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I'm not worried about Yze leaving and certainly not leaving us in the lurch halfway through a season that we're 11-1 with the best shot at a premiership in 50+ years. I'm more worried about Collingwood playing out of their skins for Buckley's last game.

I heard this news this morning when listening to SEN whilst driving back from Geelong to Drysdale and I had a chuckle to myself at the thought of some Demonland posters going into a frenzied panic attack at the thought of Collingwood all of a sudden becoming a super team on Monday and beating the Demons. If Melbourne were to lose, it would only be because they forget about the way they have played for the first 12 weeks and apply no pressure and change their game style.

My following post could be interpreted two ways - I only mean the best. I know I've recently posted about my fathers own death via MND on here - and his own relationship with Neale. Dad's diagnosis to death time frame was 16 months as he had the most aggresive form. It started in his head, whereby he started slurred his words (ie: sounded drunk) - loss of motor coordination in the mouth and tounge. I am so so so pleased for Neale and his family that 6 years on from a diagnosis, he is still functioning where he is - the 'knowing' smiles/tears my wife and I gave to one another last week where we saw Neale on AFL360 talking with immense difficulty - and going 'oh...[censored] he is close to losing the complete capacity to speak' - was exactly like my fathers. His work has being immense and I am so glad the disease (or his bodies resistance to the disease) has been a long drawn out process. For Neale, the observation (and living) of his own degradation of his motor co-ordination, whilst being full congniscent of what is occurring and having no control would be the most unbearable thing. Yet on the flip side - here he is - crusading...he's [censored] amazing! I mullled over putting this part in... but what you wont see of Neale (or perhaps they will show it as this is what occurs) and I put it in to give the full reality of the experience whilst being fully conversent in your own head, but your body doesn't allow you to speak You may move to using a computer, whereby your own fingers allow you to type words, press a button (much like a computer) and it speaks the sentences for you Your motor coordination of your hands decrease incrementally bit by bit that essentially your hands rest on that computer, and your fingers barely reach the keys to type your perfectly formed conversations in your head. You will experience immense frustration...conversation after conversation after conversation for many months... Finally your fingers don't move - but you can't talk - so somehow you must communicate to family members or others in a caring capacity what your perfectly formed conversations are... how the [censored] do you do that? So you grunt, or make growling noises because your throat cannot work, at your loved ones, whilst they move your fingers hovering over the key board, doing their best to predict what it is you are trying to add to the conversation... they will get frustrated at you, you will get frustrated at them...all of you, exhausted. In parallel to this, you can't swallow food as your motor coordination of your throat fails, - so you will have a tube inserted into your stomach, and all your food gets pureeed, and syringed into your stomach. Your family/carers will do this for you. You will have no control over your toileting functions, your family and carers will hold your penis and wipe your bottom. You will look at your family member who is holding your penis and question why it has come to this... You are still the same bloke/person you were cognitively prior to the onset...but you now bare witness to your own slow death. 'The frustrated, saddened compassionate silent observer' of your own body's destruction whilst your cognitive capacity has not diminished at all. The loss of 'dignity' and suffering (my words) is immense in the final stages. My father weighed 41kg when he died... And again, this isn't me musing/reflecting on my Dad, this is about Neale. What a magnificent beast he is.

It doesn't seem very long ago that footy commentators were wondering if tracc could be our de goey. Gone straight past him

Buckley can clearly coach and should probably be a premiership coach already. But he's in an absolute basket case of a club at the moment with upheaval at every level of the club since the exit of Eddie. It reminds me of The Death of Stalin. I feel sorry for Buckley. He seems like a decent guy and he's a good coach, but the club he's part of is a complete dumpster fire.

He's in!

I've seen his new girlfriend , can't blame a man for wanting to spend more time with the family

“This is a historic and proud day for the Collingwood Football Club.”

Supporters need to relax. This will be massively draining on Collingwood players during the week. There will be many thinking about their future given the events that have transpired at Collingwood since last year's trade period. The club is a shambles atm with everything they've faced. If anything, this gives Goody and co another reason to G our guys up and prepare them for a hot first quarter. Clearly Collingwood will throw everything at as in the first quarter and if we can match their intensity (assuming it'll be there), then we will roll them after that. Collingwood have bullied us on many occasions, we're the oldest rivals in the game. It's time to give it to them.

Bucks on Robbo "Can you mute him?" :)

Amazing how negative thoughts suddenly start emerging over Buckley’s resignation, something mooted for months. Neuroticism still runs deep in the veins of many Dees supporters. Losing Yze, losing on QB, etc etc. Even if we win the flag, folks will say that we will fall off the cliff in 2022. Or that winning brings defeat that much closer. Danny from Droop St morphs into Roger from Demonland.

And from that day on the QB clash was known as Collingwoods grand final.

Last year my partner was diagnosed with MS after he temporarily lost the ability to speak, and then my brother got diagnosed with liver and lung cancer - and for the last few weeks of his life couldn’t speak to us properly. To watch people who you love lose the ability to communicate is so cruel. For Neale to handle it with the grace and good will that he has is a real insight into what an amazing person he is. I literally can’t believe how brave he is. What an incredible spirit. To support a club that has an association with such a quality person makes me feel proud. I can only imagine how proud his family are of him.

I'd be happy to see Mark Neeld return to coaching at Collingwood. Or Carlton. I'm not fussy. Meanwhile, good to see past players playing tribute to Bucks ...

Melbourne Football Club players, you know what to do.

Interesting timing with Buckley stepping down but last week I was thinking about a Hibberd/Jetta replacement going forward and was thinking of Maynard and whether or not we'd have a crack at him, especially now given the unrest at the pies and with Buckley stepping down. I've heard there a few unhappy mature-age players there and I know Maynard is friendly with some of our guys, Trac in particular from Metro days and obviously his brother Corey was on our list for a number of years. Contracted until next end of next year but thought I'd throw it out there as I think he'd be a great fit and replacement for those guys I mentioned. Tough, competitive and in the right system like ours I think he'd flourish. Thoughts?

The Reverend. Neale Daniher. Is a legend. What a brave man. I shed a tear. But he Plays On and is truly an inspiration. I hope the Dees win the premiership this year. For all of us. And for the joy it would bring. And Neale will be beside us all the way. Play On Neale.

Go in for the kill Dees... 187

any player who never walked out of the club after a single year that drafted them with pick 1

Neale Daniher what a man what an inspiration and his daughter Bec is in his mould absolutely loved her gentle shepherding of the great man. Thank you Neale for all our great memories of your era at the Dees .?

Absolutely we should be going after Maynard. Remember also his old man works for Casey Demons already. Great replacement for Hibberd.

A mate of mine's son is married to Neale's other daughter. Not only is Neale part of the fabric of the MFC, an inspiration to all, but he has a family, of which he can be rightfully proud. Bec's support of her father, while remaining focussed on the cause, leaves me awestruck.

Robbo is a horrible interviewer

Great speech and presentation by Buckley - he's good.

Nah, I wouldn't sweat it. They wont be. The emotion of playing for someone might be at the start of the game for around 30-45 seconds... the adrenal response. And then...normal. service. resumes. You see it all the time in the first few minutes of Grand Finals... the stress response, scrappy football etc etc... Player's cannot keep telling themselves throughout a match 'I've got to do it for Buckley, I've got to do it for Buckley', its exhausting and useless as you're not on task. If we lose, its ostensibly because we lost it due to a lack of pressure or adherence to structure. If we lose, we lose on our terms, not because Collingwood have won.

You’re assuming that he has the players in his corner… they certainly haven’t been playing like they’re with him.

Research Rule 1 start off with your ‘Conclusion’ Research Rule 2 make sure that you write a good ‘research question’ to support your ‘Conclusion’ Research Rule 3 assemble roughly 80,000 words of indecipherable tables, surveys, statistics and quotes from the ‘French philosophers’ and insert between your ‘Introduction’ (Research Question) and your ‘Conclusion’! ?‍?

Since the end of the 2020 free agency, trade and draft period, AFL clubs have had two further bites of the cherry to top up their lists — the supplemental selection period (SSP) and the 2021 mid-season rookie draft (MSD). The main idea behind both was to enable the fulfillment of immediate needs as a result of injuries or unexpected retirements but this year, we have seen the added dimension of straight out recruitment for the future rather than for now. As a consequence, a number of ready made players who were expected to make an immediate impact on clubs were overlooked last week — the likes of Frankston’s Nathan Freeman who has been flying years after a series of hamstring after his promising career was cruelled by a series of hamstring injuries at both Collingwood and St Kilda. An average of more than 40 touches per game at VFL level wasn’t enough to earn a six month stint at one of the 15 AFL clubs that participated in the MSD. Similarly, a hot run of form at SANFL level was insufficient to warrant forgiveness for Tyson Stengle over a string of off-field incidents that led to his ouster from the Crows. Among other past players who missed out on a recycling were Wylie Buzza and Riley Knight. The scenario was a far cry from the SST when Oscar McDonald, Alec Waterman, Majak Daw, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith and Mason Wood were all given second chances. The Demons added 30-year-old 195 cm 97 kg Daw in the March SST as cover for ruck and key position depth at either end of the ground after he was delisted by North Melbourne in that club’s mass delistings at the end of the 2020 AFL season. Daw has been steady in the ruck at VFL level. They also selected Next Generation Academy youngster Deakyn Smith a lightly built 179 cm medium defender who was impressive at Casey until an ankle injury interrupted his debut season. Werribee tall man Kye Declase spent a week at the end of the SST period on the recommendation of Mark Williams but missed out on selection. This gave the Demon selectors extra time to consider him further. As it turned out, Declase who had hitherto played mainly in defence, made the most of his time on a wing and going forward in his five games at Werribee where he has averaged 22 disposals and seven marks and kicked six goals. The improvement he showed in the VFL was enough to get him a guernsey at the Melbourne Football Club through MSD Pick 15. The Demons exercised their second selection at 24 (the last player picked) with a speculative selection of 19 year old Murray Bushranger Daniel Turner who has averaged 17 disposals, eight marks and four rebound 50s so far this year at NAB Boys League level. He’s officially listed at 191 cm but my mail is that he’s grown a few centimetres since measured before the season began. Here are the pen pictures from AFL Draft Central of the Demons’ MSD selections. 15. Kye Declase (Werribee) Wing/Defender | 15/10/96 | 195cm | 85kg Originally a graduate of the Northern Knights, Declase has shown a rapid rate of development since entering the state league and had plenty of work put into him by Melbourne during preseason. He has cut his teeth as an intercept and rebounding defender, but more recently rolled up to the wing and has even impacted in the front half during his VFL tenure. The 24-year-old adds good versatility and depth to Melbourne’s mix, perhaps as a direct replacement for the injured Adam Tomlinson. 24. Daniel Turner (Murray Bushrangers) Defender | 28/1/02 | 191cm | 79kg Another promising type out of the Murray Bushrangers, Turner is an intercept defender who thrives aerially and is sound in possession. He featured in this year’s Victorian Young Gun showcase and impressed, improving out of sight in his top-age season and performing well at NAB League level. The overall changes at Melbourne since November/December 2020 have seen the influx of a solid mix of forwards, attacking youngsters and a confirmation of the importance to the club of a strong defensive strategy. The Demons already have arguably the best ruckman in the competition and the best young up and coming ruckman. They did not therefore find it necessary in the MSD to join the mad scramble for ruckmen that we saw last week. With seven of them selected and a couple of others who can play forward/ruck, it emphasized that the main draft is not an area where you will find any other than the elite in this division among the early selections. PRIMARY LIST: — Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw Ben Brown Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Marty Hore (inactive) Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Tom McDonald Jay Lockhart Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Fraser Rosman Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A — Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Majak Daw Kye Declase James Jordan Aaron Nietschke (inactive) Deakyn Smith Daniel Turner ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B — Austin Bradtke

Don't care if we win this by one point. Just get to the bye 12 and 1. That psychological break on the rest of the top 4 will be massive. I'm hoping the Bulldogs drop a game or two in the next month too.

Death, taxes and opposition fans unequivocally respecting and fearing Max Gawn. Other than Dusty, there's a not a player in the comp given such unanimous regard.

There's a brief article in today's Snap Shot in "The Age" which points out that Harry Graham was the first non-Englishman to make a century on debut at Lord's. The article from Peter Ryan also points out that Graham played two games for Melbourne in 1900. They were both wins against Carlton and Essendon. So, Graham made a 100 at Lord's and has a 100% win record playing for the MFC in, cough, nineteen hundred. (The Graham part is the second story in Snap Shot. And if it's behind a paywall, don't worry. There's not much more to the story than the above.)

So who plays the abhorrent Beria, Eddie McGuire? Marginalized but still attempting to pull strings as the wannabe puppet master. Eddie not unlike Peter Sellars reprising Dr Strangelove, is capable of multiple roles in this black and white comedy, so will also play Stalin the newly deceased dictator). Mark Korda is typecast as Malenkev the heir apparent. Bridie O'Donnell courtesy of central committee casting will be Sventlana. Tony Shaw hideous choice, (there was no one else available) plays Vasily purely for his comic slapstick. That leaves Jeff Browne as a cunning Machiavellian figure, manipulating his ascent to power as Nikita Khrushchev. Throw in Peter Moore as Molotov and Nathan Buckley can enjoy his Figjam on crumpet.

I did the survey but found the last question inherently racist. It asks you to describe yourself and suggests "white Australian" etc. I answered Australian. If you answered white Australian you aligned yourself with the question, took the bait and are now considered inherently racist. Your views will be collated accordingly. I mean what does it matter what colour I am as to how I answer the survey. I am Australian.

Bucks on Robbo: "Can you mute him?"

As important as a good lock down medium defender is I don’t think we can put more expensive resources in to a backline with May, Lever, Salem, Tomlinson and needing to keep Rivers and eventually Petty. Probably have to target some cheap additions as well as look at Joel Smith/Deakyn Smith and an expanded defensive role for Hunt. If we spend up on the backline it costs us either keeping or bringing in forward and midfield additions.

I just don’t understand why people rate Lyon. Everywhere he’s gone he hasn’t been able to get a premiership (has gone very close tho I’ll give him that) and seems to come with a lot of baggage. Can’t see the hype.

You have to wonder if Carlton's review and now Buckley stepping down shows these two clubs are panicking about missing out on Ross Lyon.

… and that racism is a two way street.

At 25, he's certainly in our age bracket. Depending on cost I'd go there. I'd equally trust Taylor to get us a second or third round gem that could play a similar position, so cost would be important. No more than a second rounder.

Having watched the documentary they did on his last season, I would say he doesn't want anything to do with the AFL. Fair enough I don't think Adam Goodes owes anything to anyone. Last time he took a stand on racial issues, he spent the remainder of his career getting booed by crowds, and mocked by a club president. Why should he jump at the opportunity to 'help with reconciliation and healing' when he got burned so badly in the past

Try can play as hard as they like. If we turn up, we win.

damn. Why couldn't he wait till the bye.

I think you will find quite a bit of that happened when Weid was off the ground. Haven't had a close look but I think only 2 of those marks were contested and a lot were them switching around trying to get out.

That's a fair argument. I've had a look at some of the arguable second-banana forwards: Hipwood/Daniher (don't know which one is "first" or "second"), Jeremy Cameron, Tom Lynch and Jack Darling. Here are some of their stats for comparison: Score involvements (Weid 4.0): Hipwood 5.4, Daniher 6.2, Cameron 7.5, Lynch 6.5, Darling 6.5 Shots on goal (Weid 2.5): Hipwood 3.6, Daniher 3.5, Cameron 5.0, Lynch 4.3, Darling 4.0 Goal assists (Weid 0.5): Hipwood 0.4, Daniher 0.5, Cameron 0.5, Lynch 1.0, Darling 0.8. Marks (Weid 4.0): Hipwood 5.5, Daniher 5.2, Cameron 4.0, Lynch 5.2, Darling 6.1 Contested marks (Weid 1.3): Hipwood 1.3, Daniher 1.4, Cameron 0.5, Lynch 2.0, Darling 2.2 Pressure Acts (Weid 7.3): Hipwood 7.8, Daniher 7.6, Cameron 6.8, Lynch 11.4, Darling 12.8 So clearly Weid is closer to the mark with this bunch of forwards than the ones I compared him to yesterday (Mackay, Walker, Kennedy, Hawkins, Riewoldt, Franklin, Ben King, TMac), which makes sense and indicates your argument is a good one. But his numbers are either last or second last when compared to these five forwards on all these metrics which IMO suggests we can get more out of the second KPF than we're currently getting out of Weid. It's not a massive gap, so it's bridgeable, but I want to see him bridge it sooner rather than later.

My favourite is the 2000 Qualifying Final. Five goals down late in the third quarter, hit the lead late, lose the lead, then get it back and go on to win (relatively) comfortably against a side that beat us by 98 points a few weeks earlier.

I miss your posts.

I for one am loving the new Demonland. No more sackings everything is peachy. I can't believe we want to go back to the dark days. This is the greatest year of my life I never want our run to end.