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He's in Perth.

Bit nervous about this one considering we haven't won back to back games since rounds 4 and 5. Time to break the hoodoo!

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I just get the feeling that we are very comfortable with this situation and they clearly know a lot more, than we all know.

Mate. This is the Dees you're talking about. No amount of opposition players missing will influence a result for us. In fact, if anything we're worse off, such is our history against undermanned sides.

Yes, but have you got a giant ferris wheel overlooking an industrial area?

Yaawwwn. As a relative newbie to DL, but a fanatic nonetheless, the childish [censored]-for-tat on some threads are getting reeeally boring. I'm looking at you picket and stuie amongst others. I come on here to observe and engage in footy discussion on the 'team we love', not schoolyard dummy spits and d**k waving!! Can't ya'll grow up and play nice? We're all here with the same passion. GO DEES. Take it right up to the Dogs and do us proud this week.

No idea why people are getting their knickers in a twist about no ANB. He's playing well, sure, but it's hardly something to get upset about. He'll get his chance somewhere down the line.

I find Lapsang Souchong tea leaves in a translucent eggshell porcelain tea cup best for tea leaf reading. The pungent smoky aroma goes hand in hand with all the smoke and mirrors of trade talk.

I'll pick him up up from his home and drive him to Etihad - that should do the trick.

os Club P W L D % Pts 1 Geelong Cats 8 7 1 0 166.7 28 2 North Melbourne 7 7 0 0 123 28 3 Sydney Swans 7 6 1 0 155.4 24 4 Western Bulldogs 7 5 2 0 145.8 20 5 GWS Giants 7 5 2 0 138.3 20 6 Hawthorn 7 5 2 0 99.4 20 7 West Coast Eagles 7 4 3 0 116.6 16 8 Melbourne 7 4 3 0 112.7 16

OK, it's time to preserve what's left of this once-great thread and resurrect the good vibes that permeated it at the beginning. All contract talk should go in the Jesse Hogan Panic Room, a new thread where you can convince yourself and others that's he's staying or going based on facial expressions, astrology & tarot card readings, conversations with taxi drivers and media beat-ups. Please leave this thread for footy talk and all non-contract-related discussion.

I am a proud man, having started the greatest thread ever on Demonland. Over 20000 posts across 800 pages and over 360000 views. We are on our way to 1000 pages and 500000 views and 30000 posts and not one fight the whole time. Hopefully other threads will aspire to the high standards we have attained throughout. Lastly, for those who think we don't mention enough football, I say "sherrin and faulkner".

Love Ben Kennedy's response!

This stat is incredible and yet not surprising. According to Champion Data, Melbourne has won 18 more takeaways than the opposition per 100 centre bounces when Oliver is there. That number drops by 12 on average whenever he wanders outside the centre bounce setup.

Seriously I have ready your tripe for years but take it as gospel this is fact in this is very much a factor in this case I am struggling to comprehend you are actually an adult to come out with some of the stuff you have in this thread, if you're genetically or mentally challenged I apologise in advance, you sound like the type of insecure person who always assumes the worst oh know my partner has gone out without me they must be cheating. FFS Harden Up if he goes he goes, we will continue and be well compensated Smart clubs build around more than 1 player and if we are to win a flag it wont be solely because of Jesse Hogan, whatever hole he leaves will be filled it may take time but it will be filled

the fact that he did do that (and went to north and sydney) and is still a melbourne legend/favourite son should tell you something about the respect he earned and the contribution he made to the mfc that it transcended everything else

He's there, it's just his head doesn't fit on the page....

Now we have to beat the Doggies to stay in the 8

6x premiership player, premiership captain, father was also a Melbourne player who died in service, MFC Coterie looking after his family, pretty much the foster son of Norm Smith, first ever father/son player Yeah he left at the behest of Norm Smith but Jesus H. Christ this guy is as close to being the MFC as any one person could be. Would've been good if we had a "succession plan" back then but you can't question his impact, influence and love of the club. I hope the club buys his memorabilia that he's looking to offload some of that stuff belongs at the sports museum not in some collectors home.

I wouldn't mind adding to this collection soon.

There are several clubs I don't like (as DC said, that's footy), but I have blind hatred for only one. What Essendrug have done is far far worse than any other scandal in the AFL. Draft tampering, tanking, over-cap payments, brown paper envelopes, dodgy 'ambassador' jobs for star players, etc (even things which I hope have never happened such as bribing an umpire or deliberately spreading flu about an oppo team) all pale into insignificance compared to EFC's 'pharmacological experiment'. My wide-eyed hatred will endure until they get rid of everyone associated with it and stop painting them as innocent martyrs.

Gawn is right there in the background between Viney and Hogan.

In the big picture it's a case of simply needing ppl to kick goals. This may or may not include Hogan. I don't really care as long as the TEAM performs.Staying or going, will be what it is. He'd be silly though to pack his bags and tie his swag elsewhere just as we hit our stride.

First paragraph: But the council says the surface is not fit for football and the match would have been moved, regardless of whether Melbourne was training. Headline: Melbourne FC training forces Cranbourne Eagles off Casey Fields oval WTF Journalism!?

Never heard of it til you mentioned it but the whole show is up on Youtube

Quick, end the regular season now! Call it early!

We definitely nailed this pick - interesting to see the difference between our drafting and Collingwoods since Taylor came over no wonder Eddie was filthy when we poached him.

It is interesting that we have 2 greats of the games whose records will probably never be beaten. Norm Smith involved in 10 flags for MFC, 4 as a key forward, 6 as a coach. RDB, six as a player with us and 4 as coach with other clubs. Two extraordinary MFC people, the like of which we will not likely see again.

Ronald Dale Barassi is a living legend and a champion of the Melbourne Football Club. He was a giant of the game but to us Dee supporters he was, our captain, our icon, our promoter, our illustrious master, our inspiration, but most of all he was our phenomenon. I was very young when he announced his departure, and I remember crying for days.

Picked Adelaide. Not completely sold on Geelong. I've learnt to hate them and, in particular, Chris Scott. Most of my tips are based on hatred.

It must be said at the advice of his greatest mentor and our(the games) greatest Icon Norm. Think we also underestimate the foundations he laid in the 80's for what followed under Swooper

Surprisingly, more teams have won the flag from 4-3 than from 5-2 (although Brisbane won a flag after being 5-1-1 in 2003), with Hawthorn last year, Geelong in 2007 and Brisbane in 2001 all having gone on to win the flag after having just four wins from seven. That would suggest, somewhat perversely, that West Coast, Adelaide, Melbourne and Port Adelaide have a better chance of being premiers this year than the Western Bulldogs, GWS and Hawthorn. - See more at: http://australianfootball.com/articles/view/Micro+Noises+124%3A+Depending+on+views%2C+news+is+bad+and+good+for+Roos/1954#sthash.M0riNdCl.dpuf

Just listening to the Herald Sun trade podcast with Jay Clark, Sam Landsberger and Gilbert Gardiner. Clark, who has written a number of Hogan articles this week, and who I actually think is one of the more reliable HS journos says he thinks from his information now that he is "98% sure" that Hogan signs a new deal with Melbourne. Obviously not saying it's gospel, just that it's a different narrative than when every single media outlet reported that Scully was a goner from months out. Worth a listen from the 5.25 mark...

We saw that Ash, just don't have any faith in the AFL at all to actually follow through with it. They have tried from day 1 to get the bombers off and have even said publicly that they want them up and about again in a most inappropriate fashion.

I firmly believe that is was the OPSM team that beat us in the game against the Kangas.

I must be missing something... I actually don't understand the argument on Hall, Lynch,Hunter, Dawes and Cloke. If anything they actually prove you point ( excepting Dawes and Hunter). Hall in his premiership year (2005) took a massive 206 marks and kicked 80 goals ! He was AA, and AFLCA player of the year (2nd in their B&F) Lynch in his premiership year (2006) took 143 marks and kicked 65 goals ( 7th in their B&F) Cloke took a whopping 171 marks in his premiership year of 2010 and kicked 38 goals but also kicked 40 behinds Hunter still kicked 29 goals in their premiership year but was a swingman at both ends of the ground Dawes was second fiddle to Cloke and he still kicked 30 goals for the year. Big power forwards like Hall, Lynch, Jono Brown, Franklin, Roughead and Hawkins have been instrumental in getting their teams premierships.

I was a bit mystified by this - which game in particular made you both jump to this conclusion. He has played against us twice - both last year. First game he had 9 touches and in the second game he had 14 touches. Not that I draw too much from supercoach but he was rated 2nd worst on ground in his first outing and 5th worst on ground in his second).

Not enough is being made of how good football is this year without the sub rule, worst decision in history to bring that in, especially after rotations were capped.

Jacko, Demonland is a microcosm of society, there are all types here. Some suggest the ignore feature but I prefer to skim some posters. Often the worst culprits have something interesting to say. As in society we learn to deal with the idiots, the wankers and the pedants (like me). One thing is certain, we all love our team, we simply do it differently.

You'd think with all these bloody teachers I'd learn something from this forum....

Viney is as lippy as they come on the field haha! I still think Tyson is as good as Josh Kelly on his own, especially given he's in pretty good form at the moment, and Salem is a very solid best 22 walk up start with the talent to be a genuine A grader, i've always been very comfy with that trade!

lol Salem of all people. They must be unfamiliar with the stylings of Dunn, Bugg, Kent and Jones.

Perth?

Perhaps Salem could take Kent's role this week? Dangerous around goal with his left foot and allows for our defence to stay settled. Mixes things up... We're going to miss Kent's pace though. Doggies are quick.

One of the things that I discovered about the Western Bulldogs and their major breakout year last year is that they certainly played some good football, particularly in the latter stages of the year but they were blessed with a rather easy fixture. It was however, the regular winning of games that built their confidence and, in the end were rated possibly more highly than might have been. Their wins this year have come against Fremantle, St. Kilda, Carlton, Brisbane and Adelaide - the latter being their major scalp. All games have been at Etihad. They also lost close ones to Hawthorn and North (a low scoring game) at the same ground. Unlike us, they have won the games they should have won but I really have this feeling that they are gettable on the G.

Played 50 forgettable games as a junior, before a series of minor non-career-threatening finger injuries saw me give the game away in about the under 12's. Like others on here, spent a lot of time on the bench, and then resting in the forward pocket, which hadn't even been invented yet. Nonetheless, I did get my moment in the sun, when I managed a scrubber goal from about 10 metres out in the dying seconds of a game to level the scores just as the siren rang. It was the day after Gubby Allen's infamous last-minute kick across goal at the Whitten Oval, which was intercepted by Simon Beasley who goaled to get the Doggies home. I was carried off the ground by my delighted team-mates, who were chanting "Beasley, Beasley", which is a shame because that's not my name.