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Broken toe was the initial injury as I remember. Foot injuries are shocking things to get over. With our luck the operation will have failed and he will start taking photos.

agreed. i find i can't even read or listen to the post-match stuff properly. I just post smart ass gifs/things every now and then so people know i'm still here.

I fully accept that I am probably a little demented. Certainly, based on the vitriol on this thread, I'm in a tiny minority (of one...!). But, I personally don't mind Robbo. I watch AFL 360 most nights, and I certainly understand why people say what they say about Robbo. But, maybe I've grown used to the way he is. There's certainly no veneer with him. What you see is what you get. And, frankly, over the past couple of years, he's often been pretty much the lone voice in the media sticking up for the Dees. Maybe I don't expect much. But, compared with the absolute drivvle we get rolled out to us with the commentators & "special comments" clowns on most of the telecasts of the games these days, I really don't mind dear old Robbo! Okay. I've got big shoulders. Stick the boots in guys! I'm ready for ya! LOL

I think this is a completely inappropriate thread unless someone mentions Mitch Robinson.

Melbourne lost to Essendon Essendon got smashed by St.Kilda Melbourne threw away a win to StKilda by 2 points Melbourne beat Richmond Richmond beat Collingwood, Freo and Sydney Melbourne beat Bulldogs Bulldogs beat West Coast, Richmond and Sydney My point? That it seems logical to despair and say 'OMG how did we lose to THEM?' but the fact is that footy, more than ever, is a game of one side matching up on another on a given day, and the past performances of side A vs side B has a limited bearing on side A vs C - because the injuries/selections/matchups, gameplans/strageies and heart/psychological state varies between opponents, and even between the same opponent on differing weeks of footy. Might seem obvious, but it's just a thought I had that made me feel a tiny bit better, and I hope it does for you too.

Nope - sorry. Nothing makes me feel even just a little bit better after losing to the drug cheats on Saturday. I doubt that I will ever believe or trust our team again.

Daniher has the most punchable face in the league.

Whether he's right or wrong, I'm not reading the article. I feel morally obliged to avoid reading his tripe. Can't believe this dribbling oaf has made a successful career out of the sport I love. He's inarticulate, doesn't seem to understand the game, and is hopelessly biased. I don't understand why he has the gig he has and I won't support it.

Not his fault, of course

Joe Daniher

Kent likely to play Development league this week Salem 1 more week and likely to play the weekend after Kent a chance to play Development League Melbourne injury list: round 15 Sam Frost (toe) – 4-6 weeks Dean Kent (hamstring) – test Cameron Pedersen (wrist) – season Christian Petracca (knee) – season Christian Salem (hamstring) – 1 week Jack Trengove (foot) – season

Fitzpatrick is listed as 200cm yes? He is actually the same height as Dion Prestia, but with a 25cm neck.

Agree Vagg. He's far from the worst commentator out there, and has an often unique take and a love of footy. Don't know about the Essendon/WASADA thing cos stopped reading and listening to it years ago.

Ryan Griffin's eyes to close together??

Man buns should be considered an appendage like an arm. Then you could be tackled by grabbing it and slinging them to the ground. Fixed no more buns. Too harsh?.

Cross must play on. Has been terrific this year. We would be worse without him. Fact.

mrp expected to hand out a 2 match ban to hird's bicycle afl spokesman said we are committed to protecting the head and take all cases of concussion very seriously dr reid said the concussion has caused hird a loss of all memory since 2011 asked why he rode his bike from tullamarine to toorak hird said he was inspired by lance armstrong

"Fell off". Right. Are there any lengths the AFL will not go to to, to silence this brave campaigner for truth and justice? But not even their hit men can overcome the protective powers of 3 Anzac day medals. I can see Gill in his lair right now, pursing his lips and drumming his fingertips together, saying "Why am I surrounded by fools and incompetents?"

I ought to be surprised at some of the pessimism in this thread, but I'm not. Some people on here appear to just be itching for the next error to befall the club so they can say 'I told you so! We're not improving! Why didn't you all listen to me when I said so!!' If you think we're worse than last year then you're far more delusional than those who you criticise for suggesting we're doing OK. If you think our best is the worst in the league then you didn't watch our best convincingly beat Richmond, the Dogs or Geelong (two current top 8 sides, one pushing for the 8 (and in Geelong)). You didn't see our best dominate Collingwood for sustained periods (current top 8 side), or GWS for the first half (current top 8 side), or Port for the first half, or Adelaide for the first quarter. Yes, the last four of those didn't turn into wins, and that's both disappointing and not good enough. But suggestions that our best is the worst in the league are just ridiculous, the evidence shows you to be wrong. It also obscures from the reality of football - no side plays at its best week in, week out (hell, Fremantle just lost to Hawthorn by 72 points). Our best is more than good enough. If anything, the issue is our worst - our worst is not acceptable and dips below pretty much all other clubs' worsts. IMO we're working on this but a combination of bad list management, bad team selection, bad luck with injuries, and bad leadership mean that it's not being improved as fast as I would like.

HOGAN DAWES PEDERSEN combo all 3 have played together once for a loss & our equal lowest score. 2 of 3 have combined for 2 wins 9 losses. Hogan & Dawes have played solo once each, both resulted in wins & our 2 highest scores for the year.

At current pace, Garlett is on track to: - Come very close to having his best season in terms of goals kicked - Will exceed his highest score for a season (the behinds will push him over) - Is set to obliterate his previous record for tackles in a season. He also is currently second on the points kicking tally after Josh Kennedy, but last week excluded, he has been significantly better in the later games than he was early. I suspect he is in career best form. He is playing as well as any small forward in the game is at present. We found him lying in the $1 clearance bin. There's heaps to whinge about about the MFC at the moment, but if Garlett is your target then you're just looking for stuff I reckon.

186 was the wheels falling off. Neeld was the car crusher. Roos signed on in 2013 and Jackson presented him with his team:

THanks Pennant for bits I cant improve on and the many who have recreated so many memories. 1. How did you start following the Demons? Dad a saints supporter took me to the Junction oval to watch Eric the tank Guy his next door neighbour. Tassie Bob was kicking drop kicks from full back over the centre, where Brian Dixon collected it on the bounce and kicked it to big Bob who goaled time after time . It was magnificent 2. Who was your very first favourite player and why? Hassa Mann probably just ahead of Bluey and Robbie. But so many unfortunately unlike RDB who had so little success as they were inconsistent Neiter, GArry, Wiz, Jacko And JAcka Hardemann Roet wells YZe Feebs I dont think Ive ever not enjoyed some aspect of any player who pulled on the jumper 3. Best moment as a fan? "For all those Dees fans who are to young to remember or haven't seen us in finals, I can tell you that feeling of joy when we finally make the finals is something special and I haven't felt it again as a fan, maybe it was my age and innocence at the time. I will never forget round 22 1987 it was surreal and we were used to failure so never thought we would win and up until the Hawks hit the front down at Kardinia it looked like so close but so far, that whole week knowing we'd made it and the journey we went on in 87 was something I would love to go through again" Exactly 4. Worst moment as a fan? "1987 Prelim I cried my eyes out, and whilst I still haven't gotten over it and the umpire not hearing the siren before Jimmy crossed the mark, I was able to reflect on the joy of the 1987 ride. 2008-14 has had me at my wits end and had me feeling for long periods that we will never get out of this and be any good again," 5. Anything else you would like to share? The delight of communicating with the rest of the crazy buggers on Dland. Probably only we can truly understand the emotional whirlpool that binds us .

Ball hog.

I notice James Hird was described as dopey after his concussion - how would you know?

Had to chuckle at Tanya's comment in The Age that dear old James was quote.... "dopey......very dopey." Exactly, finally Tanya gets it. Exquisite.

anyone with a man bun

Let's see what the next 8 weeks brings before claiming that the 'truth' of our stagnancy is confirmed.

I heard he was riding out of windy hill and mark neeld accidentally hit him with the reality bus

The Hun going from Mike Sheehan to Slobbo is like trading in Sinatra for Shannon Noll. Just an awful writer.

But it's not one game. It's exactly what we did last year. Beat crows in Adelaide, beat the Tigers, lost to Brisbane here This year so far, beat cats in Geelong, Tigers and bullies who were flying at the time. Lose to saints with 43 seconds to go, throw away big leads to port and GWS, lose to a demoralised bombers. So far, nothing really has changed. Unless we win 3+ more games this year then I'll call this year a failure. Yes we have improved and are more competitive, but like Roos said last night, we are now past just being competitive and have to win these games.

1. My father in his nineties is still a Demons member and has a red seat which he tries to struggle along to,sometimes. 2. I was impressed as a schoolboy when Brian Keneally was doing a teachers round at my high school. 3. Best moment as a fan is anytime we beat Collingwood. 4. Worst moment as a fan was going to a Final at the "G" in the mid Eighties and watching Collingwood beat us in the Under-Nineteens, the Reserves and the Seniors, all on the same day. (I was with three Demon mates and all our wives were Collingwod supporters.) 5. My great grandfather played for St. Kilda and was the first player ever reported at Princess Park in 1898. 2.) As a post script: as a player, I still enjoyed watching Jurrah and lamented his departure (and demise)!

There have been plenty of excellent comments made on this thread, including those that have pointed at our failings and those that have highlighted our improvement. The comments I don't agree with however are those criticising Roos. I think he has been fantastic for this footy club in helping to stabilise the decline, correct the culture, make the club more attractive and, in terms of on-field work, instil a much harder and competitive style of footy and improve effort levels dramatically. Yes there have been games and patches in games where our effort has been down, but from where we were at in 2013 it's a huge improvement. Nevertheless, the two areas I think are really hurting us and were the reasons why I feared the Essendon game (and why we ultimately lost) are our mental fragility and overall lack of class. On the first point, this is not something new with the MFC, and there have been plenty of comments in here about how for years we have lost the 'unloseable' games. What really frustrates me however is just the inability of our players to learn. Now I know many of them weren't out there in previous years where we've lost such games, but many of them were there in the NAB Challenge where, in remarkably similar circumstances, we got done by Essendon's VFL team. Surely, after that, the players would have approached Saturday's game fully aware of the possibility of losing unless we were on top of our game. Yet despite this we came out just expecting it to happen, thinking we could work half as hard as we did against Geelong and get the points. What on earth is going through our players' heads that results in them coming out with that mindset? It is just mind-boggling that a team that has been as bad as ours for so long can think they can just rock up and get the win against another AFL team. I could understand the Hawks or Swans falling into this trap, but not us. There was a period in the second term where we had Essendon on the ropes. A good side would have just finished them off then and there. However, we continually fail to take these opportunities to put sides away and then, slowly, they start to gain confidence and grow into the game and run over the top of us. We will not get anywhere as a team until we can develop a mindset where we can approach a game versus a bottom side with the same intensity and desire as a game against a top team. On the second point, I think a key reason why we keep dropping these games is our overall lack of class. We don't get reward for dominant periods of play the way the good sides do. We were all over Essendon in the second and fourth quarters but just struggled to convert that on the scoreboard. Obviously the poor inside 50s and the woeful kicking for goal affects that, but we just don't have enough class in our side to capitalise on our dominance. This is also the main reason why we fall short against the top teams. Under Roos we have become a side that can scrap it out and be really competitive on the inside, but we just get destroyed on the outside by the quicker, slicker opposition. The same thing happened against Brisbane last year. We were on top in general play for three quarters but just could not put them away. Then they stormed home and beat us. Also in Round 1 last year against the Saints where we were the better side but just could not convert on that dominance and they beat us with one big surge in the third quarter. Until we can add that class to our mix (which thankfully some of our youngsters have) we will continue to struggle to put away lowly sides. So forget about blaming Roos and coaching tactics. At the end of the day it shouldn't really come down to little things like tactics. A mentally stronger Melbourne side with some more class would have easily accounted for Essendon yesterday irrespective of things like a loose man in defence. This is what we need to focus on.

The guy got towelled up by James Gwilt..James guilt FFS!

Outrageously inconsistent. Mitchell - repeat offender deliberately trying to corkie an opponent - fine. (top contender team, big following) Adams - deliberately, multiple times, knee (big heavy object) to the temple and jaw (relatively fragile, vital body parts) - 2 weeks down to 1 (big club, big mouthed president) Both these acts are cowardly considered attempts at injuring an opponent - in Mitchell's case becoming a regular facet of his game. In Adams case a high risk of causing a very serious injury - brain hemorrhage, eye injury / blindness. But that ok, got lucky so one week. Pathetic process I did predict a very lenient penalty given the make up of the tribunal / MRP and the total lack of integrity at the AFL

In his 30 years on the job at the Herald Sun you'd have never known Mike Sheahan was a Melbourne supporter. Yet, thanks to his bias and pathetic articles, everyone knows Mark Robinson is an Essendon supporter. The difference between a fantastic balanced footy journo and the fat sack of [censored] that inherited his throne.

I don't think this is right. He went to Goddard for the 2nd Q and stopped him, unfortunately he was then moved off Goddard and he got away again.

If we played about 500 games a year these stats, in the absence of other information, might really mean something rather than just provide entertaining conjectures.

Definitely food for thought isn't it.

Good old Robbo... The Molly Meldrum of the footy world

By the time we end up breaking some of these droughts, will it be time to put some of them back up there as it will probably take 4-5 years to break some?

None of this is anywhere near as bad as Taylor Adams. What that decision says is that you can intentionally knee someone in the head and, if you plead guilty, be suspended for just one week. Read that again. Intentionally. Knee. Head. If that's what the points system is serving up, the system is horrendously, fatally, flawed.

... and if the players know that Hird knows what they were given, wouldn't they feel compelled to ask Hird what they were injected with? Especially after 2 and a half years ... wouldn't they also ask Hird where the records of what they were given are? These are just ordinary, natural questions ... yet, the public have been fed this fabrication of lies, deceit, spin and what-not of naive statements that the players are so-called "victims" ... it's just rot, total rot. Of course Hird would have worked with Dank with regards the whole injection program. - it stands to reason. Yet many genuinely believe otherwise. The most annoying bit for me has been the public's reaction - where there should be total outrage right across the board, there hasn't been. Again, if this was an overseas sport involving another club, that outrage would be there by default. There would be almost zero sympathy and the 'victim card' would be dismissed out of hand. And Essendon and the AFL have fed off that lack of public outrage. The large majority have wanted this whole saga to go away from the word go almost certainly because they don't want their sport tainted like many other sports around the world are - that's my take on it anyway.

There is absolutely no way we would willingly trade Gawn out. No way.

It's not so much about what he says, or what Denham says about us, as it is some peoples refusal on here to believe it.

I agree with Robbo, after all the hype and crap, we are still exactly the same as we were last year. Same wins, same loses, same percentage, same beat a decent team of two, lose to the teams around us. We are a nothing club, going no where slowly. Yes we could have won, we did the normal Melbourne thing and didn't.

agreed, and we'll come out and get pantsed by St. Kilda because for some reason we can't ever win two games in a row.