. This game provesto me we are miles behind the top 4, but we can match it with all the others.

By the way...I'm still loving Crossy. He's been very consistent this year. Those pushing his demise are a way off the mark at the moment. There might be another year in him yet.

The turnover in the goalsquare I'm pretty sure was the result of whoever it was running past calling for the ball when they were wearing a doggie player as a shawl. Look at the replay. Toump was getting set to go the other way then whips his head around at the call and then I'm pretty sure tried to stop the handpass halfway through when he saw what he was passing to. That goal belongs to the idiot calling for the ball, not the idiot who passed it to him. I only saw the second half, but Grimes looked pretty damn good today. He nailed a lot of passes, some quite difficult, he defended well and he put his body in. His stats back that up. 22 disposals, 1 clanger, 8 marks, 6 r50s. Grimes was pretty bloody good today. I'm really looking forward to downloading this game and watching the whole thing tomorrow. It looked like it was just a whole team effort. The inclusions all worked out well, a few fringe players showed that they really can play and certain opponents were made to look pretty average. Great game.

Bluey you sound over the bloody moon. Love your enthusiasm.

Who else think we can beat port and Collingwood and be 5 for 5 by round 10?

Vanders was clear BOG, the way he goes about it is so un-melbourne-like, which is why it is so glorious

Brayshaw's last quarter is the sort of performance that you get from a star. Immense. Hogan. No words necessary. I actually thought it was the lesser lights like Fitzy and Grimes and Spencer and Pedo that helped us win Vanders is a gem. That's more tackles than some of our players have had their entire career.

hey Bulldogs - thanks for Brendan McCartney you dumb pricks

Aaron Van Damme best on ground. The amount of 50-50 contested footy he turned to our advantage was ridiculous.

[censored] yeah mother [censored], so many cocky bulldogs supporters thought they had this one in the bag. [censored] you, we're back! Wooooooooooooooo yeh!

Is it a coincidence that two of our three wins didn't have Dawes playing? Starting to think not.

I think Lamumba will have to improve to hold his spot when Salem is over his injury. His form is very ordinary.

Don't have high expectations.....the game's gone past him.... On another note, Jimmy T's running back with the flight of the ball in the 2nd quarter, I think? Gutsy. Well done, young fella.

lThat was deadset one of the most ignorant comments I've heard on air, and not one co-commentator countered it.

Best win in a long time half of our best 22 were out and we flogged them Bloody hell that was awesome :) :roos: