Leaderboard

Keilty killed it on the training track today, outmarking both Watts and Frost. Got some good praise from Goody, has to be a good chance for a debut.

Herald Sun are reporting Cam Pederson has re-signed with the club for 2018 Good on ya Cam - keep it up big fella

I am Matty Febey Me and Stinga come on here a bit (all the time) Go Dees

Can't believe the harshness against Bugg....Steven May is Vice captain after his "cowardly" 5 week suspension & do you even remember the name of the Port Adelaide player who copped a similar suspension....off field he is a far different person than his on field personna.....I personally felt is was not an "intentional " act ....he was genuinely remorseful & according to every report from the club "he has not put a step wrong" . If his form warrants it and the coaches think he is in our best 22 then I am more than happy with that.....he is a player of the Melbourne Football Club & deserves our support. Alll I can ascertain from some of the postings is that none of you have ever "stuffed" up in life.....ever ????

You obviously were not listening to the (yes, as usual totally innane) TV commentators who (ridiculously) said that Essendon were everyone's second favorite team! Even were the alternatives Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mugabe, Kim Jong, ISIS and Trump they would still come last.

That would make me your twin brother!

Don't you hate it when auto correct changes comedians to custodians...

ROAD TO THE DRAFT PODCAST http://www.afl.com.au/draft/road-to-the-draft Interview with Jason Taylor. It recaps some of our recent recruiting decisions and talks of the future a bit. Nothing really new but still interesting. If you don't have 45 minutes to listen to it here is a summary (paraphrasing) the interview (and my comments in itallics): Our Recruiting Process Oliver: Attributes: decision making, competitiveness. Now one of our top 2 professional players. Weideman: Still finding his feet. KPP’s take time - need to get to 22 to 23 y.o. He needs to work as hard as Oliver and will be very good. Hannan: Noticed him in the amateurs final. Then tracked him thru the VFL. He is an impact player and can perform in big moments. Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem have had interrupted starts to their careers and will be better with another preseason Hunt: Selected him because they thought he had something special, athletically. Very competitive. AFL was a bit of a whirlwind for him at first. Smith and Maynard: There are Rookie B opportunities if clubs keep their ear to the ground. Hibberd: We really needed help at half back and use of footy out of defence. Lewis: We needed support in the leadership area. It was a ‘no brainer’ for us. He has educated younger players and sometimes acts as a sounding board for coaches. Kel O’Donnell seems to be a great scout Our Needs going forward: No specific need. Will look for good players who can play in various parts of the ground. Hinted at keeping the midfield resourced. Maybe look at ruckman. Jake Lever: If he wants to come back to Vic we would look at him. Tricky to assess him in his draft year. (I detected a sense of regret). Hardest player to find in a draft: Ruckman, Super aggressive KPF. Noted that competitive talls are really important at finals time. Development: Our coaches and program are excellent but players still need to buy in. View of 2017 Draft: A bit more positive about it since holiday in Bali. Some tall, strong midfielders. Didn’t want to be too negative about it. (I started thinking we might trade out our first pick…) Forward Looking @ 2019. Given our age and game demographics looking for players that can take us to finals in the coming years. If our players evolve there is less to do in a trade sense. Recruiting for Goodwin’s game style: First and foremost need competitive players. Looks for resilience. I got the impression that neither dominates the process. Live Trading: He likes it. Reflecting on that summary emphasises what a great job the recruiting team have done over the last 3 years.

Of course not. Saty is actually Garry Baker after having been put through the wash too many times.

How many current players? Just Saty.

Why is getting dropped the extinction of a player? Form comes and goes, habits get worse and they get better. These are universal truths for footy. And they are truths in a vacuum, but there is no vacuum with Watts. Everything he has done, or hasn't done, since the beginning has been overblown and treated completely separate to the reality every other player lives in. I would say he has been poor in 7 games this year, played his role in 3 games and was in the best 5 times. And that isn't good enough, and that is why he is dropped, but if he can get back to the form he had for Rds 12 and 13 before his hammy he might help us win a final. In 2017. In, like three weeks... That would be good, yeah?

Bugg was instrumental during our best month of footy this year. That ended one fateful Friday night and we've been treading water ever since. Get him back.

I believe the crutches are to stop the ground crumbling beneath him.

Lewis is the biggest name to come to Melbourne in decades. The fact he chose Melbourne is nigh on unbelievable. Every year on this forum posters go bananas about a Dangerfield some other gun player that we might get. It never happens! Now though it might be different. In addition to his on and off field leadership Lewis might also mean other out of contract guns like Lever or better seriously consider Melbourne as a destination. That is a major turnaround from where we have come from. He is worth every cent we pay him. The team has been walking taller since he arrived and all the players have been quizing him about Hawthorn, playing in finals, preparation etc. He has done it all and its fantastic he has brought ot to Melbourne As for finals experience we have had Jones 11 years ago and Vince. Thats it. His worth will shoot up dramaticzally come September

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-16/i-expected-to-play-finals-adams-lets-rip COLLINGWOOD'S players believe they deserve to be featuring in the AFL finals, and are p***ed off they aren't. "We know we've put in a power of work over the last couple of years and we thought we deserved some results and some on-field success," Adams told RSN. 'Deserved'. This is exactly why they aren't playing finals. (Along with their rubbish list and coach.)

It's a big leap to see how punching an opponent behind play and getting suspended for three weeks in which we lost winnable games is a positive - we'd be locked in the 8 and talking about top 4. The points that VP and TGR have made about Lewis' lack of pace, lack of commitment to the contest, turnovers and propensity to fall over are all valid. I'm not sure how this is hard to understand. But recently he has stood up strongly when the heat is really on and walked his talk. It's quite likely he has a limited number of shots in the chamber and has to use them wisely. How he delivers over the next few weeks will be key.

i'll go on record here as i like Bugg. have known him for a few years - really nice guy. His suspension for a brain fart is over. he was hung dried and quartered, time to move on people he is Melbourne football club player. is he a deadset gun... no. does he come in as an automatic, no. Were we playing better as a team with him playing well.. yes. Probably needs match fitness at Casey this week. would i be upset if the match committee thought we need his niggle and bring him in straight away, no. all this crap about earning back trust is just noise and nonsense. he will play if and when his fitness and form versus the other blokes in his role(s) warrants - amd that is the be all and end all

I watched him in the flesh against Box Hill Hawks. Be patient, this guy is the real thing. He needs confidence more than anything. He can kick, he can mark, he's a ferocious tackler and some half decent delivery wouldn't go astray either. And as he grows he'll be able to deal better with the kind of physical attention he receives week in, week out. Remember, he's a Wiedemann.

He'd need to push out someone like Harmes or Melksham. I'm not sure a push would do it, maybe a left uppercut.

Not the player he was at his peak and never will we see that here but he has been a huge positive for us this season I believe. I rate him a 7/10. We just look more 'experienced' and mostly solid with him in the side. A perception I found lacking for the past 7 or 8 years.

I posted a summary of the interview in another thread last night for those who don't have 45 minutes to listen: It really is worth a read.

No, Jack Watts is jumbo returns.

Did Pavlich go home to Adelaide? No Has Sloan come back to Melbourne? No Do we need to bang on about Hogan and Perth for the next 3 years?

Garlett will not be dropped.

Tomas Bugg needs to earn back trust? What, are his teammates afraid he might him them? Contemporary society is just so full of nonsense.

If true that is total bollocks. He stuffed up and has paid his penalty.

I posted this in the Lever thread but theirs some good stuff in this interview with Jason Taylor. http://www.afl.com.au/draft/road-to-the-draft

So to answer my own question Oliver would join 3 other players (that i can find) to make the AA team in their 2nd year; Ricciuto, Wingard and Jeremy Cameron. Other notables are 3rd year - Judd, Selwood Bontempelli, 4th - L Matthews, N Buckley, Dangerfield and that disgraced ex Essendon coach 5th - Carey, Voss and Fyfe 6th - G Ablett Jnr 10th - G Ablett Snr

The game against St Kilda was season defining. We got a last 1/4 from Lewis that set a win at all costs mentality and a team that followed him. i have seen wosre thread's than this locked or removed by mods on demonland. He is a winner and he is ours.

Last weekend and the next batch of games is why Lewis was recruited and how I'll judge him - the rest is garnish.

New lease on life at a different club could spark him (this worked for Jeffy). Has real X-factor about him, and having two dangerous smalls to support Hogan + Weideman bringing it to ground would create havoc. Kent/Kennedy out of favour, and Matera wouldn't come with a hefty price tag. Yes for me.

I think Oliver should make the 22 but won't... He is our Selwood/Dangerfield, we would struggle without him in the team.

Maybe it's a delayed evener from the freebie flag where they spent all last year playing throwball.

That line of Kennedy's is the truth, but not the whole truth. He forgets to mention there are two other field umpires out there. The question he should be asked is why the umpire who undertakes the bounce is the controlling umpire? Why not make sure the umpire who bounces does that task properly and moves away safely and leave the officiating of the immediate contest to the remaining umpires?

Club Membership Numbers are out http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-16/afl-club-membership-tally-hits-new-high Observations: The increase for the Bulldogs is understandable given their premiership. Geelong has a new stadium so can sell more. Not sure about StK increase; I recall they sold a lot of $1 memberships. GWS is a surprise and have genuinely grown quickly. As for Essendon - what can one say! Big loser is North - guess they didn't like how they dumped their champs last year! There is a good case to merge North and GCS! As for the Dees, we have had approx 25% increase since the PJ/Roos era started. And going on the Bulldogs experience, a premiership would take us well over the 50,000 mark! That may be a few years away but I would expect another leap in our membership next year. Edit: For some reason the second table won't delete, so ignore...

Goes alright. With a couple of pre-seasons under his belt he might become a first 22 type.

You can kick someone in the head, but have to be careful when tackling a player to ensure that their head doesnt hit the ground. Redpath. 3 weeks, what a joke. Ollie Wines escapes with a fine. Bizarre game.

It wasn't just the hit being sub-decent, it was the whole package. He motivated the opposition and played like complete poo himself. It was the most clear case of getting psyched out on the footy field that I've ever seen. So yes, I think his teammates would look at him differently after the fact.

The grading system and the MRP should be scratched. It was supposed to make penalties more transparent and yet it's even more laughable than the old tribunal. How Wines walked is a mystery all its own. But Redpath's three weeks, like Hogan's two weeks earlier this year, are hopelessly out of line. As bad as it is, they should just go back to tribunal hearings and every one of those f---wits on the MRP forced to walk a lap of the G on Grand Final Day while they're pelted with rotten fruit.

brad hardie?

Gee they fooled GC Suns.

looking increasingly likely that Buckley will coach on in 2018 which is great news for all other teams, esp us as we wont have to deal with farewell. De Geoy Greenwood Oxley Pendlebury Varcoe etc. all injured/in surgery. they have put the cue in the rack

an annoying tagger against the loins midfield would be handy especially if viney doesn't come up

MEMO FROM AFL TO "LESSER CLUBS": lie back and let the MRP have their way.

Now listen Ernie, I realize you're dead and I make allowances for that .... BUT ... fmd ...can't you be a little more positive? I mean ... what have you got to lose?

If Goody wants him in I have no problems with him going straight into the AFL side. We've missed him in the side, and i dont think the incident was as bad as some have said

I totally agree, jnr. He paid his penalty with 6 weeks of no football and, from all reports, he has put his head down and worked extremely hard on the track for each of those weeks he missed. I still think he'll make his way back through Casey, but I'd happily welcome him back into the side if he was picked.

That is seriously pathetic

Do you legitimately think that Richmond will drop their last two against the Saints and Dockers? That looks like you are attempting to do one of two things... 1) Manufacture a huge MCG clash between Tigers and Dees in week one of the finals... if thats the case Kudos for trying! 2) Attempting as hard as you can to try and push the Tigers down to 9th place... in which case even more Kudos!!

I hated Oscar at the beginning of the year. Believe in player development.