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Locked in according to Nick Butler on 10 news.

I'm conflicted and confused. Do I need to take my toboggan off Gumtree...???

Other players will no doubt get to 300 but I doubt one will be as meaningful to the supporters as this one. He was the one shining light and face of the club for so many years. It feels like he’s been on the journey with us. It feels like “we” are playing game 300. I’m so glad he’s made it to 300 and I’m glad it will be played in front of a huge crowd, when we’re going well. He deserves it. Go Chunk.

Here is the current players win % in the red and blue as of round 5 2021 No. Player Games for the Dees Wins Losses Draw Win % 23. James Jordon 5 5 0 100.00 6. Luke Jackson 11 9 2 81.82 24. Trent Rivers 14 10 4 71.43 20. Adam Tomlinson 18 12 6 66.67 32. Tom Sparrow 12 8 4 66.67 38. Mitch Brown 6 4 2 66.67 9. Charlie Spargo 39 25 14 64.10 15. Ed Langdon 22 14 8 63.64 36. Kysaiah Pickett 19 12 7 63.16 18. Jake Melksham 74 41 33 55.41 8. Jake Lever 41 22 19 53.66 26. Sam Weideman 44 23 21 52.27 13. Clayton Oliver 104 54 50 51.92 30. Alex Neal-Bullen 85 44 41 51.76 1. Steven May 29 15 14 51.72 22. Aaron Vandenberg 47 24 23 51.06 31. Bayley Fritsch 65 33 32 50.77 37. Kade Chandler 2 1 1 50.00 5. Christian Petracca 107 53 54 49.53 14. Michael Hibberd 73 36 37 49.32 10. Angus Brayshaw 99 47 52 47.47 29. Jayden Hunt 79 37 42 46.84 4. James Harmes 105 49 56 46.67 3. Christian Salem 111 51 60 45.95 44. Joel Smith 18 8 10 44.44 11. Max Gawn 139 58 81 41.73 39. Neville Jetta 156 61 95 2 39.10 25. Tom McDonald 175 68 107 38.86 7. Jack Viney 139 52 87 37.41 41. Jay Lockhart 22 8 14 36.36 34. Marty Hore 14 5 9 35.71 2. Nathan Jones 299 98 198 3 32.78 33. Oscar Baker 13 4 9 30.77 35. Harrison Petty 12 3 9 25.00 12. Toby Bedford 2 0 2 0.00

It’s ‘meth coke’

I don't often participate in these sort of discussion but really what's the point in being a footy supporter if you don't let yourself enjoy the good times? And as a club we have to maximise the commercial advantages and being in the press is a large part of that. We'll lose games this season and it will be disappointing. That's footy. But we are genuine participants this year, that's great.

I see this game as a free hit in a lot of ways, number one most important thing is to stay with them deep into the match. The majority of the competition (and its fair to say our supporters) don’t think we’ll win but if we show enough to indicate that we can match them pound for pound we lose nothing we weren’t expecting to lose. If we win on the other hand the lid could well and truly be off!

That call he made comparing his lot as a Tiges supporter to Jacquie Kennedy post the JFK shooting is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Wonder if he still has the petrol station. Mario from Doncaster Good times !

Been told her first address is coming Saturday night firstly at the President function, then on Channel 7 and followed by an address on Melbournefc.com.au early next week

The latest Gus and Gawny podcast is well worth a watch where their featured guest is Nathan Jones. Nathan has been interviewed a few times this week, but to me, this interview is by far the best of them all. And Gawny's comments about Nathan towards the end perfectly sum up the players respect, admiration and love they have for him. Congratulations and much thanks to Nathan.

Yep. In addition, going to the pocket creates more predictable outcomes, meaning - We mark it - As noted in the age article discussed on another thread it is less likely opposition mark it (its crowded because we are playing deeper and the boundary line creates a barrier) - It comes to ground - It goes over the boundary line. This makes planning a response easier, and more effective. If it goes over the boundary we can implement a set play, aided by having two excellent rucks and a grade inside mids. Hits the ground and with a congested area we are better able to trap it in, create a stoppage and/or scrap a goal. Sure it is harder to score from the pockets than the corridor, but we take more marks, and therefore get more shots on goals, because there are usually more open leading lanes in the pockets than the corridor, so more marks, as evidenced by how many more we are taking inside 50. And even when they kick a point from an angle after a mark, a mark means the players have time to all get set up and make it hard for the opposition to clear their defensive area from the kick out. Which is a big factor in our ability to make it hard for teams to transition end to end. Of course these options (with the possible exception of going over the boundary line) exist with more central kicks. But there are more variables in the corridor. Not least because there is more space. And marks are much harder to take, so its harder to set up the wall to stop defensive exits. And of course if the opposition win the ball, they do so in a dangerous position as they have three lanes to choose to exit from. This was killing us last year, and even in 2018. And like basketball, the boundary line is an extra player because it can trap players and reduce their options in terms of the direction they can move the ball. These reduced options make it easier to set up a structure that makes it easier to trap the ball inside 50 (eg from a hurried attempted clearing kick like the one melksham marked at the top of the goal square in the hawks game).

Or Whorethorn, Essendrug or Filth. I find all these names disturbingly juvenile and unbecoming a supporter base I like to think of as more sophisticated than the average.

I thought that one of the benefits of a rolling fixture was to reward the performance of some teams.

5-0. Looks good to me. 5 rounds in…. 5 wins…. 20 premiership points. Second spot on the ladder. That is as good as it gets at this stage of any season. At my stage of life, I have a hell of a lot more long winding road behind me than open road in front of me. On the well worn, dusty path that has been my journey thus far I have done a myriad of different things, lived, worked and travelled to a bunch of different places on our earth however it seems that always as a constant has been my support of the Dees. As it is for me, it is for the Melbourne Football Club; there is a long and winding road behind and an open road in front. Never has the phrase “one game at a time” been more pertinent for this list. They look to be ticking off each game and then settling in for the next challenge no matter what the past results may have been. How good is it – Last week a win over the cats, this week a win over the hawks and next week the possibility of a trifecta with a win over the tigers. Makes me smile to think about it the possibility. The Musketeers did the job on Hawthorn. Hawthorn asked a few questions of us for the first half, and we had the answers. Second half, we asked the questions, and they had no answers. Great game from Max and I was interested to hear Goodwin say in his presser that it is Max that calls the shots on the ground as to when Jackson rucks and when he does. It is working well. 4th quarter was Musketeer Time. The whole team swashed a few buckles. Loved it And so, to the Round 6 encounter with the Tigers at the G on Saturday evening in the match of the round. Richmond have been very good for a long time and have a mature, well drilled team with a few players that are exceptional. However, it is hard to know what to make of their form so far this season. They won against Carlton, Hawthorn and St. Kilda as you would expect but dropped a game at the G against Sydney and a close one against Port interstate. Not exactly encouraging for Tiger fans. I want these 4 points to ensure that we put another game into the gap between the two sides and to preserve the winning run. The facts: We are coming off a win at the G against the Hawks- Advantage us. We were not up to standard for the first half – Advantage them They had a big win over the Saints at Marvel - Advantage them They have a few extra days rest. – Advantage them Problem areas of the game for us (yep, we have a few problem areas to address after the game on Sunday): I love the confidence in the team. They are confident in their teammates, confident in the structures that are in place and confident in their ability to run out games. This was evident in the game on Sunday. They worked the way they needed to, made adjustments that were required on the run and ran over the top in the last. Our defensive structure passed the test with Petty slotting into May’s spot and, once he picked up the pace of the game and settled, he was effective. He will be better for the run and if May is not 100% will be an adequate tall defender with Tomlinson and Lever around him. I was mildly surprised to see Jetta dropped in favour of Hibberd, but one that I supported. It was a good call with Hibberd producing an excellent game. A big test for our defenders this week with one of the best performed forward structures of recent times up against them. Riewoldt, Lynch and Martin in the forward area says it all. I think we can contain them if we break even in the middle. They have a very good midfield that is consistent across the board. Graham, Edwards and Castagna all give excellent drive out of the center and all are dangerous when given a sniff at a goal. For us, Oliver, Viney and Landon can, in my opinion, match and beat that lot. Dusty for them and Trac for us are the X factor in the midfield mix. Both are explosive players that can play through the middle and can move forward to kick goals. Which of these will have the most influence? Hard to predict. Max and Luke sharing the ruck duties last week and both had a lot more hitouts that McEvoy. Up against Nankervis this week will be a test, but I leave it to Max to call the shots during the game and use his smarts. Now for the forwards……. The good; we kicked a winning score last week. Different players bobbed up at different times and it all came together in the last. The bad; Our forward pressure, or lack thereof in the first half. The ugly; connection issues between mids and forwards in the first 2 quarters It is going to be a three cheese platter night at the selection table this week with the main focus on the forward structure and who to play there. I do not think Fritsch will be fit this week, but we have a couple of fit, in form tall forwards that it would be nice to find space for but not at the expense of our present forward structure. I would bring in one of Wiedeman or B Brown for M Brown. Mitch was good but the other two provide more of a threat to Richmond. Which ever way we go, I think we have the firepower and flexibility up front to cause a few problems for the defenders. Prediction? With confidence I predict a Demons win. Margin? 5 goals. The bandwagon has hit the road….. the open road, not the long and winding one. Purring along and gathering speed. Plenty of seating for all…. Hop on board.

Are you guys the same person? And no, Spargo should not be under pressure. He's the one that brings the pressure.

Spot on. We only had two inside 50 tackles at half time last week. If that is the half time stat against the tigers it is game well and truly over. Tmac's pressure has been first class this year. But he's pretty slow and besides operates mainly up field. Weed worries me. His pressure last year was rubbish. As was melkshams. Melksham's pressure was just ok against the hawks. But still not where it needs to be. Weed and Melksham in the same side is a concern in terms of forward half pressure.

Where is Werridee? We need a team based on the 22 winningest players.

Lol - the same Peggy O'Neal in this #changeourgame video, calling for more women in footy?

would love to see May run through that irksome Lynch and sort him out - i loathe him.

Just considered your post. The real thing that has changed since the 2018 prelim final is the personnel. (with conservative changes of May and Weideman in and Brown and Petty out) Missing from the 2018 Preliminary Final team are: Jetta Oscar Lewis J Smith Frost Hannan Harmes Vandenberg Tyson They have been replaced by: May Langdon Jordon Hunt Tomlinson Lever Jackson Rivers Pickett I have not considered Fritsch - as the selector oddly also didn't in 2018 - and BBB - who will both come in later I think the team is better now And that is not taking into account we now have 100 game players in Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw, Gawn and Viney. And if I can say nice things about the club, of the 9 players who didn't play in the 2018 preliminary final, 4 have been cherry picked from other clubs, 4 have been subsequent draft picks and Hunt has found his mojo. I wouldn't dare say we are a top team yet. But I am excited

I'm cautious of canning Jones. Goodwin said Jones is playing a very specific role - we don't know what that is. It might be: try to get inboard, 20m defensive side of every stoppage, opposition mark and free kick and prevent the corridor outlet and so force them either to go down the line or kick over your head to a waiting Lever. In that case, if he does his job properly, he won't be getting much of it and he may not even be laying tackles if they don't take him on. I'm making that role up but in modern football structures it could easily be something like that and we have no insight. We're winning and maybe we're preventing the opposition from taking advantage of the new rule with our positioning. I think we'll find out a lot this week. I'm too much of a ball watcher at matches to see this type of strategy and I suspect 99% of fans are too. It take great discipline to consistently watch players off the ball, sometimes I try to but I find find my eyes magnet back to the contest eventually, and you can't see structures like that on the zoomed in replay. I'll give you the hot tip - the more you think you know what's going on out there the less you actually do ...

Fun Fact! If Nathan Jones forms warrants it and he doesn't get injured or rested. He will go past David Neitz 306 and play his 307th on Queens B'day (with hopefully the Pies in a mess!) Imagine a 10+ goal win for Jones becoming the games record holder on QB!!

Truly cant tell if we're ready to duke it out with the Tigers, as thus far this season we've rarely been challenged for any sustained period. So Saturday, assuming the Tiggers bring their A-game, will be our first genuine test for a full four quarters this season. Fascinated to see how the individuals, team, structures, connections, communication and morale hold up. As others have said, will reveal a lot about where we are at. Go Demons

I may be wrong, but I think Max Gawn lives on the peninsula.

It's great to see an article like that about the dees. And it's good that it includes some interesting stats. But for me it really it really highlights the two key frustrations I have with with how football is covered by the media. One, how little access fans get to decent stats and information about how the game is played. Champion data, which i think is part owned by the AFL, largely controls what is collected and disseminated. i think, but not sure the AFL generate their own data, which is what can be found on their website and that of all the clubs. But the stats and data are drip fed out to the public, in dibs and drabs across different media platforms and more often than not without any meaningful contextualization or explanation. A site like the excellent footywire has good data but again with little or no explanation of it meaning or the relative importance of particular stats, let alone accurate definitions of each data point/stat (most are self explanatory, but not all). Just raw data. Like the AFL site. And the clubs get their own set of data. Super important data becuase it informs the development of their KPIs and ability to measure how they are tracking against them. Voodoo stuff that drips even more slowly out to fans sites like Demonland. The second frustration is how little analysis there is of the data and stats that are drip fed out. The so called experts on shows like On The Couch and during calls of games are constantly giving little bites of data out. Sure the stats are interesting - but what do they mean? A classic and infuriating example is the pressure meter. In a call on the weekend Brian Taylor was talking about a team's (i forget which) pressure meter being 1.95 and joked about having no idea what that actually meant or how it was defined. His 'expert' co commentators couldn't help him out. Anything over 2 is good he reckons. How [censored] embarrassing. And useless. If paid professionals (he's probably on a million plus a year) and full time producers piping info direct into his ear have no clue about the data they are highlighting how are the fans supposed to understand it? How does it help fans understand the game? In the article, the stats are fascinating but what iI want to know is the why, not just the what. To be fair there is some explanation - structure, forwards playing deeper, forward pressure, mids playing more selflessly, better all team defence etc. So that's a step up from most similar articles. But still, it is a pretty shallow analysis and in reality just a list of possible explanations. And it misses perhaps the two key, related drivers: The change in how we set up our stoppages (which can be seen in our reduced clearance differential) that mean that when we do lose a clearance any disposal is often under pressure and from the wrong side (for them) of the contest. This change to our set up, which i guess is alluded to in the idea of inside and outside rings, are also big factors in our much improved inside 50 scoring ratio as we are getting cleaner and more damaging inside 50s The importance to our game plan of intercept marks in our back half and rebounding from the back half and instigating scoring chains. This isn't new. After all it is why we go may and in particular Lever (and Rivers too for that matter). But our structures, much better all team defence and pressure - and in particular our changed stoppage structure has meant more kicks are coming inside our defensive 50 under pressure and therefore are easier to pick off. We saw that on Sunday. Once Petty got up to speed and the back six sorted themselves (and the defensive pressure improved from our mids and flankers) we started picking off their inside 50 kicks. And they basically stopped scoring. The AFL love to copy elements of how sport in the US are promoted and covered (hello all year round media hogging announcements, g'day blaring quarter time music, kiss cams and fan activation). But seem to ignore many of the best elements - for example how much data and stats are made available across all four major national sporting leagues (NHL, MLB, NBL and NFL) and how much meaningful analysis there is of that data cross different media platforms. The result is fans have the opportunity to understand the sport they love on much deeper level and a more 'stat literate' and knowledgeable fan base

As soon as we accept that we will use Casey as our Summer base and that we will get a HQ at Gosch's Paddock the better we will be. Whether that HQ will be on the corner of Hoddle and Swan or Over the Carpark near the current training oval will the only real sticking point. The next is getting funding so we need to find our angle, you need to have something that adds to the community even if it is a small percentage of the complex, I really hope we are looking at the Reach Foundation located in the Jim Stynes center of being the best that you can be.

Not much better than the old “Wet Toast” that comes up for WC here.

I think the most important part of any new training facility is it needs to be super attractive to players and staff. That means the space needs to be large enough to house all facilities with room to grow and in a location where it's attractive for players and staff to live nearby or that it's an easy commute. Any facilities for fans in my opinion are secondary. However honestly if it has the above, it basically covers fans needs also. Players and staff also want access to good coffee and food, either onsite or nearby. If the MCG precinct can provide this then great. Otherwise in my opinion we should not be wedded to it

I much prefer the overly positive and 'dreamer' like position than the weeks after a loss. Can we keep this up for a little while longer? :P Winning is fun.

I think the credit should go to Mark Neeld - he said he wanted Melbourne to be the hardest team to play against. Finally his master plan is coming into fruition!

If we finish top 4 this year and back it up next year we will nudge 60k

i can assure everyone that the collingwood football club over more than a century of abominable behaviour has well and truly earned the platitude of "the filth"

Jordon at 100% and Jones at 32%; timing is everything.....

I heard that Christian Salem has resigned

For all intensive purposes, this is a great thread. I literally die every time someone mis-spells a player's name. Schwartz is the most irritating, along with the laconic Gary Lyons.

Her first communication to the members wasn’t about winning premierships and making this club sustainable for the next 50 years but about equality... I wouldn’t think that the ratio of woman on the board is in the top 10 concerns of the members. maybe she shouldn’t wait more than 2 weeks before communicating to the members about her platform. if we were 0-5 the members wouldn’t tolerate her 2 weeks of absence

How can that be when we are 5-0 and don't have a Thru or Fri night game to Round 10. As usual AFL speak with 'forked tongue'!! And on the Round 9 Saturday night Tigers vs Giants (2020 GF replay) and Port vs Bulldogs play at the same time. I don't know whose agenda the AFL is beholden to but hat is crazy scheduling for fans and broadcasters Oh, Gil is a Saints supporter...

... Saints Geelong Friday night game? Yikes

Nice preview for the show. “ This is the big year, either that or this Melbourne’s most inventive way yet to torment the faithful.” Laughed at that.

We can't whine when we can't get big name sponsors because we get no airtime and then whine when we get airtime. Success is a double edged sword. We want to keep a lid on it but the attention is good for business. You want good facilities & money to spend of the best people then this attention gets the attention of the big hitters.

fwiw, max in a recent interview talked about what a difference training at casey over gosch's has made to setting up defensive structures the players previously 'felt' that they were set up okay based on their defensive set-up and patterns with regards to the way they would set up at gosch's and the space they would have to defend it was only once they went out to casey and a 'full size' ground akin to the mcg that they realised how much space they were leaving open with their previous set-ups

We have become relevant. These have been our premier games for such along time. By which I mean, kind of our final series, Anzac and queens birthday. The crowds and all that emotion. I can see us lift to play a beautiful, contested and highly skilled game. What a great time to meet the Tiges, 6 nil, and we are still building our game. (Oops, optimistically and premonitory, it is 5 nil). We are taller, fitter and I hope hungrier for a win. Tiges will hang in there with us, unless they come out early and blast us. Anyway, at one stage, I expect they will take control and kick 3 or 4 unanswered goals, then they will bring pressure. Their run will start as a result of turnovers. Like other games, this year we have fought back from the onslaught and I expect we can do the same. If we can minimise turnovers from their pressure we win. Hoping we don't start playing too cute. Would like to see us get the basics right and then go fast when the opportunity presents. Would rather get them now then later in the season. If we get the lollies then they play the doggies who may also beat them, they could be 3 and 4 and the season opens up for many teams. I see they are giving teams more opportunities from their own turnovers. If we bring the pressure they may crack. They score sometimes playing the dirty, scrambling game of push it forward and keep hustling, that manic chaotic style. Hope we stop this, by getting in the trenches with them and getting our hands on the ball before they do. I thought there backline was a bit fragile. Crimes has been making some mistakes and with Baker up the field they are missing his determination to get to the contest, his drive, and smart decision making. Their small forwards are dangerous, Arts, Castagna and especially Bolton. Hope we can stop him, Dusty and probably Gotchin. Nankervis against Gawn and Jackson will be a highlight, I think we win that. We have been getting our clearances right, after a slow start at it. Oliver and Tracc will beat them and Viney will keep us in the game. Our field marking has been excellent. We control the tempo of the game well. If we can convert our shots to goals and have score pressure, it would go along way to helping us win Tigers coming off an easy win, that could lull them with a sense of superiority and entitlement. They better be up for it because I think we will be. Take the fight to them, and do what the Swans did. Made them be more accountable by hitting players lace out within 30 meters to break their zone defence. The Swans also caused them to turn the ball over. They are vulnerable to pressure. Go Dees.

We won't be favourites , advantage us.

The game this weekend will not make or break our season. We will either be 6-0 or 5-1 with more than 2/3 of the season to come. Make no mistake, I want us to win and believe we have the players and game to do so. However, win or lose, I will be most interested in our team/players reaction to the result. After the game is done and dusted, I want the players and coaches to do what they appear to have been doing all season so far. Turn our attention immediately to the fixture next week and prepare fully and properly. No matter who we have coming up. So far this season we have met every challenge by ensuring we are ready when the ball is bounced. I want the same thing each week.