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Went down to training and as there isn't a training post and I'm not big enough to start a thread I'll post here. So the first thing to tell is that Tom trained the whole session and pulled up well. Yay! Weid was back on track and looked terrific, he looks better each time I see him and may come back into the side in the next week or after the bye. But not this week. Smith deserves his spot and chance to cement his position. There will most likely be no change. The give away is when they split up for a small part of the session and the VFL boys do a bit by themselves. It was the same groups so most likely no change. Geez our depth is good. Only Kent, Vanders and King missing I think, so Filipovic doing lots of ruck work and at least 5 in the seconds who would walk into at least half a dozen AFL sides. Tom and Hoges doing lots of marking practice together, they are really forming a great combo. I'm not sure what other teams train for but the whole session was about getting the ball clear of congestion and moving it quickly forward, kicking on both sides, marking the ball and kicking goals. Sounds very simple but we are the number 1 team at all those things at the moment. Lastly as a very damaged Melbourne supporter whos moods swing from wild optimism to down in the dumps pessimism, when we are in the rare bubble of success like we are at the moment I always tend to have one eye looking for the impending crash back to reality and I saw no signs today. So keep going you good things.

TRAINING Jack Viney and Mitch Hannan started the training away from the main group. Doing run throughs and 3/4 speed 50 meter sprints. I thought they were going to keep to light duties but after about 15 minutes both joined the main group. The AFL group all had a light training and did not do game simulations . Those in the VFL did some 8 on 8 game simulations. Sam Wiedeman and Cam Pederson taking many marks. Sam Frost giving run from the back. Oscar Baker linking well through the middle. Harley Balic offering composure and ball skills. Jay Kennedy-Harris getting to contest and putting lots of pressurs on everything. Tom Bugg showing leadership to the younger ones. There wasn't a rehab group today. Let's hope Dean Kent hasn't gone backwards in his recovery. AFL group did lots of goal kicking. Mainly snaps around the coaching staff who are encouraging lateral movements. The whole group focused on ball skills. Plenty of kicking to advantage, high marking and lead up to mark. Drills to protect the ball and shield the opposition from the contest were also included. Coaching staff working hard to make sure the players react quickly when there is a turnover and restructure to defensive or attacking game plans. Plenty of work to encourage the spread. The players were again very positive, lots of enjoyment and a good amount of noise and support for each other. The session finished with all staff members, players, coachs, fans and some school kids attending a ceremony celebrating the indigenous round. The field was marked with the Aboriginal and a Torres Strait flag. A speaker talked for 15 minutes about his story, family and the traits that he found positive in his life. Then the didgeridoo and sticks were played. All present very respectful and reflective.

I think it's time this guy starts getting some recognition. Recruiting managers are vital to the prospect of winning a flag so lets have a look at it. Keeping in mind that it's easier to get the right pick with higher picks but as we all know you can still get them wrong (Cale Morton, Watts, Tapscott, Strauss, Blease, Maric etc.). Since Jason Taylor joined Melbourne he got off to a rocky start with a bar fight on an overseas footy trip but since has done the following (along with some help of Josh Mahoney at the trade table): Brought in: Salem, Hunt, Tyson, Harmes, Garlett, Frost, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lewis, Hibberd, Neal-Bullen, Oscar Mcdonald, Melksham, Oliver, Hannan, Fritsch, Spargo and Joel Smith. Potential Misses: Kennedy-harris, Stretch, Weideman, Mitch King, Hullett, Dion Johnstone, Oscar baker. Here is his breakdown: 2013 AFL Draft: Traded Pick 2 (Josh Kelly) for Pick 9 and Dom Tyson. Pick 9: Salem Players before him: Kolodjashnij, Aish, Luke mcdonald, Scharenberg. Players after Salem who we could've taken: Cripps, Zac Jones, Acres, Matt Crouch, Zac Merrett, Rory Lobb, Nankervis, Barrass, Ben Brown, Fantasia, Sicily. Pick 40: Jay Kennedy Harris Seems to be a bust so far. I actually like him the most times I've seen him but for whatever reason he hasn't made the grade yet. Pick 57: Jayden Hunt Players after Hunt: No successful picks after Hunt. Rookie Draft: James Harmes Players available after Harmes: Charlie Cameron and Jake Kelly were the only good rookie selections in that years rookie draft. A lot of busts. Draft grading: B Salem, Hunt, Harmes and Tyson are all best 22 players with Hunt just out of form and Tyson always having divided supporters. Overall, I think it was a mistake to trade pick 2 but his choices of Hunt and Harmes brought his grading back up. 2014 AFL draft: Brought in Jeff Garlett for pick 61 and 79. Brought in Sam Frost and pick 40 and 53 for the loss of Pick 23 Pick 2: Christian Petracca Proving to be a gun. Needs to work on his kicking but his overhead marking and spark around the contest is invaluable. Thankfully Stkilda took Mccartin at 1. Pick 3: Angus Brayshaw Took a while to get going with his concussions but is now proving his worth as an inside mid. Pick 40: Alex Neal-Bullen I love this guy. Is a competitor and works really hard. Pick 42: Billy Stretch. An outside player who can find the footy. Not a bad depth player. His kicking needs work but he could become a decent wingman if given the opportunity. Pick 53: Oscar Mcdonald: I thought the idea of another McDonald down back would give me a heart condition. His first season and a half was very rocky and his decision making and skills were very ordinary but his confidence is growing and even though he is capable of being a bit slow in mind and pushed off the ball too easily he is playing well this season and making the easy options. Rookie Draft: Pick 2: Vandenberg Pick 20: Mitch White Draft grading: A Got most of the picks right. Garlett has been a gun for us since being recruited and Oscar Mcdonald is progressing well. 2015 AFL draft Brought in Melksham for pick 25 Brought in pick 3, 10 and 43 for pick 6, 29 and following years first round pick 2015 AFL draft Pick 4: Clayton Oliver Taylor did place a bid on Sydney swan academy player Callum Mills but Sydney thankfully matched. Pick 9: Sam Weideman Pick 42: Mitch King Pick 46: Liam Hullett Rookie Draft: Pick 6: Wagner pick 24: Viv Mitchie Pick 41: Joel Smith Draft grading: A If it wasn't for Oliver I would've given this about a C but he got Oliver right and he's going to be a 300 gamer. He was a draft bolter with not as much exposure so it was a great choice. Especially considering the top 10 that year does not look strong: Schache, Aaron Francis, Ah Chee, Weideman and Weitering. And whilst Parish would have been tempting he hasn't set the world on fire. 2016 AFL draft: Brought in Jordan Lewis for next to nothing Brought in Michael Hibberd for next to nothing Pick 46: Mitch Hannan Pick 64: Dion Johnstone Rookie Draft: Pick 8: Lachlan Filipovic Pick 25: Tim Smith Draft Grading: A I'm giving this an A due to the trading and also for the selection of Mitch Hannan who i rate highly. Also, the first round pick we traded to boost up the draft the previous year were used on Will Brodie. 2017 AFL Draft: Brought in Jake Lever for the loss of 2 first round picks Got rid of Watts for pick 31 who was used on Fritsch Harley Balic for pick 66. Pick 29: Charlie Spargo Pick 31: Bailey Fritsch Pick 37: Harrison Petty Pick 48: Oscar Baker Draft grading: A Lever is going to be great for us for a long time despite the rocky start. Spargo is proving to be tough and smart with the ball and an accurate kick for goal. Fristch was brought in for Jack Watts which I think should have been given an A+ on that trade alone. I don't want to turn this into a Watts thread but Fritsch is already a far better player than Watts and shows that having a small frame is never an excuse for not attacking the ball or man. Fritsch has complimented our forward line in his first season at the club.

I'm not going to win many friends with my thoughts, but I think Jordan Lewis has been huge over the past few weeks. His calmness, leadership and decision making has helped control ball movement from the back half and really helped settled the back 6. He has also publicly stick up for Lever, and I'm sure he has been instrumental in settling Jake down back.

Nice work, Dr. D. My only quibble would be that naming Oskar Baker and Weed as 'potential misses' is a tad premature.

Jake Niall writing that the Dees have space for Gaff is code for the Dees being right into Gaff and well in the race to sign him.

Congratulations big fella, no one deserves it more, well done Neita

You all make me sick. Anthony [censored] Ingerson.

Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

We’ve all read how the team has ranked in league stats over the past 5 weeks. The numbers look great but got me thinking.. how have we actually turned it around? Since we lost to Richmond a few things have changed. 1. Personel. There are 7 different players in the team from Sunday that that didn’t play in our last loss. Viney, McDonald, Smith, Fritsch, Spargo, and Hannan. That’s a significant chunk of the team! 2. Game plan. In the first 5 weeks, our press was far too high. This was evident by watching our defensive structure from level two. Even on the TV you could see how many times we got opened up out the back, and how many one on one contests the opposition had in their forward 50. The coaches addressed this and implemented a better structure behind the ball from round 6. 3. Confidence. The immeasurable stat! You can see players are intent on moving the ball forward and taking the game on knowing they will be supported by their teammates. Enjoy the ride and go Dees!

Nev spent 20 minutes at end os session when everybody else had left 'teaching' Dion Johnstone 1 on 1 defending, been doing it for last 3 weeks, Johnstone getting better each week, I asked the coaches

I was a bit worried for Taylor when we got him, he had huge shoes to fill. I mean, BP was a genius, I know this because Dr Who (now DaveyDee) told me so...

both meth coke and the jokers will offer hogan a mega-sized contract no matter what we do what's interesting is that, at this stage, he WON'T be a free agent at the next contract negotiation of course, it's not within the realms of possibilities that the afl will arbitrarily declare that his pre-listing year on our list counts, or that 6 years is the new free agency marker, or what have you make hay while the sun shines with hogan; the story is gonna be there every year that one of the wa sides is into him in a big, big way cos he's a mega-sized talent

1. JVand TMac back in the team 2. Allowed ANB, Harmes and Gussy to play themselves back into form 3. We don’t have 3 players trying to win the contest, we have two peeling off and looking to play on quickly. 4. We’ve got a goalkeeper, typically OMac or Lewis, both of whom area great kick 5. We play on immediately, the speed of ball movement creates forward space 6. We are selfless 7. Our forward line is omnipotent and highly unpredictable

I asked him, back via Casey

I think Adelaide's 3rd rounder that we have will be about 36 or 37, which will get pushed back by F/S and academy matching. They get our 4th rounder, which will be late, so they may not use it. Our 1st rounder that they have will be 18.

Would disgust me if 40,000 are not there, being Jones 250th, any Demon supporter who can, should be going, regardless about their opinion of Docklands

I have it on no authority whatsoever that the recruiters and financial dept had this mapped when they traded out of the first round next year. I also have no source to cite when I say that the recruiters have been cultivating long-term relations in their planning for targeted players. And I certainly can't state with any credibility that this is basically a done deal, all but secured between player and club well in advance. But I do believe these things to be true, and can confidently invoke a Denuto contention.

So winning has changed since our last loss. Profound.

A lot of good points in here, great thread. I would add better connection between Maxy and the mids. Early in the year he was getting plenty of taps but they were either going to no one or the opposition as much as to our advantage. Now we have such great connection we convert to much cleaner clearances and dominate our opponents around the Ball.

Since our last loss.. We have brought in Fritsch - and played him on the wing. Hannan has come back in, and has been influential. Spargo has replaced Garlett and appears to be making an impact. I look at it and think Fritsch, Spago and Hannan have been huge for us. They give us versatility and all are hard match ups. Its not like Tyson or Bugg where they can be exploited. If Fritsch is given a spare metre he will kill you by foot (he is one of the best kicks in the league). Angus into the middle, Salem more back than middle, Petracca more forward than middle. McDonald more forward than back, Viney back in is absolutely huge. Lever into form allowed more opportunities for Hibberd and Lewis. Goodwin really looking like a genius with all these moves. They have all worked. Be interesting to see how he handles players like Bugg, Tyson, Garlett and Hunt. My guess is they will more than have to earn a game because our balance at the moment is spot on. Its even going to be hard to get Tim Smith out of the side now, as he is playing great football and really provides something up forward.

his partner is 8 months pregnant...PLEASE BE TALENTED OFFSPRING!!!

Sometimes we have to change and move forward. Things are happening that are changing the dynamic at the club - why not Demonland? I don't have a problem but Werridee could do away with the capitals. ?

Most of those throwing the ball decisions would have been wrongly paid against Clayton Oliver.

Some fantastic analysis on this thread, I’m not as great as some in analysing the game but I can only add what I see. The Hawthorn game was worrying in regards to body language, a few players were simply not interested in listening to instruction from the leaders as I witnessed in the last quarter. I might have mentioned it in the post match of that game. In the Richmond game there was a lot of finger pointing throughout, more than I have probably seen before. It seemed players were uncertain about particular set-ups around the stoppages. Up to that stage of the season we were doing a lot of things right in terms of the stats that are meant to have you heading in the right direction but the reward wasn’t forthcoming. As noted, our defensive press isn’t as high up the ground currently. I’m in awe of our current spread from stoppages around the ground, player A wins the clearance, takes two steps and passes off to player B knowing they will be positioned where they are meant to and off we go. It’s second nature at the moment. The belief in one another is clearly evident. Team first mentality. A healthy list certainly helps and that’s all we want as supporters. To have close to your best 22 each week and see if you’re good enough, if not, so be it but we can honestly say this group is special. Gus revealed on the AFL exchange podcast Jones initiated a meeting between himself, Jones and Goody as to how Gus can break into the team after being left out early. What a leader Jones is. "We just spoke about a few things and how to turn it all around, in terms of the way I was responding. "Goody's been great, because he was honest about why I wasn't playing … and also, which I really appreciated, (he told me) 'Here's the road map to get yourself back to playing'. "They were huge in getting me through all that and I think now I've come out a better player."

t mac back in has allowed us to play our preferred structure of two tall forwards rotating higher up and playing deeper, as evidenced during the pre-season - losing him prior to the start of the year would've thrown our whole planning for a loop that 'third tall' has gone from pedo to weed to bull smith in five weeks plus we've also changed our structure further by dropping a patchy garlett and playing fritsch higher up the ground, meaning melksham, hannan and spargo are the nominal 'small' forwards, with petracca moving in and out of the forward system as opposed to primarily mid / fwd, he's now more fwd / mid since half-time of the essendon game we've had brayshaw as part of the inside mid rotation, and now tyson is no longer part of it with viney's return, plus salem has done down back to a more of a defensive rebounder role, and jones who started the year more playing the wings has gone back to his traditional inside role with stints on the outside, instead of vice-versa speaking of which, defensively we've gone quite small, and relied upon zonal coverage from the likes of lever, jetta, and hibberd in particular, and then had lewis, salem and vince providing the kicking out of the backline, with the run-and-carry roles really handed over to hibberd in particular with hunt relegated to vfl level i would imagine we are a hard team to counter because of the diversity of roles that players can perform

Yes. WJ and I managed the Dominator and tried to get him to the Dees. He had already been rejected by Carlton twice and was a Prahran player. WJ thought he could make it and I went and spoke to him and we became his managers, long before Football Management took off. It is a long story but to make it short, the Blues wanted Tom Flower for Wayne and of course the Dees said no. Through some luck he fell into a senior practice match, filling in for an injured player and kicked a few goals quickly on Jezza, the Blues Captain Coach. That was it and he later became a champion .

*Tomald

The other thing to bear in mind in relation to our "accuracy" is the impact of how close to goal most of our shots are coming from. Yes we are kicking straighter but a whole heap of shots are from inside 25 or closer. A big part of the inside 50s

I see that powerhouse Carlton are playing this Friday night, again. Well done, AFL House. You deserve your poor ratings.

He addressed the fact that those practicing Islam in Islamic states are NOT all out to kill the infidels as you would have us believe. It addressed the fact that they are open to people of non-Islamic faith or background and it acknowledged that there are fundamentalists who would like to do us harm. It was, unlike what I've seen from you, a balanced view of Islam as practiced in the physical world of Islam. As DD suggested, don't conveniently bundle them all into one little compartment to justify your xenophobic tendencies; recognise those who would like to do us harm for what they are... fundamentalists who do not represent all of Islam... just as Fundamentalist Christians do not represent all of Christianity.

I don't buy this argument. In 1986, being the last year of the "traditional" 12 team competition, the population of Australia was 16 million, meaning there were 1.3 million people per team. In 2018, the population of Australia is 24.7 million, meaning there are 1.3 million people per team. The talent pool should therefore be the same. Sure, there's competition from more sports and other non-sporting opportunities, but the average 17-18 year old who is drafted is far more professionally prepared than 17-18 year olds 30 years ago. I'm also not sure the standard of the game has dropped. It might be that all games are now shown which means we get to see the good and the bad, whereas back in the "good old days" we saw fewer and perhaps better games (because of the selectivity of which games to show.) It's also possible we just choose to remember selectively and remember the good games and not the bad ones.

another day, another 120 lucky punters 42,587

Excellent comments by Daisy during the Crows game. It’s been mentioned a lot on here about our taxing contested game early in the season where we were doing a lot things right but our inability to make opposition defenders defend was hurting us. She feels the improvement is on the back of our ability to play the 2 tempos of footy much better and capitalise greatly when we have the momentum.

All we needed in the Neeld years was more confidence and winning, why can't you see this?

All of the above plus allegedly.........repeat allegedly: A VERY frank discussion between team leaders where damaged bridges were not only mended but reinforced very strongly. Several players being told to completely commit to both skippers and the team or enjoy Casey regardless of their ability. Three players told to pull their heads in and play team footy or be Casey bound. A coaching conflict remedied. One players health issue identified, recognised and professional treatment sought and ongoing.

Some of the self-apologists in the sack Goodwin thread have suggested that Simon has renounced his stubborn, wicked ways and simplified in respect to complex set-ups, with the Simon's Tsunami ploy from half-back being the most obvious wacky innovation. I don't often register our centre set-ups due to the distraction of Max Gawn ruck-porn, but I'm curious if there's any evidential basis to support these claims, perhaps from those who can make it to games? Otherwise, someone in another thread (apologies to the poster who I can't presently recall) noted that almost all of those currently on the outer from earlier in the year - Tyson, Hunt, Wagner, Bugg et al - had the common denominator of questionable foot-skills. If anything especially stood out against the Crows for me, it was our absurd disposal efficiency in the first quarter - backed by our apparently league-leading stats in the department over the past five weeks.

A great thread. Really interesting to read your knowledgeable opinions.

In a word? TomMcDonald.

The great man. The champ. The leader. The immovable object. The goalkicker. THE HALL OF FAMER.

Mate.... Bears were dominant team with three straight premiership wins and in a GF for a fourth. If they couldn't build lasting support on the back of that success let's face it they are dead. The Suns were DOA before they started I am afraid. One team maybe but two is madness.

Remember early on we had just Hoges as a forward target but he was playing part mid, part forward with a bevy of small forwards yet we were just bombing it long into the forward line with a too high press. Massive inside 50’s but small rate of conversion. Could not work out the game plan. Basically very agricultural, kick the ball forward at all costs with no idea how to convert. But the last 5 week’s, things have turned on their head, our conversion rate for inside 50’s has gone through the roof. Our forward press is rational with Lever making sure he is between the opposition and the goal. Work through those structural issues, plus add Mad dog mid, Viney and key forward in TMac and the whole equation changes. Please let it continue!

What a legend, so pleased to follow his career from start to finish. Still close to his team mates and their spiritual leader.

There's a reason why I had the #9 on the back of my jumper. Absolute legend.

Nathan Jones is a champion. He has endured a lot of pain and suffering while the Demons were hopeless in seasons past. He used to be our "shining light" in a team that was regularly getting thrashed. He could have gone to another AFL club to seek success but he stayed loyal to the Demons. He is an inspirational player and Captain. Nathan Jones deserves success! Congratulations on 250 games Nathan! I hope to see you play 100 more games and a few Premierships! Certainly would love to see Nathan Jones play well over 300 games and surpass David Neitz's record of 306 games for the Melbourne Football Club. Let's hope the Demons smash the Bulldogs this weekend in tribute to Nathan Jones playing his 250th game!

As the eternal pessimist I am worried about our 6 day break after the Alice, compared to the Dogs 8 days after a Melbourne game. Interesting to see if changes are made for this game to bring in fresh legs. On disclosed selections so far this year, maybe not. Nine days then to the Pies, which is good, with the bye to follow.. It would be great on a side note, to win all 4 quarters against the Dogs and take the AFL record of 22 quarters in a row won.

A great of the club and pretty much the on field glue over the last decade, who deserves some serious success. Must be enjoying his footy big time right now. A true Demon who has always lead by example over so many years. When i think of this club becoming mighty once more, at the forefront of that is the essence, effort and professionalism that is the Jones boy. All the best on 250 Cap!