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Also loved him "spoiling" Z. Jones to even the ledger after his tunnelling of Langdon. You'd [censored] yourself with May in your area. Imagine standing under a high ball with him coming at you 😆

Gives them a false sense of their ability. Finals will be different.

Do people really think it through when they bellow ATTENTION SEEKER at people who blow the whistle on big organisations like this? I doubt Lumumba is motivated by having his name publicly dragged through the mud all over again and getting thousands of twitter @s and death threats from unhinged Collingwood supporters. I don’t know the full story but I’m sure it’s more complex than this daft and illogical explanation.

There is a mid-season bye for players to have a rest. The club isn't about managing players. They are either fit to play or not.

Nice to be going “home” again

From about 30 mins in.

Here are the number of matches each team plays against each other based on last year's final ladder position. Geelong, Adelaide and Gold Coast are the three teams to play both West Coast and North Melbourne twice this year but I don't think the AFL can really base the fixture on how they think certain teams will perform.

Playing poor teams to make finals is a false economy. You want to be battle hardened through tough fixtures. Beating up on the Eagles and North won't improve the Cats chances of winning a flag one iota

Of all of the top 4 contenders Geelong concern me least - if they make it - not phased I'm more concerned about the prospect of either Freo or Brisbane away come finals I know we seem to play well away now but at the pointy end I'd like the Dees playing big finals at the MCG in front of all their fans For this reason its important for us to just keep racking up the wins and be top at the end of the season

I went to training at Gosch's for what would have been Lever's 2nd session with the club and was amazed with how he was interacting with, guiding, encouraging and urging his teammates. He had leadership written all over him ! With May by his side, you would expect nothing less than what we've seen develop over the last 3 years in our backline. The standards with them there are sky high and when they leave, there is every expectation that the younger defenders' play will reflect their experience of playing alongside these two stars.

If I was a West coast fan, I wouldn't be fearing a 150 point loss, that's not the Melbourne way. What I might be fearing is sitting there at 3/4 time without a goal on the board. Guarantee that'll be the only number Melbourne cares about.

I kinda love it - it gets Geelong thinking they're a chance again - but there's no way they will be able to knock off two of Dees, Freo and Bris in finals. It means they get worse picks which means a longer rebuild when the cliff finally arrives.

I'm tempted to start a company called "Bang ... Bang, Bang, Bang" and get the naming rights to Optus Stadium.

SCANS have confirmed that Melbourne captain Max Gawn has avoided any structural damage to his knee. The skipper suffered a knock to his knee during Sunday’s match against St Kilda but was cleared on Tuesday and has been given the go-ahead to train this week. In other positive news for the Dees, defender Christian Salem, who has been sidelined since Round 1, will return to training this week and will look to be available for selection in the next fortnight. Joel Smith and Blake Howes have both successfully undergone surgery, while Michael Hibberd is continuing to progress in his rehabilitation of a calf injury. Unfortunately, Andy Moniz-Wakefield sustained a concussion during the VFL on Sunday and will enter the appropriate protocol period. Hear more from Dr Laura Lallenec below, as she provides a full injury update.

Yeah he is definitely handsome, and at 29 it's not even creepy for me to comment on because he's not that much younger than me 😁

We’ve supposedly been given an easy fixture up to this point, it’s something I noticed some interstate fans complain about, but I bet you most if given our fixture preseason would’ve said it’s a tricky draw. It’s hard to know these things in advance and it’s one of the biggest issues with the AFL fixturing process. It’s never even, and in some years it’s downright cheating by the AFL. Best example is certain *cough* “big teams” never travel down the highway to KP. It’s BS, either every home game is there, or each team gets sent there on a rotational basis.

I was in Perth fir the GF and there was a very wide representation of Dees in the crowd with scarves etc. Bearing in mind that the Club made some excellent Adopt a Dee offer and all the Army had their gear handled by the Freo army behind the goals I believe. But I sat in an area of all Dees fans on the non members wing at ground level and most seemed rusted on or as locals going or got seats via our members for the game and had up to date scarves etc. I estimate at the GF at Optus that about 17/18,000 were in Dees colours and about 10/12,000 in Dogs.gear but the roar was definitely for us all day. ( except in the first half of that memorable third quarter) Hope some real Dees fans are there on Sunday. PS I live in Brisbane and had to spend 14 days in SA to gain entry over the border which I did on the Friday night beforehand. My fabulous cousins gave me a roderful time on SA centred in Adelaide most of the time. Was the most wonderful 3 weeks substitute for any overseas trip that I might have gone on that Covid of course. Prevented.

Its a similar argument to those that say the Dees 'haven't played anyone yet' You have to base games on last years ladder position as best you can then fit in the showdowns, derbys, marquee matches etc. Basing an argument on this years ladder position is plain silly as no one could predict it. Port Giants Ess and Bulldogs have all underperformed dramatically and very few would have predicted all four of those events. and I don't even bother with the fixture now. We can beat anyone anywhere.

Any top 4 team playing North twice this year is ludicrous.

Always refreshing to hear him speak as he's so honest and open in a time when players and coaches are trined to straight bat every question. He's a ripper and is having another brilliant season. Thank god we had him down there as a rock in defence with all the other injuries early on.

How honest and open is Steven May very comfortable in his own skin. Our General down back.!!!

A simple answer is the relationship of the person to the experience and the trauma that has occurred. I think as a society, we need to move beyond having a time frame on 'dealing' with things. Recently, it took me 35 years to start to acknowledge my own trauma, that I am currently processing. And I'm a pretty well adjusted person that functions mostly well in society.

The sore knee coupled with the risk of lightning strike suggests Max should have a rest. I left school at 14, but I'm guessing Max is the biggest conductor on the field at 210cms?

Exactly and we haven't been resting players since Burgess came on board. The philosophy seems to be around getting players match hardened and fit rather than resting them with niggles.

We're in a ridiculous position at 8 - 0. We're living in ridiculous times where West Coast have been decimated by injury and covid and North are a complete shambles. It'd be ridiculous if we didn't manage some players who would BENEFIT from the rest over the next two weeks given the longevity of the season and to reduce any risk of serious injury to players who are not at 100%. I would like to see Lever and Gawn rested this week and maybe Petracca the week afterwards.

The scans are in. SCANS have confirmed that Melbourne captain Max Gawn has avoided any structural damage to his knee. The skipper suffered a knock to his knee during Sunday’s match against St Kilda but was cleared on Tuesday and has been given the go-ahead to train this week.

Yes… we don’t need a massive win to increase our percentage; just restrict them to as low a score as possible, and a 50-60 point margin is suddenly a big percentage boost.

I can't think of a better or more impressive trade into our club that Steven May in the past 50 years. He is an absolute rock. When we changed our recruiting after Prendergast and started looking for fierce competitors we started getting guys like Viney, Lever, Tracc, Oliver, Langdon and May Outstanding individuals.

Weid was 2nd ruck against the Hawks when Dogga was out. Weid played as 2nd ruck either last preseason or this preseason (can't remember). He is the backup for the fwd/ruck role so you'd say Jackson to 1st ruck and Weid in as fwd/2nd ruck

He was captain of Gold Coast, so yes he was already a leader when we recruited him. He's definitely improved since coming to MFC and maturing further though.

Cannot agree, Daw is a much better ruck option than Weideman will ever be. His work at Casey has been outstanding!

Hopefully the thousands of “neutrals” in Perth who embraced us last September will turn out again, and outnumber the Eagles fans.

Hard to hate the perf sides now, after the way they embraced us for the Grand Final. Actually, I lied. [censored] the eagles. Lets keep the bastards goalless all day.

Brilliant interview with May. As per usual. Really liking that the key motivation for this year if for the boys to win a flag at the G in front of their family/friends/MFC faithful. Langdon also mentioned it in this article today: https://www.afl.com.au/news/758220/staying-grounded-dees-secret-weapon-on-coffee-side-hustle-all-aus-chances I kind of feel as though it gets missed a bit around her on how unfortunate it was for the Victorian based faithful who went in week week out for 20, 30 or 40 years to then miss out on the biggest day of their MFC supporting lives.

I get that and I am all for it as it should be. However I still think it is unfair and nonsensical to give two games against last year's wooden Spooner to any team finishing top 4, I would go as far as to say that none of the top 8 should get that "benefit".

I really like the framing of playing a back 3 and a back 4 in front of them. So any of the back three can hand over to each other and any of the front 4 can hand over to each other. I've noticed Bowey playing the back of stoppages like Salem does, but Jake is doing such a good job, I wonder if it'll be a case of having both of them roll through that quarterback role at tue back of stoppage when Salem returns. It makes us so much harder to plan against having another elite ball user that can sit at the back off the stoppage.

Yep you can already see it rubbing off on Petty during games, directing traffic around him. Invaluable to have that kind of onfield leadership.

Maysie is always articulate, open and honest in his interviews. Much the same way as he plays his football in some ways. You always know what you will get.

We are definitely blessed with many leaders down and up the field. Gawny, Trac, May, Lever, Viney, Angus. Each with their unique style of leadership.

May was very eloquent and straightforward in all his responses. Great to see the strong connection and love for the club from our players.

I love how 3 minutes from the end of the Grand Final, with a 60 point lead, he's still admonishing Petracca for not taking the right position.

Norf have no one to blame but themselves. The last 3 to 4 years saw the list was absolutely obliterated I mean how could they possibly have thougjt BBB was surplus to needs? Nup, whoever was overseeing list management should be held to account. Basket case club.

Sorry but that’s absolute nonsense.

It's probably more important to keep the opposition to low scores these next two weeks to help keep our % up whilst also using the time to fine tune our forward 50 entry connection in advance of the Freo game.

This reminds me of when I feared teams back in 2013. Now they are our b itches..

That's one part of the equation i reckon. The other is that going into control mode from say half way through the 3rd when havw a 3-4 goal buffer actually increases our chance of winning. The only way realistic way an opposition team can peg back a 3 plus goal deficit latish in a game is for there to be speed on the game. If we get aggressive and look to bury opponents then we are giving them what they need - a fast flowing game. And if we try to pile on the goals we inevitably will take risks. Risk create turnover opportunities and therefore opposition goals. If an opponent gets a couple of quick goals they can get some momentum. And maybe get back into the game and sneak a win Playing slow to protect a winning margin is a key strategy in the NBA and in assuming the EPL and other eite soccer leagues. The reward of going for a big win is percentage - which is not much reward for a team that us likely to win 18 plus games. The risk is losing a game we would otherwise win.

If I were a dockers fan, there's no way I'd miss this - a chance to see the benchmark in the flesh and a chance to see my most hated arch-rivals get torn limb from limb.

I would leave him at half back at least initially to see how it works with Salo. JJ is holding his own on the wing and Rivers whilst not coasting would be the one in danger if this is the case,

Would love to keep them scoreless/goalless like they did us in our 2018 prelim till 3qt Tis the season of revenge

I have no tolerance for racists, bigots, sexists etc. Everyone is entitled to be treated equally and fairly. I also don’t condone how the Pies have handled this and working in the corporate world would expect some spin and dishonesty in the whole process, but at least there has been acknowledgement and progress on the issue. Even Eddie was forced to resign, which is a considerable outcome as many would think he was untouchable. I hear lots of apologies have been offered, discussions have been had between those involved so not sure why reconciliation cannot be achieved. ultimately Lumumba needs to come forward and outline what he expects publically because soon the tables will turn on him as the footy community are compassionate and understanding but are losing patience (rightly or wrongly). I think he would benefit greatly with some support and guidance behind the scenes on how he manages the whole affair as those with PR experience will take advantage of his inexperience and perceived irrational behaviour and we will miss a huge opportunity to learn as a society.