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Jeff's best is better than any small forward we have by a country mile. His worst, however, is abysmal. It's Essendon at the G and it's time to play him. We have absolutely zero opportunist dead-eyes and Jeff has money in the bank when it comes to making a goal from nothing. Time to back him in. We're zero and 2.

From my listening to post match footy fan talkback I've gleaned the following... Losing teams don't have plan 'B'...

They'll have to run through another banner Saturday morning if we lose.

Give me an inconsistent Jeff Garlett any day over a fumbly no impact Alex Neale Bullen.

I wish was as fat as him!

What a brilliant initiative.

So the impact of cyber bullying applies to everyone. Except the players of course, they should cop it because we aren’t playing well right now. Right. Back to planet earth now - fantastic initiative. No one should have to put up with insidious bullying by losers hiding behind computer screens.

Harmes' inconsistency in performance to date is killing us. He is way down in ball use, making stupid decisions, missing tackles and fumbling balls. Someone who I believe is pretty chuffed about his 2018 and is expecting it to happen again. He needs a wakeup. I fear that Trac is too caught up in his own mind about wanting to be 'the man'. It's almost as if he believes he needs to do something spectacular every time the ball is in his area which takes his concentration away from the basics. Clean first possession, make the right decision, hit a target. Etc. Jones clearly needs to lift significantly. Can't believe how much his skills have dropped off. Fumbling, missed kicks, missed handballs etc. ANB.Goodwin needs to wake up and drop the guy. Physically, he is supposed to be an extra number at the contest because of his running ability. Over the last two weeks I have never seen someone have such little influence as an extra number at a contest. What is he offering us? Jetta and Hibbered. WTF is wrong with them? If we get a 15% lift from those guys, we win on Friday night. Viney is back on track even if he's playing sore. Brayshaw needs to learn to become damaging with the ball. Oliver is a freak. Max needs one better this week. Tom and Weed will be fine if we start kicking it to their advantage and not between them both. Dees.

What a fat [censored].

@binman whats the point covering all this territory if he is making absolutely no impact whatsoever? Yes he clocks up the Kms, but that doesnt excuse his fumbles or lack of ability to keep his feet. He fumbles even in the 1st qtr of games? If he is doing that so early of the game from running around then he is cooked for the rest of the game, and that already putting us at an disadvantage. All good and well to clock up 17km per game, but fits into the bracket of running around like a headless chook. Has no hurt factor whatsoever and will kick your 2 to 3 goals against sides like Gold Coast or Carlton. When it comes to the big teams, he has little to no effect whatsoever. The Sooner Goodwin wakes up and drops him the better.

More click bait - just like Cornes last week. Hawks went to the AFL first thing yesterday to seek clarification complain about three frees against them. No mention of that by Wallace. Hawks were 5 goals up at 3/4 time and lost by 3+ goals; 9 goal turnaround in 30 minutes! Does'n mention that either! Oh right, we know who he played for. Always whinge, whinge, whinge about us. Does he offer any original thought? No! Does he offer any ideas or insights? No! Does he give any credit for the improvement from last week or after qtr time this week? No! He is irrelevant!

No, it's not another thread about Christian Petracca - it's Demonland Fact-Check with a 'c', the home of unbiased, objective reporting. There have been any number of rumours, conjecture and innuendo which have somehow evolved over the years and eventually entered into Demonland lore. But where did these ideas originate, and is there any evidence to support them? For those subscribed to such 'facts', this is the place to substantiate them, and for those who question false news and believe in at least some degree of truthiness, ask your questions here: With our poor start to 2019, we already have some flimsy ideas being taken as gospel, so I'll get the ball rolling on a couple emerging subjects - but please add any widely reported Demonland beliefs about the history of the MFC you wish to have clarified. In this instance, Google is your friend. Contention: Simon Goodwin didn't review the 2018 Preliminary Final face-plant against the Eagles. Is this true? Or did Simon just not bother reviewing it with the squad, which some might argue is a worthwhile approach for a young team? Contention: Our mismanagement of Joel Smith has blown a minor injury into a major one. Sure, it doesn't look good - but is there any evidence this is genuinely the case? Or can someone provide expert opinion that it's likely to be so? Contention: Steven May arrived at pre-season training unfit and out of shape. He seemed to lag the pack according to reports, but was this due an attitudinal problem? Is GFC's fitness regime below standard? Was there enough time to bridge the gap?

Hello Simon It's that down to earth footy know it all Picket Fence here. Now Simon, we don't have a crumbing forward at present who can kick goals! Come to think of it we don't seem to have many who can and are kicking goals at present. Can I humbly make a suggestion , just a small one?? TAKE THE BLOODY RISK AND GET JEFFY IN!!! Thanks Simon, I always thought I had your ear! Cheers PF

Contention: The MRO/AFL Appeals process is corrupt and favours the big teams such as Collingwood. If you're wondering why I've added this, have a look at the Michael Christian thread, particularly today (after Mason Cox was successful on appeal). As I keep saying, if you ever have a choice between conspiracy or incompetence, go with incompetence every time.

The way it looks to me: WCE, Pies, Hawks, Cats: Control and Possession football: Use the width of the ground, stretch the defence. Precision kick/ mark to move the ball downfield. Zone and man-to-man defence. Need great disposal skills and discipline to follow the game plan/positioning/leading etc. Richmond, Bulldogs, Demons: Chaos football: Get the ball to ground, move it forward as fast as possible in any way possible. Predominately zone defence. Highly dependent on winning contests. Adelaide: don't know but looks like a hybrid. Ess, Carlton, Freo, GCS, Saints, North: no discernible system that looks like either of the top two. Port, Sydney, Brisbane, Giants are more like the first group but not as refined/skilled at it.

Not if we throw Marty Hore on him. Perfect matchup!

i see you take this conversation seriously, and good for you. And your back handed compliments show promise. My comments were not personal and not directed to you, I was using your comment in a vicarious way. I don't intend to pontificate, I have no reason to do so, and only sages can pontificate. For the rest of us, it is merely an opinion based on what we see and perhaps what we read or are told. Nothing else. My view is just that a view, and I hope it is wrong. I see a great talent, but one that is likely to be wasted unless something changes this season. He is not fit, but perhaps that is his best. If it is, he is below the standard that is required to play AFL at the top level. He may well continue to be a valuable player, who does the mercurial from time to time, and plays in bursts. He may be a match winner, but is he playing to his potential and will he ever do so? However, what we are seeing today are footballer robots that can run and run and run. And there are hundreds of players that will commit themselves heart and soul to the contest every time, over 120 minutes. CP is not on his Pat Malone,. He is in the majority camp, that is what is disappointing. Believe it or not, I love what he promises to be and love what he can do. But he does not do it often enough to inspire confidence or the feeling that we are watching a future champion.

Sorry, but I think we are all missing the point of this campaign. It is called the Round for Reach. The club has dedicated the match day to raising funds for the Reach Foundation, which has been running programs to support kids affected by bullying for 25 years. Only now the focus is online bullying, an unfortunate reality for our children these days. To donate to Reach, text Reach to 0455 021 021 or visit roundforreach.org.au Jim Stynes will be proud his legacy continues.

I’d actually prefer the AFL and clubs just concentrated on the game rather than attempting to be a moral compass for all of us.

Not fat but just can’t run! Slow, can’t chase, and has no endurance. That’s what matters. Don’t care if he is fat or heavy, the guy’s fitness is not AFL standard.

Glad to see original OD is back. The end of last year and all that positivity from you was unsettling. You add a bit of negative balance to things.

Great idea! nothing worse than bullying and online bullying is as weak and cowardly as it gets

I'm really starting to wonder if our brand/style/game already has had it 15 mins in the sun and is now old hat. To even remotely work we need our very best players on the paddock and fit...it needs to be pretty dry and it needs the capacity to lock in the ball/contest. This all seems very yesterday to me. The rucking is now much more open and 666 all but precludes locking down that first scrum ( isn't it pretty much that ) The idea as I understand it is to simply push the ball into our 50 and relentlessly will it through the goals. There's not a lot of nuance or skill here just the idea that somehow the ball will pop out and be sent to a player within range. That worked fine....until it didn't. And it doesn't anymore. 666 has opened up the ground ( too much for us I'd suggest ) To attempt to get the ball locked in we sacrifice manning their outside runners who once THEY get the ball can spread and deny us not only our ability to corral them...but simply we dont HAVE the ball. We no longer control the game, it's tempo or its style. Invariably as they run and spread we aren't getting to them as that Roosy foundation of two way running seems dead and buried. Other teams quickly create space and overlaps. All over red Rover.. Yes Essendon are ESSentially rubbish at the moment but so are we. They however can, and do spread well. They can and do run both ways ( better than us ) and they definitely have more players with pace. I fear if they can get out of the middle 50/50 their way they'll score more often as our defense is in tatters. We still don't like to man up. If they can deny us our contest, we'll lose. It's all any team has to do.

I don’t watch Fox. But we are not the only club to start training later, infact 2 clubs went a week further than we did... Goodwin needs to tweak his own strategies, and do it by this friday.

I think though that the impact he has, such that it is, is that he gets across to limit uncontested possessions and when he can't stop the kick stop them running off or slow them down. Failing to do so is killing us atm. That said I agree with your criticisms. I just think he will stay in the side until those ks can get covered. he and Lockhart might end up fighting for spot and Lockhart might well win that battle.

Fantastic initiative, especially as it continues Stynes connection with the club and Reach. I think Max is now an ambassador for Reach so he can continue Jimmy's legacy, a legacy he feels a strong connection to as he does for the number 11.

Agree on all counts. He lost his spot last year because he completely stopped putting pressure on and trapping the ball inside 50. My feeling is something was not right for Jeff last year, perhaps some off field personal stuff (and to be clear i'm not speaking in code and implying drug use). The previous year his pressure was fantastic and IIRC correctly he snagged 40 goals as well. The signs were pretty god in the JLT game before he did his shoulder (ironically by tackling hard). And we are desperately in need of both his goals kicking instincts and zip. Even if a touch underdone i'd love to see him in. Of any position on the ground the crumbing small forward is the one that won't expose a lack of condition too much. Time for Jeffy to spark us into action.

I'm not an expert whatsoever but if any punter out at Casey Fields who saw Joel Smith being put through a fitness test on the boundary line, and barely being able to jog, would contend that there is no way he should've returned to the field in a practice match. There's a chance the injury may not have been further aggravated by Smith returning to the field, but there's no way known it would've helped either. Now 'Smiley' Misson has no idea when he'll play footy again.

Yep its jeffy time. Let's remember how he single handedly got us over the line round 2 last year when we were playing [censored] footy. We need speed, crumbling ability & some x factor.

Absolute hatred of the Drug Cheats...

That's fine if you are prepared to kill off all of the local clubs (Darebin, St Albans, etc) that have been the backbone of womens football for its entire history. It's bad enough that AFLW clubs are allowed to run teams in the VFLW, but running the seasons concurrently would destroy the VFLW also. That said, congratulations to Adelaide who were light years ahead of the competition and fully deserved to win the premiership. Melbourne only have themselves to blame for not playing finals, and Carlton were as good as any of the rest in the second half of the season.

I've never been in favour of co-captains, so when Jones retires or relinquishes the captaincy, I'd rather have a single captain. Assuming he stays fit enough, I'm happy for it be Viney, although I'm not yet truly convinced that he's got all the necessary attributes. And to jump in before anyone asks, while I can't fault his on-field endeavour my concerns with Viney are (1) a counter-intuitive concern that he may not be properly team oriented by trying to play when he's not fully fit and (2) he doesn't strike me as being particularly articulate (which I think is significant when the Captain is required to be the voice of the playing group.)

Sku....the voice of reason. How dare you! (I hope Amsterdam is warming up!) Did they go over the Prelim? It was the last game of the season, so they would start their break pretty much then wouldnt they? A young team that played above themselves in 2 finals, were outmanned and ran out of petrol. There were not 80,000 Melbourne members supporting them. The team they beat there 3 weeks earlier had time to work them out and add missing personal. What is there to review really? Even if they did go over it, its some time before they got back to training and their strategic planning. Im sure the football dept noticed all the errors and hence one thing they did immediately was to try and recruit their way out of the problem, hence Steven May. Im sure everything that went wrong in that final, is now in the notebooks of the football dept. Also saying 4 games in a row is also a pretty long bow. Its 2. JLT games are just practice and the prelim was 6m ago. They dont count. Maybe some people just wont let that loss go. I personally still cant believe we got to a Prelim after losing to StKilda. Dont give up peoples, your all tougher than this.

Personally, I find it hard to believe Goody at the very least hasn’t reviewed the tape of the Prelim.

Charlie is a very smart footballer who will be a regular once he builds his engine. He was pick 29 from memory or there abouts.

We will never know if Smith playing out the game worsened the injury. But I am quite confidant him playing in the last few weeks would not have given us wins. There are bigger issues in our forward line structure and tactics than him not being available. What the Smith injury shows is how shallow our forward line depth is. For all their faults, we have given up Watts, Hogan and Kent. No complaints about those moves but we simply don't have the depth to cover their collective absence, yet. It will take time.

Free hit for the media commentariat. Call-out Melbourne with stereotype dog-whistles to those who feel we have a reputation, and claim the wake-up call when we turn it around. Can't believe that some of the excitable Geelong tribe would have the gall to call us soft this week, after our kids physically dominated their veteran campaigners when it mattered.

And for a long time PD. I have very little regard for it any longer. All outcomes such as these are manufactured / massaged / tampered with to ensure the big names and favoured clubs receive special treatment and aren't impacted to the degree of us lessor lights. They are given a huge advantage when all the favouritism is added up over the season/s, including the FIXture. This has been going on since the old zone days in the late 60s when the initial idea was for each club to share the zones equally and change to a new zone over rolling 3 year periods (or thereabouts) until certain clubs in the then VFL realised they were on a winning zone vs the others. They then reneged on the initial agreement and voted to keep their initial zones. The result was the clubs thats kept the better zones got the cream of the crop over many years and built themselves a dynasty while the rest got the scraps and ended up the poor cousin as a result. The cheating is and has been embedded and rusted on from VFL days and continues through to this very day.

Turning back to some discussion on football, I saw a clip from Footy Classified last night where Lloyd or Judd pointed out three or four instances of us winning a clearance and Oliver/Brayshaw/Viney/whoever kicking long when a shorter option was available (one in particular had TMac leading up into a gaping hole 40m out directly in front but whoever had the ball went 20m past him to nothing but Cats). Is it as simple as our mids lowering their eyes? I feel we've conditioned the mids to wanting to get the ball and bang it inside 50 because we expect to either mark it or bring it to ground and the resulting congestion in there is what we want. Or is it more that Geelong read us better than other sides might? Or are the forwards doing the wrong thing by pushing too far up the ground when we really want them to stay deeper and ensure we have targets?

You got any evidence of this?

I didn't know that was fact that he made the injury worse by playing on. he did the injury and they put him back on. most likely is the injury was done and him playing on didnt make it worse. and the club has virtually promised us success?? wtf man?! Roos/PJ etc took from a laughing stock to a decent team. get a grip. nothing is guarenteed

And you know what? You might be right, bobby. But we could do worse than give him a crack. We need a bit of spark down there and Jeffy is still capable of that. At any rate he deserves the chance to show he's still got it. And if he doesn't? Well, then we know.

Got a better option for a crumbing forward?

Thanks for explaining, Skuit. It's somewhat difficult for a French resident to understand all that goes on inside the club and in this forum. Lots of things go over my head.

Oh please, if we think Garlett is the answer to our present woes, we seriously are delusional

Cox says he was bracing for contact and the tribunal say he wasn't looking at the victim. He was looking at the victim alright and collected him. Cox was bracing for contact because he knew the 'target ' was coming. Target duly goes down. Bit soft really but the initial decision to suspend was probably correct. Why should anyone be surprised about the backflip. The AFL is totally corrupt!!!!

I think Jack's doing fine. Played limited minutes in VFL during JLT2, 65% in round 1 and limited impact due to corkie, 75% in round 2 and I'd expect would build to 85% over the next few games. I reckon he will tear game apart for a quarter on Friday and will be primed for Sydney and St Kilda for BOG on Anzac eve v Richmond.

Did it for a second time in September trying to come back for finals. The 2 injuries in short succession mandated the long lay off. Was in the rehab group all summer until Feb/March as they slowly built him back up and has only played 2 or 3? Casey games. He also appears more of a speed athlete than a natural endurance runner so putting him in on a wing at anything less than peak fitness would be setting him up to fail. Kolodjashnij, who has a bigger natural tank and AFL experience was awful after an interrupted prep, I don’t want to see that for Baker.

Still cant believe all the work that goes into this website. Where do you find the time? Ive looked at some of the other sites, Bomberblitz for example. The are just so bad, boring and drab and you can hardly even read them. Well done @Demonland

Congratulations to Adelaide for winning the AFLW Grand Final. Without a doubt it was one of the most decisive drubbings of a second rate side in Carlton who should not have been there in the first place. The disastrous 2019 conference system was all there to be seen after Adelaide were able to beat the two top sides in B division by over 10 goals and 7 goals respectively. That's not a finals series and only served to debase the efforts of better sides in the competition. Gil is lucky there are other things going on in the media at the moment, so the scribes have completely missed this debacle.