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No problem. 4 premiership points beats 4 talking points.

DC Weed, Hannan, Smith x 2 etc could be with main group , but we do things properly now and they are left in the more than capable hands of Daniel Cross to attempt to kill them each rehab session. Spoke to Smith x 2 and Weed, they are nearly on.par with rest of squad as far as base fitness goes Tyson tweaked something on uWednesday so rehab We only have 3 'in doubt' at moment, McKenna AVB and of course Viney but he is now top speed straight line running so he is on his way

Great step up in standard, with good skills on display compared to last year. Eminently "watchable', and the score-line was pretty damn good too! Go Dees!

Just a note on Sean Wight: He mastered at least 3 codes... Soccer, Gaelic and AFL (VFL)... He was in the top 10 most courageous of all time (watch his games on a bigger, uglier, VFL icon, Plugger!)... I was at his pre-wake at the Bentleigh Club (Jimmy spoke for him, even though he was also diagnosed at the time) ... His athleticism was stunning, considering his knee reco in his first (maybe 2nd) year... to top it off, he played with authentic Brownlow values (like The Tulip)... consider some of the bullying thugs who have won Charlie!

Is that Bomber with a copper looking over his shoulder?

Anyway, back on topic. Watched a bit of training this morning from about 10:30 until they finished after 11. A couple of new entrants in to the rehab group. 1. The coach. Goody had a knee bandaged up and was on crutches before getting carted back to AAMI park at the end of the session. 2. Death, taxes and Dom Tyson getting injured in preseason. Dom had compression on his right calf. Rehab group: Viney, Kent, T Smith, J Smith, Vanders, Mckenna, Weed, JeffyG, Tyson. They were doing a little version of slips catching with footies then a decent boxing hit out. Main group were split in to multiple groups. Seemed to be a lot of small drills. Didn't really notice any particular themes of interest. So really just some tidbits: - Salem and Jetta sat out a drill at one stage, Hogan the last drill and wandered back to AAMI - Frost's set shot for goal remain the scariest thing you'll ever see, but at the end of training him launcher a torp from the goal square to near midfield - Harry Petty kicks with a very flat and penetrating trajectory - Flippers looks fitter in the legs since late last year, starting to look more like an athlete - Balic did extra kicking at the end of the session with Crossy. - Melksham seems a bit more built than last season, not major, just less sinewy.

Newmans goal happened right in front of me. It was special. Cunningham and Humphries look special players to me. Our midfield of Paxman, Pearce and O'Dea play well together. Jakobssen from Carlton played really well.

How’s that for a % boost? ?

Um, she lost 15 kgs since last season and of her 3 goals, one was outrunning an opponent and another was the match-winner. Not to mention a sublime pick-up at full speed out of a contest which we'd marvel at in the men's game. All in the second half when other players were running out of gas. Looks pretty good to me.

Not just the lead up. We are just a plot device for the media in this story. Win, lose or draw. Eveything will be about Gary's return. If we lose, it will just play out the way they want : fairytale return! How good is this team going to be? Will they go undefeated all year? If we win : did we overestimate the cats? Did Geelong pay to much for an aging Ablett? Is Gary's shoulder ok? The Cats have no depth. There will be nothing about us.

I think we can win this game, even with those 3 playing.

I hate Jeelong

Get Bugg to knock them all out. Game over.

Viney eats 580 Brownlow votes for breakfast.

Holy crap I just saw Newman’s goal. I’d like to see any of the guys try that goal, that is as good as you’re going to see from anybody! As an aside I think it would actually be awesome if the MFC social media department set up a video this week of getting the likes of Petracca, Garlett, Oliver etc to try to emulate that goal at training and post the video on the club website. For one thing it would be a great way to tie the teams together, and I think it’d be hilarious to see the reactions. Even better if she’s there watching it!

mel hickey - goal from 50!

There are moments where we look a serious step above the general standard. Frustrating that we seem to get pegged back in the overall grind, but I enjoy the feeling like we could any moment now become an unstoppable superpower.

alicia newman - goal of the year! three bounces and then a checkside from the boundary

So 16 people have received the heads dc?

Never in doubt!

and there is still the mystery of the 16 dead polo horses

Down hearted was another horse i though was way unders. Just not a winner

Shoals i would have to say in Caulfield but Itz invicible is a good thing and in a very small field reasonable value, so lets say Itz invicible I bet with a mate and he does all the actual bets (i can't manage online bookies - too dangerous) and i do the selections and email accross to him. I have cut and pasted above and edited to remove staking.

My tips and betting strategy for the day is as follows (with best bets bolded). Caulfield Race 1 no 1 Goldstream win Race 2 no 9 Pure elation win Race 3 no 7 Seberate and no 9 Ben Hucules both win Race 4 no 1 Gailo Chop win Race 5 no 1 Shoals win and place no 6 Smart coupe Race 6 no 2 Super Cash win Race 7 no 10 Scarecrow and box trif 1,2, 10 Race 8 no 10 Tshahitsi and 1 units win & place on no 5 Lord of the Sky Race 9 no 8 Fragonard win and saver on no 12 Barchetta JC Mark Zahra Warwick Farm Race 1 no 1 Satin Slipper Race 3 trifecta in order 3,7,5 for 1 unit Race 4 no 7 O’lordy win Race 5 no 1 Sanctimonius win Race 6 no 1 Single bullet place Race 7 no 4 Bonny Reilly win and quin 2 and 4 Race 9 no 6 Echo effect win JC Blake Shinn Morphettville Race 5 no 1 Itz Invincible win good luck punters!

Sean Wight was one of the very best half backs I had seen. Amazing leap, so he would often be third man up and punch the ball thirty meters in the correct direction. Speed to burn. Great vision and always correctly placed placed his body to block oposition. A true club man, absolute shame that he left us to soon. I am still sad to this day, that such a good bloke was taken to soon.

Fair comments rjay. Perhaps it is the closeness of a game rather than the scoreline which creates the excitement eg Dees vs Giants last week. I was drawing attention to 'goals scored' seemingly being the sole measuring stick for the AFLW being enjoyable to watch (and a defacto measure of its success). Its a shame the focus is on 'low' scores for which there are many reasons: innate skill, short 'pre-season' inexperience playing as a team, low time the ball is 'in-play' (from short quarters and limited time-on), 16 players on full sized oval, Player related - experience, fitness, match practice, part-timers, non-football backgrounds etc. Yet Hocking puts the low scores down to 'congestion' and defensive coaching! Hocking hurt his own product this week by generating negative headlines and a negative narrative. Hocking needs to nurse this through because the scorelines won't get better in a hurry. Wonder what he will come up this week: last night's game scores were 3.12.30 to 1.3.9. A grand total of 4 goals!!

The other positive this preseason is guys like: Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Hogan have all had a full preseason compared to previous years. Viney is struggling but seems like his preseason isn’t much different to his last two, when he still managed to play well. l look at our playing group and we have more talent than in the last 50 years, yes I’ve been watching the Dees for that long! No holidays for me this September! Will be watching the Dees play finals.

One thing is for certain, the words ‘Melbourne football club’ will not be mentioned by the media or commentators in the lead up to the match.

Ablett will get sunstroke and forget which way he's kicking. Selwood will suffer whiplash from ducking one time too many. Danger up forward won't touch it as the pill will spend its day sailing through our goals 30 times.

Motlop now at Port....... Both Dangerfield and Selwood struggling to get to the starting line for round 1.

We're up and running, terrific finish to the first at Caulfield.

Wow ... that's a lot of work binman. So out of the 4 best bets that you've highlighted, have you got 1 of them as your absolute standout? It can't be a horse in a race which has been picked already. These are the best bets so far Caulfield Race 4 No 1 Gailo Chop (Wadda) Warwick Farm Race 7 No 2 Eqyptian Symbol (Macca) Warwick Farm Race 8 No 4 Show A Star (Demon 77)

The first thing needed is to get a new GM who is not one of the old boys club. Then let him work out who stays and who needs to be bought in from the outside. On the later I think quite a number. What is the chances of it happening? Low at best the OBC will not be easy to dismantle because I think it starts from the top at board level.

Sounds like a complete overhaul starting at the top might be needed.

Also i like Silent Sedition in the last @Caulfield. Had a bit of an average campaign last Spring, but form prior to that was outstanding. If it gets anywhere near its best, should win this. Williams back on board as well. currently 3.10. Throw it into the mix.

The paywall prevents me from reading the article but like the Winter Olympics and the Ice Cricket, I’m sure the subject will leave me cold.

Pays to get on early doesnt it. I have it at 2.60.

It will depend on how well Collingwood are going 'Gonzo', if they're up and about then we will get 80k easily. They are a fickle group though and drop off quickly when things are going bad.

Show A Star into $2.00 after the scratchings. Only 5 running.

Precisely. The thread’s been completely derailed for the last 700 or so pages and it’s time to get back on topic. I’m surprised, no shocked ? that nobody has picked up on this comment by Deeman on the AFLW thread about last week's game v GWS Giants:- “I understand the concern about Mifsud’s absence for us but what I really want to know is why [censored] wasn’t playing for them!”

We should be better then last year, everything points to a good year, we can improve and still go no where, something is going to go wrong, and many things will go well. You down play Jesus he was god and the son of god, and what job would The Creator of the universe have ? but a builder.

The most entertaining thing to come out of this format will be Titus' running commentary on Twitter

Geelong are going to want to pull something big this year and win a flag, because these 3 are one concussion away from retirement. I don’t think that 3 players make a team. Geelong are severely lacking both down back and up forward and having lost Motlop they are also lacking some leg speed.

I like the 1400m races Wadda because of the previous times made by the various horses and the comparisons that I can therefore make. I also look for horses that have previously finished off their 1200m races well too - as well as those that race well but falter a bit towards the end of their 1600m races. And then there's the weights carried. The Classic mile is probably my favourite though ... but the form always makes a lot more sense if the race in question is WFA or at set weights. The classic distance (2000m) appeals for all sorts of reasons though. Group 1 at WFA is the pinnacle at that distance. Ditto for the mile and a half. The sprint races and the form attached to those races is often easier to identify (1000m, 1100m & 1200m) but I prefer the smaller fields in those races (unless the sprint racing is held on the straight at Flemington)

Break even in the middle and I think we have them covered both ends of the ground, I will feel a lot more confident if viney is available

Quinella paid alright! Its a tough race alright. I think ive had the most difficulty picking winners at 1400. It that weird distance between a sprint and a staying race. Kinda both really. Im liking that spec multi. Some chances there for sure. The minimum return on that for your 5 dollar minimum outlay is close to 3k. Now were talking.

I read the article that has this pic and it states that Geelong's Round 1 opponent is Essendon. Is this for the pre-season games? I do not buy into the hype around these three playing together and I hope that our Team does not either. There is only one ball in play at any one time and we will need to be putting pressure on the ball and the man with it at every contest, no matter who the opposition player is. Let the Cats sit back and fall into the trap of thinking they have it won because these three are going to win it for them. I am confident of a win first up.

oh really? I thought there were doubts about Gary but haven't kept up to date on the other 2. They are all match winners who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. They are at the level we hope our young players will get too and the type of player that we have missed for decades. Viney struggling is a bit of a bummer, but if they are in doubt then it evens out a bit. Still backing us in to win. 3 Votes: Max Gawn 2 Votes: Christian Petracca 1 Vote: Clayton Oliver.

Not sure why, but I don't know if these three will line up in the middle together that much... I get a feeling that Danger and Ablett will alternative between midfield and forward (still pretty devastating if they do) Also felt that the game was catching up a little with Selwood a little last year. He'll still be influential, but it's kinda similar feeling I have with Nathan Jones. Finally it's not what they have in the midfield it's what they have around them.... thats where the list sharply drops away.

Sigh. Any average grade men's suburban side is full of players who, cpmared to women footballers, had an extra decade of access to coaching, training and playing opportunities by the time they were 20. Even for code-hoppers the available development resources in their previous sport is radically different in almost all cases. You're comparing people who have had a lifetime of enocuragement, coaching, support and often pay, to people who have persevered despite being laughed at for even showing an interest, or at best cut off from access to development programs by the time they reach puberty. It's just a tedious false comparison, and I'm sure you already know about these differences, you're not generally an idiot, even if you're a bit wild with the punctation sometimes. So, when you ignore obvious facts in order to mock people because of their sex... well, look yourself in the mirror and at least promosie you won't ever complain about people being annoyed that you're sexist, ok?