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Played his first game of VFL yesterday and I wasn't one bit surprised that he actually played very well. He adjusted straight away and didn't look one bit overawed. Playing against senior hard men in the Ovens and Murray league has certainly helped his adjustment. The club just want him to play a good block of consistent games in the VFL just to get up to speed with pace and structure. While senior games aren't probably in the picture, the club has certainly told him that if he is in good form and a spot opens up then he'll be seriously considered. For now it's all about developing his game for the long term future. Well done Disco!

The Pig surely deserves another year Heart and soul of the club

Titus https://www.titusoreily.com/afl/the-monday-knee-jerk-reaction-afl-round-fifteen2021 Essendon (57) v Umpires (68) The Bombers were cruising towards an enormous victory in this one, until the AFL hierarchy, who have been long involved in a conspiracy to destroy the Essendon Football Club, told the umpires to make sure Melbourne won.

People actually think Spargo is a chance to get dropped ?‍♂️?? Do you even football??

HIATUS by KC from Casey After their five week Covid19 lockdown hiatus, the Casey Demons were fairly scratchy against Essendon VFL for the best part of 2½ quarters on Sunday afternoon but they finally settled down to motor away to a 48 point victory. With 20 AFL affiliated players on the team sheet, the Casey line up looked the strongest team ever put together since linking up with the Demons but the team struggled to score in the early going and managed its first goal to Aaron vandenBerg late in the first term. The teams were on level pegging at the quarter time break with veteran Nathan Jones in everything and Jake Melksham providing great back up. The teams remained virtually locked together for the first half of the term until an inspirational goal from Jones from a long way out on the boundary was followed by another from Mitch White after a chain of possession started deep in defence by that man Jones. They went into the sheds at half time with the home side 15 points ahead. After the break it was the Bombers who were reinvigorated and three quick goals were the result of some strong running through the lines that caught the Casey defence by surprise. The Demons regrouped however, and were steadied by two goals from Ben Brown, one from a strong mark, the other from a nice pick up in the goal square. By the final break, the three goal buffer was restored and the goals flowed in the final term with Casey recording a big win. Ben Brown recorded a five goal haul to underscore his case for AFL promotion while his rival for a return to the Melbourne team, Sam Weideman, was also impressive but in a different role which required his involvement further down the ground with the odd run in the ruck. Both men were overshadowed by Jones who demonstrated that his days at the top are not yet over. 2020 draftee Jake Bowey impressed with his composure and excellent disposal by foot and hand. Melksham and vandenBerg also showed their class. The two players recruited in the recent Mid Season Draft - Kye Declase and Daniel Turner - both had impressive debuts and look to have senior potential but will need to bide their time and establish their credentials. Mitch Brown went off early with a heel injury. The game gave Melbourne Football Club selectors plenty of food for thought as the game and the country travel again into the unknown with Covid19 outbreaks affecting several states. VFL Mens Casey Demons 1.2.8 4.7.31 7.11.53 13.14.92 Essendon VFL 1.2.8 2.4.16 5.4.34 6.8.44 GOALS Casey Demons B. Brown 5 Melksham White 2 Jetta Jones vandenBerg Weideman Essendon VFL Cahill 2 Brown Hird Johnson McBride BEST Casey Demons Jones Bowey B Brown Weideman vandenBerg Smith Essendon VFL O’Kearney Cahill Cutler Gleeson Hird Bryan Statistics Oskar Baker 15 kicks 3 handballs 18 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 78 dream team points Toby Bedford 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 35 dream team points Jake Bowey 19 kicks 8 handballs 27 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 111 dream team points Aaron Bradtke 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 27 dream team points Kade Chandler 1 behind 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 67 dream team points Ben Brown 5 goals 2 behinds 14 kicks 14 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 3 hit outs 106 dream team points Mitch Brown 1 behind 1 kick 1 disposal 1 mark 7 dream team points [injured] Majak Daw 3 kicks 7 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 22 hit outs 63 dream team points Kye Declase 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 55 dream team points Neville Jetta 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 86 dream team points Nathan Jones 1 goal 1 behind 19 kicks 16 handballs 35 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 128 dream team points Bailey Laurie 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 51 dream team points Jay Lockhart 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 66 dream team points Jake Melksham 2 goals 1 behind 16 kicks 6 handballs 22 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 107 dream team points James Munro 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 43 dream team points Fraser Rosman 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 41 dream team points Deakyn Smith 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 37 dream team points Joel Smith 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 43 dream team points Daniel Turner 5 kicks 11 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 53 dream team points Aaron vandenBerg 1 goal 16 kicks 12 handballs 28 disposals 6 marks 5 tackles 107 dream team points Sam Weideman 1 goal 3 behinds 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 11 marks 2 tackles 10 hit outs 113 dream team points Mitch White 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 68 dream team points

Titus O'Reilly summary of the match Essendon (57) v Umpires (68) The Bombers were cruising towards an enormous victory in this one, until the AFL hierarchy, who have been long involved in a conspiracy to destroy the Essendon Football Club, told the umpires to make sure Melbourne won. GOLD :)

You can watch almost all of it - for some reason all the replays starts 5 minutes in and ends few minutes before the final siren. But well worth watching. Great to get the opportunity to see the players in the VFL team and our players pushing for a call up. Random thoughts on the game: Casey employ a very similar model, which i guess is captain obvious, but interesting to watch nonetheless One example is the way we look to move it forward around the boundary A related point is the roles players play mirror the structure of the AFL - eg daw rucked for much of the day (with chop outs from Weed), Bowey in the Salem role, White in the Fritter role, baker in the langers role etc etc Weid worked hard - played the role Tmac does in the seniors, so perhaps his best bet is to come in for tmac. He dropped a couple of marks where he had done all the work and had his opponent cold, which seems often be an issue for him. Must be a technique thing ( in cricket we would say hard hands) because he has good hands on the lead Brown still does not look all that agile, which I suspect is what is keeping him out of the team. But 5 goals is 5 goals and you have to love how accurate his kicking is. His fourth was a thing of beauty. Had to kick from about 40 metres, on a slight angle, with wind also being a factor. Such is his confidence with his technique that he was able to deliberately start it to the right of the goal post and let the wind bring it back. perfect I also thought brown was ok pressure wise, creating at least one goal with a tackle Melksham's pressure was also pretty good i have to say, which is a great sign. Hit a beautiful 50 metre left foot kick to a forward's advantage, which is exactly why he is big chance of getting back into the side I love Neville Jetta - easily one of my all time favorite players. Works so hard in every game he plays and a brilliant role model for the young players (postscript; just watched all the VFL goals video and saw that jetts kicked the last of the game - something missed on the replay becuase it finished before the end of the game! - nice gola nev - boys really got around him too) Jones was simply brilliant. Played smart, played with intensity, played like a true leader and played like an intent on winning his spot back. Pretty good goal too I really like Captain Jack Sparrow, and thought he was terrific against the bombers, but i suspect Jones will bump him into the medical sub role this week given Goodies comments about picking blokes in form Bedford has some real toe Bowey and Laurie are both natural footballers and both are excellent kicks, Bowey particularly so, which warms my heart Rosman has some real x factor and get up and go too - loved his super smart kick into a small pocket of space to set up one of brown's goals Vanders looked to be moving really freely and used the ball really well in the main. Is a wild card for finals for sure given how strong in the contest he is and the importance goody puts on winning the hard ball - not mention our focus this year of only having one player go to the contest and/or tackle.

Essendon fans ringing SEN to say they are not in the 8 because of the umpires. Yes that's right Essendon, you lost 8 games this year and the umpires are to blame for you not being in the 8. The umpires are also to blame for why we haven't won a flag since 1964

Reckon on the bigger grounds like the G, the wing is crucial. Teams want to go through the corridor or the shortest way home but the reality is most teams are great at clogging up the corridor. Having an attacking wingman (Langdon) and letting him run into space as well as a more defensive option (Brayshaw) has been one of the moves of the year in my opinion. Both are incredibly courageous and Langdon's gut running is out of this world. Angus' aerial ability is also underrated. I made a comment in the votes thread that perhaps we have become too used to Langdon's brilliance and that he wins his position week after week. But as far as influence on the game goes, he is right up there with Oliver, Petracca. May, Lever and Gawn in importance and execution.

What would he know? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Not sure if anyone noticed but the Northern Bullants who Carlton flung to have there own reserves trashed the Blues yesterday. Small irony there.

ANB is a player that will keep coming up in conversation because to the naked eye he doesn't do much in games. But he is one of the most important role players in our team, and I bet one of the first names on the board every week. He does a lot of things that are hard to see at the ground, and even harder to see on TV as the camera focuses solely on the action.

Was Petracca turning around and waving to the feral Essendon [censored] in the crowd, who no doubt had been giving Christian some goal kicking advice. And THEN, when he kicks the goal, and gives him a great big smile and a wave, the Essendon [censored] appealing to the umpires saying words to the effect of "Can he do that?" At least the Swans supporter with the huge hand who bagged Tom McDonald in the same situation had the class to clap him after he kicked the goal and acknowledge that Tom won that one. You could add up may hatred for every other club together and it wouldn't even come close to my absolute loathing of every Essendon supporter on the planet, including my mother and 2 of my brothers.

I hope you yelled out as you were leaving "Armageddon out of here!".

Only other people's......

Visited my local community health centre in Melbourne today to get a prescription for an unrelated matter. I was advised that my second Astrazeneca jab, due in a few weeks, was full-steam ahead and to ignore the false news being spread by uninformed sources. If there is a change, endorsed by the Federal government, the clinic will inform me directly. I'm happy with that.

How about Nev's goal and the players getting around him!

I football. At least i I think i do.

Anyone else hearing that due to other states closing their borders that this years grand final might be played at the MCG?

Wow just took a quick look over on bomberblitz…. FMD these guys are still saltier than the Dead Sea !!!! seriously what a toxic vile bunch of sore losers … blaming the umps in an 11 point loss ( bar a very very small number of reasoned posters ) , I couldn’t imagine how they’d take a free kick loss after the siren. we were annoyed after getting shafted by some non calls in the last two minutes and then in the last 30 seconds against the crows but this is a whole next level quantum leap in whinging … conspiracy theories , threatening of umps and opposition supporters, and just a general lack of being graceful and acknowledging that maybe your team played very well but fell just short of a very good team on the day …

Stringer played the majority of the game in the middle. Hibberd picked him up when he drifted into the forward line, when Essendon were in attack. He didn't have to pick him up all that often, because Stringer is inherently lazy and hung back looking for the cheapie turnover, ala his goal in the first quarter.

A very nice debut. Some work needed on the mullet though before he becomes the real deal... a great example for ya here son ☝

I get what you are saying about ANB, Jackson, and Pickett. Two of them are the foundation of our defensive system and the other is now rucking 44% of games now. Spargo and Fritsch do not have the level of Pressure acts and tackles that the other two have. Around the edges of the cornerstone Fritsch has seen an uptick in PAs but is still below 12 on average on the season (13.4 the last 5 weeks). Spargo is averaging 12 this year too, but only 9.2 in the last 5. Spargo has also dipped in tackles the last 5. Down to 2 a game. Fritsch is at 1.4 tackles a game. ANB and Pickett are above 20 PAs and 3.4 tackles a game. They are the cornerstone for the system. Fritsch plays tall and needs to be smaller Fritsch has TMac levels of pressure which is not the trade off we want from a medium forward like Fritsch. His 2 goals a game is welcome but will it stand up in a pressure final? I worry that he relies on excellent delivery when he is the 2nd tall and he won’t have that in September. Spargo must deliver Spargo is handy for his delivery into the forward line but only gets 2.4 I50s a game. Spargo needs to get more of the football or he needs to ramp up his pressure. He sticks to the system and his place in the press but anyone can do that; what is he going to bring to the team in September? Selection integrity and ‘selection locks’ don’t jive So I hope the last two months see us find our best balance in that forward line. And that is not going to mean that there are too many ‘locks’ - selection integrity is important to ensuring teams are harmonious and that effort and actions are rewarded. We are based around that defence and pressure in the forward half and Fritsch and Spargo don’t bring enough of it to feel comfort.

Just received a member's email from Gary Pert saying the club is beginning the process of selling the Bentleigh Club. 'I am writing to inform you of the club’s decision to commence the process of selling the Bentleigh Club. This is a significant decision for Melbourne Football Club and one which has been made following an exhaustive evaluation process over the past 12 months. Having explored all options it was clear that the best outcome for Melbourne’s long-term financial viability was to sell the Bentleigh Club. The proceeds of the sale will allow the club to establish a future fund, which will secure the long-term future of Melbourne and replace the income currently generated by gaming. Financially, we are in the strongest position we have ever been in our long history as a club and this is a crucial step in solidifying this financial security, without the need for support from gaming related venues. The decisions to sell the Leighoak in 2018, and now Bentleigh Club, have been based on securing the best long-term financial outcomes for the club, but it is also pleasing that this has completely removed the club’s reliance on gaming related income. Melbourne’s association with the Bentleigh Club commenced in 1996, with the club officially acquiring the Bentleigh Club in 2011 when the venue was operating at a loss and experiencing a growing debt obligation. As part of the agreement to take over operations, we agreed to repay the Bentleigh Club’s then debt of 3 million dollars and committed to investing in the operations of the venue to return the club to profitability, while maintaining Bentleigh Club member entitlements. We agreed to operate the venue until at least August 2022. Any sale of the venue will be settled after this date, to ensure we fulfill this commitment, and the Bentleigh Club will remain operational until that time. It is important we acknowledge the past Melbourne Boards and Administrators who worked tirelessly to return the Bentleigh Club to profitability. A special mention must be made of the Jim Stynes and Don McLardy led Boards who had the foresight to secure the Bentleigh Club back in 2011. Without their vision we certainly would not be in the position we are in today, with the opportunity to sell the venue and ultimately set the club up for the future. While the sale of the venue is the right decision for Melbourne, we understand it will be a disappointing outcome for current members of the Bentleigh Club. We are committed to providing these members with alternative arrangements at similar venues should they wish to do so. We will continue to keep you up to date throughout the course of the process and will let you know when a sale is achieved. I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank you for your support and commitment to the Dees. Whilst our non-football related investments have contributed to our strong financial position, we could not be where we are without the ongoing support and loyalty of our members and supporters. Go Dees!'

Few players can claim to be to famous but not Michael Hibberd, and have a process/style/impact named after them. After the Tigers game this year the media and others starting using the term regardging how to deal with Dustin Martin - " XXX club (the tiges opponent on any given week) needs to find THEIR Michael Hibberd..." This also applied to pre-match discussion on the Dogs game re: tagging the Bont - "...send Hibberd??..." Every team now needs a " Michael Hibberd.." He kept Stringer to a single goal and quiet game on Saturday - further enhancing his status. From memory I think he dealt with Lance Franklin this year also. But my quetsion is, given his age at 31, and if I read the Contract thread on Demonland correctly , in his last year this year of contarct - who is his likely successor, and do we have one? I love Trent Rivers, but he's not in the Hibberd style. Or is he a once-off? He was quietly booed at times on Saturday but Bombers fans next to me thought it bad taste and wished he had never left them. Is cloning a possibility?

I would have preferred to win after siren, with a dodgey free kick and a bone head Devon Smith 50m penalty thrown In for good measure. I'll take the win anyway.

I was at the ground on Saturday and thought ANB was pretty good. What I saw wasn't based on his disposal numbers (13 disposals including 10 kicks) but rather, his relentless chasing which kept putting Essendon players under pressure. I think his position is safe. I suspect if I were watching on TV I might come to a different view, but at the ground, I always see so much more of what is going on.

I reckon the days of needing to crush teams and with it, thirsting for percentage are a thing of the past Footy is now a defence first sport so all that really matters is the win Percentage is worth half a win and is it really worth smashing the best players week after week just so as to win by a bigger margin? Not crushing teams is not a weakness when you analyse how we go about it We now have 4 walls of defence ... our forwards applying defence pressure, midfield the same and then the 2 lines of defence. May often plays last man as a type of goalkeeper

Quite bizarre really..

Pickett kicked 3.3 against the form team of the comp in Brisbane just 2 games ago. Teams are putting a lot of effort in to him defensively, he’s going to have quiet games especially if the forward line isn’t functioning. To replace him with a player like Melksham who has zero defensive intensity would be madness. Pickett isn’t playing for his spot every week because he earns his spot every week with defensive actions.

Yep. Paid out in full. $2,300 straight into my sky rocket.

Oliver was our best midfielder, l can’t believe the criticism he gets from a lot of our supporters He’s a contested beast and always puts himself where a lot of players would fear to tread and will occasionally turn the ball over Another 34 possies in the heat of battle

I’ll leave it to Steven May’s assessment to sum up my thoughts ….he seems to know what’s needed to go somewhere in finals. “We’re nowhere near [our best form],” May said. “We need to be a lot more efficient going forward. “Even though we defended well, we don’t want to defend like that every week – it’s not sustainable. “But in saying that, I’m proud of how we have set our season up.”

Spot on. There was another missed free that did my head in. In a marking contest Max clearly got smashed in the head. Again. No free. What made it worse was that it was right after he had been pinged for holding in a rock contest. Something that happens, as a bemused Max pointed out to the umpire, in nearly every stoppage ruck contest. Perhaps we should send our resident troll to bomberblitz to post out how hard we were done by from the umpires

Jones was great in that game but he's not going to play that role of #1 on-baller for MFC

It's B.Brown for Fritsch for me. I think Fritsch is a dangerous player who uses his smarts to get free, I also think he can play a negating role on medium intercept marking backs which is very valuable. He's a good player who has been key in some of our wins this year. But I think we need a contested marking target in our forward structure and something has to give. I don't want to go with one less mid to accommodate an extra tall. In the last quarter whenever Essendon had the ball on the back 50 I saw 4 MFC jumpers along the line of the centre square guarding the corridor and forcing them down the line. I think in the end that's why we won. That takes discipline and great running and I think we need the critical mass of mids to achieve it. Sparrow played limited minutes but had high impact for that time - he was involved in some great handball chains, tackles strongly and kicked a clutch goal - he stays in for me. Big finals are won in the contest - B.Brown offers more aerial contest deep inside 50 than Fritsch. They both have similar defensive profiles when the ball hits the ground and I think we can only afford one of that type. Fritsch would need to consistently kick more goals than B.Brown to make up for the lack of aerial contest and I don't think he can.

Absolutely. I thought the Adelaide game was one we could have won (or drawn) if the umpiring was called correctly for deliberate out of bounds. But as I said after the game, to blame the umpires is to wallpaper over obvious cracks which appeared in that game. You can scream blue murder about umpires, but if you have to rely on them to win games, you will always be in trouble, because the standard of umpiring is absolutely putrid and getting worse. You need to control the things you can control. Devon Smith abusing the umpire for a second 50, is something Essendon could control. Us setting up correctly at the bounce and not giving away a free is also something we can control. Goal kicking, defensive set ups and so forth. No umpire told Essendon to keep bombing the ball into May and Lever, and no umpire told Jackson to have a stroke in front of goal and dribble the ball to the opposition.

I love Jones, but it is short term thinking to bring him in for Sparrow. Sparrow will be a player. He is calm under pressure, has a dash of speed Jones no longer does, and is great defensively. Jones brings experience, but where he excels, which is hunting the ball at the contest, is also where we simply do not need him. He has lost a lot of pace, which means he cannot spread defensively. I am not ruling him out, and maybe his experience and leadership will be vital come finals, but we are just now at the start of our window of premiership opportunities. Sparrow will be around for the entirety of that window. Jones will not. Short term thinking will hurt us long term. It's why we also can't just throw away Weideman or be impatient with Petty.

And climate change. Don’t forget climate change. The umpires are to blame for that too.

Doing well as a stopper. Kind of wish he'd stop fumbling though!

Us and the Lions (as they showed on Friday) have the defence to deal with Cats attack. Not an issue. Dogs defence too short, Power too flaky, rest not good enough. On overall across the ground talebt its a Lions / Dees GF to lose

Gentleman Jack Viney clearing the cobwebs with a hit on Devon Smith. Classic Viney who will take out a few more before seasons end.

he won't make that same mistake twice ?

I'll second that and go one further that we will struggle to make a PF (not to be confused with a Picket Fence!) if we don't. However that also depends on him finding somewhere near his best form in a block of 3 to 4 games if he is given the chance. Scoreboard pressure and marks inside 50, bringing ball to ground, forcing opp to place their best tall defender on him and our only genuine (accurate) goal kicking forward option (out to about 50 meters) should not be underestimated. Taking the Opp's best tall defender will also see T-Mac getting the 2nd best defender where he often seems to blossom, benefiting the team as a whole. T-Mac playing higher and BB deep with occasional swap over also seems to be a decent pairing. With others leading to the flanks this should open things up for the small crumbers to feed off a bit more often. At the moment our structure and method forward of center is a big mess. Add to that all forwards inability to kick accurately from more than about 35/40 meters. Fix these forward issues and i think we can go all the way to a GF. Ignore it and i think it will catch us out at the pointy end and we'll all be bemoaning "the season that might have been....again".

These threads would be less convoluted if everyone accepted the very strong likelihood that the following players will not be dropped this season: - ANB - fritter - kozzie - Jackson - spargo

Viney had 34 pressure acts vs Essendon. Only Jordon vs Carlton (37) has had more all year.

A really enjoyable look at our up and comers. Most of the players showed something after a bit of a scrappy tussle in the first half. There were plenty putting their hands up for a senior call-up - Jones, B Brown, Bowey, AVB and Melksham. Unfortunately, there aren't too many spots up for grabs. I was really keen to see some of the draftees and I wasn't disappointed. For those that didn't see it: Bowey - great composed game. He was on top of his opponent(s), skilled and smart with the footy. I hope he gets a game at some stage this year. Bedford - had an impact in the last quarter after a quiet game. There are nice aspects to his game - speed, endurance and pressure. He seemed to impose himself on the game late and might have had more of an impact if he'd done so earlier. D Smith - He strikes me as a neat, committed player with plenty of skill and game insight. I look forward to seeing him develop. Laurie - slick ball use and an impressive skill level. Got caught once or twice but first game after a long time. I recall him easily spinning out of trouble in his draftee highlights videos. A tougher gig at this level and he may need to work on that. Lockhart - a mixed game from him. Showed a bit and also let himself down couple of times. Chandler - at times he showed he was a class above this level. At other times he seemed to get tangled up in the scrappy stuff. Good pressure. Rosman - his composure improved as the game went on and there were a couple of impressive plays. He needs some games and experience under his belt. He's got the endurance to get to more contests but that'll come. He looks like he's wearing a rug! Turner - plenty of composure and intercepting. Didn't make any mistakes and shows promise. A great first game Bradtke - Curious that he was in the backline. I assume he's learning the defensive side of the game. He didn't do a whole lot wrong (out-bustled once or twice). Good disposal and agility for a beanstalk. Twenty kgs would be very helpful for him. Declase - Another good first game. He was solid without being spectacular. Disposal was good and he improved as the game went on (following an early bomb into the forward line). Potentially a good role player. Good skill set. Baker - Had a good game and he got better as the game went on. I think this is his level.

Did that involve lots of multiplying?

If the ball is in contact with the foot as it crosses the line, it's touched over the line and therefore a point. Not that the AFL care anything about their own rules if there's a bit of theatre involved. They are hypocrites and fraudsters.

Ben Brown needs to play. I think we can all agree that Tmac needs to play as a high leading forward and Fritsch at full forward won’t get us many marks or goals. We need to give Brown a solid run in the seniors.