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Games about to kick off, Weideman is the emergency.

IMO, because of the way this season has and is unfolding, no Premiership Flag should be awarded. Teams that should have had softer draws have lost them. Games have been abandoned. Some matches are suggested to be against depleted sides. Teams being forced to play extra games during the week, affecting those games and the following ones. This is a joke of a football season, that of course is out of the AFL's control, as they just need the money for games on TV. So no flag to the winner, unless of course it is Melbourne and then it should count as three Premiership Flags because of the difficulties we faced.

Yes, they didn't kick any goals, but are we really going to call TMac/Weideman "horrible" for what we could see of them in a 6-minute highlight clip of an intraclub match?

Our next opponent should be Essendrug next week, why should other teams get the full benefits of a compromised situation, whilst we are totally disadvantaged Fix it up AFL. You pay yourselves enough

43 Demonland members scrolling through this thread currently for some footy related action. Poor bastards.

In the last 15 years, more Essendon players have tested positive to Coronavirus than have won a final.

max in the 'post-match' presser: "it just felt like a normal game only with no big screen...which is probably why christian played well cos normally he looks at the big screen" hahahaha which chistian? i mean, i presume trac but...salem with his tints........ i can completely understand the team selection based upon watching that highlights package again having hannan, hunt, pickett and bennell in our forward line alongside t mac, fritsch as marking targets plus milkshake and avb bustling around COULD work t mac is a big leading boy - his pass to fritsch for goal was clean, and he was involved in one other scoring chain if bennell and pickett get going it's going to be FUN to watch

On the plus side we’re lucky this happened before the match otherwise we’d be in the same boat as Essendon.

Very impressed with Hunt's position and willingness to just go at the ball and take a few grabs. I would have loved to see him as a negating forward on Saad this week.

If My maths/eyesight is correct: Red 10 Goals Blue 9 Goals Red Goakickers: 4 Melksham, 2 Fritsch, 1 Bennell, Hanna, Hunt, Pickett Blue Goalkickers: 3 Brown, 2 Spargo, 1 Bedford, Jordan, C Wagner, Neal-Bullen Happy to be corrected if someone saw these differently Concerningly no goals to Tommy Mac or Weeds

Perhaps this is an attempted joke. Who knows. But saty your relentless bagging of fellow posters, individually and collectively is becoming exhausting. The great irony is that you bag posters for their supposed negativity. Ironic because it reflects a seeming complete lack of self awareness given how negative you so often are of late. I know I can put you on ignore (I have done so previously). But i'd rather not. I don't put many people on ignore. You are a long term poster that has contributed a lot of good content and positive energy. Your training reports are a good example of that. It would be great, in these somewhat dispiriting times for some more of that positive energy.

Positives: No turnovers. Backline kept the opposition scoreless. May and Lever anchored us well. Hussle around the packs and pressure from the mids and forwards didn't allow them to touch the ball at all. Bombers are absolute knobs. Negatives: Conor McKenna. We didn't score. We struggled again with that mid forward connection and couldn't get the ball inside 50 once. Tom McDonald to cop it again this week after not clunking a single mark. Thoughts?

Chin up mate lets tackle any adversity that comes our way and if we somehow make it to the end then it will be well worth it. However that is what the year 2020 offers us. You never know this could toughen us for better years to come.

I wanted to throw the kitchen sink at Ben King last year.

If that’s the case then why not play the reduced squad from Essendon v Melbourne on Wednesday night this week and move the Round 4 games involving Essendon and Melbourne to Tuesday night next week.

Feel so cheated by this season. We finally get a full uninjured and super fit team team out on the park and then the season turns to total ssshiiit like this around us. It wasn't like I thought we were a certainty for the flag, but was keen that we at least put on a good show, somewhat atoned for last season and got the team back on track. Just really hope that we make the most of this as some kind of development year to set-up in the best was possible for next year, something like what Collingwood did in 2017. Doesn't need to be pretty every week, so long as it is all building to something.

The logical solution is that in light of Essendon’s inability to field a team in conformity with the AFL’s rules, the 4 points go to the MFC and we move on.

I've heard about a close tag but that is going too far! ?

Every game is a marvellous opportunity for injuries. I'd rather they play this intra club game - one that has pretty much the whole list involved and therefore contributing positively to match fitness, game plan etc - than to play nothing at all.

So much for Hird immunity

I remember when the Spurs won the 99 NBA Championship, a season cut short by player lockout. Only a 60 game season I think. There was an asterix next to it for a long while until the Spurs won again I think 6 years later. Ultimately became one of the best teams of this century so far. I'd go all out for this year's flag, and use it as a launching pad to a strong decade. I mentioned in another thread that I can see one of Richmond Collingwood West Coat and GWS falling down and missing finals this year, may well end up being 2-3 of them. This year's flag is up for the taking. It may well be the easiest AND hardest flag you could win.

I cringed at one blue goal when May supposedly the best kick in the team kicked it straight to the man on the mark who politely handball over Mays head for an easy goal. Only MFC can do that

5 goals last week, 3 goals this week. Brown is out in form key forward it seems. Should play next match otherwise why did we bother signing him for short term.

I see this and, at first, thought it was silly... however, I'm kind of understanding where most are coming from now. We've been totally short changed in all of this, and it has nothing to do with us. We didn't break the rules. We didn't force the game to be postponed. And now, we're potentially going to have to play a game at a different time (during the week or after the main season altogether) and suffer because of it. While my care factor for this season is the lowest it's been for any season I've experienced, I'd like to see something done about this, whether that's an automatic four points for us, or something else.

Gawn says we put our best 18 on one side to begin with but then shuffled jumpers midway. Also mentioned Jones played - I'm increasingly confident the line about him carrying injuries through training was rubbish and was just designed to soften the blow around him being dropped.

Typical game day thread.... nobody ever mentions the score. Are we even winning ????????

Our hierarchy needs to speak up for a change, 1st we play a game in Western Australia after the seasons been called off & expected to compete, now the drug cheats pull this on us & we sit there & say oh well. Weve done nothing wrong & have been compromised 2 out of 3 games so far and will later in the season have to play 2 games in a week The AFL hasn’t even mentioned us, because they no we will be as quiet as a mouse about it. Could you imagine what Eddie or Jeff Kennett would be saying

Us playing a depleted Essendon team.....what could possibly go wrong ???

So the next 1-5 opponents of Essendrug will play a massively depleted side, but we will play them once everyone has returned, even though the incident happened before our game. Our next opponent should be Essendrug Work out the logistics AFL...

Spargo in the ruck vs Gawn

and a loss, just for the sad sacks....

...and run over the top of ourselves.

I actually quite like that blue jumper.

What a [censored] head. The 4 points should be ours no if, but’s or maybes. FFS it’s pretty simple.

Not a bad fix at all. Love seeing Hunt dash with the ball, involved in quite a few goals.

Mahoney: We had 40 players out there today so it was a really competitive session. Mahoney: I think it’s pretty clear what the players can + can’t do at the moment. The restrictions are there for a reason + this is exactly why. Mahoney: There’s a bit of shock + frustration when the boys are ready for the Essendon game, but you have to move on quickly. Mahoney: There are going to be a number of challenges this season + the team that responds best from those challenges will come out on top. Gawn: It was nice + hot. The umpires had to step in a few times to tell us it was just a practice match. We had normal umps + it was just like a normal game. Gawn: It was probably the strongest 18 on one team to start with, then the jumpers got thrown around a bit. Gawn: I know that Nathan (Jones) will play a lot of good footy this year. He was good out there today + I’m confident he’ll come back strong. I gave him a ring straight after the news (being omitted) + he said, “It’s alright, I’ll be back next week.” Gawn: A lot of sports play multiple times a week + our fitness guru Darren Burgess will get us in a shape to do so. I’m looking forward to that challenge. Gawn: We all knew when the AFL season got up + going that this could happen at some point. I was very frustrated at about 4pm yesterday, but it is what it is. I prefer playing games to training, so I’m looking forward to an extra game at some point. Gawn: There’s a bit going on in footy - I’m sure everyone’s struggling with their tips.

No thanks. Given the uncertainties that surround testing and timing, not worth the risk to our players.

I think people are forgetting we’re very lucky we had 2 players break rules but not pick anything up... what if it was Melb player/s who picked it up?

Has been let to get away with it for far too long. Moderators need to have a serious private discussion with him on whether he just needs to think about just slowly stepping away from the forum for good. It's becoming very tiresome when every thread is hijacked by his constant negative criticism on posters who are trying to have a fair old footy discussion. Someone's starts a thread taking the [censored] out of the current situation and he comes in to give it a wack. I've spoken to old demonland posters on bigfooty who are no longer member purely on the fact they got sick and tired of the constant negative criticism from him. Let's not lose any more good people thanks @Demonland

We don’t even know if you can pass it on during the incubation period so he could have infected multiple players and staff at Essendon. How long until those people can test positive? Surely Essendon players and staff all have to quarantine for 2 weeks now. How can they possibly play next week given that they all potentially have been exposed to a highly contagious virus. I’m in the forfeit camp.

Mark my words. We’d get screwed out of those 4 points too.

We can give Lever, Smith and OMac all the week off and let Ratagolouou do all the spoiling.

Clearly the didn't come to play.

2020 is a real ****show. Wake me up in 2021

In the circumstances whereby a player tests positive after breaching AFL Covid19 protocols then his club should forfeit the points for any match that can’t be played as a consequence. If the AFL and the club in question had any integrity, that outcome would be accepted by consensus and we all move on.

This covid virus must be seriously tough [censored]. How any bug could survive with all the drug residues that must be floating around at Windy Hill defies imagination.