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http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-03-22/oliver-signs-on-until-end-of-2021 Celebrations! Adds two years to his existing contract. Great show of faith. Got to love him: "It was the easiest decision of my life,” he told Melbourne Media...“The club came to me last week, and I talked to my manager and we got it done straight away, so I’m very happy.

Congrats son. Go get em.

Bayley Fritsch will be debuting this week.

Not sure if this was posted anywhere. Couldn't see it. Bull is a friend's brother. A great honest article. https://www.playersvoice.com.au/tim-smith-lessons-of-26-year-old-rookie

Who do we blame for Tom? Seriously though, without being called on MFCSS or whatever, this club can't take a trick. Every year we have good players go down, often before the season starts and for extended periods. As someone said on another thread, last year we lost 168 games of player availability due to injury and 70 to our best 6. How the hell do you win games with those injuries and especially to your key players. No wonder the Tigers with not an injury and a soft draw, did so well in an even competition. It is also why I regard pre season reports as useless as we are always training the house down and come the first game the injuries are there. End of rant, Go Dees. Luckily our depth is far deeper.

Latest from my Brother who went down to mainly see Oliver: Oliver originally did kicking work with Jones, Tim Smith and a coach, but was spared a high intensity tackling drill done by the rest of the group. He later joined match simulation and looked good in his eyes. Running and kicking without any perceived issues. Just now Oliver has been doing stoppage work with Gawn, Maynard, Salem, Brayshaw, Lewis, Harmes, and Petracca (wearing different colour bibs). Lots of supporters in attendance. High intensity session with 28 trying to fit into 22. Thinks Spargo is a very hard tackler. And liked the look of Weideman, who he hasn't always been bullish on, but now is. Says Weideman moving very well and just looks a natural footballer. Said Balic looked good. Thinks that any player who has recently had a niggle looks good. Only players missing are Tom McDonald and Viney. He's an amateur observer, so Ben Guthrie may be right, but he thought Oliver moved well and didn't notice any issues, although, as said, he was spared a very high intensity tackling session.

My Brother is there now and reporting "Oliver is looking good".

Hannan is well ahead of Maynard.

God [censored] damnit

Colin Garland missed all but one game of 2009 with a foot injury after numerous setbacks, and came back to have one of his best seasons in 2010. We've seen that foot injuries are notoriously hard to manage because of the amount of force the foot is required to bear, everything can seem fine until it comes time to put heavy load on. I don't think the club has been lying, rather that there was no certainty around it. This is clearly disappointing news, but I'm still prepared to reserve my outrage or panic for the time being.

Pedo is very much a different player though. confident he can step up but he doesn't demand the defense's attention in the same way McDonald does. Mcdonald is a big loss no doubt. i actually think we can more easily cover Viney than we can Mcdonald.

Gee, playing and being out there as well.

Called it.

No. This is my middle Brother who was a chump and never made it past Xavier thirds.. Is OK at golf though. Just OK.

Who washed Carlton’s shorts?

Some possible outcomes from tonight's game that would make anyone happy. Tigers crush Carlton by 20 goals and end their season on day 1. Carlton crush Tigers by 20 goals and expose their game plan. Setting up Tigers for more losses and a mediocre season. The downside is ... in both of those outcomes, someone wins. How about ... They play a dull, poorly skilled draw, 6 goals apiece, with only 2 goals total scored in the second half. Crowds start leaving at 3/4 time out of boredom. Three best players from each side suspended due to acts of thuggery. Or ... 30 mins before the bounce, ASADA show up and charge all players from each team with doping offences. Amid a flurry of lawyers and injunctions, the game is called off. Channel 7 sue the AFL. RFC and CFC suspended from the league for a year.

TMAC and Viney will be missed , however we have the depth to compromise. As soon as they are back we will be even stronger.

Viney is not innocent in this. You can call Misson a liar, which I do frequently, but the patient has equal culpability in this. The Docs can only listen to what their patients are telling them. Viney was too eager to get back and told his own lies to convince the medicos that he was right. He is now paying for this. Let's hope he gets back. It's not ideal, but unlike many other seasons, there are players waiting for a spot in the team who are capable.

Not good, but better to just get them right for the second half of the season rather than risk longer term damage.

Wasn't it Enrights 300th when we beat them at the Cattery in 2015

Looks like the white shorts got washed with the blue guernseys...back in the old days when colours ran in the wash. And what's with the reflective bum-cheek highlights? I [censored] hate Carlton...wankers!

Dusty pushing people out of marking contests with 2 hands. When was that ever legal??

Very well said LT. The show of faith these young guys have in the future of our club can't be understated. For someone like Oliver to sign within a two week process is just brilliant, and not only shows how much Oliver loves the club, but how well we are looking after these players. No putting off talks, no 'waiting to see' sort of stuff. Just getting it done! Love it!

The alarmist almost fatalist attitude on here is embarrassing. It is disappointing but better to manage for it to happen now and try and get them right for rest of the season than to lose them in the back half. They are both high quality players but we can cover them particularly with our early season run. The argument could be old school MFC may have let TMac continue to play through the pain due to no depth and make it worse but because we take a no risk attitude everyone goes into meltdown. As Goody said we have a list of 40 healthy players. When have we ever entered a season with 40 to choose from? Particularly when most I would be happy to see as true quality options.Take no precautions particularly with their importance and ensure they are right for the second half of the season when they are even more vital.

I can't believe the amount of people who are not privy to relevant information who carry on like pork chops. They think they've been lied to or that there have been cover ups. These are the types of injuries where pain may or mary not occur after training loads. One week Viney may have been pain free, so the club reports based on this feedback from Viney and the next week there may be a hiccup, which leads to a reassessment. There's no sinister plot here. And both of the original stress fractures are not what's causing the current pain, although they have led to the current ailment.

Have faith in the Pedobear #pedobear

Who's going to kick Geelong's goals ? I know Hawkins has a good record against us and Menzel will bob up, but who else ? Ablett ? Dangerfield kicked 45 last year and won't play. Taylor kicked 22, but will be down back. Motlop kicked 22 and has departed. Dees by 28.

But old stick arms McDonald and Lever are ???

Pedo will definitely get the call up before Weideman

Who is playing on Hawkins? Lever and Oscar are no match physically for him. Is there no room for Frost. I feel that Frost has the body strength to match Hawkins but may also exploit his lack of pace.

2 very important players missing. Not a good start. believing what footy clubs tell their supporters is akin to believing politicians.

I'm Now LIVID that the early return of last year has now jeopardised not only his season but also the club in general. Whoever endorsed this last year took too much of a risk with now serious consequences. Not that T Macs news is that much better. Time for Pedo or Weeds to step up!

That the son of a VFL/AFL player and Grandson of a VFL/AFL champion player looks a natural footballer when said player is currently on an AFL list is a "big statement" ? Looking like a "natural footballer" is a "big statement" ? OK.

This week the two teams are playing for the Grgic-Gillies Cup.

great stuff now don't make him captain

http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-03-22/oliver-signs-on-until-end-of-2021 What awesome news before the season starts. Done with a minimum of fuss too - 2 weeks from discussions starting to signing.

Carlton will have their arse handed to them tonight. Much like the Cats on Sunday.

I’ll take two out of our best 22 not playing compared with Geelong’s 1/3 of their best 22 out.

Terrible news for all involved. You never like to see anyone get injured, let alone two very important players to your side. They will be missed. However, one word jumps out to amongst all this - depth. We have the best depth we've had in a decade and we have the players to step in and fill the holes left by these two without missing too many beats. Obviously they won't be on the same level as T Mac and Viney, but we aren't bringing in kids are VFL level players anymore. We know Pedo can fill gaps better than Selley's can, while someone like Maynard (even though I doubt he plays) has shown he is capable of putting in a good stint in the midfield. I'd be looking for guys like ANB and Harmes to get extended minutes in the middle as well. I hope both Viney and T Mac are back sooner rather than later, but this isn't season ending by an stretch.

Huge outs and very disappointing for sure, but there wouldn’t be many teams in the league who aren’t missing 2 from their best 22 each week...

Remember Tom Mc had operations on both ankles post season. This would affect his loads, movement etc. Now he has had issues with his toe for about 8 weeks ie since mid/late January. But was allowed to play in Feb/March in the AFLX and 1st JLT. Something went wrong with managing his rehab and return to play - now we pay the price.

I doubt it...

dramatic much. see ya

1-2 weeks to deload, 1-2 weeks to rehab, 2 weeks to train/play. Think if it goes well Tom can be back under the 6 week mark. Just hoping for no further set backs for Jack.

Ben Guthrie's reply to me with the match sim update. He still thinks Oliver is TBC.