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Well that's one more game than Lucas Cook...

The way they glistened in the sunlight today made my scooter wobble all over the place

Doesn't feel like he's been around long enough, does it? Really enjoyed his journey so far. Damaging when in form; backs his pace, kicks goals and generally uses it well. Hopefully the next 50 sees an increase in consistency; this has already improved notably throughout the year this year. Onya Dean!

WOW! Tough debut game.

Will kick 8, possibly more.

I spoke to him at training today, he is bigger and has more shape than when I first spoke to him in pre season, not lacking in confidence either, another one who enjoys the contest, we only seem to recruit this type these days

All I ask is that posters don't shlt can him after one game....I don't expect him to have a big influence on the game This selection is for the future......Up against one of the hardest teams in the comp , to learn what it is all about at the elite level. I think that he will be given two games and then back to Casey for their finals series. Good luck to the lad.

They're like a big turd that won't flush. The only solution is poking it with a wire coat hanger that's been slightly warped. Perhaps the players should arm themselves with coat hangers.

Kent, in game 50, will be our 'median' most experienced player. Half the side under 50 games and 9 players under 30 games. This is seriously a side of babies we are fielding here. I don't give us much chance, but if we do win it will be absolutely bloody huge. I know there's a chance we're going to be annihilated, but I don't care. So excited.

he's not ready. no doubt stuie will remind me of my shortcomings for thinking i know more than the professionals of the match committee. so be it.

Kent and Hunt are good to have in the team when you need to vent in the crowd.

You don't want to know.

Clarry and Weed in Dawes out Pop the champagne.

Hawthorn have won a lot of close games this season and they aren't the force of previous years. They have only the sixth best percentage in the competition and Carlton were in the game against them last week. I am not saying we should expect to win, but we shouldn't fear playing a first gamer.

Bits and pieces JKH thinks they have finally solved his hamstring issues Terlich has shaved his head, it looks shocking but has grown beard, Garlett persisted in calling him Chunk during the drills Hogan barely got out of a trot at training, but was walking freely, didn't seem too down when I spoke to him Salem is back at his playing weight after losing 5kg Lots of work on the field kicking at training Any other questions will try and answer

Brenton Sanderson, who coached the AIS AFL squad which he was a part of last year, said at the draft that he thought he could end up being the best player from last year's draft. I'd rely on him a bit more than whoever wrote that draft profile. If you've seen him live (and I have) his kicking techniques is superb. One of the best I've seen. He's kicked 20G 4B so far at Casey. He aint no Daniher.

This isn't meant to negative but let's be realistic: He's not going to be great at ground level. He's not going to be able to out body opponents to take easy marks. If he gets the ball in traffic the speed of the game might mean his skills by hand or foot aren't great. His defensive effort probably isn't going to be fantastic. Every chance is the pressure of the game means any set shots he gets will be hard to finish But what I will look forward and am excited about is his reading of the play and leading patters and his ability to contest in the air when given a run and jump at the ball - which might only happen once or twice in the game. If he can get up on the lead and have a jump at a few high balls he could end up with 4 or 5 marks and maybe slot a goal or two. Add in a few more possessions from general play and it will be a nice debut. All the best Sam.

I had a feeling we'd push west coast... I had a feeling we'd struggle against gold coast I have a feeling we'll push the Hawks. 9 wins on the trot their due for a loss, 2 wins clear on top, one eye on september, playing a side they've bullied for 10 years- complacency sets in... All points to a Dees win. I thought at the start of the year we'd beat them once, we got close last time.. Saturday's the day.

I will be in attendance, so will provide updates when i can.

I had a chat to a few of the guys who are 'stuck' at Casey, the morale is high, quote from one "we are having fun down there, want to have a real crack at winning the flag"

Good luck Sam and congratulations

Dangerfield will do.

I too don't think he's ready, as he's just not strong enough to impact contests. In fact, there are contests he doesn't even get to because he's bustled out of the way. That said, I don't mind him getting a taste. Plenty of players debut before they're ready. It's all part of the journey and education. His teammates will love having him out there.

Likewise with GNF - he obviously isn't a troll and has sources in the Club. Happy to hear what he knows without him being pressured to verify everything. It's a forum not a scientific journal with the necessity of rigorous referencing. I hope he is not put off from posting anything else he knows.

Toughen up mate - there's always a few who have a bit of a sook. The rest of us enjoy reading stuff like this and (usually silently) making our own judgement about whether the information is good or not. I enjoyed your post - don't take things so seriously.

Perhaps I am a sad and pathetic soul but I live for demonland gems such as this, that offer such wonderful insights into the human condition. Thank you for sharing Ethan.

I'd choose... none.

Or Pedersen's (despite being emergency). Ballsy call I reckon to pick Weideman over both. We already knew they were both warming the spot for the Weid or Hulett, but this suggests it could happen sooner than we all thought. Really happy with the changes. I'm oddly excited for a game we have zero chance of winning.

And the serious answer, he is not small at all, I think sometimes we get the idea that 18-19 year olds are not developed, he has put on some serious size already, I reckon the physical stuff won't phase him, besides which he will have Trac beside him if they start on him

He has played VFL all year against men, we aren't plucking him for school footy. His form has been OK. He either replaces Dawes or Hogan so the other will be there to take some heat for him. I think we need to stop looking in our rear view mirror at the mistakes we made in the past. We haven't missed much with the development of our kids and playing them at the right time over the past 18 months.

Swung by training for a little bit this morning. Fairly decent crowd of school kids in a couple of groups. Looked like an Indigenous school group who Nev and Jeff talked to after training and another group from which one kid slotted a goal and had a hug from a pumped up Wattsy. No Hogan on track. No Spencer either I don't think. Mitch King and Lumumba the others missing. Everyone else including Max King was on deck. Usual kind of drills divided in to different groups and focuses. Ball movement for the backs, slick hands for the mids, goal kicking for the forwards and mixed groups doing a range of things. A group designated for Casey did some extra ball movement drills at the end (presumably taking advantage of the longer break?) with a focus on spreading from a stoppage/contested area. With the Casey group: Wagner, Matt Jones With the senior group: Weideman, Oliver and I think Ben Newton. So it wouldn't surprise me if it's: Weideman, Oliver, Newton in for Hogan, Matt Jones, Wagner

The problem posters have with GNF, oncluding me, is the language used. "Confirmed" - with language like that you can't just be right some of the time.

I don't understand all the hate for posters who drip feed us rumours from their 'sources'. Right or wrong, they're like the best aspect of reading demonland so long may they continue

Having access to some great mail from other clubs myself, I find it strange that he only posts things like this recent "confirmation" where it's generally expected and/or easily explainable if it doesn't eventuate, not to mention exceptionally vague (next 6 months?!). Yet, he doesn't seem to get mail on things like Weideman's first match, or feel like sharing something that he could have known with certainty, justifying any credit he is given for having inside knowledge. That, and some info I passed on, then seeing the result of that, plus all the mayo he added onto it later.

My expectations for young Sam are relatively low. Six goals and 25 possies should get him a pass in my book. Anything under that and we have a massive dud on our hands.

Much appreciated. Breaking news: Keilty re-signs for 2017

Demonland delivers yet again.

Has he built his guns up at all Saty?

I think you'll find that the Hulkweed combination is already found on certain menus in Amsterdam and is very effective.

The way to beat the Hawks is with high pressure football. Thy have a heavy reliance on kicking and the more pressure that the kicker gets the more chance of a turnover. both the dogs and saints are very good in this area and have pushed the Hawks. Dees are capable of bringing this on Saturday but which Melbourne turns up will be the real question.

Would like to see the Weed play this year just not against the Hawks. Still have the memory of Jack and the Pies.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Congratulations Sam. Now, hopefully you partner up Hogan, and not Dawes.

Nah- you've just angered about three people who post over and over about it.

Are we serious here? I hope GNF is right about Jesse, but to be honest I couldn't give a toss whether most of what he posts comes to fruition. It's just a bit of fun. Yeah, he's probably joining quite a few of the dots himself and I'd agree with PD that the trade whispers are delivered in an attention-seeking way, but I love a rumour or two. Particularly when they're always weighted in an extremely positive direction for the MFC. So some of the posters who feel the need to beat on GNF or even beat on those that enjoy his posts, just chill the [censored] out a bit. Oh and the way this thread has tangentially escalated, it might pay to start that trading board up slightly earlier than was planned.

I'd never met Dangerfield before, I admit that. I'm mates with one of the Geelong players who I went to school with and I had a round with him, another school mate and Dangerfield. As a Dees supporter I just asked him the question as there were those rumours going round back then that we were heavily into him. He just wanted to get back to Victoria to be closer to family, that's what he said to me. I'm not claiming to be mates with Danger, maybe he was just messing with me, I'm just relaying what he said. I'm not in the know, I don't purport to have inside sources within the club. Anyway, I'm hitting the hay. Dazzle and Ethan you're two of my favourite posters on here so not interested in getting in a slanging match with you. If you think I'm bullsh1tting that's fine with me, I won't lose any sleep.

Sorry to interject but Dangerfield would have come to MFC at the end of 2014 if we'd have got the deal done with Adelaide. Club made a huge play at him, went on an absolute charm offensive to him and his family. He rates our list. The Trengove pick (I think it was 9) from Richmond would have been on-traded to Adelaide along with our pick 3 which was used on Brayshaw. Source: Dangerfield himself during a round of golf a couple of weeks ago.

I have been sitting on a theory for years about the tenuous link between Norm Smith and Simon Goodwin. Having read the Red Fox, but certainly not being an expert, part of Norm Smith's strategy during his coaching career was to attack and demand the highest of standards from his best player. During Norm Smith's coaching era, this player was Ron Barassi. Result 6 premierships. When Ron became a coach, he employed the same strategy, and his target was Malcolm Blight at North Melbourne. Result 2 premierships. Malcolm had some of the craziest strategies, but I'm not sure he ever attacked Goodwin the way Barassi did to Blight, and Smith to Barassi before that, you could reasonably argue Goodwin was the best player at the Crows during Blight's time as coach. Result 2 premierships. This legacy has netted 10 premierships. And now, it has come full circle with Goodwin coming to Melbourne, which has never been the same since Smith was sacked. Wouldn't it be great if Goodwin is the man to end the curse.

Well, to be honest, everything GNF said in his post had already been made public in a news article a week or two back (including the could take up to 6 months part)... the only thing that differentiated GNFs comments and that article, was that GNF has stated it as a fait accomplis; personally, I very much doubt he knows any more than the rest of us.

So with this train of thought he is never wrong. He predicted half a dozen things in one riddle last trade season, none of which came to fruition. The only thing in recent times he has posted about which was correct was Roos becoming head coach. This prediction was made well after it was already being speculated about in main stream media. By all means believe it if you want, personally I dislike seeing people being sucked in and taken for a ride. Saying that Hogan will extend his contract within six months is massively playing the percentages. If he does re-sign, it will most likely be within this time period. If it's slightly over 6 months, he can say he was close enough. If it doesn't happen, no one remembers. My opinion has always been that Hogan will re-sign before next season, if he does will anyone remember? No. They won't remember my post because it was my opinion. I didn't preface the post with saying "Confirmed: Hogan has informed the club." It's a game he plays, smarten up.