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I'm not opposed to going after big names but have absolutely zero interest in Danger. I reckon despite all that he has said that he will leave for money, not team success, etc. He is (in my eyes) a selfish player who loves the spotlight, I don't think he plays for the team or shows much leadership. Individually he is brilliant but I'd rather a Luke Parker type for much less money. Since Brayshaw has come along and with Petracca coming in next year I have less concerns with getting a star in. I think we should try build a Sydney-like midfield, not one with a player on 1 mil a year. We will need to be giving Hogan a mil a year too when his contract runs out.

Fella, if you think we are close minded dealing with you then you should stick around and have a look at how we treat each other. You are being treated quite well.

yawn

Our record hasn't been good full stop

Throw in JESse and angUS in to the mix and you have Jesus Hoganshaw. In years to come, it will be the footballing equivalent of caught Marsh, bowled Lillee; kicked Brayshaw, marked Hogan.

Irrespective of who is right or wrong I like your fight Lance. You might have taken on the whole schoolyard but you fight well.

98% time on ground this week - more than anyone else on either team. Normally it's the domain of KPP players to spend that amount of time on the ground, not mids or flankers. Starting to think the guy might actually be superhuman. He's being asked to shoulder a very heavy workload and is doing a damn fine job of it.

During the trade period last year, I was DYING to trade picks 2 and 3 to Adelaide for Dangerfield.. Now, as good as Danger is, seeing Brayshaw doing what he has done in his first year and Petracca still on the wings, I am glad we held onto those picks and went into the draft.

Correct. Don't forget he was also played forward by Neeld for most of his last season, was looked completely uncomfortable being out of position. Whilst I enjoyed beating him, I hold no negative feelings towards him; he always had a crack in the red and blue.

To be honest, Brayshaw excites me more than Dangerfield.

good time to re-read this one: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/how-melbourne-built-jesse-hogan-20150427-1mukbm.html In particular this part: "Hogan kept learning during his time out. He sat in on the forwards' meetings, went to watch games with one of the coaches, wrote up reports on other teams' defensive set-ups and studied the players he expected to one day play on. Misson watched him deal with a string of setbacks, developing some resilience and a clearer understanding of how his body worked. He saw him start to realise that all the annoying little exercises the physios were telling him to do three times every day really were helping him. And importantly, the conditioning coaches got to know him better too, learning how hard he could be pushed, at what point he would break down, how they could best challenge him. They're doing the same thing now with Christian Petracca, a few months into his return from a knee reconstruction." Clearly Trengove will be getting some of these 'when life you gives you lemons' lessons right now. I don't understand this 'he's finished' attitude some people have. JT has played 81 games. The most anybody has played from his draft is D.Martin at 119. In the top 20 of that draft, he has actually played the 8th most games. All that has happened is that he's missed two seasons. Every club every year has a couple of season-ending injuries. He's just been unlucky enough to have two years worth. The club would not be carrying him if they thought he was a write-off. They would have shipped him out to get some speculative ruckman on the list or something. I absolutely expect him to be lining up in Round 1, 2016.

Wife had our baby, another boy and another demon member. Smoked my Montecristo with a bottle of Ron Zacapa and both are HIGHLY recommended. I've always spent my hard earned on expensive whiskey but the top shelf rum is really stating its case, will have to explore a few more

Its not much, but try this for size ... Oh the team were keen back in twenty-fifteen When they went to Kardinia Park, From the very first bell in that place of hell They played with great spirit and spark Every heart played true for the red and the blue And they sang the song brave and true And we sang for all the rest of time Keep your eye on the red and the blue!

It's a grand old flag It's a high-flying flag It's the emblem for me and for you It's the emblem of the team we love And credit to you who stood true Every heart beats true For the red and the blue Credit to me and to you'se And credit to a man we know A bloke that is known as Paul Roos Extra verses welcome. Time to celebrate in song. Regards to all, Rollo

Hopefully they both lose.

Great post Lucifer. Its about time someone said this clearly, and you have nailed the bottom line on this topic = and apologies if its done before by others.. Roos has coached a measly 30 games or so and I now go to games thinking we are always a chance. Hats off to recruiters and rest of the team he has built around him. Matthew Lloyds comments last week about running out of time were laughable. He needs to stick to being an apologist for the bombers - something he excels at.

You mean the Rivers who has played in the last two final series whilst he wouldn't have at Melbourne and will probably retire at seasons end ? I believe that Rivers is the perfect example of why free agency was brought in . A good servant who played 10 seasons for us and left to gain some success at the end of his career.

This bye basically means I get to enjoy a Melbourne win for two weeks in a row.

I think Jamie Oliver is safe

Hey Alex Rance good game tonight. Your still Jesse Hogans little b itch though ?

If anybody is reading this who is thinking about becoming a registered demonland member - you have your username

Dangerfield is a distraction. Forget him.

Roos job was always to come in and lay a foundation so another coach would take over a group that was over the past and ready to become a serious AFL team, we hired him to take the hits that a coach without his reputation couldn't withstand, and he is clearly the best person to help us build a core that could one day result in a premiership.

I wonder if the following has dawned on him. He will be suing people for defamation, for them to have defamed him they must have told an untruth about him in the public domain, for these people to defend themselves they only need to show that they are telling the truth. In this defence they may well roll out all the evidence as presented to the AFL tribunal and then it will be up to the judges to make a ruling as to whether he is guilty or not of those charges, as that will determine if people have been telling the truth or not. Now the funny part, this will mean people can be subpoenaed to appear and give testimony under oath, and this testimony will be judged on the lower burden of proof used in civil matters, which is balance of probabilities. This action may well bring the entire EFC charade crashing down around them, and leave Dank with egg on his face in the process. Just as the smile from last Sunday was wearing off a new one seems to have appeared!

I would rather throw big money at Dion Prestia personally.

Motlop would be a great get. What we need most is class and leg speed. You can see the difference that Garlett has made this year, and he's not half the player that Motlop is.

Chip on the shoulder? You continue to half answer questions. Lance, what did they give the players? Is it OK to have no records? Do you think that the EFC has provided a safe workplace over the last five years?

liked that little pun you snuck in there ernest

Wouldn't be against giving him another season tbh. He's almost playing the best footy of his last 4 years and there's still plenty of room on this list for leadership. If the younger guys surpass him next year, great- play them; but in the interim he is appearing a crucial part of this team and would be proud to get him to 250.

Does this remind anyone of ANB sometimes

Ablett is still by far the best player in the comp until proven otherwise

Do you know with 100% certainty that all of those players won't be here next year? Didn't think so. Do you know how much money Hogan / Salem / Brayshaw/ Petracca will commend in the next 3-4 years? Didn't think so. As much as I like Dangerfield, we aren't in our "window" and I don't know that the capital outlay will be worth it.

We need to use our cap wisely to retain the young talent on the list, dangerfield is individually brilliant but not a brilliant team player. Next mfc who gets 1 mil a year plus should be jesse hogan

Haha. I thought Rooke had a breakout game in the ruck. It was one of the rare times I listened to the commentary. I think the only way Sandy Roberts can remember any of our players names is to give them some random association to a player from back when his memory was more reliable. As for Dwayne... Still a [censored].

Vince is not only highly effective, he has virtually invented a new role, that of the creative stopper, shutting down a key opposition player while being a playmaker and finisher himself. Equally important I think, is his work as chief morale officer. Clubs need blokes like Bernie - always up beat, likeable and ready for a laugh. Anyone can make themselves a dour professional if they try hard enough (think a former number one draft pick who absconded north), but professionals who also lift everyone up around them regardless of what else is happening are invaluable. That's how I see Bernie giving us some X factor.

Cross is the only player I've ever seen who uses the ball better when he is horizontal than when vertical. His ability to rocket out a handball while either prone on the ground, or diving through mid-air is expectional. His marking overhead is also extremely reliable. Has been in our top 10 this year IMO and is a dead certainty to go around again for at least another one. As he's never been a player who has relied on pace and has a history of first rate fitness, I see no reason he shouldn't be able to play well in to his 30s.

Welcome to Demonland.

I think he copped a corky in the first term. As well as a forearm to the head from Steve Drunk-Driving Johnson.

I doubt that he'll ever kick more than 20 goals in a year, let alone 60. I agree that ANB has huge upside and looks like a potential 150+ gamer, but as a genuine midfielder, not a goal kicking half forward. The absolute best small forwards struggle to kick 50 goals a season, so to expect ANB to kick 3 goals a game regularly is ridiculous. ANB and Matt Jones were able to get off the chain and kick goals because their direct opponents (Taylor and Enright) gave them no respect, and zoned off on them. If we weren't so dominant at the stoppages, I suspect that ANB and M. Jones' impact would have been limited. Stretch on the other hand won his own ball and was efficient with his disposal. That's why I rate his game more highly than ANB.

He is a beauty. Has there been anyone else cross over from another club towards the end of his career who has given so much to his new club?

Speakin of worksafe, duty of care, players responsibility for what goes in their body and about a million other issues, try this . . . From Chips book posted on bigfooty! "Only it wasn't El Paso Texas, it was bought in Juarez, the Mexican city that joins with El Paso. How do we know this? Because the Essendon lawyer fought to have the Mexican drug changed to New Mexico, then had to retract and state it was in fact, bought in Mexico." I know it's a serious issue but I just can't stop laughing: Ok guys lets see what we've got for ya today. Mmm . . how bout something with hint of Ol Mehico. WTF!!

Hoganshaw

I may b alone here but I would rather not land Danger. I see him as a selfish player which was shown last week when he went against team rules in the final quarter to try get some easy kicks. Paying over 1m for a player like that could hurt a teams culture. Let's go to the draft or target 2nd -4th year mids instead and save our cash for the Hoges

Watching training at the moment - I forgot how clean and skilled he is. Watching handball and kicking drills with him and Petracca and then Bail, Dawes and Newton - Trenners was fast and silky and hit each target. Only Petracca was the only other to do that (and they did it so quick it was amazing). When he gets back to running - if he feels comfortable running and chasing he is going to be the serious player we know he can be. He is way to skilled. He is seriously talented and has gotten cleaner and better while he hasn't played.

How Stretch didn't get the nickname "Brownless" I will never know.

Yeah, Robert Neal. Played for Geelong moons ago. A third of ANB's name is Neal and he happened to be in Geelong, isn't it obvious CB, you !diot.

Regardless of whether they're doing it for PR or not, it's still a good thing.

Here is a great summary of where our club is at off the field. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-06-25/goodwins-role-could-increase-this-year The great thing is that the off field team is really stable and kicking goals. As usual Roos is letting people enjoy themselves and plays to their strengths: “Simon is just a great student of the game and he’s fanatical about footy. At the moment it’s just about letting him do what he is really passionate about and loves [doing] – and that’s helping us as a team, helping our contest and helping our ball movement pattern...As we move further into the back end of this year and into next year, things will change slightly.” I wouldn't be surprised to see Goodwin coach thru next years NAB games as part of his development. I'm chuckling at the title of this thread! Regardless of the number of wins in the Roos era he will go down as the guy who rebuilt the football side of our club!

Yes but not to the point that everyone should crack it We have seen what they can do - if they can't do it every week yet let's just keep our cool shall we

I want 100+ MFC games from Cross. Does he have any children? F&S ?