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In Vic for a home game for the first time in a couple of years. Taking the 5 year old for his first MCG experience. Cannot [censored] wait Full credit to the MFC membership dept. Let them know as an interstate member and an Auskick member and they're throwing us a couple of 'Premium' seat tickets for the lads first game. The club has got its [censored] together these days

Brayshaw's is form Hannan and Hunt the same I asked at training today They are expected to knock the door down at Casey, starting Sunday Kent has been rewarded for not only 'attacking' the game last week, even though it was only a praccy game but his training, he has been doing extra and has exceeded all his previous stats

This was the pies banner.

If it is Frost on Waite, I suspect Frosty might burn him a couple of times on the rebound. One of the joys of watching Sam play is when he breaks from defense like a crazed Great Dane bounding headlong forward, at which time we all get excited and yell "Frrrrrooooossst!!!!" ... before he bombs it long and turns it over... and we sit quietly down and drink more beer.

Frost is the matchup for the agile Waite. Oscar takes Brown with Lever supporting in his familiar Adelaide role. I wasn't expecting these selections, but I'm excited to see how the structure works. North have speed, so on reflection I can understand the changes. It will force the the team to control the ball more and start taking more uncontested marks and possessions. The connection between our mids and forwards hasn't been perfect, although Hogan got on the end of a few against Brisbane. We're currently 15th for uncontested possessions, which means our ball use isn't as efficient as it could be and we're not controlling play as much as we'd like. Top 5 UC possession teams after two rounds include GWS, Port, Geelong, and Adelaide. The Saints are there too, but that's an anomaly and shows it's not just one aspect of the game that will deliver results. They're also a lowly 17th for CP, whereas we're 5th (lower than last year). Last year we were 5th for UCP (as against 15th), so something is different. And that difference is our intent on getting the ball inside 50 with a view to either scoring or pressuring the opposition to keep it there. We're far more direct, but unfortunately we're giving the ball up with turnovers, or long bombs into the 50 only to see the opposition run it out. Which means we're under more pressure defensively than last year. I wouldn't want to be a defender at Melbourne at the moment. Last year we were no.1 for average disposals and this year we're 12th. We were also no.1 for handballs and this year 8th. In trying to be more direct we're giving up the footy too often. This also contributes to the opposition 'run ons' we find infuriating. The game-plan has some significant changes from last year, so it will take time to bed it down completely. The upside is we've gone from averaging 55 inside 50's, which was very good, to 60. But that won't help much if you're not controlling your entry and we haven't been as well as we could. Still, it's not all bad. Last year we were 11th for marks inside 50 and this year 6th due to more direct play (Hogan and Garlett the beneficiaries at times against Brisbane). I don't think a lot needs to change, just control the footy a bit more with some uncontested marks/possessions. In other words, the mids need to spread harder and smarter. As I said, I didn't see it coming, but I don't mind the strategy of going smaller in the F50. And unlike some, I don't see Pedersen as crucial to the game-plan.

Roosy made some interesting comments on The Couch this week (or maybe it was last week). He talked about how once a player is drafted, it's irrelevant once they're in the club. If they're in the best 22, pick em. If not they play reserves with no explanation required. It was in reference to Weitering being out of form for Carlton. He pointed to Alex Rance as an example. Back before he was a star, he played his first season in the development league which is below VFL. It wasn't until his 4th or 5th season where he had a regular spot in the 22. I actually remember seeing Rance run around for Richmond early on thinking he looked pretty ordinary. Need to ease off Weeds I reckon. Players develop at different stages aka Rance.

Both these are spot on, it feels like too many people are just looking at names to decide on who they would like in or out, rather than objectively looking at how each player performed. I'd just like to add Goodwin has shown a clear preference for players who get the tackle, spoil or perform the pressure act over the player who is more skilled with ball in hand. This might hurt us slightly in the short term but if every player knows they need to bring that in order to get a game regardless of other talents we will be a much better team for it. That is how you built a culture that stands up when it matters and why teams like the swans are always in the mix year in year out while other teams cycle in and out contention.

Mods pls delete this post.... immediately!

Hogan was fine, did the whole session, was kicking unhindered

I believe Hutchins had surgery over the off season, so he's still probably a few weeks away. Really should be an absolute belting by Casey. Coburg played against Frankston in an unofficial praccy match during the Pre-Season, which Frankston won, and since Casey beat Frankston by 111 points..... things could get ugly for the Lions. This game will be broadcast by Casey Radio on 97.7 FM or over at http://www.3ser.org.au/ from 12.50 pm on Sunday, so if you can't make the game be sure to listen in.

Bucks is the Mark Waugh of the AFL. Does absolutely nothing for 5-6 games in a row, then pulls something half decent out of the bag to give himself more time on the big stage. Rinse and repeat. I mean, it's good for football that Bucks is coaching the Pies as they'll never win anything with him, but he's terrific at winning that one game that keeps him in a job for 10 more weeks.

Buggs played his first game at this level since he hit the Swan and was ostracised... a little slack and time for him to tweak and get into his groove would seem fair..? When he was at his pesky best last year, we were rolling.

Don't be so harsh. They got most of the words right.

He was working hard, spoke to both of them, the tineframe Misso keeps giving is about right Neither will be allowed to play until issue is completely fixed , they are both doing extra sessions, so fitness will not be an issue

Exclusive picture of Simon Goodwin picking this weeks team.

I love Hunt but his form over JLT and the first 2 rounds has been very average

I think Goody gives every player a fair chance for their development, which from the outer may seem to the teams short term detriment and playing favs. But from a long term perspective, it is probably needed. Melksham or JKH in past years are good examples. His persistence payed off for the former. I just hope he's prepared to drop Melk, Wags or others if they put in multiple poor performances. Bugg and Wagner were fine enough to warrant this coming weeks selection imo

People seemed to have forgotten that until 4 or so years ago, Rance was a laughable turnover merchant too. The memory of your average football fan is pathetic. Needless to say, I concur on Weideman. We were spoilt by Jesse coming in and impacting the way he did. And many of us on Demonland said the same at the time. Sam clearly has elements of his game to improve upon (leading patterns, physical strength and endurance), but he's a reliable kick and a lovely mark. Give him some confidence and we could well see a very different player very quickly.

Wow. A Friday night game between 16th and 17th with no wins between them and a combined percentage between them when added together relates to the percentage of the third placed team..... Blockbuster defined.

In the pregame news it was good to see Clarkson come out and say the AFL needs to stop rewarding 'head high' free kicks, ala Selwood. His point is that if the AFL is serious about protecting the head it needs to minimise risk of head injury now or later in a players life. More on his thoughts in this article: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/alastair-clarkson-calls-for-umpires-to-crack-down-on-shrugging-tactics-to-avoid-concussion-issues/news-story/7c9549f992b1e6d33e1dd59c163dfe67 A new technique is where the player with the ball doesn't drop the knees but leans to one side and lays his head in the attacker's arms. Free kick! Many players do it and it is a blight on the game.

Boo!!

simple No beat north no play finals

Now I know why you use the name 'DV8'.

Like the time I tied an onion to my belt. We used to catch the ferry to Shelbyville.

Maybe it will free up both Lever and Hbberd. We will become a much better and dangerous team.

You have to admire Buggs attitudinal turn around and application, if not his skills

If it helps shorten the season to a fairer system where you only play every team once, I'm all for exploring it.

The obsession continues with the Americanization of our great game. It really is infuriating.

18 MFC players named plus the 22 for the seniors leaves very few out injured. That's a great position to be in at any time of the season. Part of the reason for Richmond's success last year was having few injuries. As a consequence they not only won the Premiership but their VFL team came second.

McDonald on Brown, Frost on Waite and Lever to pitch in.

This week the two teams are playing for the Gysberts-Clarkson Memorial Trophy.

I'm not at all concerned about the loss of the $2.0m profit. We lose about $1.3m (2/3rds) when Leighoak is sold and $0.7m when we hand back the Bentleigh pokie licenses in a few years. As PJ said there is plenty of time to get that $2.0m profit back elsewhere (without using the $11.0m capital from the Leighoak sale to pay back our debt). He mentioned things like: grow the fan base, increased game attendances, earnings from reinvesting the $11.0m (I don't think he meant interest) We also have more sponsorship income now with Zurich and Infiniti on board. And potentially more sponsors in the pipeline. Sure, those revenues might happen anyway but this is part of a strategy to reposition our club 'for the next generation of fans' (Barlett's words). We have never, ever had any long-term thinking let alone planning as we are generally chasing our tail. It is refreshing to have the building blocks in place for a solid financial and football future. I'm rapt with this decision and the commercial thinking behind it. I applaud PJ, the management team and the Board. I am excited to see what they have in store as the strategy unfolds.

Well I'm pretty sure the coaches know a bit more about footy than you do Skuit.

Not having a go, but the negative comments are at least about selections and footy. One thing i've noticed about this forum is that theres a bunch of users who complain about the negativity each week, missing the irony that thats a form of negativity also!

I am not stupid enough to get too down on a bloke that has had 2 average games; or get too up when a bloke has had 2 good ones in a row. But I will stick with my original view in Oct/Nov that the MFC blinked unnecessarily and sold the farm in a super-draft year. Even if he finishes top 5 B&F for 5 years running, I won' t change my opinion. He was going nowhere bar Melbourne; and we bid as if we were 4th in-line. Jason Cloke amazed the footy world in 2002 by playing the intercept loose in defence. Food for thought. Chris Scott alerted the footy world to force Lever to be accountable deep. My guess is brother Brad has had the run-down, and will use Waite and Brown to keep Lever deep.

I've always thought of Robbo as the Molly Meldrum of footy...

And that's how it should be, Pm

Reading some of your comments on here I might as well not go and watch the game this weekend, as we have already lost!!!! so many negative comments. people asking about brayshaw, his biggest issue is his speed, so I would suggest he is up against vince/ lewis/ Tyson/ jones and Wagner for a spot. I rate him, but he will have to wait until they deem someone worthy of being dropped. frost will follow brown into the ruck. our forward line will be fine if we deliver it properly and lower the eyes. Gawn will spend more time forward too. for all the negative comments, if we play our brand of footy, of being hard and pressurising north, and then using the ball well going forward, we will smash them, I don't care who we brought in or left out. Finally, for all those saying comments about Goodwin's selections and doubting him, it is a selection panel, not just him!! They make a GROUP decision, anyone involved in coaching a senior AFL side if any standard knows it is done as a group.

I’m happy with the changes. We’ve lacked speed, especially forward of the ball. Kent is exactly the type of player we need more of, because our weakness is outside the contest. Hunt’s poor form has hurt us a lot in this area. Pederson has been poor. Also, how many goals have we got from slow plays? We’ve got Hogan kicking goals, mainly from quick plays, but we’ve been relatively ineffective in the areas where you would expect Pederson to be a help in. We have really missed TMac in the first few weeks, especially since Pedo has been so ineffective. Frost was apparently excellent last week, but he also allows us to structure more similarly to Adelaide last year, with two key talls plus Lever as the interceptor. The way North play, that structure seems more logical plus it allows Lever to use his strengths more. It also shields us somewhat from Lewis’ lack of pace down there, where Lever can structurally cover the potential holes.

Anyone know why Jack Hutchins our skipper isnt playing at the moment? Injured? First time in possibly ever I can remember the entire starting 18 being MFC listed players.

That could go close to beating the seniors.

I spell his name differently to you, but i agree....carry on.

Coached 2s in AFL Canberra. But that is immaterial to the bolded - if the same players keep on doing the opposite of what they are instructed then either the players don't listen, can't institute it and/or it should be abandoned because they are being asked to play a style they can't execute. They better we get the more I would want to isolate our best players and leaving Hogan to battle 2 extra defenders doesn't support that. Something to look out for this week: North will love it if we 'just kick the bloody thing' this week considering our forward line and how we overload the defensive side of the contest...

Don't they, OD? What is unnatural about a huge rabbit producing chocolate eggs?

What I find a bit confusing about the selections is Goody's comments. Coach Simon Goodwin said Frost and Kent’s recent efforts for Casey couldn’t be ignored. “They’ve been in unbelievable form at VFL level and they’ve been knocking down the door for a few weeks now,” I didn't think the VFL had even started, and that all we've done is play some practise matches haven't we? I thought our first actual match is this weekend against Coburg?? Didn't think we'd have any changes, and honestly am not fussed with who is in and out, but the comments to justify the inclusions .... just sounds like a guy spouting 'footy cliches'

B: BAKER, KEILTY, WHITE HB: HUNT, PETTY, J.SMITH C: C.WAGNER, MAYNARD, STRETCH HF: BALIC, PEDERSEN, HANNAN F: SCOTT, WEIDEMAN, T.SMITH FOLL: KING, BRAYSHAW, KENNEDY HARRIS IC: GENT, JOHNSTONE, FILIPOVIC, SPARGO, M.LEWIS 18 players available that is a very strong team I think we will give Coburg a 100 point thumping.

Frost I suspect will play back and head in as back up ruck whenever Brown relieves. I actually don't mind the mobile forward line Richmond style. It hopefully also improves our defensive pressure chasing out of 50. As long we lower our eyes and don't bomb it in, we wouldn't be that stupid would we??

Kent ??? this is so weird .... the guy was put up for trade as a fringe player and no one wanted him. One game against a side of witches hats ... amazing

That's the reason why the Clarkson experience is so relevant. He was criticised relentlessly early in the piece by many of the so called football experts for his game plan. Now he's praised as a visionary and one of the coaching greats. Goodwin is a very young coach, I think he has the right stuff to be an excellent coach even though I don't agree with some of his moves. I think he has made some basic rookie errors in his first few years but accept this is going to happen.