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Camera batteries are on the charger, and i have a wide brim hat ready so i dont burn to a crisp. Win or lose, it will be nice to see the boys play in my home town for the first time. Should have some shots and a bit of a match report up later tonight.

Nev was a champ and let me take a couple of photos with him and my daughter. I loved him already, but now I want a statue of the great man on my front lawn. More photos and a bit of a report to come... just downloading all my memory cards.

While waiting to go through my photos i have time for just a couple of observations about the crowd. I spent the first quarter between both interchange benches, then made the foolish decision to stand behind the goals... first at the Richmond supporters end, and then switched to the MFC end. Both times I was at the end we were kicking to which meant I didn't actually get to see much of the action for a full half of footy. What most stood out was how bloody pathetic the boofhead Tigers cheerleaders were. Constantly throwing cringey insults at the umpires, and moaning about how we could do anything and get away with it and they got pinged for everything. Plenty of "go to Specsavers", and "See Centrelink for a new job tomorrow maggot"... etc etc. They were really yelling. At a practice match ffs. It was constant whining by a bunch of pot-bellied, middle age bogans who were covered in tatts. At our end, I was impressed by how much younger our supporter group was. It's great to see so many younger people in MFC jumpers. (Having said that, we were outnumbered 10:1 based on club merch being worn) We also didn't yell abuse when a free went the other way. Also, our female supporters are INFINITELY better looking. Our ladies have 10% as many gaudy tatts, half as many chins, twice the IQ, four times the teeth and less than 1/4 of the stomach rolls. It was 2 different worlds separated by only the length of a footy field. A real eye-opener.

FMD!! I'm reading some negative [censored]. It's half time in a [censored] JLT match FFS .Settle down lads.

A couple of photos from the pre-game warmup

Thats pretty much a full sided side from the Tigs.. yet they just pipped our inexperienced side.. dont rate them at all. A lot of positives to take from today! Just have a look at these names and smile.. Jones, Viney, Gawn, Hibberd, Melksham, May, Lever, KK, Vandenberg, Jetta and Hannan!

Fighting spirit Demons well played young Dees! Beaten by a more experience side. Fought it out and a good come back. 12 point loss fair effort. Pleasing. In for a big year.

It seems we aren't allowed those types. They must all be superstars who hit every target and make zero mistakes. ANB has his shortcomings, but he kicked 27 goals for us last year and played a vital role in many games. He is a little underrated by our supporter base.

A few more.... I have more to edit but i wont clog up the site unless others actually want to see more. Just let me know.

Because you’re a negative nally.

Surprisingly (or maybe not, for Demonland) negative thread about a practice match. None of us know what we may or may not have been trialling, changing, experimenting with etc.. I'll save my (inevitable) worry for the season proper.

Petracca was good, I have no idea what people are whinging about. People just like to pick on the fat kid I suppose.

ANB is exactly the sort of player a team like ours needs. Someone who runs all game BOTH ways, and doesnt stop running. We would be a lesser team without him. They cant all be an Oliver or Brayshaw.

They're very much the same team, the Tigers. I'm not too worried about any of this. When we had some of our starters in, we looked the better side. Plenty of reasons to have confidence. I'm not even sure that our depth is even that bad. They're just outgunned. Any team has this many starters out they look crap. Except Pies last year.

@ding - do you have any hi-res close-ups of Cristian Petracca's waist?

I blame myself (MFCSS). The score was 52 - 22 our way when I turned it on. 10 mins later, scores were level.

More images from early in the match

How about we wait until we have our first choice defence out there before we worry about the 'run' being generated from there. We were low on class and experience down there, especially with a kid like Jordon playing large amounts of the game on a half back flank, and five of our best defenders were out. Sure, the run from there wasn't great today, but it's hardly a surprise with the team we picked. Stink it up next week with most of them back and then you've possibly got a point.

Not a bad effort overall, considering the players we were missing and the side Richmond picked to play. Our top six players - Gus, Oliver, Trac, Harmes, Fritsch and Salem - shouldn't come as a surprise, while I thought Petty competed well and Keilty was good in the second half in the ruck. I also thought young Jordon got better as the game went on. Big Preuss will cop it a bit for his performance, and there is some justification in that, but he'll be better for the run. Other like JKH, Stretch, Josh Wagner etc didn't do much to enhance there chances. We will be a much, much better side with more inclusions going forward. Overall nothing had changed about the positivity I feel about 2019 as a season.

Don’t get too carried away. Tiring conditions and early days

Goodwin surely gets the sack after this performance.

I was watching the Keys and Gray show on bein sports the other morning and Richard Keys stated that the Notts County football club ( 1862 ) is the oldest football club in the world. I tweeted them and set them straight.

He will play more senior games for us this year than Tyson would have. Plus people were screaming out for a solid back up for Max. Now we have one. Alright, he wasn't super for a first up practice match, but he is what we need long term.

I thought it was a really good hit out ... we had a whole host of good players out yet our teamwork & link up play was quite good (all things considered) I especially liked the way the team kept coming deep into the last quarter ... but any number of players who ran around today aren't going to be in the starting 22. 15 players pick themselves (if available) so only about 7 spots are up for grabs and there's at least 20 players vying for those 7 spots. Gawn, Viney, Jones, Lewis, May, Lever, Petracca, T-Mac, Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes, Salem, Jetta, Melksham, & Hibberd all start (if fit) yet only about 6 of those 15 played today. Add in those 9 who didn't play and it's a completely different team. Weideman, Fritsch and one of Frost or Oscar probably start as well so the rest are fighting for very few spots. That competitive environment is great for the club thus we saw the team fight to the finish today. Again, we could have been on the end of a belting yet very nearly won the game. I was very pleased with the overall effort.

I’d be pretty concerned if I were a Richmond supporter, they only just got up in the end vs a very undermanned team. We kicked 100 and with minimal damage injury wise. Put Steven May out there and we win that game. Add a few more and we do it comfortably. Goody seemed to try a few new things, which in the end is all JLT is good for. Plenty to like.

Don’t forget the coach may have given specific instructions to certain players, who are then playing unfamiliar roles. The score is irrelevant, it was a good game ! they fought it out

We really miss Melksham.

Who would have thought that playing two Wagners wouldn’t cancel each other out? Petty looks promising. Oliver quite possibly could be the GOAT.

It’s no longer fiction. Batman does fly.

He has only played 8 AFL games...give him a season training & playing with Max & I think we will see why

May confirmed to play next week be good to see what he brings to the side

Some observations. Clarrie plays his own game. When we learn to take advantage of his contribution, then we will roll. Tracca needs to adjust to playing a shorter game. Not every kick has to be long and not every mark is an invitation to play on. He will get there soon. Why was Gus kicking with his left foot even when clear on his right? Sore back on one side only? Still many classes above the toigs best except dusty. The new kick in rule is tailor made for runners like Frost and Hunt who can, with judicious shepherding and placement, easily gain 20-30 m with only one bounce and then kick it long so that the first contest is in our half. This tactic was not seen in the parts that I watched today. I can wait. Preuss might not be a Maxxie clone but he contests and denies the opposition an easy clearance. Some of his early taps were well directed and his contribution at ground level was useful. If used intelligently, it is the combination that should terrify other teams. Give it time. It's tough for five new players to meld in their first competitive game. Give them time to absorb the tean plan and style. At one stage one of the dumb commentators asked the rhetorical question of what TMac will do the next time he plays on rancid. I hope he never plays on him again and someone like Tracca or AVB does so that TMac's doesn't look silly playing like a small and running after him. Tracca and AVB have the strength and nous to make rencid's life difficult. Let TMac be TMac. At last real footy is back.

May , Gawn Milkshake Viney, Vanders , Lewis, kolo, Hannan, hibberd and Jetta. Lever sooner than you think. Not a bad lot. They are all handy and that is what you call great depth. Young Demons stood up well and pushed them hard early. Clarry 2 preseason operations and Tmac knee cleanout will be better for the run Jordan looks a player. I am pleased with the effort put in today. Overall we were playing a near full strength Tiger side and the boys stood up.I know it is a practice game but deep down the Tiger FD might be a bit worried when they meet us in the season proper. Looking forward to a big year.

Based on that game and the outs we had, we will win the grand final this year. #Putyourhouseonit.

The reason for concern was from about 10 minutes in to the 2nd quarter until 3/4 time we couldn't lay a glove on the Tigers. There's areas we should be much stronger in come the real stuff - midfield depth, ruck, almost the whole backline, but there's no excuse to keep turning the ball over out of the backline without even trying to switch or counter, to not even be close to locking the ball up forward and to struggle with simple things like not committing 2 players to tackle one opponent with the ball and leaving a free option. The middle quarters were like the Prelim last year in terms of style. We should've had enough good players in the game to prevent that. The margin should've been closer to 10 goals by 3/4 time.

You said we'd miss the eight last year. I've now never felt more confident.

Pleasing effort by a young undermanned side against the more experienced Richmond. Great to see Clarrie get his hands on the ball after the two shoulder operations. Looking forward to seeing more of the boys this year.

The deal is always: Win - and we’re on track to win the premiership Lose: it’s just pre-season Satisfying hit out nonetheless against one of the best sides that was also far closer to full strength than us. There’ll be a minimum 6 inclusions into our Rd 1 side including 2 all Australians and our co-captains.

One of them was a gift from that fat explosive guy wearing number 5.

You've been here long enough to know how a few will consistently react to a game like this. Common sense gets thrown out the window.

Dunstall has just said it all - nearly half the team out, and most of our best players. No panics yet. Of course Dermie tries to intellectualise an opposite view. Absolutely no idea what he said or what he meant?

Steady on guys. Even Winx gets beaten in barrier trials!

Petty looks very promising, tough and doesn’t panic.

Petracca's clearly too fat to kick straight

Well, now we have to grit out teeth and cheer for North, who have Adelaide NOW, and are also still to play Fremantle. We are basically one straight kick behind Adelaide on percentage, and well ahead of Freo. We will have our own bite at Adelaide in the final round, which could well decide which team plays finals. ... Still can't quite process the absurdity of there being a clear top-4, noticably a cut above the rest, but no matter what comes, only two of them will play finals. Next time Gil, get off the phone to the Minister and put some thought into football.

Yeah , city folk are soft AF.

Yes, probably true. Because there is no way we would have had the clout or connections to shove out the athletes and claim the oval. Olympic Park was supposed to be the one true permanent home of athletics in Victoria. In 2006, to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the 56 Olympics, there was a considerable refurbishment of the area, hence "Olympic Boulevard", with lots of goodwill about the permanent home of athletics, and other Olympic-related vibes. Statues, a mooted new stadium (turned out to be AAMI), etc. But then a board member of Athletics Australia got the idea that AA would be better off in South Melbourne. Got in the ear of the premier. Somehow along the way Melbourne City Council ceded title to the State (ie, Victoria). Lo and behold, within two years, AA was out of their permanent home, shifted to Bob Jane stadium, with promises of new digs there, and now there's barely anything "Olympic" about "Olympic Boulevard". It's all tennis and various codes of football. [*] By the way, the board member was none other than Eddie McGuire. And the premier was John Brumby, a keen Collingwood supporter. [*] and who can forget when a certain prominent Toorak businessman suggested moving an entire tennis stadium to make way for (guess what) more football.

Just thinking about it. A long drive to Shep. Twenty bucks admission to watch a game played in close to 40 degree heat. Alternative - go to the beach. Tough decision.

Don’t chew gum during an interview.