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It’s difficult to compare players from different eras. Over the last 50 years, we have had many great defenders. However, I can’t recall watching a performance as dominating as that of Steven May. Yes, it was a poor opponent with a dysfunctional forward line, but even so, Mays game was incredible. His instinct for the game was evident over 4Q. He knew where to go, he knew when to mark, he knew when to punch, he knew when to defend and he knew when to attack. He stood calm and resolute every time the ball came in his direction. There was no panic or rushed decision making. His ball handling was always sure and decisive. And that long penetrating stabbing drop punt was something to drool over. Have we ever had someone that has played with the confidence and certainty of May. Its rare for a supporter particularly this one, to relax, knowing that every time the ball went into our defensive zone, May was there like the Rock of Gibraltar standing tall, with the ability and agility to return the ball like a slingshot into our forward half. His ability, style and presence make other players stand tall. It was a wonderful feeling to watch a player in the red and blue be so dominant. You know that Tiger fans must feel the same way about Dusty. It’s a good feeling.

3 marks inside 50 for 2 goals one behind, and 6 score involvements (behind only Oliver). Would seem he is precisely doing his job. Fry a different Fritta.

I was impressed with his attitude when he got pinged for HTB in the last qtr. Had a smile, gave his opponent a well done pat and went back to vigorously defend. Showed he’s really enjoying his footy and his head is in a really good space (IMO). Well done to the club on the Hogan/May trade. We’ve got a ripper.

If we’re ever fortunate enough to win a flag people will complain that the cup isn’t shiny enough.

Jesus christ I hate Melbourne supporters.. We've gone from questioning Clayton Oliver's worth in the team, to now wanting to trade Max Gawn. Who would have thought a win still brings the worse out in some.

Disagree with both of you. 18 touches with 9 handballs and 9 kicks going at a touch over 60% with four turnovers. I watched him closely, and aside from a few good individual pieces of play, he was underwhelming. The bloke came third in a brownlow after playing his natural game ffs. Are we thinking about this?!? I am completely disillusioned with Goodwin. Against better sides, his lack of transition speed will be found out. His natural instinct is to see ball get ball so I've never understood Goodwin's propensity to play natural inside and contested ball winners on a wing with a role that goes completely against their natural game. We've always had issues with our mids being sucked into the contest. And part of that is due to playing natural ball winners in outside positions who find it hard to hold space. When has it worked over the last two years or three years? Tyson, Jones, Brayshaw, AVB.. Tom Phillips was there as a cheap option over the trade period. Look at how played for Hawthorn on the weekend. A natural wingman. Gus is not even a top runner at the club either so the extended quarters and fewer rotations are not going to help him. His ball use is iffy at best. I will wait a few more games when we play better oppo, but it's already concerning. We've seen this before and to what effect?

Give Hunt sometime to settle, he is a confidence player and once he gets his tail up he will make a huge difference to our side. The fast track at Marvel will suit him

Last year Brayshaw played between the arcs for a large part of games.. He was the 'go-to' player in transition. So if he plays on the wing I'm guessing his role will be as a link-up player controlling one side of the ground rather the Langdon type wing who is more a run-and-carry player because of his speed. The structures and players will need to be well set up to help them play those roles to optimise our ball movement out of defence. Despite not being 'fast', Brayshaw has very good footy IQ, has good vision and regardless of what some on here say is a good user of the ball. If my hunch is right about how his wing role might evolve then it could be good move.

There was a piece of play sometime late in the game where Jetta was one on one with a loose ball to contest and I spontaneously burst out 'Jetta is smarter that you' at the Freo player (on the screen). Never had a doubt and sure enough Jetta outpositioned and outplayed his opponent without hesitation. Also made me look like I knew what was going on for once, so yet another reason to be grateful for Uncle Nev.

All good... got our emails from the club containing bar codes. Tickets for the GWS game are obtained through Ticketek and are available to members from 9am tomorrow morning. Finally, live and close up footy!!

Nick Smith.

Similar types. Tassie played tall and like May seemed to have an uncanny knack when to mark and when to punch. Perfect timing you might say. May is more attacking than Tassie but it’s a very different game. And ground conditions at times were atrocious. Like May, Tassie was a beautiful kick, but, more often than not, a long penetrating drop kick compared to Mays raking drop punt. Tassie could give it and receive it. However, I can’t remember him being reported as his aggression was tempered and measured. Tassie was rarely beaten over a whole match. The great Hawks full forward John Peck who dealt out physical punishment like lollies never tried the rough stuff with Tassie out of respect for him and also knew that a Tassie punch might just find it’s way to his head. Pecky hated playing against Tassie. Tassie like May read the play beautifully always being in the right spot. Tassie like May could be played across the ground. Norm Smith used him at Full Back, Centre Half Back. Centre Half Forward and in his last few seasons, in the ruck. A short ruckman at 6.2 he was able to position his body to negate taller rucks tap work. From memory Tassie lined up in the ruck in the 64 flag team. Tassie was a good looking coot with black hair and movie star looks. Steven also looks pretty good in the eye of old Ernie. Tassie was solid at ground level but May is quicker and more agile. Gee it’s a good comparison but Tassie ended up playing in 3 premierships and captaining the side in 69. So was a bloody legend. Sadly, he had a long period of illness before he died 5 or 6 years ago.

It worked pretty well on the weekend so lets wait and see...

I hope this now gives Brayshae the opportunity to spend more quality minutes as an inside midfielder.

May means business. If all our players played with his heart we would be close to premiership favourites.

Am I the only one who thinks Oscar Baker still has something to offer on the wing?

Surely Hunt would be chance to go out for Hibberd. almost like for like. And Hibberd is better player, if nowhere near as quick.

Fitness, match fitness - these new draftees haven't played a consistent block of footy for 18 months, then there's a matter of throwing in a tiny defender right away before he's really proven himself at VFL level. It's a lot to ask. As far as I can tell 6 Victorian first year kids made their debuts on the weekend. Berry, Sharp, Bruhn, Cox, Henry, Lazzaro (sub). 5 of those are country kids who likely had less strict lockdowns last year as well. That's probably not a coincidence.

Might be more a question of fitness than talent. It's not something I've seen mentioned elsewhere, but one impact of reducing rotations is that first year players may be less likely to be given games, especially early in the season, due to their relative lack of fitness.

He is a serious 'Merchant Banker' this guy...maybe the most punchable head in AFL, not that I'm condoning violence here.

I've just been reading the "Tackling Down" thread where it has been eloquently argued that tap ruckmen are no longer important. And now this arguing just as eloquently for the opposite . I don't know what to believe any more!

Lovely post there, Ernie. When I was a kid, I had two huge Mobil posters on my bedroom wall. One was my hero Hassa Mann (had his number 29 on my very first footy jumper) and the other was the esteemed Tassie Johnson.

Destined to follow in the footsteps of the other FIGJAM - has a Brownlow, changed clubs for a much coveted Premiership medal but will retire without one. Icing on the cake would be if Adelaide win a flag before he retires. Unlikely but would like to see it.

From Rd 1 33% of kick ins resulted in an i50. 5yr avg is 19% Avg pressure rating 176 vs 5 yr avg of 182 42% of scores came from the back half vs 36% 5yr avg Stoppages avg 49 vs 5yr avg 63 1. Its a small sample but if continued suggests Ruck dominance is now not so important - Gawn Grundy and others had average games in Rd 1. Gawn should spend more time in the fwd line. 2. Less pressure is good for the Demons. We have typically fallen apart under pressure and turned the ball over. 3. Back half generating scores is good for us. With May Lever Salem distributing the ball from the back half we should do better 4. Kick ins have been a problem for us for years. Maybe now its easier to get the ball out of the defence we will see more i50s and scores... 5. Fitness also looks like it will be a key factor this year Coaches will adjust and adapt but will be interesting to see if these resultsstay the same....

Agree with you it’s not ideal and we should’ve done more over summer (though less convinced on Phillips). But I think Gus’ transition speed kills us more on ball than the wing. If he doesn’t get his hands on it at centre clearances opposition mids spring right past him. Remember we had 2 off the back of the square covering in 2018. We could use Pickett at bounces then swap Gus in from half forward. But then we’re back to who’s playing on the wing? Can’t have Baker. Vanders is similar problems as Gus with the ball (only worse) but a better defensive player. Jordon maybe? Bowey maybe?

Averages out to the good ole classic 426.

What has Melksham done to deserve a recall ? Did he play a blinder last week ? His form in the last couple of seasons has been poor and I would have thought he should earn a recall particularly when others have done a full pre season and have greater match fitness. I'd love to think we are past the days of gifting players games on reputation

Is that the same player that once got a 37 possession 3 goal game playing as an inside mid?

Did I just read that Brayshaw will be playing wing for the year? I cannot understand Goodwin.

Well done to Lord Nev for his inside word about the Harmes injury. Harmes has been off the boil for a while now and may have been in contention to be dropped for Viney anyway.

Smokey I don't accept the premise of Gawns tap dominance. If Gawn truly was dominant he would tap to advantage. He seems to get his hand on the ball and guides it to the ground or the opposition which is close to useless. Gawn needs to control his taps and punch a few out for variety.

Latest Injury List: Some serious outs for the Saints. They get Max King back but he is lacking match practice and would be having nightmares playing against May again. If any of our Hibberd, Viney or Melksham return they will at least have some match practice. Injuries will be no excuse for us should we lose this weekend as they are worse off than us. Petracca and May won us the game last time we played them. We need an all team effort this week. We must bank these early wins against wounded opponents. Edit: Just saw the news re Harmes' wrist. Fortunately, I think we have plenty of coverage for him and his role. If Viney is ready it is an easy swap this or next week.

Just announced on SEN 5 mins ago

Maybe, but it seems he prefers bananas to apples...

It’s not, if it was Vanders doing the bumping it would be 4-6 weeks. The histrionics put out this week by Dangerdiver and his crew has been disconcerting.

I’m backing Gus in. Got the skill and talent to play a role. Mid. Outside. Half forward. Not on the trade table imv.

Excellent, wide ranging interview .... Maysie 'wears his heart on his sleeve'. I absolutely love the wholehearted way he has embraced the Dees.

I hate Dangerfield. Did he wear his stupid white suit, sans socks, to the Tribunal hearing?

The Steven May - Damian Barrett interview is a gem. 10 minutes well spent. Whilst I've watched many instances of May inspire on the field, (especially last Saturday against Freo) I've learnt from this interview that May shows he can be equally inspiring off the paddock. May's honesty, determination and courage gives hope for the immediate and long-term future of the MFC. His influence will go a long way to forging us a long awaited premiership.

His best position is inside, and while I love Viney’s attack I think Gus does it cleaner. I can’t work out why we wouldn’t throw him in there for periods against Freo when we were getting smashed in clearances.

People were excited because we re-signed a capable goal kicker. Hunt kicked 21 goals in 2019 and ended the 2020 season with a 4 goal performance. Any idea why one of our more naturally talented goal kickers and reliable set shot for goal isn't a forward this year?

I think Lever & May are our best on field leaders Would like to see Lever as our next skipper