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Jay Clark reporting that Oliver has re-signed. No idea of the details but this is huge news for us and a big statement to the team! I was a bit worried he was going to get offered a truck load and move on.

I have so much of my identity tied up with supporting an incompetent football club. I am seriously rattled.

I confess I was chatting to him pre-season and was very confident after speaking with him about his prospects. Said high half forward is a very difficult role to play. You can do the same thing each week and one week have 3 posessions the other kick 4 goals like in the last round v Essendon. So much depnds on what happens up the ground. He was looking forward to being allowed to be more creative off half back under the new rules. Appears to be gaining more confidence and finding a good rapport with Langdon, Salem, May etc.

As a key forward, Jackson is currently the best contested mark (statistically) of any Rising Star qualified player. He has 5 whilst the next best (Georgiades, Koschitzke and Treacy) have 3. He's also second for contested possessions, first for hitouts, third for clearances, etc. So, for a 19 year old tall forward who also chops out in the ruck ..... he's doing exceedingly well. Dr D is just a troll, but blows up his credibility too often to be any good at it.

Apparently one of his training drills with #15 & #29 is to have them run and carry and deliver into the forward 50 using him driving a golf buggy as a target. They have to land the ball on the roof of the buggy. Genius!

Watch the play in the last qtr where Lever stopped the almost certain goal and in the background you see Hunt take off and burn off 3 or 4 geelong players in the chase to put pressure on. Great stuff

Watching the replay currently. Couple of things. - Tomlinson played on Hawkins the entire game. His positioning the majority of the time was absolutely outstanding. Well done, Tommo. - our two way running in midfield is incredibly evident on replay. If our midfield keeps that up, we'll be hard to beat. - the way we're using our mids and rolling them backwards and forwards from half forward, into stoppages and out again. It keeps the opposition constantly guessing. Also, the make up of who we're sending in there isn't easy to predict. - the defensive work of our wingers in Langdon, Brayshaw and Jones was excellent. The amount of times Langdon or Brayshaw would drop back in the hole and then provide rebound. Beautiful. Gus is a very clever player and Langdon is the prototype winger. Knows how to hold width, get it on the outside or do the defensive work. - team orientation is marked. Well done again, Demons.

I am starting to think you are not a real doctor.

What I noticed was how many of our goals on Sunday resulted from contests in the air near to goal with Jackson and or McDonald contesting if not marking. We crumb to packs better than in the past Kozzie, Spargo ANB all prominent here and the contest he provides is critical in that the ball isn't easily marked by opponents. Of course it would be better if he marked them and he will soon enough. He could do worse than to study Hawkins lead technique - he has a great lead / double back / lead again technique. He also get pushed under the ball on occasions in ruck contests but his leap means he still impacts the contest. He is good below his knees and his kicking is solid. So much upside in that guy - great addition.

I had him being delisted at the end of this year - couldn't see his best place in our starting 22, and hadn't seen improvement in 2 years. Actually, I thought he had regressed. Boy am I glad I am wrong. He is quick and tough, a lot harder physically than he looks, and a serious handful for other teams in their planning. Loving his footy this year.

I love Hunt and what he brings to the club, watching him, Langdon & Kozzie streaming down the wing was a sight to behold and at 26 has years ahead of him, he looks fitter, tougher and more composed. Good on you Jayden Hunt .!!!!!!!!!!

We see coaches that frankly are boring and at times one dimensional. Lacking imagination. However, Choco does not fit that mould. He brings difference to the club, and has that left field imagination and flair. This brings with it the risk that he will from time to time irritate people and even rub them up the wrong way. People like Choco need those around them to value their difference and volatility. I hope they can keep him. He may turn out to be just as valuable as some of our current stars on the field. Perhaps more valuable because he will influence many players with his ideas. In a similar way, I hope Kate Roffey can bring “difference” to the Board. Its long overdue that this Club does things differently. That it does not remain a bland club that stands for nothing. Our model is Richmond. It has been able to rebrand itself on and off the field with individuals being prepared to change old ways and embracing flair and difference.

Wasn't sure where to put this but on On the Couch tonight they highlighted some stats: We are conceding scores from 30.6% of our opposition inside 50s, which is the best percentage ever recorded after four rounds We have six of the competition's top 21 pressure players (presumably this is measured by average pressure acts per game?) Our forward half pressure rating is the third highest rating by any club since 2013.

I have never been 100% convinced that Oliver has the team-first mentality to take us to a premiership. My mind has changed. To go all-in and sign so early in a season when we promise something but haven't delivered yet shows he not only wants us to get there but is willing to bet his career on it. Lovely.

I know its only round 4 but Hunt so far is looking terrific.....

Honestly, some of you blokes don’t get it. What questions do you think the first female pres of the oldest club is going to get? What answers to those questions should she give? Of course she gives a shut about equality - we all should. A bloke would never get that question. And how some on here react? “I hope she cares about winning!1!1!1” And if you are trying to gauge you’re own reaction - look who you have a like from - that should be some insight into inanity.

Had heard it was a 2 year extension on decent coin to take him through to free agency and looks to be correct. Still bloody happy he’s signed on. He’s the best 100 gamer I’ve seen and best inside midfielder in red n blue in my years supporting the club.

Enjoying watching him so far, just looks relaxed and controlled. Love it when the supporters find extra voice when he starts to run. He burnt Dahlhaus in the first quarter with ease after starting behind him and the look on Dahlhaus whilst chasing was priceless....and that 50-60 metre chase he didn’t give up on in the last quarter when he wasn’t going to get near the Geelong players was inspiring, he actually beat 3 of his teammates after starting way behind them to get closest to helping Lever.

If only Mark was available back in 2010-11 He was exactly what Bails needed. hindsight yes, but it still hurts what happened to Bails. He was a fine man

What a brilliant interview. I could have listened to that all day. If you all have a chance jump on the SEN podcast in an hour or so and have a listen. He has no interest in a head coaching role anymore. Enjoys the development side of it and also working with Goodwin who gave glowing appraisal. The most interesting part was he reached out to Garry Lyon few weeks ago to speak to the younger players. Apparently Garry is now coming down to the club and doing a little bit of work behind the scenes with the players? Had a big empathis in getting ex players back involved in the club. By far the biggest recruit we've had in my time supporting the Dees.

The appointment of a talented women with a range of skills, experiences and achievements has to be a good thing. She will not be spoken down to in a paternalistic manner and hopefully will shake things up in a progressive but inclusive manner. Yes, I do like women. They have everything a man does not have. My experience with talented women over a long time tells me that they have no time for boys big noting, [censored], networking and pretence. They have much greater empathy, emotional intelligence, and practical minds. They are better balanced, more mature and worldly. They do not resort to alcohol and pats on the back. Yeah, I like them a lot. In fact, I admire them. Kate is a great appointment and something we should be proud to endorse. Of course, there are exceptions but less than men.

I am reliably advised that St Kilda's Brad Hill and Brad Crouch have broken the AFL record for most disposals by players called Brad for a team in an individual game - they both had 26 disposals last weekend combining for 52 in total. This breaks the previous record of 50 held by our Brad Green (32) and Brad Miller (18) in round 13 2004. As additional useless information, the record by two players with the same name is held by Collingwood's Tony Shaw (50) and Tony Francis (30) who combined for 80 disposals in round 5 1991. And, St Kilda holds the record for most disposals by one first name for a team in the same game with 151 held by six Jacks in Rd 16 2017 being Billings (19), Lonie (18), Newnes (25), Sinclair (28), Steele (28) and Steven (33). I don't know about you, but this is the essential content I come to Demonland for.

This. Is. Good. News. Looking forward to collecting the details so I can jam it down every Carlton-Supporting-Mate that have already bought Carlton tops with #13 on the back

He. Is. 19 years old. He was a bottom age recruit that has amazing potential. Wow.

Yes, there's an accident on the Monash affecting all outbound traffic from the Forster Road exit. There's congestion on the Westgate near Kororoit Creek Road. Seek alternate routes. And if you have home renovating needs, all carpets, floorings and furnishings are on sale this weekend at Harvey Norman. That's SEN Traffic.

I fractured my eye socket in January it took a week from swelling to go completely and around 3 for the fracture to heal.

It shows Goody's modern football capabilities, in that he can easily and successfully (so far), integrate high profile coaches onto his team. Choco, Richardson and Yze, have fitted in well. The game plan, with the ability to change gears and strategies is new to this team. We aren't getting overrun and can withstand a barrage before taking over again. Intelligent play, with the team apparently able to follow instructions.

Surely in contention for most improved this year. He's never been this good. What he used to have as a defender was the dash and dare. He's never had the two-way running or the physicality that he has this year. I don't mind him running halfway down the ground to drive us inside 50 because I'm more confident in our forward half game to keep the ball there that Hunt won't get exposed out of position. I'm also more confident in his ability to turn around and gut run back into defence if need be. And when we're in defence, I'm confident in his ability to win a one-on-one or to put his head over the ball when it's his turn. Loving his game so far this year.

I think its pretty obvious he clearly hasn't yet developed his forward craft skills (Nic Nat pointed this out in the commentary). He's played predominantly in the ruck as a jnr. and is now being asked to simply compete in the air forward of the ball when he's not helping Max out. While he isn't clunking them consistently yet I haven't seen him beaten in a marking contest yet, he generally halves the contest which is fine for a 19 year old still learning every game. The answer is he isn't a forward... YET.

4-0 4-zero 4- nil 4-zip 4 – nada I do like the look of that. The 4 is so important as is the figure 16 for the points we have thus far. I also like the number 8 which is the points break we have over a number of the pre-season ‘contenders’. And there is 2 which is our position on the ladder. 4 rounds, 4 wins and 16 premiership points in the bank. I watched it live via streaming and a few times I found myself thinking back to my childhood. As a young lad I just loved to go to the Saturday matinee that was on at the local cinema with my mates during the summer holidays. There was always a really good B grade adventure movie on. A western, a pirate saga or a good war story. All good, but my favourite was always the Musketeers. Damn they were good. Always having fun, Always getting into problem places only to be helped out by one of their other three mates. The backyard games after a Musketeers movie would find us with our sword sticks in hand giving a battle cry of “ALL FOR ONE – ONE FOR ALL!!” followed by a charge into Mum’s flowerbed to decapitate the hydrangeas. God, I got into trouble for that. The Melbourne Musketeers out played the Geelong Flowerbeds in Round 4. We had a musketeer troop in each area of the ground. They supported each other, exerted the pressure needed, were well lead and looked good doing it. It was another 4 points, but I find these points the sweetest of the season so far. And so, to the Round 5 encounter with the Hawks at the G on Sunday afternoon. What to say about the Hawks? Well, they have not been great so far this season. In all truth, I have to admit that I have not followed them all that closely. Saw a little of their game yesterday and while they have a couple of handy performers, they also have a lot of ordinary performers. Clarkson did a great job as a rookie senior coach when he first went there but personally, I think he has run his course. I look at them and see a very ordinary list playing to expectations. The facts: We are coming off a win at the G against the Flowerbeds - Advantage us. We still do not look to be playing to our potential – Advantage them They had a loss over in WA and have the flights to contend with. - Advantage us Howe injured for them and Lewis rubbed out, May out for us. - No advantage either way (maybe a bit for them with our loss of May) Problem areas of the game for us (not sure that this is the right terminology given the wins we have had): After four matches this season we are seeing a very different team performing in the red and blue than was running around last year. My observations are that the players seem to be very clear on their primary roles, playing them confidently and executing well. They also look to be responding to the on-field situation with more awareness. Well done to the coaching staff if this is the case as they look to have made the message simple and straightforward. A bit like the way we are playing at the moment. Defence, I was a bit worried about in the first quarter when Lever dropped a couple of simple marks that he would normally snaffle. However, once May went off early in the second, Lever rose to the occasion and did not just cut out errors from his game but took the leadership role in that area of the ground and did a great job with his troop of Musketeers. Next week will test our structure down back with the introduction of a new tall defender into the system. Looks as if it will be Petty and I do not mind that. I know I am down on Jetta a bit but I think Clarkson is just the sort of opposition coach that will come up with a plan to exploit Jetta’s limitations. Loved the way that they adjusted to May’s absence. Hunt is in great form. Hawks have a few good players in the middle but they will have a problem or three covering all of Oliver, Petracca and Viney and getting their own drive from the center. O’meara and Mitchell are the main threats in the middle and they will need to work hard to dictate terms. If we get the ascendancy there and put them on the back foot so they are reactive rather than proactive then that is the game right there. These three along with the support players are doing the job very well. Langdon is a great pickup for us and, as someone on this board observed, he and Hunt seem to feed off each other and I love the sight of the two of them running the wing. Max and Luke sharing the ruck duties is working well. The fixtures could not have been better for us with the teams we have met so far having not a lot of ruck talent to go against us. This has allowed Max to move around the ground as required covering defence as required and also moving forward to give an extra dimension to the forward structure. It has also allowed Luke to get some good experience and time in the ruck. If the mids keep to the Musketeer’s philosophy and play well and support each other, then we should dominate this area. Now for the forwards……. We have to include discussion of them you know….. The good; we kicked a winning score last week. Fristch with 4 (there is that number again… Fristch to get 5 this week?) The bad; This is a tough one…… The bad (for Geelong and I hope for Hawks) our forward pressure across the forward 50. The ugly; Fristch’s hair Good to be in the situation where our two missing key forwards are back playing and we are in no rush to get them back in the team. What a luxury it is to be able to nurture them to full fitness via Casey. I will be interested to see who the poor man’s Jayden hunt is sent to cover. Frost on TMac, Fristch? I just see our troop of forward Musketeer’s having too much flexibility for the Hawks defence. We have pressure forwards to tackle and harass, we have a lot of flexibility to rotate players through there to get the matchup we want to try and exploit and we are getting more accurate. Last week I predicted a 3 goal win and later revised it upwards to 5 goals and we won by 4. This week I do not want to get ahead of myself so I am going conservative and predicting a win to the Dees by 5 goals. The bandwagon is parked in the driveway, the red and blue livery polished to perfection and the bathwater steamer bubbling away. There are plenty of vacant seats on board at the moment but I am sure with 5-0 against our name the seats will fill fast. “All for one and one for all!”

[censored] EPIC news. I love this kid to death. Well done Demons. This is a huge win.

Not sure about that. Lots of posters on here have nominated him as trade bait but I'm not aware of any rumours of that actually happening. I'd rather keep him and also pick up Merrett as the free agent that he will become at year's end.

Can't wait to see him in another 15-20 games. Those marks will stick. The kicking will improve and the confidence should surge. The ground ball gathers and work in traffic are elite for his size. An incredible talent that should keep Dee supporters in awe for many years!

It will never happen but they could have All The awards, Rising Star, All Australian and Brownlow night rolled in together on the Friday night over the bye and then have a real festival of footy showcasing the 3 major state competition Grand finals on the Saturday. VFL Early afternoon eastern then SANFL Twilight then WAFL night. Could even throw under 18s on there if they wanted.

This is going to come back to bite you on the derriere just like your Kossie criticisms and that Goodwin will be gone by Round 8.

Chocco is as mad as a cut snake and I love him. He has a strange mix of qualities: He is a communicator. Lots of people have football smarts and experience, but very few can convey it to others in a way that helps them learn or develop. He is passionate about people and passionate about footy. He is a genuine teacher Did I mention that he is stark raving nuts? He no longer wants to be a head coach He can balance being direct and corrective, while also encouraging and positive. A rare mix Best MFC appointment since Paul Roos and THAT photo of him and Nev. Wow.

That's a ripper of a picture of him with Nev. The club are all talking about connection, that's it in a nutshell.

I'm not going to get carried away because we will probably lose to Hawthorn next week, but it was clear as day Goodwin wasn't walking as tall as he was when he first came in. He looked tired and frustrated. Felt like he lost his voice in a way. Watching Choco and Yze back him up from the bench or around the huddle is going make Goody walk taller and find his voice.

Jackson led Melbourne for ground ball gets on the weekend, along with Jack Viney (9 each). He also had 11 contested possessions, behind only Viney, Oliver and Gawn. Of all rising stars, he has the second most contested possessions (1 behind Chad Warner) this season. Given that he's a teenage second ruckman, the signs for him are ultra-promising.

I'm not sure if you say these remarks to get a bite because no one actually takes you serious because over the journey you've said that; "Melbourne made a poor decision by trading Jack Watts".. you were beating your chest about this and now you're afraid to admit that you were wrong. "Ben Brown is a spud".. again, you're so far off the mark and wrong on this that it's embarrassing. His record speaks for itself. Calling Bayley Fritsch an ordinary footballer and wanting him traded. Yeah nah once again you're wrong.. you've got the [censored] with this one purely because we used the pick we got from your lover boy in Watts and chose Fritsch who's made more of an impact then Watts ever did for the Melbourne Football Club. The Daw comment is just ordinary in general. He is a back up depth who most likely will not play at all this year. But if a Gawn or Jackdon goes down in the ruck then he's obviously next in line and we'll compete at least. You're borderline@Elegt levels

An important game for us. We need to continue our winning momentum. Lose and we play the Tige's with our colours lowered. Win and we will have a good chance against them. Hate to see us go 4 and 2, after a great start. Clark is a smart coach. It won't be easy. Hopefully our brain trust can predict his plan, as well as change ours on the run, so as to not give them a sniff. I should have confidence, but we all know, MFCSS. Really we should win easily. Our effort, tackling pressure, swarm of runners, less clangers (except for a few dropped marks), breaking lines, speed of ball movement, marks in 50 (attack and defence), forcing the opposition to play defensive against us, flexible game plans, nullifying dangerous opposition players, good decision making, our best 6-10 players all up and about, the confidence, getting plenty of looks at scores, pressure for positions, 2nd game at our spiritual home in a row (tigers game will make it 3), we are fit, strong and smart, creative play makes us unpredictable, nothing like training with a smile, we have the right support staff, Casey training facilities appear to be helping, not much going against us at the moment (May is our first real hurdle, not including BB), if we take our opportunities to score goals more often and hold all our simple marks we have it. Go Dees.

Feel like Viney deserves more credit for this game. Shout out to @DeeSpencer and @The Swimming Dee for also having him BOG. It wasn’t just the fact he had more contested possessions and tackles than any other player on the ground. It was the moments they happened. Those knife edge moments where the Cats could have swung momentum. More often than not it felt like Viney was the one having none of it. Impossible not to have admiration for the bloke. To be playing with the enormous heart he does when many other professional sportsmen would have sooked it up. He’s a gem. Thank god he plays for us.

I agree with this summation insofar the the task required at MFC is concerned. This is a meritorious appointment, without doubt, although it was not presented as such.. Kate seems perfectly positioned to assist the club with her skills, experience and local government network to advance our pressing needs for a home base. The fact that gender needed to be introduced into the discussion of Kate's appointment at all, probably says more about the objectives for some, both here and in the public forum, to claim the higher moral ground and abuse any opinion that differs from their own. Virtue signalling is precisely what that is and it is the lowest form of of ideological argument. My mother matriculated as dux of her school in 1946 and was denied entry into the Engineering Faculty of Monash University, because she was a woman. I don't appreciate "johnny-come-lateleys" talking about inequality as if they are victims or have any understanding of its true context. I, like many older Australians, was brought up under the wing of strong willed woman (now sadly gone), who became a nurse caring for returned Korean battle infantry in the 1950's. A woman whose life's successful ambition was to create opportunities for the women that followed her, not by virtue of quotas but by merit. I really hope Kate can find us a home and bring our club to new highs, not because of her gender, but because of her talents. End of fact, beginning of new MFC Presidency. Good luck to Kate and to us all.

As Petracca said post match, they have finally realised that individual brilliance is not consistent or sustainable enough to win flags. They seem to all be working towards the same common goal for the first time in years, which can only be a result of Chocco and Yze

Talking to two ex AFL/VFL legends tonight,it was universally accepted that BOTH Choco and Adem Yze have had a profound influence on proceedings at MFC. Also might I add... Simon Goodwin would have to have bought into the fact that these guys would and should be able to work autonomously!! Go Dees