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#31 at first glance does not have an AFL ready body. I wonder if the body-size is overrated but rather what you do with it that counts.

Sparrow is an absolute beast. After Jackson, he is the young player I'm the most excited about.

The forward line was finally bonded together when BBB came back for his second stint and we never looked back after a couple of weeks working at patterns and coordination and also kicking the ball high to BBB when he was mostly isolated with only one opponent or shorter opponents.

With acknowledgement to NP, my source outside the wire. B.Brown finished off drills well with his shots on goal. Sparrow was sharp all morning. Usual efficient work from Viney, Trac & Clarrie. Clarrie spent a bit of time one on one with Goody. As usual 1st day back the newbies only did half the session but they all did the running with ease and have good hands. Harmes, Gus, Lingers, Weids, Spargo, Hibbo, Melks, Rosman, Rivers, Fritta, all on light duties. The running at the beginning saw about 10 groups spaced out around the oval. After about 2 or 3 laps, the groups had not strung out at all like I have seen in previous years!!

* The Oxford Don Rev. WA Spooner, that is! As promised, Too-Much-Time-On-Your-Hands-Puzzle-Nerds😉 This team would be considerably more competitive than the VFL/AFL team he named. At least in the current series... 1. Swamp-ed Spanish fishing boat? 2. Crumbs?! 3. She pretends to go up the hill? 4. Tapestry shop? 5. Artist Ken's 'Denim Period'? 6. That man waits in line. 7. Rustle, saying, '______ ___ stones...' 8. Cheese off market? 9. Trick type. 10. Surround Shirley 11. Hay, gathered then cropped! 12th man. 10 marks for German? I wish you the opposite of what William Archibald, quoting me, might appear to wish you: 'Crappy hacking!'

Discourage X factor? A large dose of X factor took us from 19 points down to stunned and demoralised oppo in 10 minutes of football. Worker ants like ANB, Harmes, Spargo, are well and good (not discounting Harmes' little bit of X to start the riot) and every team needs them, but they don't give you bang bang bang to destroy a good team.

Thanks for the post Dante. Your honesty is refreshing. The thing I like about Bbb at present is he seems to have added another dimension to his game. He has always been a lead into space forward but this year seems to have come into his own as a player taking pack Mark's or contesting and getting the ball to ground for our many crumbles. But even as his old self at Norf, to kick that many goals and be discarded after one poor season was just wrong imho. But thanks norf.

12th man = Terry Jenner (Jerry Tenner)?

Your You're not on your own WCW. I'm racking my brain with the rest. Oops. I better edit before Stone reads it.

Sorry bud, world wide chip shortage, no flux capacitors on hand.

So it's back to the future for you buck forgot all about 2020 it will be good to hear about the differences in training methods as the years rolled on.

Having Gawn drift forward when Jackson is rucking has also been a weapon. Hugely advantages Brown as well as letting Fritsch find acres of space. Also compensated for Tmac’s indifferent form.

Possible Knightmare has never actually seen him play… wouldn’t be the first time he’s had an opinion on a player he’s never seen

Yabba Dabba doooo footy is back.

We're the only team that's proven it's possible so far 😉

Now that I know it’s actually possible for a team to kick 3 goals in a minute, particularly in the last minute of a quarter, I’ll never be comfortable at a football game ever again.

You can't lose if you accept the bet. Either you win a million dollars, or Melbourne gets a premiership. Seems like a no-brainer to me!

If you watch he is really the only one who kept his eyes on the ball and in between three others ho got one hand on the ball and bought it to the other to complete a very good mark. Not impressive well if you look at JVR's highlight reels don't be surprised about his excellent marking contested and the height he attains in jumping. Very similar to BBB when he extends his arms straight up and is far too tall for the pack or his opponent. His GF and 2021 season highlights prove how valuable he was in transforming our firward line to the multi dimensional unit it developed into during the last few games and of course during the Finals. On the contrary I believe JVR showed in this clip IMO what a special talent he has ie marking and I believe he is destined to become a very special forward ( or defender at times) for us for the next decade or more. Go to just highlight reels and he is an excellent marker of the ball one on one or contested in a pack and also on the lead. He may even be our first 100 goal forward No pressure Jacob. Could have been one of Bruce McAveneys "special" players I reckon. Msybe he will just go bang bang bang etc. for us!!!

Love it! Was in Anglesea myself over new years it really felt good to strut around in a Dees tee in a location other than Melb but still recognisable!

We changed our forward structure considerably around the Queens Birthday round. After some fine tuning even with Tmacs dip in form it really started to fire up. I dont think its unreasonable to expect it to keep improving and this year we will see some even bigger scores by us.

Reckon it makes me fair game, my screw up. But if I know when to take off my tin foil hat I could even do a genuine training report!

With omicron, not beyond the realm of possibility. 😬

We're in trouble if he's bowling for Australia.😁

You also have dibs, then, on '57 days to go folks', deever 😀

Nup...there was always a lot of upside in both Pickett and Jackson for sure and there still is, but they were expected to play early on and did. They were not picked as "development" players. Weid I reckon backs up my position...he hasn't wanted it enough and has spent way to much time in "development"...

Totally correct JCB Gawny became the hunted and all our forwards benefited from his prescience. Even when They swapped Jacko developed a presence with more goals due to his all round footy skills. Our totals each match were a revelation especially in the Finals.

If there was any 'stealing' going on (and I reckon it's possible, subconsciously if nothing else) it would have been the initial 'Bang!' (thanks @4_Kent_Watts and @BrisbaneDemon) after Oliver's goal. I think Brayshaw is good enough to have instantly mentally rewound the preceding 40 seconds and come up with the triple-treat repeat.

I wouldn't discount it either. Taylor took him with our first round pick, we don't use that pick for development players. I trust his acumen over some knightmare. I hope JVR is pushing for it...really pushing for it. He must have the competitive spirit to say stuff that, I didn't come here to play at Casey... If he's waiting to be developed then we got the wrong man.

Bigfooty’s Knightmare believes that JVR is a long term project ~ “With Melbourne's player development and all things firing though - from coach/veteran leadership/buy-in from the playing group, JVR can be a good piece in a few years if developed in defence.” “He's not going to play in 2022, and maybe not 2023 either.” I responded by agreeing that there’s no hurry to push him into an AFL debut given that he’s at the premiership club but pointed out that he’s physically ready to play against men. Which is what he has already done at WAFL level early in 2021 when he played 5 senior games with Claremont before succumbing to glandular fever. He also kicked plenty of goals for their Colts and the WA Under 19 championships later in the season. This didn’t dissuade Knightmare who answered:- “JVR was great during the U19 Champs in defence and was capable v Colts opposition but struggled in the WAFL at League level and showed he isn't ready to play against AFL opposition. There is a difference between playing at a level and playing well. I fully expect Melbourne's at the moment superior player development and everything that factors into it will help fast-track JVR in his development comparative to if he landed with another club, but he's not going to have an Aaron Naughton kind of first season as a point of comparison.” It’s an interesting debate. I see JVR as a future KPF and a likely replacement for the current key forward incumbents. He should be a fixture at Casey this year but the way things are going with Omnicron, I wouldn’t discount the possibility of seeing him at AFL level in 2022. From all reports, JVR’s efforts at WAFL Senior level were reasonable. He was impressive on debut with two goals and was affected by tonsillitis and glandular fever in his next couple of games but still contributed. He came back after missing several weeks and kicked just one goal but wasn’t 100% in his fifth and final senior game. He then went on to kick a bag of goals in the WAFL Colts and the WA Under 19s and also showed in one or two games that he can be handy in a key defensive position. We have a handy, versatile prospect on our hands.

Still cant fathom Norf letting Bbb go. I hope he has a great pre season and plays a full season. He still has several seasons left in him and if he topped the h and a goal tally for 3 years in a low team he could do much more with us.

And this is precisely why I bet AGAINST us every single week. Been doing it for years. If we win… great! If we lose… terrible. But terrible with a little extra $ in my pocket. It’s only $20 or so each time. Except when it’s Essendon and I up it to $50, such is my passionate HATRED for them. I put $100 on the Dogs to win the GF. Never been SO happy to lose a bet! ❤️💙

I bet you were that kid who told other kids the whole Santa thing is fake coz in order to get presents to every kid in the world in one night he’d have to defy pretty much every single law of physics. 😆 Oh Mauriesy, you’ve never played a game of “would you rather…” ???

I am excited about them all Dogga Kossie Riv Sparrow Jordon Petty Bowser Laurie Rosman JVR Howes Taj AZW Judd McVee Turner Bedford ? Deakyn Smith ? well May we look like that with our 22-25 yo champs running around in 2/3 years time!! Trac Clarry ANB Spargo Lingers Angus Salo Jake ( Rick) Jack V Weid ?J.Smith ? Hunty ? Harmsey

What about the cost of the Anger Management Courses???

I've had various euphoric moments since the win A few examples ... Once it sunk in that the flag was in the record books and can never be taken away from us, that was the moment. Often hearing or seeing 'Reigning Premier' is another reinforcement ... we get that for the whole year too especially if we go deep into the finals again And it's OK to brag when the overwhelming majority recognise that we were clearly the best team in 2021 There were no unlucky tales from the opposition either ... we were too good for them We could win more flags with this group of players but 2021 will remain the breakthrough moment and probably the most memorable for that reason Much like 2005, 2007 & 2017 could be the most memorable premiership years for Swans, Cats & Tiger supporters. 1990 for Collingwood? 1975 for North? And speaking of '190' (the Fitzroy loss), our combined margin of victory during the 2021 finals was .... 190 points!

I still hate Essendon and Hawthorn for two of the worst days I've had to endure as a Melbourne Demon. Makes winning this year so tasty tho.

Watching Live I was at my angriest and smashed my telly remote to pieces, cost me 69 dollars to replace but now I can't help but smile at that part of the game. Thanx Bont.

An MFC KPF currently sitting just outside the best 22 is quaking in his boots after watching that.

No red hat here.

Maybe he is still recovering from that (possibly) game changing assault by that dwarf on 25 September? 🤭

Make no mistake. We were hunted throughout the whole of last year. Every-one wants to take down the undefeated mob sitting on top of the ladder. And with our reputation of choking when the pressure's applied they all thought they could be the ones to do it. This year we need to put that reputation to rest once and for all. Put the foot on their throats early and keep it there.

Did you tell them Max sends his best? I used to get worried about hawkins when we played them. They must have nightmares about Gawnie.

Yes, it's a terrible thing being premiers, and having all these celebratory events to go to. Ask them why they didn't go to their club's 2021 premiership events.

Yea same here. They have suffered like us. I think a lot of people were happy for us to win a flag but I reckon that will all change this year.

Anyone looking for some time to kill during during isolation or just wanting a general pick me up I highly recommend reading through the GF matchday threads on opposition boards on BigFooty. I read through the Bulldogs one the other night and it was heartwarming to see how quickly they went from "we've got this, Melbourne are [censored]" to "uh-oh I think we're in trouble" to "**** we've [censored] the bed here" to "no one could match them, Melbourne were unstoppable" The Carlton and Richmond board threads were pretty funny in their own ways, it was a joy to read the Hawks supporters realising how far away their midfield was from competing with the best (IE OURS!!!) the St Kilda thread was just depressing I felt a kinship with them after reading through that misery (Petracca winning the Norm Smith just to rub it in) and really hope they can break their drought soon. Looking forward to killing time reading through the Essendon and Collingwood threads, the Geelong one should be hilarious too.

Finally