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Well overdue.

He is a much better player than so many on here give him credit for. A good solid one on one defender, and a very good user of the footy, when he does use it. I assume Day was his opponent most of the game. Day had 7 touches and 2 marks for 0 goals. Oscar had 9 touches, 3 marks and 4 tackles. More than did his job!

It will be shortly announced that the Dees have decided to take all their fit players to the Hub so they can train as a full squad. The harsh lock-down measures in Victoria was making it too hard for the players left behind to train.

Invasion. Terra Nullis - an empty land, no humans. No treaty. Colonization. Not recognizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution Stealing peoples land. Making fortunes (that exist to this day) from that stolen land State sanctioned massacres. Non state sanctioned massacres not punished. No recognition of ownership of land of the first people for 200 plus years Official government policy of genocide that lasted (scarcely believably) well into the 20th century. Forcible removal of children from their families as part of the policy of genocide Forcing children into slavery to look after white people's children and their homes Deaths in custody - and doing nothing about it Locking up Aboriginal children and their fathers at obscenely disproportionate rates Official government White Australia Policy (the name says it all) that was only replaced well past the mid point of the 20th century The first people not being able to vote in their own country until 1967. I repeat 1967. Mandatory detention and dehumanizing of 'boat people' as wildly popular government policy (and the lack of awareness of the irony of such a policy) Vilification of young Australians whose parents escaped war in Africa The One Nation Party and it increasing popularity as reflected at the last federal election A mining company legally blowing up caves that showed evidence of human occupation for 10s of thousands of years. The popularity of peanuts like Bolt and Sam Newman I could go on. To say Australia is not a racist county is patently false. And a common delusion that ensures we remain so.

You must be joking ?? Weeds OUT?? What game were you watching ? he competed, did what was asked, crunched a few packs, presenting crumbing opportunities and when Tommy was out was our only tall, kicked 2 vital goals, and will get better with confidence AND GAMES. He stays in for the rest of the year in my book unless his form drops right of!

Contrary to most suggestions, I think time is up for Jones & we have to continue to promote others. The writing has been on the wall for a couple of years now as his efficiency has deteriorated & at the end of 2019 he looked liked he was playing for his own survival. Love to see him get to 300 games but no one player is bigger that the future of a club & if we are hedging our bets on Jones getting up for next year, then we have some bigger problems to deal with IMO. Thanks Chunk....

Don't your dare equate the unacceptable and abhorrent racial abuse leveled at indigenous people & people of colour to the names that you have been called. Many times you have baited posters on here and you have been given a lot more protection than others. I have discussed this with you privately and yet you continually take a swipes at me and the mods. Please don't let this thread get derailed by inserting yourself into a serious issue which has nothing to do with you. Demonland.com strongly condemns racism in all its forms. Comments like the one on the AFL's Twitter would have been dealt with promptly and the poster immediately banned.

how good was Brayshaws handball to the outside for Omac to run onto?

I would say the AFL might be reading the tea leaves and ditching NSW as a hub option due to increased cases??

According to Max ‘On the radio’ (MFC app), Oscar is the best defensive reader of play at the club. This guy has been underrated (a lot of the stuff said about him on Demonland is shameful) his entire career. The very definition of a whipping boy. Max also said that neither of the McDonald brothers ever read anything ‘external’ about their performances. Ever. And just as well.

Classic Melbourne that a global pandemic would prevent a club favourite reaching 300 games.

Harley did that as well, he hand balled to a player and immediately made the block in the player that was pursuing him. Too often the hand balls our players make appear to be more about passing responsibility rather than the team “thing” to do. If I had to guess (without being an expert) I feel like the 1-2 overlap is being more coached rather than the handball > shepherd. Just on Kozzie, how good was it to see a Melbourne player have the intelligence to tap forward to Fritta rather than take possession? Definitely something we need to employing more of.

He played his role yesterday. He provides us a strong target inside 50, and though he doesn’t clunk all the marks he crashes packs and creates opportunities for our smalls. Another thing I liked is that he doesn’t get sucked up the ground like others in the forwardline - he anchors himself closer to goal and it improves our entire structure. If he plays that same role he did yesterday he’d kick 40 goals a year and setup many more. He needs to stay in the team and needs to be played forward, not swung around the ground in the ruck. Sure he can take ruck contests inside 50, but he stays inside 50.

Saw this today in the press release from the Department of Education Victoria in relation to the return to remote learning in Melbourne. https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/return-to-flexible-and-remote-learning/ Thought it was worth highlighting a great thing that the MFC have done here. The mental health concerns of students, parents/carers and staff here are very real. Good job, MFC!

The context of racism against historically diminished people is different to racism against people of European heritage, just because of the nature of historical events. The children of perpetrators do not inherit the crime. The children of victims do inherit the suffering. Punkt.

Complete rubbish. His 6.3 spoils a game is 12th in the entire competition. His 25% one on one losses is actually a respectable number alongside elite one on one defenders in Talia and Darcy Gardner. There's not a whole lot of difference between his stats and Dougal Howard who just got traded for an end of first round pick. He's not even all that different to Tom Jonas who captains the top of the ladder club. Yeah he made a couple of bad blues against Carlton -flying for a huge hanger that wasn't worth it and one very dumb contest. But he also made McKay look dead ordinary despite having very little midfield support after 1/4 time. Lever and Jetta were worse defenders in the same game, yet alone over the last decade. And if spoiling your team mates was a career ending crime then Gawn, Jetta, Tom McDonald, May and Lever would never play again. Worst case scenario he's depth behind May and Oscar in case one of them go down. A 24 year old back up key defender who's a bit rough around the edges isn't the wrong type of player to have on your list, it's exactly the right type so you've got some physically ready instead of turning to a kid. There's at least half a dozen guys on the list we are carrying holding us back more than having a bit of tall defensive depth - hint: most of them are still in Melbourne.

If it gets to the point that we’re no chance of making finals then you play him but right now we need to be picking the best 22 & he’s not in it.

We've been spoiled with a number of high quality kids coming in to the team over the last few years that we've forgotten that developing a player isn't linear and takes time. This magical idea of Smith being the root cause of Lever's problems has hidden the truth which was Smith actually played pretty well. Did a number of excellent things overshadowed by a couple of silly mistakes against Carlton, was very solid against Geelong and a couple of errors again obstructed what was an ok game against Richmond. I was wrong about Oscar coming back, but on a small sample size the reality might be that Oscar might just be a lot better that he was last year and it wasn't so much about dropping Smith as giving Oscar a well deserved go. Smith can struggle reading a man and the ball at the same time on a leading player, but from what I've seen his instincts on how to close space are very good. His marking should come on, his kicking looks far better and he can really run and pressure at ground level. So I'd be thinking really hard about getting him back in the side as a defensive half back flanker with some intercept game, shifting Hibberd in to Jetta's deeper role. Smith across half back could free Lever, Salem and Lockhart (or other attacking half back ie. Rivers etc) up more.

Jones would have got a spot in any team 2008-2016

I believe they will be flown to Qld to quarantine for 14 days so that the team will either fly up to Qld to meet them OR they can then be flown to NSW to be with the team without having to quarantine again.

One of the positive things I noticed was that we had some spread. Against Richmond we had too many players trying to win the ball from a contest leaving us no "out" and transferring the heat so to speak. Even though we had some poor disposal, they were trying to hit targets. I'd rather see us make a mistake this way than the bombing it long. Yes it happened but less so. Confidence will come. Gold Coast's pressure was high, they had their chances to win. This is a good win by us.

Ok, just watched the game. After taking account all the expert commentary from this site last night and today it was rather illuminating. Melksham was ok, will stay. Brayshaw didn't get a lot of it but again did his job, what I like about him is when in the centre bounces he knows how to spread and create space. He's knows how to get a clean clearance from the middle. I was looking for all that dejected, head down stuff that I read and saw none of it. He can do more but sometimes when Trac, Oliver and Viney are getting a lot of it there's not as much to go around. Kozzie, well worth his spot in the team. directly responsible for at least 3 goals...will hit the scoreboard himself soon. a bit unlucky at times but gives us something we don't have. Clever player and good ball user. AVB was pretty average but redeemed himself with some good tackles, he's going to have to do a lot more than that going forward. Needs to hit targets more...and whilst he is a strong tackle, is too easy to run around. Nev & Lockhart struggled but I'm not sure what the options are, Hunt, Rivers, Jordon...I would be grooming Sparrow for the deep role myself as I think his attributes of strength, leg speed and ability in the air would be assets, I don't think he is a natural ball winner so not going to make it as a mid. If Tmac doesn't come up then it's Jackson or Brown. They could even try Brown back and move May forward... Could even bring Thommo in as a back or forward, I would prefer back. I liked that Goody switched things around a bit during the game. Trac had an off day by foot, he's usually a lot better than that. Ollie, some good, some not good...Jack the same. Langdon a bit stiff to get a couple kicked on him, one from a very soft decision but I can see why we got him...the boy knows how to get the ball and is just starting to settle. Seemed to be some lessons learned. So I would think not much change to the team, maybe one defensive change and Tommy out if he doesn't come up.

Watching the replay. Harley Bennell is the smoothest mover we have had at the club perhaps since Robbie Flower. Despite 3 years out of the game he looks a level above out there. His footy brain is elite. Just wait until he heats up. We would have beaten Geelong if he had played.

Deserved his spot in the side. Needs more games...

Defenders covered him more than would normally happen. T Mac looked good early in game because defenders needed to cover both Weid and Tom. When Tom went of the defenders then just needed to cover Weid. This made his efforts yesterday even more commendable. He will get better with more games under his belt.

Had some unexpected issues with some backend stuff but we're back. Hopefully.

Was very happy to see Oscar back in the side on the weekend. To see him play well didn't really surprise me, as my recollection is that he had looked ok during our preseason games. Oscar doesn't generally play a flashy sort of game, but when he is in form and playing with confidence, he is pretty solid and dependable. He held up pretty well in 2018 before we had either of Lever or May. I think people may (pardon the pun) have thought that he would be squeezed out of the side by those two, but I think it should be pretty self evident that his role in the side complements rather than competes with those players.

I was lucky enough to go to the game. Interesting how good Weid looks when teammates honour his leads and actually kick the ball to the right spot in front of him.

Jones has been loyal, stoic and a stalwart for us during our darkest days. But there were others who stayed loyal and worked hard to keep us going: Gawn, Jetta, TMc and others who we have chosen to move on were there for 186, for the Neeld years etc. Everyone loves Jonesy but I can't see that the club owes him and not sure what sacrifices he has made that others haven't. Sorry if that is unpopular thinking. His one game this year was a shocker. I for one do not want to see us miss finals this year or next, to get someone to a personal milestone if that person is a millstone in the 13 games to get there. Mahoney and Goodwin have made tough decisions on fan favourites and they will with Jonesy if the need arises. The angst with Jr was he was blindsided and it was done brutally. Most people new it was time. I trust Mahoney and Goodwin to have had and to continue to have those discussions with Jonesy so when the end comes it will sit comfortably with everyone.

Shameful question about him at last year's Members' Info night too - if you are here then you know who you are - hang your head!

Went to hospital. No major damage, though nasty. Will assess this week. A chance to play. Source: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/742687/injury-report-darren-burgess?videoId=742687&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1594615442001

Coaches votes: 9 Max Gawn (MELB) 7 Christian Petracca (MELB) 4 Jack Viney (MELB) 4 Charlie Ballard (GCFC) 4 Izak Rankine (GCFC) 2 Clayton Oliver (MELB) Looks pretty fair to me. Vote split looks like: Max: 5/4 Christian: 5/2 * Viney 3/1 * Ballard 3/1 * Rankine 4/0 Oliver 2/0 Whoever gave Petracca 5 gave Oliver 2 or from the other view whoever gave Petracca 2 gave Oliver zip. * Votes could be switched between the three players. On the Leaderboard best placed Demons are Petracca at 11 th spot (20 votes) and Brayshaw at 13 (19 votes). Overall leader Neale (40 votes). At this rate Petracca may win his first B&F. Edit: had the wrong Brayshaw. Thanks for tip @Bring-Back-Powell

It was even here before white people, because there were people here. By writing, "We Whites" you are being racist. There is no 'we.' You are attributing a characteristic to the color of someone's skin. Apparently, I am not worthy because my skin is white. It is not true. I am worthy and my skin color has nothing to do with it.

Of course he has a poor footy IQ. He came to the game late, had lots of injuries & has only played abt 12 games. It was unfair to put him in a defence along with Rivers & Lockhart in a side not playing well. The fact that there is no regular VFL also makes it hard for him to develop. We are better off trying him up forward where he would be hard to match up. He has decent kicking skills, marks & runs ok. He has more upside than Tomlinson.

Allows Lever to play his natural interception role too

Should have been the original decision. Games will be outside Victoria for the next 8 weeks minimum. Hearing that we might be regularly playing 3 games in each 2 week cycle

Perhaps the exemption given to get the A League sides out of Victoria after our lockdown kicked in has also helped get this done. If we're also playing practice games against other sides currently in NSW it makes sense.

Good decision.

Yes. Of course. More maybe if he had played at a club that regularly played finals.

Reckon most footy fans would say if there's one player whose career hasn't been "lucky" it's Nathan Jones.

Oscar doing a Jack Viney impression, shrugging off a couple of sun and bounding up the wing...bloody loved it.

I was very impressed with how composed Viney was. He gets maligned at times for his kicking, but he was clever last night.

Only just turned 23 as well. Anyone expecting him to play like a 26-27 year old big key forward is kidding themselves. It's time for him to show a bit, but we can't expect him to dominate. I think people see a Hogan type come straight in an dominate and expect all talks to do it. It just doesn't happen. Edit: for comparisons sake. Hawkins break out year was the year he turned 24 (2012). Until then, he had done very little (except win 2 flags of course). 18 games and 21 goals in 2010, and dropped from the seniors in 2011. I'm not saying Weid will be a Hawkins, but all but the very special big guys take time.

A white bloke claiming to understand the lifelong impact of systemic racism is like blokes saying they understand child birth. They don’t. We don’t. We can’t possibly. Be an ally, be compassionate, and call out racism, sexism, and all the other isms, but don’t say you understand it. You don’t.

I’d feel like we would be both taking on a risk and personally doing him a disservice by picking him up and prolonging his career. Sure that might be unfair - it could be seen as taking away a choice that is his to make, but I just don’t see why anyone would just keep on rolling the dice on a living person’s brain. All the potential footy related benefits just feel meh to me in comparison to that. Just find another player who isn’t another hit away from having his life erased.

Simplifying a country like this is not helpful nor is it in any way an adequate explanation of what has happened. They have issues but it's unfair to label a 300m+ population so broadly, in the same way that you wouldn't say that Australians are, for the most part, as dumb as the day is long because Pauline Hanson is in the senate. It's far more complex.

Weitering has only just come good, and he was a number 1 draft pick. Hipwood and Curnow play as tall flankers rather than key forwards. McKay is another who is only just coming on and I think will be a good player. But these guys are only just coming into the age where they should be impacting consistently. All I'm saying is writing him off at this stage is a tad premature in my opinion.

Bang on John, I'd be signing him up for the next 5 years...big breakout coming up

Harley, you are loved by all demon members and suppoters. So sorry this has happened to you.

Presented, contested, grabbed 2, kicked 2, got pushed in back probably 6 times. Play him for the rest of the season and let him build some continuity and confidence!