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Pedo is playing for Phillip Island (Bulldogs) next year. I will definitely be following his progress as I live close to the footy ground. His family has moved there and Pedo and his wife are hopeful of securing teaching positions on the Island. One of my favourite demons.

A short sharp craft session followed by a run around the tan for some Preuss continues to impress, if he can translate what I see on the training track to games, he will be an asset, still have not seen him miss a kick, there was a short kick to him that dropped short, thought he would let it go but he scooped it up off the ground and nailed his kick going the other way Got some good pics of him and Gawny doing one on one Craft all about quick ball movement A few of the rehabbers joined session today, all the Hs, Harmes, Hunt, Hore, Tim Smith Jetta, Petracca, Oliver were still in 'rehab'group Melksham and Baker did a boxing session, as per the photo, got a bit willing a couple of times, fun to watch They are trying to fast track Bradtke, Stafford put him through a brutal half an hour at the end of the session A pleasing sight is Bernie Vince bouncing around, big smile on the dial

good way to lose a kidney nothing tough about that suspension every time

I don't know why the media keep harping on this: Given the dominance of Gawn, it was strange that North Melbourne back up ruckman Braydon Preuss was so keen to get to the Demons. Even more so given Kangaroos big man Todd Goldstein is in the twilight of his career, while Gawn has years ahead of him. Preuss has put it on the record that he believes he and Gawn can play in the same team, just like the Eagles premiership duo of Scott Lycett and Nathan Vardy did in 2018. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it? I simply cannot wait til the Gawn/Preuss tag team shuts these clowns up.

Now that the futures have been picked we can put names to the various picks and players that were traded in 2015, 2017 and 2018. 2015 Two trades - one with Gold Coast and one with GWS Gold Coast In Pick 3, pick 10, pick 43 Out Pick 6, pick 29, future 2016 1st round GWS In Pick 7, Bugg Out Pick 10, 43, 64 (this pick was used along with others to match a GWS Academy Bid for Flynn, so I have not included in analysis) In summary, if you knock out the pick 10s and the pick 43s as they came in and out in both trades this is the result In: Oliver (4), Weideman (9), Bugg Out: Callum Ah Chee (8), Darcy Tucker (27) (GC must have traded with Freo) and Will Brodie (9) 2017 In Lever, Pick 35, Future 3rd Round Out Pick 10, future 1st round, future 4th round NB Two trades took place in 18 which effect the original deal, Adelaide also traded a few times with Carlton in 17 and 18 with st kilda, we traded adelaide's future 3rd (46), plus our second round pick (36) and we got back pick 28 Adelaide then traded our 4th round pick (67) via Carlton to St Kilda In summary, if you include the 2017 trade and the eventual outcomes of the 2018 trades In: Lever, Petty (37), James Jordan (33) Out: Lachie O'Brien (Carl) (10), Liam Stocker (Carl) (19), Bytel (41), Parker(47) , Robbie Young (67) 2018 The GC and Freo trade did not involve future picks so it is far less complicated In: May, KK, Tom Sparrow (27) Out: Hogan, Brett Bewley (59) Summary of all trades (in order of best to worst): In: Oliver, Lever, Weideman, May, KK, Tom Sparrow, Petty, James Jordan, Bugg, Out: Hogan, Lachie O'Brien, Stocker, Callum Ah Chee, Darcy Tucker (GC must have traded with Freo), Will Brodie, Bytel, Parker, Young, Bewley Who knows how well KK, Petty, Jordan, Sparrow vs O'Brien, Stocker, Bytel, Parker, Young, Bewley will be, (I think Ah Chee, Tucker, Brodie and Bugg are depth players at best) If you take all of them out We got Oliver, Lever, Weideman and May for Hogan. Take a bow Melbourne Football Club.

What a load of cows excrement, you have a serious chip on that shoulder of yours DV8. It is the 21st century and thugs are no longer tolerated. Get used to it. I love tough footy but cheating is cheating and whether it be drugs or illegal tactics it has no place in today's sport.

One advantage of having Preuss which I hadn't thought about previously is that Gawn now has someone decent to train with. In the last couple of years he's had beginners who didn't make it and a retired ruckman against whom he could hone his skills. Now he has to contest at training with someone his size which, I would think, should be good for his continuing development of both ruckwork and contested marking. And thanks Saty for the photos. That's what made me realise that Preuss's value might be more than just gameday.

My concepts role-model Re the rucks crash'n'bash at important times of games... is 'Clark Keating' of the Lions. During the great 3peat. He would crash through the centre ruck-duels... risking his body, and really bashing the oppositions bigger rucks, bruising them, and splitting packs really hard, thru the middle sector of the ground, between half-forward to half-back. No big men were safe from hurt and it brought the ball to the Lions tough smaller running players and midfielders. He was tough as teak, fearless and uncompromising. He went in the shadow of other Lions Tall Players... but he was a major key factor in the Lions dominance. He made the game to be played on the Lions terms, when the ball was in the Air. Peoples... make no mistake, hurt does distract other players of lesser mental ilk... from their focus. it divides their focus from the ball, onto themselves. This loss of focus shows a lesser commitment to the cause... than the true mentally committed and tough players. (see Harmes, 2nd half of last year) relentless toughness. ... thank goodness, Goodwin has cleared most of the questionable minds out of our list. I want to see Preussy crashing through midfield packs when the ball is in the Air, spread-eagling the pack... seeking out opposition colours as front and centre. hit bodies hard. I want to see us demons becoming the Antithesis of bruise free footy. The Demons of the 40's, 50's and 60's were NOT Bruise-Free types... under 'Checker Hughes' and under 'Norm Smith'... I want US to bring that back, and were not there just, Yet.

i think a lot of clubs will need to employ panel beaters to repair the damage inflicted by Preuss.

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Please. What about the dees can't afford for it to break in the first instance. Losing Gawn to injury (god forbid), even for short periods is the single biggest risk for us in term of our chances of going deep into the finals. I would say no single player in the league is more important to their team. I know he is referencing the idea of Preuss and Gawn playing in the same side but i have no doubt they will, not all season, but strategically through the season. Sometimes because of match ups but other times just to lessen the incredible load Max carries and give him some well earned chop outs - particularly mid season. I can even see the Dees resting Gawn mid season around the bye period (perhaps an interstate game?) to give him a chance to rest. And of course if Max does get injured we have some insurance. And on his choice to come to the dees, why wouldn't Preuss want to got to genuine premiership contender?

Yes definitely missed out on some good ones especially Kent’s goal for sheer importance. Petracca kicked a few burst goals which I enjoy. I voted for Melksham goal v Hawks in semi final. I was a little nervous when the hawks kicked a few in the last quarter. Melksham’s goal was from 55metres on his wrong foot. WOW! as BT roared out. I felt it nailed the game to put it in our keeping.

I just don't like their version of our best lineup. For a start I'd have Frost filling the third tall defender spot over Oscar. Also, with the need for pace on the outside I'm not sure that Jones is still first choice in the midfield mix. He could well be coming off the bench. For that matter, Lewis could well struggle to get into the side at all. Still, it's very nice to see such positive coverage of the team.

The "Preuss insurance policy" is a good one to have as I think there are more than one area he can help us get better. The obvious is as a back up to Max and a training partner to help improve Max, but with Hoges going as well there is a lot of pressure on TMac and a still young Weideman to deliver in the forward line. I think playing Preuss as a ruck/forward could help our forward structure a lot. He will make Weideman a better player with his physical presence, we become more flexible and unpredictable with our forward structures and more consistent in the ruck and harder to match up on. Imagine Preuss versus Grigg! I don't think we'll necessarily play three talls in our forward line every week, but there is certainly a lot of sense in recruiting him, and you'd have to think he has been promised games. With the addition of Pruess and May we may be the equal of West Coast who would probably have been considered the best tall team in 2018. Add that to our rising midfield and I can understand our "champion data" rating as a very strong "on paper" team heading into 2019. I hope the plans pay off.

reminds me of a right-footed matthew lloyd, only less of a toerag

looks like a beautiful ball drop.

they way my bombers mate put it is 'you pay overs for melksham so you get hibberd for unders' i can't believe the turnaround in milkshake since he became a forward; has been sensational

To paraphrase just enough: There’s a backline that features Jake Lever, Mitchell (er, Michael) Hibberd and Neville Jetta, as well as former Gold Coast co-captain Steven May (plus Christian Salem). The engine room is led by the game’s premier ruckman in Max Gawn, who consistently dishes out hits to advantage to the likes of Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw, Jack Viney (and James Harmes and Christian Petracca). That'll do me: I'm the envy of every other past Demons' supporting incarnation of myself.

Fugazi. But I like it.

I know this is a retro topic but I still haven't got over how they delisted Pedersen but kept Tim Smith on the list. Pedo was a serial scapegoat & was the first dropped whenever the firsts had a bad game however in every Casey game that I saw Pedo outperformed Smith by a long, long way. Pedo is also more versatile than Smith. In the finals Smith looked like someone playing schoolyard footy as he kept trying to take hangers. His kicking for goal was woeful & he is pretty hopeless in the ruck. Anyhow its all over now but I reckon it was a shocking decision.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-12-19/vote-now-best-goals-of-2018 That Hannan goal against Geelong still gives me goosebumps

Melksham against Hawks. Skill on his wrong side, guts and rising to the occasion. Hawks were on a roll. Massive goal

Yes they will.

Will hold off on the Dees for Flag call but can see Tommy winning the Coleman. He kicked 48 goals from 17 H&A games, having missed the first five matches. If he plays all 22 H&A games he can easily kick 60 - 70 goals and be in contention. 65 - 70 goals has won the Coleman quite often in recent years. Not having Hogan there may help him kick more especially as our fwd delivery to Tommy etal improves. A bit of a smokey but Tommy is worth a few dollars to back him to win it!

Great work, thanks for the time and energy you put in. If I may add a small adjustment, in 2015 pick 29 which we traded to the Suns was used by them to pick up Joshua Schoenfeld at pick 34. This was pushed back 5 spots due to academy picks for Mills, Hopper, Kennedy, Hipwood and Himmelberg.

There is an undertone of intended mongrel in what you say, DV8 and I really like it; it has been overtly missing from the Dees' players since Ray Biffen's time - and he played at full back where its impact was less influential across the board. Viney has tried with great success (eg: Selwood is the best example of that outcome) but is still a little bloke relative to Preusse; and Biffen, whilst shorter than most fullbacks, knew how to throw it around as a toothless marauder. I would hope that the big 'P' can dominate many marking opportunities - he seems to have great judgement on the fall of the ball as is a rock of Gibraltar to move 'outta that territory, no matter who hits him and how. He might well create a tap pathway and body slam corridor for our smalls - this seems to also be one of his traits and when taking and delivering in the crush, he is not intercepted too often by opponents, for some strange reason (?) so your theory on the '...missing link...' is most likely to be realised. Hell, this is going to be an exciting baptism of fire, this approaching 2019 season, and one in which May, Hibberd, Tracca, Harmes, Viney and Preusse can impact, literally, the grittiness of the game we all love.

Terrific analysis Youi makes you feel like our club knows how to trade up Very important ability in modern footy Well done MFC

A few to choose from but I’d go with the Melksham goal. A two step left foot dart from outside 50 at a crucial time in a final. I think that goal looks better and better every time you watch it. Wonderful technique. If there was a vote for going off your chops goal, Hannan’s wins hands down. Cry like a baby goal goes to Kent.

For pure skill, I do like those ones of Melksham and Garlett hard up against the boundary and that snap of Nibbler's is pretty bloody good. They have become an almost regulation shot for some players, but I thought that the Gawn Dog's banana/checkside from the boundary was pretty magic, not just because it was Max, but because he repeated it twice in almost as many minutes, along with the timely back-at-ya he gave the Essendon supporter. For a moment of pure elation, I can't go past Kent's sealer against the Eagles. Big long bom and a tough kick under pressure was a great effort and however he does or doesn't go now for the Saint's I'll alway remember and be greatfull to Dean for that moment. I could go on to list a heap of other great goals that weren't shown, but in the honest truth of it, I enjoyed just about every one of the many goals we kicked this year and being the highest scoring team in the competition, what a feast it was.

Remember if you drink your own bath water ... let’s not get too full of ourselves.

Pedo was a decient part of that whole win, taking a big grab and kicking a goal with about 10mins to go as well. He didn’t play that all that many senior games for the MFC, but he had some big moments in some of the breakthrough games towards the end. I'll never forget Pedo's role in that win we had against Hawthorn - kicked at least 2 goals at crucial times and had a good hand in a number of others.

depends who you talked to...... my wife's cousins are all mad bomber fans. they thought melksham was a good player who would probably blossom in a new environment. they thought his last year's average form was more due to the fallout of the drugs scandal and that his best was really good. at the time i was a bit 50:50 but happy with how it turned out. goody obviously (as you would expect) had better inside knowledge than any of us.

Melksham was Essendon's whipping boy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that played a big part in his form there. He comes to the mighty Dee's and after a brief stint as a potential whipping boy (to continue the tradition), the coaches put a whopping amount of faith into him (Goody, Jennings, Egan), he matures a little, gains confidence and hey presto - gun! If he can shake the injuries he'll go to another level again. Exciting stuff

Just received an email from Australia Post saying that my package from MFC is due for delivery tomorrow. That means it will likely arrive around Australia Day.

The other thing it does is make you appreciate the quantum leap in standard to the Firsts and just how good they are. A bit of perspective can be a good thing.

The Casey Fixture came out today and Casey are playing the Bulldogs on the same day as our game against the Bulldogs with the venue as TBC @ 11:40am. Round 15: Sunday July 14, Footscray, Away @ TBC, 11:40am It's a safe bet that this will be a curtain raiser to our game at Marvel Stadium.

My North supporting mate thinks Preuss could become a very handy player for us. (Emphasis could, as he is still young for a big man) he also reckons that most of the North supporters he talks to at games are sore losers and a holes? Essendon supporting in laws were happy to see Melksham go as he was too inconsistent, Hibbo, they were gutted to lose. I feel we won both of those trades thou.

Supporters of opposition clubs always use some way to justify their club allowing players to go. Bomber supporters said the same about Melksham to feel good about their team letting a player go.

Only 1 game but doesn't look too slow.

Does the rock of Gibraltar move very fast? Stand in forward line. Mark the ball. Kick the goal. Easy Peasy...!

It's an epidemic, young men committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide is a massive issue facing society not just the AFL. Most of use grew up with the toughen up attitude and we never communicated our emotions to anyone. It is very hard for my generation and ones older than me to understand what the pressures are on young people that would lead to them even thinking about taking their lives. It is bloody scary, we can't have the mind set that generations before dealt with the pressures of life so why can't these young men. Men are garbage at talking about emotions, add in modern technology it causing more isolation. If boys had an issues when I was growing up we had a punch on and moved on, these days it is worse, social media allows people to attack others and play emotional games for long periods of time. Not sure what anyone can do about it and something I am working very hard at with my boy is listening, it doesn't come naturally to me and it is hard sometimes really understand what he is really saying, but I'm there and I hope as he gets older he will always know that I'm there to listen.

Mike Sheehan was more than happy for Jesse to go, said he would straight swap May for Hogan in a heartbeat not to mention KK and picks. I thought he was crazy at the time but I'd suggest he had very good mail OD

For what it's worth, there has been chatter about Hogan for a couple of years now. I was heartbroken when it looked as though he was gone, but I've come to the conclusion that the 'Brains Thrust' behind Melbourne's recent success felt the Melbourne Football Club was better off without him. I can only assume their knowledge and insight is keener and sharper than ours, I also assume they had their reasons for brokering his decision to terminate his contract.

Bradtke is only 17 and just finished school. Did not play TAC Cup or national championship. He will have to carefully managed in 2019 and not have to be the no.1 ruck at Casey. I see him playing more forward.