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Went for a run past Goschs paddock this morning. Noticed Brown and Weiderman doing some run throughs. When I came back from the Tan I saw that there were a few other players there too - Smith and someone else. To me it looked like Baker but I didn't know he was injured / in rehab. It may have been someone else but I couldn't think of who. Watched Brown and Weid taking shots at goal after that. Both looked to me moving freely but at the same time weren't streching themselves (kicking from around 30-40m out - although for Brown he still starts a long way back from that). They both kicked some nice goals - Brown in particular seemed on target. Can't wait to have them back in the side - they are both very big units! I wonder whether the fact that they are injured and recovering at the same time might help build a bit of chemistry that translates on field.

Classic footy fans. Five years of massacring the bloke, then has one good game elsewhere and we're idiots for sacking him. Glad he did well, and hope he plays with them for years but geez let's wait a bit before jumping off the cliff like lemmings.

Can you just let it rest mate. We get it, you hate Spargo, but there's no need to make posts every 5 minutes about it. Or at least be constructive in some kind of way.

If I was coach I'd name people in different positions every week just to come to this thread and laugh manically

The pathological attacks on Goodwin are over the top. Oscar, well done on one half of footy, you had a couple of good halves of footy at the Dees, where ironically Goody was accused of playing favourites with you and gifting you games. Goodwin and the entire coaching staff backed Oscar in and developed him into the player he is today, doing 1 preseason at another club isn’t magic. Get a grip some of you flogs.

Man I always rated OMac so highly, Keilty used to tell me he was one of the hardest blokes to match up on during training. Always used to really upset me to see him being s**t on by our supporter base But watching him tonight filled me with a lot of joy, as well as some anger about how our club treated him Go well Oscar and I hope you have a dominant year

There is a steady stream of players who leave the club each year, whether it be their choice or the club’s choice. And, of them, there are some players whom you wish all the best - you kind of want to see them do well following their departure from the MFC, even if it is with another AFL club. Oscar McDonald is in this category. Good luck to the young man - he strikes me as a quality individual. Let’s be better than to simply run him down, he was a devoted Demon - wish him luck, if only to make you look better as a human.

So I think we’ve all worked out you don’t like him or don’t rate him No need for you to express that opinion anymore - it is understood

Good to see we're starting on a positive note

Has Chandler suddenly become an on baller? Team is pretty much right I would personally play Bowey ahead of Jetta and Chandler ahead of Spargo on form but its a good balance for who is available.

And nobody needs to be subjected to articles of that quality. Please, just think of the children .....

Oscar at Carlton has 'cult hero' written all over him. What a birthday. Not only do you come out and play some of the best football of your life on debut for a new club after being delisted, but you also get your own trivia night question forever by being the first ever 'medical sub'. Hugely happy for him. I don't think it was a mistake to delist him and it's not like he is going to kick a goal every quarter for the rest of his career, but he never deserved the whinging hate that was aimed at him and I'm really glad he's made a good start with the nuffies off his back.

Anyone look at the standard of last nights game and think we may be in trouble?

There’s people in this thread like me not being overly complimentary of Oscar. Maybe we’re bad people, but I feel like we’re being honest. So are those honestly wishing him luck. Those who are using this thread to bash Goodwin are dead set kidding themselves.

Hope Clarry plays a blinder on his 100th Best of luck for a great game and find career to Jimmy Jordon - definitely due some good luck And for all the naysayers that say that Jetta is too slow - show them how it’s done you bloody legend

And I can’t recall too many of the experts here suggesting we should play Oscar forward. Hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed.

I feel like people get obsessed with the “oh he’s great now we should have kept him”. Dunn is a great example of a player who had run his race with us but a change of location gave his career new life. Delisting Oscar was the right decision, it didn’t mean he was useless or unworthy of being an AFL player it just meant for us he wasn’t going to fill our needs and make us better. We all should chill and forget about trying to compare him with Daw, they’re different players.

Bowey will play games this year because - he is not slow and - can hit targets

We're going to borrow Omac and sub him in there

Don’t know about a parasite but for me it’s chronic depression with a few brief moments of hope and if I’m lucky joy. The joy doesn’t last long. But each year, my wife sympathises with me, treats me kindly on the weekend, and my psychiatrist readjusts my medication. Yet strangely, I start each season with hope and love for my team. I love seeing the same expressions of Demon supporters on the train and the walk to the G. Mood is bright and conversation flowing. With lots of comments like .....do you remember that game in......or we will need Gawn and Oliver to fire...or the backline will be the key. But it’s a good feeling. I feel part of an army, an army that has gone through the same highs and lows, that feels like I do. That celebrates and hurts. Whether we win or lose, we love our club but winning makes the love come much more easily. However, defeat makes the return journey a downtrodden road to Hell. Disappointment and sometimes despair. However, irrespective I will react angrily and sometimes aggressively to our supporters who rubbish and criticise the team. Don’t bother coming you [censored], I say. I try and practice mindfulness but it’s not easy. But hope and that sense that this season we may surprise the critics and the naysayers remains for the time being.

Jordon doesn’t need to be a gun. We have plenty of top end talent as it is We need foot soldiers who will play the team role, defend, block, tackle, run both ways. If he does that he’ll be an asset for us.

if the games continue to be played at a faster pace with more of an emphasis on kicking, we're in big trouble

Just because he is named there doesn't mean he is going to play there, you would think that people would wake up to the fact that a lot of positional spots named pregame alter on game day.

Yeah I get it, the usual suspects backtracking on their "OMac has no AFL attributes" line and now it's "He was misused by Goodwin" It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

You're a fish flapping in the shallows Steve. You said he wasn't AFL standard. He is. You were wrong. It's time for you to move on and stop flogging a dead horse.

Well that sounds like a sensible choice. But how about you leave off and let the rest of us who are excited to see MFC at the MCG for the first time in 18 months enjoy it?

lol, Oscar's performance last night has been blown right out of proportion. Due to a multitude of factors. I'll comment on how he must feel and I'm happy for him. At least it looked like he was playing free of worry.

That would mean he would have to have 12 shots

I don’t believe we have an elite list at all. We lack lock down small defenders, small forwards that can kick 20 a year, barely any and pacy players and Oscar Baker as our other winger.

One of the best things about watching the AFLW games is the brilliant commentary by Jason Bennett and Nigel Carmody? Why these guys in prime time is beyond me. More of these guys and less BT.

I love Nev to bits . . . one of my all time fave Deez. But I'm extremely worried.

No, it’s a brainer. Spargo is a young developing fwd. he took steps last year and started scoring more. He is already a very good tackler and great kick inside 50. he more than deserves a start. Bowey has no runs on the board and needs to earn a game at Casey. With 4+ senior players out we need to limit debutants

The Lost at Selection crazies are out early. Barring one or two minor changes, it is pretty much as good as we can be without Viney, Weed, brown, Hibberd, Melksham etc defence looks good but I worry about Hunt back there. His defending and concentration does not give me confidence. Perhaps he will play on the wing? i expect Swallow to play a role maybe on Ryan or someone we want to negate. chandler my guess for the sub i get Harmes is not ideal but I don’t think baker has done enough to play. Harmes is an upgrade imo. Or maybe Hunt or Tomo play there.

Spargo getting a game on his last weeks terrible performance, says a lot about our options and lack of improvement. Meanwhile Chandler and Bowey miss out Shocking selections

Harmes on the wing is a strange one. Baker didn't nail down the spot down so let's see how he goes Otherwise its the best available to us Congrats Clayton Oliver on 100 games. Great effort.

Just can’t see where our improvement on 2020 is going to come from looking at this.

Harmes on the wing. Good grief.

You take Dusty out and they’d of lost to Geelong last year

I think he gets underrated around here and by the so called experts. He was very good last year. ...but agree he still has another gear. Should step up further this year and get the recognition he deserves.

Yes it was round 1, but it did seem that fitness and fatigue had a big hand in the way that game unfolded. longer quarters on top of less interchange. Players with elite endurance fitness are probably going to do well this season. Reading previous comments its been said that one of our strengths re stoppages is going to be reduced. I remember starting 2019 thinking 666 was going to help us, so Im not going to jump early on this. Im just not convinced that the stoppages was one of our strengths anyway to be honest. As we've all noted 7000 times, being so predictable via inside players like Viney and Oliver let other clubs feed off our inside work and then smash us on the outside....not once but continually. So in one sense one of our biggest weaknesses may be being reduced. We may become harder to play against. So many questions! How will our game plan stand up in the new system? Is our fitness really superior with Burgo? If so will it deliver powerful results at the end of quarters? Can all day runners like Tomlinson and Langdon take another step up in this situation? Can Hunt become a half back weapon? Can we Tmac hold down a key position again? Bring on 2021. cant wait!

Folks, some perspective. He was delisted for a reason. A good lad who didn’t deserve the abuse he copped here but who nonetheless I think deserved to be delisted. He’s has 1 good game in a Carlton shirt. Let’s see how he goes next week. I’ll be happy for him if he’s successful but I won’t be second guessing our list decision if he is. I think the fresh start and new surrounds is what Oscar needed for his career. Best of luck to him.

Oscar plays a quarter of good footy and we panic we’ve made a bad decision on him. Good luck to him but I’ve never been more sure he was not worth continuing with. let’s see how he goes over full games over a full season.

Haha McKay can't convert, but yet Weideman missed a simple goal 25m dead in front against Adelaide to win us the game.. You say it's poor list management we delisted McDonald and now you're saying Weideman is better then McKay?? You really are a Doozy.. McKay is everything I wish Weideman was at. Weideman has done nothing since that Geelong game. That's nearly 3 years ago now..

Not Oscar

The club will let you know after the game, better to check out the bull ants site.

Agree on Petty, he has that rare ability to one clunk his overhead marks

I think the AFLW is so much better because Jason Bennett isn’t a big personality. No bombast or hysteria. Just calls it as it is. Plain and simple. I think the fact he isn’t an ex footballer helps as well. BT is too overpowering. I’m trying to follow the action but find myself shaking my head at his over-the-top nonsense. He distracts me from the game. And just remember Folks the mute button is there for a reason. Use it.

Plays the role exceptionally well. There was a reason he was named in the All Australian squad in just his 3rd year of AFL footy. I expect him to go close this year going by his pre season form. The only slight adjustment I'd personally make to our backline is I'd have Harrison Petty instead of Tomlinson. Now there's a kid who's got enormous potential.

Well, one things is for sure. BT & JB along with Jobe and Hodgey were appalling.

We’ll need a Spread of 8-9 players. fristch 3. T Mac and Kozzi 2 Trac, ANB, Spargo, Gus, Oliver, Jackson, gawn, Langdon etc kicking one as the tigers have shown you don’t need one or two players kicking 5-6 goals. It’s a team effort