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Any suggestion Melksham wont play is bordering on lunacy. Someone other than him will miss.

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.

Still waiting on Darcy Moore. He’s a spud.

Hannan will play, he's forward pressure is what our plan of creating forward half turnovers. INT: Tyson, Brayshaw, Hannan, Melksham

Jack Watts kicks some goals in a pre-season game - a gazillion posts within the day. The player with probably the greatest potential I've seen in my time supporting the MFC signs on for a few more years after a basically unparalleled sophomore season at the club - a couple dozen minor congrats. I'm afraid that Schwab and co. did some serious psychological damage to a large swathe of our supporter-base.

Cmon mate please!! Brayshaw has got so much upside and is 5 times better than Bugg

Look, his operas are very long but once you get the hang of it you'll never go back. You'll always say from that moment on he was one of the greatest geniuses who walked this earth..

Shout-out to the "Dom Tyson is best 22 lock" lovers.

If it's snowing we get frost

Wtf was that family feud noise??

Geez I must be the only one who likes Wagner as a player. Come on Josh, give them hell on Sunday boi!

These selections show me that most of us outside the inner sanctum have very little idea what goes on inside it.

Come on Crows, destroy the Druggos... dont give them an inch, dont let them get their confidence up. The cheats deserve to finish bottom 4, every season.

I had Tyson and Brayshaw in my best 22. The explanation that Brayshaw is coming off op (infection common with Wisdom extraction) and Tyson slightly underdone are the most plausible explanations. Don't agree with the Wagner haters... he competes in the air and on the ground... he gets to contests... he plays his role fearlessly (no wonder the Cocka loves him). I see it as a positive that we are going in with a different team than the one that rolled over in round 23. Maynard tackles hard and tackles often... when he feels at home in the seniors he will accumulate big figures!

Brayshaw being left out is clearly to do with his emergency tooth situation during the week. There's no doubt it would have put him out from a preparation pov.

Wagner gives us another back, which is good for team balance as it could free up Jones or Hunt to move onto wing, Salem into middle, etc... Maybe Maynards in to do some bodywork on the tag the Cats will try to put on Oliver or Petracca..?

Maynard in and Tyson out is an interesting one that I didn’t see coming. Tyson normally gets a bit of the ball, I think we may miss him. I cringe whenever I see Wagner with the ball, his turnovers can be a momentum killer. I would have picked Frost over Wagner, especially given Geelong’s height in their forward line.

Viney is the most important player on the list. You only needed to watch that first Quarter against Port Adelaide last year, where we'd missed him for a few weeks before hand, to see how much taller everyone else walks with Viney there. He's our Joel Selwood. There is not much between Pedersen and Tom McDonald, and the two sides to win the flags over the last couple of years have both had smaller, more agile forward lines as it leads to more forward pressure.

As others have alluded to I'm sure his bung ankle affected his lateral movement in 2017. He missed 5 months in his draft year due to a stress fracture in his ankle and it was the same ankle that was operated on over the summer. Internally the club rates him highly. At a supporter function it was said he's got healthy doses of nastiness in that if he needs to run through a backman he won't hesitate. Those that have been at training have noticed a stronger body and with that comes added confidence. I also appreciate why some have queries, especially in the light of Charlie Curnow. But I'm quietly confident we still have a potentially good key forward on our hands.

Good on Sportsbet for taking time away from taking advantage of gambling addicts and ruining families to bring some levity to the Round 1 lead up. Kudos!

Has had significant ankle surgery twice already in his career and spent most of this pre-season in rehab. I wouldn’t be wanting to see him in the seniors for the first half of the year as, I’d rather see him developing and building confidence in the VFL. Pederson is definitely ahead of him in the pecking order at this stage at any rate. Weideman need match fitness and a run of good form. Not concerned... yet.

Watch The Weid become the new whipping boy now that Watts is gone

Christ I hate watching Wagner play, waiting for the inevitable turnover because of zero situational awareness. Mystified.

I’m with you mate I like Wagner he has a crack, I really hope he kills it now seems like he is the new whipping boy

I think the blueprint is pretty obvious. Goody clearly loves a a dynamic and versatile team and Wagner's inclusion is evidence of that. Wagner allows us to play all of Hunt, Jones, Vince and Lewis in a variety of roles which will hopefully work in our favour. Tyson cannot play any position other than inside mid and his inclusion restricts Goody's creativity. Maynard is the interesting one for me, because similarly to Tyson I see him being fairly one-dimensional. But maybe Goody and co have some ideas of roles come game day. All-in-all it's a fairly strong side all over the ground, unlike Geelong's 22.

Carlton also had big doubts about Curnow which is why they took Harry McKay ahead of him. In fact, Curnow was the 6th key position player taken in that draft behind: Weitering Schache Francis Weideman McKay. None of those player have set the world on fire yet. Some will, some won’t. But the fact of the matter is we won’t know for a few more years yet. In addition, it’s probably worth noting who was playing full back last night for Carlton whilst Curnow played full forward. Liam Jones is a KPP who didn’t play a good match until the age of 26. Some guys burst onto the scene... some take time.

Are they pretty?

No chance Tyson misses out, unless he is battling fitness. With no Viney, he has to play. Hell even with Viney he is best 22.

Collingwood has had to give Moore a charity position (sweeping defender) to get him a touch.

Interesting approach. I'm not sure how old you are now, but if you've already reached adulthood, did you argue that once you'd turned 17 you should be allowed into pubs because you were into your 18th year? If so, how did that work out for you?

I'll also point out that on draft night the commentators on Foxtel all agreed that Weideman would be the steal of the draft at No.9 if he could stay injury free. I don't see this as a mistake by our recruiting team. Hindsight picks are a load of BS and an easy shot at recruiting, how did Fyfe go at 20odd etc? ?

Hannan is well ahead of Maynard.

Expect Hannan to play over Frost.

Bayley Fritsch will be debuting this week.

The sheen on Jonsey's head is not accurate enough for my liking.

Another blunder? We've nailed drafting in recent years, and yes Curnow is a great player, but Weids is not done and dusted. He is a key position player in his third pre-season battling injuries. Chill out!

Never stop never stopping.

Hopefully we don't hear "we didn't bring our A game" after the match ....

And the winner takes home the Clint Blizzard Cup?

Such a poor point and simplistic analysis that focuses on just one stat in the least attacking team seen since Melbourne under Neeld. Curnow is light years ahead in every statistical evaluation from last season. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the description about their builds. We drafted yesterdays footballer while Carlton picked up the future of football. I wish Weideman well, but unless he magically improves his agility there will be no role for him with Hogan and McDonald up forward.

So much for this crap about the playing group being divided.

Weeds - born June 97 - 196cm Fritsch - born Dec 96 - 186cm Not really a fair comparison. Curnow had never kicked more than 2 goals in a game before tonight. So no different to Weeds. This is a year for Sam to develop a healthy, strong AFL body. Apparently with ankle surgery and a long preseason in rehab and not rushed in to AFL games that has hopefully been achieved. At VFL he has to find consistency with getting to and winning contests. If he's body is right he'll be able to rotate in as back up ruck and that will do him wonders.

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!

Did you just work that out?

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.

My source was myself. I'll give myself a jolly good flogging, BBO style, later on for it.

I tend to agree with you. Wankers.