Leaderboard

Remember kids: This match means nothing if we lose, but we are premiership favourites if we win. There is no in between.

Weid is reminding me a lot of Gawn prior to his break out game against Geelong. Reads the ball, gets to the rights spot, beats his man... does all of the hard stuff... drops the ball. In the space of one match, Gawn changed that and hasn’t looked back. I’m backing Weid in and thought that for a player playing a long way from his position, he carried himself well today.

Petracca.... holy smokes

That was a good, solid hitout. There was plenty to like and some aspects that could still be considered a worry. Petracca was the clear standout. His efforts through the middle and up forward were nothing short of sublime. He has taken his game to the next level and has clear X-factor, something our side can lack at times. Of the rest, I thought Lever was good down back, Oliver got plenty of it and the 'twin towers' - McDonald and Brown - were still able to combine for six goals, even though both went missing for large parts of the game. Brown had the better first half, Tom Mac had a much better second half. Viney looks much fitter and both Langdon and Tomlinson brought something positive to the side, especially Langdon. Jones was fantastic as well until he got injured. I think there is a spot for him at half forward this season. Of the worries - our movement inside 50 is very much 'chaos' ball. When we lower the eyes we can hit targets well, but we still love to bomb it in long and it often doesn't work out. To go with this, when the ball comes out quickly, our defensive transition is still an area of worry. There were times when the Crows moved the ball way too easily and made us pay. You would hope both of the above can continue to be worked on throughout this pre-season, but it still gives us a little cause for concern. Last two points - we ran out the game superbly, showing some improved fitness, and a shout out to Tom Sparrow. I think he has a future. 16 odd touches, 7 tackles and a goal. I liked his game. Lastly - Weid had a bit of a shocker, however, he still had 20 hit outs and 18 (!) touches. When he is playing in his preferred position he can still be something good for us.

Max Gawn will make a great captain no doubt and will lead by example. However some of us are quick to kick Viney in the guts by saying that they never liked him as captain because of his demeanor. Viney gives his all although he had problems with his foot he battled through it and managed to help us win some vital games in 2018. In the finals he gave his all and lead from the front. Viney outpointed Selwood in the finals which was great to watch and went a long way in us winning.. A real Melbourne boy that burns in his guts. Gawn or Viney or both as captain it wouldn't matter. They lead on and off the ground by example. .

I think the tallest player should be captain because everyone has to look up to him.. so Max for captain and The Pruess dude for vice

The world is a very different place and the expectations of 18-30 year olds is poles apart from what it used to be. There is a place for “watch me do this tough thing” leadership, like Viney has, but you don’t need a title to be that person. Any teammate can inspire that way. The majority of today’s player generation need much more rounded leadership and want to feel listened to and supported. From interacting briefly with Jack personally and watching him talk in the media he just isn’t that rounded leader and he doesn’t have warmth or immediate connection to others. He projects as not that bright and super focussed on what he is doing. I’m guessing with no direct evidence he would be the sort of leader who may berate a teammate for a mistake rather than encourage them to keep going - a very dangerous approach unless you are 100% infallible yourself. I’ve had some brief interactions personally with Gawn, one sticks out from 2015 family day before he had his now massive profile where he was immediately engaging and great with my then seven year old daughter who had no idea who he was. Gawn from how he talks clearly has much broader perspective, genuine humour (which generally makes people like you), can give inspiring speeches, and while not a MENSA candidate has Viney covered there. Plus by the nature of being a ruck his onfield role has the advantage of heavily being focussed on bringing his teammates into the game with his hit outs or giving them a chop out by drifting back to help in the backline. Similar to my guess on Viney as I don’t have direct evidence, Gawn strikes me as one who would set high standards but also is engaging enough to build enough rapport that teammates would be OK taking criticism from him, and he would also support teammates to get better and keep their confidence up when they inevitably make a mistake. To me Gawn as captain vs. Viney is a no brainer.

Spewed up on Tom Scully in China and now soul captain... Its a big yes from me.

As predicted, Mitch Brown will be a very handy pickup and helps fills the void left by Pedersen.

Last time we played a VFL side against the Bombers was round 2 in 2013 and we got spanked by 148 points. We’re improving.

Vanders may not have great stats, but he hit hard, stopped a lot of Crows forward movements and when he kicked he generally hit a target. I thought he was good.

Petracca was a beast. The way he flew for that grab was so commanding. The fend offs, the side steps, the grunt horsepower he blast from packs with. OMG He’s going have some year.

Never really found many places that I liked that showed the games with volume up here in the fun free city, but I’ve just taken over as licensee of the Botany View in Newtown so if any Sydney based dee’s fans ever want to watch our beloveds I’ll always have at least one section of the pub with the game on and volume. Let yourself known to me and I’ll quite possibly help you out with some tasty snacks as well to wash the bevvies down ??

This comes across as quite pompous and naive. Viney had a bad year last year coming back from injury. He is a Demon through and through. Just like all of us here. This, along with the toughness that very few have, is surely enough to have you and anyone else show respect. The boy is one of us. He just gets to live our dreams as opposed to post about it. Don't bag him ffs. Look after and be proud of him.

Weid became more effective as the game wore on. He was good in the final qtr. The important point is that he rucked all day, and he negated their advantage. Credit where credit is due. Jackson showed that he can give a chop out. In the first half his ruck work was promising.

Petracca is definetly getting drug tested after that.

It's been 182 days but Footy's Back!

Weid played a great game. Hes a 196cm key forward who had to ruck the whole game against a 202cm genuine ruckman. Once Gawn and Pruess come back in Weid give us another option up forward alongside Brown and McDonald.

Nice game from Jones. Hope those that have written the champ off take note.

Good to see ANB spent all of 3 seconds over summer working on his crippling fumbling deficiency.

They all looked pretty good by the end of the game. I know it's only preseason and they weren't going 100%, but made me remember Burgess' comments in "To Hell And Back" about standing next to your opponent and knowing you'd put in more work than them and would outlast them (or words to that effect).

I thought Lockhart, Sparrow and leader in the making Lever were all pretty good today.

A lot to like in that game, I thought we were better as the day went on. A lot to do with fitness but we became less fumbly too. Petracca would have received the 3,2 and 1 votes he was that good. Weid got his hands on plenty but just couldn't stick them, if he had have held onto 3 or 4 of those marks he would have had a good game. Add Gawn to that lineup and we win by a lot more, they had a big advantage in the ruck. T McDonald will be better for the run, the longer the game went, the better he became. O McDonald basically not mentioned on here, which is about the highest praise the poor bloke gets. I wince every time AVB tackles someone, it looks like it really hurts. Can't wait for the real stuff to start.

Weid was solid playing out of position. If he had clunked 3 or 4 of those marks when he had first hands on the ball, his game would have gone from 'solid' to very good.

Melbourne had to win that and running the legs off Adelaide like they did in the last quarter will give them belief that Burgess knows his stuff.

Happy with Sparrow's game.

The sky is falling already!

Getting ready to go, can’t wait. Just shows I need a life!!!

Clearly a win would be preferable but above all else I just want to see Vandenberg back amongst it and to get through unscathed. I just loved watching the brute this bloke put out on the park and can’t wait to see it again. It’s been a while!

You're just a caricature of yourself now. Whatever the club did you would have had a crack. If they had've stuck with Viney or gone co-captains it would've been "typical conservative Melbourne, too scared to take a chance on someone who has a bit of character, too scared to back themselves in and admit they made a mistake appointing Viney as captain, still stuck in the old Hollywood Boulevard days etc etc"

He was $501 before today's effort.

27 contested possessions. ? 7 Tackles ? 645 meters gained ?

Easily the best, and most rounded, game he has played for us. I'm confident he can replicate it during the season. The one thing that stands out are his clean hands. He rarely, if ever, fumbles. If he is in the vicinity then he is winning the ball.

Tracc 38 Disposals, 7 Tackles, 3 Goals Strong sign

Darren Burgess!

People aren't seriously potting Weid for having to ruck all game? Gee wiz.

It's not Viney's fault, he was chucked in the deep end too quickly instead of being able to grow into the role. He is a "jump on my back and follow me" leader (witness his game vs WCE 2017 the TMac winning goal one) but needs to develop his emotional intelligence or whatever you might want to call it. Gawn as captain with Viney as vice captain is a great combo and Viney should regain the captaincy down the track I would have thought. Also channel 7 can get stuffed, instead of "Gawn appointed captain" being the headline it's "Viney loses captaincy" - always looking to create a crisis.

God I love seeing these topics I'll be playing cricket (fresh if a man of the match 2/3, 2 clutch catches and a 13* to steer the innings home) but can't wait to watch the replay

A incredibly significant game for me and my family. This was our terminally ill mum’s last game. As four generation Demon family, we went with mum every week. On this day as we walked with her slowly through the car park after Robbo had done the business, she quietly said “that’s it boys, I’m done. That will be my last game, but what a wonderful way to finish with a win like that” (against our mortal black and white foes)! She was gone a few months later, but we will always remember this day. Go Dees!

Getting absolutely murdered by the umps.

Love watching Petracca and Oliver together in the middle

How is May everything you need in a leader? Rocked up to the club in disgraceful shape then went on the [censored] when he was injured. Not to mention he can't get on the park.

A lot to look forward to today. Main watch is Trac, interested to see how much time he spends in the middle.

Seriously if Supporters want a Social Club make the MFC Canteen, that works everyday big enough to also hold functions. Build the Facility wisely. i would visit a Social Club maybe once a year, but if we start winning I may be enticed to go more often. I am far more invested getting an elite Training Facility If we are winning Finals at The ‘G, then that’s where the beers ? will be flowing.

The Gawn yawn

Should have been made captain then and there.

1 Captain 1 Road to Travel 1 Goal to achieve This is the right call for the Club as a whole. Max is a Leader. He shows it Jack can still play an absolute pivotal role But Max is the one. his speeches at The B&F are always focused Team mates will work with him The number 11 Jimma will be proud

Soft, indeed! I drive from Adelaide (from the southern coast 40 kms southwest of the city) to Melbourne for many games during the season, a round-trip of about 22 hours, at least, with the handbrake providing particular instructions on the route, the speed, the distances to go, the meal breaks, the traffic flow and the price of fuel - every five minutes for the entire journey. . How's that for being an avid Dees fan?