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Not to break down with injury midway through the second quarter.

14 goals from the ruck. 3 resting forward. 2 from the bench.

Love your confidence and like you I would have thought one of O-Mac or Weed was a certainty, but having just been down at training, I now suspect neither. Firstly Weed did not train with the other 24 so he's no chance of playing - put that down as a certainty. My logic was that they needed another tall up forward to support Watts, but that's not going to happen - the forward group at training was Trac (he will play FF), Watts, Hannan, ANB, JKH, Harmes and Jeffy. We are going small, small, small and that means lots of switches of play and hopefully high forward pressure in the hope of causing quick turnovers. The group training down back included Oscar so he is still an outside chance, but Frost did no ruck work and will start back with T-Mac, Hibberd, Melksham, Vince, Jetta and Hunt. My guess is that because Essendon aren't majorly tall and because they cut us up for speed last year and because the game is indoors, we will go without O-Mac as well - although I personally would play him because why leave yourself so open to issues if say Pedo, Watts or Frost or T-Mac go down. But it does appear that we may have decided to risk it all again for the sake of pace - hope I am wrong. Tyson looked the most likely out with Weed - I just felt Dom's body language wasn't quite was upbeat as normal - I may be reading the wrong tea leaves though. And then it comes down to Bugg or O-Mac. Bugg was doing midfield drills and looked very sharp earlier when practising goalkicking.

Goodwin said on SEN tonight the club contacted the AFL umpires department to find out why he is being pinned for throws when the club think he is handballing. I wonder if the umpires are reacting to some commentators narrative a few weeks ago that Oliver throws and are just guessing. Good to see the club being proactive and hopefully the chat with AFL sorts the problem.

Vale Tony. Seems a lifetime ago that we briefly met and chatted, and on the occasion of the Dees first win at Etihad for many a moon. I suspect that given the club is rightly sacrificing Jesse's place in the team this Sunday in your honour, that you will feel duly obliged to deliver us a win. You impressed me as a proud father, but with an essence of humility and a realist's view on the future. For you, that view was too quickly justified. I have no doubt your son Jesse will continue to make you proud, and equally those Demonlanders and MFC supporters who will now have some perspective on, and sympathy for, the personal issues affecting form. Rest well, big fella.

Dud thread.

I have attempted to post on this subject most of the day since I heard, anyone that knows me Knows my situation losing the battle is not only innevatable but comes at such a high cost to family. I still think of my wife , I still cant do certain things. I cant walk into some shops its been just over 5 months since i held my wifes hand as she took her last breath. I still find normal everyday things hard. Looking after our 3 young kids keeps me going That is only just part of how hard things are , anyone that has lost a partner , family member will understand. There are many here on demonland. SO anyone you calling for Jesse to take a week or less off , give him time , if he needs longer let the kid have it. let him have time with his family, he has lost his dad. MFC will do the right thing and give him as much time as he needs , the players will support him , we as supporters should too. Until you have been through this you will never understand it . sometimes there are things bigger than football in life. I hope a snippet of my loss will help some understand. my thoughts and heart goes out to Jesse and family at a time of need and loss mark

I've seen enough of Billy Stretch this year and heard enough about his work ethic to know that at some point in the future, we'll all be sitting here tapping away writing nice things about him in the "BILLY STRETCH - 200 GAMES" thread on Demonland. Clarry Oliver said earlier in the year that McCartney attached him to Billy as one of the shining examples of elite training habits - that is a massive thumbs up for Billy in my view. But right now he's a 20 year old midfielder who has played 32 games. He's not going to be able to maintain AFL level intensity all of the time at this stage. He faded in the Richmond game and has a 4.5 day break. This is going to be a game where it is truly all hands on deck. Nobody with question marks over their ability to run out games should be in this one. I don't have any issue with not punishing young bodies and I'm very sure he'll be back in the side long before round 10.

I like Billy but he has been ordinary the last 2 weeks. Failed to move the ball on quickly.

Screw stats, just provide a strong contest in the ruck and hit Bellchambers. When the ball hits the deck block for clarry and Viney drift back and get in danihers path to grab a mark or two. Switch with watts and bring the ball to ground for jeffy and jk

A really excellent analysis of the game here by Robert Shaw (by the by it shits me there is not this sort of preview of each game in the newspapers): http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2017-04-28/shaws-preview-ess-vs-melb

Congratulations to Neville Jetta, who will line up for his 100th game this weekend against the Bombers! Incredibly well deserved for easily one of the most underrated players in the competition and one of the first picked every week.

Did Jesse know your son's story of losing his mum when that photo of them in your avatar was taken, Mark? If not send it to the club with the story as fan mail to remind him that he is in you and your son's thoughts and you have some knowledge of how he's feeling. It would be a touching gesture (or I think so anyway).

Take an oxygen tank and a telescope.

JKH... 9 disposals. 4 fumbles. 3 turnovers. OMG. Retained. Stretch. 19 possessions. Run and carry. 5 inside 50s. Dropped. Goodwin must be concussed. JKH better perform !!

I too am starting to warm to our prospects come Sunday. The reality is we're near full strength with the exception of two key players (Gawn and Hogan) and one could easliy argue that, if not for injuries by half time to our rucks against Richmond and Geelong (whom we were both leading at the time, and are placed 2 & 3 currently on the ladder) we'd be higher placed and seen as a team on the rise. As it is we're learning through adversity and crafting a resilience and strength that will bloom into wins soon. And the Bombers... meh! they lost to Carlton!

Club captain 1988-1990, leading goal kicker 1986, bluey truscott 1986. Yes, a bit harsh.

At the moment, just finishing the game uninjured is a pass

That goal he gave to Garlett was the most composed kamakaze [censored] I've ever seen. What a player.

BT was fair dinkum dropped at birth, I reckon. How did this guy even get a commentator gig in the first place?!

I wonder if something 'creative' with the ruck role would be to designate a ruckman for each zone eg Frost/TMac back of centre. Watts/Pedersen forward of centre. Maybe Pedersen to take the centre bounce to leave the others free to do their primary role. This would wear out Bellchambers as he would have to run all over the ground. Its Bellchambers' first game in 18 months and he would not be used to the pace of the game so the more we can wear him out the more even the game becomes. Creating a lot of stoppages will also help wear him out.

Disagree. He had one week he executed poorly. Is getting high teens possessions and cant recall any small-mid forward carving him up. Rebounding defenders rarely get may tackles.

The decisive factor will be our delivery into the f50. If the team we've picked doesn't make our mids lower their eyes, then nothing can. Even kicking grubbers into the forward line would be better than bombing it like we did last week. No point bombing it in when there's only one tall forward. In fact, if they don't have a hittable target, they're probably better to just aim low & hard for a space. The more we can keep the ball on the ground, the better for us.

If they're looking at a novel way to deal with the ruck problem, perhaps they might rotate ruckmen in every quarter - Pedo, Tom McDonald, Oscar McDonald with the freshest or best getting the final quarter and Jack Watts filling in with 5 minute stints when each ruckman is off the ground.

I thought it was a dip in a Lebanese restaurant.

40,000 is so close now you can smell it. 366 to go! We'll hit it sometime next week. 39,634 today. Still tracking towards a total of around 42,000. Another tick for PJ.

Goodwin gives a club perspective of what has happened around Jesse in recent times. http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/melbourne-demons/melbourne-coach-simon-goodwin-says-some-of-the-criticism-aimed-at-jesse-hogan-has-been-unfair/news-story/933070384a2d0ac4720f3ab93d6c1a9b "Goodwin said he would have liked to have defended Hogan, who was criticised for uncharacteristically lashing out and striking Carlton’s Sam Rowe off the ball in their round-two clash and then photographed smoking while on the two-game ban...Obviously there’s been a bit of heat on Jesse for a number of different things over the last four or five weeks that have probably been unfair in a lot of ways with what he’s going through and what he’s dealing with". Kudos to the club for keeping Jesse's predicament out of the media despite all the hue and cry. I read yesterday that Jesse had learnt of his father's critical condition in the days before the Carlton game which explained his frustration at Rowe. I was cranky at the Carlton doctor's at the time of the MRP for the 2 weeks. If they embellished their medical report in any way I hope they have learnt their lesson and hang their heads in shame. Given the sequence of events, Jesse's family must have come to Melbourne with him. How hard must have Monday night been for Jesse and how proud would he have been to have his dad watching him play. The trip across must have been physically and emotionally challenging for the family especially Tony Hogan. It speaks volumes for their bond, support and pride in their son.

Exactly the thought I had. Not even kidding - I'll settle for pretty much anything that doesn't involve Watts having to ruck half the game yet again.

Hibberd managed to get maximum coaches votes of the Dees players, plus a place in team of the round as a half-back. Tackles? Zero. Nil. None. Zilch.

Disagree. Watching Carlton getting smashed is highly entertaining.

Report from AFL site: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-04-28/late-mail-live-all-the-round-six-whispers Extract: MELBOURNE young gun Christian Petracca is set to play against Essendon after his sore left knee held up at training this morning. With his left knee heavily taped up, Petracca tested it out at the start of training with a series of run throughs and towards the end of the session with rehab coach Daniel Cross where he challenged himself to jump with full force off the ground to mark the ball on the lead. Petracca then joined in the rest of main training, which was a good sign for his availability. Oscar McDonald, Tom Bugg and Mitch Hannan are all chances to come in to replace Hogan after training with the senior squad on Friday. Sam Weideman was not out on the track with the team on Friday and looks likely to play for the Casey Demons against Geelong's VFL team at Simonds Stadium on Saturday afternoon. In the report there is a video of Petracca training (but I don't know how to copy it). He wasn't going fast nor running smoothly but I guess we don't have much choice but to play him. There is also a really good report by @Deespicablein the 'Team Selection' thread...post #161

Pedo will be giving a fair amount of height to Bellchambers , who by the way, is a useful tap ruckman. So his main job will be to compete and muscle Bellchambers to ensure the Essendon mids aren't handfed. Our mids are good enough to gain the advantage from there. A couple of marks around the ground would top it off.

I've been critical of Jesse's behaviour on the field, but it's so hard to judge someone who knows he is days away from losing their parent, so for that I apologise. Who knows what Sam Rowe said to him, maybe he had a dig about his dad? I would hope not. Regardless, I am 10 years older than Jesse and I would be an absolute mess if I lost one of my parents. I can't image how hard it must be, especially living away from them. It explains why Jesse was so torn about staying or going. Who wouldn't want to be near their family at a time like this? I hope Jesse takes all the time and gets all the closure he needs, and I hope that footy helps him in a way to find happiness and purpose in life after this terrible event.

Salems height, Cale Mortons body, Vineys courage and skills of Ablett. Look at those powerful arms.

Watts sustained about 50% quality game time in the ruck against Geelong and Richmond. I expect similar from Pedersen - they can't ruck as long as proper ruckmen. It's an absolute certainty that one of Weed or Omac will play. If Watts and Pedersen take all the ruck then it will be Weed. If TMac or Frost take some then it will be Omac. That means 2 of the smalls come out - Salem, Tyson, Stretch, Bugg, Harmes.

Greg Healy was no dud

Who was his brother? Epic? Legendary?

Challenge for position at ball-ups/ins around the ground for 80% of the match leaving Watts to go forward. 10 hit-outs will do. Ragdoll the Essendon player to whom Bellchambers hits the ball at the centre-bounce. Make Bellchambers chase him by going forward. 14 disposals, 10 hit-outs, 6 tackles, 4 clearance, 3 shots on goal, 4 punch-aways in the Don's goal-square, 3 contested marks, 5 uncontested marks, 1.3 oranges at 3/4 time and wing 3 Essendon player's cars leaving the carpark.

Selection interesting with the complete back-line available for the first time this year. The back six look pretty solid, especially if Oscar comes onto the bench to help cover our lack of talls. Hibberd, Jetta and Lewis in the back-line is a few hundred games of experience. As a consequence Hunt and Melksham move up onto the wings. Hunt not having to be as accountable, linking and running forward looks good. We have played six good quarters at Etihad this year, hopefully another three will be enough. I think we'll lead by a fair way at some stage and then.............................................................................................cruise to victory.

I thought he wouldn't make it after a few games. Well done Neville. Who would have thought that they refer to Lewis as 'Neville's cousin'.

I'm really glad they haven't bowed to some negative feedback and dropped JKH, I went to the game and then watched the replay and was really surprised at some of the negative comments. I thought he played fairly well, took a great mark in the 2nd. was gutsy and got upended, first game back after a fair lay off, can someone please point out exactly where he went wrong.

Mitch Hannans round 1 stats vs Saints 16 possessions, 7 marks, 2 goals, 4 tackles, 5 inside 50's If he can repeat that it would be great. We need him to considering our lack of forward ammo.

Surely AF you will be to ...err .... shall we say "preoccupied" on Sunday to go to the footy. Watching on the TV will be OK though. While your new missus brings you beers. Train them right from the start.

I'm getting married on Saturday night and a bunch of my groomies (one being a fair-weather Essendon supporter) want to go to the game with me on Sunday. Really hope you're right. We're going to miss what Hogan brings to our forward structure. And if Trac doesn't get up, not such a happy wedding present. These [censored] groomies have been taunting me all week about us 'choking yet again' at the hands of Richmond, so it tells you a lot about their grasp on footy, but anyway, it'd be hilarious and gratifying to get a win with them there.

Great to see Wagner back

The only thing insulting about Essendon is that they exist in the first place.

Great effort. Have to say that when he was delisted at the end of '13, I would never have seen this coming. Didn't look to have any position - wasn't a midfielder or a forward and he didn't have any particular tricks that made him stand out. When we picked him with our last pick in the rookie draft, I took that to mean "there is literally nobody left in this draft". I think Nev credited Jade Rawlings with his turn-around. Whether it was Rawlings or whoever it was that put the word on to Roos and Taylor to give Nev another shot as a defender, take a bow. He's evolved in to a tough, reliable player. You know that he will at least halve any contest he's in (except when the back line stuff up as a collective and he ends up one-out on the key forward - gee that annoys me), and while he's not a huge collector of the ball, he never wastes it when he has it. He is greatly underrated as a ball user in my view. Well done Nev on 100 games. You got there the hard way - not that there is an easy way - and I am proud to have you in our team.

Deserves to play finals. That's the standard that Nev plays. Hopefully we make it there soon.

Who would have thought he could come back from being de-listed to becoming our best defender. I've always loved Neville and his unassuming manner . May this be just the half way point in his career.