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Good news here.. Mark Stevens @Stevo7AFL Steven May on track to play this week in Tassie. Dees fully expect him to make trip, setting up Round 1 appearance @7NewsMelbourne

We could have had Pickett with our first pick but we traded it to Melbourne. Bottom 4 looks like a possibility. Can we get our pick back from melbourne I was surprised we didn't pick Spargo with our 2nd pick of his draft year. JMac picks up the ball, runs into 3 Demons players to get group tackled. Melbourne's pressure around the ball has been very good. Dom Tyson holds up the play before bombing it into the 50. That makes perfect sense when you have Wayne Carey and Corey McKernan down there. Tyson is fine. He's just not elite at anything I still have absolutely no idea why we got Tyson. Was literally the last type of player we needed as part of the trade. Melbourne just ran a training drill for Bedford's goal. I thought Tom McDonald was good in special comments, insightful. Reactive, flat-footed, poorly skilled, undisciplined and poorly structured. Thats 2 weeks in a row, today against a side that was 30% VFL players. Got taken to the cleaners by Melbourne's zippier players. Was bloody excited going into this season. Yeah, I'm not quite as excited anymore. It was very weak. Brayshaw was the only gun in there, supported by guys like Tom Sparrow, James Jordon and Spargo. On the plus side Bailey Fritzl played his annual Gary Ablett Sr game against us. BUT before I microwave the ol' membership I'm assuming the following didn't play?..Higgins, Goldy Cunners, Taz, JZ, BBB, Larkey, Jy, TT, Polecat? For comparison Melbourne was missing Gawn, Oliver, Jones, May, Salem, Petracca, Viney, Lever, Hibberd, McDonald and Jetta.

Another great episode. The Harley Bennell announcement was very special.

Kozzie's hanger over Jacko ? .I'm going to miss these weekly documentaries when they end next week.

Mark Stevens on 7 News has tweeted:- “Steven May on track to play this week in Tassie. Dees fully expect him to make trip, setting up Round 1 appearance.“

Jeez, this thread is like a bloody ghost town. I would’ve thought more D’Landers would be up and about after our girls posted such a massive, 8 point win over the old arch rival, The Filth, under lights and roof at Docklands on a Friday night, as a curtain raiser to a 50,000 spectator State of Origin game. What an awesome victory! If Adelaide can beat the Bloos, and Saints somehow beat Freo tomorrow, our finals chances increase dramatically. If we were to make finals, we could, you know, be a real chance to WIN A FLAG, like it says on that little plan Perty and the board put out the other week! C’mon people, get around OUR team, the bloody MFC for chissakes! RED AND BLUE! Or are they just chicks pretending to play footy?! Sheesh

Geez, the Harley bit got me again! Bleary eyed right now! A 70+ year supporter, and I've never loved this Club more. I'm sure the red wine is contributing, but I'm so excited for this season. Go Dees

Because the club want supporters well and truly liquored up before they watch it.

Just watched the replay and think in Trent Rivers I may have found a new favourite player for the next decade or so. Booming kick to advantage, solid build and just looks a natural footballer

OK, I'd meet ya. You see you bag others for making their personal critiques of the players. And often the players deserve and need critiquing. And respond to critiquing because they, are not so thin skinned to be banged up personally. You wanna meet before or after a game, I'm in. A quiet beer, or a pie in the face who cares. You put it out there. And i'm here. (edit: spelling.)

Geez that kossie mark.. Theres a lot of Jeff Farmer about him..

Indeed it was 3183, lump in the throat moment especially after seeing Langdon give Bennell the biggest hug. Great stuff!

This series is probably the best stuff that our Media people have ever produced. The Preview is tantalizing .... just as it should be!

Completely random... I was playing a game of blackout tonight (online PS4 game) and I was put into a random lobby with Jay Lockhart on my team. Really nice guy, super excited for the year ahead and was vocal about how pumped he was about Maxy being captain.

2nd quarter: 3rd quarter: 4th quarter:

some of the opinions about Hunt have me in the confusion room- again. can we get some facts involved- i know it takes a bit of work- but it lifts the stadard of the discusison. Fact 1- Hunt was second in the goal scoring behind Trac last year Fact 2 - Hunt came 10th in teh B and F, so the club thinks he played better, during the year than 30+ other players Fact 3 - his 24 so has plenty of time to get better, he is just entering the period when AFL players mature and stop doing some of the silly mistakes - yet a lot of people on this post seem to be prepared to write of his whole carreer Fact 4 - "the need for speed" is now treated as a premium - Hunt is fast- his skills can get better - slow players tend not to get fast i for one think he has a bright future at MFC - and that Torpedo is still a highlight for me

Emotional incontinence?

it's not so much a deep dive as it is a regurgitation of the tried and tested themes that have been written since midway through last season one interesting thing is that they don't think goodwin is under much pressure at all; couldn't disagree more the very fact that the red and blueprint demands finals in consecutive seasons from now til 2023 with one premiership immediately puts the pressure on the coach who saw the highs of 2018 end in ignominy and then continue on as abject failure in 2019

I’ve just watched the 4th quarter again especially for Tom McDonalds excellent comments. Quite insightful they were. He’s a pretty smart bloke! Nice to hear his thoughts on Max as captain and the whole leadership affair.

I think North rely on their best players, the issue is that they are senior. Results need to come now. It would have been doubly difficult for North fans "death-riding" our season for an early pick. Either we're better than they thought or their future is horrible.

His 1st involvement in the NM game was a serious tackle, no doubt he needs to recover some of his skills, but he has always had an appetite for the 1% stuff and team 1st attitude. I too thought he was flat after he knocked himself out. Always struck me as humble as well, don't know if that is true or not, but lets get around him and wish him the best.

The kid in that video is an AFL player with great pace. Obviously he is either down on fitness or confidence. Once he regains one or both he will be back. You don't just lose your talent overnight.

There was a fair amount of debate in our area as to whether the game warranted a full blown match report because it was felt that it was really an elevated version of a training session with match simulation but against a team in opposition colours. Although notionally the stronger side, North seemed to be using the occasion for the purpose of working on aspects of their game plan, one of the features of which seemed to be based on taking the longest possible route out of defence and good luck with that — I’m sure it’s not going to be a major feature when the the real thing starts but it explains in part why the Kangaroos were restricted to eight scoring shots. They were lucky that their kicking for goal was fairly good — it was the only part of the game where they were far superior to Melbourne. That’s the background to a game that never reached great heights in terms of quality apart from the performance of Jake Melksham before he departed the game at half time. Angus Brayshaw lifted his game almost to those heights when he went to the middle in the second half after a lacklustre first 40 minutes. He was immediately manhandled by the North on ball division which was a clear mistake — you ruffle his feathers at your own peril. In this case, Gus was stirred into demonstrating, albeit briefly, to all those standing in the shadows of the now non-existent gasometer, the ingredients of a third placed Brownlow finish. Let’s hope that it’s back because it was sorely missed in the Demon midfield in 2019. The area around Arden Street has certainly changed since the 60s and 70s but, despite the million dollar amenity at the southern end of the ground, it still feels like the home of one of the AFL’s poorer clubs. With a decent crowd in place, they didn’t look keen on making dollars from the sale of food to the hungry fans on hand — one of my takeaways from the game therefore is there were no takeaways; not even a single sausage roll! And on the subject of sausage rolls, the last few premiership teams have set the pace in terms of dangerous little men up forward to kick goals and while scoring was at a premium, this seemed to be a focus in yesterday’s game with Kozzie, Toby Bedford, Charlie Spargo and Oskar Baker all featuring around goal with livewire performances. I liked Tom Sparrow’s efforts, particularly in the first half before he was shoved aside in the middle by the Brayshaw cameo. Jay Lockhart is coming on and looks like being understudy to our All Star Nev down back. Mitch Brown was good too although his kicking for goal let him down. A word of commendation to the Casey boys who filled in — a good few of them including the veteran Jimmy Munro and the underrated Mitch Lewis (who always seems to be out with injury) showed they weren’t out of place at this standard which is probably half way between AFL and VFL. The team had no trouble finishing off the game which is again a contrast to 2019 but one of my highlights was Trent Rivers. His form showed why the club’s recruiters were so delighted that he was available at pick #32 in last year’s National Draft. The All Australian Under 18 has pace and, despite one blooper, disposes of the ball efficiently and gets his hands on it often. So they were my takeaways apart from the reasonably good news on the injury front which I mentioned elsewhere. Melbourne 2.4 3.8 6.12 7.13 (55) North Melbourne 2.2 3.2 3.2 5.3 (33) Goals Melbourne Bedford 2 Baker Fritsch Melksham Pickett Spargo Best Melbourne Melksham Brayshaw Spargo Rivers Lockhart Sparrow Bedford Fritsch Lewis (Casey VFL) Munro (Casey VFL)

Good discussion here and I think most of us want to see Hunt back in the team with his pace and burst style of play exciting to watch. If he can regain form, he’ll be a great asset, probably used off the bench. Otherwise he may find trade suitors at year end.

Also got a chuckle when he mentioned Trac saying he is a leader (as all are leaders now) and wants to get into the leadership meetings!!. I have a very good vibe about this year. They all seem to be on the one page, Trac signing on for another 2 years, less injuries and all seem to be getting on with each other and enjoying the pre season. Trust this continues and I reckon we might just surprise a few people this season.

No problem, I will pm you in next few days, 2 home games coming up. I am particular on which type of pie you might wanna place in my face.

Thanks. I taped the game last night. Will now delete.

And satisfying

Frost traded out, now Hunt seemingly out of favour. Will take a big turnaround to un-stamp his papers IMO.

Not really, but we have a chat after training every now and then.

Hunty was one of the first people out there for pre-season coming back with the first to fourth years, and he's rarely missed a training session. I think he's a bit miffed playing with the reserves after all the hard work he's put in on the track over summer. I'm hopeful he'll get his confidence back, because when he was playing HBF in 16/17, breaking lines and doing courageous spoils, he was one of my favourite's to watch.

The comedy festival is still 2 months away mate. You're using up your best material too early.

Not sure if this is covered off anywhere else, but Paul confirmed that Casey did lock in Baldi. Really liked what I saw of him at Gippsland, small but a good user and handy near goals. Was very surprised that neither he nor Sparks ended up on a list. Eagle eyes who saw part of the Dees prospect rankings on Ep 3 of 'To Hell & Back' will have noticed that we had Sparks ranked at 36 & Baldi at 47. Good chance to have a look and maybe draft then down the track.

The only 2 grand finals we have made in my life time 1988 and 2000 both leap years

There was a definite breeze towards the north west pocket which made set shots at the City end (no idea of Arden St's ends names btw) difficult especially from outside 30. At ground level you couldn't feel it too much but the modern balls are so light that any kind of breeze impacts kicks. The overall score line wasn't flash but I thought a fair bit of it was Bedford with some work to do on set shots and Brown just having a very off day in front of goal.

They’re amazing highlights. Fingers crossed he can get back to that level this year.

No one is slagging him off on here or getting personal regarding Hunt. Some of the discussion on here has been honest and constructive. Annoys me when people just come on here and see it as "bagging players" out when reality is, it's an open and honest discussion about Hunt moving forward for 2020. Its a football forum right? I honestly think if he is to win his spot back he needs to go back to being that dashing half back flanker. While he has good moments up forward, a fit and healthy forward six means he gets squeezed out. Especially with Hibberd getting towards the end, there is a spot up for grabs there for whoever wants it.

His best football is played off half-back, but he hasn't been back of center for three years. A bit like Fritsch playing in defence, the coaches have looked at his skillset and have been playing him out of position to fill a need. Would like to see him breaking lines of half back again.

Sadly, I think his best footy coincided with a period when we ran two off half back (him often being one) to create numbers around the contest up the field. I miss those days...

If he’s not selected Friday night, he’s not playing round 1. And based on yesterday’s performance, he’s not playing round 1. Needs to win back his spot as a half back flanker if he’s to have any future. Probably doesn’t do enough as a forward.

This is what I'd like to see from Jayden again. Straight lines? what a load of BS.

I'll think you'll find he has earned his spot. A round one lock.

Aside from what occurs in terms of the playing side in practice matches, we’re always concerned that there are no injuries and it appears we’ve come out unscathed in that regard. This is where the list was at over this weekend ~ Oskar Baker — played v N Melbourne Toby Bedford — played v N Melbourne Harley Bennell — injured Austin Bradtke — played v N Melbourne Angus Brayshaw — played v N Melbourne Mitch Brown — played v N Melbourne Kade Chandler — injured Kyle Dunkley — injured Bayley Fritsch — played v N Melbourne Max Gawn — injured Mitch Hannan — injured James Harmes — rested Michael Hibberd — rested Marty Hore — played v N Melbourne Jayden Hunt — played v N Melbourne Luke Jackson — rested Neville Jetta — played in All Star game Nathan Jones — injured/rested James Jordan — played v N Melbourne Kade Kolodjiashnij — injured Ed Langdon — rested Jake Lever — rested Jay Lockhart — played v N Melbourne Oscar McDonald — played v N Melbourne Tom McDonald — rested Steven May — injured Jake Melksham — played v N Melbourne Alex Neal-Bullen — rested Aaron Nietschke — injured Clayton Oliver — rested Christian Petracca — rested Harrison Petty — injured Kysaiah Pickett — played v N Melbourne Braydon Preuss — injured Trent Rivers — played v N Melbourne Christian Salem — rested Joel Smith — injured Charlie Spargo — played v N Melbourne Tom Sparrow — played v N Melbourne Adam Tomlinson — played v N Melbourne Aaron vandenBerg — rested Jack Viney — rested Corey Wagner — played v N Melbourne Josh Wagner — played v N Melbourne Sam Weideman — rested We saw a return of two “best 22” players in Angus Brayshaw and Bayley Fritsch who missed MS01 leaving only Max Gawn and Steven May from that category still out. With Max due to make a possible return in MS02, that leaves May as our only major injury concern - a far cry from the situation in 2019. I’ve heard conflicting reports on May’s recovery but suggest that he will be one to watch over the coming few weeks. Other players that we should be watching on the score of injuries are Dunkley, Petty and Smith. How far away from playing are they?

Replay (such as it is) seems to be up on Youtube:

Have you seen Bradtke play previously? Didn’t say he won the ruck, didn’t compare him to another player... he showed significant improvement vs the games I saw him play last year.... Is he AFL ready to ruck? Not a chance. Not many cat B rookies are.....

Asked Max and May how they were tracking. “we’re back” ”we’re both back”

Forget about this coronavirus. I've heard there's a new threat called influenza that they reckon will kill 3000 Australians in the next 12 months.

Seems like a nice kid. Hope he makes it. *I hope they all make it