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Fremantle are the ones who dodged this bullet.

Sad to see a great talent destroyed by injury and illness. I really believe he was on the verge of something great when he came down with that debilitating Lisfranc injury. What followed was a tragedy for the player and the club. I don't think you can say we ended up "dodging" a bullet because we went to great lengths and invested heavily in Mitch and lost out badly as a result of his long running injury and the mental problems that followed. I hope he recovers and gets some enjoyment from the tail end of his career. He's had a pretty wretched run.

I was at training this morning and saw the fragile Petracca. photo 1 was him tackling coach Crossy. Who was lucky to come out alive. photo 2 was just the usual bag hangar he does. And by the way his little pinky never gave a Yelp.

Arrived late at training this morning (although they trained until after 12.30) and had a chat to the guy who wrote the AFL report. Trac was very lively at training and (until reading that report), I almost would have had him as a smokey for next Sunday. He was moving very well and was one of the last to leave the track. With two NAB Challenge matches and one VFL match scheduled before Round One, he could surprise everybody!

For the record - no, he didn't. He was pulled out of one of the main 'match sim' drills and worked with Daniel Cross on the sideline instead: a tackling/evasion drill, then taking marks over Cross who was wearing the pads. (During which he reeled in a huge, one-handed hanger, and he finished with a massive leap which wiped out himself and his bag-man. They both got up laughing, and one of the other staff joked, "Now that's a test.") He then returned to the main group. But if he wasn't in full training today, surely must be soon. Did the vast majority of the session and looked fantastic.

Confirmed, low grade strain. 4 weeks. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-03-02/club-confirms-lowgrade-strain

we didn't dodge anything - we gave up pick 10 and millions of clams to end up with Lumumba who hasn't done a damn thing yet

Bumped into Dave Misson last week and asked him about Petracca. He said Petracca will start the year playing VFL to get match fitness and touch. Don't expect to see him for a few matches yet. He was very excited at him as a talent though and said his power is unlike many players he's ever worked with before.

Are we not prepared to assume that the post season surgery he had on his ankles may have contributed to his output?

Right now, the games I 'fear' the most are the ones we are the favorites for. The losses to Essendon and Carlton last year were very hard to swallow. Until we can regularly win (and win well) those games, they will hold the biggest fear. When we become a consistent performer that wins those games, then I'll start to worry about teams that seem to have the wood over us like Geelong did for so, so many years..

It wasn't a deliberate elbow.

Exactly. The bullet hit us square in the MFCSS muscle. We're just lucky it didn't ruin any vital organs and passed through (relatively) cleanly.

If Prismall is in fact working in a welfare role at the club, he is engaged in an activity involving other players. Full stop. We really need a complete overhaul of the AFL Commission which has abdicated the role it was supposed to have when it was first formed.

My guess is that each of Petracca, Brayshaw and Trengove will come into the side in a staggered way designed to maximise their usefulness for supercoach teams.

AFL site reporting that Trac joined in full training this morning. From what I'v read about him he will be an outstanding addition forward set-up. (Even more) exciting times just around the corner!

I assume this is the table. Apologies for the formatting, each heading is offset to the right for some reason. Edit: Stats for key forwards at 20 years of age. MATCHES RANKING POINTS DISPOSALS MARKS SCORE INVOLVEMENTS GOALS Tom Boyd 23 49 7.4 3.0 3.5 1.0 Josh Kennedy 29 44 8.2 4.4 3.4 0.6 Tom Hawkins 34 65 11.2 5.0 5.4 1.3 Lance Franklin 56 78 11.8 4.5 6.0 2.2 Jarryd Roughead 58 68 11.1 4.3 3.8 1.0 Jesse Hogan 20 78 13.1 6.7 6.2 2.2 Jonathan Brown 38 N/A 12.4 5.4 N/A 1.1 Brendan Fevola 16 N/A 7.0 3.4 N/A 1.6

Correct but there are rules against driving players into the ground. I have watched it a number of times now and Hartlett jumped off the ground and into Brayshaw's back, driving him into the ground. He also pinned Brayshaw's right arm, as he took him down, with his weight on Brayshaw's back. Could easily have knocked Brayshaw out, if he landed head first, or led to a neck or collarbone injury. I thought it was worse than the Oliver incident. Then again I am only a whinging Dees supporter, who in the past has been outraged at a broken jaw suffered by Sylvia, off the ball and yet the Eagle player responsible walked free.

Gil and his acolytes have dragged the AFL through the mud - time to get rid of them all. Bloody disgrace.

That's it in a nutshell. And if Prismall is OK to work in that capacity, then Jobe, for example, could be appointed to a similar role. Please WADA, get the big stick out again. The AFL continues to stink up the sporting world.

If it's true that Prismall is still working at the Bulldogs with the AFL's permission then it's not only regrettable but a clear indicator of the AFL's arrogance and its contempt for the WADA Code. The rules simply don't allow it.

Article in the Hun saying Prismall is still employed by the dogs and has AFL approval to do so. Under the WADA code his employment fits in a grey area. The AFL have said they are in talks with ASADA about if it is allowed. Just another example of AFL land thumbing their nose at the whole code, apparently with AFL approval! Is anyone else really disappointed and embarrased by this whole debacle?

We have cracked 30,000

Hell. He was always one of the gutsiest players in the game: but what courage he has shown firstly in addressing his own serious problems, but more so in coming out and sharing them, and the steps he has taken to address them, with strangers. Well done and all the best.

Went along to training this morning. First time I've seen Hulett, he is one big boy. Very similar body shape to Vanders. i hope he gets a run this weekend. Excited to see him crash a few packs too.

I seem to recall him playing out of his skin for the Dees.

Hopefully the stick can get bigger and he gets a ban under the new rules as this is a new violation of the code, bring on 4 years and watch the apologists howl!

I feel sorry for him. The guy immense talent. Some of the games he played for us were unbelievable. I would have loved to watch him play in the same forward line as Hogan.

...and I believe we swapped pick 12 to Brisbane for Clark not ten. Shame as I really liked the symmetry of CBDees post

And now ironically we have ended up with Kennedy who was the number 10 draft pick.

Jack looked fine and was running laps when I rocked up late. He is hopefully a starter in Round One or soon after though I confess I wasn't specifically looking for him in the match sim drills. He seems pretty confident. Most guys seemed to be hard at it in match practice and skill levels were generally good. I particularly noticed Petracca. What a powerful kick this bloke is and he seemed to me to be putting his hand up for Round One (along with a few others who we did not see last Sunday)! Oliver was another who stood out and (along with Petracca and Watts) was the last off the ground, as he lazily kept posting them through the bigs sticks. Judging from what I saw, another hard call by the selectors again this week (although it would be nice to see Oliver get another run and Petracca come in for Brayshaw)!

It sounds simple to do what he's done but it takes a lot of guts and character. Well done to him.

Conflicted. The humanitarian in me doesn't like seeing his disappointing plight and the Demon in me gets some satisfaction and hopes he never plays again. I'm a Demon first and foremost.

disagree.. I think Lumumba always give 100% effort - now if we want to discuss effectiveness - that is a different story....

For what melbourne supporters have witnessed over the last near decade and for the current team of players, the coaches and the club in general, I think it's bleedingly obvious why there's such emphasis placed on the importance of having our best players available for the early rounds this year including round 1. We need to win. And we need to start the season with a win. We have an opportunity to go 2 - 0 up against GWS and Essendon in rounds one and two and I dare say the confidence that our young team (who are salivating at the thought of success) will gain from two early wins going into a game against North Melbourne will be enormous. A side like us are so vulnerable to instability due to the ease at which we can lose and gain confidence after losses or wins. When was the last time we've won consecutive games? All of these things have a psychological impression on players and a team that has had such a negative history. The MFC need the fittest and healthiest list possible for round 1. More so than any other club because of where we've come from. Brayshaw is best 22. Any game he may miss early will hurt us.

Gotta love the AFL. - they are more worried about how a player fills a cup rather than the drugs that might be in it.

Surely Gil would ask his mates at Sporsbet to tell him the odds on that question. They could offer progressive odds as the saga unfolded, and flash it across the scoreboards and TV screens.

I think the Jury is still out on Frost. Not sure if he will make round one from what I've seen, as I don't really think he has the smarts to play up forward. id love to see him played down back for a while as he is a good runner and reads the play well when defending. Pederson should definately be our second tall forward ruck option with Watts and Vanders as 3rd and fourth tall forward options. Add Kent ,Kennedy and Garlett up forward with Hogan I think that's a pretty potent attack.

If he played rugby league his name would be Mal Malingerer.

My hand is raised

Just watched it again. I didn't notice it initially but it is quite a deliberate attempt to jump on him isn't it. Crude at the least.

To be fair Ron, he's also been found guilty of being a drug cheat. i reckon it's fair enough to be bitter about what Essendon has done, and probably isn't a label that's going to wash off those players in a hurry

Both easy to clinically diagnose so it ain't either, although the drive of the knee into the ground is classic PCL injury mechanism. All impatient armchair speculation really, I'm sure he'll be fine with a scope and a couple of weeks on the bike ?

...and he's from the following draft year we traded for Clark

Yes Geelong pulled the right rein on this one. Couldn't happen to a nicer pack of flggs.

My suggestion to Eddie is that before he sticks his nose in other clubs' business he should make sure that his own players are drug free and toilet trained.

MM, good post but is Frost's forward pressure really the selling point for playing him forward? I understand the argument but he still didn't manage to lay a tackle on the weekend. He just looks so unconvincing as a forward. As a defender he looks right in his comfort zone where he has to track his opponent, and those line breaking runs out of the back half could be a real weapon for us. Pedo is no star but he's a reliable mark, kick for goal and serviceable pinch hit ruck. The others you mention are equipped to provide the increased forward pressure it seems will become a feature this season. Frost seems surplus to the requirements in the forwardline.

90 rotations means you'll need heaps of on ground rotations. Every player has to be able to contribute to the midfield minutes and either spend time forward or back. Or in other words play 2 positions. I'd start the team like this (and the names aren't all that important): FB: Jetta Dunn Garland HB: ### McDonald #### C: ### #### #### HF: ### Hogan #### FF: #### #### #### Int: ##### #### #### #### Every player not named has to have 2 positions. So you probably want 3 more defenders who can also push up in to the midfield (ie. Salem, Bugg, Lumumba). 5 or 6 more forwards who can go in to the midfield - Garlett, Kent, Vanders, Watts etc. And the rest of the team midfielders who can go either one way, or even better both forward and back.

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