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I was there Michie was only emergency there Spoke to Jeff Garlett, was upbeat did some work with rehab group but said there was no issue Spoke to Clarry and Billy Stretch really looking forward to having a crack at Sydney Most of the full drills were ball movement VDB's melon looks like he was in car crash, black eyes again Rehab group as such was JKH Dunn Smith Pedo HL took part in the drills but no sign of Brayshaw Jack Watts is in a really good place was bouncing around the whole session and was very vocal with his encouragement Put some pics on my Twitter Demonpk including Jesse Hogan giving the marking bag a workout

Sometimes I really don't understand the feuding on this site. FWIW I have been firmly in the "don't delist" camp and would summarise JW this year as follows: 1. He is certainly surpassing the "minimum standard" required to play at AFL level (but I don't think that's what ProDee was arguing) 2. He is making a valuable contribution and averaging 2 goals a game is by far his best effort to date 3. He appears capable of better. He still has quiet periods in games and lapses in intensity 4. His natural talent levels mean he should have a higher ceiling and be held to a higher standard than many other players. This is not harsh, it is an acknowledgement that he has many tools that others don't and should be expected to use them All that considered, this year has been good and we should certainly enjoy what he is producing. However I don't think it is in any way unreasonable to assume that this should be a building block to becoming an even better player, rather than an anomaly year before he regresses or plateaus. He is capable of more. I would suggest that holding this season out as a minimum standard is completely appropriate and don't really understand why anyone would think otherwise.

For once I agree with Barrett's 'Sliding Doors': Essendon IF...you represent the Bombers and you start bemoaning the actions of another club for acting "outside the laws of the game" by having a chat with one of your drug-banned players ... ...THEN we have to remind you: for the foreseeable future you have fully relinquished any right to question the morals and ethics of others.

I reckon the North bloke threw his head back and played for a free kick, Cyril barely got him. Deserved to be pinged for holding the ball.

What I find perplexing about this entire thread is that posters seem to base their opinion solely on our teams last performance. After a win, Prestia is surplus to our requirements. After a loss, we need more midfield depth, so Prestia is a necessity. People are also forming an opinion of Prestia's capabilities based solely on this season, after coming of a knee reco. I reckon he's been pretty good considering he's playing in a team that has been a rabble. We are a middle of the road team, and if a very good player like Prestia expresses interest in playing for us, we should do everything within reason to get him.

First time poster.... interesting when comparing direct opponents on afl match centre team sheets using afl rankings Melbourne actually leads 13 to 9. Last week against Collingwood it was 11 each. Sydney has the 5 highest players then drop away to quite a few inexperienced players. They are missing 7 players from there finals loss to north last year. If a player like Tommy bugg can do a similar tagging job on one of there gun mids like last week it could really tip the balance as they seem to rely on those top five players. Go the jugular Dees!

Pretty disrespectful to the bloke who keeps this site going so you can fill up your free time reading it. Just saying.

Did you watch the Casey match? I don't think the extra day to recover would outweigh the slog they had to endure. No point in replacing a tired player with a buggered one.

I loved when Jack was asked about Prestia coming to the Dees next year, he started his reply with "well, I'm not in charge of list management obviously or I'd have given myself another contract by now"

funny how all of a sudden Woosha is being portrayed as a beacon of integrity. you people on the east coast must have forgotten that this man was the pharmacist behind the 92 and 94 eagle premiership years that had players bulking up like he-man and jumping fences when the testers knocked on the door

Dawes changes the whole dynanic of how we play. As long as he keeps doing the 1% he'll always be one of the few the first named. He brings more than people actually think, his teammates certainly walk a lot taller with him about which is a bonus with a young side

I just love that Essendon is having a cry. Nothing else really interests me at the moment.

Sorry H disagree. I think the club is duty bound to get him to 100 games if he is anywhere near the required AFL level (which he is) and believe there is still a place for this sort of approach in the game. Footy will never be just business and it simply cannot be forgotten what he has given to this club. They'll get him those two games and i will be proud of the club when they do.

Rubbish. That was a victory in the war against staging. Cyril barely touched him under the arm and he threw his head back. Great umpiring, good for the game.

I am seriously over worrying about what players stay or go. If they want to be here they will stay if not then don't let the door hit u on the way out.

lol, some people in here wanted us to sign Majak Daw... lol

I don't think the speccy git understands what a "sliding doors" scenario actually is, but he's bang on here!

Van Der Hum ?????????????

Despite BB's blunder, I'd say you come off the loser in this exchange, just based on your [censored] poor attitude to other posters. Honestly I'm sick of trawling through your abusive posts to find the occasional footy-related nugget. I'm going to make use of the ignore filter for the first time and make my Demonland experience a much happier one. Cheerio!

I think Dawes will be good for these conditions. He tackles like a train crash and hits packs. And he isn't going to get smaller as the day goes on

A 5 year contract for Dawes is now on the table...

Love the new name mate

Daisy is guest-hosting the pre-game Ch 7 telelcast. Hamish announced she would be wearing #31. To which Daisy replied (grinning) while nothing is cast in stone she thought she would be playing for the Dees and... She is amazing. Slid straight into the role of guest-host as if she has been on prime time TV all her life. She is a terrific ambassador for our club, all gender considerations aside.

An aspect of the game that seems to have escaped DL attention is that Nat Jones plays against little bro Zac for the first time ever http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-06-17/big-brother-nath-ready-for-little-bro-zak He is looking forward to it: “We’re both really competitive, and our Mum and Dad will be up there watching, but we haven’t spoken much about footy this week on the phone. I think we’re both looking forward to it – and hopefully I’ll get one up on him...The main thing is that we get the job done, so I’ve got all of the bragging rights" Some nice bro love: “I’ve actually already warned him [about wrestling me],” he said...“He’s staying at my house for four days, so if he engages in any kind of wrestle and I get fined out of it, he’ll be paying for it. Should be fun to watch their contests!

Run and delivery out of the backline is still a requirement in my opinion. Hibberd would be a sizeable improvement (defensively and offensively) on Lumumba, and is younger to boot. As other's have pointed out, this could release Salem to give us more class and speed in an outside mid role (along with securing a key back, adding pace and outside class to the midfield is the other list need). We'd be improving ball use and movement in two areas of the field. Hibberd would make the team better, and surely that's among the first questions you ask when determining whether we try to acquire a player.

I don't care if we get Hibberb or not, but if talking to him... or just floating it... gets up the noses of the powers at Drugland then I say talk away.

I think with the weather conditions I would only make 1 change.. I would take Oscar McDonald out (Keep Frost in as he is faster and a bigger body) and bring in Grimes. This will help us match up better given their smaller forward line.

A few stats for this weekend, based on the full 25 man squad MFC Syd Diff Average Age 23.1 25.3 -2.2 Average Games 60.4 85.9 -25.6 Back Line Ave Age 22.0 26.3 -4.3 Ave Games 48.3 133.3 -85.0 Fol (includes wing) Ave Age 24.5 27.5 -3.0 Ave Games 95.8 86.8 9.0 Fwd Ave Age 22.3 21.7 0.6 Ave Games 61.5 122.2 -60.7 Int Ave Age 22.3 21.7 0.6 Ave Games 39.3 13.4 25.9 Melbourne Games Backline Fol Fwd Int total 0-50 3 1 4 5 13 51-100 3 3 0 2 8 101-150 0 0 2 0 2 151-200 0 1 0 0 1 200+ 0 1 0 0 1 25 Syd Games Backline Fol Fwd Int total 0-50 1 3 1 6 11 51-100 2 1 1 1 5 101-150 0 0 1 0 1 151-200 2 1 2 0 5 200+ 1 1 1 0 3 25 MFC Back Syd Fwd Diff Age 22.0 21.7 0.3 Games 48.3 122.2 -73.8 MFC Fwd Syd Back Age 22.3 26.3 -4.0 Games 61.5 133.3 -71.8 Once again we field a team that gets no where close in terms of age or experience. I am surprised by the amount of young players the swans have in the team though, they are obviously very well supported by a group of very good highly experienced players, which we lack in number. Given the weather forecast and hopefully carrying over our experience from the Hawks game I can see us sneaking a win here, but I also wont be surprised if we lose comfortably.

Have watched a fair bit of Treloar going back to his Stingray days. No doubt has the potential to be absolutely top notch, but would still say he has a way to go. At the moment he is very much a one way player. He’d be a better all-round mid if he ran even half as hard defensively as he does offensively. I’d go as far to say that he’s a liability in this area. All well and good if you’re at a club that surrounds you with hard working mids who can cover (Hawks, Sydney), but was Collingwood have a number of downhill skiers in their midfield at the moment, so poor defensive transition and accountability is the norm (with standout performances against Geelong and Brisbane proving to be the exception). Makes me appreciate some of Petracca’s pressure acts on Monday, he’s not only is electric with ball in hand, he’s very active with his pressure when the ball’s in his area. For a purely attack focused midfielder, Treloar can be a scrappy on occasion. Whether it’s cleaning up decision making or execution of skill could be debated, but he generally gets the ball to where it needs to go, and he gets plenty of it and runs well with ball in hand.

If you were told we could have both and give up a 2016 second rounder for Hibberd and a 2017 first rounder for Prestia, would you do it? If both players wanted to come to Melbourne and we were keen, we'd find a way.

Lets try and get this thread back on the straight line.. He is named for Casey this weekend which is awsome. Hopefully he gets through unscathed.

Hope we won't be subjected to another ' we got it wrong at selection' quote at the post game presser this week. Could happen given the conditions so they really need to be smart this round.

It would probably be a cheaper option than buying him a gold mansion and filling it with naked ladies who feed him grapes all day

So... Thought maybe this had been said so started reading last few pages and figured after the first that I could probably take my chances. I'm loving Watts' trick of finding position to mark or gather the bouncing ball, and seeming to get his opponent into a spot where Jack can just put his head down and run around the player. He's doing it a lot and I think his acceleration and then quality of delivery is a real asset of his game. I didn't know he was that quick until this year. I also reckon he's doing a job in the ruck, and agree with whoever mentioned how his agility and skills also basically make him another midfielder

Jack Viney on the Mangarook Footy Show tonight. Very composed. Captain worthy performance! He said: - Hogan loves playing with Dawes - His pre season scuffle with TMc was because he thought Tommy was being a bit soft...could have been joking - On the hunt for a puppy...like Bernie's mountain dog-----> Cute, eh? - Agreed with the singing of Wagner's praises. - They accept making a few mistakes while learning and practice of 'our way of playing'. - Roos pushed defence for 2 years and once we got that sorted we started an attacking game style in this pre-season That is all I can remember...

Please note the player...and colour of Jumper The Royal Blue /Royal Failure strip must never be worn again

I think Dawes would be a good wet weather player. Let's face it marking isn't his strength. He is strong at the contest, has a great tank and good at feeding off the ball. Would be surprised if he didn't play.

Good post Radar. I'd add one point - one I've made before. I don't think Watts gets enough credit for how infrequently he misses games due to injuries - this year but also throughout his career. This suggests that although looks pretty laid back and casual (and has had a bit of a reputation as party boy) he is also very professional in his approach to training and managing the impact of playing AFL football. This consistency of getting on the park has been a big factor in the synergy Watts has developed with Hogan and for that matter the players delivering the ball to him.

This is true, but with the development of Wagner and Hunt, Salem and Lumumba most likely slotting into our backline I wonder the position that is best suited to him. Im intrigued by Hibberd, probably suits us as an upgrade on a Garland type, intercept mark 3rd tall type?

Yep! I really liked that system. I remember going to a game in the 90's against North where we won the reserves, coin toss, seniors and half time auskick (back in the days when they both kept and showed the score on the big screen). My brother is a north supporter. It was a good day.

Yeah. He was just answering a question he knew Roos had already answered. People read so much into nothing.

Only Geoffrey Robertson could mount a case for MJones as best 22. Hypothetically speaking .

Best post in the thread so far.

PJ has played this brilliantly from a tactical perspective. He's got exactly the response out of the Bummers that he was looking for. There's no way he would have spoken about it in public without getting Hibberd's permission. If Hibberd (and others) are wavering at all, it would have been over whether the club has changed now that all the sheit has been cleared out, or whether it's the same old heavy handed bullying dump that forced players against their will to comply with the regime, that then refused to take responsibility and hung the players out to dry, and probably that sacked PJ even earlier. I bet that Goodwin, McCartney & PJ would have had conversations with Hibberd(+) about what the atmosphere was like inside the club, and how good it is at the Dees. "So let's put that to the test - I'll mention it in an interview and we'll see how they react." Woosha's heavy-handed response shows beyond any doubt whatsoever that the leopard hasn't changed its spots. A mature, player-friendly, non-bullying response would have been along the lines of "We can't stop our players or their managers talking to other clubs, and they are free to do so. But they all know how much we want them to stay with us, and we will try as hard a possible to keep them here." (pretty much how we have handled the Hogan question) But PJ knows that club well enough to know that they're constitutionally incapable of being player friendly and laying off the bluffing and bullying. PJ laid down the gauntlet and Woosha just failed the test of character - surprise surprise. The waverers are now in no doubt - if you stay, you stay with the same heavy-handedness that you have probably regretted not standing up against back in 2011 or whenever. As you sow, ...

It's funny how people automatically think because his brother is at Richmond he'll go there. He's more likely to go somewhere else, IMO. Richmond have a number of his type anyway. They don't need to be sentimental with him and neither do we to be frank.

Agreed. It has to be Roos. Wherever he goes he manages to do this with different FD's around him. I'm hoping we can maintain this after he's moved on.

Yeah, but no one at our club is going to be stupid enough to offer him a contract to sign until the time is legal. No point. As long as he agrees to come across. This is the Druggies simply attempting to draw a line in the sand. I hope it backfires and a few more of their blokes go as a result.

Close the thread, please.

Watts on Footy a Show stated he wants to be at MFC next year and beyond and expects manager to sort it out soon fingers crossed

Bernie Vince.