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I think most of these lists in the lead up to the season will have Petracca as #1, but I think if you polled Melbourne fans most would have Oliver as our best. Is his dominance somehow underappreciated amongst the football media?

I am tiring of the under-estimation of what Hibberd brings through comparison to dissimilar types. Hibberd is a Bull Hibberd wins one-on-ones Hibberd is quick Hibberd is a raking left-footer Hibberd runs and carries

It's funny that he has Papley at 23 and he kicked 43 goals last year, where Pickett kicked 40 and isn't even in the top 50. Not sure how Fritsch doesn't make it either, after kicking 59 goals for the season.

I reckon Dangerfield is massively overrated

Christian Salem still underrated.

I thought Harmes was excellent yesterday with 3.1. Goal kicking midfielders are gold.

So is Nic Nat

Melbourne being the Premiers skews the list a fair bit. (Sorry, I just wanted to type ‘Melbourne being the Premiers’. 🥳)

But he's done his ratings based on the body of work from the past 12 - 18 months. Not who's the most talented in the AFL. If he was going off talent alone then buddy Franklin would be sitting top 10 comfortably. Fritsch 2021 year alone year blows away DeGeoy's 2021 and 2020. I think you're also underselling Fritsch. Anyone that kicks 6 goals in a grand final off the back of a 60 goal year performance is a top 20 player of thr competition in my eyes.

Long time reader, first post. I finally decided to join and post for two reasons, firstly to thank Mr Fence for his fantastic reports, I'm looking forward to see if Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin get a mission at Casey, and secondly after watching the practice match and seeing Tom Sparrow's new haircut he very much reminds me of a younger Todd Viney. Didn't notice last year as the hair was longer but with the haircut, is it just me? When posting I will always try and be respectful of ohers opinions, even if they are wrong. Go dynasty.

Hibbo gives 100% every week. Love the Pig.

I think Smith completely shutting down Zurhaar yesterday puts him right in the frame for round 1. It's obvious the coaches rate Smith very highly and like his versatility and speed. I've been critical of Smith in the past but I am lead to believe this is the first pre season he's completed without any injury niggles. It showed yesterday as I thought he was pretty impressive. I think the club has a difficult decision to make come round 1. There is one element that Tomlinson could play the lockdown role on the number 1 forward like Naughton which sets a domino effect with May taking the 2nd or 3rd best forward and Lever being able to take the more smaller forward but utilise his intercept marking ability. The other element is that Smith can play tall and small with his mix of speed, power and leap. Smith could take someone like Cody Weightman or even Jamarra Ugle Hagan if he plays. Hard choice for me. Lucky that's the coaches headache and not mine.

Because it's Tomlinson's spot to lose, Tomlinson is a better footballer than Smith and if Tomlinson isn't an automatic replacement with Petty out I'd question what his role is in the team.

did everyone think the video stream was nearly unwatchable, or should i be booking into specsavers?

Good Morning Mr.Phelps, The Team you are looking at on the Screen is known as the Melbourne Football Club. This team went 57 years without winning the penultimate prize in the Australian Football League that being a Premiership! (Think Superbowl but a thousand times better and more breathtaking with complex plays and Superfit Athletes) This Team has built slowly but surely over the past 5 years under a Person called Paul Roos and now Coached by a Guy that goes by the name of Simon "Goody" Goodwin ... Your Mission Jim should you decide to accept it to find out all you can from todays Practice match and report back to I.M with reports, an international attaché by the name of Picket Fence will be your main ally and you can use every element of your specialist forces to assist in surveillance of today’s game. As usual if any of your force are caught the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds … Good luck Jim MATCH REPORT P.F “Can't Stop The Music" Everyone you meet, the children in the street Are swayin' to the rhythm, there's somethin' movin' in them. There's no place to hide, so, why even try? Can't you hear it coming your way, it's here to stay. Music in our walk, music when we talk. It's really something magic, to lose it would be tragic. Can't you feel the sound movin' through the ground? Music makes the world go around. You can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music. Take the cold from snow, tell the trees, don't grow, Tell the wind don't blow, 'cause it's easier. No, you can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music. Take the spark from love, make the rain fall up 'cause that's easier to do. Lovely day at Casey Fields today for what turned out to be an excellent day for Footy, Gentle breeze was blowing towards the City End but that in no way reflected the inability to kick goals at the southern end. A crowd of about 2, 000 turned out and the cacophony of the same old same old music pregame dulled the senses into something like an acquiesced state of perennial insensibility thus rendering conversations with others as Difficult. Those who were there now know what I mean about the music interludes at training. No Slitheras were seen, However, a Giant Blue Tongue lizard was seen flicking helpless flys and other crawlies into a cavernous blue abyss never to be seen again. A bit like the hapless Shinboners who came up against a Red Hot DEES outfit hellbent on inflicting more pain to this struggling outfit. Not that the effort was not there but alas too much was left to too few on the Boys in Blue and White. Anyway that''s their problem MATCH VIEWS, PLAYERS REVIEWS AND POST MORTEM COMMENTS Clearly from the start Norf had a plans to curtail the ruck dominance of Max and the Midfield brilliance of Clarry and Tracc. Tagging Clayton Oliver is the hardest job in footy and the negating tactics might work occasionally but when he gets the after burners on and has single minded obsession for the leather its like that Judas Priest song "Hellbent for leather" Nothing stands in his way. Norf were clearly going to have a dip and they did but skill, class, fitness and just too many options curtailed their brave efforts. CLAYTON OLIVER Started a little rustily and was hobbling for while after an incident but then, WHOOSH became the Clarry we know so well. Exhilarating tour de force runs, precise handballs, very clean disposal and the Goal of the Day where he got contested ball in the middle, dished of ran forward, got it back and kicked a similar goal to his blistering goal in the 2021 GF. Dislocated a finger but came back bigger and better than ever. This guy is a freak!! MAX GAWN Was not that far behind Clayton and his presence, his ground running, his ability to get to contest after contest and take mark after mark was just breathtaking. A great couple of goals, just added Icing to an already rich cake! A real Captain’s Game. Just a Champion BBB Embarrassed Norf today Kicked 5 Goals and was a focal point in attack. He has sticky fingers and just loves clunking marks and uses his footy smarts to work up and down the ground. Could kick 80- 100 Goals this year. JAMES HARMES Has really improved his output and is now repaying the coaching fraternity with a sett of running, ablity to create space and canny ball use. Great game today ED LANGDON Just runs up and down the ground all day gathering possession after possession and spoon-feeds his forwards, a great ball user , no one can keep up with him and he was a great catalyst to many a launch into attack. JOEL SMITH Our most improved player, he seems to now have the confidence and footy nous to know when to spoil and when to mark. Was dynamite out of the back half and this is the sign that maybe after a few stops and starts this could be his year. ADAM TOMLINSON Ditto run out of defence and into attack, never seems flustered and nearly always creates opportunities with canny use of the ball and then running forward to create an overlap option. Great to see him so confident and ready to fire. ANB Another whose improved form has coincided with his confidence and devotion to his training regime and dedication to improving his game, his run , carry, unselfish team orientations make him one of the first picked every week. played very well today. CHRISTIAN SALEM Well I for one will be astounded if he isn't All Australian this year. He just ooozes class in all that he does whether it be gaining ground ball gets, Doubling back for intercept marks, Clever precise disposals, he has just got it all. Destroyed his opponent today T MAC Hard to match up on now that he covers a lot of ground, is physically imposing and clunks some great marks AND clears the way for Fritta (who didn't play today) and BBB was instrumental today doing just that! Others to do well were GENERAL MAY down back TOM SPARROW who is also brutal in his attack on the ball and the ball oppo carrier, CHANDLER kicked 2 Opportunistic goals but not much else, and I thought JAMES JORDAN was ok without being prolific. DOGGA was good in the ruck and got his hands on the ball but missed a couple of marks. CHARLIE SPARGO Kicked a lovely goal and was creative and used the ball really well. I also thought KOSSY was elusive and damaging setting up many opportunities with his lightning speed and footy smarts. FINAL COMMENTS. The Dees easily defeated a somewhat injury depleted Norf outfit, but Norf still had plenty of experience in their team and were just Obliterated. Weeds, Toby Bedford, and I think Hunt got runs late but did not have time to establish themselves. The most telling thing from my perspective were 2 main pionts. 1 Viney, Lever, and Fritta and possibly Dunstan will come in for … ??? 2 As I have iterated you train a you play and the drills I have seen are replicated in match conditions and this makes for a team that KNOWS how to play, what to play, and how each person in the team has a role to play and they play it beautifully. This is what makes successful teams even more successful and end up in creation of DYNASTIES! A lot to like today. Your Casey Correspondent P.F

Isn't it refreshing that we have a midfielder rated as the best player in the league and he isn't even the best one at Melbourne.

past laurels for sure.

Hello hibbo

Happy five month anniversary everyone.

I used to get annoyed by these lists. Now I couldn't care less. We are the Premiers Everyone else can eat our dust

Pretty offensive to Oliver.. Oliver is 10 times above the talent of Cripps. Other then that, a good summary.

It has probably been mentioned before but I doubt I have ever seen so many goals kicked by the Dees from so far out. Great kicking I hope that continues. And North virtually gave away Brown what were they thinking? Not a lot it would seem.

Spot on M. The discussion during the season was often how a team needs to stop Salem (amongst others) to succeed. No-one ever did really, and he had 10 posseis in the GF first 1/4. All effective. Yet rated in the 40's. Go figure. Better than Daniel for sure.

Jordan DeGoey at 46 but no Bayley Fritsch... Have a spell Callum Twomey and stick to reporting on the draft.

Jeremy Cameron at 35? Based on what? His stellar season last year????

I wasn't really that surprised at all. If you look at how we've approached practice matches under Burgess, the empahsis is on approaching it as if it were a home and away match and not about excessively rotating players to ease them into things. I forget what the squad numbers are for practice games, but as far as the MFC is concerned, it's almost as if it a squad of 22 players and additional emergencies to avoid risks with niggles and injuries that develop during the game, that you would take during the home and away, but not a practice match for no points. Players not fit enough to run out the 4 quarters, don't play starting 22 or even make the squad. While I think there is a desire from our supporters (myself included) to see others given a go at the top level to see where they're at, that's not the priority of our coaching group who are in the mindset and process of fine tuning the team for Rd 1 already. Absolutely love where we are at in this respects - win Rd 1, get on a roll and set up our season like last year. No more 0W, 3L or 1W, 4L starts to the season that have us scraping just to make finals from Rd 6 onwards.

The question isn't if he should play in our midfield. It is: if he harbours a role in the midfield he will get it elsewhere and he may just take it rather than spend the next 5-7 years on the wing. There aren't many clubs that wouldn't chase him for their midfield. His dees teammates will always be his teammates and he will always be part of our drought breaking premiership team. It just depends on how he sees his career panning out. Still, hope he stays.

We won the penultimate in 1988 and 2000 by winning the Preliminary Final. We didn't win the ULTIMATE until 2021 after 57 years of failure. Love your work, Picket! Don't let a pedant like me restrict your creative output. Incidentally, you'll be thrilled to hear that I bought a new t-shirt this week.

I think Daisy is amazing, but know a couple of people that can't stand her in commentary. When I press them as to why, all it really boils down to is that they don't like hearing a female voice commentating a male sport. It doesn't matter to them what she says or how good she is as they cant get past the voice. 🙄

Smith easily better yesterday. But to be fair, Tommo would have just been trying to get through his first game back without injury. Lets assess this one in a couple of weeks:- My feel is Tommo will easily end up ahead of Smith.

Today I was talking to a guy who is a warden at a men’s prison. He told me that during the GF the inmates were all confined to their cells coz covid. They all have TVs in their cells and can all hear each other since it’s a big echoic hall type of setup. He said pretty much every inmate was going for the Dogs and a grand total of zero for the Dees. Every time the dogs kicked a goal or took a mark etc. they all banged their metal trays and cheered loudly. When Melb did anything good they’d boo loudly. Then he said, “but towards the end of the third quarter it suddenly became eerily quiet” He said the stunned silence was ‘deafening’ and he found it hilarious that all these big tough loudmouths were reduced to miserable crestfallen dumbstruck sadsacks . 😆

Any Melbourne supporter who could go but decides not to because it is too hard will regret it. I'll be there come hell or high water.

I watched Kayo. Pic quality was good. Camera work not fantastic. maybe they were blooding some new camera operators for the coming season? Anyway, was certainly better than nothing! (Now gotta remember to cancel my 14 day free trial of Kayo...!)

I do like the idea of him as a high half fwd similarly to how the dogs use Bailey Smith

it just shows more demon fans have class and bypass the twitter cesspit

Super impressive performance by the Dees, even though we were just blowing the cobwebs off. ANB, Brown, Spargo, Hibberd and TMac were particularly good. Oliver is becoming a combination of Judd and Cripps. Petracca was tardy at times but there was no medals to be won yesterday. Gawn was exceptional up forward. Our game style seems to have followed on from the finals last year and we are continuing to move the ball with a bit more aggression inside 50. We have so much depth in every position. Weideman looked great in his cameo. We know what Hunt can do. Smith and Tomlinson are good AFL footballers. Chandler is exciting. Injuries aside, we are in for another great year.

No Bailey Fritsch? What a joke? Seriously give yourself the Sack Twomey These people write stuff about AFL, they don’t watch it closely

Gentlemen please resume your seats at the Bar Table and we will adjourn for lunch.

Based on running into Lachie Henderson and gifting top spot to the Dees.

I think Daisy does her job. The reason it stands out says more about the calibre of her peers than it does about her. I’m very hopeful that the next few years will see a real shift in the way the game is communicated.

The negative commentary about Daisy and her voice come mainly from men. Feedback from the majority of women would be different. So we are talking about sexism plain and simple. We need to remember that unlike many other male dominated sports, AFL has a large female fan base. Others might know but I would guess that women would make up 50 per cent or more of followers. And that has been the case since the game was invented and it makes AFL unique and special. I love the passion that women fans bring to the game. Sit me next to a bunch of women every time rather than men. I suspect that many males who dislike female commentary also have a negative view of AFLW and women’s cricket. Daisy is intelligent, passionate and knowledgeable. She has no ego and does not need to indulge in stories about herself. Give me Daisy’s voice any day over BT, JB and the rest of the boys club.

44,526

I’m a big Smith fan and not always big on Tomlinson but I don’t see them in a head to head battle. We’ve seen Lever at his best with a 2nd genuine tall and wth Petty out that’s Tomlinson. But it’s not all bad news for Smith. One thing Tommo provides over Petty is more uncontested ball and rebounding skills. Which then changes the balance of the backline and raises the chances of Smith over Hibberd, Riv or Bowey. Similarly with Smith in the side May can take a less defensive role and provide more kicking and run.

Based on the first 7 rounds last year one could argue that Tomlinson would be a premiership player if not for his ACL. I think Smith and Tomlinson are both in the category of key defenders. I suspect the FD will be looking to pick whoever is best overall. I wonder whether Smith's intercepting role yesterday was increased due to Lever's absence? Would he have the same licence if Lever was in the side?

Now that's how a top side treats a bottom side. Stroll in the park for the reigning premiers.

Great timing for me to be stuck at home with Covid this week. Too sick to be at work, well enough to watch the game and enjoy the spectacle. Great to see Brown dominate in the air, Hibbo was great in defence and Smith was very good. Might be just a practice match but I’m still getting used to watching us play with a smile on my face, knowing just how good we are.

On very limited time Sam Weidemann’s cameo performance showed some promise ‘again’. Fingers crossed the stars align and the young fella finally gets a decent run at it this season. Ditto SOS.

I liked the number of long distance goals we slotted today. Gawn looks very confident with his set shots since his 4 goal demolition of the cats. There was a moment in the third when we were only a goal up with 3:40 left on the clock and were pushing hard, it was a 2-on-3 in the middle of the ground and Kozzy layed a shepherd for Brown who won the ball easily (thanks to kozzy), on to ANB, to Sparrow, to the goal square where Gawn & TMac spoil each other. Kozzy's game was filled with little moments like these. He played a great pressure game, making space for his team mates and putting the doggies under pressure all day and night.

During my nightly lullaby rewatching the GF 3rd Qtr last night, I noticed that Kossie tackles the Dogs player, imeediatley before it spilled to Bowey before he chips over the top to Brayshaw who kicks the goal that puts us in front and after which we never looked back and never looked like losing the game. There's also the fact he should have been paid a free 20m out straight in front in the 3rd for having his head ripped off. As you said it so eloquently, playing the team game, not the highlights reel. Kossie was huge in the GF. Did exactly the sort of stuff that won us the premiership, as did guys like Gus and Viney who busted their guts out, took the hits and kept on comming back for more and more when the chips weren't going our way.

Just wondering if Langdon has come off the ground and gone home yet? The more you watch him the more you marvel, it was hard to see the other side of the ground at times with the drunk camera work today, but boy he puts the Energizer Bunny to shame.