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Since he got moved into the middle at halftime of the Essendon game, we have won 14 straight quarters and 4 straight games. His impact has been profound. He is 4th in the comp for inside 50's per game. vs Essendon - 21 disposals, 4 inside 50's, 6 clearances, 8 score involvements, 311 metres gained vs St Kilda - 32 disposals, 8 inside 50's, 5 clearances, 9 score involvements, 659 metres gained, 1 goal vs Gold Coast - 24 disposals, 8 inside 50's, 4 clearances, 8 score involvements, 475 metres gained, 1 goal 3 behinds vs Carlton - 24 disposals, 7 inside 50's, 11 tackles, 2 clearances, 8 score involvements, 412 metres gained Looking like pick 3 was very well spent.

I came in with low expectations and I was still disappointed.

Hi all, first time poster, long time reader. A lot of valid points here but for me I don’t think there needs to be any changes. The team is very settled at the moment and you can see that in the way they are playing. Big Max is playing as if he’s fresh as a daisy. I think the match comittee and performance staff are managing his time perfectly. Just remember in 2016 he was the only ruckman in our team and played 90-95% in the ruck. We didn’t have the luxury of resting him forward like we do now. He’ll rest when the bye comes. Spargo provides the spark we need when the ball is in our forward 50. He chases, harasses, tackles and seems to get a lot of frees. I don’t think Vince needs a rest, but he may be forced to depending on what the MRO decides. Smith was more than valuable as well. Competed in the ruck, got balls to ground when out of position and layed tackles. Everything a coach wants. And when you win like the way we did, anyone would be stiff to miss the following week.

It’s amazing how long it’s taken a lot of footballers to realise that in general, people on the internet are flogs. It’s just a fact of life. Present company only partially included

Melksham’s an interesting one. Looked like such a talent for Calder in 2009. He had a ripper GF, showing a bit of toe and a long, accurate kick. Not sure exactly what happened after he got drafted, but didn’t really see a lot of his best traits for almost his entire run at Essendon, and his under 18 form started to look like an outlier rather than the norm. Not sure if it’s the change of environment, change of role or just maturity, but Melksham’s looking more and more like the player that was drafted at pick 10 in 2009. Where he wasn’t able to find a place as a midfielder, or back flanker (which is what we brought him into be), he’s really clicked as a medium forward. Bit of credit due to the coaching team to trying him there to see how he would perform in that role, and plenty of credit to him for embracing all aspects. His decision making has been on point, defensive accountability very impressive and his delivery into the fwd 50 has just been elite.

Fritsch is becoming elite.

People we are playing in Alice Springs during the day not Darwin at night. Mid to low 20's for most of the week. Sunday is 27 degrees with 25% humidity. It won't be slippery. It should be pretty similar conditions to the Brisbane game last week. Very similar conditions to what the players were playing and training in every day only a couple of months ago. There's really no reason to pick different players based on the conditions.

It was slippery today, and Gawn was close to best on. Byes are for resting. Preseason is for creating monsters like Gawn. Sam Jacobs would slaughter the cannon fodder thrown at him, why would you want to give Adelaide a head start?

A few quick thoughts... What a player Melksham has become for us especially after some early criticism from our supporters. I always thought he would be a serviceable player for us but he has far exceeded my expectations. Jack Lever - best game for the club and will really give him a lot of confidence coming up against his old side. Fritsch - what a find. Silky smooth mover and good decision maker. Good to finally belt a side especially those 'bruise free' Blue flogs. Also really enjoyed watching the Dee's faithful celebrating the 25th goal just as hard as all the other goals too. It's been a while since we've been able to enjoy a big win like that on the 'G.

Only an opinion but maybe it had something to do with Oliver’s broken finger suffered last week and surgery on Monday. If there was a chance Oliver couldn’t come up Tyson would be the most logical replacement.

James Harmes last 4 games 25.5 disposals, 5.5 marks, 5.5 tackles, 3.3 Inside 50's, 3.3 clearances, 7.8 score involvements His season disposal average now above per 20 per game after a slow first month.

Our relentless inside 50’s are starting to pay off. It’s like a tidal surge. Kicking big numbers, Marks inside 50 once a weakness are best in the comp even better than WC who have potent big forwards.

519 - 261 : 198.8%

I got so accustomed to the theme of today, I turned away in the last quarter as I drank my pint in the MCC and laughed without a care in the world, like I was a Hawthorn supporter...

Yes. IIRC, Vince has said he would play at Casey and be a back up and do it for less money so he can stay connected to the afl. A handy in if we got lots of injuries.

No change, Bernie no case to answer.

Bluesfree football

Bernie is playing in the top 22 at the moment. The following haven't ever and are out of contract at year end: Johnstone, McKenna, Keilty, Balic, with Filipovic and King The following are fringe and are out of contract at year end: JKH, Bugg, Kent, Pedersen, Vandenburg Some will be kept for development, but that is 11 players who are on the edge. If only 1/2 on that list go then the replacement draft pick is still somewhere north of 100. Is Bernie better than that? Pretty easy really.

I won't attend matches if Bugg is playing.

What about in the first quarter I think jack took an easy mark saw it was Cripps on the mark and ran straight around him and burned him off. That was so satisfying!

We shouldn't be rewarding players because it's indigenous round. We should be going in with our strongest side at every opportunity. We just won by 109 points and, unless someone is injured, then we stick with the same side and reward them for that performance.

Charlie Spargo - 4 games for 4 wins. What a great start to a footy career!

If you want to see the mindset Goodwin is trying to instil, watch how many players get to Hannan, after he chased and caused the turnover for Clarry's goal You go from siren to siren, no matter the score

I hope every single Melbourne supporter enjoyed every minute of that today. That performance could not have gotten any better, and after the last decade and with what we've put up with it's so satisfying to put Carlscum to the sword. And think about this... Hogan had just one goal. Oliver and Viney were relatively quiet. Hibberd was tagged out of the game. Yet we still kicked 25 goals and made the Blues look like an Under 11 side. Melksham was BOG for me and what a recruit he has been. Not only did he kick 5 but he set up heaps with his sublime skills. McDonald kicked a bag, ANB got in on the act, Brayshaw continues to get better and better while the kids like Fritsch and Spargo are doing the same. Just a total team performance. Special mention to Bull Smith as well - he battled manfully in the ruck and did some excellent work around the ground. I love this bloody club and I hope you all do, too! DEMONS!!!!

Those coming up for the game, if any, don’t make it a hit and run. Central Australia is amazingly beautiful, you can be busy for a month and not see all the sites. Anyone coming up for the game and want some advice on the area, feel free to ask and will do my best to guide you in the right direction

A win on the weekend

I wasn't around for the Robbie Flower royal blue days but felt there was something familiar about our new away colour scheme. It wasn't until the final quarter on the weekend when it finally clicked: Max Gawn congratulates Charlie Spargo on his debut The Demons celebrate another win with recruit Oscar Baker Clayton Oliver releases a trade-mark hand-pass

I blame the Masterchef distraction for not winning by 150.

I loved (among many things) seeing the Carlton boys squib the hardball from half time on. So many times it was going to be a 50/50 get, and they stopped rather than dive in. Yeah, that bruise free footy jibe still hurts, but I reckon it's them that are feeling that pain today.

Interesting you say that... I noticed a lot of Carlton players trying to sledge, niggle and psych out ours early. Seemed to be some type of tactic to get under our skins but we didn't want to play that game. We're growing up.

I was meaning to update a couple weeks back so it's not just a fair-weather bump - but I do hope others can help to keep the numbers fresh and add their own bits and pieces when they come across them. Anyway, at the end of Round 9: Scoring: 1st Scoring 1st Inside-50s 1st Inside-50 (Differential) Intensity 1st Contested 1st Contested Differential (by a huge margin) 2nd Clearances (1st Center - 3rd Differential) 3rd Tackles (3rd Most Tackles Against) 5th Tackles i50 4th poorest D/E% against/most Turnovers Against/most Clangers Against 3rd (!) Contested Marks! (6th least Contested Marks Against) Space/Territory 1st Least Kicks Against 1st Least Marks Against 1st Marks i50 3rd Metres Gained (2nd Differential) 4th Intercepts (2nd Differential) 2nd Least i50s Against 17th Rebound-50s 18th Bounces Notes - again, most of the stats are telling us exactly what we're seeing - although I don't think we're entirely appreciating the extent of our various multiple areas of dominance (possibly because we're still not consistently and fully capitalising on-field). We're top-notch at the coal-face stuff but we're also forcing the opposition to play our close-in game - i.e high tackles against. We're also putting a lot of pressure on the carrier and it's telling in the opposition turnover/DE%/clanger stats as well as the least kicks against figure. And we're smashing the territorial battle. The big surprise for me is in our continued contested marks statistics - a huge improvement on last year, and we've also properly balanced our kick/handball disposal ratios - another common grizzle from last year. The most pleasing thing for me - we're doing all the hard stuff and proving a dynamic forward threat. If I had to build a team game from scratch from a fan perspective, and could choose aspects of dominance by compromising in other areas, I would probably take contested/high-scoring/forward territory over high possessions and DE%. The Roos to Goody transition may have been an unintended masterstroke. We're both a hard and attacking football team in an aggressive and pressurised modern era. But disregarding my own personal footy fan-boy preferences - is this the formula for success? Manic, contested footy, a high-press, and thrusting the ball forward as the first priority?

The Hawks haven’t played the Lions at the Gabba in 10 years I believe and that came back to bite them today. Yes the fixture is a FIXture that’s for sure.

can't agree on Hogan. Played well all game and made lots of opportunities for others.

Why? 18 touches, 5 marks and 5 tackles plus 9 hitouts is more then Pedo will do. Plus Bull has some important knocks, tapons and spoils. Why drop a bloke after a great win for no reason?

Also great to see Hannan and Fritter contribute Tackles links and goal assists We have a lot of Talent forward this year These two are a little unsung but I love watching them They will have very good seasons

Couldn't agree more A gun who plays 4 quarters is fierce and attacking Its great to see him back to his best

Monday and I want to talk about the footy, strange feeling.

Has captured his JLT cup form

If only Max has kicked straight in Round 1.... not only would we be 7-2 , but the Cats who are currently 8th would be 12th with a 4-5 record. Damn it Maxy! But you have made up for it since, big time.

Casey win by 106 dees win by 109 been a pretty good weekend for the club

When did Collingwood, Essendon or Hawthorn last play at the Cattery? It is always Melbourne, North, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle etc. Geelong has the only real Home Ground advantage left out of all the Victorian teams. The corrupt AFL - it is and always will be about $$$$.

That’s a crap idea. Max is the fittest he’s been for yonks and is dominating every game against all opponents. He’s loving it and he’s hungry to smash in every week. He’s getting enough chop-outs now. The bye is in a few weeks time and he’ll get his rest then.

It didn't really matter today because we got to play on the MCG but that was our fourth away game in a row.

The FIXEDure is just one more example of the corrupt culture that is the AFL.

Not “embarrassing” as such, but first 100+ point win in 14 years (Carlton, 2 May 2004). Biggest win since 22 August 1993 (121 points over Richmond). Nice to be dishing it out for a change.

Only mice get to play at the cattery.

Not against Adelaide.

Tyson - missing all day

Just stopped staring at the AFL ladder for 5 minutes.

I thought Bull was excellent. The first two goals of the 3rd quarter were achieved because he killed the contest when outnumbered 2 to 1 at full forward. What a great day.