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Other predictions: - We will win by 15 points in a tight fought contest played at a slightly lower standard than we all hoped for - The conclusions drawn will vary widely between "real deal" and "xxx will flog us in yy weeks time in this form", which won't happen - Hawthorn will get a run of four goals which will get so much airtime it breaks the Demonland server. We will get a run on of five goals which will go unmentioned - OMac will be held responsible for every goal, Tyson for every turnover, and our payment for Lever referred to - Hogan, Trac and Oliver to dominate.

100% correct, from my own experience watching/ caring for my wife as she had terminal cancer , she passed 18 months ago no one understands how anyone feels about this, we knew and had warnings but not a day goes by that its not on your mind, even now after time , it doesn't stop . I draw strength from this with my own treatment now. but i still we go on everyday. try to be normal Jesse is a very strong Young man and has proven this with his determination and chats we have had. I and glad to see him flying and hope soon we will see him holding up a cup .......

We have reached the 40,000 mark!! Must have taken the club a few days to process the weekend membership signings. As of this evening the tally is: 40,012 Almost a month ahead of last year. We reached 40,083 on May 7, 2017.

My tip is severe negativity in the match day thread, with Clint Biz and Praha leading the charge.

There’s only one Max Gawn!!

I don't condone violence in any shape or form. Except where it concerns a five-foot football recruit in their first outing for our club and then it makes me smile.

I'm not quite sure who's punning, who's trolling and who doesn't quite get the joke.

Wow. Some tangential shiite going on here....

What a load of rubbish, he just wanted someone to push him in the off season. Many players would do this. I know for a fact Cale Hooker at Essendon does this.

Isaac Smith? Pffttt...... Clarry had him covered after only playing 10 games....

I hope the umpiring improves. Cant believe the nonsense decisions against norf. The dodgy frees to Brown. The 2 against Gawn. The robbing of Fritches mark in goal square. Not being able to bump someone in the side. The lack of hands in the back being paid against Brown. Bloody hell it was poor.

Pedo has played commendably for us for quite a few years now, as most people observe. He is a consistent asset to the team and many of the good results of the past. To say that '... he can only play as an on-ball short ruckman to be effective ... ' is very wrong. Try saying that to his face.

Our biggest problem remains between the ears - concentration, application and decision making. This is what cost us finals last year. It remains to be seen if we have improved - the results over the next 3 games will be telling.

Salem's first couple of years have been blighted by injury or illness,so his base wasn't where it was supposed to be, not his fault He wanted to play midfield this year and was told what he had to do to achieve this, he went away and did it, professionalism Young, younger players who completed full pre season without a hiccup, for first time or in a while Gawn Hogan Petracca Salem Wagner Omac All in form and playing well

We should have picked Wines.

Just had a wander over to the Hawks Big Footy forum. Came back very annoyed. Very confident of a win over there, one poster even said Jesse Hogan and Sam Frost aren't great forwards and should be covered easily by Frawly and Stratton. Really knows his stuff that bloke. Also found this gem: "Melbourne a due for a bad loss so I hope we can dish it out. They’re a limited team that’s had a very soft start to the season. They are exactly the kind of team that we need to beat to jump above that logjam of sides trying to improve." Only one poster out of 10+ pages was concerned about the degree of underestimation going on over there. Not sure if it's because of the number of smug Hawthorn supporting friends I have, but I can't stand the Hawks. Really hope we turn up and win this one. Didn't mind the side last week. Hoping we play a defensive forward on Sicily, not sure I could emotionally handle him tearing us up. Cyril is another one that causes us headaches, hoping Nev isn't injured and can go with him, otherwise bring Hunt back.

Shortest injury list in the history of the MFC. Pity 2 of our top 10 players are on it!

I would like to see more at our game than the Coll v Dons this year

It's like Deeeluded met Deeeluded. And had two baby Deeludeds.

Thyroid issues can have a very serious effect on the body. Last year I was concerned that young Salem may not make it. That he appears to have overcome this serious medical problem is excellent news.

Numerous posters reported on gameday that Brayshaw was being heavily tagged. It turns out he was doing the tagging. Confirmed by Chaplin on the Melbourne podcast.

I suggest, instead of being a smartarse, do a bit of research on thyroid issues and see the impact it can have in the body

The MCG is a huge factor for Lever. He looked good in preseason in Tassie and at Casey and was playing well at the Gabba before the dew came up and he didn't adapt to slippery conditions and a struggling side. But back on the G - firstly it holds some mental demons for the Crows from grand final day, but it's also a ground they don't play at very often or play well at. It's very wide compared to Adelaide Oval and that means you have to go side to side as a defender much more than at Adelaide Oval. It's much harder to stay in a back 6 formation, you need to be more flexible. At the Crows - Brown, Talia/Hartigan (depending on match up) and Kelly played back pocket, full back, back pocket. Lever was allowed to sit on a flank and position himself to intercept. It's why I thought he'd replace Vince in our best team, turns out for now it's Hunt but anyway... We'll likely leave Jetta and Frost/Oscar closer to goal but the G is wider and the ball can move out and around and back in to the next wave of forwards or even a drifting in wingman, be squared up at CHF or be run straight through the lines. Unless you're Rance who can get up field pressure and dominate in the air and on the ground as the deepest defender I can't see the same level of intercepting at the G as at Adelaide Oval. The trade off is there's more space and scope to counter attack and be involved on the way out. Any talk of Lever somehow magically restructuring our backline was laughable. As if talk that our backline is now lacking structure because of him - that ignores just how out of shape we were throughout a lot of last year. The idea of structuring a backline around any one player is silly to begin with. What he has to be is a very good player who makes life easier for his team mates by getting himself and them in the right spots, working hard both ways, making the right level of aggressive decisions with the ball etc.

Thought he was on Good Friday but returned on Easter Sunday?

I think we will struggle with Hawks forward line. Too many cheap off the pack and out the back goals from players like Bruest, Puopolo, Riolo will hurt us.

Pretty much spot on Willmoy. Mitchell is overrated insofar as his numbers of possessions -v- their impact on the result of games. There is no doubt he is a ball magnet and I admire his see-ball-get-ball mentality but O’Meara is the class act and with a few games under his belt will be a danger. As another poster inferred, Max and any support ruckmen need to be aware of Mitchell’s location at centre bounces and stoppages (where he gets a lot of his possessions) and make a concerted effort to direct the ball away from him. A hard tag on O’Meara would be my call. Interesting that a friend of mine who is a coaching staff member (not MFC) speculates that Mitchell tends to lose a bit of focus after a bit of early physical attention. Langford did a good job on Dustin Martin and will get the job on Oliver. To counter that somewhat, Petracca and Oliver rotating through the middle via a forward pocket would create massive headaches for Clarkson and worry the hell out of Hawks defenders. None of this will happen on Saturday but it’s fun to guess!

Cameron Pedersen great foil for Big Max, has a positive track record as a forward against the Hawks and loves a dry, fast track in the sunshine at the 'G' ! Weather forecast for Sunday?

We are equal first for quarters won. Stats say dees, Sportsbet say dees, MFCSS says Hawks

Nothing bizarre about it. The last 3 times we played them we have had their measure but only managed to win 1 of those mainly due to lack of composure & experience. We have improved from 2017 more than they have.

I'm a massive wrap for Salem, but I wouldn't describe his first 3 games as a "fine start to the season". Saturday's game should be his baseline.

Then I expect you to become a genius tomorrow, Doc.

because of his poor first half against the cats the narrative has become that he has been a disappointment lever has been serviceable, but there's no doubt that his addition to our backline has completely changed our defensive structure he's a super competent footballer, and will get better as he settles he's only 21, and his reading of the play is second-to-none very happy to have him

There are very few mids with no weaknesses. Even some of the greats have weaknesses. Sam Mitchell - slow/contested marking, Simon Black - slow, Dangerfield - kicking, so on and so forth. Oliver has speed, great hand and foot skills, marking ability, agility, body size, aggression, vision, decision making, etc. He has no weakness. None. That's not to say he'll end up as good as some of those players, as they have a level of sheer brilliance that can't be measured. And that is the only query. Can he show he's capable of the regular sheer brilliance of the greats. I hope so.

I don't know how you can conclude that. When you "buy" a player, you aren't paying for his first three games or even his first season, you're paying for the balance of his career. Lever is 22 so he's still 5 years off the finished product. If short term payoff is the only thing that matters, pick 11 and half a mil for Mitch Clark was an absolute bargain.

I'm not sure what Christian as gotten wrong... He explains every decision, and it seems a bit hypocritical to suggest that the "low impact" that got Rance and Sandy off is crap yet nobody has mentioned the low impact that means Frosty got off with a fine just cos he is in our colours. He definitely isn't the "big name" that people say you need to be to get off. Wasn't it just last year that people were complaining about these soft decisions costing people weeks? Salem was also lucky not to be sighted for bumping an injured player and as mentioned above it looked like Jetta bumped Brown high but seems to have gotten away with that altogether... Any of them would have been soft suspensions but Christian seems to be working much better at keeping players on the park unless they actually deserve weeks. The umpiring however... well I'll just say that the holding the man payed on Kent for breathing near the Roos player that robbed Fritsch of a goal has to be the worst decision of the decade.

An unbelievable talent. Can’t wait to watch his career unfold. He and Petracca were made for finals footy.

Yeah its something we've been very poor at for years. A shepherd doesnt have to be a giant bump, just a block that protects the ball carrier and allows him to settle before he kicks is sufficient. Hibberd did this saturday and i said it was a kodak moment

I have been saying for many years that the shepherd is vital. it creates space and allows balance and clean disposal. While umpires often penalise an off the ball shepherd,it is still the most valuable tool for offensive play. Any player who disposes of the ball should instantly shepherd the player they gave it to, this would make their disposal more valuable. Bring back the shepherd!

Oliver hunts the ball and Tom Mitchell is always seems to have the ball. Oliver has the type of closing speed that could trouble Tom Mitchell, there is no doubt about that. If the Hawks do send a tag to Oliver then we can just send Oliver to Mitchell and free up Salem - who can be very damaging by foot on his day.

A very relaxed Jesse Hogan on the Triple M Rush Hour with JB & Brownless. He's on from about the 32.45 minute mark

Watch Isaac Smith tear us to shreds this week. Got it wrong round 1 with Maynard playing and Frost not. Should be 3-0.

Was that the Pure Footy hour on SEN today DD? I’m not sure what his name is but he went on and talked about quantity ( forward entries) vs quality ( scoring from forward entries). Please correct me if I heard wrong, he stated that Richmond and us are standouts in this stat so far. We both rank in the top 4-5 in the comp. He also made a mention about our forward structure, how we like to mix it up and cause opposition defenders to second guess themselves. For example, Hogan up the ground, Trac deep, then change it when Trac goes in the middle and Hogan goes deep again. Kind of a revolving forward line. He said there’s no right or wrong with a system like this and he compared it to Adelaide where their set-up is almost always Walker, Jenkins and Betts as forwards. In regards to our forward pressure it was interesting to hear that Pedersen was ranked as elite in the first two weeks along with Garlett. Fritch also rated highly in that aspect. Apologies if this has been posted already or not belonging in this thread. It was interesting listening nonetheless.

Explains a lot

Lever copped a hit to the head because he ran into him front-on as Goldy's arms were up attempting to mark. Only one player was looking at the footy and going for the ball. In this case the umpire will pay a free to protect the ball player every time. The head is probably sacrosanct when initiated by the opponent (eg. a tackle or bump) but not when accidental (head clash) or when the player likely caused it themself (running into a leading player whilst not playing the ball) I would've liked a call of 'play on', but understand the free was more than likely correct

No, he plays for West Coast.

Salem doesn't seem to like North much. Took his angry pills again last week. Looks much better when he's aggressive and has had a few good games against them now. Hopefully he can stay a bit riled.

Nobody can ever really understand the mental burden that Jesse was carrying last year. Just waiting for the moment your father passes, then dealing with the reality of it, then getting cancer. Jesus if that doesn’t break you, nothing will. Had he said “forget footy” I would have understood. Hell if he said “I need to go back to Perth” I would not have begrudged him. But credit to his resilience and maturity, that he has come through the worst a human can go through, and is now better for it. I hope we throw a cheeky 5 year deal in front of him, with a nice number of zeros on it, so we can seal the deal. Trac, Oliver, Gawn and Viney are secured, he remains the last piece (and TMac/Omac but I assume that’s a formality).

This guy seems to have gone to another level this year. He seems to be really enjoying his footy and the freedom that had come from playing further up the ground and being allowed to play his natural game rather than sitting in the goal square with defenders hanging off him. His body language has improved exponentially and he is in career best form. This is a credit to a young man who endured a year of hell in 2017. I look forward to watching the rest of his season and career play out, he will be a key piece to our 13th flag when we finally get there.

Has anyone complaining about lapses actually watched any footy other than Melbourne games this year? Just curious because I've seen a few and haven't seen a single game where teams didn't have fits and spurts.

The AFL has been very accommodative because ANZAC Day falls on a Wednesday We play Tuesday night and then on the following Sunday. Coll and Ess play on the Wed and then the four teams involved in ANZAC day/Eve games switch over and play each other on the Sunday. Pretty fair solution and one that allows us to cement the ANZAC eve game into our fixture.