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Too all those telling other posters & supporters to "stop getting ahead of ourselves", "theres still one more game to win", "we still need to beat Collingwood" I understand all that but let other posters dream of September and talk about it, we haven't had this chance for 11 years and if for some reason we miss out at least we all got to enjoy this end to the season with us still in the hunt. We aren't the players or coaching staff, what we say & post on here has absolutely no bearing or influence on the playing group, coaches or the result of games so just let those who want to know how we buy finals tickets, who we'll play, when we'll play, who'd we play if we won the first final... We are posters on a forum for godsake, let's all just embrace this time were in and if you don't wish to get involved thats fine but don't tell others they can't look that little further ahead and dream of September

I love Jeff Garlett and live in Europe, but my neighbours probably wonder why the odd foreigner downstairs keeps screaming out 'Pedo' so joyfully every Saturday morning around 6am.

Stop getting ahead of yourself.

Howdy All I've been lurking here for a few years but thought I'd sign up to share my match day experience at the G yesterday. My wife and I were registered to participate in the walk around the ground which was opened up to members who attended all home games. Whilst waiting we got chatting to a a young guy and young women who were working for the club. The woman got a phone call and seemed a little flustered. Upon hanging up she turned and to us and asked if I'd be interested receiving a jumper from one of the players on the ground instead of doing the walk. Naturally I hastily agreed. She rushed me down just in time to see the boys jog up the race for their first warm up. Next thing I know I was on the ground with 22 other supporters standing in front of Dom Tyson's jumper. Dom and the team jogged over. He said g'day , asked my name, shook my hand and handed me his jumper. I wished him luck for the game and gave him a pat on the back and he was on is way. Now I know according to a few on here he butchers the ball but I absolutely love Dom and think he is crucial to our success. He's tough around the contests and wins the tough footy. So I was wrapped to get his jumper. The whole experience was amazing. Thanks to the club for making things like this happen. Now I'm not usually a track watcher but I thought I might head into training to get the Jumper signed by Dom. I'm assuming the main session this week will be Thursday morning. Does anyone know any details. eg start time.

Please close the thread and reopen after sat if we win. Its too early for this imo. We can not afford to get ahead of ourselves cause we all know what happens then.

He should have received a free kick for the second incident with Clay Beams as it was contact below the knees by Beams.

As expected VFL have thrown out Watt's charge.

I honestly do not understand the negativity in this thread. We won. Brisbane never led in the second half. We have seen how bottom teams play and the reality is while Brisbane challenged us, you do actually have to get in front to win games of football. We saw it time and time again during the dark times, bottom teams challenge but don't actually win, good teams can win when not at their best. We have finally done that this year. Heres the facts: We've won 12 games with a good positive percentage in the most even competition in decades with our ruckman, full forward and both captains having missed big chunks of the season. in 18/21 games we have led or drawn even in the last quarter. That's super competitive even compared to last year where we only did it in 13/22 games. Against bottom 4 teams we've won 4 lost two with a percentage we'll over 130. Against teams outside the 8 we've won 9 lost 4 again with a good percentage. Against teams inside the 8 we've won 3 lost 5 including beating the top side at home and beating Port and Essendon convincingly. Were above average against teams outside the 8 and as the youngest team inside the 8 have been very competitive against most with only our games against Adelaide, GWS and Sydney being uncompetitive. We are a 95% chance to make finals for the first time in over a decade. We've improved in every category despite immense adversity and we still have huge potential for improvement both with our youth and implementation of the game plan. Clearly people on this forum weren't going to be happy unless Melbourne won 16 games and beat every side outside the 8 by massive margins but the reality is that's totally unrealistic for any team, let alone a young inexperienced group like ours. They're playing some great footy and giving us something to be happy about for the first time in years! A wins a win!! Enjoy it!! Get on board!! Go Dees!!

I just realised that if we win, and if the Saints beat the TIgers, we will play RIchmond in the Elimination FInal. Come on Saints, do it for Nick Riewoldt!

G'day all, Long-time reader, first-time poster. I know stats aren't something to get bogged down in, but after watching recent games and noticing certain patterns emerging, I decided to investigate some specific stats. Namely disposals vs disposal efficiency. We currently No. 1 in disposals (great to be at the top of something!) yet 14th in disposal efficiency. To me that says "doing everything the hard way". The handball-at-all-costs thing is sometimes very effective, but it seems to be the default mode of play, even when it is so painfully obvious that it isn't the right option. I know yelling "kick it" at the TV often flies in the face of what the team should actually be doing at the time (maintaining possession). It's an amateur piece of advice. But man, I'm yelling it a lot lately. Oh and what I said about it being good to be No.1 at something, unfortunately we're also No.1 in clangers at present ? And languishing at 16th for contested marks. We are sorely lacking in mid-field targets. I can't help but feel these are the things holding us back from being a league-conquering team. That, and just being a bit [censored] sometimes (sorry boys, I love ya. 43 years is a long freakin time to wait for a flag though, so I'm allowed to give you some [censored], right?)

Lever quits his Adelaide radio show spot. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-21/lever-pulls-out-of-regular-radio-spot Sure sign he is leaving the Crows. Seems down to a two horse race: Dees and Pies. Given the pies don't know who their coach will be and its list is all over the shop, it is hard to see they have the nod. Conclusion: It must be the Dees...!

Unlucky to even get a fine really, but he would have signed the cheque as soon the verdict was in. You really couldn't possibly guess what the outcome would be and this is definitely one of the better possibilities.

shouldn't have been fined. Joke of an incident.

Here's a highlights package from last year (his second year): In this video he makes spoils and marks against players including Brown (North), Bruce, Mason Wood (destroyed us), Lobbe and takes one between Dangerfield and Hawkins. Who the fark do we have that can do this apart from T-Mac at his best which isn't that often these days? This bloke was performing these acts in his second year! His second year! Look at the bloke's strengths. He has a highlights package like that in his second year. We have no key defender that even comes close to being able to perform in all the areas he does. He possesses midfielder attributes as well as sound key defensive ones. He is so unbelievably rare it's offensive some of our own supporters don't appreciate players like Lever enough. The 'who's going to mind player X' talk is generally a furphy. Yeh there are always preferable matchups, but there are so many other variables that come into play. If you look at all the best teams, their entire unit works in tandem to mitigate an opposition attack but obviously the better, more talented and more versatile your key defenders are, the better chance you're going to have at stopping a key forward. If we land him, it'll be a godsend. Bribanes two young defenders even showed how good they're going to be in few years time. They have similarly well-rounded games with only a few weaknesses. Melbourne supporters overate Oscar and Frost enormously.

Paul Amy's report in the Cranbourne Leader - The Casey Demons remain unbeaten at home after seeing off Williamstown at Casey Fields And there is no case to answer for Demon Jack Watts. The VFL has turfed out the report from Saturday's game.

from a crows mate - apparently the wobbles have been told the same as dogs

Some say if you walk past the mcg at night, you can still hear the collingwood boos

Can we bring in Lumumba for a farewell game?

I was only a lad in short pants. Last round before finals. Many interesting Facts about this game. I will start with one. We had to win to make finals for the first time since 1964. Melbourne did win.

I'd rather keep Hannan in than have Trengove or JKH again

I was one of the few on here defending him earlier this season. He's been a whipping boy for idiots in the past, but the club knew what they were doing when they traded him in. He's got talent and experience. In the past he has played his best footy as a half forwarding rotating in the midfield. He had a top 5 BnF finish in a team that played finals when playing that role all year. The coaches tried him at half back and it didn't work out. As soon as he was moved away from there and has been given roles up forward or in the midfield he has excelled. He's done some good tagging jobs on the likes of Pendlebury and Zorko when needed. He's accumulated a lot of ball in the midfield when given license to roam. He's one of the few who currently goes for kicks more than handballs, which makes him valuable as a link man heading into 50. He's also chimed in with multiple goals repeatedly when playing up forward, including kicking important long goals under immense pressure to give us wins. His long kicking for goal from 50-60 metres is probably the best at the club alongside Bernie and Petracca. I also reckon he's laid the most bumps of anyone in the team this year. Love that he asserts himself physically without giving away bad frees. A few of our players could learn from him there. He's definitely best 22 and his finals experience and maturity will be valuable come September. PS The following statement from the MRP gave me a smile. "Jake Melksham was also charged with misconduct for pushing an opponent into an umpire in Sunday's clash against the Brisbane Lions." Glad someone is trying to do something about the umpires. They are beyond incompetent and bordering on corruption this year!

Really? I couldn't be bothered going back further but I've looked at the last 5 games. In those five games (PA, NM, GWS, StK, Brisbane) Brown has kicked 4, Membery and Westoff 2 and no other tall has kicked more than one. For all your posturing and desperation to keep the "Oscar is a dud" myth going the proof certainly doesn't seem to be in the pudding. I'd love Lever, I'd love any elite talent and if elite talent chooses you then take it. But the facts seem to be that our defence is in pretty good shape and opposition talls don't regularly get hold of us.

We're talking about finals going into the last round of the year - how good is it? I don't even know who the Top 20 draftees are this year and, frankly, couldn't give a stuff. This is what it's all about!

Even with Hogan kicking 6, Pederson 3 and winning the ball around the ground, Clarrie gathering possessions and Hibberd cleaning up at the back we beat the bottom side by only 13 points on the way to perhaps play in finals. I cannot recall one goal scored from team play that could be considered planned - it was mostly a collection of brilliant individual efforts (Petracca, Pederson x2, Hogan), accidents and a measure of good luck. They out ran us, moved the ball well to leading teammates, showed a planned style of play but were ultimately defeated by a poorly performing but overpowering force. How many forward thrusts have to be embarrassingly squandered and even gifted to the opposition (think Hunt's precise pass to a defender after 2 bounces) before we realise that our game plan is holding us back? Why do all forwards lead back to goal? Where is a double back to secure a safe possession? Why, except for Neal-Bullen to Garlett, were there no deliberate short passes for a shot at the goals in the forward line? Why are our players slow to react and make position and create leading options when we have possession following a switch? Why are our kick ins so predictable? Why do the opposition midfielders read Max's work better than ours? Why do we not build a game plan around Clarrie's incredible ability to win the ball and deliver it at speed - its seems he has to look for attacking targets because we are not offering? 12 wins is a good year but it hurts me that we should have had more and I despair that the lessons of this year might not be absorbed for next year. Go dees.

This was a great post.

Have you considered throwing your faeces at him?

The selection of Wagner over Frost this week was just mind boggling. The Lions are very tall and mobile and Tom Mc has trouble with a mobile tall prepared to work hard. We needed Frost's height and pace badly. I thought it was a terrible selection.

Concussion forces Hawk to retire at just 26 http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-21/concussion-forces-hawk-jack-fitzpatrick-to-retire-at-26 Sad to see an end to his career. At least he kicked a ripper goal for the hawks as a highlight of his career.

Done more for the Hawks than Vickery

Bombers are playing Freo in Melbourne. They can't lose to that mob. $11 seems very tempting for a 'small' cover.

Why would Adelaide rest players this week? They have a week off before finals, and if they win their first final, another week off after that. Resting players could mean those players play 1 match in about a month leading into a Preliminary final.

Melbourne losing by 20 points and West Coast winning by 20 points wouldn't exactly be a "miracle".

Getting a little a head of yourself talking finals with a round yet to play. Nothing is certain unless we win this Saturday.

They're freak athletes and truth is no one can go with them on their day. That's why you get a Lever and have your zone, so he reads the play and gets over to help out. Astbury and Rance type set up.

Good Morning All Yesterday was a game that last year we would have lost by 5 goals, 2 years ago by 10 goals, and 3 years ago by 15 goals. This shows hor far we have come but there still is more work to be done. Hibberd, Melksham, and Lewis's experience were very good at calming things down. Lets complete the job by beating Collingwood and make the finals for the first time in 11 years. CARN THE DEMONS.

And then they are shot.

first was a free kick against bern, second should've been a free kick for him he'll get four weeks

I was at that match and also in short pants. It was at Victoria Park. We also needed Footscray to lose but they got two points by drawing with someone who I can’t remember. My dad was hob-nobbing with the committee or some such and had left me by myself in the stand. I got confused and thought we were in the finals as Footscray didn’t actually win but then the Collingwood supporters around me were laughing at Melbourne and saying they didn’t care about winning as long as we didn’t get in. That started my life long dislike of Collingwood

We OVER handball, thats fact. But the biggest problem is those handballs are 1 meter to another player under the same pressure. The ol Cam Bruce special.

Adelaide lost to North. GWS lost to Carlton. Geelong lost to GC. Richmond lost to Fremantle. Sydney lost to Carlton. Essendon lost to Brisbane, Fremantle and Carlton. Port's the only side not to have lost to one of the bottom 5. In fact, they've only lost one game to the bottom 10 all year, and that was to West Coast. However, they've only won one game over a top 8 side and that was Sydney in Round 1 which doesn't count for much these days. Classic Demonland. TMac has his best ever season, plays one bad game and now couldn't even be traded if we wanted to trade him.

Nothing to do with footy but It's great when your 12 year old son discovers movies like Airplane, blazing sadles and police academy. Gives you an excuse to watch them again and see your kid laugh out loud. Its a nice stress release from watching these close ones.

http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-20/many-happy-returns-for-sixgoal-hogan Article on Jesse's return today. I especially liked this bit, regarding the club's attitude towards everything he's gone through this year. "Hogan said he would have found it difficult to pull through if not for the support of the Melbourne Football Club and his teammates. "The club was extremely caring and were very cautious to what I needed – whether I needed space or whether I needed to be around the boys. They couldn't have done any better, in my opinion.""

Doesn't matter what we beat Collingwood by inregards to Essendon they cant jump us as we'd be a game clear of them... We win we'll finish 7th

He has learnt from selwood. He was notorious for it last year and would have received even more frees today if the umpires weren't onto his blatant cheating. he needs to be made an example of. Cheater at best

Those calling for Garlett to be dropped do you actually watch the games? He has a guy hanging of him everywhere he goes, the other defenders twice his size are gangbanging him at every opportunity and he draws an extra man most of the times when the ball is on the ground because he is so dangerous

Lol, drop our leading goalkicker with one game to go when a win assures us finals. That is as good as " the forward line functions better without Jesse." I will admit he has been quiet the last few weeks but this is not a time to be making statements.

Excruciating, for sure, but it sure beats wondering where we're going to finish between 12th and last. This must be what it feels like barracking for an actual footy team.

Must admit I agree with you. I see Mathieson as a cheat, not a footballer. Pretty poor for a young player just starting out.

So let's recap this week's posts in the Hogan thread: 1. We are better without Hogan in the side 2. He should earn it in the VFL like everyone else 3. Our fitness and medical staff are incompetent and negligent for letting him play

This just reeks to me of ridiculous anti-Watts bias. He gets pilloried for not getting airborne or crashing into packs. So he does exactly that and you crack into him for a "lack of willingness to go for the mark". He genuinely cannot win in the eyes of too many MFC supporters.