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I was there. Watched behind the perimeter fence on far wing. So good to see live action! observations: - 4x 25 min quarters no time on played -Lots of swapping of players between the two teams -Lever Pruess Petty KK and Nietscke only 5 who didn’t play - May starred, BOG easily -Bennell played all 4 quarters, 1st half on ball 2nd half on HFF -Spargo did some great things, I’m not always a fan but he looked at the level today -Fritsch was the best forward -J Smith will be close to selection, either if Lever doesn’t come up or instead of O Mac. - I rate Sparrow. HIGHLY!! Head to head with Viney all game and not a backward step taken. - No injuries during the game to anyone. Relief! - Rivers and Hibberd were in a showdown for the final HBF spot. Both played well today - Dont expect to see any of the two Wagners, or Baker early in season. They look like the last in line depth players to me - Actually think Bradtke showed he can play. 20% better than his Casey 2019 form - Goalkicking am issue, but expect it will be for all 18 clubs next weekend till the season gets into its rhythm - Hunt looks out of favour - My biggest take - get on Brayshaw for a return to form. Played with no helmet, and moved and hunted the ball like it was 2018 again. Happy to answer questions

I really don't understand the virtiol towards Goodwin. All actual information and signs are positive: - He has a reputedly relationship with the players. - He has shown a real interest in tactical innovation (the "center the ball at all costs because high percentage shots are more valuable" morphed into the 8 man back line running off the square, which became the 4 man diamond defense) - He has rotated players through positions to try and find a fit (17 players lined up on the wing in 2019). - He has recruited to fill holes in list/structure (added Tomlinson and Langdon to fill the wings, added Preuss/Brown as forward/ruck depth), probably made the right call on Hogan and got us May, brought in small forwards to compete for spots). - Other than 2019, every year has been upwards while he has been involved. -2019 was documented to be horrible with pre season injuries, and then in season injuries. We sucked, but he regularly had 5-8 of or best 22 injured, it was a tough year. I understand that after the 2019 disastor we need to bounce back, but damn he gets a lot of hate for someone whose only fault seems to be not having answers during one injury interrupted season.

Successful AFL teams don’t chop and change coaches constantly! Clarkson first two years were bad and he was criticised, got a flag ahead of schedule in 2008, then another three! Hardwick after 7 seasons a lot of fans and a supporter group tried overthrow the board, win premiership the next season. Geelong Bomber Thompson under pressure with coaching review end of 2006 season, goes onto win the 2007 flag. West Coast Adam Simpson under pressure goes onto win a flag soon after! Buckley while not winning a flag, had taken Collingwood progressively backwards for 6 years, then gets within one kick of winning a flag, and their likely to be a contender again this year. admittedly all are big clubs, except Geelong who get one of the best fixtures every year, and also have a salary cap advantage over the 9 other Victorian clubs, plus a major home ground benefit, playing and financial wise! Goodwin needs sufficient time and the right coaching team around him, Richardson will help. This year may end up being one of the most unpredictable years ever, so progress harder to judge, by end of next season we will see how good he is as a coach. While winning a flag is the ultimate success, and having supported the Demons for nearly 60 years I’m impatient for a flag, being in position to win a flag for the next 5 years, is the measure of being a good coach, then with a little luck we should win that elusive flag!

Goodwin received the head coaching gig on a silver platter. Not many assistant coaches receive an initial 5 year deal with the promise of taking the reigns in year 3. He has a record of 5-19 over the last 24 games and there was absolutely no visible improvement in round 1 in terms of game style, inside 50 entries and defensive accountability. Six months of promised atonement, only for the game to be over at quarter time. The apologists will say that the players were distracted due the impending suspension of the season, but it was still an official game of footy and you can only judge what they dished up. I think supporters are entitled to go hard at him and ask if he’s the right man to take us forward if we’re no better than 1-4 after round 5 despite playing a bunch of winnable games on paper.

Jeez tough crowd! I hope Goodwin sticks it up all you doubters just to see the Olympic level backpedalling on here by the so called "supporters" of this club. You're all damaged goods.

? LEVER08's Match Sim Report MELBOURNE defender Jake Lever didn't play in the club's final match simulation at Casey Fields on Saturday ahead of next week's clash with Carlton but will face the Blues. Lever emerged from the shutdown period as one of the Demons' fittest players but they opted to manage his loads and he instead trained on an adjacent oval with injured teammate Aaron Nietschke. The 24-year-old intercept specialist dominated Melbourne's 1km time trials when everyone returned to training in May and he looks primed to deliver on the Dees' big investment in him. Lever and another key defensive recruit from recent years, Steven May, played together only four times last season because of respective injuries. May was a strong performer in the four quarters of game practice, including taking a series of intercept marks, firstly playing in the royal blue side before swapping to the navy blue team. Most of the Demons' first-choice players started in navy blue, except for defenders such as May, Neville Jetta, James Harmes and Christian Salem – but they all switched during the half-time break. The player to watch could be athletic backman Joel Smith, who's always been a source of intrigue for the Melbourne coaching staff despite injuries restricting him to only 11 matches. The Demons think so highly of Smith they promoted him for their 2018 preliminary final at Bayley Fritsch's expense but he missed all of last season with a groin problem. The son of ex-Demon Shaun played in the same defensive set-up with May, Jetta, Harmes and Salem throughout the solid hitout. Melbourne looks to have a mostly healthy list, with Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – who also last played in that 2018 preliminary final – among those to play. Salem (glandular fever) and ex-skipper Nathan Jones (Achilles) are the likeliest additions to Melbourne's team for the contest with Carlton at Marvel Stadium next Saturday. Harley Bennell (calf) also looks in good nick and has given his new club something to think about with his track efforts in recent weeks. Bennell joined young midfielders Tom Sparrow and James Jordon as the royal blue side's most common centre-bounce combination, with either Sam Weideman or Category B rookie Austin Bradtke rucking. The former Docker and Sun also spent time up forward after switching into navy blue in the second half. Weideman has fallen out of favour for the time being but worked hard and presented well. He could yet be in calculations, given Mitch Brown, who played in round one, spent all of simulation in royal blue, while No.3 draft pick Luke Jackson and Weideman swapped teams at half-time. Back-up big man Braydon Preuss, who's been sidelined with a knee injury, did not play. The Demons rotated the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw and Jack Viney through the middle in the navy blue squad, with All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn. Recruits Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson won plenty of possession on opposite wings, while Fritsch, Tom McDonald and Kysaiah 'Kozzy' Pickett were all lively in attack. Small forwards Alex Neal-Bullen, Toby Bedford and Charlie Spargo appear to be locked in a battle for potentially one spot after all played in the season-opening loss to West Coast. The trio played for the royal blue team for the match's duration.

Reading all the views on Demonland always Provides some entertainment! without any AFL been getting some of my sport hit by watching Sunderland Til I die series on Netflix. You get to see the season after they were relegated from Premier League to Championship. Early dialogue is on some players don’t want to be here, club is virtually broke, the owner has just stopped pouring millions into the club to by players, and they have a new coach. After 1st match one of the better players out on the town and under the weather gets video taped on a phone naming a few players who aren’t trying and don’t give a stuff! Huge help to the coach! SUpporters initially go we don’t have the players going to be A very tough season, and haven’t been able to buy any players in the transfer window, only been able to get loan or cast off players, as other clubs are spending big money. Nearly 3 months in things going badly as predicted, supporters up in arms going sack the coach! Coach/Manager gets sacked, players confidence shot. New coach with big reputation comes in, loses their only two strikers in the January transfer window and struggle to get any real replacement. Be a miracle if they stay up, hard to win games without strikers. Demonland is very similar, everything is the coaches fault, players injured, not enough star players, players kick badly, or miss any easy shot after the siren, if we don’t win the flag it’s a failed season! Many on Demonland would have sacked Hardwick and Richmond would be rebuilding rather than having two flags! 2019 was a crap year, but surgeries pre season and injuries during the season, killed any opportunity. Let’s wait and see what happens in 2020 rather than write off the season after one round! Richardson stated , great getting Melbourne early on last year, as all their midfield group unfit, couldn’t run! Some of the positives he mentioned: - elite midfield (Viney actually fit, Petracca much fitter) - Finally having May & Lever in the field together, excellent communicators - Kossie going to be a player - Rivers kicking and progress - Run of Tomlinson & Langdon - Potential of Bennell - Potential of Smith - lots to be optimistic about Go Demons, we start the year seemingly very fit, so no excuses, let’s see how we go! If badly then Goodwin will be in the spotlight!

May rarely played on T Mac. He and Weid pushing up the ground lots with Fritsch, Melky and Pickett at times isolated inside 50. Fritsch being best forward doesn’t mean TMac wasn’t performing The forward line looked much more dynamic than last year. Although keen to see goal kicking improve

Needs to flatten the handball curve.

Just got excited about footy for the first time in a long time (feels like years anyway). Bring on Saturday!

Rubbish. What really counts is premierships and what is required to achieve those can be substantially different from just achieving a few wins. I'm quite happy to write off 2019 given the circumstances, so long as we are building towards sustained success. I'm also in the camp of sticking with Goodwin and riding it out where ever that takes us. He's a smart, passionate football guy who has the respect of his team at the same time as demanding high standards of performance on and off the field. I don't think it would do the team any good for us to become a revolving door of senior coaches. Time to stick fat as MFC supporters, we have a team loaded with midfield talent that is comming into the prime of it's career.

Weid was strong, kicked a couple of snags and moved well. Jackson still a way off being selected by him for now I think, although the athletic attributes of Jacko is mouth watering.

Never happy fickle Dee supporters I sometimes wonder. Goody is the person to turn it around IMO and there are enough of us to show the faith.The rest of you can all please yourselves.

Marks from Weid more so than TMac. Will also say that Brown presented and marked well for the “reserves”

I'm not saying he is perfect, and he is definitely yet to prove himself and needs to do that over the distance. But 2019 was a massive write off with injuries, and while we need to bounce back and round 1 was disappointing, it's a sample size of 1. With injuries the team hasn't really played together since late 2018. We made big structural changes bringing in the wings. Lever and May haven't played together often. The coming months will tell us more. But after 1 game critique and question, not roast.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lockhart’s a regular this year.

What is wrong with ANB competitiveness and hardness? Mock all you want about his horrid decision making, but no way does he take a backward step. Goodwin loves because of his competitiveness and toughness. Billy Stretch was pretty much a free pick. Costs us absolutely nothing. He was stiff to be delisted last year. We kept Josh Wagner and delisted this bloke who would have been good depth for the wing spot. In that same year we picked up a bloke called Aaron Vandenberg and Mitch White. Vandenberg is an animal and White was also a tough nut. There was a theme there.

So based on Lever’s write up, Goodwin is backing the midget forward line to get the job done. He mentioned Weid and TMac playing high HF roles and relying on Melky Fritta and Kozzie. This may work on transition once in a while, but given that we often win the midfield battle and bomb forward, the disconnect will continue. Any coach, who had 3 months to review any of the tapes from rd 1, would be able to pick that up. Then you have McDonald’s interview, which was less than convincing. He suggests that supporters may still feel frustrated by the forward structure. That sounded more like he was frustrated. Probably because he is again being played out of position. hate to sound pessimistic, but the script seems written. Dominate the midfield, win clearances, have good defence but cannot convert inside 50s to goals. A losing formula. And when we get outnumbered on the rebound, sides cut ya up and score easily. happy to be proven wrong, but I don’t think this side is going anywhere under Goodwin. He seems stubborn and talks a lot, but we never see the action. A real salesman

He has been told that if he wins the footy at a stoppage to put on the jets and use the footy more by foot.

Looking at the names in that outlier group, I'm comfortable with the company he is keeping. He's not a bad kick, generally, so nothing wrong with picking up three or four more kicks a game and becoming the undisputed best midfielder in the game.

Last year when we heard that Richo was joining us, I was really unsurprised to be honest. Each and every time Richo was interviewed on AFL 360 or any other show regarding facing up to the demons, he always spoke really kindly of the dees and of goody. It was really fitting to have someone with his talent and experience to join us. So for those that suggest Richos just paying lip service, I’d argue that it’s just in his nature as a true gentlemen which he has already demonstrated prior to joining us.

I really hope it is Rivers... Smith has average disposal and decision making. We need to get another good kick from defence and that is Rivers, he's already one of the best kicks on the list. Smith footy ability seems to have skyrocketed in his absence. He's an athlete who plays footy, needs to develop footy smarts and put that athleticism to use.

I think Supporters underestimate the challenges of getting our team to the position of being a regular finals (and then top 4) contender. For many, the performance of the coach is gauged by the performance of the team, and thus by win-loss, ladder position and finals. On this basis The data on Goodwin is inconsistent, i.e 2018 over performed with first finals we got to the prelim, 2019 massive under-performance... 2020 insufficient (and odd) data. For me, when the data is inconsistent or not particularly indicative of direction (ie when we’ve had several seasons mid table), I use other metrics to understand how well we’re going, and how well the coach is going. And it’s at this deeper level that things get tricky... for example, in 2019 our physical preparation for the season was way behind where is should have been, we were underprepared, not the head coaches direct area, and as a result of the underperformance the conditioning coach was replaced by Burgess, one of the best in the business, from all accounts... That’s just one sub-area of team performance management that on deeper inspection was critical in determining our win-loss. And it’s an area that is not Goodwin’s direct responsibility (its Perts and others, and they addressed it really well). Deeper inspection, without inherent bias, of our recruiting and trading (team balance, age/talent profiles, managing exits ie Hogan, retirements, etc), our facilities (access to state-of-the-art equipment and processes), etc... all play a role in our win-loss and are only marginally the responsibility of the head coach. My view is we are ticking up, learning our lessons and improving in many of these areas and these improvements will improve the win-loss as they enable Goodwin to execute his game plan and utilise his relationships and communication with the players on game day to best effect. As the wise say “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear” and in 2019 with the conditioning issues we had, that’s what some on hear were expecting Goodwin to do.. Be happy, as much of the data indicates an improved win-loss is on the cards for 2020. For example, I love that Bedford and Rivers are coming on as the two players I see them most likely replacing (Jetta and Hubbard) are getting on. It’s good recruitment and gives Goodwin the material to do his job...

What I did find interesting (though again not particularly surprising) was that both Richo and Chapman were a big rap for Jay Lockhart and Trent Rivers.

Same goes for you sunshine Why do you bother? You don’t like DLand After the performance of 2019 the Senior Coach deserves to be under the pump. Time to perform. For you it is just a social outing, we know that...

And it came to pass!! The only thing that really matters anymore is Performance I.E Wins on the board! Thats it!

The first class quality of cynical d1ckjeads who reject anything positive from the club should stop and take a breath.

Agreed. I don't get the hate for Oscar on here. He's just turned 24 and holds down a key defensive spot. Him being in the side allows Lever and May to focus on intercept marking. Rather than worry about the opposition forwards I think team structure is the most important. That's how Richmond have become so good. Playing the same guys week in week out no matter who they are up against. For what it is worth, David Astbury was much maligned early in his career and has now become a solid lock down defender. Oscar reminds me a lot of him at the same age so we can only hope he can get to a similar level.

Utter madness, (and not the ska music kind) Tmac is a machine with his cardio fitness and size. He also prospered under every coach, is not a sook, and had one tough season for injury. Hardest player to replace.

Can’t remember the exact scores, but Navy beat Royal blue 11 goals to 9. However, about 20 players played for both teams during the match so....

Chandler the best of this lot, interesting to see him play back pocket the whole game and it suited him. Hibberd over Rivers but this will change in 2021

Hannan was quiet, played in the “reserves” team

Clarkson and Dimma were both almost sacked and were hated by their supporters. In this thread I have read Goodwin is too innovative and he is also not good enough tactian. It just amazes me how negative some people are.

duck hunting season ends this weekend, so i guess that's when the relief starts....at least for the ducks

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/703083/tom-mcdonald-reviews-saturday-s-practice-match?videoId=703083&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1591422291001

Obviously Joel Smith is a defender again but I thought he looked good as a forward. No doubt will be thrown there ASAP if we're kicking 6.12.48 every week.

Daniher will make a miraculous recovery when we gets away from Essendon. Being an RFA, it’s a yes from me.

I think they both play round 2. Hibbered will eventually get phased out. Based on his round 1 form, Jetta would need to show a lot more to keep his place in the side. We all love him, but he was ordinary. His direct opponent in Liam Ryan had 5 marks 14 disposal and kicked 3.3 The likes of Lockhart, Smith and Rivers will continue to put huge amount of pressure on the likes of Hibbered and Jetta.

All that counts is WINS!

Or we could just criticize an underperforming coach that is hired by (ie isn't) the club and anyone put in front of a camera to sing their praises. As we wait patiently for the club to make a move on getting in the next Neal Daniher...

What is Richo’s official role? He’d make a good fluffer.

Two themes, sort of. A desire for hard ball winners and competitors. Unfortunately at the expense of skill. Which is just one reason why Harley will be way more than a bonus if he plays regularly. If he does he will be our most skilled player since Robbie. Big call, and was going to say last ten years. But the only players in the same ball park since Robbie are Watts, TJ, the Wiz and maybe Yze.

You don’t bite the hand that feeds you ! It’s all political.

Hibbered is extremely poor as a one on one defender. I think we will start to see him phased out in the manner that Bernie Vince was. I would not be surprised if Joel Smith is highly considered. With his speed and power, he could play a role on either Jack Martin or McGoven. It's obvious the coaching staff rate him highly internally and want to get games into him. I also think Marty Hore will find it really hard to break in this year unless injury to Lever.

Can't see what he sees in you.

After listening to Chaplin and Richo I think they will make drastic changes so here's my team: B: LOCKHART, MAY, LEVER HB: SALEM, SMITH, RIVERS C : LANGDON, PETRACCA, TOMLINSON HF: PICKETT, JACKSON, JONES F: MELKSHAM, T.MCDONALD, FRITSCH FOLL: GAWN, OLIVER, VINEY IC: HARMES(BACK), BRAYSHAW(MID), BENNELL(MID), HANNAN(FORWARD) EMRG: JETTA, HIBBERD, O.MCDONALD, WEIDEMAN