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Mathieson in for lions, if he ducks I hope someone rips his head off

The only bit of selection news I have is Keilty's rib pain has become manageable and he'll be playing in the game tomorrow

It's relevant to note that every team in the competition finished round one with areas they know they need to work on. Obviously some more than others. Richmond would be bemused by Carlton kicking 5 goals before they woke. Carlton leak scores, as evidenced by Richmond's 36 scoring shots. Essendon would be lamenting how an undermanned and underdone Adelaide led them by 20 points at 3/4 time. Adelaide would be concerned how a team that is poor around stoppages and contested ball beat them when they had them on the ropes. The Saints may have lost to Brisbane, but for Jack Steven. The game was alive in the last against a very young and inexperienced team. Brisbane would be reasonably happy, but concerned that their kicking efficiency, which was a strength in 2017 went noticeably backwards in round one. Sydney got the chocolates, but at 3/4 time they only led West Coast by 5 points despite Buddy putting on a clinic. I could go on, but the point is we're not the only team to have issues we need to address. All of our opposition are imperfect. Richmond lost 3 games in a row last year by under a goal. Do you think their fans would have been questioning their mental toughness ? They also lost to Adelaide by 76 points with them having 35 scoring shots to their 14. Their supporters would have argued black and blue many times throughout 2017 that there was no way they'd win the flag at that point. There should be a bit more perspective at round one.

Lost by one kick to one of the weakest sides Geelong will field all year, plus they lost a key player early. I am filthy at the thought of those who state this was a gallant/brave loss. This was a matter of not being good enough to beat a weakened team on our home ground after an off-season of talking tough and saying how we’ll rebound after a pathetic end to last season. If you lose a game you should’ve won, that is a bad loss.

Bugg will be itching to play his first game after the Swans debacle. He is in the top 2 or three for endurance and can tackle. He is a great in.

He won't understand unless you use CAPITALS.

Trenners on Ports extended bench. Hope he gets a run!

This week the two teams are playing for the Johnstone-Macdonald Shield.

I disagree, it was the way we played which is the issue and not necessarily the outcome.

You mean by averaging 12.4 possessions a game across his debut season? Why do you need to exaggerate? Small/medium forwards don't need to get a heap of the pill. His primary role is to apply defensive pressure. His secondary role is to kick a goal or two. He did both of these things very well in 2017. If the footy dept decide he didn't fulfil his primary role against Geelong then he might be omitted but last year his pressure acts, speed and tackling were impressive.

I just wish someone looked at me the way Simon Goodwin looks at Josh Wagner...

Lol if.

Let me play devils advocate here for a second. Maynard was chosen because he is a bull around stoppages. He was brought in mostly to try and quell the influence of the Cats elite midfield, which admittedly didn't work and he'll probably be dropped, but he still had 15 touches and the second most tackles out of any player. Plus it was only his second game, and the club probably wanted to test him against a team as good as Geelong. I know we lost and it sucks but the outrage here is really over the top.

38,609 1,584 ahead of where we were this time last year! March has been phenomenal - increased by 5,661 for the month. Great result of player phone-a-thon, Family Day and round one being at Home and at the G! Very good chance we will beat last year's record of 42,233. Final of 44,000 to 45,000 is on the cards!

Jesse Hogan vs the Lions 2015 - 16 disposals 11 marks, 4 goals, 1 Brownlow vote, Melbourne win 2016 - 20 disposals, 7 marks, 5 goals, 3 Brownlow votes, Melbourne win 2017 - 15 dispolsas , 9 marks, 6 goals, 3 Brownlow votes, Melbourne win Averages - 17 disposals, 9 marks, 5 goals per game I was worried about this game, but now Jesse is cleared to play we will win.

Even though I fully expected Brayshaw to get a gig this week, I'm pleased enough with the changes. Tyson a no brainer - should have played last week. Like the inclusion of Bugg. I like Hannan, but just didn't do enough to hold his place in the side for mine.

They weren't competing for a spot. Brayshaw has trained all summer as a mid and Bugg replaces Hannan because he's a better pressure forward than Hannan. We couldn't retain the ball in our forward 50 v Geelong. Fritsch has made life problematic for Hannan. The changes are pretty obvious. Frost wasn't required against Brisbane because of matchups. Brisbane have poor key forwards.

Buggy is there to run around annoying the crap out of Zorko and Beams so they spend their whole time trying to smack him and forget about the footy. He’s our master of psychological warfare we are way better with him doing what he does best.

Might be an idea that the powers that be at the MFC get onto Megellan global trust, they have pulled their sponsorship at Cricket Australia.

I find it pretty funny how so many people who post on these forums believe they know more about selecting an AFL side then someone who has played in 2 winning premierships, played over 250 AFL games, is a 5x All-Australian and an Australian Football Hall of Famer, not to mention all the others with huge amounts of experience on the coaching panel who go into discussing the selections for each week, but yeah, you've watched a lot of football so you know which guys to pick to play.

Changes make sense. Tyson replacing Maynard is no surprise. One of the non-pressuring forwards had to go and it was Hannan. We don't need him and Fritsch in the same side and Hannan didn't do enough last week to warrant keeping his spot. What Bugg did last year was a dog act. But he's done his time for it. I actually think this is a good opportunity to get him in. I'm not sure if the wider AFL community cares any more but, in case they do, we'll be totally off Broadway with this game, no one will be watching/listening other than Melbourne and Brisbane fans. Take any pressure off and get him back into the side. Let's hope he's learnt his lesson and he's worked hard. His pressure last year was important and he is a strong two-way runner, which we sorely lacked last week.

Watch the second half of last week again.

This is a solid post and some great points Dante. The main points for me here are composure and finesse once we have the ball in hand. If you overlook these two aspects you are doomed to live in a Demon dream about the prospects of this team from here until whenever that changes (hopefully sooner than later!) Our handballs and kicks are often directed to no one in particular. Too many on our list are so often the NFL style of player in the last few minutes of a countdown, just hail marying handballs and kicks forward without looking or assessing. Often attempting to pass to players well outnumbered/about to be tackled, or just in an unrealistic low percentage pass/handball position. These are more often than not long and loopy disposals also, giving little chance of the receiver gaining/maintaining possession and our opponents plenty of TIME to close the play down, spoil and get numbers around to assist. The above results in way too many easy turnovers back to our opponents when we had a chance to find a target or slow down a little, get a few handballs out into the clear and find a target latterly or up field if the option is there. We are just one constant break neck "go forward at all costs"" team it would seem, even to the point of ignoring free options on the inside or behind play in a better position to receive and with more chance to impact as they will have more space/time. We don't look to go laterally or backwards very often when options are closed off up field (yes the opponent, especially good ones, can defend VERY effectively sometimes and have numbers back!!!) or under decent pressure, or look for the switch often enough. In fact Max was one of the few players I can recall who found a target laterally inside in the first quarter. Most others across HB just break neck forward....go go go! Looks great when it works but once the opponent knows what you are on about they can organise and defend this, even better than early on when the game is in its infancy and no one is yet truly aware of your style. It's then only a matter of time before our opponent gets on top of us given our method above. Even if we are getting a stack of of the pill like, the first quarter of Sunday (9 clearances to 1 or zero at one stage well in to the first quarter!!!!!), we WASTE so many opportunities it is a real shame. Too easily defended! Great at getting the pill from a stoppage, mostly wasting opportunities when the ball is on the move or in our hands. Simple as that. No wonder the Cats got on top in the 2nd. They had us worked out and organised even more effectively down back then just continued to take advantage on the scoreboard. I can count only one kick from Melksham coming off HB through the middle where one of our players lowered his eyes and hit a target (think it may have been Hulk) in that first quarter with all the clearances/possessions off HB and inside 50 entries (or just outside) that we had. And some examples of the worst offenders at break neck "all ahead full" bombing/handballing in that first quarter?.... ~ Sorry Cap: I love ya to death bro but....In that first quarter you continued to spray wide, didn't look, bombed bombed bombed, sprayed it wide to a player well covered, handballed to a player about to be tackled etc. Plenty of possessions but most resulting in poor disposal from poor decision making or panic forward disposals. ~ Lewis: On one occasion gets a nice handball receive and loose at HF just panic kicks a left foot tumble punt forward giving our forwards no chance and the Cats just ran it straight out back down the other end. Luckily O-Mac spoils it out of bounds. ~ Harms: Earns a free kick at HF and doesn't assess. Just plays on quickly (towards boundary...how about wait and assess / look inside first) and kicks in hope (way too wide) to an invisible man in the pocket who is unable to get near his extremely short kick (Hannan) and the ball is out of bounce in a low percentage area of the forward. How about we do what good teams usually do and go back behind the mark quickly, try to hit a target on the lead on a better angle or kick it to the hot spot? Or pass it off laterally around HF on a better angle in the hope that the next player might find a target (and keep possession!!??). Luckily ANB got hold of the pill shortly after from the throw in and in one of our very rare "front and square" examples from a medium (but not a genuine forward!) he kicks a goal off the pack. ORGANISATION Why did we run with 4 to 5 different opponents on Ablett, arguably the best player in the AFL or one of, during the first 12 minutes of the first quarter? At one stage with 8 minutes to go we had Hulk on him!! Seriously coaches what were you thinking! Guess what....surprise surprise Ablett takes Hulk to the drop, turns him on a dime, paddles the ball on to the advantage of a few other Cats forward, who then work it out to Selwood. By this stage Hulk has given up the chase (like he had a chance!) and is about 50 meters behind Ablett who has run further deep forward flank for the next receive (after Selwood gets free and tumble punts a PASS to someone who then handballs over the top to guess who!). He of course finishes, being the superstar he is, and bob's your uncle. Cats in front again. He ran ahead of the ball freely, knowing his direct opponent had absolutely ZERO chance of shutting him down and kicked for goal under little pressure. While the above may have been a one off accident (with Clarry manning him in the next centre bounce) we just cant allow that sort of match up to occur against a player of that calibre. But it wasn't a one off! We then see Hulk on Selwood in that next bounce! I'm sorry but we are talking chalk and cheese here in terms of ability, agility and experience in reading the play/drop of the ball and getting the cheese out of the middle in congestion. Guess what, who gets that next clearance! No, I'm sorry not Hulk. His direct opponent Selwood. Luckily the forward entry from the Cats from that Selwood clearance was repelled by Lever and Hulk then benefited from Geelong's cockiness with Selwood not manning up Hulk. Hulk gets on the end of it and ultimately wins this time by kicking a beautiful running goal from 45. But....the Cats have no problem rolling this dice as they know they are going to win with either of those match ups, more often than not. They are more than happy to play those odds and would do so for the entire match if allowed! In the next centre bounce, thankfully there is no Hulk matched against Danger or Ablett. We see Maynard on Selwood. Who does well, getting front position. Selwood manhandles him without the pill (which should have been a free against Selwood (one of at least two that weren't given against him in that first quarter). Selwood also kicks in danger across Maynard's body towards the approaching ball which THEN finally results in a free kick to Maynard. Maynard does what you would expect of a good mid and goes back quickly, bangs a long bomb straight to the hot zone. Gives Pedo a chance and he takes a lovely pack mark and goals. SIMPLE STUFF GUYS! And well done to Maynard there. On his next foray he admittedly didn't do so well, bombing a loopy drop punt to no one except Geelong defenders inside 50. A lot to learn but only his 2nd game. Speaking of organisation, the Cats were willing to switch in order to maintain possession and seek an alternative avenue to goal. To do so meant they needed loose options working hard to present. They were able to do so on numerous occasions racking up uncontested marks along the way. Something we did very little of throughout the match nor in the first. To watch this in the first quarter in particular was disappointing given we should have had plenty in the tank (no excuses). For our part we seemed content to just bomb forward or direct it down the line most of the time without assessing. Their two new debutants also impacted the play and Kelly in particular got away from his direct opponent on a number of occasions and lead him to the ball. While one quarter, especially the first of what is to be a very long season, should not be looked at in isolation, it is a worrying sign that we appear to be so one dimensional in general game play and allowed someone like Hulk to match up on two of the AFL's great mid fielders after having the whole summer to plan and train for it. We need to get better organised, more professional, more composed and add a few more options to our game other than constant ""straight ahead" bombing/handpassing of the pill when other options might be on offer or the options ahead look well covered. Lowering our eyes. Presenting on the lead. Working hard to prevent our opponent from doing this against us so easily. Not having passengers, especially smaller ones up forward who aren't willing to work hard to get front and square/free around the drop of the ball but instead just star gaze lazily adjacent the pack in hope or crashing the pack when they should be waiting down. Hard working but clever please! There is much hope and potential talent, especially when we don't make match up blunders in the middle like we did above, but still so much more that needs doing in so many other aspects. Game time and experience will no doubt help the young stars like Tracc & Clarry to improve even more. BUT we also must recruit at least one (or two) super quick clever ball users who can beat their opponent to the drop of the ball and get the ball out to runners (or run the ball away themselves). Having some foot speed amongst those one or two recruits will also allow us to get an extra man or two around the ball at many contests, like the Cats did on Sunday through Kelly and to a lessor degree Ratugolea. They won many contests on the inside (and outside) by gaining this advantage through foot speed (and/or hard work/design...coaching!?). Go the Mighty Demons!

Started slow but would have been in our best 5 players in the second half. Unclear whether he ends up in our best 22 but certainly shouldn't be dropped based on last week.

I agree with others that we had way to many small/medium forwards: Melksham, Fritsch, Garlett and Hannan. You could also count ANB and Harmes who run through the midfield but spend what looks like most of their time across half forward I thought Hannan was way down on the intensity he showed most of last season. He bobbed up in the second half with a few timely goals which is obviously his role as a small forward but I thought he was one of a few forwards that let Geeling rebound the ball far too easily with non pressured kicks to set up their corridor attack. It certainly didn't help when he was one of the only marking options in our forward fifty being surrounded by 2-3 Geelong players every time. For me its: In: Brayshaw, Tyson, Bugg, Frost Out: Wagner, Maynard, Hannan and one more. Would like it to be Melksham but Goody loves him and he did have a great preseason. Besides Melksham I thought the other major under performer was Salem. I think he only needs 15-20 touches to be effective with his kicking ability but his positioning on the weekend was terrible. Will get another chance this weekend but must lift.

As long as we beat North As long as we beat North As long as we beat North As long as we beat North As long as we beat North As long as we beat North As long as we beat North

For me round 2 & 3 should be about how much not whether we can, for round 4-6 being Hawks, Tigers and Bombers will tell us how we’re travelling.

Daniel Roberton & Rich Out. If we can’t beat Brisbane All be it at their home ground by 6 goals I will be considering this a loss. Taking into account they are bette than last year. We should be mature enough to put play and muscle these kids comfortably.

Yep, I get a feeling Tyson and Bugg will be in for Maynard and Hannan. I doubt Brayshaw will get a call up, but I'd like him in the team.

Haven't been able to bring myself to watch the replay. i'll wait till we have a win under our belt.

Put money on it: tyson and bugg for hannan and maynard. A few others on notice, particularly garlett. I personally want brayshaw and frost in the team too. I would drop one of lewis or vince as i think we have too many slower/ older types, especially if we bring in tyson and have jones too. I would also drop wagner for frost, but i do think wagners second half last week was the best he has played in a game for us.

Mate, I love your work on here but surely you would agree there was no way Maynard could have been selected to play in Round 1 based on what you saw in any of the pre-season matches? I don't care how hard he trains, I don't care how good a bloke he is - he did nothing in any of the pre-season matches to warrant selection. His kicking and endurance are not up to AFL standard. Goodwin's selection policies are a huge problem. They cost us a finals spot last year when he went to Jake Spencer and Tim Smith ahead of Cam Pederson. They also cost us the game on Sunday. Don't be a sycophant and think that just because he was a great player, he is a great coach.

I think it’s fairly clear that it was a game that we absolutely should’ve won, and, had it lasted another 60 seconds, would’ve won. We were all over them, for very long periods. In this context, I really hate that we dropped the 4 points because, to my mind at least, we actually won that game. In substance, though not form obviously. My view remains that we are still eminently capable of being a top team this year. The Geelong game didn’t change this. To Webber’s initial point though, the curious selections going into the game caused me to raise an eyebrow at the time - and the rumours that have since emerged for some of those omissions eg, Goodwin allegedly omitting Tyson for this game because of his involvement in Training-gate - now actually concern me. I hope this concern, like our non-existent defence in the first half of the game, will be allayed by quarter time against the Lions, and I will merely bemoan the lost opportunity against the Cats having had my confidence restored that we remain a top 4 candidate this year.

Goodwin might've been able to play but he also got done for gambling on games, tangled himself up nicely in the Essendon drug scandal with Hird, Dank and co. and then agreed to coach the basketcase MFC. So I'd suggest his actual decision making is rather quite ........ Poor. Surprised he hasn't tried altering the condition of the ball TBH.

We lost to a team down a man since the first quarter and half our team didn't show up.

No-one said it did. We're not that stupid. But it's reasonable to suggest it's a possibility old chap.

^^ I'd be concerned now @Webber

MELBOURNE is pleased to announce Melbourne Airport Parking as an official partner. The new partnership will provide players and staff access to ‘at terminal’ and valet parking, reducing travel times for interstate games. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-03-27/club-lands-melbourne-airport-as-partner

Each round is a danger game...but thats the same for every other side in the comp...

Huge difference... Look at the support staff around Petty. This wasn't available at the other inferior camp.

I've never seen so many supporters up in arms over a poor quarter of football. In round one. Now I know why the Sarah Hanson-Youngs and Jacqui Lambies get voted into parliament.

In which case we should be taking a lot of positives from the result. To play so poorly and still lose by just 3 points to a team that is likely to finish top 4 - 6, shows that once the match day cobwebs have been completely shaken out, we will be pushing all teams in the competition and will easily make finals. (if we lose to Brisbane I will be coming back here to delete this post )

just looking up Winx' prize money to date and came across this interesting point: Unlike many elite racehorses, Winx does not have a particularly long stride – her stride was measured at 6.76 metres (22.2 ft) compared to nearly 8.5 metres (28 ft) for Black Caviar and Phar Lap. Instead, her success has been attributed to a "freakish" stride rate that allows her to take 14 strides every 5 seconds, compared to 12 for her rivals. "This means she can settle or accelerate at any time during a race," said Dr. Graeme Putt, who has studied the science of racehorse success. "I think this makes her unique."[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winx_(horse) Would have loved to see her at Ascot.... perhaps we can get some stars from overseas to come and contest the Cox Plate. I see the second favourite for the Cox Plate is Humidor which is a little like ground hog day.

The funny thing is if Gawn had of kicked the goal and won us that game threads like this one would be replaced by 'Can we go 9-0?' type threads. insane over reaction on DL. Round 1 is historically not indicative of the season to come. frenetic football, 5 months build up, players dont have their touch yet etc.

If Geelong don't get in juries during the game they run out eight goal winners.

He needs to show he can get the ball more than half a dozen times a game though.

What about MFC fans? We just get screwed as per normal?

The forwards were running under the incoming ball all game on Sunday so the drill is working a treat!

Out Hannan, Maynard, Wagner In Tyson , Brayshaw , Frost. Frost to give us another big body option down back and free up Lever

Hannan is a serious player. Talented, versatile and has upside. Very impressed with him. He will improve from week 1.