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I swung by for a brief time late Monday morning. Only a handful still there.Gawn, Brayshaw, Hannan, C Wagner and Chandler completing some fairly serious repetive 100m run thoughs. Bennell was basically alone but fortifying to see him really striding out along the wing with numerous repeat efforts followed by multiple raking 50+ metre drop punts to one of the fitness staff. All class.One can live in hope!

Couldn't have Viney at the presser as it would have taken the focus off Maxy and offered an opportunity for the gutter dwelling journos to question Viney about how disappointed he might be etc I have no doubt Viney would be hurting about the decision but I also have no doubt his number one priority is the success of the MFC

Seems a rather harsh assessment of Yung Blood's fairly positive contribution.

Guys, please get a room

Great highlights, but missed one of his absolute best against Richmond where he tapped the ball over an opponent's head in the middle of the ground, regained control and ended up goaling from 50.

“He just might be the dumbest sonofabi@tch alive, but, he sure can run” - Forrest Gump

Way to miss the joke (again) 58er!!

Seriously though, Clarrie is hit in the mouth by Crouch's shoulder, after Clarrie got rid of the ball and was wide open, when there was no need by Crouch to touch him and Crouch jumped off the ground to hit him and Clarrie coughs up blood from the blow. That has been a suspension every time over the last few years, but no. I actually think Christian has become a parody of himself and the MRP.

Except that he actually seems to have been suspended by Twitter, which based on Drumph's ongoing efforts must take the bigliest immaturity in history for that to ever occur. Although, after scanning the site's guidelines, the suspension of Christian's account may have been due to his Dusty impression on the weekend. Among the Twitter rules: "Impersonation: You may not impersonate individuals, groups, or organizations in a manner that is intended to or does mislead, or confuse others." The Crows seem pretty confused.

First you reply curtly toward another poster and now you harry me in response?

Petty 20 yo can play forward and held his own in the AFL 10 games in 2019 as a key started in the back line and ended as a forward where he kicked 6 goals for the season. He might have kicked 3 or in a game. Correct me if anyone wants to. 197cm tall and has upside plenty of it. IMO he will be used wisely maybe has to wait his turn however don't be surprised if he plays regularly. He will only get better. He has the time to make a name for himself forward or Back. Glad he is on our side. His best stats against St Kilda 12kicks 11 handballs 23 poss 10 marks in 2019. playing back. He kicked 3 goals against the Bulldogs. Good going. Watch this space.

I love it! Forget about mid-season media speculation and distractions about where he will be in 2021. The sole focus is on football in 2020. Great stuff Tracc. No denying it, the stars are starting to align for the MFC!

This inanimate carbon rod.

You mean, who's going to grab the ball, run flat out for 50m, kick at full tilt to no one in particular and then watch it sail over his head for a goal? Or whose going to chase down an opponent then kick it out on the full? Or whose going to break team zoning rules, only to be told off by senior players? Tough call, but I'd rather a disciplined Oscar than Frosty.

I think that’s just his face, man!

Wrong. They're all Mitch Clark.

As good as it is on the replay, it was even better live. He found time and space where there was none and made otherwise very good players look foolish. Robbie was a cut above the league in his day. It always used to irritate me that Keith Greig got so much more recognition... because he played finals. Robbie was def a once in a generation player

Too right. The alternative is stupid, distracting discussion about his chances of signing. Or worse the dreaded 'I leave that stuff to my manager, but I'm sure it will all work out with the manager following up with 'we'll wait till the end of the season'

Spot on red. The key point is he had a choice and elected to bump a player. Who didn't even have the ball. Oliver is super lucky his jaw wasn't broken. If it had been crouch gets six weeks. Ridiculous luck plays such a big role in the punishment. I thought the head was sacrosanct. Makes a complete joke of the AFL's recent strengthening of the concussion protocols. I can't believe there has not been an uproar about this. Shocking decision.

I would offset that by applauding the club for getting the deal done before the season. Petracca looks as though he is about to seriously break out this year. If we didn't get a deal done we would have a handful of clubs offering Petracca serious dollars, which would stress our cap in the next couple of years. So the fact we have managed to lock him away until 2022 is a really good coup. Hopefully by the time Petracca comes out of contract we have other contracts backloaded and have plenty of room for an increased offer for Petracca.

Are you suggesting we are going to miss Frost?

We will miss him this year.

The middle one is definitely Saty

I don't even know what this means. Putting the cart before the horse? Or allowing the tail to wag the dog? And who's the tail and who's the dog?

I liked frosty but you can’t carry players who don’t play to the game plan and who can’t use the footy coming out of the back half, Unfortunately for frosty he didn’t seem to understand his limitations with ball in hand. Obviously May will take the stay at home forward and with Lever floating as an intercept player we may get away with having smith or Hore take the 2nd tall but otherwise Omac will be needed, Which I would be okay with and I think with strong support around him we would see him start to flourish a bit more in the back half.

Sounds like this is actually designed as yet another bag Oscar thread. Getting boring.

Oscar

Good to hear. It's not as though he's been dumped by the club though - he remains one of only 2 official leaders, and is the club's Vice Captain. It feels that the club is getting things right at the moment i.e. it seems to be actively addressing all of the issues which arose last season. I suspect Viney may very well be a better Vice Captain than a Captain - it just seems to be more his role.

2013: "Sellar bags five as Demons open pre-season account!!!" https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/sellar-bags-five-as-demons-open-preseason-account-20130303-2fely.html

Takes a bit of pressure of the young fella imv and, barring injury, should see him return to (or very near) his best. If it was me i would be very flattered and honored to know my team mates and coaches voted me into this important role.

Good point LDVC on the 2 year term requirement by Petracca - perfectly understandable. But the huge upside for the club in this deal , is that he will absolutely pull out all stops to have a stellar few seasons to 2022, then at the age of 26- ish and a huge payday, deservedly, beckons. I suspect that won't be the key motivation next to team success and camaraderie, but all incentives help. And if the club has to pay him a Mill. from 2023 imagine what he will have done to deserve this! This player could be the highlight for supporters this season.

Frost made mistakes in the first quarter but had a very good final 3 quarters last week IMO, and the Hawks supporters across the forums were more than satisfied with his performance. A good pick up for the Hawks and potentially a bad loss for us if May continues his injury prone stint with us, we get the 2019 version of O Mac and Lever doesn't become the star we were expecting.

Great news to hear ,looks like he has really lifted his attitude and it showed against the crows.He is the closest player i have ever seen to Ronald Dale

In a perfect world the replacement for Frost is Hunt. Backmen such as Lever mark the ball give off to Hunt who breaks the zone by running 15-20 metres and delivers to players running onto the ball. Fast and damaging transition. Pity Hunt seems to have lost his mojo

If he's worth it he'll get the big $$ offer from us. He's with us for the next 3 seasons at least, that's good enough for me

It’s a signing of faith on both parts in my opinion. I’m presuming (of course) the club know what he is capable of yet aren’t willing to offer a long term contract on huge money - and rightly so. His management also know what he is capable of yet know he hasn’t lived up to that potential as yet...but this signing takes him to free agency. It’s no doubt fair on both parties, leads him into a potential long term, big bucks deal at Melbourne provided he performs...or else allows him to explore his options after 2022 if it doesn’t all work out..

Wow. I get a lecture on Video Editing now 32 Years editing at Ripponlea and Southbank Directing a film is easy, just point and shoot... Right ok ? Yes the Media Team is recruited from outside, that’s why i made the original comment I may well know their work I will wait for the credit roll... Point and shoot is easy...Maybe you are thinking of the Army again....

I did like watching Frosty play, but with my heart in my mouth at times, I can admit that I was surprised when he was let go so relatively easily. I think it is obvious that the Football Department sees far more upside in Omac rather than Mr Frost. I guess that's what they get paid to do Go Dees 2020

YEAHHHHH!!!!!

Well he’s got to put in three cracking seasons if he wants to cash in big with FA. Hopefully we will have a couple of flags by then with his input. He has put the pressure on himself to perform by taking this deal.

I love the fact that Petrac signed before the season because of the hype that he will have on him when tearing sides to shreds. He had a semi breakout season in the second half of the season in 2019 and this year he will crank it up. We locked him in which is fantastic and for now l can sleep easy.

One of these things?

He will be worth much more as a dual premiership player by then

I don't buy the idea that we must be within spitting distance of the MCG; even if that is the Club's stance, it certainly doesn't necessarily make it right. Hawthorn, moved from their spiritual home at Glenferrie to Waverley where they've enjoyed great growth and success. Next move is to to Dingley, again, nothing to do with Hawthorn and its history, but is ultimately the right thing to do. Essendon couldn't get the Windy Hill Lawn Bowls club to bend over for them, so they left their spiritual home and headed to a new base in Tullamarine. Collingwood left Vic Park, which was not a popular decision at the time and Fremantle move from Sth Freo oval to Cockburn. Brisbane have moved from Brisbane to Springfield, even GWS is out in Blacktown, miles away from their home ground. Some people are seeing this issue as stubbornly as the MFC saw professionalism in the 70s.

Well the club hasn't sat on its hands after the disastrous 2018 - new captain, new senior assistant coach, new fitness manager, 3 new senior recruits (Langdon, Tomlinson, Brown), taken an uncharacteristic but welcome risk with Bennell, traded up to have 2 early first round picks. Mahoney and Goodwin are the main constants from last year and I appreciate that some here would have had them first out the door. I don't believe in changing everything at once, you need some continuity and I'm a big believer in Mahoney and Goodwin. It will be interesting to see how we go - their reputations and jobs are on the line.

Weid really enjoyed it, I asked, 19 touches and all over the ground, could be the making of him

We were able to watch a replay of the Collingwood match. They put all 4 quarters up as separate segments on the website. With commentary and all.

Loved how dangerous he looked at stoppages in the forward half. Imagine when big Gawn is there to Tap to advantage. My eye was drawn to him like Eddie or Cyril