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It takes a lot for Ernie to be moved, to become emotional. Well it happened last night. i took a country train to Spencer Street. A few stragglers but no one like I on a mission, a pilgrimage. No scarfs, no jumpers, no colours. To the point that I was thinking of hiding my antique scarf in my dilly bag. This changed upon arrival at Spencer Street. The ghosts of the past were emerging from every road, intersection, from every direction. Risen from the dead in colours of red and blue. Old men, middle aged men and women, families with kids. Yes, kids. All decked out in jumpers, T shirts, and garments stating that the MFC were premiers. No embarrassment, no modesty, but out and proud. There was a feeling of invincibility , of a new dawn, a pride, a feeling that it all mattered. We were all marching together, with comments like “nice T shirt” and the ever present” go Dees”. Were there any Dogs fans? They were hard to see as they crept along in a way that suggested loyalty rather than celebration or revenge. Like going to a funeral. Still the awakening that yes we were Premiers. God, we felt proud. But the kid made me cry. Expectant and joyous in their gear, their flags, their face paint. Sharing with Mum and Dad their happiness and excitement. That for thousands of people this mattered. Not quite life and death but close to it. Arrived at the ground. Initially disappointment on the turnout. Was this going to be a huge flop. No one present for the unfurling of the flag. Then the multitude arrived, the stands filled and expectation built. This was a religious experience. Well at least spiritual. It did matter. Fans of all ages, gender, race and type were connected and joined together in a mass homage to this club, it’s past and present players, coaches and the special place it held in our hearts. And we were all connected. Did we expect to see a flag in our lifetime? In most cases, no. We sat and watched a confident young group of men that had created their own history. A group that had arrived. Started like a dream. A period of indecision and Dog fightback. Did we think we were gone ? Did we have the heart sink of past decades ? I don’t think so. We felt that they would come back and when they did, we expected it. That’s our boys. Our Demons. Our joy. Thank you to this Club for restoring our faith. To make the past pain evaporate. To feel that it had all been worth it. Whether the success is long lived or not, we have been to the holy grail and feel saturated with the joy of its attainment. And for the future.

This just epitomises the high esteem with which Max is held within the club

Minor procedure and has escaped significant damage. Great news.

Is this anger towards Bont serious? Bont made a fair and legal tackle. Wasn’t a free kick and no intent to hurt. It’s a contact sport and these things happen. He is a pretty fair player. Can't say I understand the thinking that he deserves some sort of square up for a tough, fair tackle.

I’m assuming, and pretty confidently that they’re talking about the ‘articular cartilage’ rather than his meniscus, which is commonly termed ‘the cartilage’. Confusing, I know. The articular cartilage is the super-smooth surfacing we all have on the end of our bones to act as a joint surface. This can be subject to cracks, fissures, softening, chips, and ultimately, degradation over time that ends in bone exposure and likely joint replacement to resurface those bones (with titanium and nylon). It sounds like Christian Salem has had a bit of that artic. cartilage ‘chipped off’. What they’ll invariably do is surgically (keyhole) smooth the edges, and either ‘puncture’ the bone beneath to create a scar tissue ‘surfacing plug’, or lay down a matrix of organic material in the defect to have it function as original surface. Both take time to become weight-bearing and solid to increased stressors. I’d be surprised if he’s back within 8-10 weeks. (All the above based on the opening assumption).

I think Tom’s comments about his colleague are terrible, but for a private conversation to be distributed without his consent which will now ruin his career is a very harsh lesson. 95% of people on this forum would have said a disparaging comment about their colleagues at some point in their lifetime but the difference is no one was secretly recording them and sending it to their bosses. Even the second video he’s clearly drunk and hasn’t given permission to be recorded. As I said, Tom’s comments in both vids are disgraceful, but I just think it’s sad for society that people are essentially getting fired for saying something in private and then getting it recorded, leaked and their workplaces made aware. This is very different to trolls online who acknowledge that their tweets/posts are published to the internet or even celebrities who made disgraceful remarks on Twitter 10 years ago which are dragged up. Just makes me worried/sad for a person’s right to privacy and one of the bigger villains in all of this is who distributed this content.

You think those comments about a co-worker are all fine ('hottest girl at Fox by a long way')? You don't think saying 'unfortunately she has her liquor license and is very very good at it' is derogatory? Turn it up mate. Not ok. Less clear? Context? Not overly racist? Are you serious? 'I'm not Asian, I'm not black, I'm not a woman and I'm not gay, so don't treat me like sh*t. I'm a man...' Not sure what needs to be clarified there.

www.melburnfc.com.au/ricky-nixon

The Human race has evolved so far, but there must be higher intelligence out there somewhere. This cannot be it….

Totally agree. There was nothing in it. A tackle that went wrong and hurt an already NQR knee from the looks of things. There are a lot of players at the Dogs I cannot stand, but the Bont is a star and a humble one at that. Never seen him do anything untoward on field or off.

Not a single person has seemed to realise that Kozzie put a lot of time into being a defensive forward on Caleb Daniel. When the Dogs beat us in round 19 last year, Daniel had 34 possessions, 128 AFL Fantasy Point and kicked one goal. Even in the Grand Final when the Dogs barely touched the ball for 45 minutes, he ended that game having 37 touches and 126 Fantasy Points. On Wednesday night he was kept to 26, and they weren't overly effective - only 89 fantasy points. Anyone that didn't see what Koz was doing and the role his was playing needs to watch the game again.

Incorrect. Melbourne are the winners. We won a great game under serious duress and nobody is even mentioning us. Beautifully coasting under the radar.

Firstly the first thing I'll say is that the bulldogs will be the benchmark of the VFL with great players like Wallis, West, Ugle-Hagen and co and Casey will be a lot better when they get our quality VFL players out on the park like Zaharkis and co. Team B: D.Smith, Ellison, McVee HB: Baker, 51, Freeman C: Howes, Dunstan, Woewodin HF: Melksham, van Rooyen, Rosman F: Moniz-Wakefield, Weideman, M.Brown FOLL: Bell, White, Laurie IC: Munro, Goonan, Quigley, Grey, 54, 69 (sudanese player) Goals: 4 M.Brown, 1 Dunstan, Howes, van Rooyen, Weideman D.Smith - Unassuming player, took a speccy but was otherwise quiet. McVee - Only touched the ball a couple of time, plenty to work with Baker - Started off well but died out of the game. Howes - showed some good signs particually early. Dunstan - Went ok but I expected more from him. Woewodin - Played well particually early gave a great chase down tackle. Melksham - Disappointing never got going and missed a goal he would normally kick. van Rooyen - Showed some signs considering he had limited opportunites. Took a great contested mark and done a great chase down tackle to go with his goal. Rosman - Is a worry doesn't seem to get a lot of the ball, needs to improve dramatically to keep his spot on the list. Moniz-Wakefield - Quiet and missed a sitter. Weideman - Played a fair bit in the ruck. Went OK without being special. M.Brown - Just knows where the goals are a perfect replacement for Fritsch if he gets injured. Laurie - Went ok plenty to work with not out of his depth.

Two things. If it was a meniscus injury, I’m confident that would have used the term. The other being that you don’t ‘chip’ a meniscus.

Oscar did well. Good on him .... seems like a nice guy. I hope he has a good season*. *excluding the match/es against MFC.

I don’t understand what’s confusing people about this situation. It’s pretty clear. A media organisation has to be seen as holding up certain moral standards or norms in line with societal expectations to both: 1. Commercial maximisation. All companies want to maximise the size of their audience/customer base to make more money from advertises in this case. Societal norms have progressed to the point where Morris’ comments are WELL against the norms and standards the majority of people now expect. If you go against these standards then (rightly in my opinion) you will lose advertises. Simple choice. Get rid of him. He’s now irreparably toxic from a commercial standpoint. 2. To not allow for their to be a culture of discrimination or the creation of a hostile work environment hence leading to lawsuits. Now, given Morris’ statements. It actually doesn’t matter if they were private or not from a workplace or media perspective. You can argue that most people have made comments like this in private… but… Most people aren’t public figures that represent a media organisation that explicitly operate on optics and advertising for money. Optics and him as a person are a part of his job. Don’t like it, don’t become a public figure. The fact is, they’re not private now. He’s a public figure and he represents a media company. So for Fox to keep him on would be opening themselves up to A LOT of legal and commercial consequences. If you aren’t prepared for the professional consequences of your words as a public figure, then, DON’T SAY SEXIST OR RACIST THINGS. Again, optics are a massive part of being a public figure in the media. Especially your words. You as a person are the job when you’re a public figure. Also, think about being his co-worker whom he’s now publicly sexualised and made her sexual orientation known to everyone which is HER BUSINESS ALONE. The mental health repercussions of outing peoples sexuality can be immense. Tom Morris is not the victim here. To re-iterate. If you’re a public figure working for a media company that works almost solely on optics, if you don’t like the consequences of your words affecting you professionally, just don’t say them. Otherwise, expect to be sacked. It’s simple.

Assuming this is true, which it isn't, it doesn't mean we should all just say "well everyone does it so spare Tom Morris". Changing ingrained cultural sexism, racism and homophobia means changing these sorts of behaviours.

yes agreed. chipped cartilage not strained?? what’s the likely scenario? a./ career ending possible amputation. b./ season ending c./ 12 weeks plus. Back in for finals d./ 4-6 ( which safely covers all of the above) e./ @Webber

Turner would be my guess. He played a few minutes with the 1sts in the practice matches. Deakyn Smith could come in if we wanted to go shorter and if we get really desperate we have Majak and Mitch Brown who have played in Defence in the past for their previous clubs and were pretty good at it.

I find it really interesting the lack of outrage on here by many of the male posters about the attitudes exhibited by Morris in those recordings. By any standards they are appalling, but it seems that many make posters on here think that Tom was dobbed in not for having such appalling views but because he had a few “disloyal” mates. Clearly medieval attitudes exist on Demonland and male chauvinism reigns in some quarters. No wonder our female friends despair at such male behaviours. Morris deserves to be rubbed out for life from working in the media ever again. There is no room for these sorts of attitudes in today’s modern Australia.

Goodwin won't change his selection policy from last year. If we're winning he's unlikely to drop anyone.

You are probably right. Who amongst us hasn't said something not so nice towards a co worker in private. The issue for me isn't that he said she's hot or whatever, and he does go on to say what a lovely and fun person she is, it's the derogatory nature of his comments relating to her sexuality which are just revolting, even if they were said in private. If he said she's beautiful, lovely, fun to hang around, but unfortunately for you guys she's gay, I would be like "meh", but he carries on like a horny 12 year old and it's absolutely revolting. Also to the person who leaked this audio, nice of you to think about this poor woman who's sexuality has been splashed all over the media. Good job.

Seconding R(B)G above ... Contrast with the MFC's handling of the Goodwin/bully/doctor thing. With dignity and behind the scenes. Didn't lash out in anger and risk blowing up out of control the way this Dogs thing has. The on-going effect to the WB is yet to be seen. It shows the value of respectful media relations even in situations where the respect is not deserved. There are no winners in this. Just a chain of people behaving badly.

We are still kings for marks inside 50. Last night 17-6 to add to the 48-14 from last seasons finals campaign. That’s an incredible 65-20 in four games. Forwards are spreading well and midfield working hard to get forward. Ben Brown has also made a huge difference. Greg Stafford has done a great job since becoming forward line coach.

That "deliberate" OOB shows (like in round 23 2021) that umpires have zero understanding of the game. Why would they, and it bounced in an off break 4 or 5 times.

Brisbane are the best team I’ve ever seen in my life. They were unbelievable. Every single line was full of absolute stars

He might be a piece of trash, but Bevo’s behavior was also inappropriate. The two are not related.

Well, they saw he's blind and thought he was one of them.

Guys I’m going out on a limb here to say that neither St Kilda nor Collingwood win the flag this year.

Looks like we got our round 1 fireworks after all.

Tom Morris: Fox Footy back me 100% Nek minnit.

Let's play bingo: Points awarded for the following comments and phrases: Cancel culture Cancel culture gone mad Wokeness Morris is the real victim here What about..... What if..... Political correctness Left wing nut job MSM Court of public opinion In my day.... I've said a million times worse.... I don't see the problem That's not racist... It's all part of a feminist agenda.... Have you ever heard chick's talk about blokes.... Glass houses The mob Mob mentality Hand wringing Pearl clutches No justice Not a hanging offence Blokes being blokes Sanctimonious Next they'll ban all jokes Better not to speak at all Bent over

Calling @Webber, come in @Webber...

not that there is anything wrong with that ...

Thanks Bont! We shall not forget.

Hope he’s back soon, so very important to us

FWIW - Turner was in a moon boot at Whitten oval last night. Very proppy on an ankle, struggled up and down the stairs. Melsham’s game was no ringing endorsement of an imminent recall - fumbled, caught with the ball and not often sighted. JVR showed promise, as did Howes and Laurie. Our best defender was a Casey player in jumper 79, played FB. Solid unit, mobile, seemed to be the General down back (Casey player list still not confirmed on MFC website so apologies that I can’t give the aforementioned a name). Mitch White was solid until he went off with a bad corkie

It is time for this "digital" assassination phase to end. Private recordings of unsuspecting and off the record comments, no matter how unpleasant, should remain private. So long as the victim performs their public duty responsibly and professionally what their private thoughts are is irrelevant. If leaked, then the leaker should be found and hounded. The victim should be counseled to be more careful and to not trust anyone but that is all. We are all entitled to our private thoughts and expressions otherwise the world becomes a madhouse with malicious leakers seeking to destroy reputations and careers without any accountability.

Loved Joel Smith's game

I reiterate - 20 disposals at 70% and 73 points. Others did less

With the Melbourne injury list probably at it longest in a couple of years, it certainly wasn’t the strongest Casey team out there in the park. Kade Chandler, Majak Daw, Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Harrison Petty, Trent Rivers and Daniel Turner are all missing through injury/unavailability by my calculations. Also none of the new top up players although it’s not clear as to whether they’re eligible yet.

Watching Ben Brown take those marks at the highest point 🥰. A bit more accuracy and he could’ve had an absolute bag. I think we could be seeing the start of him having a ripper season, he’s looking fit and confident.

Probably under selling the depth of the bulldogs they have as good as depth as anyone. Mitch.Brown is close to selection, his 4 goals can't be ignored. We missed the strength of Daw in the ruck. They dominated the midfield and games are won in the midfield and our midfield is young except for Dunstan and White who really isn't a midfielder. Give them time Howes, Laurie, Woewodin look promising. The bulldogs were top of the table last year I don't see that changing. If we played a lesser side we could have very well won.

When I saw the thread title I thought you were coming out of the closet Hemingway 🤣 fantastic post by the way

Ok. Thanks for clarifying. My opinion is that his job is to apt pressure - real and perceived. Create contests. Disrupt. Trap the ball in the front half. Gut run up and down the ground. He does all of those things week in week out. It might sound funny, given back in the day we measured performance on kicks and goals, but any possessions and goals kozzie are icing on the cake. So personally I'd pick him. And on the question what goody will do, it is inconceivable kozzie will be dropped for Bedford this week. Kozzie will play every game this year barring injury. Critical to our chances of going back to back.

All that's missing now is a leaked photo of TM in blackface kicking a cat.

You absolutely play Pickett unless he is not fit to play. Just as we get excited whenever he gets near the ball conversely the opposition gets extremely worried. His pressure alone is valuable!!

I thought he was probably our least impactful player. To me he fumbled every time he was in a position to take possession and didn't really demonstrate strong foot or hand skills. He does, though, have a good tank and leg speed, and he worked hard up and down the ground, which we know Goodwin will demand of a player in his role. Having said all that, in his post-match interview with the club he reminded us all that the second-tier players have had a really torrid time over the last two COVID years. Toby played twice in 2020 but didn't get a senior game in 2021. With the disruption to the VFL in that time, he said he'd only had 9 competitive games in those two years. It's so hard for him, and others like him, to establish themselves. I have no problem with him being given more time whilst we have injured best 22 players out, and I'll always have time for hard working players who need to bolster their skills (rather than the other way around), but IMO the jury remains out right now.

Why would you take Smith out? I’m a doubter but he was good tonight. If the 3 you mention are fit I’d leave Tomlinson as the sub