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The big positive from today for me was Angus Brayshaw effort in the midfield.

Found some time at work so here we go. As mentioned, Geelong managed to beat Casey at home which the last 15 teams haven't been able to do. They dominated the first 3 and a half quarters and just pulled the trigger in the last quarter but otherwise were very impressive. Their structures just out did Casey on every line but especially the back. The were able to multiple times have players out the back sweep onto contests or get the rebound all game. Casey couldn't handle it especially with a few of the MFC players going missing. As for the individual players- Stretch- Had a few touches but his disposal efficiency was horrible Frost- Solid without being great, broke the lines a few times Pedo- Our only real hit up target when going forward but dropped a lot of marks, lifted in the last quarter around the ball JKH- Probably the worst game I've seen him play in a while, barely touched the ball Garlett- Started strong but went missing. Did 1 or 2 nice things up forward but otherwise not good Johnstone- I had high hopes for him but his start to this season has been bad. Didn't do anything at all. T.Smith- Casey's best. Played a lot on the ball but his tackling pressure was outstanding, might have earned himself a call up next week. J.Smith- Was good, did a few nice things with the ball but didn't have a lot of aerial presence which is usually his strong suit Keilty- Better then last week but made a few costly errors. Had a couple of nice spoils and tackles but he is struggling to find form after succumbing to a couple of injuries late into the preseason Petty- Again better then last week but still has a lot to work on, nice couple of defensive marks though Baker- Was pushed forward early and did pretty well, kicked a couple of goals. Bugg- Started okay but I barely noticed him, still carrying an injury from last week I beleive As for the Casey boys Wagner was impressive, might find himself back onto an AFL list in a year or two, Goy Lok had an outstanding second half and was Caseys only good option going forward for a period, and Angus Scott played well. Good news is Jack Hutchins the skipper will be playing local footy this weekend with Caseys Bye and should be back for the next game

Probably won’t get a vote but how good is O Mac - now one of the best in the business

"Go hard for your teammates and your jumper." — Paul Spargo

Stayed out of the game day thread today. Enjoyed the game way more. It was a fantastic performance... after half time. The first half was a disgrace to football as a whole. The less said about it the better. However, in the second half everything just... clicked. Gawn was in sync with the midfield and we waltzed it out of the centre with ease. Many player who had underperformed began to regain some confidence and impact the contest in a positive way. We stopped bombing it long to contests and actually looked to hit targets inside 50. Our backline, which was left exposed in the second term when we went back to our old ways of allowing sides to run it easily out of defence, came together and repelled almost everything that came at the them. The third term was what our side CAN look like when we worked together as a unit. There were some real positive performances today. Hannan and Fritsch, in the same side together for only the second time this year, worked perfectly alongside each other. Spargo had a ripping little debut and gave us a spark that Garlett hasn't really given us all year. Gawn continues to have an amazing season. O Mac killed Daniher to add yet another scalp to his ever growing list, while Jetta and Hibberd were also excellent. James Harmes also played his best game for the season and our tackling and hunting of the footy was terrific. Jake Melksham was also sensational - had a hand in a heap of goals and kick a couple of rippers to go with it. There is still plenty to work on. The first half was awful stuff and we let ourselves be brought down to their level and we couldn't find a way to stop it. We ran out of legs a little bit in the last 6 minutes to cough up goals, and I know some will whinge about it until they are blue in the face, but we only played 5 days ago. We went hard when it mattered and put the game to rest early in the last so when we ran out of petrol tickets it didn't matter. It's great to be back on the winners list and even better to beat the Druggies. Enjoy every minute of it and be happy that our season is now back on track!!

Great to get a win, even if the first half is unwatchable. A few positives to come from the game: Brayshaw playing midfield where he should, Hannan Fritsch and Spargo etc... It was a nice win, but nothing to get me too excited. It still feels like just one game in the middle of a whole heap of bland under-performance. I still can't clearly see our best 22 or best 25 players, with lots of players like Harmes, ANB, Fritsch, Spargo, Garlett, Smith, etc... rolling in and out of the team each week as their form fluctuates. OMac is my highlight of the year so far. Love watching him now. I feel as confident with him as I do with Nev. Do we remember how many Demonlanders were caning our selectors for leaving him in the team when he was learning his trade? The vitriol was a pandemic. In hindsight, our player development seems to be an actual strength. (I can't believe I am typing that after the previous decade of horrors!) Now, that Demonlander vitriol reserved purely for developing players, turns to Weideman. How about we give him the same opportunities we have OMac? Weideman is a very, very good footballer who will turn out to be a 200 game player. He also has Hogan and TMac to learn from. He will be fine.

Weids is having a crack clunking a few and improving each week - we must persist with him

Just a few passing thoughts- Gawn was absolutely dominant. I know him and the midfield haven’t been in sync in our losses but he has been absolutely huge this year so far. Hannan, Fritsch and Spargo gave a different sort of energy, liked it a lot. Melksham is getting form back. One of our best kicks into the 50 and for goals. Omac is having some sort of season. He is raw, lacks visible coordination but he has done the job most weeks. Coming along nicely. Brayshaw was really encouraging in the centre square. Let him be part of the rotation and give Salem a more ‘loose’ role. Suits both of them. I’d also like to give credit to one of our best players so far this year in Hogan. He had a bad ankle, bad knee but still flew for his marks today and created a contest. His (new found) mental toughness allowed him to not be a liability despite his physical limitations today. Has really became a team player this year and is levels above where he has previously been despite it maybe not showing up on the stat sheet.

Match Summary: See 2017 vs. Essendon.

A great debut and show of how too stick up for your team mate Spargo, we need more of his attitude pls.

Weid looks exactly like a 12 game, 20 year old 195 cm KPF should look. Promising highlights, some good traits, and in need of a bit of experience at AFL level to put it all together.

Absolutely stoked about this! I feel he is one that'll play better and more suited to the more quicker tempo of AFL rather then the VFL.. And just quickly, I've had a bit to do with young "Spargs" and I posted this back early January this year. Gday guys, on one of the training thread there's been a few doubts on young Charlie about his size and whether he can translate his ability to AFL level. Thought I'd bring this thread up and have my 2 cents worth. Just on Spargo, I had a bit to do with him when he was in the under 16s bushies . I didn't bother to write anything up on him when we drafted him (lack of interest in demonland at the time) but I thought I'd post my thought a on him now. Goody is going to fall in love coaching this young fella, he is 18 years old going onto 25 in terms of maturity and level headed. He was driven right from the very young age to succeed in footy and make AFL. He started playing senior footy for Albury in the strong Ovens and Murray league (step below VFL) at 16 and was still running rings around former AFL players with such ease. It was tipped right from then that this kid could potentially be the next big thing despite his size. He was quick, tough as F**k, and most importantly, driven and determined to make it. Despite being a quiet and down to earth sort of fella, he just oozes leadership on field! We played a praccy match against Bendigo once and he was captain for the day. The whole day he was barking orders, setting up midfield stoppages, encouraging teammtes, and giving direct feedback to coaching and senior officials on what was going right and wrong. He'll be in the leadership group in a couple of years. Mark my words. Obviously being in boarding school this year I barely got time to see any of his games (injured also). But we got word back from some recruiters that if it wasn't for injury he would be top 10 without a doubt. 3 clubs had even made mentioned that if he was just a smidge taller and injury free, they had penciled him for top 5. Every club rated him and the giants were absolutely filthy when they lost first rights to him. He is a genuine talent. If I was to compare him to someone in terms of toughness, leadership and skill? it would be Joel Selwood. He has everything that you need in terms of the culture you're trying to build and set. Yes I've pumped up his tyres, but the biggest test for him will be the transition to AFL level. The likes of Caleb Daniel and Eddie Betts have shown that it is possible if you've got the ticker and drive to succeed. I believe young Spargo has this. The likes of Jones, Viney, Oliver and Lewis will crave having this kid in the side running full tilt into packs and come out ball in hand. I don't want to put too much pressure on the kid but in my honest opinion, he is an absolute beauty! Hope that helps.

PJ get out the check book and secure the Mac brothers - so critical to our structure.

"There’s no excuse for failing to roll back and help the defence, and there’s no excuse for being flat footed leaving your teammate to be the only one trying to rebound. There’s no excuse for ignoring the state of the senior players and their lack of fight when it doesnt go their way. We are down hill skiers. We are more Melbourne than Melbourne" I just took the above off Bomberblitz. I started to think about it but it spun me out. FMD!

There's a point where you just need to back Weed in and simply put games into him. This is the time.

Brayshaw in the middle really made a difference for him and for the impact of the team at the stoppages. His third quarter was massive. Was great to see Spargo, Hannan and Fritsch all work hard and get reward on the scoreboard. Proof that you can have players that do both. We still looked slow on the spill and the spread through the middle but that second half would have done a world of good for their confidence with moving the ball.

Fristch, Hannan and Spargo really gave us some freshness and energy. All three looked dangerous and made an impact. T Mac showed how much he has been missed.

Gotta throw away percentage. Can’t leave us feeling full of joy. If your life depended on Tyson hitting a target, how would you kill yourself?

Weid is getting better and better. He has such a good marking technique (takes the ball with arms out stretched over head, taking the ball at his highest point) that it was only time until he started clunking them at AFL level. Hopefully this is the start of that form, as he finds his feet. I think wee need to persist with him. He complements Hogan so well.

Surprised about no mention of Lever, only saw the last half, but was impressed, two serviceable games in a row, starting to find his feet, backline beginning to gel.

Spargo gave 10 times more than Garlett gives most games.

I think Hannan and Fritsch have a ton of talent.

I found it interesting that 10 out of our 16 goals were kicked by players that didn't play last week. We shouldn't be happy with only playing one and a half good quarter though.

We were good against rubbish opposition, could we do that against the top sides? No chance. Spargo had a great debut, Fritsch was excellent, Gawn back to his dominating best and we really missed Tom McDonald.

the reverse Jack Watts debut!

Oscar has been immense all season and just held Daniher goalless. Flogged the pants off him. How about an apology from Gary Lyon who a couple of weeks ago incorrectly stated Oscar was struggling and needed to lift. He clearly doesn't watch Melbourne games.

Nothing typified Essendons day more than McGrath playing on at the 3 qtr time siren. Loved Levers reaction. I snorted coffee out my nose.

FMD! This team drives me to distraction. We'll make a mess of someone if ever we play four quarters.

We've found one in Spargo that's for sure. Those 3 goals at the end we're an unwelcome sign of past habits

I agree, but I also thought that when he was dropped that it was the right decision at the time. He needs to continue to improve his consistency but today showed what he can do, and it's bloody fantastic!

Speaking to a Richmond supporter about hardwicks change from 2016 and 2017. He stated that Hardwick was told he micromanaged the game too much. He changed his style in 2017 and told the players they made this grade because they were elite players. Go out and trust your instinicts, he also allowed the line coach’s to worry about the small things rather than him. It was obvious last week that we are playing to instructions not instincts.

Just win- please.

It helped they had the new Buddy play for them...

I liked seeing Gawn tap it straight down the throat of brayshaw a few times at the centre bounces. Hopefully that will improve and increase the more they play with each other.

10 out of 10 Deanox - I mean for saying 'his' highest point' rather than 'its highest point' which all the idiotic commentators always say even if the ball almost hit the roof of Etihad.

How is it obvious? How many times was he out marked today? I cant recall one but may have happened. Did you see the two long pack balls he clunked in the second half? May come out if we choose to not play three talls but that will be the only reason he doesn't play I reckon.

We have played as badly as we can and are still 3-3. Viney back soon. T Mac is back. Trac back in vs Saints at Etihad where we never lose. The medium sized forward trio of Hannan-Fritsch-Melksham are starting to gel and will cause matchup nightmares for opponents. Spargo. We will win the flag.

Remind me how often Weids was outmarked today? May get dropped for a smaller forward dynamic but won’t based on his output for Ped or T Smith in that role.

Amazing what happens when players play in their natural position. Still hate Tyson on the wing. He is a pathetic user of the footy.

Hannan and Fritsch and Spargo >> Garlett and Bugg and Kent

Looks like we've found a player in Spargo

I'm feeling very pragmatic about today. You get what you deserve in footy. If we play to our ability we'll win. If we lose I won't let the result control my emotions. I won't be joining the plethora of senile old clueless posters, who regularly carry on like outraged victims.

Supporters will see what they want to see. Mediocre first half, terrific second half.

Hannan and Fritsch >> Garlett and Bugg

Amused to hear Parkin referring to Melksham and Hibberd as Essendon rejects Surely refugees or escapees more appropriate

Seriously mate what the [censored] is your problem with hogan

How are we still in this? Melksham is s very good luck of the footy.

Hilarious It’s not even fucken ski season .

I've got a date with an ex-nun this afternoon so I couldn't care less about this game.

I’m going to a winery ?