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I have spoken with the club and have been assured that the Round 22 Adelaide match will be played in Melbourne at the MCG.

Love a debut. Go you little red fire engine.

Anyone not currently in full lockdown won't be on the chartered plane to Qld and won't be on the chartered plane to Perth. We won't be able to fly players from Melb to Perth. So we need to look at this group of 26 being those that play GCS and WCE. Every chance they will rotate the i/change players and the emergencies next week. If that hunch is right, I like it as it gives us a nice little squad of 26 preparing for finals. And it gives some players a weeks rest, not just game time management. The club may add a couple more and take a 28 player squad to Qld and onward to Perth. For players not on the plane won't have many chances to audition for finals; just rounds 22 and 23.

He's debuting

The real Weid would have dropped the cup.

But that would make him 136cm, or a bit under four foot six in the old money. That's much too short to be an AFL player, no matter how good he might be.

Sorry but that’s insanity. Are we trying to win a flag or have we given up? Also if small crowds are allowed by then it’s a complete slap in the face to us paid up members who sink so much money into the club each year. I would be ropeable if this is true!

Not sure that's true mate. Jacko only had 3 centre bounce attendances against the Dogs and spent most of his time near the wing. 9 hitouts, I wouldn't call that 'ruck first and foremost'. 3 CBAs. 9 hitouts. 60% game time. Weid was in our top 5 for distance covered per game last year. Unless you're meaning 'athletic' in terms of leap? Gawn barely leaves his feet in the ruck, so not sure that it's absolutely crucial. Sure, but not if he's doing hardly any rucking. No one is an 'alternative' to Jackson. There's very few players in the league who can do what he does. But in terms of the ruck/forward role; of course Weid is an alternative given that's the exact role he's been playing at Casey.

Bizarre that Harmes survives. The two changes make sense. Good luck young Bowey. Nice story overcoming dwarfism and having red hair!

If you're referring to Melksham, whilst I wasn't against us trying him it's not like he's been in any sort of form of late, and we know how damaging (in a bad way) his lack of defensive pressure can be. As to Jackson/Rivers, poor form doesn't always mean needs rest. Again, whilst there were arguments about both their spots, were we going to make four changes in one week?

I don't know how Johnson was even getting a game in the first place.

In: Bowey, Sparrow Out: Hibberd, Jordon (both dropped). Emergencies are Hibberd, Melksham, Weideman and Jordon. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/989406/round-20-team-young-demon-to-debut

they don't have much up fwd but their young midfield looks full of run and talent if May/Petty and Lever can handle King then we should be OK ps. Cunnington is stiff being marked as 'managed' this week. Bloke lost a nut!

Hoping there will be a debut announcement video up soon. They're always heart-warming.

Assume JJ needs a rest. Because he’s been far better and more consistent this season than some of his teammates.

Maybe now we’ve finally lost to a top 8 team we can start beating the lower teams again!

#DevelopingSide #Top4 #DiaperDees There media I've done your work for you; now the players just have to make it happen.

Salem’s playing

This 18 year old boy with his big grownup moustache! God these players seem to get younger and younger. Go kid! Rip 'em a new one. (Can you play KPF by the way?)

Would have rested Dogga for the Weid Looking forward to seeing Bowey play his first senior game Best of luck young man

Well, that was an interesting thread… Lot of demonlanders looking for an easy excuse to ‘excuse’ the team falling off a cliff 2004 style… No, the fixture is not an excuse, no COVID isn’t either, training loads 6 weeks ago are not either…

Weid has the potential to be a good player. Perhaps the way the cards have fallen for him means that that won't be with us. Unfortunately, anyone thinking we will receive decent compensation in a trade will be sorely disappointed.

that'll mean some $$ for the club at any rate, and a crowd allowed at the game - the game at the g vs crows was definitely not going to be performed before a live audience brutal schedule before finals in terms of travel but also an opportunity to galvanise; since the swans left sydney and worked together as a travelling and hubbed mob they've been one of the form teams of the competition

We will be playing this game on the Gold Coast, then we will fly direct to Perth and quarantine for 7 days before playing WC at Optus. We need to win both, please!

28 minimum. Given we can’t get anyone else up there, and we could quite easily cop 3-4 injuries in a single game, you’d need the insurance. And you need to have a range of players to cover different parts of the ground. So for example if Jackson needs a rest or Gawn is injured and we have Weideman in the hub then you have flexibility. Smith likewise. You also want good mid rotation options so JJ, AVB and maybe even Chandler so you can have ANB spend more time in the midfield and Chandler can do his role up forward. I would think we take 28 because the last thing we want is to put someone out there who isn’t 100% and risk further injury before finals because we didn’t take enough players. Also need to take into account if someone needs to go home for a family emergency. It has happened already in hubs this year Edit: Jones would be perfect as he can cover lots of roles, but I doubt he will go with his wife heavily pregnant with twins.

Can confirm it's on Kayo/Fox at 1300hrs

Weed will never be an alternative to Jackson. Jackson is a ruck first and foremost who plays some time up forward. Weed is a forward who is ok at giving a ruck a chop out. And Weed is juts not athletic enough to play the sort of minutes Jackson plays in the ruck Daw is a more likely alternative, But Jackson is not coming out, unless injured. Say all you want about his numbers, but he is critical to our structure and tactical flexibility in terms of how we use max. If you are any doubt how important Goody views LJ, listen to Goody's response to the question of ho how he sees LJ's form over the last few weeks (which includes a comment about his numbers). From 2.24: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/988675/rd-20-simon-goodwin-media-conference?videoId=988675&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1627431477001

Did say that I want to see Bowey replace Hibberd but thought it wouldn't happen so that is a good move. Jordon a bit stiff but Sparrow deserves another chance. Go Dees let's beat a bottom team for once.

Makes for a very young team. Six players under 21. Average age down quite a bit with hibberd replaced by bowey (jordon and sparrow roughly the same age) Five in their first or second year.

Give them an extra couple of days off training? Not sure why rests always need to involve missing a game

Agree, I would add that Petty is pretty young and in a few short games showed more up front than Weid has over a longer period (other than a one off Geelong finals game).

I do like the idea of access to Optus for training though.

Love your positivity Nelo, make sure you kick the dog on the way out

Not against him leaving if we get decent compensation. It would hurt our list age profile though, as all our key forwards are 28 or older (bar Jackson, who I consider a ruck not a forward). We would need to replace him with another young key forward IMO.

Totally agree. On all points. I'd be keen for him to remain a dee but in reality if Ben Brown gets somewhere near his best and Tmac stays at his current level then he might struggle to get regular senior game time next year. I have lot of time for Sam. Seem a ripping young fella and i'd love for him to fulfill his potential, even at another club. I'd think Gold Coast would be a really good option for him. Hopefully a team on the rise, full of talented younger players. King takes the best defender and the spotlight. Some excellent kicks and they like quick ball movement and spotting up their leading forwards, which suits Weed as he is good on the lead. And he would away from the footy fish bowl of Melbourne. And the gold coast would be pretty nice to live, train and play i would have thought

Our form at the G has hardly been inspiring recently. Perhaps getting out of Melbourne and playing in warmer climes might do us some good and inject some energy back into us Also the hub last year was credited as the catalyst for the game plan gelling. Could afford the opportunity to re-focus on roles and system. Steven May reckoned it helped the group bond as well Metricon to Darwin is manageable. The 3rd leg of the trip might be difficult but again they'll be staying in a resort in WA so hardly a major imposition We'll get some sun and have a chance to bond and re-focus so this could all work in our favor

What a way to alienate the majority of your membership. This game was probably going to have crowds at the G and now there’s talk of all finals being played in Perth if you believe the media. GC- Perth- Darwin- Geelong. Great preparation for finals… We must be near broke if we’ve initiated this.

If where going to play in the NT why would it not be in Alice Springs? Watching games of footy in Darwin and Cairns is torture, with a top four Spot on the line not sure my heart will cope with this.

Is Eddie Maguire trolling us?

Melbourne will enter home quarantine at midday on Thursday in preparation to fly to Queensland on Saturday morning for their Metricon Stadium game against Gold Coast. The Demons will then fly to Perth directly from Queensland and enter a week of hotel quarantine at the Joondalup Resort before taking on West Coast in Round 21. The AFL is yet to officially announce that sterile corridor to Queensland but the Suns and Demons have been told they will play that game on Saturday as scheduled. The Demons players will have to be in their homes in quarantine and their families will not be able to leave the house even to work or go to school. It means players who want their families to escape their bubbles will spend Thursday and Friday night in hotels before flying to the Gold Coast on Saturday. The breakthrough means Port Adelaide will also be able to fly to Queensland to take on GWS. Former coronavirus cabinet member Eddie McGuire suggested on Footy Classified on Wednesday the Demons might still play Adelaide in Darwin in Round 22. It would mean the huge few weeks on the road in Queensland, Perth and Darwin before playing Geelong in Geelong in Round 23. Brisbane has been scheduled to take on Hawthorn in Tasmania this weekend instead of playing the game in Melbourne, and Collingwood could fly to Launceston to play the Hawks in Round 21.

I will be furious if the club decides to play this game in NT especially if crowds are allowed to the game (even if capped at 20k). An absolute slap in the face to the members who have been stuck watching games on TV for the last 2 years.

King spoke about the way Bont and Macrae were utelised at stoppage at different times of the game which I reckon confused our mids. Outside of centre bounce, they both positioned themselves sometimes where a half forward or wing would be set up which in my opinion made it confusing for our mids and we were reactive through that part of the ground. Max Gawn especially. His hitouts were all over the place. Go and have a listen to the boys on the deebrief podcast talk about Gawn's tap work, one of them nailed it. The doggies basically got maximum use out of their extra numbers through the midfield and they were cleaner and more effective around the ground in general. Especially upon exit. 6 goals from stoppage is huge. We weren't that far off but something we'll need to rectify next time. We always allow an outnumber at the contest so that we can free up Lever in our D 50 but we've got to get a lot better at clearance going forward. Obviously the other big question mark is accuracy on goal and our forward entry. Finals is always about small margins and if we can't maximise more entries than we have been, we're going to struggle winning. I think our line up needs tinkering before finals and we need more reliable users of the ball. Bowey/Melksham need a gig in my view. As far as the doggies injuries forcing their changes, I'd argue that it's not the main reason. The dogs have continued to tinker with their side for the entire year even after winning and without suffering an injury. It's getting late in the year for us to do too much, but I'd rather see some shuffling now whilst we're still showing the same signs with the same team. I think a Bowey debut is on the cards this week.

And then back to.Melbourne and then to Darwin. Mark my words, we're going to tumble out of the finals and the discussion is going to be centred on our decision to make money vs staying in Victoria and establishing some stability leading into finals.

AFL site: "NORTH Melbourne is tracking the prospects of the key forward who has lost his spot to former Roos forward Ben Brown at Melbourne. Sam Weideman sits on the Roos' radar as a potential target at season's end as they weigh up the need for extra support for Nick Larkey in attack. The Roos have been scouting the out-of-contract Demon throughout a season that has consisted of five AFL games but none since round 13. It is understood Gold Coast has also shown a level of interest in Weideman". I think Sam will benefit greatly from a change. He wouldn't be the first player who can't get a game at his club and fulfils his potential at another. Would prefer it be with us but he needs regular games to be consistent and build confidence. For various reasons: injury, form, competition for spots, he has rarely played more than a handful of games in a row.

Money over better chance to win. Wow, just wow.

If we do end up having crowds back for that round and this game is moved up there I’ll be ringing the club for a proportional refund on my tridents membership.

I'm guessing Club's request to recover the $800k we lost when the Alice game was cancelled.

Tigers are staying at Joondalup resort and travelling in their own little bubble to and from West Perth’s ground at Arena Joondalup to train each day. Hardly quarantine like those returning from overseas are enduring

How's his ducking and throwing?