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Best mate and I going down to skilled together to watch Dee's in last round.. Been meaning to go for years, he's a Cat's man.. He says to me, "You blokes will probably beat us again as it's Roo's last game" I simply replied. "That's not confirmed yet" "Goodwins confirmed for next year" he replies "I'm well aware of that" "You blokes won't play finals" "Also not confirmed"

As a Demon's supporter all this stability doesn't sit well with me. I say sack him with one game to go with Brett Alison as the stand in for the last game. Purely just to cause confusion

Will play his 100th this week, congratulations to him.

The constant barracking and wanking over Hawthorn by all commentators is pathetic. It's at the point where I will Barack for any team over Hawhtorn because I'm sick of hearing about how good every little touch any of their players is, even when they're losing!

The division he has caused actually points to a unity of sorts. I think the attachment to Watts individually gets undersold. They say it's a fine line between love and hate, and I feel that has been the case with Watts with a lot of supporters. There might be some who just abuse for the sake of abuse, but they aren't real footy fans imo, let alone Melbourne or Watts fans. I believe that deep down, the majority of Melbourne supporters have been desperate to see him do well. Not just Jack Watts the Melbourne player, although that's a large component, but also Jack Watts the football player. Frustration has boiled over for some, and abuse over the fence is poor form. But everyone has been on a journey of sorts with this kid over the past 8 years, including those shouting behind the fence. There has been a greater attachment to Watts than the standard player. Far greater in fact. That is what makes the season he is having, and the sudden jolt to his career, quite special. I could be wrong, but that's my take. Certainly that's how I feel when watching Watts now dominating a quarter, a half, or an entire game. I'm happy for the club, but in almost equal measure, I'm happy for him.

Whomever invented the mute button, I thank you. Bruce + Darcy + Rioli = Get [censored]

2016 Semi Final vs Adelaide at Adelaide Oval will be Roos last game as coach... after we rolled the Doggies by 31 points in the Elimination Final We go down by 7 points in a brave and brilliant performance, and its clear the next powerhouse club of the AFL has arrived.

This is one of the worst displays of one sided umpiring I have ever seen... Hawthorn are getting more gifts than a kid from an Irish catholic family on their birthday!

Neeld... hands down

John Northey

Just wanted to express my disappointment at Mitch Clark being dropped. What a shame!

Hawthorn can't score without getting a free kick to aid them. Free kicks 15-7. No surprises there. Sick of watching these shitstains win.

Not even worth asking, because he forms irrational attachments to all players.

I'm a Danners fan. Sure we were up and down like a yoyo but we made a GF and I still look back at those years fondly. Arguably there was no better person to embark on the challenge that Roos had 3 years ago, but its hard to rank him in overall coaching ranks.

Main session is Friday but dropped in to see if any evidence of lingering after-effects from Darwin. Of note (and in no particular order): Vince jogging slow paced laps. Interestingly upon completion looked down at and felt his right calf, rather than his shin; Omac - handball drills with Daniel Cross, walked a couple of laps (no limp), compression bandage on left ankle, Wagner - participated in full training. Has a compression bandage over quad / mid hamstring region but nothing on his knee ??; Pedersen, JKH and Salem joined in main training, Lumumba - jogged laps; Jayden Hunt didn't participate in the main ball movement session, undertook 15-20m kick to kick with Crossy but was moving freely. Everyone else seemed to be there (although I don't recall seeing ANB but wasn't especially looking for him either). So all in all, a pretty healthy list for this time of year. Spirits were high but couldn't really catch any of the banter in the stiff westerly breeze!

I wouldn't concern myself braysure. The responses you are getting are pretty stock standard here. If you had of posted that your source said that Hurley is likely to come to Melbourne. you would have received a 100 likes and lauded as an oracle. Post anything to the contrary, and you'll get accused of being a troll. How's Simon going BTW?

First sign him on for another 3 yrs, then sack him.

I think Geelong (and obviously the AFL) are only interested in hosting finals at Simonds Stadium against interstate clubs. This year's elimination final between Geelong and Melbourne will be at the MCG

Will be on The 'G in September we are still fighting for that 8th spot...

God help the bloke if he has an average to poor game. He's a capable AFL player at his very best. Whether he gets there consistently is the question. The dampeners being placed upon his first game back seem wholly unnecessary.

Whilst Hibberd is a good player I wouldn't think he's worth a round 1 pick. If he comes to us the best we will do is a round 2 although EFC will want round 1 of course.

Yep, I regard this as one of my greatest life achievements. To date, at least.

30 posts with the last 15 all in this thread, "connections to Essendon" and getting overly defensive. Nothing suss there.

Yeah winning 5 would be handy. Would be even better if North go 2 and 5. Then we'd be in the finals!

And you think Essendon have a good track record of knowing what they are doing over the last few years braysure? You might possibly be right, but your self assurance and lack of reality is Hirdesque to say the least. I doubt that you are a Melbourne supporter, and its gutsy putting your balls on the line here so I credit your courage, but honestly, unless your name is Michael Hibbert you are speculating as much as the rest of us. Take a spot in the queue at the gents. Time to head back to bomberblitz mate.

Can't even be bothered watching this game. 1 vs 2 yet I don't care, can't imagine why? Wouldn't be because everyone is sick of [censored] Hawthorn winning the premiership every bloody year?! Not to mention the endless plaudits Sydney receives for how "incredible" and "inspiring" it is that they can magically regenerate their list with youth despite constantly finishing at the top of the ladder. Yeah, it's so hard rebuilding your list when you get gifted the draft's best players despite finishing at the top every year! We all have to bow down to these list management geniuses at the Swans who just "find a way" to play finals every year. [censored] off.

Hawks looking pretty ominous. Whilst I rarely wish injury upon anyone, I think justice would be done if - someone were to give Mitchell a season ending corking in the PF - someone were to crash Hodge into the goalpost in the same game with the same result.

They played Frawley & Howe all season too 'Sat'...it's not a one dimensional indicator that the player mustn't be traded. Kent is a promising player but you've got to give to get. What would you say if Kent was part of a deal to get Hurley or a fit O'Meara.

Stupid comment Saty, the comment was made because Kent is a good player he would have some currency, teams wouldn't want a bloke who'd played all year at Casey would they?

That's my point, I don't think Prestia is worth Kent, if that makes sense, Kent has finally got a injury free run at it, he has so much potential, to get rid of him now borders on insanity......I know the game is won and lost in the midfield but how many do we want, and small fwds are pretty much covered for me as well..............

Brayshaw and Tracs first game together?

Just announced Prestia having surgery (minor) on knee.. His currency is going down..

100% There are always injuries, players returning from injury and players out of form. "Best 22" is a useless concept. There's a squad of about 30 players who all make useful contributions through the year. As an aside, that's why I think just giving the premiership medals to just the 22 on GF day is flawed.

Is that fact that Goodwin overruled on Melksham? Or just assuming because of the obvious Essendon link? Genuine question.

I actually think we've taken a step up since the bye. Something about the way Watts spoke in that post-Adelaide interview made me think that something has clicked and the boys are sick of development/improvement and just want to win...starting from now. I think we're going to have an exciting end to the year.

? Surely ... it's more like ... his gravitas (gravity) has produced the potential for high energy performance, but inertia, in the form of friction, held him back, but having overcome that, we are now seeing a change in momentum producing high wattage output ... Or to put it more simply,

We had them beaten in rnd 11 last year with 45secs on the clock. Hubris, and a comedy of errors by Gawn (tapped the ball forward rather than drop it at his feet), Viney, Cross and Toumpas allowed them an easy goal. So we know we can beat them, at Etihad. Despite AA form since that game, Max has not been able to get the job done vs StK in the two games since at either the G or Etihad. The whole team needs to be desperate to redeem the 2015 rnd 11 calamity. Max especially will want to redeem that game and lowering his colours to Hickey earlier this year. Max will bring it home!!

Can't wait for this match. We're a better side, but we're competing against Etihad as much as St Kilda. Come on MFC, between last year and this years games, we have had more than enough practice against these jokers to now show them who we really are. Get the job done!

So was anything said on the footy show? I'm in Würzburg, Germany and no one has any info on Hurley here.

That would be good. Flogging all of them by 10+ goals, especially the last three ... now that would be massive! Dream bigger dreams!

Settle down James. You'll get over it.

$2mil as well as 1st & 2nd rounders from 2013 & 2014. They were given an end of 1st round pick in 2014. 3 picks & a $2m fine is getting off lightly. In my opinion they should have been banned for a whole draft & given a $5m fine if not thrown out of the comp. Next year the sanctions will have had barely any effect which is a complete joke & hardly just punishment for systemic well planned & blatant cheating.

Whole club should have been relegated or banned from competition, as per any team caught doping in most other sports.

There's nothing wrong with criticising players or thinking they're not good enough, but a vocal minority of Melbourne supporters at games used to actually take pleasure in Watts making mistakes. They actually like it when he stuffed up because it gave them an opportunity to vocalise their frustration at Melbourne's situation. It was incredibly ugly and toxic. To a lesser extent the baton has now handed on to the McDonalds and Dawes. It will fade away as we get better, but it was pretty bad.

What a patronising post. Being a 'fan' can be defined in a number of different ways. I consider myself a fan of the Melbourne Football Club. I go to every Victorian based game and some interstate matches too. Every player on our list is not without reproach. To question or dismiss does not necessarily mean you are not a fan. I stuck up for Watts for many years, but by the end of 2014/early 2015 I thought he was gone. I think most would have said his career was at the crossroads at the end of 2015. So are all those that questioned Jack during this time not 'fans'? Supporting a footy team is not simply about cheering every bloody thing. It's about having an opinion on something, rather than simply blindly following everything a club does.

Nathan Jones gets that award (plus the Atlas Award for carrying the entire team on his shoulders for much of his footballing life).

Going from dreading playing them, I'm looking forward to it nowadays. It's only a matter of time.