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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-13/demons-christian-petracca-is-he-worth-seven-year-contract/100133302 Another incredibly well done analytical article by the ABC, well worth the read

I’ve seen nothing so far to suggest we are getting ahead of ourselves personally. I saw a team refusing to lose last Saturday night.

… and having a whinge about it.

I left my home-town at the earliest possible opportunity, at about 17 (admittedly, it was Adelaide) and never went back. Is there any other elite sport in the world where fans fret over the origin of their players and some supposed go-home factor? Does it even really exist in the AFL, outside of an excuse to chase dollars? Jackson was on an elite basketball path - that means not even being in Australia. And it's not even clear where Kozzie's home is. They both seem entirely committed to the club for now and into the future, and I trust the club and our 'local' players to make them feel entirely at home chasing a flag together.

https://www.carltonsc.com/index.php?topic=5505.0 "I think we can beat Melbourne, more on the law of averages, they are due for a loss and just fell in for a win vs the Swans IMO. Brown and McDonald wont present the same problems as Bruce and Naughton plus Oliver is only half the player the Bont is and Cripps owes us a big one. Blues by 16 points, not because we are great but more because Melbourne are getting ahead of themselves, due for a loss and we can defend them better IMO"

Agreed. I heard Craig Jennings on SEN talking about how you stop Melbourne - start with Gawn, tag Pickett, man up defensively on lever and try and limit Petracca from the stoppage. Swans got 4 out of 4 of those and still lost!

Say what you want about his career to date, he clearly has the right tools to become one of the better key forwards and is vital to the longevity of our premiership window. I reckon we're about to the see the best of SW yet ...

Great stuff, go get em Weid Great young fella & footballer

Couple of times they pointed out we had a poor game against the swans and were very lucky to win, I think that’s underestimating Sydney by a huge amount. They played well,

And then they whinge when club's like ours, Saints, North, Dogs need extra funding from the AFL.

Yep still around. I joined Ology in 2003 I think. Was very active on there as I loved the discussion and banter for about 5 or so years. Conversation was definitely better than here back then, but DL is a great site now Looking back I probably went a bit too far at times, put it down to maturity and the petulance of youth, but it was fun and there were some great posters Like a lot of things life got in the way, had kids, moved house, got better jobs that were more demanding etc... something had to give and our beloved team was hardly something to enjoy taking about for a long time so I faded away. Always kept my membership though even if I hardly ever went to a game. I moved to California last year, got an amazing job opportunity that I couldn't say no to. The irony that the moment I moved away our team is doing better than it ever has in my lifetime doesn't escape me but I haven't missed a game and don't plan to!

Big shout out to Mantis. It appears he/she has actually watched us play unlike most of the numpties posting in that thread - “They zone as well as any side does, covering the opposition moves forward or on a rebound. They leave minimal opportunities to have players float forward free in space. They tackle with intensity. They apply pressure with numbers. They make every opportunity for their opponents become a contested possession. Due to the fact that they have a huge work rate. Not lazy. Not left second guessing. The only weak link in their armour is the clearance figures. Which at the moment doesn’t hurt them. They find a way to put on the press and create a turnover and get the ball on their terms eventually. If we played like they do. If we were 8 wins from 8 games. We would be bragging about being flag favourites. Fact is that we are so far behind them, that we are not even in the same league as they are. It will take a miracle for us to even show a competitive contest against the Dees. Which won’t last long enough if it does happen. The end result will be ugly on the scoreboard. We lack awareness under pressure. We lose our direct opponent too often when the heat is on. We zone space very poorly. We don’t stay accountable for what out opponent is doing or where he is running. We don’t run hard both ways. We don’t stand on the mark in a free kick. We float away and let them play on which allows them to gain ground and put pressure on our players up the ground. We finger point and blame others for our own mistakes. We do spoil and the one percentage plays, but not often enough. Not for 4 quarters. The Dees coach summed up their last game. They lack some polish with clearance work. However, if they have the grit and determination to win every contest, they will eventually create a turnover and play the next passage on their terms. They are confident they can and will win every game, and thus play accordingly. In my eyes they only have one lazy player. One that I have seen so far. What a problem they have at the moment. Can we swap players lists, coaches, board etc? lol. Good luck to us. We could win this one by 100 points. Haha haha.”

I'll never be able to bring myself to chant Weed like that at the footy. Reminds me too much of that ugly bastard Wayne Weidemann who played for Adelaide, and later Devonport in the local Tassie league when I was a kid.

I wonder what Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater would have to say about this matter. Or Andrew Gaff Or Matthew Pavlich Or Patrick Dangerfield Or Adam Goodes Or Buddy Franklin Or Lachie Neale Point is that there is plenty of evidence that the go home factor is irrelevant, if the culture is what you desire and you have great relationships.

Simon Goodwin has confirmed in his press conference that Sam Weideman will return for Sundays game against Carlton. What are we expecting from him? Will he rotate between ruck and forward? What kind of performances/ what's required of him over the next 1-2 weeks to try and cement a place in the side? Discuss.

Everything that is happening now is a direct extension of everything that has happened over the past four years, thanks to the vison of Simon Goodwin and 'learnings'. The biggest factor is maturity and it always has been. The second biggest factor is the personnel we've brought in - in particular Lever, May and Langdon. Tomlinson was a lucky bonus (and actually one of the few missteps, which we looked to correct last year with the failed recruitment of Isaac Smith). Getting the right assistants on board has also been crucial, but: Adem Yze - I haven't noticed any massive midfield development this year, and; Mark Williams as development coach - none of the rise of our juniors is revolutionary. Jackson, Pickett and Rivers were already on track and anyone could see that. If you want to somehow delimit the influence of Goodwin, look to Taylor and Burgess. The former, I'm sure Goody has a huge influence, and the latter, I think it was Goodwin's connection that got him to the club. Each point of the OP is complete and utter bs. Confirmation bias gone mad. I can't wait till we win a few flags and see these posters try and wriggle some nonsense explanation.

Do you know what laconic means?

Carlton can't defend, it's the entire reason they're not going anywhere as a club. if you watched talking points with Adem Yze, they're exactly the type of team he's talking about. they look great when it's all going their way, but they can't defend when it's not. the dogs cruised for 3 quarters then put the foot down and the Blues had no chance. we're a better team than the dogs and they're in for a rude shock on Sunday imo.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/935089/sam-weideman-off-the-track?videoId=935089&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1620880590001

Bit of peak MFCSS in here.

Weid can ruck so don’t worry about that, no need to move TMac. He is a decent second ruck. Jackson is a ridiculous second ruck that threatens the fabric of reality, but Weed is decent enough to give Gawn a chop out.

How about 6 factors that made me keep the faith: 1. Communication It's clear the players love to play for him and that has been directly endorsed by Brendan McCartney. Every player that we've wanted to retain has re-signed. We've got every player we seriously chased from other clubs (except Jamie Elliott who didn't move anyway) and they've invariably said "When I met Goody I was onboard" 2. List Management He's gone after the right players in the right order to strengthen our squad - Hibberd, Melksham, Lewis, Lever, May, Langdon, Tomlinson, B.Brown. Josh Mahoney deserves a lot of credit here, his list management was superb from trading players in and out, to strengthening our draft hand at the right times. And it helps having a great talent spotter in Jason Taylor. 3. Ruthlessness He's not afraid to make the hard decisions. He traded poster boys Watts and Hogan. He made Max sole captain. He was a very good player who got the absolute most out of his talent and it's clear he's driven. Where others see boring monotone, I see steely determination. 4. Game Style The contest wins big finals and that's the bedrock he's built the team on. Since the Northey days we've been flakey in this area and it was clear we weren't ever seriously challenging for the flag because of it - when the whips were cracking we wilted - but not now. Next he's focussed on defence - the second pillar to winning flags by replacing OMac and Frost with May and Lever. 5. Maturity Our best players are now up around the 100 game mark - Petracca, Oliver, Salem, Brayshaw, Gawn and, as above, we've brought in quality experience to augment them. It can also take time for a coach to hone his craft - look at Bomber Thompson and Hardwick. 6. Reasons. We've has setbacks along the way but there were explainable reasons for them, not excuses. I've acknowledged this year he's run out of "reasons" and we have to play and win finals and it looks like we're on track. I think the adversity we've faced over the past few years will ultimately stand us in good stead and remind us that it doesn't come easy.

Just finished reading stuff on talkingcarlton best they could come up with was its about time we had a loss and we are Melbourne and quite likely to fall in a heap. Because we take them easy or are just plain cocky. there was definitely a low expectation of how they would perform oh and they called the bombers the effundruggs. Thought that was ok

Loved the question from King to Robbo: King: When you are at the ground do you see that? Robbo, hand on chin, long pause, looks a bit shocked: Then crickets. Then after eventually fudging some response (the conclusion being, no, he doesn't see that when he goes to a game) Robbo, a full time professional football journalist seriously asks if Teague would know about that sort of detail. And reckon it's a crazy world - could Teague be sitting at home watching this and go whoa that's what we need to do? King and Montagne: speechless Jesus wept.

Goody looked unconvinced in the presser. I'd say Sam is gonna need to perform very well, very consistently to keep a spot in the team this season other than be necessity through injury...

Mark Williams has a very high opinion of him . In a pre season interview he said he reminded him of a young Treadre . In the same interview he said Kosi reminded him of a young Wanganeen . I have a high opinon of Mark . He and Yze are our best new additions to the club .

Sorry, I probably should have put a content warning on that one ?

I had a different take on that article. I took it as a huge endorsement of giving Petracca a long-term contract (without knowing what monies he is on, nor do I particularly care). In terms of 'value' the graphs showed he is in the elite category so for mine whatever money he is on is good value. I'm not worried about Petracca's contract starting problems. Our President last week outlined the governance process the Club and the Board go through for contracts over a certain length. She didn't say what it was but I would guess > 3 years. I trust that our players we want to keep will be well rewarded. Will they get as much as other clubs will offer, probably not. But if we are in premiership contention for the next 3-5 years and a player chooses to leave for more $, then such is life. Jackson has one of his best WA mates at the club: Rivers. Lots of reasons for Jackson to stay. If he gets homesick well that is a different matter.

Yes, Liam Jurrah and I was joking. Luke Jackson broke his finger for a couple of weeks and now people are going crazy that he will leave the club, or we have to unload Weideman for some reason, contrary to all available evidence and logic. Text-book MFCSS.

Awesome caller and top questions. I love the fact Terrance is in Belgium listening to an obscure podcast, not on delay but live and calls in and brings some really thoughtful questions and comments. Brilliant I hope he calls in again. My first question will be what is he studying?

From around 35 min 30 to around 39 minute mark is really fascinating viewing! Love how our team is going about defense. Worth the watch :)

A symptom of MFCSS; unadulterated negativity over the plans of a promising young player based on nothing more than their state of origin.

I’m not sure anyone is taking this casually. But in the grand scheme of things Jackson getting a week or two off with a minor injury is hardly a disaster. Losing Tomlinson for a year is a disaster. Jackson getting a rest and recovering from a minor injury is a hiccup. Carlton don’t have a great ruck division. Gawn has gone it mostly alone in the past. It’ll be ok. We need to get our Centre clearances working again. If we can’t do that with Gawn we are stuffed regardless.

Indeed. The title of the article is: Christian Petracca's move into middle strikes gold for Melbourne Demons The link to article includes the question 'is he worth the seven year contract' The article goes into great detail and drills down on very specific evidence to answer that question. And based on that evidence concludes that the answer is yes, Petracca is worth the seven year contract And for good measure explores if the deal is likely to create long term salary cap or related issues. The answer is no. In fact it the article notes that 'locking in players' salaries in current dollars has proven to be extremely valuable for clubs' and that 'if the cap rises over the next eight years, it may be a shrewd deal'. By the by it is an excellent article. And i think the forts by Atkinson and Lawson this year after having done quite few terrific analysis articles last season. I was worried they had been another victims of the cuts to the ABC

You are an ignorant blind faith fan and I am putting you on ignore. Your opinion is not worth listening to.

Of course he will. Mental demon's is trolling. Proof? This comment: I suspect we are more in need of what Weid offers. I mean C'mon. We moved heaven and earth to ensure we could draft LJ. Because of his incredible skill set. And because we had not a single player who comes close to having his skill set. No other club does. A generational player. Weed was on the list when we drafted LJ. We then recruited a player who very much has what weed offers. Ben Brown. Who, when a spot became available, was selected AHEAD of weed. What does that tell you about weeds relative value? LJ is with a club that is equal favourite for this year's flag. And has a shot at a sustained period of being a realistic flag contender. And he is going to want to go home to WA to play with a team on the wane (who may well struggle to make finals this year - certainly not top 4) who has a star ruckman on big coin. A three gun tall forwards? Or a team in tbe second year of a year's long rebuild that is struggling to improve? And fly accross the continent every fortnight for the rest of his career? Right. Trolling or clueless. Take your pick

Nah, it was in an article that I read in the past week. I can't remember which on it was, although I'm sure someone out there will know. It's a shame that we can't get access to a lot of those more advanced stats, as they would really be informative. You see a greater level of coverage of a lot of baseball and basketball etc because these advanced metrics are available to help analysts and help them prosecute certain arguments. In baseball you can have interesting and legitimate arguments about whether a pitcher is better because they are getting more groundballs vs flyballs, and then be able to back that argument up with data, whilst we AFL spectators get BT telling us that players should aim at the goals like it's the most complex thing in world sport.

Reality is - despite being the crappest team in history for a good part - we haven't had an unwanted go home beside maybe Scott Thompson in the past fifteen years. In addition, since Goodwin has been at the club, we haven't lost a single player we really wanted to keep and have brought in almost all of those we've publicly targeted. Club is well run and we have a good culture. Just signed up Trac to seven years, along with deals for Max, Viney, Oliver and Salem. No one of interest will be leaving of their own accord.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED

Easily the best Dees podcast. Hang out for it every week

Jackson is the most exciting prospect at MFC since well ... Oliver. He's an absolutely unique gun that we need to do everything we can to retain. He's 12 year dynasty material. It's too easy to forget he's only 19yo.

There's been at least 3 proposed replacements for Jackson: Weid, Daw or a mid. The final suggestion didn't have much traction but it was my preferred because of Jackson's ground ball and tackling influence being harder to replace that his aerial contribution within the remaining 21. I think just as they went for Petty and Hibberd when May was unavailable meaning Jetta got dropped, and then Petty and Harmes for Tomlinson and Baker. I think they may go for another balanced pair of changes and I can see the merit in Weid and Sparrow/Jones/Chandler for Jackson and Melksham.

It was only long becuase I spent so losing correcting myself about number 32. Sorry Tom, i am never going to mention your name again.

Has anyone noticed the likes of @Moonshadow and Ethan Tremblay ( who's changed his name to @AdiósAdióswhich I'm guessing he's left) don't post anymore? I too notice @Wiseblood hasn't been active since April, but see him on twitter a fair bit. Great characters who added a lot over the journey.

Exactly. And perhaps an extension of what has happened over the 6 years since goody has come to the club. The narrative that there has been some silver bullet, or the penny has dropped, or the other shoe has dropped, or any other silly metaphor is complete and utter bollocks. As is any narrative that yze and Williams are the puppets masters. We have not magically arrived at this point. Sure there have been some changes. But that occurs every year for every club. But all are incremental. Even the biggest one - the total buy in, selflessness, team first, enough is enough time to deliver focus of ALL the players. As many here have pointed out - and the players have been at pains to say (see traccs terrific sen interview on the mfc site) - this all a function of maturity. Think back to goody's first pressers as senior coach. He made clear what his philosophy is and what he planned to build. A game plan built on the fundamentals of contest and pressure. Territory. Strong in all three phases. Tough, uncompromising And above all two key elements: - An idenfiable 'brand' that dees' fans recognised and loved to watch - A game plan built for finals - not winning home and away games, not getting to finals winning finals. A game plan that would set us up for a sustained period of success And here we are. We have yet to achieve anything so lets see about the sustained period of success. But all the other planks are all in place. And goody deserves all the credit in the world for that.

Curly from the Three Stooges I think. That's where all of their ideas and decisions come from.

A lot are taking this casually. I'm not, he's a huge out for us. If any of the other 3 went down I wouldn't be concerned, we can cover them. Not Jackson though...

Daw is a comfortably better ruckman than Weideman. and given we're losing a player who's most significant impact has been in the ruck, i think that should definitely be a big consideration.

I agree it's likely going to be Weid, but I think that's an oversimplification of Dogga's role this year. He's been closer to a midfielder IMO, averaging 14 disposals, 3 marks, 2 clearances, on top of the ruck work. I don't think either Weid or TMac have the same ability. TMac can run but doesn't have the agility or ground level skills, Weid doesn't read the play like a mid like Dogga does. I'm glad Weid will likely get a shot, but I think people might be underselling Jackson's importance to our performances so far this year.

Wish my news was of a more positive nature though. Will try and find out more, but I believe Weed will come in and both he and TMac will have stints in the ruck.