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I'm thinking to keep it all in the PREGAME Thread. Going forward there will be a PREGAME thread in the work week leading up to the game which will include team selection. Then there will be the GAMEDAY thread for everyone to [censored] about the game, the gameplan, the players, the coaches etc in real time. Then there will be the POSTMATCH Thread where we can all slit our wrists and proclaim who should be sacked this week. Rinse and repeat.

Sure - I have no problem with that. Pretty obvious statement though. But it’s also exactly the reason I’ll spend my compassion chips on feeling for victims of crime, returning ex-serviceman, the weak in society, and people who are unfairly bullied, vilified and harassed by others, not marquee AFL players who break club rules by boozing when they shouldn’t. At a human level, I feel a lot of sympathy for Hogan and his unfortunate circumstances last year (like all others here) - but I don’t feel strong level of compassion for a dude who appears to find it hard to manage the conflict between: - the commitment required to be a professional footballer (with all of the attendant pressures and rewards); and - an apparent desire to not have that pressure, and instead spend his time with his non-footy playing mates drinking beers at music festivals and generally being a regular guy. The narrative here is just not that compelling for me. The world is full of simply heart-breaking tragedies - this is not one of them.

Lucifer's inn. On Wellington..Opposite Pullman hotel (the old Hilton). Right on Yarra park. Two minutes to gate 1 at the g. In 5 years time.

Awesome to see Corey getting a go. how good is it too see boys come from the VFL into the big time. We’ve got Fritsch, Wagner, Hore, Keilty as an emergency, Hibberd originally VFL as well. Good stuff.

Mix one part gun recruit with anxiety issues, one part new general manager with small man complex, one part unbalanced CEO, one part gun recruit with dodgy calves and links to bikies and a coach with anger management issues. Mix and stir. A recipie for success.

Bruce - "it was Carlton's lowest ever 1st quarter score vs Richmond if you can believe it" They scored one behind. I mean Bruce there's only one other possible answer is there...

Remember when Jesse first came to the MFC and the plan was to have him move in with Mitch Clark?

Well said. Sadly, there are so many ex MFC players (and staunch supporters) who are no longer with us who will not be sharing the joys of seeing the old club on the rise. I like to think that for those who remain on the planet we carry forward the hopes and dreams of all those who have stepped behind the curtain. They are still with us in mind and spirit. My father sits with me in the stands at the MCG despite his passing 30 years ago, just as my youngest son will sit with me when I move on to red and blue heaven. There is continuity and a universality associated with belonging to the MFC.

At least Fremantle have a cool, calm and collected senior coach who will approach these indiscretions in a mature manner and deal with them appropriately.

This sort of cynical spin sets back the cause of mental health across the community.

Unless you are a football insider, it's impossible to say it was "fine" for 43. You don't think Watts partied with teammates when at MFC? I'm happy with the culture driven push the club now has. I'm not confident it was like that in the past, but I don't know any inside intel.

Hope Essendon gets flogged.

Too fat, couldn’t squeeze him in.

I forgot to mention that the PREGAME Thread will be divided into those that say relax we've got this by 100 points and those that think we shouldn't even turn up for [insert reason/excuse here].

Lucifer's Inn- great idea. On tap we have Lucifer's Lager, Demon Draught, Angus Ale, Petracca Pale Ale and a Clayton for the non-drinkers. All served in a beer Styne. When we lose it's Melbourne Bitter.

I’ve realised since writing the preview that today is the 7th anniversary of the passing of Jim Stynes. How sad it is that he’s missed out on the club’s improvement since then and that his family have missed out on having him with them. Best wishes to the Stynes family on this sad occasion.

Houlli, really like him as a player, this past week would have been a very hard one.

My poor heart is broken: Rance has hurt his knee. Means he won't be able to maim people with it for a while. Or maybe he thought it was Bollywood and he'd pose hurt for the cameras. Wouldn't put it past him. I hate him with great passion.

Probably because he unfortunately just doesn’t look quite an afl-level midfielder, which is really the only position he can play

Carlton should be banished to the 3:40 Sunday slot every week until they become an AFL club. What an anticlimactic start to the season

We've shown our cards too soon with ANB in the ruck. That was our secret weapon

Who else is starting to froth for the first team announcement for 2019?

Paging some other regulars I've seen around here this season for their views: @Lucifer's Hero @dl4e @Meggs @La Dee-vina Comedia @Dee Zephyr @Little Goffy And I'll jump in with mine: Best new player - Gay Most improved player - Cordner Most underrated player - Downie Player we missed the most from the 2018 list (aside from Daisy!) - Cranston 3 players we can least afford to lose to expansion - L.Pearce, Paxman, Hore 3 players you wouldn’t mind having a chance at another club ? - Ones we could cover and that have been in and out of the team - Guest, Patterson. Phillips, who's a good player but I think we could upgrade a similar type. Best win - A lot of our wins felt like not enough, but I guess Brisbane was most comprehensive. Worst loss (apart from Round 7!) - Freo. Could have won, should have won. Would have shaped the season. Best goal/other highlight - Zanker v. the Bulldogs. Can't go past it, not even Newman on the run v. North. Keep the coach Y/N? - Y. Continuity between seasons overrides any misgivings at this stage. Player with most potential in 2020 and beyond - Hanks. Great one-touch skills and movement, will find more consistency with experience. Most important area for improvement in 2020 (besides goal kicking accuracy!) - Better handball-kicking balance. Need to know what to do when the handball game is shut down. Type of player most needed in the draft/trade - We definitely seemed to lack strength around the ball in comparison to the Crows. Unfortunately, this type of player will be in hot demand from expansion teams. Off-season wish list – what needs to happen for success in 2020? - As many players as possible to play VFLW, preferably together at Casey. Alignment between the levels is becoming stronger and teams that can have that continuity in the second best comp. will be advantaged. How should the season be structured with 14 teams in 2020? No conferences! Ideally, a 13 game H&A season. Realistically, a straight ladder with most teams playing each other. And an easier draw for North and Melb to make up for this year ?

The ruck dual will be interesting. Port now have Lycett, a premiership ruckman so shouldn't be underestimated. He and Vardy completely neutralised Max in the prelim with one or other sticking to Max like glue wherever he went on the ground. So our middfield fell away and the defence was under the pump from the get go. Max could more than hold his own quite easily with one of those but not both. Lycett will take WCE tactics to Port. He and Ryder (or Westhoff) shadow Max and wear him out. Hopefully, our mids have learnt to feed off Lycett etc if they get on top of Max. And our backs and forwards can't rely on Max to intercept or mark. Thankfully, Fritsch is in the side to help out at both ends of the ground if needed. I think we will win but it won't be a walk in the park.

Great name!! ?

there'll be more peptides board members there than there are rusted on gw$ oranjes the scum v carltank - very interested to see if carltank are more competitive in 2019, but think tiggas will be too good the filth v puddy tatts - should be us not the cats playing in a big friday night game, expecting eddie's mob will get it done our game - who knows, i remain positively hopeful / hopefully positive the cows v poos&wees - can't underestimate little napolean, but expecting crows to be pretty strong this year footscray v cola - fully expecting swans will do a number on the dogs, buddy or no buddy bears v meth coke - everyone is expecting bears to climb this year, but i'm less certain tbh aints v gc17 - wow, talk about a sunday 1pm game...toss of the coin, i'll go for the franchise in a quasi-upset gw$ v peptides - not sure about either of these sides ahead of this season, but think the franchise will be too strong jokers v the future tassie - reckon ben brown could boot a bag here, even without jacobs to take care of fyfe

Not long now! I think I'm going to go watch the Hawthorn and Geelong finals Highlights to get me ready...

Boos debuting 6... Some talk on the radio about having the Grand Final rematch the first game of every season, much like the EPL do. Not a bad idea....?......would be better than this every season.

I liked the banter between the two of them when Lynch suggested this to May - "big Anzac Eve game, you'll play on me" May: "Nah - I take the No 1 key forward, I'll be playing on Riewoldt"

Have just poured a Heathcote Shiraz? to enjoy with the announcement!

Minor and major premiership, for/against points above 200% and 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Brownlow and 22 in the All Australian final squad.

When the term clinical anxiety appeared it reminded me of the overuse of the term clinical depression. The latter term has been thrown around a lot when referring to footballers and other professional sports stars. I suspect the term used without understanding what the term actually means, which is major depression or a major depressive disorder, and, amongst other things, is not related to loss or illness (death of a loved one or cancer etc). There are lots of us with depression, it does not mean it is clinical depression.

What a debacle! It has been a PR disaster from the start. Amateur hour. Hopefully they are more professional in managing Jesse's issues. The good news is he trained yesterday and is likely to play round 3. I really feel for Jesse, not only because of his wellbeing but he started with us when we were a basket case, on and off the field and has seemingly gone to another basket case. That can't be a good environment for someone with his issues.

Best Bet: Mornington Race 7 No 10 Hangman $4.80

Heard the same thing. Getting rid of Watts and Hogan was not a personal thing. Strictly business. Even yesterday Goodwin was talking about genuine love and support for Jesse. Sometimes you just can’t work together.

If we dont play Preuss when the oppo have 2 genuine rucks, you wonder if we'll ever play him at all (injury to Max notwithstanding)

The annual cavalcade of European 4WD heading up the Hume to Nagambie.. They don't appreciate sharing the road with trucks and tradie vehicles. Rushing up with their picnic hampers to claim their favourite spot on the lake with Charles, Roger, Prude and Jude.making sure they have their umbrellas and macintoshes for the thunderstorm. The chicken or smoked salmon baguettes will go down well, suitably washed down with a bottle of Verve and perhaps a well aged Chateau Neuf de Pape for the boys, with the girls sharing a nice chilled Meursault or even a frisky little riesling from Alsace. Coffee and a touch of brandy to finish, hoping that those nasty scholarship boys from Xavier or Caulfield Grammar don't snatch the cup out of the hands of the rightful owners, Grammar, Scotch or Corio Grammar. Whoever wins, it will be wonderful catching up and networking with other merchant bankers, doctors, legal eagles and other upwardly mobile professionals. And there will be Biffen trying to chat up one of the lonely divorcees looking for her 2nd or 3rd goldmine.

Great observation and summation.

F right off! Poor Vanders he really can’t take a trick. I love what he brings to the side so not a good start to our season really. Not to mention our stupid stupid stupid call to let Joel Smith to play out an irrelevant practice game and injure himself. Seriously dumb!

Harmes to Powell-Pepper.

Glad you added a timeframe to that. Otherwise I would’ve been wandering around for a while before abusing you.

True, but some drugs are far more addictive than alcohol. However, not trying to diminish the damage alcohol has done to many in society

This is true, but I was thinking in the context of elite athletes, which is what footballers now claim to be. It is not ideal to be either drinking in excess, or taking drugs, especially in the season. I also previously referred to Ralph mentioning Hogan and Cousins in the same breath. Perhaps Cousins thought he could control his drug intake while playing football, but since then it has all been tragically downhill for him. I do not wish this to happen to anyone, footballer or otherwise.

Not everyone who takes drugs becomes an addict just as not everyone who drinks beer becomes an alcoholic.

Three things I'd love to see in Round 1 (besides the obvious, a win) 1. Christian Petracca to start off the season with a big performance. 30 touches and 4 goals will be just fine thanks 2. Keeping Port under 70 points even with May and Lever out 3. Jayden Hunt making a big impact in the forward line

I really couldn't care whether a commentator like Ralph has some inside information on Hogan, and can back up facts to prove his assertion. But no assertion on this planet can identify this young footballer as being a "ratbag". Further, i think this could be taken up if so desired. Either by satisfaction (kin) or law.

Unfortunately the history of the MFC does not support that outcome but I'm willing to experience it for the first time in my life

They did a drill today that was one weighted kick to a player cutting on a 45 backwards lead from half back to the wing, then a long flat 40m kick to a leading forward 40m from goal. That's a different approach. The reality is the best way to score is to go quick from half back, get the ball forward and either score or lock it in and create those repeat entries. Going slow from half back/midfield when you get a chance gets you no where. Even the precision Hawks were bombing it last year because speed of entry meant more than precision. As for our overall kicking skills: -The first choice back 7 are all above average kicks. - The hope surely is Gus, Harmes, Tracc, Oliver all improve and if they keep finding the ball they should. Harmes took a step forward last year and Brayshaw is the main one who gets the ball on the outside and needs to stop butchering it. No more left foot heaves when running in open space, save them from where they are useful in congestion. - Fritsch, Kolodjasnij, Spargo are 3 efforts to bring in more skills to the inside 50's. Get them the ball on the wing and half forward and good things will happen - Baker is more speed than precision kicking but line breaking run creates the same inside 50 benefit that good skills do. Jordon is a lovely kick who could play half forward or wing if not half back. Hannan can hit targets. Chandler and Lockhart have potential from what I've seen as nice kicks. I'd like to improve the kicking but a good crumbing forward would make the messy forward entries better and getting back on topic a good crumber would pair really well with Weid. Getting more run and spread to open space from a contest will help the inside 50's too. Throwing numbers at the contest against the good teams really hurt us last year.

Firstly, how exactly do you conduct a fitness test on a fractured cheekbone? Secondly, I'm happy to volunteer my time if they need any help performing the test.

Sam has the potential and showed it in the the first two finals and that is where he became a man so to speak. IMO if you stand up in Finals you are on the way to making the grade no doubt. The Weid is ready for his breakout year and at his age he has the scope for improvement. The bounce is not too far away for the start of the season and am hanging out to see him take big marks and kick many goals in 2019 and beyond.