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So...it seems Oliver likes to under promise and over deliver. Says he changed clubs in the TAC to try and get a few games then come back as a 19 yo in the hope of being drafted...He wins the Morrish. Says he will be happy to be picked up as a late round pick...Picked up as a first rounder by us at number 4. Says he's looking to play at Casey and continue his development with the hope of maybe getting a game later in the year (this did worry me at the time)...Looks set for round 1 and not just as a fringe player. If he say he's looking to consolidate his place in the team...then we might be looking at a Brownlow medalist.

this kid is a classic

I just enjoy not having to go through the "gee, he's off to a slow start, but I'm sure he'll come on..." with our more recent batch of early draft pick midfielders. I know people have been saying it for years (looking at you, ProDee) and I'm very slow to get on the bandwagon, but top shelf quality is almost universally evident immediately. Hogan, Brayshaw and now Oliver are clear examples of first impressions counting for everything. It's no guarantee that they will actually reach the top shelf, but I am starting to think that looking all at sea early (thinking Morton, Toumpas) is pretty much a guarantee that they won't reach the top shelf.

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but Oliver did two things for a first year player that really really impressed me. There was an instance where he ran and collected the ball and was immediately about to get tackled. Instead of just running into a player and getting wrapped up, he picked up the ball and jumped into the tackler, forcing him to tackle below his waist. He was able to fire out a handball over the tackler to one of our players in space. Another situation he was perfectly tackled and had no chance to handball the footy. Instead of just dropping it cold like a lot of players do, he guided it to his foot and did a neat little 3metre kick from the pack to one of our players into space. It's smart quick thinking attributes like this you want to see in an inside midfield player. Can't wait to see this guy in the home & away season. Go Dees

People take too much notice from practice matches played in isolation. Last week we beat a team many are predicting will return to the 8 and this week in tough conditions we found a way to win. I agree that beating a team without their first 15 place getters in the B&F is nothing to crow about. But I also know that tough windy conditions have a way of levelling teams that vary in talent, especially if you get off on the wrong foot. So once again you pick a few things here and there that impress you. Watts is going to have his best year and I'm really glad he hit the scoreboard, which is what I want to see. Oliver will be as good as Brayshaw. Oliver is better in close and Brayshaw better on the outside. Both are good in close and good on the outside. We are going to have more inside 50's and score more in 2016. Our structures are far better. Players, such as Gawn, AVB, Harmes, etc., that have been having good preseasons continue on their upward curve. And that's about it. The conditions meant we weren't great, but I'm not going to sweat over that and I also won't get much satisfaction from beating a team without their best 15 players. In 8 weeks time I'll hardly remember this match. It was virtually inconsequential.

This is the kind of horse bog logic that irritates me. When we the Bulldog "ones", we might play a zillion times better than we did. Their "seniors" might actually play with less cohesion that the young outfit they put on the park today. Every other possible combination in between could happen. You cannot transplant a whole different team in to a scenario and assume all the other million variables that affect the result of a game remain the same. No two games are the same and no two teams ever play the same way twice. There's a good reason why a lot of people say "you can only beat the team the opposition put on the ground"; all you can take from a game is that your team might have the ingredients to win matches, which we can clearly take from this game given that we did actually win it.

Finally someone in AFL land who gets it. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/essendon-doesnt-deserve-to-play-on-anzac-day-says-dennis-cometti/news-story/edde9e67cd1565ba50afb3a003df759c In short, Dennis Commetti saying the dons shouldn't even be playing this year, let alone playing on ANZAC day! About time someone spoke out. Just wait for all the apologists to start up about how they are hard done by and Dennis is the devil incarnate! Always did like that bloke.

The thread's very entertaining and there's some great observations and analysis. For mine though, a lot of it misses the key points which are: 1) the appetite for the contest / attack on the footy has improved out of sight and has been a feature both weeks; 2) The game plan has truly evolved and there's now more than a semblance of purpose in terms of inside 50's (both in terms of numbers and quality). Most importantly, the defensive chip the ball around / go backwards element of our game has been eliminated. This team will be a lot better to watch this year than they have been for a long time. I think the attacks on skills might be a tad overdone and a lot of us have forgotten what footy's like on an open to the elements arena on a breezy day. I expect they'll win at least 11 games, take some serious scalps and, with a modicum of luck, play finals.

As usual Mr Cometti....centimeter perfect !!

This is all you need to know mate. He was my favourite player before the Wiz took that mantle. The bloke was almost unstoppable in 1994 and, while I might be biased, he could have been on par with Carey if his knees held up. Unbelievable agility, great pair of hands, high footy IQ and a great kick for goal. The bloke had it all. Edit - Watch his goal from around the 4:35 mark. It's vintage Ox.

Hey relax. Just wait. When the truth comes out he'll be in a very, very good position and so will that football club.

Yeah this is only a NAB challenge press conference with most of the best journalists missing. His press conference was hopeless if you take it in context and just part of a broader problem.

It was a practice match in hot conditions in a swirling wind. 15 of the 18 goals were scored at the one end, with the wind. The Doggies scored 3 points for the whole match kicking the other way (we scored three goals there). Yes, we didn't set the world on fire. There were skill errors. Tom Mcdonald made some blunders, But please remember that while the Dogs had a 'young team', so did we. Salem, Viney, Tyson, Gawn, Kent, Frost, Harmes, vandenBerg, Michie and Kennedy have played 50 games or fewer. Oliver, Hunt and Wagner haven't played any. That's half yesterday's team. Some or most of these guys need to get to the 100+ games level to set the basis for a premiership. Until then, try complaining with a realistic perspective.

The beauty of the situation for me is i almost find myself forgetting we still have Brayshaw and Petracca to come back in as well, our young talent is as good as anyones these days

Denis Cometti a universally liked and respected commentator speaks out: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/essendon-doesnt-deserve-to-play-on-anzac-day-says-dennis-cometti/news-story/edde9e67cd1565ba50afb3a003df759c From the article. -Essendon has not earned the right to play on Anzac Day this season -the Bombers should have been ruled out of the season altogether after 34 past and present players were banned for 12 months -“But I can’t help thinking somehow this year the Bombers should have been sidelined for the greater good. -“The club might cry double jeopardy but I find it odd no contingency plan ever saw the light of day.” Well said Denis! I wonder how many other commentators would speak up if they weren't beholden to the AFL and its sycophants!! There is no reason why the AFL can't schedule another game from that weekend on ANZAC Day. Of course they won't.

Hird is quite right. Those players had no reason to lie and say they had no injections because they knew the injections were perfectly kosher. Does beg the question - why they didn't take the injections then. Makes sense in a parallel universe where you prove the opposite of what you thought you were proving and don't notice that you have done so.

Went to the game and then watched the game as soon as I went home* (*couldn't see a third of the ground as I was next to a tree trying to get shade) Gees Oliver has some talent. After watching the replay yesterday and noticed a few things. 1) The pin point 50 metre switch pass to Pedersen deep in defence (which he dropped) then took a hanger from the very next kick coming back into defence. 2) In the 2nd half (pretty sure last quarter) he is tackled by 2 dogs players, he's lifted off the ground but somehow manages to fire off a handball twisting his body mid tackle and hitting a teammate 5 metres away over his shoulder. 3) Quick hands...gees there were some handballs that were like bullets. 4) Time and space...seems to find it. 5) Complaining after a tackle on the wing 3rd quarter, it was high but he hit the Doggies player with some force. 6) If you watch the game again you'll find him lurking around the packs most of the time like a shark ready to attack. From the Demons fans around me, Jordie 2.0 is already a firm fan favourite!

In 1994, especially the finals series, he was THE most exciting Demon I had ever watched and have ever watched - and I started watching them in the mid 1950s when we were totally dominant. Like SWYL my eye teared up with the news from the Junction Oval. IMMHO he would have become the dominant player of his era....yes, eclipsing Carey.

Have to be someone who's forgotten about Petracca too...

Interesting from my view that I have not seen anyone else in the media say this which IMO should have always been an option. I guess if you take out the EFC loving scribes and those that are scared of the AFL it does not leave many to voice this option.

We held them goalless in the second and the last quarter. We managed to score against the wind and when the Doggies did not. Even when our skills were down the team kept in the contest, wind the clock back a few years and we would have be brutally arse pounded by these young inexperience Bulldogs So I don't know why we are hammering the players for winning ugly. Lets not forget we won against this team last year, when they were at full strength, minus Libba. So let get the MFC used to the idea of winning, supporters included. My god we need something to talk about thats not "Yeah I know my team is [censored]! But we were awesome in the 50's!" We may not yet have the polish of Freo, Meth Coast or the Hawks, but we may start to push them in games and not be easy beats anymore! (we may even steal one if we catch them on an off day!). That is the type of improvement I want to see. A more competitive Melbourne. We can build off of that.

We had 16 players who had 26+ games experience. They had 6. Anyone trying to diminish the advantage we had over the Dogs is a dullard. That said, (some) people are taking too much notice of one practice match. We have no clue as to what Goodwin was doing with regards to setups, structures, etc. There's way too much being read into one performance.

Does anyone else remember playing the Bombers in the NAB Cup at Docklands the year Hird took over as coach (2011?). They beat us and as Hird walked the boundary in the final quarter their supporters all did the "stand and bow" in praise of him. It always makes me laugh to think back on that with the hindsight of knowing what destruction he would subject them to over the next few years. I hope their club is divided for decades over this, the same way we were/have been since Smith was sacked, Richmond since the late 70's/early 80's and Carlton since Elliott/salary cap sanctions. It doesn't just create poor performance on-field it destroys the fabric of a club off-field and creates a politically divided club. I think/hope we're coming out the other side now with the work of PJ and to a lesser extent Roos and if we can hand the baton to Essendon for some decades of pain that would be just great Let's smash them in round 2 and destroy their fragile psyche before they've even had a chance to get the season underway.

Some badly missing sarcasm detectors in the last few posts. Well done Wrecker and LDC

We beat them on every stat except free kicks. We kept them goalless in two quarters. It mightn't have been a crushing win on the scoreboard, but was solid. They're also short quarters, so I don't realistically know how far we were ever going to get ahead, especially in those conditions. Another 5 - 10 minutes in the last quarter could have started to create some carnage on the scoreboard. Speaking of the last quarter, was pleased that there were no junk time goals to them. But ... amongst the stats, we had 14 more Inside 50's. That those 14 more inside 50's only yielded a couple of goals extra speaks volumes about the kind of makeshift forward line we had with, ahem, Hogan out. It's not just about how many out, it's about WHO is out and its impact on team balance and structure. If you have 3 or 4 key mids out, but another 3 or 4 mids ready to step into those roles, then the impact can be minimal.

Even more exciting is that we haven't even seen Petracca or Weiderman yet either.

Add in Prestia at the end of this year. Oliver is really, really impressive. What excites me is that someone like Thomas Bugg has stepped up and really shown his hand too. It just takes the pressure off a young bloke like Oliver, because there are more hands on deck and a sharing of the load across many. We are now getting goals from midfield and look dominant at stoppages. When was the last time we could say that? Gawn certainly helps us give first use, but guys like Oliver will provide really stiff competition for Gus, Petracca, Bugg, Kennedy etc. Really like Oliver's decision making and game sense though. He knows where his team mates are and he knows which decision to take. Very excited about him.

Simple really. Two wins feels a lot better than two losses.

I'll take it, but will still celebrate hardcore if we manage it during the season. I'm talking cocaine, strippers, accidental flight to Queensland after a tab of acid, the works...

Difference between afl And the extremely corrupt organization that is fifa. When 5 north Korean women's players tested positive they booted the whole country from the womens world cup. The afl gave their team 10 top ups, prime time, refused to strip individuals of honours and no doubt will allow them a high pick. only the AFL could make fifa look good

Classic Demonland. We lose, we complain. We win, we complain.

Thanks OD. Dunno what's happened to you this year but Santa must have stuck a better brand of port in your stocking than you're accustomed too. Go Santa!

He's now the AFL's "Dennis theh Menace "

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-03-07/nathan-jones-powers-on-after-neck-surgery I didn't realise that the last 8 to 10 weeks of 2015 were so hard on Jonesy. You wouldn't have known it by the way he plays. Champion.

The reality is that you are wrong. They were missing the top 15 from their B&F. Which players of the following aren't clearly in their best 22? Stringer, Bontempelli, Macrea, Wallis, Boyd, Murphy, Dickson, Dahlhaus, Wood, Morris, Johannisen, Picken, Stevens, Hunter, and replace Crameri with Suckling So now name the dozen players from Saturday who'd get a game ahead of the above? Apart from Libba, 1 of the ruckman (Minson or Campbell), 1 key defender (Hamling or Roughhead) and 1 key forward (Redpath or Boyd), none of the others are remotely challenging the above players for a spot in the best 22. I'm not slashing my wrists over our performance, but their second stringers moved the ball better than our senior players, which is a worry.

He can only answer the questions that are put to him.

I love the fact that Melbourne are trying to win every game, if nothing else it gives the young supporters something to cheer about and a bit of confidence heading into the proper season.

Not even slightly worried about Tom McDonald, this is not to say that I think his disposal is great, but he is probably top 5 in our most important players for the next 7-8 years and is nearly the best key defender under 25 in the comp. He makes mistakes, heaps of our list make mistakes, all AFL players make mistakes, granted Tom McDonald mistakes are often punished more often due to him making the mistake in our back half, but his positives far outweigh his negatives in my opinion.

Has anyone else noticed how comfortable Goodwin is as coach? Hasn't put a foot wrong in terms of getting the boys motivated to play and several times in the last few weeks to come back from behind. Regardless of the opposition, we could easily have thought: 'this is only a practice game' and not played the game out and gone back to lazy days. He also looks really comfortable in the press conf. Gives real answers, is calm and really looks in control. To be able to motivate the troops and to manage the journos are great pluses (not to mention the game plan is looking pretty good) for our coach-in-waiting Roos is doing a great job of staying in the background and exposing Goodwin (in a good way). So much so that in watching yesterday's press conf I had forgotten about Roos. Regardless of the number of games we win this season the coaching transition will be a success.

Very encouraging performance yesterday. First up, it was a win. Imagine the howls if we'd gone down to "a VFL side". But, it was a win. Wins feel good. In previous years, we would have lost that. Oppo gets 4/5 goals up and heads go down. But we won. The boys are not going to be "on" every week. Not even Hawthorn are "on" every week. But they find a way to get it done in the bad weeks. We didn't need every player to be contributing to get the win. Quite the opposite from the sounds of it. Things weren't going our way. Wind. Some players skill levels down. But didn't drop the bundle. Now there is competition for spots. Matt Jones a lock for round 1? For some to be unimpressed by this is fine. It's a free country. If I'd seen it in person instead of listening to 2 quarters on the radio, I might have been unimpressed too. But to win, and be unimpressed with it, is a luxury that we haven't had for a very very long time. That is one of the things that makes me feel sure the wheel is turning, in our favour. Go Demons!

Yes it's a NAB game. No, it doesn't count for anything at all. BUT, it is a great chance to see what the team has been working on and what they still need to work on. 1. Those who were regularly in our side last year not playing yesterday - Hogan, Brayshaw, JKH, Stretch, ANB, Lamumba also Dunn and AVB off with minor injuries, we were not really full strength -although more strength than the opposition). 2. We won, something we have really struggled with in the past - 2 in a row - mentally for the team this is a big one. 3. Lots of mistakes, lots to work on, but managed to have the heart to win anyway. I have been a regular reader on here for ages, hoping that once we start winning games the shroud of negativity would dissipate. Apparently not! Nevermind, I am at least very happy with how things are looking. It was weird to actually feel confident at the end of the third that we would come back and win. If you are a glass half full person (like me), the positives are great. Players like Gawn and Viney are set up for a big season, players that were written off in the past are showing they have some worth (Grime and M. Jones). We are actually functioning as a team that work together - that is probably the biggest plus for me - I haven't seen a bunch of men trying to do something individually so they don't look bad, they are working on what is best for the team. I am looking forward to this season starting.

Reminds me of Sam Mitchell with his ability to get out of traffic so easily, has insane agility!

http://Check out @ChrisKaias's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ChrisKaias/status/706384933992820736?s=09 Saw this on twitter. Hirdy Reckons the players who weren't in the 34 lied about getting injections. Good work hirdy

Last year we played Essendon in the final NAB game. They were missing a bunch of their best players (due to "the saga"). We lost. At least this year, when faced with a side missing players, we managed to find a way to win. It's those kind of games we lost last year and have regularly lost since 2007 - games where we are favourites and/or know we have a chance are the ones we often stuff up. We let them get ahead, twice, and we fought back both times.

Because we won. We apparently played crap football and still managed to win. A win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win . To quote the less than great Mr Neeld, "It is what it is!" Yes we played poorly, but when it mattered, we had the spirit to win the game. A couple of years ago, we would have been happy lose and claim an honourable loss. It might only be a small step forward but, FMD, it's an important one. It shows we care. We don't want to be losers any more under any circumstances. Is there anything more important than that?

Cause it's demonland bro. There's even a thread going around at the moment celebrating our 'two nab challenge' wins. I like that you named 15 of the dogs starting 22 players who missed today, yet people still howl you down for pointing it out. Comedic really. Today again highlighted the weaknesses that have existed and haunted us for years. Lack of quality senior players and a lack of kicking skills and decision making skills all over the ground but in the backline especially. How many goals came from turnovers in our back-half?

Sorry just had to pinch myself that we have both Oliver and Brayshaw on our list.

Geez, how about 2 years ago we would have gone down by 10 once they kicked away in the third. Forget who wasn't there and enjoy that for two games in a row the lads dug deep when all seemed lost; and then found a way to win. Yeah, yeah.. Nab... blah blah etc I'm not expecting a GF or even a final, but it's nice to see the boys keep at it when all seems lost... no matter the opposition. Something that has been lacking for many years. It ain't Xmas, but it sure as hell isn't doomsday.

Interesting point from the game today. When Pedersen was dumped over the boundary at HF, Oliver was a few feet away and turned to jog off and set up for the throw-in. A teammate (I think vandenBerg) yelled at him something along the lines of "He's your teammate, give him a hand up!" by which time Pedersen had already picked himself up. Still, it's another example of team-building and player-driven standards in action.

It is pointless playing him in the two's when he is one of our better players in the one's (at least he was today). Pick players on form. He doesn't deserve to be dropped back to the reserves, that wouldn't be a good precedent to set, we should be rewarded our young players when they have good games - as we did with Brayshaw last year.