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Dear Poita, It's no surprise to see a veil of negativity coming from you despite the team's good form. I'll have you know that Tim Smith actually played as the second ruck after half time against Geelong after Max went down injured. He had 3 hitouts, which is just one less than Pedersen has averaged in his past six games. Yours, Goody

Final changes- In: Viney, T.Smith Outs: Tyson (Omitted) Weideman (Injured) YEAH BOYS GET HYPE BULL IS PLAYING I TOLD YOUSE

Okay, let's get this straight. He is 25 years old, turning 26 next month. And if you rate him on par with ANB or Harmes then I'd challenge your comment of "watching a little bit of the Eagles." If ANB or Harmes turn out to be as good as Gaff I'd be very, very surprised.

A preview of Sunday. Yes, they are Carlton players and yes that is Tim Smith. #releasethebull

I completely understand why people thought Pedersen would’ve been picked, but for some to attack the coaches to pick Bull who is playing at a much higher level then Pedo at the moment, is pretty bad. I would love Pedo to get back into great form and play Seniors but right now Smith is just better, and I’ve been saying that for weeks haha

Jay Viney fairly lucky.

I love the fact that someone like Garlett is no longer a walk up start. If players struggle with form then we have others in form at Casey who are more than capable of taking their place. Spargo is proof of this - he is the youngest player on our list (I think), yet he's made the transition to the senior side without any problems at all. This puts pressure on others and makes it clear that you either perform or you go back to Casey. I still think Garlett is in our best 22 but the message is clear - have more consistency in your game or you can get it running around in the magoos.

When we got Oliver I was excited because he was in a similar mould to Cripps. Both already are stars, Oliver has more polish but Cripps is more of a physical beast.

Needs more A.Jakovich.

TMac will relief ruck instead of stints on the wing. Smith will play the forward/wing role TMac had been doing. Structurally we’ll be fine and Smith had been the clear standout at Casey by all reports. He comes in to the side flying. Great to see effort get reward. I’m very excited now.

Dear Poita, Do you have anything positive to say? Ever? Signed, Wiseblood.

Is that your daily dose of being a 5yo ? You might also consider that many, myself included would have thought like for like...then Cam made a sensible replacement for Weed. Its not about supporters having a psuedo teenage crush on anyone... simply some look at what's on offer. I wish Smith well. Who now pinch hits for Max ? Im not aware of Tim having done a lot. This seems to require a rejig of the fab four's duties more than just a player swap. That comes as a surprise to me given they were just bedding all of this in.

He’s not though, Bulls form in the VFL has been unbelievable and higher then Pedo so of course they’re going to pick the guy that’s playing much better footy.

Melbourne's structure has completely changed over the last 4 weeks. It bears no resemblance to the first few rounds. Against Hawthorn the only tall in the forward-line was Hogan. The last few weeks it's been Hogan, McDonald, Weideman and Gawn on rotation. It's no surprise with this new structure Gawn has kicked goals each of the last 3 weeks. He had no chopout against Hawthorn. Unless you consider Harmes and Petracca a chop out. The back six have also individually hit form. Previously Oscar was the only one who could hold his head high. Brayshaw to the middle has been important. And Salem played his best game last week going back to a back flank. When referencing our season I'm surprised how some supporters don't recognise what has been a quantum shift in so many areas. We are a very different proposition compared to the early rounds. That said, I get that the noise won't change until we beat top eight teams.

Someone inform the Coach and the MFC of this. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-05-17/jeffy-still-an-important-player-goodwin

The other thing we should all take out of the stats is this: Thank the football Gods we took Oliver and not Darcy Parish.

Sublime when he’s on, ridiculous when he’s not. High risk, high reward.

I'd take Clarry in a heartbeat, but Cripps is a terrific player in his own right who has to carry a far heavier load than Clarry does.

The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is revenue generated from memberships, not the number. Giving out memberships is only patching over the issues, which are deep judging by reports of the Saints finncial performances the last few years.

Just don't try the above with Dustin Martin, you'll have a hard time making it past half time. Tyson is 4th at the club for effective disposals/match, 9th for efficiency. Also in the top 10 in plenty of other categories. It's easy to pick out what doesn't work while ignoring what does. You see what you want to see.

Shortly we will be migrating to an upgraded plan for the hosting of Demonland. We are hoping that this will alleviate the instances where Demonland has crashed alot recently. I won't bore you with the specifics but the change will of course take Demonland offline for a little bit. Hopefully it is only for a short time but I am not certain when it will be done or how long it will take. Hopefully it does not impact discussion of this weeks match. Unfortunately this is going to more than double what we already pay to get Demonland online so if you are keen to help us out (and it's certainly not mandatory that you do) you can do so in the following ways. Take out a Demonland Subscription - not only are you helping Demonland out but all the advertisements that a littered throughout the site will disappear. Donate to Demonland - If you already subscribe to Demonland and want to contribute something extra you can help us out this way. Purchase some Demonland Merchandise - look cool and help Demonland out in the process. I don't like having to put my hand out and I and the site will survive if you don't but if you enjoy Demonland and want to (and can) contribute those are the way you can do it. Hopefully this will solve the constant issues that we have been having and you can continue enjoying this site without further interruption. As always all funds will go towards paying for the hosting & the annual forum software fees and if there is anything left over I always like to pay it forward to Nasher whose help is invaluable. Go Dees. Andy

Happy to post and admit that Oscar is clearly playing really good football this year. I genuinely didn't think that he was capable of some of the intercept marking I've seen so far this season. So clearly I was wrong about the 'lack of potential' I saw. But in my defence, he was playing to a level that was far from AFL level last year. I stand by that observation. I understand the club sacrificed team performance by playing him when he was clearly not ready. Oscar is now heading in a positive direction and if he keeps up the intercept work, he could shock me even more. Well done to the juvenile Giraffe.

Hmmmm, this weekend Clarkson has selected 5 guys with under 10 games experience in Harry Morrison, James Cousins, David Mirra, James Worpel, and Mitch Lewis. Hope Clarko knows what he's doing, as he's stated he thinks they can win the GF this year. They're not in development mode.

Dude you are vastly underestimating just how good Bull has been playing, he’s been at a higher level then Pedo. Sometimes teams structure doesn’t matter when you want your best 22 out on the field. The coaches know what they’re doing, take a damn chill pill.

Dear Simon, the current forward / ruck structure was working fine. Why have you not replaced Weideman with Pedersen, so that he can back up Gawn in the ruck? I get that Smith is in better form, but he can't ruck. Now you'll either go back to your stupid idea of rucking Harmes, or you'll drag McDonald away from the forward line. Both ideas are just plain dumb. Please get your act together before you cost us more wins. Signed, Poita.

87 to present, dream list of 42: 1: Hogan 2: Flower 3: Lyon 4: Watts 5: Schwarz 6: G Lovett 7: J Viney 8: Yeats 9: Neitz 10: Pike 11: Stynes 12: T Viney 13: Jakovich 14: Hibberd 15: Tingay 16: Johnstone 17: B Lovett 18: Stretch 19: Prymke 20: M Febey 21: S Febey 22: Woewodin 23: J McDonald 24: Robertson 25: T McDonald 26: Ward 27: Wight 28: O McDonald 29: Obst 30: Neal-Bullen 31: Grimes 32: Bruce 33: Farmer 34: White 35: Spalding 36: Davey 37: Gawn 38: Howe 39: Jetta 40: Jamar 45: Whelan 48: Jurrah

If you listed a Clarry v any other player in the comp, I would choose Oliver. Yes, I'm serious.

I don't actually watch Masterchef and I don't like a lot of reality TV. But that's not the point. Nor is it the point that jackaub and Rocky thinks it's "crap". The point is that nearly a million people don't think it's "crap". The Masterchef episode was filmed off-season, and it's a comparatively small effort on the club's and the player's part to get massive exposure on prime time television. It shows there's more to the club than just playing football, and there's a lot of great footage of our magnificent home ground. I have presumed your view of the club from the massive number of critical posts you make. Maybe you could prove me wrong by being more positive more often as we rise up the ladder. I understand that might be hard.

Or how many were $1 specials.

Tyson - Joeboy finally vindicated

Sorry cannot let these comments go unchallenged: 'But in my defence, he was playing to a level that was far from AFL level last year. I stand by that observation. I understand the club sacrificed team performance by playing him when he was clearly not ready.' 'Oscar was therefor gifted games with an eye for the long term. I didn’t agree with it because it contributed to our poor performances defensively.' 'I do wonder why we didn’t opt for a stop gap key defender when there were plenty out there and let Oscar develop at VFL last year.' All three comments are embarrassing rubbish. Playing at a level far from AFL level last year? Ridiculous (and really a repetition of the silly assertion he was not AFL standard). Why do you think an AFL club with professional coaching and recruiting teams didn't recruit 'a stop gap key defender when there were plenty out there'? Because they obviously decided they didn't need to as they had complete confidence in Oscar. I repeat. They are paid professionals whose job is to make such assessments. And you wonder why they didn't agree with your assessment? I don't. I could see what they could see. I pointed it out to you on numerous occasions. I You made the silly assertion last year that chasing Lever was evidence of the weakness of Oscar. Baloney. It is telling they didn't go after another key back last trad period, particularly given they decised to Tmac was going to be a full time forward. They didn't need to. They had Oscar. One really good KPD is enough. Sacrificed team performance when he clearly was not ready? In a team pushing for finals? Right. Such was the confidence they had in Oscar last year they released his brother to go forward. Gifted games? You have to be joking. Maybe in 2016 they got some games into him for experience. Like they did last year witht Weeds. The difference is that once it was obvious Weed wasn't ready they sent him back to the VFL. Yet they kept Oscar in the side. Go figure. But games for the sake of experience last year no way. So, so silly to suggest that. Again. We were pushing for finals. As if a professional football club does that, particularly one playing in such a critical position. STMJ you are the one who said you do scouting for AFL clubs. If that is actually true then in all honesty i am incredulous you could make such comments. In fact repeat such comment after making them for the last 3 years. An AFL football team selects a player as 20 year and he plays 45 of the next 47 odd games possible games (and only getting dropped once), in one of most demanding positions in the game, and you think he is not AFL standard until like magic he suddenly is this year. Fair dinkum you have to be trolling (and playing the long game at that). I said before the start of this season that i was hoping to not have to read rubbish like these comments when the inevitable happened and Oscar went up a level and his ability becasme obvious even to the most trenchant critics. But i knew that i would. And now i have. To be frank, suggestions he didn't earn his games last year and the 'club sacrificed team performance by playing him when he was clearly not ready' are plain insulting to Oscar, not to mention patently wrong, and i cannot stand fans insulting their own players. And to be 100% clear not once have i ever said Oscar will be star. Just that he will be a strong AFL player who all things being equal will be a 200+ game player for the dees. The most extravagant i have been is that he will be better than his brother. Which i stand by (and heard second hand last year that some at the club firmly believe that too). You have been wrong all along with Oscar STMJ, despite what you believe. Facts are facts. Perhaps you might consider showing some humility and acknowledging you got it wrong rather than damning the young fella with faint praise and weasel words.

Love how we've all got this fetish of playing 3 tall forwards. I bet there's a number of you that only weeks ago were wanting us to mould our forward line on Richmond's. Truth is, Richmond would love more quality tall forwards, and would play them if they had them.

Bull is a great inclusion, as is Viney. who relieves Kreuzer (I’m not talking about Bolton, by hand, at half time)? If Max rests when zkreuzer does, Harmes could even ruck. Suspect T Mac might go through the middle. Can’t see the Carlton defense sticking with TMac and Hogan. Bull and Fritter add another level of challenge. And if Max goes forward, this will bust open. We just have to win the contests. Also, I can’t believe the bluebaggers supporters. They beat druggies and now they are up and about. One supporter couldn’t get his mates to go to a match- now has 6 seats for Sunday and about 10 idiots that want them. I dislike playing Carlton, and hope we smash them.

I picked him this week only because I thought they would want him to play second ruck and free up T Mac as they've been doing in previous weeks. Happy for 'Bull' Smith to get his reward for great form at Casey. @Drunkn167 and @Rusty Nails, I stand corrected re: selection. Very happy for Smith to get a run and hopefully he can add to our flexible forward line in a positive manner when T Mac gives Gawn a chop out in the ruck!

I was at a lunch where Goody spoke just last week. Our interest in Gaff one of the first questions he fielded. Response was a resounding yes, accompanied with a wry grin (my interpretation at least). ?

Pedersen can just as easily play his role.

Carlton supporters on big footy are a funny bunch, some suggesting silvagni to come in and play on Oliver in the middle, but the kicker is they think he could actually beat him

Ernest, Ernest! Speak not such calumny, lest thou be cast, body and soul, into the uttermost depths of the circles of the damned, there to rot and wither for eternity, like some latter-day Tantalus! Shall we close this thread, this lifeline of humanity, this beacon of delight, which was born amongst the horrors of the torture and humiliation at the paws of hoopy felines on the ignominious Day of CLXXXVI, and which has sustained, healed and nourished us through the terrible nightmares of the era of est quod est and the desolation of the fearsome omnibus of reality? Shall we now, as the heretofore black sky of night weakens its shade grudgingly before the onset of the radiant dawn, sever this umbilical cord, this unerring guide, which has lead us just as surely as brave Theseus was lead through the abominable labyrinth, through dark corners and shadowy turns to the glorious light above? A day may come when the age of demons comes crashing down, but it is not this day! A day when we cease all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day! A day when the red and blue spirit yields to the infernal magpie, but it is not this day! This day WE POST! By all that you hold dear, I bid you post, Demons of the No T$ No B$ Thread!!

Why on earth would something like this bother you?!

Happy with picking the place horse, particularly in a 200 metre race. That distance sorts the wheat from the chaff a bit and unlike in 1600 metre races don't get those pesky 1400 metre horses that get a good run and snag a place. Just had a quick look at the filed. Pretty strong.

Look at those Oliver numbers, and hes 3 years younger than Cripps and played 26 less games. Incredible.

Gotta hand it to old man Bernie, hes played every game despite the very short ANZAC break. Thought he'd have had a weeks rest by now but no, hes a machine.

41,759 at the Dogs 42,159 at the Saints

I talk Bull up a lot (and for good reason) and people may think I give him too much credit. But lets look at his stats from the previous few VFL games. v Box Hill (Played Forward) 3.3 goals, 20 Disposals, 10 marks, 7 Tackles v Geelong (Played Midfield) 25 Disposals (Most for Casey), 12 Tackles v Werribee (Played FWD/MID) 1.1 Goals, 12 Dispoals (10 kicks), 9 Tackles v Coburg (Played Forward) 2.4 Goals, 24 Dispoals, 6 marks, 2 Tackles Has been in the Best On most weeks and an emergency for most games I believe. But the numbers really stack up especially his previous 2 weeks. This is also coming off a limited preseason. Bull is playing the best football of his life and deserves AFL games.

I seem to recall Tim Smith playing some ruck against Geelong after Gawn went down. Not very well mind you.

Know nothing about them. If they were peace loving innocent people then of course. If not, then not so much. Being a Doctor doesn't convince me either way. How you and other Israel-hating Leftist weirdos are against the Jews but instead support a religion and people that want to kill every living Jew simply for being Jewish is extraordinary. Not to mention they would also like nothing more than to relieve you of your own head. All true orthodox Muslims hate every single kaffir. The ones that don't, and thank God most don't, don't understand the Qur'an or what is truly expected of them. ISIS, Hamas, and other terrorist groups practice Islam as it's intended. But that's the Left for you. The vilest and most stupid people that God ever put breath into. How the intelligent Grapeviney leans to the left is one of life's great mysteries. And it's not lost on me that he edits or deletes some of my posts as a favour. He keeps me safe from trigger happy George