Leaderboard

Well I honestly can’t see us losing a game this year.

There are a few things that have changed since then: Jesse Hogan is back to full fitness and he has put a horror year behind him. Even if he doesn't play Round 1, Viney is over his foot issues and he's ready to go. We've added Jake Lever to our backline, which has allowed us to now fully release Tom McDonald to play as a permanent forward. Our kids have all got another pre-season under their belt and the pain of Round 23 will spur them on. They are just a few examples, but while they are the same names on paper, I do believe it will be a different side, both mentally and physically, lining up for us in Round 1.

There are some overreactions here. Viney is recovering from a stress fracture to his third metatarsal. It usually doesn't require surgery and in Viney's case it didn't. They're not uncommon and with rest they heal themselves. Viney wouldn't be back in full training if he was suffering any significant complications. If he was feeling pain he simply wouldn't be training. It's taken longer than the usual 6-8 weeks to heal, because he must have felt pain late last year, which put his progress back. Being pain free after two weeks of full training is a very good sign. If he plays next week and recovers with no pain it will be a decision based on match fitness as to whether he plays. If you google information on stress fractures to the third metatarsal there's a plethora of information. I know this is his injury, because he said it on a club website interview. From there I looked up the injury some weeks ago.

21 touches, 7 marks and 2 goals for Hogan.

"If they weren't called Melbourne, we'd all believe" It's hard to argue with that. His assessment is excellent though, and does put into perspective the list we are building. If we can get over the mental hurdle of making the finals then the sky is the limit for this team.

Jake Niall is petty spot on with his assessment. Hibberd & Hunt give us elite half backs. Lever is an elite intercept mark. Oliver, Tyson, Viney & Jones are all fantastic inside mids. Petracca gives us forward X factor. Hogan & Mcdonald are solid key talls. I think the missing piece is really that outside runner, which is why I think we should be going after Gaff at the end of this year.

No coincidence that all their forwards got touches once Oscar went off. I’m a fan and he’s probably more important than I give him credit for. Shocking 3rd quarter. Loved Goodwin taking extended time right before the 4q bounce with Oliver, bang clearance. Once the class got their hands on it on the 4th you could just see the difference between the teams. Took a quarter off and still won easily.

I love it when we play in waves of champagne angry football like I’ve never seen and someone finds something that annoys them. We’re a salty bunch us Dees supporters.

It does take time to change perceptions doesn’t it. I still don’t rate Richmond that highly and are confident of rolling them on Anzac Eve and they’ve just won the flag!

Overall an impressive display, although a worrying third term when Savage and Billings tore us apart with their disposal skills and we were smashed at the clearances in that term. It was interesting to see who would step up for us when it mattered and it was general the younger brigade – Oliver, Trac and Brayshaw the stars and Bugg, Lever and Tyson huge as well. The big difference is that for the first two terms our disposal and ball movement was so precise (almost Hawthorn of 2012-15ish) and you could see the errors unfolding for our opponents. Pleasingly, we got a reminder in the third term that you can’t ease up the intensity and even more pleasing, we stepped it up again in the last. So many good players but here’s my take: Oliver: Brilliant first half. Set the tempo in the middle in the first quarter and then drifted down forward and snagged a couple in the second. What are his Brownlow odds? Petracca: Not far behind him. Big marks, big takeaway, big mistake by Saints three years ago. Lifted in the last when we needed him. Lever: Unbelievably clean early when the heat was on and safe and sure in the final term. Does anyone now question why we paid the big bucks to get this guy? Brayshaw: He was back tackling like he did in 2015 and he even cost a goal with one of his over-exuberant efforts. Then his final term took it to a new level - he was everywhere. After a so-so display against North, he made sure he’s in for Rd 1. Fritsch: Skills, pace and the only question mark (his intensity) were answered early. But a quietish second half begs the question – how can he get a game ahead of ANB and Harmes if they are fit … and Bugg? Hannan: After an ordinary sort of game against North, he stepped up big time and his pace and tackling was a feature. We know the coach loves him and on that showing, you can see why. Lock him in for Rd 1 Eddie. Salem: I’m not totally sold on him in the guts, but he was clean and showed how dangerous he can be with a classy snag in second term. But along with Billy, he has to keep performing. Hibberd&Melksham: The Bomber buddies must be looking forward to Rd 7 already. Melky continued to show that he is a dangerous hard-running small forward. Hibberd is a SC must. Maynard: OK someone has to miss out in Rd 1 and if Viney plays, it will most likely be him. But he’s courageous and a massive worker like his brother. He will play at some stage, but I suspect he’ll win the Casey B&F. Tyson: Came back in and looked fit and smart and his first goal was Tysonesque with a nice change of direction. Prolific in last term. Put him back in your best 22. Stretch: Billy was everywhere in the first term and his releases were generally exceptional. He kept running and it would be tough to leave him out on that display. But if Harmes, Viney and ANB return, then it could get down to him or Salem for Rd 1. Bugg: Showed his value in the third term. Beat his man, legged, no free and still gets up to lay a strong tackle that sees the ball spill to Jeffy to re-establish our lead. Really lifted when it counted and it will be a brave man that leaves him out Rd 1, but it could get down to Fritsch v Bugg for that last forward spot, if ANB is fit. Garlett: A few classy intercepts and a couple of snapped goals. Not dominant but his pace adds to our forward pressure mix. Pedersen: Brilliant early mark and long kick to set up Petracca’s first goal. Did nothing wrong and worked his butt off but hard to see playing Rd 1 if T.Mac returns. Jetta: Not his best night, but maybe needed the run. Won’t get Motlop (he’s not there) but will get a key Cat in Rd 1. Frost: Came on in second term and made a couple of poor kicking errors and beaten a couple of times by Bruce but lively and grew in stature in the last term. Hunt: Not his greatest night disposal wise, but showed why he’s so dangerous and converted the sealer. Wagner: Another handy game, but if Jordy is fit, then he looks likely to be the unlucky one to miss. O-Mac: Was he rested after quarter time. Or injured? He wasn’t that impressive early, but we did miss his kicking composure in the third term. Vince: One cross field howler, but overall another strong display. Will he pick up Danger when he rests forward? That is the question. Jones: He’ll be better for the run. Certainly not his night. Gawn and Hoges: Our two money men missed quite a few targets early but both got better as the game wore on and did not stop running and presenting – which ultimately is what their paid to do.

Year after year we peak early and run out of steam in the latter part of the season. Last year, the team was physically and mentally destroyed by season end. No point starting the race in a sprint when we are running a marathon. This year, we have an improved list and better depth. Hopefully, the coaching staff and players know what is needed this season. In particular, the importance of "peaking" at season end. The GF is our Olympics.

Alright let's do this. The Rookie list was originally brought in to the AFL in 1997 to allow clubs to have young, developing, cheaper players on their list, as well as filling a gap when AFL lists size's went from 52 to 42 players in 1994. They eventually added Catergory 'B' rookies who are basically international players or players from other sporting codes, again for a cheaper price. This is how AFL lists are currently structured 38 Senior Players, up to 6 'A' Rookies and up to 3 'B' Rookies for a Max of 47 players or 39 Senior Players, up to 5 'A' Rookies and up to 3 'B' Rookies for a Max of 47 players or 40 Senior Players, up to 4 'A' Rookies and up to 3 'B' Rookies for a Max of 47 players After a lot of tweaks and changes this is what the current rules for Rookie List's ultimately mean: 'A' Rookies are on the same base payment as Senior Listed draftee's 'A' Rookies can be played in the AFL with no restrictions 'B' Rookies are still International/Other Sports players who are on different pay levels 'B' Rookies are only eligible to play in replace of someone on the Long Term Injury list or a Retired player Rookie's are only given 12 month contracts, and in order to give a Rookie a longer contract they must be upgraded to the Senior List The AFLPA are moving in a direction where they want Rookie list's to be abandoned all together, and have a 46 man Senior List, which looks likely to occur within the next couple of years. What does all this mean for the MFC? Melbourne currently have 40 Senior Listed players, 4 'A' Rookies and 0 'B' Rookies, which mean any of the 44 players are eligible to play a Senior game at any time.

Take a moment to appreciate how good he already is, and that he is ours.

Scene: Family Day. Families and kiddies are gathered around players, chatting, getting autographs. Alex Neal-Bullen is among them. A grizzled old supporter with a tic in one eye, and wearing a beanie, scarf, training jumper, duffel coat with Jack Mueller's number on the back, and club tie, limps near. It is The Satyr. The Satyr: Alex! (Everyone looks up. The kiddies flee in terror.) ANB: (thinks) It's this guy again! The one who's always at training. What's he doing here? Why won't he leave me alone? ANB: (aloud) G'day mate. Great to see you. Hope you're having a good-- The Satyr: I have this medical invoice I found in the dumpster behind the AAMI centre. It mentions an order for 100 boxes of linament and bandages. Items usually required to treat injured groins! I want to know everything that's going on with your groin, and I mean everything. ANB: (thinks) Got to get away ... fast! ANB: (aloud) All good, mate. Everything's fine. It's fine. It's good. It's .... fine. All fine. The Satyr: Thank you. That's just what I was expecting to hear. (Gets out clipboard, ticks box, makes note. Looks around for Jordan Lewis.)

He’s clearly closer if he’s training with the main group.

Also a key change WB is the message sent by Goodwin to the whole list when he dumped Watts - he is emphasising and standing behind standards over talent. Hopefully this mindset improves our first quarter performances this year, this in particular was a real concern last year.

The only thing that surprises me about this is that it has managed to clock up 4 pages as a thread... seriously, why do any of us care about what ANY media pundit has to say, good or bad?

Pre-season or not, but am I the only one who thought Bernie probably played his best game in nearly two years? Looked in great touch tonight.

Situation normal ... all f/d up

Been a good game to watch .. fairly full-on for a practice match. We've played very well. Lever is such a good acquisition. Not only is our backline really solid but we've got plenty of depth back there (more so with a number of our onballers being able to drop back) Roos is great to listen to as well ... his knowledge is 2nd to none. Our whole defensive make-up was built from the ground up by Roos and Goodwin is following suit. There is a lot to like about this list.

The most pleasing thing for me is that every game I’ve seen us play, even that AFLX junk, we look like we are playing with the purpose and intensity of a serious team.

Vince made best case for round one so far, well to me atleast. I turn on a stream and first thing i see is someone spoiling Lever in the air, i guess communication will get better over time.

I'll keep saying it. Vince's best position is half forward.

Ha, you continually prove you're a troll. In this post, you say "you can see AFL clubs diversifying income streams and Educational Institutions are a great source..." You have not once hinted in this thread that you feel this way. I even planted the seed early in the thread that this was an avenue to tap in to. Crickets from you. Then, when it was announced about our partnership with Chisolm, you think we are "copying" Richmond. No criticism of Essendon doing the same. And also, you are supporting the Educational Institutes to generate income streams, yet criticise our club my club for copying when we do it!

From what I can see he has followed the timeline he told Saty in about November. I'm not aware of any major setbacks since then. The training reports since Jan have had him running flat out for 2 1/2 months now and he's back in the full training about when he said he would. His plantafacia injury healed normally the consequent stress fracture was the set back. It's not one of those injuries like a navicular that can be career ending. Trenners injury has spooked us all but that's not what he's got. It's true you can't trust anything players or the Club say about injuries but hearing that he's done full training in the main group for about a month now and continues to says all I need to hear.

When Gil said it's inevitable, he meant 'it's inevitable that we cave into the media and hold the GF at night' Leave it tf alone

Why don't we just agree to disagree. Thread closed. Game Day thread is up: http://demonland.com/forums/topic/43420-game-day-jlt-2-vs-st-kilda/

Next in AFL: no behind posts. Too provincial and backward. No bouncing of the ball when running with it. Bloody thing sometimes goes sideways, ruins the spectacle on TV. New exciting offside rule. Too dull when a bloke gets an easy goal over the top. Ruins the spectacle on TV. Game day squad of 40. 25 on the field and 15 interchange. Unlimited interchange. How exciting to watch fit young athletes dashing on and off constantly, like track and field relay teams. New zone system. No, not a requirement to have minimum players in each zone. Instead, teams will be penalised if any player is more than 30m away from the ball. Every player has a chance to be in the action at every moment! What a thrilling spectacle for the TV viewers! No actual players. Instead players will be holographs controlled by Xbox gadgets operated by spectators who win a lucky draw before the match. No actual "clubs", which are outre and tribal in this era of enlightenment and egalitarianism. Instead, sponsors will bid each week to have a team playing under their name & colours. ("Come to the G this Wednesday morning at 4AM -- Euro prime time -- to see the Reject Shop Pickers take on the BankWest Platinum Mastercard Big Spenders!") My god, the merchandising opportunities alone are enough to make you weak at the knees! Players are not signed to club, they're signed to the league. Sponsors to decide which players will play on each team on the day. Marketing managers representing the game day sponsors will do an old fashioned take-it-in-turns to select players. Like in schoolyard days. A tip of the hat to the past, to keep the older (and bigger spending) punters happy. At half time, players from other clubs can invade and take over positions on the field. For a touch of reality TV, which all punters absolutely love. Just check out the ratings if you're a tired old stick on the mud. One player from each team will change sides at a random moment. In-game betting will give out fabulous cash prizes to viewers who can correctly predict how much revenue this players earns during the game. The people's game. And you're telling me we're going to have to wait until 2050 to enjoy all this!?

Also I've never rated Jon Pierik or Peter Ryan in their assessments of any team. Muppets.

Awesome. Ask Nev to blink twice if he feels he is in danger from any stalkers at training.

Stop listening to the external noise, and take a look at where he is getting his possessions. If you do this, you will soon realise that he is using the appropriate method of getting rid of it under the circumstances.

Never in doubt .... I had total faith in the boys !! Well, maybe not total faith.

Positives: - We won. A win is always a positive, no matter how you get it. - When we played at full tilt in the first two quarters, we looked fantastic. Great transition, slick ball movement, manic pressure and our backline was terrific. - It feels like we have some players ready to take the next step. Petracca and Hogan rotated through midfield and forward well, Gus had a really good game, Lever is a ripping acquisition and guys like Hannan and Fritsch give us some real X-factor up forward. - Gawny is ready to be an All Australian again. - Many of our players had limited game time. We rotated much more than them which showed in the third term. Negatives: - The third term. We changed things up a little but we stunk it up big time. We need to fix that ASAP otherwise we won't make the improvement we all expect. - We had a few players off tonight. Hunt couldn't really get himself into the game, Salem was just okay and I'm not sure Wagner is in our best 27-28 players. - We fumbled a bit but that was due to the conditions more than anything. Overall, it was a good win with a horrible lapse in the third term. Bring on Round 1!!

no o mac, no melbourne... frost's ability to read the flight of the ball is not at the same level as oscar

A little unreverendly. Apologies. Cheer up old boy.

FFS, cheer up!

Unfortunately we ran out of time - we had at least another half dozen questions up our sleeves, and there were a number of other areas he touched on in his answers that merited follow-up questions. The interview was only meant to last 15 minutes, but Jetts was good enough to give us about 25, which is very generous for someone who was trying to put his young kids to bed at the same time!

Very happy @Grapeviney got that last question in and loved the very expansive answer from Neville. Thanks fella's.

As we know, serious foot injuries can be season ending if not career ending. At very least, they can become chronic injuries that can affect a players career and week to week availability. Given Viney's game style, his injury is a major concern. I am not concerned about the first game, but the season and his immediate future. There should be no doubts and no risks taken. I hope that Saty and others who talk about the way the club now rehabs players are on the money. Running training is one thing, but match play and a full season is another. Please, no risks with Jack.

Great interview, just had a listen in on the way to work. Not that it is any surprise, but Jetta is one of the most impressive, well-spoken and thoughtful players in the AFL.

I agree. In my opinion, the journalists, opposition supporters and, indeed, many of our own supporters who are playing down our top 4 prospects are probably heavily influenced by their perceptions of a different MFC, namely the Melbourne of old. This playing group, this coaching group, is not. Objectively, we have a super well balanced list in terms of experience and ability, we have a very good coaching group, and I think, injuries permitting, we’ll be in the mix year. Big time.

Bloody brilliant work gents. Nev is an absolute marvel on and off the field. A+ for the interview fellas.

Given you’re not employed at the club, you’re in absolutely no position to be commenting on whether or not the poster should be sharing the information. It is his and his only to share. We have no idea who his connection is and so the risk is his to take if he decides to share it. It’s the same with any of the posters on this forum who have connections at the club and share information from time to time. Whether it’s trade news, injury or anything else. The risk is theirs. I suggest you put him on ignore, like you have with everyone else who rubs you the wrong way on here. It’d be beneficial for you, but more importantly everyone else on here who is sick of you bobbing up anytime a poster shares something that you’re not privy to.

I'm guessing that the current coaches of Danger, Dusty and Fyfe will freak out at the thought of another coach getting their mitts on their guy ... imagine if Danger did a knee while doing one of Stuey Dew's training drills? The coaches killed representative footy because of possible player injuries. They might kill this too. The Channel 7 and Foxtel ledger books might be the place to start.

I browsed through Sydney and Melbourne and there’s definitely some great value on offer. Ace High seems to be getting the wobbles in the markets. Out to $14 as of tonight. He’s drawn well and could easily find himself in the first few on the fence. Show A Star (Race 9 Syd) has drawn poorly again and although the $8 is tempting it’s best to wait on him at this stage. Some real shorties going around in the sprint races in Sydney. At this early stage Shillelagh (R7 Flemington) looks a good bet at $4.20. Edit: Brave Smash back in distance.....hmmm? Craig Williams suggested this according to a news story I came across a few days ago.

Sorted out all my trifectas tonight ... fine tuning only required. For years I did the form on a Friday night/Saturday morning armed with various publications but these days Racenet.com does the job. Race 6 at Randwick (Canterbury Stakes - Group 1) was a toughie even though there are only 9 runners ... I could make a case for 8 of the 9 winning. In the end I had to take a few educated guesses. The trifecta & first 4 could pay well in that race, all things considered.

What an impressive young man Nev is. Humble and honest. A model Dee and a model citizen.

I feel sorry for Blight, who has seemed more demented for the best part of a decade or more. Whereas, I cannot recall a single piece of commentary from Lloyd in almost a decade of his media twaddle that has provoked any thought whatsoever, other than the thought that he is without doubt king of the muppets. An absolute embarrassment with even less credibility than a bloke with a name like Dwayne. And no wonder I don't listen to 3AW. Lloyd and Russell trying to outmuppet each other.

For those who haven't seen by now. So yes, he had a stroke, but it was relatively minor and caused by a not uncommon congenital heart condition and he should make a good recovery from both. Stroke awareness is a very important message. FAST.

November 1963 he had an accident of sorts......