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Showed up late for training this morning. The main squad was split into blues vs yellows doing a 3/4 ground ball movement drill, kicking the ball to a free player to get a set hot on goal, then reset from the backline and repeat. Emphasis on precision kicking and switching across the ground. About 22 players involved. The Casey boys had not arrived as yet. Oliver & OMac running laps together, Lever running on his own and later joined the main group, Lewis in rehab with Cross and 2 others who I did not identify, one must have been Viney, but the rehab group left before I could get over to look. Jones walking the boundary. Did not see T McDonald, ANB, AVB, Petracca. What is the go with TMac? They then split into 3 groups for some more lightly contested drills that indicated who is in the mix for round1 and where they might play Mids were Max, Tyson, Salem, Stretch, Harmes, Angus, Maynard Forward group - Hogan, Pedo, Melcham, Jeffy, Bugg, Fritsch, Backs - Frost, Lever, Jetta, Hibberd, Vince, J Smith, Wagner, Hunt. That is 21 players plus add Jones, OMac, Oliver, Trac, that is 25 Do we assume that Viney and T Mac and ANB aren’t starters for round 1 and maybe Lewis? Frost, Fiitsch, Billy, J Smith all looked impressive at times. Vince the whole time I was watching.

He did a mountain of running at training this morning & looked to be moving just fine to me.

I had some experiences with youth in Adelaide from the Sudan. All of them had evacuated Sudan in murderous conditions to be placed in Ethiopia in 'refugee' camps - often for years, some up to a decade - living hand to mouth in treachery and horrible conditions to avoid a return to Sudan. In this Ethiopian phase of their homeland evacuation, they were allocated refugee immigration status in a Western nation, for example: Australia. There was little choice in this 'allocation' or when it might take place. One lad, having been forced to clap and laugh as he watched his parents being dismembered, hacked then shot in his Sudanese homeland - waited 12 years for an allocation to live - and if it had not eventually come through, he would have been 'eliminated' from the algorithm. We are possibly talking about many hundreds of thousands of young people here, for all of those years after the most horrific initiation to refugee desperation. Females, in general, suffered unquestionably worse. The silence of respect is due. Welcome to Australia, Goy Lok. Let us hope your sporting career brings you great joy.

Never understood those who hope for the the oppo sides best players to be playing against us. Daft. I just want to get the 4 points, and while I believe we can win the game against a full strength Cats, any star player out makes a win more likely. Hoping Danger/Ablett and Selwood are all missing that day. Wont be celebrating any less if they are.

If we can make the shift from 'we've got this' to 'we want this' we will become a very dangerous team. Confidence is one thing, arrogance (particularly when we haven't achieved anything but mediocrity for so long) is completely unacceptable. I want our boys to stay hungry and be ruthless 100% of the time.

Nibbler was with Viney and Lewis doing some work with Crossy early in the session over near the music box on the Punt Road side. IIRC they seemed to be moving OK, in a rehab group kind of way. Joel Smith kept bobbing up with some nice touches in the main drill, and looks raring to go. Good to see!

This year. No more excuses.

Look, I would prefer to beat Geelong and take the 4 points with their best team playing, but I’m not stupid enough to not be slightly relieved that their best player may not be playing. We aren’t that good that we can just laugh in the face of good fortune. Regardless of whether he plays or not, I hope we come out there with the right mindset and not thinking we are gonna win because some of their best players are underdone.

For those that don't have access to the Fin Review an interesting article about club finances..some snippets... West Coast is the most profitable club. $5.4m profit on $64m revenue. Bombers $5m profit (including $3.97m in donations). WCE has paid $137m in dividends & rent to the West Australian Football commission since 1987. WCE has $21.8m of cash and $42m of fixed income and share investments. They are a seriously powerful club on the back of great stadium deals and sponsorship. Richmond has a cash balance of $10m generating $8.6m from is Aligned Leisure Community Health Centre. GWS and GC received $48m in funding from the AFL which according the AFL is equivalent to the extra $50m in broadcast rights it receives for having two extra teams in the comp. If anyone is wondering why get stuffed on fixturing (including friday night games), travel (6 day breaks) or home ground against larger drawing clubs (we have been the home team against Ess once since 2005, Carl 5 times since 2005, Geel 5 times since 2005, Rich 6 times since 2005! This is largely because we are 'given' the QB game - don't ever tell me its a gift from Eddie because we pay for it in other areas such as this) its because the powerful clubs have much greater pull than we do. Until we start winning it is difficult for us to demand better terms on these areas,. But make no mistake they are a prime cause of the disparity between rich and poor clubs. And just as importantly when we start winning we need to ensure we change the dynamics of our revenue. Secure good stadium deal, get serious sponsors, grow membership and demand better fixturing. We need to embed this in the future to stop Melbourne ever being a pauper again.

I know its a source of contention and it brings us cash but I really wish we wouldn't trade games to play in NT.

With so much negative press about our Sudanese Community, I thought this one was worth a read - IDENTITY: GOY LOK

Be good to hit 40,00 before the first game

As we know, injury management is not an exact science. X-rays and MRIs etc can be used but they do not tell the full story. Particularly so with foot injuries. In normal life, people will normally allow an injury time to heal. In professional sport, there is pressure on the player and the medical staff to get the player back sooner rather than later. I don''t think we can expect anything more than what the Demons staff are doing. Publicly, staff are going to hedge their bets on a likely return. However, I am sure that staff have managed the problem conservatively. But at the end of the day, there is always going to be some risk on return to the field of play. The player and staff are not going to know 100% if the time is right. As said, there will always be a risk of re-injury. I suspect that the injury will be monitored week to week and that Viney is going to need some rest time during the season.

This is a guy that was complicit in Trengove getting 3 weeks for a sling tackle. Claimed concussion then came out the very next week to kick 6. I hope it's a 6 week injury.

All of you celebrating Dangerfield’s injury is just horrible. I love it.

I saw it earlier. You can be a great footballer as well as a total [censored]. He and Gazza will be going head to head on that one.

Is that the one they threw Mark Neeld under?

Definitely thread-worthy.

Geelong selectors will play cat (pardon the pun) and mouse with their injuries for the next two weeks. Don’t discount Dangerfield just yet.

I wish Jack all the best at Port. He was always a good player for us, and a loyal clubman too. The club treated him appalling at times and mismanaged him his whole career. From the get go he was thrown to the wolves, and never in AFL history has a player had so much unwarranted external pressure placed on them throughout their career. He was loyal to the end and we cast him out. Anyone who holds a grudge against him or wishes him ill is a f*cking fool. I don't think it was a bad trade to move him out, as it definitely shows where the club is heading and has now symbolically moved on all players born from that dark period in the clubs history. However, there should be no ill will against a guy who was loyal and was instead pushed out the door. Best of luck with the rest of your career Jack. Do us a favour though and fluff a few of your usually perfect kicks when you play against us though please!

Why ? His opinion on football is not sullied. The guy never took ownership over his contribution to Essendon's drugs regime, but I fail to understand how that in any way invalidates his knowledge of the code. It's ridiculous to suggest his general footy IQ, i.e. watching the game, is in any way diminished. Especially when he was one of the smartest players on a footy field I've seen.

Well reading that was 5 mins of my life that I’ll never get back ....

That Dangerfield video is just plain terrible. Go and ice ya hammy, ya muppet.

Loved this comment from a rabid Geelong supporter... "I like the Dees for top 4 this season and possibly even premiers. I think they will beat us first up, and I'm tipping a Melb-Tiges GF with melb to win. I think between them two, and us, that's where the winner will come from."

Pick them up on game day at the stand next to the Membership Hub.

I saw one of these at Family Day, asked the guy where he got it from and ordered the next day! https://www.redbubble.com/people/4boat/works/10232747-robbie-flower-melbourne-for-dark-blue-shirts-only?p=t-shirt

The problem the selectors face with Viney is how to get match practice into him if he’s not considered right to play in Saturday’s game v Box Hill Hawks at Casey Fields because Casey has no practice match scheduled for the following weekend. The next one after this week is not until 30 March 2018 v Frankston at Skybus Stadium, Frankston.

Absolutely 100% If AFLX is the long term future of the game, i will be glad to be Six Feet Under. The main problem with the AFL now is that they give the game no time to breath, 2-3 rule changes are enforced at the same time and we have to live with it. But the main modern rule that has changed the game the most, interchange rotations remains. It is still a “good” game, but when CHF’s and CHB’s went into battle for an afternoon, that was Aussie Rules as a highly original and tough game

so it should be...the return of the prodigal 'sun', the prospect of the midfield triumvirate being unleashed for the first time, up against an up and coming mob seen as a genuine exciting prospect god i hope we belt em!

If we aren't one of the best 8 teams in the comp this year then we might as well give the club away.

If they’re weakened, I hope our boys smell blood and inflict a deep wound. Scarring their opponents is what champion teams do.

I really hope match fitness is the reason he is not playing rd 1 because if its not, and its healing related, another 6 days on top of 6 months is not much insurance.

I really don’t care who is out or in for the cats. I just hope the boys don’t think that danger is out so this will be an easy game and win. Its all between the ears. Will be interesting to see how far we have come mentally as a team.

Oh yes his previous form not too bad at all.....ok, now i understand. Im sure the tip is spot on......and any inside info is very welcome on our thread, even if it doesnt come off.........those sources are precious. I wonder how exactly they set horses a long way in advance for a certain race?.......must be a lot in it i guess....DK certainly knows what he is doing. What an amazing trainer hes turning out to be.

The tip is not necessarily based on previous form Wadda (although Ormito's form isn't too shabby anyway) My reading of these rare 'tips' are that the horses are set for these particular races a long time ago. That's how the previous tips have worked. In other words, it's not one persons opinion (or whim) My mate is so confident he plonked 500 on it to win (straight out) ... this mate of mine isn't short of a quid though.

So looks like the double on Nomothaj and Ormito is 11.27. Ormito holding firm at 5.50. I will note though that in 22 starts Ormito has only won once.....not to say he cant and in the Weir camp with Williams on board....very interesting Also looks like 2nd or 3rd prep in Australia, so they can come good....also working his way up to the big distance nicely and well weighted at 53kg.

He’ll be ready when he’s ready. No point pulling your hair out over something you can’t control. I think it’s great we now have players who are more than capable of stepping in and covering when a player Iike Viney goes down.

Grow up.

I too was redlining during the second and 3rd qtrs. but to say it was an undeserved loss is incorrect. Adelaide kicked 8goals to 1 in the 1st qtr. We reeled them back in over the next 2 qtrs. Then they kick 6 goals to 1 in the last. On our own dung heap it was just a typically pathetic MFC performance in the end. I even remember the interview with TJ after the game. A happier bloke who'd just lost a semi final you wouldn't find. But he'd had a good couple qtrs , so he was stoked.

Sorry what is religious about Nutbeans comments? The cost of compliance to minimising CO2 emissions is minimal, globally but yes there are local winners and losers big time. So the logical decision is to reduce emissions. However if we, logical thinking people are in fact wrong, well what are the costs? A totally renewed energy system that is clean and efficient, ready for the next century. Nothing remotely religious here but I suspect you are holding on desperately to some religious beliefs Wrecker.

The fact you feel this way means we made the right decision in moving him on. You're like the canary down the mine, picket.

This team is not the team of 5 years ago, the cats need all their guns to win, danger almost beat as last year, off his own boot.

34,509

Headline: Young tall KPF isn't a star in his 3rd year after no preseason.

I want to tell a story from yesterday. I was watching the game with my old man and sister, sitting behind us was this young woman who was annoying me all game, mouthing off and being a pain. When Keilty got injured at the start of the 3rd quarter, and was lying on the ground before being helped up by the medical staff, we were obviously pretty concerned. All of a sudden I hear this young girl behind me say "oh look he's just faking it". I turned around and stared at her and said "what did you just f***ing say?" before my sister (who hadn't heard what she said) intervened and calmed me down. Man I was so angry, I wanted to kill her. Just needed to get that off my chest.

As I understand it Viney had one injury which healed and it is another injury that has caused problems over the summer. While you don't need a medical degree to see the risks in bringing a player back too early from a foot injury, a medical degree might be helpful to assess what the injury is and when he is ready to resume. Just because a player gets injured on return to playing, doesn't mean he wasn't right to play.