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Games played since conceding a 100 points. Adelaide-0 Hawthorn-0 Richmond-1 Collingwood-1 North-1 GWS-2 Port-2 Geelong-2 Western Bulldogs-2 Essendon-3 West Coast-3 St Kilda-3 Gold Coast-4 Fremantle-4 Carlton-5 Sydney-7 Brisbane-10 Melbourne-54

It is still less than a year since Tommo did his A. Wasn't expected to be in the side in the early part of the year but Pettys injury forced the selectors hand .Tommo was underdone and in the circumstances did a wonderful job .Without him we had a huge problem especially with Lever out .He now has a chance to go back to Casey and get more match conditioning without the pressure .

I'm putting this here because its good Friday but if this melbourne fan comes on here then thankyou for telling us the true meaning of today.

Mason Cox is 31 and looks cooked as an AFL footballer. As long as Collingwood play him in their team, especially with all the tall timber they had running around under lights last night, they will struggle to win games. They should trade him to Geelong at the end of the season.

Jackson currently at 2.8% hitouts to advantage from a 38.5% hit out win rate. Both rate below average. Gawn 50% hitout win (elite) and 7.5% hit out to advantage (below average). NicNat 53% hitout win (elite) 8.7% to advantage (below average). Tim English 35.5% hitout win rate 5.8% to advantage (both below average). Brodie Grundy 45% hit out win rate (elite) 9.4% to advantage (elite). The margin between elite and below average is obviously minimal (Grundy at 9.4 (elite) v NicNat 8.7 (below ave)) But anyway, Dogga does not have more hits to advantage. That is a complete furphy. Gawn is a far superior tap ruck to Jackson. However Jackson provides a great point of difference with his follow up work. Stats courtesy of AFL app. Petracca only averages 1.8 centre clearances and 3 stoppage clearances. Oliver 3.3 centre clearances (elite) and 5 stoppage clearances. Viney 1.3 centre clearance and 3.3 stoppage clearances. Gawn 1.5 centre clearance and 3.8 stoppage clearance. Our ruckman is our second best clearance player. By comparison Jackson goes at 1.3 centre clearance and 1.8 stoppage.

This Good Friday ‘blockbuster’ is taking the theme of penance too literally. I don’t know what we all did wrong, but it was obviously really, really bad.

Horne - Francis looks very good. I know people will slag them off, but North is tracking in the right direction imo

Jackson’s strength is not his ability to hit out to advantage, it’s his ability to follow up and win his own ball or get the ball out of a stoppage to our advantage. He’s a very tall midfielder.

I think Tomlinson is stiff - being dropped as a key defender after a game where we conceded 36 (36!) points interstate, many of which were in junk time, is pretty rough.

Magpies have lost 3 games in a row now did Daics have any more kids??

A pies loss. Good way to start Easter. Poor Howe, nah not really

North showing up one of the Dogs weaknesses - defensive running. As soon as the Roos get gut run running forward from contested ball, 2-3- Dogs players plod on behind with little real effort. The dogs talent is way over and above the Roos, but the effort of the young Roos boys is great to watch. It is going to take some time but I love what Noble is doing - taking the hard hits and losses but basing a team on defensive contested play.

It would be hilarious to see North come back from here and win this.

Cody Weightman has such sublime skill. His ability to draw the free kick is elite….

They've conjured up a game that's less interesting than the Good Friday appeal.

5-stars again this week. Gus and Gawny are media ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Love the 20%discount offer from Choco on Sherrin Precision footballs.

Not being a biblical scholar in any way, but I strongly suspect that there are fewer grey areas than in the Australian Rules official rule book.

“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" or meddlesome priest. A quote attributed to King Henry the 8th when he was wanting to get rid of Archbishop Thomas a Becket before he had him assasinated. I guess umpires are like priests and their reputations have also fallen.

We're getting ever closer now to being the first ever side to re-field a flag-winning team in a subsequent game. Down to just Salem, Brown and Hibberd, with their replacements being Hunt, Weideman and whoever this week's sub is (let's say Bedford). Salem's a clear walk-up best 22. Brown IMO deserves to come straight back for the lesser of Weid/TMac. Which leaves Hibberd fighting with Hunt (and Smith...and Tomlinson) for that last spot. I don't know if we'll ever get the premiership 23 back on the park, and it may well be the case that Hibberd never gets himself back into best 23 contention, but damn I'd love it to happen just for the record and memory.

He's not old enough.

Smith was in the team prior to the QF rpfc, he replaced Hunt for our R22 match after Hunt got injured in R21 and kept his spot until he was injured between QF and prelim weeks. I think some are forgetting that Hibbo was the one struggling for form late in the year having being dropped twice (R20 for Bowey and again R23 for May).

I loved seeing Bernie Vince in a supporters jumper in the rooms after the GF.

Good to see an article about one of the Casey listed players on the MFC site. Driving the standards – Ellison’s unique journey is only starting He’s starting to look like a very handy late bloomer. Also mentions Matt Buntine as a team leader but we’ve yet to sight him wearing the colours. Presume he’s injured but I haven’t seen any reports on why he’s been out.

21 teams is ridiculous in this expanded VFL. Plus it should technically only be Victorian sides. I am ok with 18 teams in the VFL but mine would be the following: 1) Casey Demons 2) Box Hill Hawks 3) Coburg Lions 4) Collingwood Magpies 5) Essendon Bombers 6) Footscray Bulldogs 7) Frankston Dolphins 8) Geelong Cats 9) North Melbourne Kangaroos 10) Port Melbourne Borough 11) Richmond Tigers 12) Sandringham Zebras 13) Werribee Tigers 14) Williamstown Seagulls 15) Carlton Blues 16) St. Kilda Saints 17) Preston Bullants (prefer them to keep their old name rather the Northern Bullants) 18) North Ballarat Roosters We should also look to develop a 2nd tier VFA competition (with all the old VFA clubs) with different divisions and if a team is good enough in the VFA and win enough Premierships they can eventually be promoted to the VFL. Anyway, it is merely a suggestion. I just want to see strategies put in place to develop and grow grassroots football.

Let's hope that we can all continue to lobby the MCC to have a statue put up of Robbie Flower. If enough of us continue to push tgis suggestion then hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. Here is a great highlights video of all the amazing feats done by champion Melbourne Demons player Robbie Flower. https://youtu.be/GPzSMlrG-o0

Bulldogs… nothing to see here move along

This was 12 seconds into the game, right in front of Roos goal. Play on.

I spent part of Good Friday at Trevor Barker Beach Oval watching the NAB League game between Sandringham Dragons and the GWS Academy. It was a spirited affair with the scores close all day. The home side drew away late with two goals with a Giants goal on the final siren leaving them just 7 points adrift. It’s rather a pity that the NAB League has followed the lead of the VFL, VAFA and other leagues in no longer producing records with player numbers so forgive me in saying that the players who stood out to me happened to be the ones I already knew from the local junior competition. I expected Dragons’ midfielderWill Ashcroft to dominate and, after a slowish start, that’s exactly what he did with a sensational second half. He’s clean with the ball and delivers it beautifully. He’s a likely #1 draft pick and will no doubt make a decision between going to Brisbane (most likely) or the team that finishes last if they can make him a sweet enough offer. It’s unlikely that he’s going to be at Melbourne. I was part of a cheer squad for Harry Sheezel who played up forward and kicked four nice goals and could easily have finished with six. He was far too elusive for the Giants’ defenders and ran them a merry dance. He’s a medium size forward, elusive with great running patterns, is training with the Saints over the next couple of weeks and was definitely catching the eye of the AFL scouts who sat out on their deck chairs with pens and pads in hand. I noticed a few including Kelly O’Donnell. Another slippery character was Charlie Clarke who burst in and out of play causing chaos from time to time. The nature of the NAB League tends to result in players resorting to individual efforts. That comment doesn’t apply to the ones I mentioned above, but I did notice a few selfish pieces of play that will no doubt be picked up by coaches for those who might find themselves lucky enough to be drafted.

Ugle-Hagan is terrible

Interesting comments. It just goes to show that if you are a team like Carlton, Hawthorn, Richmond or Essendon and you achieve regular Premiership success for over 20 or 30 years that you will definitely grow your membership and supporter base massively. I will give you a few examples. Firstly from 1939 until 1964, Melbourne won 10 Premierships in 25 years. Which is a pretty amazing strike rate! I am quite confident we had a very large following during that time. Secondly, from 1968 until 1995, Carlton won 8 Premierships in 27 years. Thirdly, from 1961 until 1991, Hawthorn won 9 Premierships in 30 years. Or more significantly from 1971 until 1991, Hawthorn won 8 Premierships in 20 years. Fourthly, from 1967 until 1980, Richmond won 5 Premierships in 13 years. Lastly from 1984 until 2000, Essendon won 4 Premierships in 16 years. A Premiership drought of 57 years has definitely hindered us. That's stating the obvious. But if we can hopefully build sustained success from 2021 onward for the next 30 years we will definitely have a bright future. The most important thing is making sure we keep good people at our club and continue to recruit good people and good players as well. We are very fortunate with those we currently have at the Melbourne Football Club, but we need to be constantly seeking to improve and get better. I am optimistic we are on the right track.

I got the exacta in the first so I'm up and running, Gorg Was only going to have a bet in the $500k event but the fields aren't too shabby and I'm having a day on the couch so why not! Savatoxl has been included by Steve so there's some value in the exotics if successful (including the exacta)

Not sure if I will have a bet today but if I was it would be Race 6 number 1 Savatoxl You cannot fault that first up form and the $15 looks like a good offer.

Henry VIII was man ahead of his times but not that far ahead. It was Henry II actually. Then some [censored] went out and stabbed he priest and Henry's troubles were only starting.

This John Snow knew quite a lot about turf.

Because he rarely hits down Clarrys or anyone else's throat! FWIW Dogga, hits more to advantage. Go back and watch some replays and you will see what I mean, which could also mean that The mids, might not be in the correct spots for seamless clearances.

Our team is close to best 22. Salem and Brown to come in. Whoever goes out for them (JJ/Hunt 😿 , TMc/Weideman) would join Tomlinson, Smith and Hibberd as first backup for injuries.

Gil is on his way out of the tent with a little luck the new person ( almost typed man ) will see junior leagues and the vfl as an area that needs a lot of work and improvement.

With seven weeks to go, five clubs - Carlton, Fremantle, Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney - have list spots free that can be filled via the mid-season draft, with all other clubs having full lists. Gold Coast (for Ben King) and St Kilda (Nick Coffield) could place their respective injured players on the inactive list closer to the draft to open up a mid-season pick at their clubs. These numbers are likely to increase over time as more players are inevitably ruled out with long-term injuries and placed on the inactive list.

Living up to your name Franky.

I am still hopeful the MCC will erect a statue in tribute to Robbie Flower. I think it would be a wonderful way to have a significant legacy for one of the greatest Melbourne Demons players ever.

Your roaming correspondent passed by today and noted lots of activity. It seems they have laid down a base of finely crushed rock (the light grey in the pics) and are now non-stop covering it with what looks like a very sandy loam. trucks dumping here there and everywhere and a bobcat smoothing it out. Pegs are laid out showing the final height of the soil. Looks to be about 15 - 20cm. The ground is noticeably wider than before.

Hoping by Round 23 top2 is already sewn up , dont want to rely beating brisbane up there like geelong last year

mmmmmmmm Waffle mmmmmmm

We actually bid on Flynn in the draft (way back in the Oliver/Weid draft in 2015) but GWS matched our bid. We then picked Mitch King.

Congratulations to Jeremy Howe - who after 100 games as a Demon went to Collingwood so he could finally be a forward. That lasted 2 games and he’s played the last 98 in defence - to bring up his 200. Meanwhile all his mates got a flag sticking with the Dees.

Picket for the 10th time Isaac chose the Cats!

Just saw the replay of Jeremy Howe on AFL360 ahead of his 200th and he commented that he is impatient and would love dearly to win a flag before his time is up... it made me feel warm inside.

People forget there weren't many many players (let alone multiple Pemiership players) wanting to come to Melbourne. We were a laughing stock for many years. These guys changed the narrative and I for one will always be grateful for them coming to us.