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The one certainty on DL is that no matter the result Tyson and Oscar will be criticised. We kept Port to 60 odd points and PA talls kicked 3 goals between them. Dixon got his in a mismatch with Hibberd and Westoff got one when he threw Frost aside. I can never understand these decisions and if someone can explain them to me I'd appreciate it. The other was when Westoff got a handball late in the last and kicked a great goal from the angle. But I'd imaging in some way Oscar was culpable for all three and the midfield really responsible for applying pressure that made our defensive job easy. My view is somewhat different. I think Oscar played very well and the defensive unit as a whole exceptional against dangerous opposition. Tyson is more difficult to judge. But for me getting the contested ball is the best trick in the business and Tyson does this. Goody mentioned him specifically in his presser. Goody doesn't praise for the sake of it. Confirmation bias is a very difficult thing to overcome. I have it but I'm aware of it and I'm the first to recognize Lewis's very good first half yesterday despite some errors. Those that don't like Oscar and Dom will always get the chance to confirm their opinions every week but it's tiresome and I'd argue doesn't provide balance. Great win D's. I enjoyed it immensely and I enjoyed Oscar and Dom's 52 possessions and their contribution to a great team win.

most players in attendance , was a great few hours , all players happy to have a chat and talk to everyone Gus sat with us and pulled up fine from his run at Casey , we spoke about breaking back into the team this year , very fine young man sam weideman also sat for a chat and loves playing at the Dees and is trying hard to convert his grandparents over to the Dees Jordan Lewis , was more than happy to talk too my 6 year went up to nearly every player on his own and got them all to sign his jumper as did his sisters

Picture this, I wasn't at game yesterday as my son was playing in the ones, local footy after coming back from serious injuries over past couple of seasons. I was listening to game on radio as I was watching him play. Enter a magic footy moments, Salem gathers the ball skips past a player, my son gathers a ball, skips past a player, Salem delivers a perfect pass forward with rapier left boot, My son also a neat left footer sets sail for goal 40 out and nails it.!! I was pretty stoked, and excited!! the crowd must have thought I was pretty over the top, But well who wouldn't have been!? Two great moments in parallel footy timescape! Like everyone I'm pretty stoked with DEES and will sit by the fire and watch replay today. My son will also be an avid watcher. GO DEES

I don't think enough is being made of Gawn's game. Prior to rolling his ankle he was on fire both in the ruck and around the ground. Against the form ruck of 2017, he won the taps and as a consequence we dominated the stoppages. He was integral to all we did to create a match winning lead. And during the much celebrated 15 minutes of goalless action in the last quarter he manfully played under duress and ensured Port couldn't get any clean clearances. And great to see him clunking marks in the first quarter. Really hope the reported ankle scans are clear. He is central to our hopes.

The GWS fan at the G must be going off his head.

By the way, I absolutely love love love the indigenous jumper. Haven't owned a footy jumper since I was a kid, but very tempted to make an exception for this.

Casey Twitter:

That, my fellow Demons, was a finals type game. At times it was super to watch, at others times it was a scrappy affair where you needed to put your head over the footy and do the hard stuff. And we won. When Port had a real dip at us, and we all knew it would happen, we didn't drop our heads or move away from the stuff that makes us a good footy side. We stuck to the task, rolled with the punches and got such an important victory for us. One person who I'd like to single out is Melksham. Yes, guys like Hibberd, Jetta and others were absolutely fantastic today and you would argue both would go close to best on ground. But when we needed goals and a calm presence forward of the ball when we struggled to hit the scoreboard, he was the man. He's been criticised this season, and in some ways it was justified, but he is more than proving his worth to our side right now. I'm stoked for him. We are a couple of wins away from playing finals and we've got so much more improvement to come in many players who have missed lots of footy, not to mention our captain returning in a week or two. These are exciting times and how good is it to be a part of? DEMONS!

I rate this suggestion on the same level as I rated Clint's suggestion last week that Pedersen should play ahead of Hogan.

What advantage?

Viney was meant to miss 4-6 lol. The dreaded 4-6. When has that ever become 2? And if anyone has pegged it back to 2, did they play a better first half? What an absolute animal.

Has really become a player. His skills yesterday in first half were a step above. He found targets when everyone else was missing them. He throws himself into the contest fully, he is then able to push up into dangerous spots in the fwd line. Has grown into the team really nicely.

I found a pic of Nev on the net....

bandicoot, you're pushing an unwinnable argument. Despite that Tyson and Viney were the pair almost singularly responsible for reversing the shift away from hard contested ball winning over the past 3 games, Dom Tyson is just going to be in the gun sights for a very vocal group on here. We missed him hugely and as you say he had a massive game.

I remember watching Jetta at a Luna Park family day a few years back. He was there with his partner & young child/children. No fans around him & quite inconspicuous. Don't imagine it will be this way at the next family day..... P.S. 1st post on this site.... long time reader. My love for Jetta took over & compelled me to type

I prefer the grey area - the answer is usually there. Watts wasn't 'pathetic' - he worked hard but started really unsure of the tempo of the game. Like Hogan, the club made the decision to play him and set them up for criticism because subsequent games will benefit. Tyson is a ball magnet, a sloppy ball magnet... Moving past how that sounds... but a magnet he is and only good players win as much footy as he does. He can make better decisions and not make a howler or two but if anyone thinks he isn't built for finals footy - please. Finals isn't about lace out distribution, it is about winning contests and having a high workrate to effect the next contest. Dom does that when fit and firing.

Top post VP, with a number of excellent points. As you say the defensive unit is playing brilliantly together - the synergy is obvious. Synergy for the back half has always been critical, but now more than ever with the zone defence being the key defensive strategy. And Melbourne play an incredibly aggressive zone, a real hallmark of Goody's philosophy. Yesterdays game the back six just seemed to know where each other were at all times and had total trust, as you must do with a zone defence. So may times they worked the ball out in that triangle they use and there were so many examples of teammates coming to contests to help each other out and killing marking contest as the third man. Great stuff. A player marking by themselves in the back half can look like just a poor kick from the opposing team but is often the result of the zone working really well, something i like watching from the top of the Ponsford and can be easy to miss on TV or from the wing live. Building a great zone takes a huge amount of time and effort and we have it working beautifully as the results reflect. I find confirmation bias really fascinating. Players like Tyson and Watts seem to polarise views, with some disliking aspects of their game a great deal. For some their errors seem to be like a flashing light and rarely seem to be mitigated by their good work. Whereas other players are universally loved and seem to get a pass with their errors and only praised for all their good work. Hunt is a good example. Everyone loves his dash and run yet i have not read a single criticism of his disposal in yesterday's game. It was woeful, going at a terrible 50%, with 5 clangers compared to the much maligned Tyon's 58.6% and 6 respectively. Hunt's first two kicks were 20 metre kicks under little pressure straight to a Port player and third was a poor kick to a contest resulting in another turnover. Add to the fact that on a number of occasions he bombed it long into our forward line to our forwards disadvantage or straight to a port player and watched it go straight back out. And this was not an isolated performance. His disposal has always been average but quite poor in the last few weeks. Yet barely a harsh word is said about him. Don't get me wrong he was great yesterday and really important for us despite his poor disposal. Like Tyson. In terms of confirmation bias a pet hate of mine is when commentators make a point about a player or a specific incident and it gets amplified here on DL and despite most saying how poor footy commentators are becomes almost a statement of fact. And conveniently reinforces the bias.

David King : No reduction for Greene due to earlier 2 week suspension. Should cop 2 weeks.

Well he's definitely upset my list management plans - at the start of season I had him as easy fodder for list turnover. Can't even see him being prised out of the senior team at this stage, let alone off the list. He's been excellent.

Just because I like doing it most weeks: Clayton Oliver - 30 touches, 10 tackles, 20 contested possessions and 5 clearances. And this is on a day where you could argue he wasn't at his best. Gun.

It's how poor form manifests itself for Jack. His intensity goes down and his attack drops. When Hogan is out of form, he drops marks, shanks kicks and sulks. Jack Viney when out of form tries to break a tackle every time he gets the ball. An out of form Nathan Jones gets all his kicks from running around behind other players and hoofing it forward. Lesser players just don't get near the ball when out of form. All players react and respond differently. Watts looked out of touch today, but I don't consider it any more contemptible than any other player who has been out of the game and takes a while to get in the groove. I think your criticism is excessive and unwarranted.

Schofield gave away a free 15m out to ice the game.....couldnt happen to a nicer bloke.

You're right Just watched the first few minutes of the first quarter (and the rest of the q in review fashion). My bad. My memory was faulty. Perhaps i have some unconscious Hunt bias. But my point wasn't to bag Hunt but to point out there was not a single criticism of him, despite his poor disposal all day. Having done my review of the first quarter hunts disposal came out not so great. As you say his first kick hit ANB. His second he kicked it, under little pressure, 15 meters to a Port player. His third kick he tried to centre the ball from about 30 near the boundary, mishit it and it rolled through for a point. His fourth kick he tried to clear from deep inside our 50 and under pressure kicked it straight to Harlett, who was all by himself for a 50 reentry. His fifth kick he shanked a 'wobbly one' (or so Hudson said in the box) under some pressure and up against the boundary line 20 meters that missed his target and almost caused a turnover. That was his possessions in the first quarter (unless i missed a handball, which i don't think i did). Five kicks. Only one hit a target and there were two clangers. To be truthful. He got comprehensively out marked by Ollie wines (no hanging offence given he is younger and Wines is much stronger) and his only other meaningful contribution in the quarter was his brilliant smother. For some players this sort of quarter would bring howls of derision and provide evidence of their weaknesses. But not Hunt. Because people love him. Again don't get me wrong, i am not bagging Hunt. He is an excellent player. I love him. All players have their strength and weaknesses and like Tyson disposal is Hunts. Tyson and Hunt share another similarity. They are both critical players for our chances in the finals, despite their weaknesses.

I also watched Trenners closely from the top deck, which is good for seeing running patterns etc. I agree with Deanox observations especially his role as a 'structural general', he was very assertive at this and considering Port didn't kick a goal till close to half time you would have to say he was very effective. Seemed to slot in much better than Smith or Wagner. I think Trengove compliments Hunt at half back. We all love Hunt's dash but often he gets himself in a tight spot and kicks it to the opposition. Trenners provides a get out option, doesn't panic and almost every time hit a target. This was a big improvement to last week and Trenners really contributed to it.

After yesterdays game he's now ranked 1st in AFL for Metres gained per game

A big factor in Port's wins has been Robbie Gray. He has averaged 2.4 goals per game. And he has had some big hauls of 4+ goals in some games. His tally yesterday: 0 goals, 0 points!!! He did play on the ball for some of the game. But him going scoreless was huge for us. He is Port's danger player and the difference between winning and losing. Our defence, especially Jetta and Hibberd did a superb job of keeping him on a leash when he was down there.

All the goals is up already. Interested in the Tyson haters view on the lace out kick to Hogan that lead to the Garlett goal in Q3. ANB has become an important link in the chain. A number of our goals were caused directly from his efforts and ball use, including two pinpoint passes - one to Petracca on his own and then to Garlett on the lead. He is a development success story in my opinion. Until recently I thought the half forward flank was where second string midfielders went to die, but ANB, Harmes and Melksham have really started to deliver in those roles.

He can give them all the votes he wants. Hell, he can give the whole team 10 votes each. I reckon our boys would rather the 4 points than the dribblings of the simple minded.

Great for those of us who live and work in WA. Watched it with my Pie supporting son and was cheering as loudly as he was for them to hit Elliot up when he was running into space inside 50m My hatred for Meth Coast is real

Yeah true, but we all hate Schofield......

No. Our fate is in our hands. If we are good enough we will be where we need to be. If not we won't. It's that simple.

So glad to see his exceptional VFL form last year has translated. It's a luxury we now have, allowing players to tear it up in the seconds for a long period of time before promoting them. Our depth is great, but ANB is now much more than depth.

He has to be in contention for coach of the year. Those talking up Hardwick won't be when Tiges go out of finals in straight sets again.

I also watched Trenners closely from the top deck, which is good for seeing running patterns etc. I agree with Deanox observations especially his role as a 'structural general', he was very assertive at this and considering Port didn't kick a goal till close to half time you would have to say he was very effective. Seemed to slot in much better than Smith or Wagner. I think Trengove compliments Hunt at half back. We all love Hunt's dash but often he gets himself in a tight spot and kicks it to the opposition. Trenners provides a get out option, doesn't panic and almost every time hit a target. This was a big improvement to last week and Trenners really contributed to it.

Yes it is difficult to see how we can get top 4 but there is a good chance we will play Richmond in the first week which is almost the same as getting the double chance

Both my kids at the g were lucky enough to get the Koori tshirts at the g yesterday. One from Jeff Garlett (signed by Jeff and nev Jetta) and the other from jake melksham. Some older kid in a north Melb jumper tried to snatch it off my daughter and jake said no chance and made sure she got it. anyway they look fantastic and I'm also going to get one!

I think you may be suffering from incurable insanity. Jones in the 2s is madness.

Who cares if Watts had a stinker? If anything it's a positive. We beat Port's best 22 (literally, they have no injuries. NONE!) with some of our best players either tiring or playing well below their best. We can go deep in September if our cripples regain their touch in the coming weeks.

Thats what makes me happy today. Seeing a guy come back from horrendous feet injuries, play in teams that were repeatably thrashed, handed the captaincy when he wasnt ready and at no stage did he ever give up. Loved the ovation given to him when he ran on today and after the game when Robbo interviewed him. Know Watts was rapt to have him play in his 150th. also nice to see Goody go up to him after the game and give him a hug. I still think he can play in this team maybe forward or int he backline.

That last quarter was brave. The boys refused to get beaten. They make you proud to be a Melbourne supporter this lot.

Its almost like calling out one missed defensive spoil to highlight a players deficiency isn't it? How many contests did O-Mac lose for the rest of the game? Needs to fix where he lands his spoil (please not central) but rarely beaten in the air recently. Big challenge for him against Brown or Waite next week but a lot better than given credit.

Kinda like highlighting a couple of Oscar's mistakes in an otherwise solid game. It's not just Tyson's kicking that is the problem. It's kicking, handballing and decision making. I can handle mistakes under pressure. It's when he just butchers it under no pressure. Or taking too long, creating unnecessary pressure and then [censored] up. How do you reckon that's gunna go in the heat of a final. You can highlight the the good things he did yesterday and gloss over the bad because we won. Making that many mistakes in a close game, we will not win. No doubt he has tools and can play, but how long are we going to be saying "if he can just..."

He is the best reclamation project in MFC history. To think he couldn't get a game and was delisted during our darkest years gives me shivers down my spine. In 2017 he is a top 5 player in a top 5 side.

Powell-Pepper the most blatant holding the bell, umpire calls play on. ANB should be the prototype moving forward of once messy players who tighten their game up. Easily best 22 now.

True to my word. Welcome to our newest Life Member Mogwai. Do not feed him after midnight.

Very excited to hear Gus getting amongst it. I thought it would take him a few weeks at least to get his confidence back. What a fantastic bit of news to round out a good day. Thanks heaps for the updates.

As expected Casey utilise the wind in the final quarter to remain undefeated in 14 months at Casey Fields to beat Essendon 10-12-72 to 7-14-56 what a roost by Dec by the end in the way, travelled 80m I reckon will do a full right up when I get home tomorrow morning

I'm not sure the speed is that big a concern because a) most players aren't fast enough to run down other players, and b) we probably won't pay him on their fastest small forward. The Telstra GPS stats put Trengove as: a) the second highest average moving speed on the ground; and b) the third highest distance for "distance covered at high speed". *In both categories he was Melbourne's top ranked player today with only PA players above him. So he may not have a great top speed but he has a tank and very high work rate. He obviously keeps on the move to maintain his positioning as the play moves too. Possibly more important than speed.

If someone had told me that we would be equal fourth at this stage of the season after missing 5 of our top ten players for many games I would be calling for the straight jackets. Goodwins coaching has been superb

If you two geriatrics settled down for a second, you might just put the silly argument aside and bask in the glory of being equal 4th and on our way to our first finals appearance in a decade.