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I don't have anything to add but just wanted my turn at typing Petracca's name.

What a cracker. When Harley got the call and when Kozzie was helped through the crab walk - goosebumps. Brilliant episode. Well done.

Langdon and Tomlinson were excellent today. I think Tomlinson took 6 or 8 marks today simply by holding his position. I love that he doesn't get sucked into the contest and has the discipline to play his role. He will consistently provide us with an option and his team mates will have confidence in him because they'll know he's where he is supposed to be. Langdon's run was very impressive.

Whilst you all debate our draft order, why don’t you just read the real thing?? They gave it away in the video which I think is an error... Anderson not Top 5 Rowell, Jackson, Green, Young, Robertson

I did not see the game but I reckon from what I have read some are being a bit harsh on the Weid. Pressed into service as a ruckman is not an easy gig and it appears he held his own. Some reports suggest he was at worst equal to the Crows ruckman. I have been critical of him but appears he did the job yesterday. Let's judge him as a forward when plays there.

fitter-faster-petracca-closes-in-on-new-deal It would be great to have him signed up early in the season, eliminate external speculation and allow him and the team to focus on getting us back up the ladder.

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

That bit with Kozzie at the beach was almost enough to bring a tear to a glass eye. I'm loving the cameraderie.

I’m going. I hope Burgess is signing autographs.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but generally if a player is getting that much pill they will look stuffed by the end of the game. Petracca looked like he did it on his ear, just going through the motions. He's in for a huge year.

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.

I admit to be a card carrying pessimist and cynic but I have to confess being a tiny bit excited by the way the Club is going about it - and this was on show in the second half against the Crows where the intensity really amped up. The first episode was meh but the last two have been great viewing. Well done to the media department.

The smile on Goody's face watching the highlight of Kozzy when he sprints to shepherd/tackle that bloke.

Melbourne unveiled its top recruits with new fitness boss Darren Burgess and mid-sized bull Christian Petracca sharing top billing in the team’s Marsh Community Series opener in front of 3,095 football starved fans at Casey Fields and thousands of others watching on screens of various shapes and sizes. What they saw was a different Melbourne to the one that failed to run out its JLT Series games last year and then crashed in a heap early in the season proper with performances lacking the zest and energy of the pressure team that made a preliminary final with the promise of much more to come. The Titanic-like fall from grace had left us all questioning which was the aberration — the highs of 2018 or the lows of 2019? Against the Crows, albeit a team one doesn’t fancy as a major challenger this year, the Demons finished off their first test strongly pulling away against the breeze in the final term to win by 33 points — something we didn’t see at all in 2019. And for that Burgess, the coaches and players must all take credit. What the fans also saw was the Petracca they’ve been waiting for since he was picked at number two in the 2014 national draft. He was one of Melbourne’s best and most consistent performers last year but he’s worked hard over the pre season, refined his body shape and produced a monster of a game first up with 38 touches (27 contested) and three goals, taking big grabs and executing strong bone-shattering tackles on unsuspecting opponents. And he kept it up all day (never before has he recorded 30 plus possessions) whether in the midfield or up forward as the hapless Crows had no answer to his attack on the football. The Demons simply had to be better than the lacklustre outfit of 2019. They welcomed back a number of players who had limited or no games last year as well as five players donning the red and blue for the first time. Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson were brought in to add outside run that was missing last year and showed they will be welcome additions to the ranks while Mitch Brown (three goals) looks a likely bargain basement key forward acquisition. Live wire recruit Kysaiah Pickett was quiet but produced a minute and a half of wizardry up forward while Luke Jackson began his journey acclimatising in a number of roles. His time will come too. The Demons made a patchy start with the wind in the first quarter and paid the price for their early inaccuracy as they trailed at the main break but, as the game went on, they seemed to recover their lost ability to convert and score goals. It was former skipper Nathan Jones who recorded the opening goal and he finished with three after alternating between half back and half forward, coming off with a leg injury which coach Simon Goodwin assures us was just “a corky in the shin”. Jake Lever was solid with his intercept marking and the club should thrive with a full season from the mustachioed defender. A knee injury soured Tom McDonald’s season just as he was returning to form last year and it took him half a game to brush off the cobwebs to end up with three majors. Sam Weideman also returned and did a good job holding the fort for the injured Max Gawn. He is the likely back up ruck foil for the big man and will also fill a tall forward role. The Demons will be waiting for Max’s return along with Steven May, Angus Brayshaw, Bayley Fritsch and defender Joel Smith who, like Aaron vandenBerg missed all of last year. The latter made a pleasing return with his customary tough approach which involved the application of eight crunching tackles. It was the tackling and relentless pressure that was a hallmark of Melbourne’s success when it climbed into the finals and though it’s early days yet, the signs are there that it’s all coming back and that the Demons are ready to prove 2019 was just an aberration. Melbourne 3.6 5.7 11.10 15.13 (103) Adelaide 2.0 7.4 9.7 10.10 (70) Goals Melbourne Brown Jones T McDonald Petracca 3 Langdon Pickett Sparrow Adelaide Crocker Davis 2 B Crouch Himmelberg Jones Murphy Stengle Wilson Best Melbourne Petracca Oliver Viney Jones Langdon Weideman Adelaide Milera B Crouch Atkins M Crouch R O'Brien Gibbs Injuries Melbourne Jones (leg) Adelaide Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Umpires Wallace Haussen Hosking Fleer Official crowd 3,095 at Casey Fields

Not enough mentions of Lockhart, Sparrow and especially our leader in the making in Jake Lever who mopped up everything that came his way.

Wow that one was by far the best of the lot....

They know what he is worth surely . Get it done . Its Trac time

A lot to like from that game. When Weed was at CHF in the last he looked good very comfortable he will do well this year. Jones looked like he was enjoying himself. Please sign trac to a big deal this week. What impressed was we were even across the ground with few obvious shockers and more importantly we ran out the game the much fitter team. It became obvious in the last we would not be run down even as we went against the wind. The coaches have got the pre season right which bodes well for a decent year.

Just watched. Pretty pleasing, particularly (not even gonna mention CP5) the workrate and fitness, the performance of all the newbies, and of those we hardly saw last year. Kosi is super exciting, Langdon the running link we needed, Tomlinson all class (reading the play, decision making and outstanding disposal). Mitch Brown surprising. Vanders a welcome sight, Melksham also, Spargo worked his [censored] off, as did Weid and Lockhart (and yes, they all played well), Sparrow will be a core player in the future, hello Jake Lever, and Nathan Jones ain’t done by some margin. Get the other 4 first 22 boys in, have a reverse on last year for injuries, and the sky’s the limit.

Friday afternoon's intraclub match against North Melbourne. Peter Ryan in The Age not quite grasping the meaning of "intraclub".

At first, I couldn’t see why we were after Tomlinson to play on the wing, as he doesn’t have the speed of a Langdon. But remembering his finals series for GWS, I realised that we had picked him up largely for his intercept ability. We lost out so often on rebound 50s last season, because we had no one to take a grab on the wing, we were constantly outmarked each week. Hopefully with Tomlinson, our set up to rebound after an opposition clearance will be much improved this year.

As late as 4.40pm yesterday, some Saints fans were trying to tell me that they didn’t regret the fact that their recruiters picked Patrick McCartin as the number one ahead of Tracc. They even had a thread going on Saintsational about it. Here’s a quote from poster “Linton Lodger”:- “No thanks. Fat and overrated”. Another from “Saynta”:- “In a word. NO”. ?

The point hit the post too, so could easily have been 4 straight. He's completely overhauled his kicking style on the set shots. Low ball drop and a much lower trajectory kick. I think he spent a few hours on that over the break. Things I noted in particular: Kossie right at the beginning of the game was involved in our back pocket chasing and tackling. The ball then went to our forward line on the opposite corner of the ground, where remarkably Kossie chased several players through a handball chain before forcing the stoppage (can't remember if he tackled the guy in play or over the line). It took me a while to realise that he's been on the opposite side of the ground for the beginning of that passage. Great work ethic from the little guy. Lever took three great defensive marks early to steady us down. His kicking wasn't great though. Oliver seems to be hesitating and it caused issues a few times. I'm wondering if his instructions run counter to his natural game? Jackson struggled and he's not taking the ball first grab yet. He did show a few little flashes of awesome though. He had one spectacular moment in the ruck where he timed his leap just right and rode on top of the other guy. Weed fought really hard. The ruck was always going to be a problem today and he managed to neutralise a number of contests and even win some. Langdon is going to be gold for us on the wing. He ran all day and crossed contests at speed to be the receiver. Very solid game. Didn't notice Tomlinson as much. I did notice Sparrow in the second half and he looks like he's going to be pretty decent. Good pace and a great build. There were a lot of fumbling players out there for us too. A few more games to get the pace and touch back and we should see another step up in quality as those little issues go away.

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 don't bet personally, but Petracca is at $81 for the Brownlow. Just saying.

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

Petracca.... holy smokes

Fitter, faster Petracca closes in on new deal with Melbourne

“This is the best I’ve felt in three or four years, so if we can keep the momentum going we should be good.” Aaron vandenBerg made a successful return to footy yesterday afternoon. ? ?: vandenBerg feeling fit after long-awaited return

I was waiting for Jason Taylor to tell Goody to get his bare feet off his coffee table

I can see no value in delaying these matters. If the involved parties can reach an agreement, do it and move on.

I wish there were another 20 episodes of this. It's ripping stuff. That effort to help Kozzie over the line was gripping, and it fills the heart with pride as a supporter to see them get around him and support him right through to the end.

Stats don't tell the whole story, but I seriously don't know how anyone could refer to 2018 as the aberration. There are absolutely no excuses this year - we have good reason to be optimistic.

YES. I thought Weeds played a very selfless and keen game, some of his handballs were excellent and set up the play. I didn't mind him there at all. Brown is an opportunist but has very very good awareness and goal sense. A very "Canny" pick up! Cant understand how Injectiondon let him go!! I really liked Sparrow as well, CREATIVE, BRAVE, will play plenty of games I feel Langdon is a very smart and capable footballer with great speed and makes Good Decisions. Tomlinson also is a great pick up. I have to say...... I thought OSCAR didn't do a bad job at all. Even though Spargo is not rated by me he did a few "Nice things" Still Slow and cannot kick over a jam tin! Trac was Excellent, Clarry , Creative and Viney and Jones were also good. Plenty to get excited about!! Kossy some serious talent and Jacko gee, this bloke will be anything .... !! Vanders has some serious X Factor!! Lever very composed also Add Max Fritta and May to the side and you almost have......... Premiership material!!!!!!!

Went along for the first time with my girls and they had a great day out. Highlight of the day was, of course, the face painting. That's what my four year old says anyway. The heat was pretty oppressive but there was enough shade around when you needed a break. All the players were friendly and approachable. Waited close to an hour in the line to get Max to sign my daughters jumper, but the wait was worth it. The way he interacts with the fans, from young kids through the older generation, is first class. There is a reason why he is likely to be installed as captain. There was plenty to do and lots of freebies given out as the day went on. Overall the club did a great job with it and we'll be back next year. At one stage there was a game going on where two players were getting rolled up in bandages. As the pressure mounted I saw ANB fumble his bundle of bandages and drop them on the stage floor. Classic.

Shades of a young Jeff White

I reckon it was Vanders' best game for a while!

I liked Jackson’s intent at getting the ball. Just a small observation. When he was contesting centre bounces there were a couple of occasions when the ball went forward our way off hands and he took off chasing it really fast, even outran our mids to it after jumping. On both occasions he didn’t win the ball as the Crows back flankers beat him to it. The slightly more experienced O’Brien ran the other way and ended up being on the end of it at half forward. No concern there, as I’m sure he will learn when to go for the ball and when to follow his direct opponent. I was mainly fascinated by his agility and instinct to compete.

Or Clarrie will be cited for taking a dive!

Best sign was the turnovers we created in the forward half. That’s a return to what made us so dangerous in 2018. And I have always thought that players like Petracca and Martin are so damaging because they can win contested footy but have the strength and talent to escape or power through the contest and get the ball well forward. 27 CPs and 645 metres gained is mouth watering.

Weid did very well in an unfamiliar role. Stepped up with both Gawn and Preuss out. Well done to him. Round 1 is going to be very interesting. I think we will only play one of Weid and Luke Jackson. (This is assuming Gawn is back).

Also remember Tomlinson only started training with the main group a few weeks ago so it might take him a little longer to gel with the team. We finally have wingmen.

He also told them not to hunch over when finishing a run. "Never show the opposition you're tired". Didn't see any of our players with hands on knees today. They looked really fit. Also, Clarrie copped a pretty nasty bump to the throat and chin which had him on the ground spewing. Anyone else reckon there's a review in it?

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.

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.

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

Petracca is definetly getting drug tested after that.

No Fritsch, Brayshaw, Gawn or May and to still win was a good sign.