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What a load of rubbish. Firstly, being gifted games of footy implies that there were those more deserving of a game than he. Go back and look at some of the teams we have fielded over the last five years and suggest which consistently better footballers he was robbing of a game. We have been a rabble and, in OUR side, Jack has more often than not been worthy of a spot. Also, IMO we as a club are culpable in the trajectory of his career to date. We threw him to the wolves on QB all those years ago while he was still playing school footy FFS. We have set him up for the most immense media scrutiny of any player of his calibre I can remember in my lifetime. And we even had a coach who publicly torched him before he'd even coached a game for the club. So it's hard to ignore the fact that despite the fact we have largely thrown him under a bus, he loves the club and wants to be here. It's no coincidence that now that we have a half decent development program, Jack has grown in confidence and put in his best ever patch of footy for the club. Jack has been inconsistent, frustrating and has underperformed, no doubt. But some of the negative airtime he gets is unhelpful and plain wrong.

He reminds me of Viney. His height was no issue when he made that amazing spoil in the last. Just brilliant. I watch a lot of Collingwood with my mate, who said BenK would come good. But I didn't think we'd get one game out of him that was as influential as he was on Saturday. So I'm pretty happy already. He's fun to watch too, strange comment, but recently I'm reminded how fun footy can be. Slightly related, pretty much every time Garlett goes into the middle since he's been here, something happens. It has driven me nuts that he isn't put in the middle more often. Hopefully the additions of BenK and Kent will allow this to happen more regularly.

Not sure if Lumumba will play this week but he should have a much better season now that the games have opened up, the sub rule is gone and we are attacking and kicking more goals. His game style is not conducive to slow, congested footy as we saw last season.

No he hasn't. He was gifted games early. But he has been 'breaking out' and 'turning the corner' since 2011... We have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to this bloke. And we listen to our mates who support other teams who circle jerk with each other and wax lyrical about the 'sh!t blonde kid at Melbourne', the 'sissy', the 'woman in number 4.' Every year he shows us what he can do and then spasmodically reverts back to inconsistency and underperformance. It is entirely unfair to say his 115 games are largely unearned.

There are too many contenders pushing for spots in our best 22 for anyone to be complacent against Essendon ......... and they all want to be on the plane to Hobart the following weekend. We will win by a big margin in spite of our recent record in 'should win' matches.

He said that most clubs told him he was too fat in a round about way. At the combine, Goodwin told him if he lost 4 kilos we may draft him. He lost 5.

I'm not gonna lie, there is a nagging voice in the back of my head warning me not to get ahead of myself on this and to be prepared for us to somehow choke on this game. But there is a more important image that pops into my head, the image of Viney, Hogan, Oliver, Watts, Gawn etc and the look on their face after the GWS win. They desperately want that feeling again, and I think the competitive beasts we have at our club will accept nothing more than our best on the weekend, and if that happens we'll win big. This game is a golden opportunity for Hogan, who until the 4th quarter has been a bit off kilter, to regain his form and confidence. I hope the club builds on Clarry's minutes and unleashes him against the depleted Dons mindfield, and I wanna see Jack Viney smash everyone one of them into the turf (he can go a little easier of Jamar if he likes). As Jako said, this game will be won/lost/won big between the ears of the Dees squad.

very good point - that ridiculous, freakish ability he has when the ball is loose, it seems to just find it's way into his hands and then he gives everyone the slip. Obviously his game is not about smashing bodies like Viney and Jones live for - that's what makes him a good complementary player in the midfield, he can shark those loose ones just like he does in the forward line. He has that breakaway speed and finesse with his kicking too, I just can't believe how good this guy has gotten. Totally agree he should be looked at more in the middle - the problem is of course is handy as hell in the forward pocket so it might be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Maybe it's a matter of priming one of the other midfielders to be able to rotate in and have some of that FP time, but there's no chance they'll do as good a job as Jeffy, he is just your textbook forward pocket. in short, I'd like two of him please

GWS arent kids anymore, and they are widely tipped to make the 8 And most 'experts' tipped them to beat us

Talk about damming him with faint praise. That kick was brilliant - he was practically on the boundary line.

Yeah, that's exactly why he posted the story of his dream. FMD...

You're a drongo, Stu.

So you find the need to be critical of a bloke's dream ? Bizarre

I can't believe some supporters think we'd have other priorities that would preclude Hurley and/or Prestia. My priority is getting better. The better we are the more players will want to remain and be part of the success. Dawes will free up $500K and while I've never taken an interest in off-field stuff like the CBA I believe there will be more money in the player payments pool. Melbourne will (rightly) be desperate to land both. 2017 Jetta I Hurley I Garland Melksham I T. McDonald I Salem Trengove I Viney I Prestia Petracca I Hogan I Kent Garlett I Weideman I Watts R: Gawn I Brayshaw I N. Jones IC: Oliver I Vince I vandenBerg I Kennedy E: Tyson I Stretch I O. McDonald Twelve top 10 draft picks/bids (only GWS could match that). Even without Hurley/Prestia we'd have 10 with the inclusion of Tyson. Obviously not everyone will agree with that projected team, but the makings of a premiership are right there ^^^

Agree - Frost caused a number of errant kicks from the Giants that resulted in turnovers. Like Garlett, his defensive skills only work when the rest of the team is 'on' and playing their role - if we have everyone manned up / covered with our zone then the defenders running it out need a bit more time to assess the options and dispose of the ball. It's in these moments that Frost gets them as they don't expect someone of his size to get to them that quickly and they sh!t themselves! If he can kick a goal or two here and there and keeps up the pressure efforts then he is more valuable than the stats would say.

More of a link man than Toumpas, better forward play than Howe. He plays a role that we don't have too many competitors for - especially if he continue to find the footy through the middle. 10 touches within 55m of goal and 11 further up the ground. Not many on our list would be comfortable doing that, or be able to do it.

Good opportunity to demonstrate the loss of the soft underbelly and aim for a demolition job by playing 4 quarters for a change. Won't be happy with anything less.

This game will be played between the ears for our boys.

I actually think the opposite - but I agree it is confidence - I don't think that leads are ignored because of lack of confidence in who they are kicking to - I think players on our team have often ignored leads as the player kicking is not confident enough that he will make the pass. The difference for me when I watched the really good team is they have the utmost confidence in their ability to hit their team mate and pull the trigger first time. I think this is changing though - some of the turnovers or spoils are occuring because we are pulling the trigger on passes that would not have been attempted last year and the year before.

I'm optimistic that this will destroy them for over a decade. It will be nice to see them humiliate themselves as well. Then thrash them and stomp on the remnants of their dignity. I don't normally like kicking a sick dog but I'll put the steel caps on in this case.

Wooden keyboard? Nice

Since he is such a hot topic at the minute, here is my 2 cents about Tyson: He has 2 major problems, he is slow and he is a terrible kick. Now the latter is the lesser of the problems, for a midfielder at least, we can probably deal with 60% efficiency by foot if he can keep his hands up around 80-85%. Judd and Swan are both brownlow medal proof that you dont have to be a glorious kick to be a star midfielder as long as you can get your hands on the footy and give it to someone who is. we'll all love tyson forever if he gets the ball in and under and hands it out to le like of salem running past who has the skill to hit someone lace out. The bigger problem I see is he is slow moving the ball on, he gets caught holding the ball more than any other player in the competition, and this is harder to fix. People calling for him to be dropped but I feel he will dominate in the VFL simply due to the extra time he has. IMO we have to persist with him at AFL level and he has to get better at moving the ball on quicker. Going down a level and playing exactly the same might help his confidence but wont change the fact he will continue to get caught at the top level. I'm open to sugestions as to how the VFL could improve this skill but right now i just cant see it helping

Wowee. Does a little alarm bell ding in your house when someone mentions a players name?

Well that would mean one of the players would have to be dropped. Another veiled criticism?

I think the problem may lie in your viewing skills. It wasn't a good game from Tyson and he had three very bad clangers but he hardly had the ball 17 times and hardly took 5 marks and hardly had a couple of tackles and hardly pumped inside 50 - 3 times. I think he has enough credits in the bank that he won't get dropped after one game.

I'm sorry Nasher but our code of conduct is very clear. Personal abuse will not be tolerated.

Cuts up the oranges for 3/4 time?

Cant wait till Jack signs. Reckon he has put in too much 'blood, sweat and tears' to walk away now!

Interesting to hear that one of the players to take him under their wing is Nev Jetta. For those keeping count, that is Reason #572 for loving Nev Jetta.

ON TRACK by Whispering Jack Nathan Jones is saying that the Demons are finally back on track. There is no doubt that the signs are good and they always are when you can number those who could potentially force their way into the best 22 from outside Saturday's winning team against the GWS Giants on the fingers of both hands. Yes, both hands. At Good Friday’s training session which was followed by an extended training session for players not selected which included game simulation and match practice with members of the Casey Scorpions squad, I counted a few there who were overlooked but who would normally have been pegged in as obvious selections. You can add a couple of the emergencies for Saturday who had to be rested and a couple of early draft selections on show for the first time coming back from long term injury. There are a couple of mates from Glenelg who have had a brief taste and are not far away, along with a couple of rookies fighting for an upgrade who had played well in Melbourne's last win of 2015 at Etihad Stadium - also against the Giants. This week's opponent is Essendon and by way of contrast to the above, you need only flash back three years in time when the teams also met in Round 2 under much different circumstances. Back then, it was Melbourne that was reeling in an out of control downward spiral and its list was so problematic that it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that half of the players who ran out that day might have struggled for games elsewhere. Such has been the rejuvenation of the Melbourne list in the interim under Paul Roos. However, it has not only been the change in personnel but also, there's been a sea change in culture, style of game and attitude and particularly so this year as the more attacking influence of coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin begins to kick in. The greater depth in the playing group is an outcome of the work of Roos and co in the transformation of the club from a basket case to a contender. There still remain some ghosts of the past that must be laid to rest. The Bombers were at a low ebb when these teams met in Round 15 last year. They were sinking under the cloud of the long running drugs saga, their form was abysmal coming off a 110-point loss to St Kilda the week before, key players were missing with injury and James Hird's coaching tenure was under attack. It should have been an easy win for the Demons but they made a mess of it. Essendon is again at a low ebb now as it faces a season in the wilderness minus a dozen suspended players. The Bombers are in disarray. That would normally be a worry for a Melbourne team that seems to underperform when expected to do well but not this time. I expect Melbourne with its new found hardness, its purpose and more attacking mindset to lay to rest another ghost of the past. These things must be done to ensure the club remains on track. Melbourne by 40 points. THE GAME Essendon v Melbourne at the MCG Saturday, 2 April, 2016 at 2.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Essendon 128 wins Melbourne 81 wins 2 draws At the MCG Essendon 65 wins Melbourne 45 wins 1 draw The last five meetings Essendon 2 wins Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Worsfold 0 wins Roos 0 wins MEDIA TV – Fox Footy Channel – live at 1.30 pm RADIO - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC THE BETTING Essendon $6.00 to win Melbourne $1.12 to win THE LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 10.9.69 defeated Melbourne 7.18.60 at the MCG, Round 15, 2015 Melbourne dominated the play in the first half but couldn't put the Bombers away and was made to pay when they were outscored by one goal to six in the third quarter. Inaccuracy in front of goal didn't help. THE TEAMS ESSENDON B: Matt Dea, Mitch Brown, Mark Baguley HB: James Gwilt, Michael Hartley, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti C: Brendon Goddard, David Zaharakis, Jackson Merrett HF: Zach Merrett, Patrick Ambrose, Kyle Langford F: Mathew Stokes, Joe Daniher, Nick Kommer R: Matthew Leuenberger, Ryan Crowley, Darcy Parish I: Martin Gleeson, Orazio Fantasia, Adam Cooney, James Kelly IN: Nick Kommer, Michael Hartley (debut), Orazio Fantasia OUT: Craig Bird, Jonathan Simpkin, Shaun McKernan MELBOURNE B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Heritier Lumumba HB: Matt Jones, Colin Garland, Christian Salem C: Bernie Vince, Jack Viney, Aaron vandenBerg HF: Jack Watts, Cam Pedersen, James Harmes F: Dean Kent, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Clayton Oliver, Tom Bugg, Ben Kennedy Emg: Lynden Dunn, Billy Stretch, Sam Frost IN: Angus Brayshaw, Heritier Lumumba OUT: Sam Frost, Oscar McDonald

I want to believe this Oldfart and I think you are right but my supporter syndrome is strong

From that facebook page ... Adam Woods Go Deez! Win it for all the clean clubs out there.

Easy on with the common sense, P-man. Calling the frenzied reactions to Demonland's newest whipping boy silly is a bit ..... silly. We all know he's slow, disinterested, a rubbish kick, gets caught more than anyone in the AFL, lazy, and probably hurts small animals, so dropping him just seems obvious.

Tyson tested 3.02 in the 20 metre sprint at the combine so he is no snail. His kicking in match conditions seems to have declined in recent times but often it is a rushed kick out of congestion. Fundamentally I wouldn't say he is a poor kick. i really think there is a sense of panic in the OTT criticism of Tyson based on his less than stellar form last season appearing to flow into this one. We are one game into the season. Calls for him to be dropped are silly.

I used to love Todd so much I convinced my parents to fork out considerable $$ for tennis lessons with him back in the day. He advertised in what was then the MFC newspaper.. I still remember being shocked that his home phone number was just publicly available like that, and can also recall how nervous I was when I called for the first time. What I don't remember - at all - is anything he taught me about tennis, a game I had no interest in playing, but if he was still giving lessons, I'd probably still be a star-struck student. If Jack was doing something similar - heck, even if he was selling tupperware - I'd probably sign up for that too.

You left out the last line: "Don't let Trengove use that cream!"

As long as we aren't on growth hormones.

While I agree, I think there is only so long that excuse can fly. He's had more than ample time to recover from his first QB and while Neeld wasn't exactly a confidence booster he is now into his 3rd year with Roos and it's fair to say it's been up and down. One of the other issues with him is that coaches have been desperately trying to figure out what he is as a player. So he's been thrown into every role bar ruckman to work it out. He was recruited as the standout key forward, but maybe he was actually always a 2nd or 3rd key forward. With Watts in the forward line with Hogan by his side and even with Pedo/Frost as another big body it actually makes a lot of sense why he can now be successful. I'm optimistic about him this year. It has all the ingredients for it to click consistently for him and for the team, but let's see how this thread is traveling after round 4/5.

We have had more players lost by free agency than any other. If we were to get a player of Hurley's class and maybe Prestia as well, you would think any Demon player wavering on our future and with a good offer, would re sign.

Don't worry,I'll be playing in tonights dream with my new hip, and kick the wining goal with one mighty punt from full back.

Can't get my head around the idea of him going. The idea just doesn't match my view of his personality. He'll stay. The most I can imagine is him playing his last two years elsewhere in his 30s, but I'd be stunned if he left during the peak of his career.

I wasn't talking about his performance on field (which I have never viewed negatively). I was talking about the way he has endured being at a club at its lowest ebb, the unbelievable personal media scrutiny, the fan booing. He was the public face of the club for most of his time. He has invested all of himself to the club and is no less a club man than others. I used 'Blood, Sweat and Tears' euphemistically to reflect all that and his loyalty. He could have walked to Carlton on huge coin a few years ago. He stayed. Having invested so much of himself I can't see him walking away now. And to put him in the category of contract year cruisers is simply unfair and not true.

I'm not surprised he doesn't make many tackles. If I had the pill and he was coming at me I'd get rid of the [censored] thing ASAP, regardless of how!!

I think he might go out for Brayshaw, i reckon the club will be keen to get guys like Viney, TMac, Hogan, Tyson, Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver and the real core of the side going forward to play as many games together as possible

Bernie was on AFL Tonight and was certain Watts won't go anywhere for what it's worth.

The forward line clicked when everyone was moved out of the way. Pedo wasn't the only one clogging it up for three quarters. Kent, Garlett both pushed up, Jones didn't go deep as often, Gawn held back. At least Pedo's versatile. Dawes lacks that flexibility to move up the ground and contribute. Frost struggles to get involved, and his set shot is shocking. He should be made to find form at VFL. Pedo is far more useful than both of them atm.

FB: Jetta / T. McDonald / Garland HB: Vince / O. McDonald / Salem C: Brayshaw / Tyson / N. Jones HF: Petracca / Watts / Vandenberg FF: Garlett / Hogan / Kent R: Gawn / Oliver / Viney I: Kennedy / Bugg / Trengove / Neal-Bullen E: Prestia / Hurley / Melksham No..?

Absolutely agree. Like certain others, he's been unfairly maligned by many here in an unfair and uncritical way. He's got good hands, he's evasive, and he's pretty quick. I always take note of how the players assess other players. In my observation, the rest of the player group think Matt Jones is a good player. In fact, I'll never forget Rodan saying Matt Jones was super hard to tackle - just so quick on his feet. And remember people, Rodan could dance. That he played in round one after one of the best pre-seasons in living memory, with a relatively full list to pick from and a highly competent coaching group now assessing the players, says it all in my opinion.

Dead set mate, you think I am just looking at the stats sheet and forming an opinion. I see what I see, and the stats back it up. You keep crapping on about his "presence", when he didn't even stick a single tackle in the whole game. But, but, he "got out the way for Hogan and Watts". I think we set our sights for that "role" a little bit higher. Worth pointing out Pedo stuck 4 tackles, and I remember one goal in the first quarter directly came from the pressure Pedo applied when the ball hit the deck. And I will stress again, I am not saying drop him or he won't make it as a forward, I am just saying I am yet to be convinced.

The man bun puts me off...