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Me this morning Me now

In brighter news, hearing info that Dunkley & Hunter are out for the Dogs

I'd be incredibly shocked and bewildered if Joel Smith was his replacement considering he's had zero pre season and zero match fitness. For me it's either Daniel Turner steps up or they move McDonald back and bring in JVR/Schache as replacement.

Don’t forget last year guys for the 1st 4 rounds we were without lever and petty, lever returned round 4 and petty round 5 and we were just fine, if our structures hold up then it goes a long way to winning plus we lost Salem round 1 aswell I bet our back line will look better than what it was last year on paper go check it out

How about being a little bit more positive. May’s injury will give an opportunity to Turner or perhaps Schache. Either choice would be great to see. We complained last year about playing injured players and not blooding players. Well now we have the opportunity to rectify that. I’m sure these guys will not let us down. Can’t wait for Saturday night.

McVee & Laurie to debut

In good news Salem and Fritsch completed the whole session. They both moved and trained very well. Viney off to the side with mainly agility and lap running at a good pace. It was a light craft session. Mids/rucks doing centre bounce stoppage work. Inside 50 delivery was extensively practised with defenders v forwards. There's an emphasis on either hitting up one of multiple leading targets OR taking a longer option with a deeper kick where the forward has got themself in good position behind the defender. There was some 3/4 ground match simulation that wasn't too intense or too long. I didn't notice Woewodin, but I might have missed him. May did not train.

Yes, but this different, this is an important game.

I really feel for these young blokes, imagine being 18, 19, 20 barely able to cook your own toast in the morning, and then being asked to move to the other side of the country and having multiple major organisations offering you enormous sums of money and having to weight that up. it's admittedly a good problem to have, but geez it'd be a bit to work through For the record i reckon Kozzie will stay, my read is he and his manager are expecting Kozzie to improve quite a bit this year and as such his value may also jump, i suspect the delay is about 80% about getting the best possibly contract and 20% making sure Melbourne the city and club are the right fits for him, though i reckon just about any manager in Australia would be trying to get him to stay given we seem likely to be around the mark and possibly winning some more silverware in the next few

Dees fans checking web MD to see if a calf injury can be cured in 3 days

Big fan of some new blood within the team, both lads provide some zip, Lauries skills and decision making are spargo esc, it's definitely clear the club are really keen to make sure the kicking inside 50 isn't an issue this season.

Current forecast is predicting a dry southerly cool change coming through just before game time lowering the temp to mid to low 20s We'll be watching that closely to help make our cheese choices for the game.

Good to hear - a different plan from last year.

Have faith, folks! Trust our captain: Breakout player of 2023: Harrison Petty. I think he’s soon to take over as our number one defender. Don’t show that to (Steven May) ‘Maysy’! www.foxsports.com.

Good luck to the young fellas, what a thrill it must be.

I'd say if May doesn't get up they will go Turner as the replacement. Petty will take May's role and Turner will play in Petty's role. Gawn to play more behind the ball as opposed to forward.

We're all archair experts, chook. No harm in that! At the end of the day, the FD know intimately who's cherry ripe and who's not, and we have to trust that. It's largely worked for us over the last couple of years Hindsight will prove us all right or wrong!

All of the focus is on the four players who will miss for us and the bulldogs talls. What about who is is playing, still a lot of star power out there. Combined with our ethos I’m confident of a comfortable win.

give May as long as he needs to get him 100% right we were 10-0 last year and it did FA. Turner is a player. get him out there

What a fantastic video! Culture and spirit at the club is great

If May is out we’ll play Max behind the ball and Brodie in the ruck. Lot of talk about the tall dogs but 3 of them are JUH, Darcy and Lobb. I’ll back Max over them in the air any day.

At least we've learnt our lesson. Don't burn your playing list in Round 1.

I expect the club to say 'we expect May to be fit for Saturday night', only to make a late withdrawal an hour before the game

Another bad: no reserves game before the main game. Miss not seeing the young guns play before the main event. It created a level of excitement and anticipation of what’s ahead.

From Goodwin's press conf: "Look, Viney, Fritsch and Salem all won't play. Viney is probably, he's close, you know, he's a big chance to play next week and Fritta is very close as well. He'll play next week as well. So and potentially Salem as well," Goodwin said. It sounds like they have recovered from their injuries but just underdone. "So those three guys just a little bit short in terms of their preparation. But we feel like with another couple of weeks of load into their bodies, they're going to be right for the season, for the whole season" I'm sure we are all happy to read that last sentence!! Is there a Casey practice match this week for them to have some game time? Otherwise more intense training!

Disappointing if Steven May is indeed out. But no point risking him with a calf strain. I would play Daniel "Disco" Turner as his replacement. Adam Tomlinson is sadly in terrible form. He was humiliated against that Saints rookie SSP player Anthony Caminiti a few weeks ago. As for the debutants. I was quite (pleasantly) surprised that Bailey Laurie was selected. I am a fan of his, but I will admit that I don't believe he had shown enough to warrant a debut yet. I hope he proves us all wrong in his unexpected selection. Judd McVee, on the other hand, has certainly earnt his debut and I look forward to seeing him play. He was definitely a surprise packet this pre-season in 2023 as I thought he struggled last year. Congratulations to him and his hard work to break into the Demons senior AFL team! Additionally, I am looking forward to seeing the "tap brothers" in Max Gawn and his new ruck teammate in ex Magpie Brodie Grundy go against Tim English from the Bulldogs. It will certainly be fascinating to watch how we perform with two All Australian ruckmen in the team. Lastly, I am fascinated to see how former Bulldog Lachie Hunter will play against his old side. Will he have a point to prove against his previous coach Luke Beveridge? Saturday night will certainly be an exciting game between the Demons against the Bulldogs!

Maybe we should look at it like this. If we can win this game without 4 of our starting 22 it proves we can do anything.

Yep. Remember that time May played with a 6cm tear in his hamstring.

If it’s any consolation I can say that Fritta was (quote) “soooooo close” to getting up. Not saying that means defs up for round 2, but it bodes well. Seems this season will be very different in terms of NOT playing anyone who’s anything less than 100% right.

My optimism for the season trying to knock out my MFCSS

Fritta is the only one out of the three I wanted to play this weekend. Feel more confident with him in the forward line

Apart from the game itself and winning and losing games, what are the three best and worst things associated with football? Mine are: Best: 1. The sound of the siren 2. The sound of a large crowd at the ground, especially at the MCG 3. Conversations about football all around town Worst: 1. The inconsistent starting times for games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 2. Music after goals 3. Swearing by supporters at the football (not because I'm a prude, but it shows so little imagination. The Oxford dictionary states that there are over 170,000 words in the English language. We should use more of them.) What are yours?

Reckon this is how we line up. B: D Turner, Petty, Rivers HB: Brayshaw, Lever, Bowey C: Langdon, Oliver, Hunter HF: Neal-Bullen, McDonald, Chandler F: Pickett, Brown, Spargo R: Gawn, Petracca, Harmes I: Grundy, Sparrow, Laurie, McVee Sub: Jordon

Chandler is so far ahead of Laurie in form it should be a laydown Misere!!

Line up the cheese boards folks, selection is going to be a long discussion……. Or not, as the case may be. With the announcement of Mcvee and Laurie to debut and the certain outs of Viney, Fristch and Salem there is not lot of wriggle room for selection. I think May will be named in the side and given right through to the warmup to prove good. If he makes the game, it will be pretty much the side that played and comfortably beat the Tiges. B: Lever, May, McVee HB: Rivers, Petty, Bowey C: Langdon, Oliver, Hunter HF: ANB, TMac, Spargo F: Pickett: Brown: Grundy Fol: Gawn, Petracca, Brayshaw I: Sparrow, Laurie, Chandler, Harmes Sub: Schache/Hibberd I like the back 6 as named and if May does not get up for the game I would look at Tomlinson to replace him. I lean that way instead of Disco just on the basis of experience. I know he looks to be out of form but slotting him in in this game might just boost his confidence. If Turner gets the run then I will not have a problem with that either. Coaches and selectors would have a better idea than me. Brayshaw into the middle in place of Viney in the rotations. We know what he brings to the table in the middle, as a defender and on a wing. His flexibility and ability are an incredible asset to have in the team. Forwards are always going to be an interesting selection discussion at the moment. I would start them the way I have named them with Grundy up forward with Brown and TMac. Might just give the doggies something to think about. Midfield rotations are Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw, Sparrow, Harmes, Pickett, ANB and Rivers with Landon and Hunter 100% on the wings. Sub is difficult but I think it will be between Schache and Hibberd to try and cover the possible tall doggie timber.

Pressure through the midfield will be an absolute priority this week can’t have clean ball coming into the bulldogs forwards, kozzy could potentially be the most important player for us this week

This victory will be even sweeter if we knock them off with 4 of our best out. Bring it on!

If May is out and Tomo is in poor form, it could be Tom back and Schache in to play against his old side. Schache can play back as well and you would hope he has something to prove and could play to his best. If not him then JVR forward. Also, while I wish Laurie and McVee well, I can’t believe Laurie might be preferred to JJ.

Reading about the May injury has sent my MFCSS into psychosis.

Turner will be next in line surely. Petty to FB, Turner CHB and Lever third man up. Will Hibbo get a call up as he can play "taller" than he actually is? Either way, nobody is May. It's like trying to replace Oliver. Can't be done.

I knew I shouldn't have got that membership

Well we are doomed

Best The happy, friendly nature of the crowd before the game. The roar at the first bounce. Eating a pie at the footy. Worst Booing a former player who was delisted Reserved seat sections that are empty Richmond station after the game

Really like the answers so far so I'm going to try and add to them: Best: 1. That moment when the final siren goes and hearing our song play after a really close game at the G that could have gone either way. That mixture of euphoria and relief just can't be beat. 2. Walking to the G and seeing others also heading in. Maybe getting the odd comment from a fellow fan or opposition, it's what makes this town tick. 3. The mix of people from all ages and demographics who attend the footy and the community aspect that brings everyone together. One of the rare attractions that you could see your boss or your 5 y.o nephew at. Worst: 1. Thursday Night games. A couple a year are ok but it generally doesn't float my boat. 2. TV issues. I generally admire the way the game is covered but not having access to down the ground video footage is frustrating in this day and age. Also not always getting the best possible picture quality for score reviews. 3. Crowd violence at the footy. In contrast to my number 3 above, I absolutely loathe drunken and idiotic fights that break out in the crowd when there are people of all ages and families around. It's really disgusting to me.

Haha i've got no actual information on this one beyond clubs and particularly Melbourne are really excited about Kozzies improvement and how much damage he can do spending more time in the middle. he's genuinely challenging the front liners for time in there already.

the 3 worst things off field would all be linked to jordan de goey