Leaderboard

I’m not sure of the formality of it all, but I was told by a person connected to the club that he 100% wants to come to us. He has said to the club he’d like to be selected by us. The powers that be are weighing up a few things before committing to him. There was no problem with his medical. So what they are weighing up is most likely whether he is committed and willing to be disciplined off field. He can be added as late as February and I am informed he will be invited to train over summer, with a view to pick him up later on. That is what I have been told and the source is very reliable. He is ours if we want him, but we won’t be rushed on making the call. I am sorry if someone has posted similar info, I couldn’t be bothered reading back over the last few pages.

Given his IQ I totally understand why he is having trouble understanding some of our recent decisions.

I think it’s smart locking away a very good player long-term.

You did not factor in the umpires into the teams above.

I also think that Cornes is underrating Harmes.

He's giving serious consideration to signing with a club that just finished 17th.

I’ve got a good track record and knew a lot about what was going on with Hogan and the reasons why Watts was traded. Posted it weeks before and also exposed some of what Hogan was getting up to, but the mods accused me of running the risk of defamation, even though everything I said was completely true and later proven to be. I don’t really care who believes what I post or not. I work in a job where I meet a lot of people connected to the AFL. The source is reliable and I have no reason to doubt his info. I am also reliably informed that Frost was traded due to his poor work ethic at training and constant negativity. Apparently he’d be mentally cooked at 3/4 time on game day and hated the feedback he’d get. He would inevitably have poor last quarters. Apparently a really negative bloke, who was beginning to rub off on the younger players.

Scotch. And acid of course. It’s been a great decade.

We should get a farewell game out of him

Wow that’s awesome!! How many brownlows have our number 1&2 picks, Scully & Trengove won between them? So happy we didn’t select that good for nothing Dustin Martin kid hey... Is Cale Morton and that All Australian CHF Lucas Cook kid still playing??

If we'd given a five year deal to, say, Alex Neal-Bullen, then I think his opinion would be justified. Giving a five year deal to a bloke who has improved every single year since being on the list, who hasn't missed a game in two years, who can play multiple roles across the ground AND has done so in finals, is a good piece of business. Cornes is entitled to his opinion, but I think the club has done the right thing in this instance.

Glass half empty. R1 even in WA gives us as good a chance as we'll get to beat West Coast and our players will be acclimitised to heat at that time of year. If there's a 6 day break then this is as good as any time, compared with the 3 6 day breaks in a row in 2018. We've got GWS at home, better than Canberra or West Sydney. Win these two and we're off to a flyer and won't see them again until September.

In 2018 we averaged 40,695 to our 11 home games. And that included Alice Springs (6,989) and Darwin (8,689). Because we were playing well we got big crowds to ANZAC Eve (77,071) and Queen's Birthday (83,518), as well as the Sydney game late (51,424) and GWS in the final round (37,285). Both Sydney and GWS were Sunday 3.20pm games as well. Sure, I'd prefer it if we had home games against Hawthorn and Essendon, and I'd like it if we had West Coast, Adelaide or Brisbane in our interstate quota instead of GC, GWS and Fremantle, but 2018 shows that if we play well the crowds will come.

The fact that Cornes can’t understand the decisions we have made assures me that we’re on the right track!

I'm not sure what part of "national competition" it is that people don't get. There are 17 other teams in the competition, 8 interstate, 8 Melbourne + Geelong. We play 11 away games, so it reasonable to assume that 5 or 6 will be interstate each year. Our 7th interstate game is our own doing, so can hardly complain about that. If the Geelong game is tiring out the players then there really is no hope for them. Conversely we play 10 home games in Melbourne, so assume that roughly 5 will be against interstate teams each year. We've had home games against both Richmond and Collingwood in consecutive years so can hardly complain about not getting Essendon and Hawthorn as well. It seems as though some people don't want to play the interstate teams away due to the travel factor AND don't want to play them home due to the poor crowds. Short of going back to an amateur, Victorian-only competition, I'd love to hear how this can be avoided.

I hope the Dees take my suggestion of the last few years and invite umpires advisers to attend our club and advise what is wrong with our techniques. We seem to be called to play on often from mates and free kicks that then means we are off balance and structures are not formed. We give away free kicks for tackling and do not get frees when tackled high or in the back. Tripping also seems to be ignored. Maybe we are clumsy. Anyway invite the umpires and treat them as wise gods even. Show them over emphasised respect and build a cooperative and friendly relationship. Treat them as and make them our friends. Maintain that relationship not by criticising them but asking them for support all season to overcome our problems.

Our certain win will mark the start of our Deenasty.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines!

FWIW - Got it from the very top of medical today. They were asked to have a look at him and believe they are a chance to get him right. Still a 50/50 proposition once the loads begin

Best Bets: Flemington Race 2 No.1 Flit $2.60 (W) Flemington Race 9. No. 4 Pippie $5.50 (W) Rosehill Race 5 No. 2 Miss Invicible $3.60 (W) Flemington Race 6 No. 7 Sartorial Splendor $5.50 (Plc) Rosehill Race 9 No. 3 Outrageous $2.90 (W) 821/1 for the 5 leg multi. Have a great Darby Day folks and please post any thoughts, observations or give mes as you see them throughout the day. May the horse be with you.

This settles it for me then, we definitely made the right decision! ? EDIT: Adding my two cents May and Lever were need based trades, Lever in particular was being courted by lots of clubs and at the times was considered one of the best prospects as a long term defender. We got unlucky with him injuring his knee and it's completely stuff his time so far with us. BUT when he's been out there you can see why we got him. He reads the ball extremely well and with a full pre-season under his belt will be massive to our prospects of improving. May we all know what happened with him, and he should be doing everythng in his power to pay back the club for essentially a lost year because of his poor fitness base when returning to the club. Again though when he got out on the park you could see he's quality. He's got probably another 2-3 years of top quality footy in him which is what the club considers to be our prime window of opportunity. Those two playing together could be the difference for us. As for Harmes as mentioned above given his age bracken it's likely he was being courted by other clubs with long term offers on the table. If Port had poached him next year on a 4 year deal I bet you he would've been gushing praise. But Cornes himself is all about negative press though, it seems rare for him to praise a decision by any club instead sinking the boots into teams with hindsight statements.

If Cornes doesn't think other clubs would offer Harmes a 4-year deal when his contract ends in 2020 then he doesn't understand how good and how valuable Harmes is. I have little doubt other clubs came knocking for his signature at trade time. We have closed the door on them with this contract. I'm guessing other club interest is a reason he got the 4 year extension. I'm also guessing he will be on good coin. Harmes said “It took a little while, but we got there in the end – both parties are happy,” You don't come 3rd in the Bluey in a Prelim year and back it up with 4th the next and be prepared to accept small change after the so called 'big' name and 'lesser' name imports have been paid. I don't usually get fixated about player salaries but if the figures mooted for Langford and Tomlinson are anything to go by then Harmes would be well within his rights to want to be in that range. And, just for the record those two received 5 year and 4 year contracts respectively. If Cornes checked I'm sure he would find these medium term contracts commonplace now and not just for the 'household name' players he mentioned.

If Harley is able to fully recover from his injury, with the talent he possesses, I'm happy for him to take as long as it takes to get him back on the park.

My very amature take > If it takes 48 days to get over a grade 3 calf tear SF....add 2 to 3 weeks as it was surgery. That's about 10. When was his last opp? DC says July although he had two rounds. Was that his last round? 10 weeks from July...that's a full (standard citizen's) recovery by about mid Sept. Are we safe to assume he might be fine to begin light loading nowish (ie: 6 weeks further on). But lets say we are all wrong/dates are out on the last opp (recovery longer etc) and he wont be ready to do anything till 3rd Dec. Add two to three weeks for initial loads. Say another 4 to get him to a level ready for a full pre-season (and possibly a staggered stepped up one on a non-normal program over about 10 weeks to be super conservative). Normal pre-season say approx 6 weeks. Bennell's is say 10. That's 17 weeks.(approx) from the 3rd. That's about 31 March. Then he would need to ease in at VFL level progressively. Say 4 weeks. Add say three weeks for a minor setback.... That puts him available at about 24th May Rnd 10 vs the Doggies on a Sunday.

LOVE THIS STUFF! Any cheap media hits like this from guys who get headlines is good for us. Especially targeted at particular players. AFL players shouldn't need any further motivation but its nice to have little things like this to stir a little bit. Harmes is arguably our most competitive player (along with Jetta and Viney probably) and anything that will fuel the fire is welcome. Thanks Chad.

Ignoring that it's Cornes who is actually saying it, it's a valid opinion for someone to hold. If you aren't a Melbourne supporter (or you are one that is capable to being critical of the club) you would understand this view. It's an opinion. The May deal really depends on if the club is competing for a flag in the next 3 years. If we aren't it's a shocker.

No worries Kane you are entitled to your opinion. If May has a good year and Harmes gets back to his best, watch that opinion change. BTW, Kane, how have Curnow, Polec, Wingard and even Greene gone, since getting their long term deals, which you say are ok?

Well, it looks likely, unless we stuff up completely, we should get 2 very good players if we keep 3 and 8.

Actually, Howe was the marking equivalent of Frost when he was with us. I lost count of the number of times he would take an amazing mark in defense, go back and kick it directly to the opposition. He always wanted to go to the club he barracked for as a kid, nothing was going to stop that. Ben Kennedy was the sad part of that trade but perhaps that was the best we could do, at least it rid is of Toumpas at the same time and got us pick 29. Strangely, pick 29 was a key part of getting Clayton Oliver since we traded 6 & 29 for 3 that year (along with a lot of other complicated deals) As for Lever, let's just wait and see. When he gets even a little continuity he looks a cut above everyone around him. It's possible that injury will cruel his career but if it doesn't he is going to be s star, no doubt.

Am I the only one who fears that this team, whilst probably not that far off the 22 that will play, is incredibly underwhelming? I think our only way forward is with blokes like Sparrow, Joel Smith, KK and some of the other kids being part of the team? vanDenberg clearly best 22 as well.

How the feck they got Membrey as an A Grader?

Some say our draw is not great commercially but I never really get caught up in that. Sure maybe our draw could be better but that is our lot at the moment and winning is the answer to everything. Win and they will come. How many more people will come to our first home game in R2 if we happen to upset the Eagles R1? How many more if we are in the top 4 when the Anzac Day eve and Queens Birthday games roll around? Just win and everything works out

Is your workplace the Central Hotel or Courthouse? If so, yes. A number of times.

Fun game Scooter.... no cheating here Jamie Elliot v MFC: 7 goals from 6 games below Mitch Brown v MFC: 2 goals from 3 games above Josh Jenkins v MFC: 11 goals from 8 games below Tom Papley v MFC: 7 goals from 4 games below Eddie Betts v MFC: 36 from 20 games above Josh Walker v MFC: 2 goals from 3 games above Dan Butler v MFC: 1 goal from 3 games below Daniel Menzel v MFC: 14.5 goals from 6 games - would bloody well always snag about 3/4 so, below Josh Bruce v MFC: 15.2 goals from 9 games below Mason Wood v MFC: 7 goals from 3 games above Freddie Clutterback v MFC: 0 goals from 0 games Levi Casboult v MFC: 6 goals from 5 games above Aside from Eddie, most of mine have gone on "if i rate them, below, if i don't above".

Based on us having the feral season we just had, but still nearly knocking them off over there (I actually think we were robbed from recollection) I think we are absolutely a chance. Our recent against WC record in Perth would actually be something like 2 from 4 games, (including the Prelim where a somewhat shagged MFC took on a super fresh and rested WC). Our Demons need to come out with venom in their veins against the West Coast Cheaters.

Profile picture doesn't check out.

This fixture is a shocker. SO many media "analysts" are saying it's a good draw because we play side who were weak this year twice. So what? They start out by exhausting our side with a trip to Perth to play in the hottest part of the day, then a six day break and back to play the runner's up from last season meaning we are pretty well guaranteed to start off 0-2 and bottom of the ladder. The majority of our home games are against interstate sides meaning our crowds will be small and revenue low. This is compounded by putting us in the Sunday afternoon slot more than any other team. They will then use our low crowd numbers to justify not giving us any decent slots the year after as well. It's possible that we'll recover from the first two rounds and do ok on the ladder, but we'll be relying on two matches to make up the financial loss we take on the rest and break even for the year.

Pity you’ve missed the last decade. In that period, we’ve won 3 flags, made another grand final, and featured in 2 prelims. Missed the 8 only once - bad draw, and horrible run with injuries. We’ve played truly dynamic football for most of this time. It was quite an incredible 11year period. Without doubt, we’ve been the envy of the competition - other club officials and supporters have been praying for us to collapse on the basis of our remarkable success. And yet, some here don’t seem to think we a lock for the top 4 in 2020 ...

I'm taking that as after effectively 5 years out of the game, a first seemingly successful surgery in July and a second (other leg) a month or so later, her will be back running in November, taking 6-7 months to slowly ramp to fitness, get some kms in the legs and a block of VFL under his belt. I really don't think that is a surprise. Imagine the value and spark he could add in the back half of the season coming into finals.

By in large i agree with this analysis: MELBOURNE First six weeks It’s hard to look past those first two games: West Coast in Perth and the Giants at the MCG. It opens up a little after that, with games against Fremantle (MCG), St Kilda (Marvel Stadium) and Gold Coast (Metricon Stadium) over the following three weeks. Road to September If the Dees are pushing for finals again, they’ve got a good draw to help them late in the season. In the final month, they’ve got three straight games at the MCG against Sydney, Collingwood and Carlton before finishing their home and away campaign against North Melbourne in Hobart. Double-ups Big tick here. The Demons play just one top-six team from this year twice — Collingwood. They also have two games against struggling Gold Coast, while they also face bottom-10 teams Fremantle, Adelaide and St Kilda twice. Prime time rating Despite their disastrous 2019 campaign, the Demons have managed to hold on to three Friday night games, albeit one of them is the traditional Anzac Eve game and the other is at the Gabba. The Dees had five prime time games last year. Grade A – The Demons have the third-easiest draw, according to Champion Data, primarily due to their favourable double-up tally. Add in a good run home and a generous prime time allocation – considering their 2019 campaign – and it’s a win for the Dees.

Would you rather play Essendon at docklands? It gives us an extra game at the G and we have games vs Richmond Collingwood and Carlton

Oops. Fortunately it was just a typo and I have indeed booked the right dates!

No "injury" is. But, If he comes to us, along with Langdon and Tomlinson, it will help arrest a possible membership decline. It will create some excitement among the fans and the players, which is good. It will be a club positive. What will temper that during the year, will be if he can't overcome the injuries. But as a few have said, what will we lose, very little. TBH I am as excited about him coming to us as I was with Guy Walker as I expected nothing. Actually that is what we got. This bloke however can have an impact as I said above though.

We played Bombers as home team last year because we were away on Queens Birthday. AFL said years ago that the reason we didn't host Essendon was because we got to host the Pies. So we should theoretically get home games against the Bombers every other year.

Bennell’s ‘calf’ injury problems whilst at Freo were misdiagnosed until recently. What was thought to be a muscular problem was in fact a nerve pathology, which according to current oil, is now sorted. Some would say he has an avenue for legal recompense from Freo. No wonder he’s looking both to reboot and in new pastures. An absolute no-brainer if we can grab him.

that's what happens when you bend over, in my experience.

Well done Moon, you also got my best angle!

That’s fair enough, and in your profession view how do those drugs compare to the damage and destruction done by alcohol?

I’m assuming you mean aside from those “drug users” using caffeine, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs if all sorts..? ?