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From the young man himself: “We were down by five goals and then we really turned it on and then we just kept going,” he said. “I just loved it. I loved going in for the ball. I hunted it and loved the contest. It was my sort of game. “It was awesome.” Just have to love him, don't you.

If Melbourne had just won 4 of 6 flags I'd be the worse supporter in the world to be near for opposition. I have 39 years of arrogance built up I'm waiting to let loose!

Finished the replay my take on our players: Brayshaw: Poor bloke, hopefully not serious. Hogan: Delivery was a bit sloppy at times but showed that he is set for a big year. Looks noticeably bigger. Salem: Just silky and classy with ball. While he is one of our best ball users off half back I would love for him to push up onto a wing. Set for a massive 2016 if he stays fit. Watts: One of the best games I have ever seen him play. For the first time I saw Watts chase with urge and intent. I thought at times when we looked panicky he slowed the game down with his poise and calmness. His intensity and intent to go in hard was definitely a big step forward for him I believe. Keeps this up and we'll see a break out year from Watts. Viney: Glimpse into the future of what a typical captain game.. Nathan Jones will be licking his lips that he has finally someone else to shoulder the midfield load. Played on Wines at times and he completely pulled his pants down. Giddy up! Gawn: If he plays like he did today every week you can almost pencil him in as All Australian and a huge Smokey for the Brownlow.. His taps to advantage were first class and he was the big reason why we were winning clearances after clearances. Not only that but his follow up work and ability to almost play as an extra midfield will hold us in good stead. Tyson: My biggest worry with Tyson is that he hasn't obviously worked on a major weakness of his which is trying to take the tackler on and not giving first option. He got pinned not once but 4 times simply by trying to take the tackler on and not dishing off to a teammate on the outside. He holds onto the ball way too long then gets spun around in a tackle constantly. Bit rusty today also. Was disappointed with his game today. Oliver: His hands in close is elite and awareness around the stoppages. Loved how Goody threw him into the middle to gain some valuable experience. Great first half and loved his brutal tackle on Young. I see no reason why he can't play round 1. He is ready for the big time and he did not once look out of place. I hope he plays against the doggies next week. Great debut. Dunn: Played his role and that's all we ask for. Stretch: Played limited game time and looked a bit rushed but he provides run and spread. Another who will continue to step up and develop. The Grimes on the wing experiment didn't work for me so I think there is a spot up for grabs there for him. Kent: I have no doubt him and Vandenberg before the game went off side and popped a couple of angry pills. He played with such high intensity and aggression in almost like he wanted to prove a point. His game today showed why we missed him so badly last year. I just pray to God he has a fully fit year. When he tackles he just wants to hurt blokes. The Kent Garlett Kennedy threesome was on show today. Frost: Forget about him being a forward this year he just looks lost at sea. We recruited him as a backman so lets just play him there. Not in my round 1 team. Garland: Frustrated me today with the typical Garland errors.. Heart and soul player but his constant errors just hurts us too much. Pedersen: The perfect forward/ruckman who can give Gawn a chop out and still kick your 2 goals up forward. I thought he rucked really well and was quite surprised that he was jumping all over Lobbe. Took some good contested marks today and now will hopefully start to build some consistency. Tom McDonald: Just your typical McDonald game with the occasional poor errors that he provides every game. OMAC: Would have learn't a lot from playing on Schultz. Looked panicky and nervous and made a few errors. Will continue to develop at Casey this year. Personally id rather they persist with him up forward then Frost. At least Omac has shown in his junior days that he can become a good forward option. Hunt: Didn't notice him much but when I did he did some nice things. Needs to work on his kicking but also learn to really use his speed on the outside that we lack. Something to work with here. Grimes: Unfortunately the wing experiment just didn't work for me. Coughed up the ball and a couple of these went out on the full. Id still give him time over the Nab challenge to get use to this role. Bugg: He started off slow but when he went into the centre in the 2nd half I thought he showed genuine aggression and hardness at the ball. Does not take a backward step and he won some crucial clearances for us also. He will be a great pick up for us this year. A solid competitor who has a see ball get ball attitude. Kennedy: Played forward all in the 1st half and was quite. Then played as an on baller in the 2nd half and really got us going with his speed and outside spread. He keeps his feet and they struggled to tackle the little nugget. Loved his game and can see why we rated him highly back in the Toumpas draft. Will get better each game once he knows his new teammates and game plan. Garlett: His forward pressure was Aaron Davey like in his younger days. Was absolutely immense with the pressure he provided along with Kent. I still laugh at how cheap we picked him up. Absolute gun! Vandenberg: This guy can seriously play! Id loved to know his height because he didn't look much shorter then Hogan. The way he ragdoll blokes out of the way to get the ball is just a tad exciting. Played half forward/on baller and just dominated with his contested work and marking. A battering ram who played with aggression and that banana kick for goal on the boundary was magic. Jetta: Just your normal Jetta game. Nothing fancy just gets the job done. Just love the way he goes about it. Harmes: Impressed me a lot. Broke tackles and always tried to get the ball moving forward. Just another competitor who plays with an aggressive style that suits our game style. Kicked a ripper goal in the 3rd. Don't be surprised if he is playing round 1. Jones: The big surprise packet for me. Played wing and provided dash and in all honestly I didn't see him waste a disposal at all? When port counter attacked from our half forward I saw him sprint his guts out to help the defenders out. I have no doubt this will get pointed out in the reviews. Well done to him and if he gets pick for round 1 its because he deserves it. Id rather him on the wing instead of Grimes. Wagner: limited game time but did some class things and showed his clean disposal. Hopefully he starts next weekend.

Let's argue about this not knowing the details. We can keep ourselves amused for hours. Alternatively we could wait for the scans.

I really had to laugh out loud at Demonland.....In the first half there were calls that nothing had changed, we are so crap AGAIN, half the side should be sacked. Our drafting was crap. Players were harshly criticised for making a few mistakes in the first semi serious hit out of the year. THEN.....In the second half we all of a sudden become a finals side.......Players, all 26 of them will be playing in the first game......Players became champions and we are finals bound. Seriously It was the first practise game in a very long year.......I loved the win and enjoyed the hardness of our team but I wonder if we can stop calling for players heads even if they make a few mistakes. Case 1 Ben Kennedy.......Hardly sighted in the first half.........Posters saying "Boy did we lose out in that trade"...........Played quite well in second half ......"Picked the right trade there" I was going to list a few more examples but you get the drift. How about we give all the players a chance to get into the playing side of things and give them all a go. before stating they will be duds o r champs.

Lots has already been written but key things for me aside from the obvious performances of Gawn, Viney and Vanders. The most obvious improvement was players being on the move at a stoppage and not just the target player for the tap but those swarming around. We also finally appear to understand that loopy handballs aren't the preferred execution. I know its a practice match but the games of much maligned players in Matt Jones (made good decision and execution) and Jack Watts (consistent second efforts both offensively and defensively) need more call out than they have had. Ben Kennedy is more a mid than a small forward. Looked a lot better when given freedom to roam in the second half. Pederson ahead in the Pedo/Frost second tall spot. Whilst great athletically Frost lacks all game sense to play forward (although I am sure he will improve). I was really disappointed in Salem's game who I have very high expectations of. His defensive positioning was poor on numerous occasions and he did not work hard enough to make options offensively. Really wanted one of Wagner or Hunt to own the other back flank. Neither really did it for me yesterday nor were they bad. Hoping one really puts it together over the coming fortnight as there is a spot there for the taking. Getting that spot right will allow us to not just drive attacks from the stoppage but from the back half as well. Oliver's class in traffic and hardness at the ball and man showed why he was taken so early. Any doubts people had should already be removed based on that showing. It was great to see when Goodwin was interviewed at the half that the items he said we needed to refine we actually refined.

"these games are practice matches after all and we can't get carried away - yet. " For a decade we have been the chopping block of the AFL. This season we finally have a reasonable list with some depth and IMO we will win 10 games. In past times yesterday would have been a 8-10 goal win by Port. But this time we fought back and won. It is the first sign that 2016 is going to be a much more enjoyable year. Guess what WJ I can get carried away.

Meh. I've learned to tune it all out. Opposition fans (and media) naturally prefer the status quo of Melbourne being a basket case. It means their own team is one more spot away from the bottom. Focus us on how the team is progressing and the sounds coming out of the club. Ignore everything else. If they ain't us, they are the enemy. What they say reflects that status.

Just a few thoughts on the game... I think early on we got sucked into the ball too easily and lost our positioning, an old fault which allowed Port to spread and dictate the play. This is how we have played footy over the last 10 years and it has been obvious from the early preseason games that we would be going nowhere. I was really concerned early in the game with how we approached it. Whether it was Goodwin or not, as the game went on the players settled, got smart and started to position themselves and play like real AFL footballers in an AFL team and not a bunch of Auskick kids. Let's hope this is the norm now. We all get excited when we get a win like this and there is a lot of back slapping. Let me give Oliver a backslap, I think we definitely pulled the right reign with this guy. Looked at home out there and just hunts the ball so well, then distributes well. We do need a bit more class from defence and maybe with Oliver coming on Vanders showing he's very capable and a bit more mid depth we may look at something like running Bernie off HB or ever Trenner's when he get's up and running. We need smart's back there who can distribute. I think Hunt probably needs a bit more time, he has attributes that we can use but yesterday looked off the pace and couldn't find his place. He's missed a lot of footy and I hope he gets another run in the NAB for his development. Not a round 1 selection on this performance. Wagner looked lost early but settled and looked like he would be a good depth player at worse. I like Jones, I still think he is a depth player but it was good to see him playing within his limitations. Also good that he was first at the ball and getting ridden in the back and not the other way around. He will always give it his best shot and that's what I like about him. Watts is going to be a handful as a 3rd tall drifting around the forward line, I also enjoyed see him and also Jesse dropping back and mopping up in defence at times. We looked like a real football team prepared to back each other up. To sum up, looks very promising on yesterdays performance. Let's see if we can put a few more games together then come into the real season with a head of steam.. I really hope we can get Weideman and/or Hullet up and running soon, despite Pedders doing some good things we still lack another good tall forward who is really dangerous and take some of the heat off Jesse. Might be a few trips to Casey to check out Petracca early in the season, he will give us another real option up forward and spread the load a bit.

Having torn an Medial & ACL in seperate incidents, you can walk on an ACL no problems but it hurts as soon as you change direction... where as a Medial you can't put weight on or walk properly for a couple of days, feels so much more painful than an ACL but it heals pretty quick and doesnt need surgery. If he has a low grade (grade 1) then it will be 2 weeks of water walking/running before he gets back on the track... probably 4-5 weeks before full training but you never know with younger guys as they can heal faster. Like Diamond said, bone bruising or some sort of fracture to the Tibia or Patella all still possible given it was an impact injury. Fingers crossed its only a short time out and he is back firing soon.

Just had a laugh My Wife and daughter have taken No.1 grand daughter to Luna park today (I cannot go). Daughter just sms'd " Gee the players are young!" No Darling you are getting older. Ha ha there is some justice in the world.

get the richmond doctor just to be sure

SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL by Whispering Jack Since time immemorial, pre season practice matches, be they the intraclub variety or contests between clubs played for trophies or otherwise, have always needed to be looked at with a dose of skepticism. Coaches and clubs use these games for different purposes, teams are often of different strength and there's plenty of experimentation. I will not therefore allow myself to get too carried away with Melbourne's big second half effort to defeat Port Adelaide 0.15.5.95 to 1.10.7.76 in its opening NAB Challenge match of 2016. By the same token there were some excellent signs from the team that missed the bulk of the older, more experienced heads of its list that give cause for some optimism for the year ahead. We know that Paul Roos historically is known to place very little store on winning these pre season games but his stand in Simon Goodwin was a bit of an unknown on that score. After his charges started slowly and hesitantly on the large sized Playford Alive Oval in Elizabeth SA, they regrouped in the second term and ran over the top of what was a close to full strength Port Adelaide team in the last half. The turnaround was huge. For years, the Demons have been unable to mount come from behind victories. Nor have they been able to master the type of grounds where there's extra space and greater distance to goal. It requires the ability to get the contested ball in the first instance and fitness and hard running on the outside to bring the ball into the forward line quickly and decisively. The dominance of big Maxy Gawn in the ruck (42 hitouts, mainly in the first three quarters because he sat out most of the last) gave Jack Viney who had 16 contested possessions in a game high 28, Dom Tyson, Aaron vandenBerg and recruit Clayton Oliver an armchair ride at the stoppages. They got the ball out to the likes of Jack Watts, Matt Jones and hard nosed newcomers in Tomas Bugg from the Giants and Ben Kennedy from Collingwood and if they didn't score, their work was usually finished off by the likes of Jeff Garlett, Dean Kent and James Harmes. Collectively, they stunned the crowd of just under 5,000 and the many more viewers of Foxtel and a few here and there who watched on pirated broadcasts. Port Adelaide clearly planned their defensive game on shutting down Jesse Hogan and they achieved that by double and triple teaming him (at times with questionable methods). In the past when Melbourne had few dangerous options up forward, that tactic might have worked. The fact that the Demons are developing a good array of attacking weapons saw them to victory in this instance. And we know that there's plenty more to come. Melbourne's defense was tidy after the poor start. In the opening stanza they were far too loose but, led well by Tom McDonald, Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn and Neville Jetta, they tightened up and ultimately strangled the opposition keeping it scoreless in the the third quarter. When was the last time Melbourne did that in any game? The loss of Angus Brayshaw in the opening piece of play followed immediately by a hard hit on Tyson which saw him momentarily dazed followed by three goals (one of the super variety) to the home state side spelled doom and disaster. Demon fans of the fisted forever school were already foretelling that world was at an end - Armageddon had arrived ten minutes into the season. It was good then to come out with the non-existent four points and a medical report on Brayshaw that suggested a low level medial ligament injury that might see him back by round one of the real thing. There is of course a lot to work on - Hogan's key forward partner is more likely Cam Pedersen than Sam Frost at this stage. I would like to see the club give one of its tall forwards in waiting (Sam Weideman or Liam Hulett) a cameo run next week. Perhaps some fine tuning with the midfield mix and the second ruck - these games are practice matches after all and we can't get carried away - yet. Melbourne 0.2.2.14 0.4.3.27 0.10.5.65 0.15.5.95 Port Adelaide 1.3.3.30 1.6.5.50 1.6.5.50 1.10.7.76 Goals Melbourne Garlett 3 Kent Pedersen vandenBerg 2 Harmes Hogan Kennedy M Jones Salem Tyson Port Adelaide Boak Westhoff 3 R Gray Schulz White Young Best Melbourne Gawn Viney Watts vandenBerg Garlett Grimes Tyson Port Adelaide R Gray Boak Toumpas Pittard S Gray Broadbent Injuries Melbourne Brayshaw (left knee) Port Adelaide Nil Umpires Chris Donlon Jacob Mollison Craig Fleer Nick Brown Crowd 4,981 at Playford Alive Oval

Can't believe those who are sitting on the fence with this. He's 22 (?) years old and has already done jobs on some of the best forwards in the game. Is a running machine, powerfully built and takes the game on albeit with the 'frequently odd' mistake. If we lose him I'll be extremely [censored]-off.

I dunno about Jordie McKenzie, but Clayton sure looks a hell of a lot like TinTin

This is an exchange I had with a mad Power supporting mate of mine once the final siren blew. He was gearing up to watch it 2pm WA time..

Classic Dave.

The AFL investigated the Essendon saga and obviously found Goodwin had no case to answer. As an assistant coach he wasn't in charge of "governance". If you weren't "fazed" I doubt you'd be bringing it up. I'm genuinely unfazed.

As I said in the other thread, it was strange seeing a gun in Jordie's body (including jumper number - are the club taking the piss or what?) - and I say that as a former Jordie fan. Oliver is probably bigger though, I was surprised at the size of him. I did a similar double-take as I did when I saw vandenBerg for the first time last year. He definitely looks physically strong enough and good enough to play round 1, with the question of fit enough to be answered over the remainder of the pre-season. Exciting times.

Undoubtedly there was a lot to like. Attack on the footy was the key indicator I was watching for and we passed with flying colours. Fluidity of ball movement was another and it's much improved. Dunn had a relatively quiet game and that represents further upside. TMac's decision making and hesitancy are still causes for concern, little brother OMac looks a ways off this level as yet. Sam Frost opened with a flurry but faded. Jetta was good but exploited for pace on a few occasions. Kent provides some much needed mongrel as well as polish. Garlett's one set shot demonstrated lots of practice to address last year's woes. Vandenberg looks extremely composed and comfortable relative to this time last year. Pedo must be persisted with on that display. Need to find ways to get Jesse one out. Thought Watts was great with only a couple of hesitations when the situation called for the ball to be moved quickly harking back to the "old" Dees. Lastly, practice match or not, you can't fake genuine attack on the footy.

Jack Watts a no show. some very sad teen girls moping around. Nice to see Pedo greeting the kids at the gate.

I liked Pedo's effort and reckon he has given himself a good opportunity at a start against GWS. All a myth of course.

It was a Good win.

Posturing/waiting for the CBA as any player of his age & ilk should be advised to do. With his brother at the club, he won't be going anywhere.

Hunt was told to concentrate on the defensive side of his game, being his first hitout. I asked him. Jesse Hogan was happy to play his role and not be the only goalkicking target. Asked Clayton Oliver how it was, reply "bloody awesome".

If anyone is interested had a chat to Goodwin at family day, was disappointef with first quarter and a bit, mixture of nerves, rust and not playing ypour role, still stuck to competing though. Once coaches settled them down was pleased how team stuck .to gamecplan/style, still a bit of work to do, said everybody contributed and played their role.

Actually I'm the opposite, I really don't care at all, but don't feel the need to give the more verbose of our forum regulars a soapbox to rag on our coach in waiting after a solid win yesterday. You're clearly in the let's focus on the negatives camp.

Fair enough. And a win's not important in the scheme of things. However, in this case I beg to differ. For this group this win can't be underestimated. What value do you put on "belief". How could they not come away from that game and not be thinking, Jeez this stuff we've worked on for this entire bloody summer works.......and I/we can do it. When do you think the last time was that they came away from the start of the season thinking that. Key Factors for me :- 1. As many others have said "competitiveness". But most importantly competitiveness when they were blown out of the contest and used it to get back in. That's a step up. 2. Fitness = running capacity=running to space to create options. Was expecting to see this from what I'd read coaches etc saying in the pre season but jeez it's a pleasant surprise to have it confirmed. Saw more of this than I have in a very very long time. 3. Injuries. With our best 22 or close to it on the park (surely we area about due), we could do some real damage this season. Everyone else has covered anything I'd have to say about individual players.

I'm sorry DC, you've officially reached your 10 post maximum on Richmond Doctor references.

Goodwin fired them up after a very poor start That was the best part of yesterday A practise game yes Practise Winning...

Agreed ... by a long margin. At least by the distance I can throw a frisbee. ?

Honestly, if the kid's done a knee, I'm gonna break stuff and make a sacrifice to the footy gods! I can't wait to see Petracca, Brayshaw, Hogan, Harmes, Vanders, Stretcha and ANB in the same team!

Well the hawks have just won 3 in a row. My most hated fans, by the length of the straight and then some, are james hird worshipping drug cheat supporting essendon fans who then somehow have the gall to tell us that we wouldnt exist if it wasnt for all the money they bring to the afl.

I've seen enough to know that I'll love him.

You have to be kidding! If it wasn't for Jetta's first half, we may have been a LOT further down at half time... I consider his effort in that first half to be one of the contributors to us being in a position to win the game; ergo, I was rather surprised that no-one seemed to be listing him in their top players. Also, I was another who only just read this thread from start to finish having watched a recording of the game courtesy of the fact I was at band rehearsal all afternoon. Conclusion: there are some seriously bi-polar contributors on Demonland.

That was a bloody good win. Port wanted to win that game. They are good team with a seriously good midfield. On home turf. Brayshaw down within the first 10 secs. Jones out. Vince out. On the back foot for the first half. We then adjusted a few things and flogged them. With some luck on the injury front, we're playing finals this year. I. Am. Pumped.

Acknowledging Jordie's skill deficiencies, if every player on our list got as much out of their potential as did Jordie, we would be a bloody good side. Top 4. For too long, up until now, many have not. Jordie's endeavour and work ethic should be held as a target for all. Looking forward to Clarrie having a long and distinguished career in the R&B.

No one here seems to acknowledge the increased level of belief this young team will have. We can all just say it was only a NAB game but after a long preseason training with a new game plan this win will now confirm that not only does it does work but they are capable of carrying it out. There is nothing like playing against a real opposition and the hard hits on Brayshaw and Tyson show that Port were more than playing a practice match. There were important player improvements but it is a team game and to my eye it was the team as a whole that have reached another level. There was a sense of the team playing for each other - we have seen that over the past seasons with our defenders gelling - now there is a new feeling in the Club. Roos and Goodwin have the Players confidence in their training methods and game play. It is wins like these (albeit a NAB game) which will instil a new belief in their own abilities. This win has confirmed for me that we will go to the next level and lose the "easybeat" tag but 2017 will be our year. Allow some of our younger brigade get to the 50 game maturity level and with a little bit luck we will all be scrambling for finals tickets.

If he is smart he will say absolutely nothing about the EFC situation...he and more so we don't need to be drawn into this one.

We kicked 15 goals, and accurately too (15.5). We were harder at it, yet moved the ball fast (in the second half, anyway). Clearly there are kinks that need ironing out, but for a first meaningful practice match plenty of promising signs.

He did one thing that particularly caught my eye, where he collected the ball just as the opposition player positioned himself to collect him, but instead of just conceding the tackle and being wrapped up, he turned further into the tackle, opening himself up to some hurt while managing to burst free. Was in the 3rd on the RH wing, from where he switched play. Was indicator of great body sense and courage, neat.

damnit. i'll have to resort to hitler analogies now.

I am surrounded by Eagle and Docker fans over here. HELP! The only way out for me will be when the MFC can finally field a competitive team. I am also hoping this means they are capable of winning a flag or two. I do appreciate that winning a flag in the AFL is a big ask for any drug free club but it worth a go.

WJ as you I know I tell it as I see it and for most of the last decade we have not had an AFL standard list and it has not been hard to see. It has stood out like a beacon that in past years we were not going anywhere fast. However that has changed we are now half decent list. We wont make the eight this year but we are not going to be the league easy beats in 2016.

You of all people OD. That's as surprising as our six goals to nil third quarter.

That was a bad pun ?

Tend to agree. I hate them all. The druggies are at the top though.

I love mounting a come from behind victory. Gets me very excited.

He speaks well to the media. I like his comment "Kennedy & Bugg willed themselves back into the game" 2 New players who do not like losing ... If you are being beaten ... turn it around ... That needs to be a standard for the season.

This guy is a pocket rocket. He keeps his feet and bounces off packs and gets out of trouble well. As I said earlier I believe he is going to be our Zorko. Watch this space.