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Very happy about that love young Chandler now he can get his kicking boots back on. Kade wasn’t far off, his signing shows that we have a lot of confidence and expectations for the young man. Top effort Kade and MFC.!!!

Great, now we can drop him

Talk of dropping Neal-Bullen is always a good laugh. He’s one of the first picked by the coaches every week because he fronts up and does the thankless hard stuff that the general footballer watcher doesn’t appreciate because it’s not flashy etc. He was our 8th best overall rated player on the weekend. He was rated the best player on the ground overall defensively. We beat Collingwood because we had applied immense pressure on the ball carrier. Nibbler had 26 pressure acts, the most of anyone on the ground with Viney second at 24. Nibbler had 6 effective tackles, third behind Viney and Trac. He had 5 tackles inside 50, the most of any player on the ground. He was a key part of our victory and I’d go as far as saying if he didn’t play we would have lost that match. What he brings in pressure and running to link up or block space is immense, and as long as he keeps fronting up and busting his gut he will rightly never be dropped.

Ok, everyone stop now. I’m starting to really like Brayden Maynard and it’s making me feel uncomfortable.

People aren’t going to get your joke, mate

That’s a narrative they create purely because they don’t like us. We are on track for record average attendees (43210, 1100+ per game on our previous best, even in spite of playing Essendon in Adelaide) and home attendance (52367). We are 6th in the league for average attendance and 3rd for home attendance (although a few teams are a game behind). Our membership is closest to 9th in the league so in terms of our fans turning up we punch well above our weight, but according to the football media and some on here we “never rock up”. Never let the truth get in the way of a good beat up!

Agree. How did Chandler get two for same as Butler, then Butler exonerated at Tribunal. How was Chandler 2 and Butler none for same thing. Went back and looked at Sparrow tackle several times and it was a normal, not even aggressive tackle around hips not pinning arms and doesn’t even look like head hits the ground. He got 1 week and it may have cost us the loss and a home final. As 9 clubs have declared today, they regard the system as a total lottery and are not even showing AFL tackle video to players as it is totally irrelevant to what then happens at the Tribunal and MRO. We have another shambles affecting games, on top of the fixture. How is this proper administration of the biggest game in the country? It’s a huge joke that is actually not funny.

Nice little write up on Juddy on the AFL site. I think people are starting to take notice. https://www.afl.com.au/news/949519/run-with-it-grandfather-s-touch-helps-demon-take-his-chance

Watched the replay for the second time. Its been stated so many times I know but boy our backline is just superb. Across the board no weaknesses, they just find a way every week to impact the game as our most important line. They're not perfect by any means but the way they structure up and support each other all on the same page is elite. Rivers makes mistakes but his ability to stay in the moment and follow up whether its tackling or winning back the ball is terrific. Lever and May had a lot of missed marks they wouldn't have been frustrated by but again the support of others to cover for them at ground level was great. Salem playing his best game in so long was the highlight for me. But McVee playing alongside him as an aggressive ball user adds another element. We might need to nickname them eventually (The Slick Brothers?). Love that Judd has learnt so much under Salem and shows similar traits with his ability to win contests and proactive ball movement. Hibberd got a fair amount of praise his first few years. But since I feel like he's been underrated. Rarely loses a contests, his physicality is so important. I hope they continues to manage him because in big games he just stands up every time. Tomlinson was another that was surprising but the role he's playing is by far his greatest strength taking the second key tall. Played with a confidence we haven't seen since first half of 2021. Will be interesting to see where Bowey comes back in. I think Petty much to others distaste will play forward. Especially with Tomlinson potentially settling back in. Frees Petty up to play deep or lead up forward.

everything cox said in his podcast was a fallacy - no handshake, no apology, what happens on field stays on field he's a liar and comes across as a complete tool the fact that maynard had to pull him away says volumes

I trust my eyes. Maynard pulls Cox away and hugs Trac. Enough said.

Thommo played his best game for the club I reckon. Particularly as he took Cox when he went forward He was outstanding.

Maynard has a good relationship with Melbourne players. His brother played for us. Also, he played for Vic Metro with Tracc and Gus in 2014. Those boys go way back.

One word : Confusing. I heard the experts on radio yesterday say Butler will get off because no concussion for Blakey no issue for Butler. Tell that to Lachie Hunter.

Broad sweeping statement Cox is arrogant because he's arrogant, not because he's American. Plenty of arrogant AFL players, very few are American. Maybe its us Aussies who are arrogant! Cox has played 100 games in a tough sport that he did not grow up with. He's a good sportsman None of us really know the detail behind their heated conversation

Other: Favourite: The final siren and being able to breathe again!! Honourable mention: when we out cheered the Collingwood boos of Grundy.

Cannot see why we can't play Smith, Petty and JVR in the same forward line? You'd just drop the extra small (Spargo). People forget Smith is one of the quickest players in our list so realistically he does play small and short. Also showed in the weekend that he defensive forward pressure is pretty good for a player his size. The other aspect is their flexibility. Both Smith or Petty can plug holes down back in case of an inury to one of our tall defender during games.

Peter Maynard played 8 games in the 1970’s for us before going on to play around 200 games for Glenelg in the SANFL.

Apologies if there is a thread for this already, but is anyone else really concerned where the game is going after the 3 week suspensions dished out tonight for Sicily and Mansell? I don’t like Mansell and am pretty ambivalent about Sicily, but I think both are incredibly stiff to get any punishment at all for those incidents. Mansell made a self preservation action at the very last moment to protect himself, and there is no way Sicily should be held responsible for that tackle. Accidents happen and the game seems to be getting itself lost trying to eliminate them.

Happy to: Page 42-43 of todays online edition. Don't now if its in the paper version. I would have added one more - something about Trac's Norm Smith medal maybe. But below is a cut and paste of the article "...ON THE COACH’S WHITEBOARD Before you go, here are ... Five key lines Snap Shot believes Demon Christian Petracca was entitled to say when giving Pie Mason Cox a bit of his own medicine after Melbourne beat the Magpies on Monday. Do you want to see my premiership medallion Coxy? 60 Minutes might be a thrill for you but try playing 120 minutes for once mate. While Beverley Hills near Doncaster might not be Beverly Hills California, it’s better than Texas. Do you want me to get you Ben Simmons autograph? Gus and Gawny wallops the Mason Cox podcast IMO...."

Yes Stevie, this is from 'Find My Seat GMHBA'

The Sicily incident is very similar to JVR’s report against Gold Coast. It has nothing to do with what actually happened, and everything to do with how serious the incident appeared to be on TV.

Or when ANB I think took a mark and Mihocek simply grabbed his collar and dragged him to the ground

A lot of anti Filth sentiment on this thread. Two of my best mates are pies supporters and very knowledgeable about the game. I went to the game with one on Monday and was telling him that I hoped his feral mates would behave. He just smiled and said, “you know it’s not fair that all pie’s supporters are tainted. It’s 99% that give the other 1% a bad name!”

Johnson has been anti-Melbourne since we embarrassed the Dogs in the ‘21 GF.

I'd prefer they beat Port and we beat them. I want top 2

I reckon if Gold Coast beat Carlton, the club will implode. GO SUNS!

http://demonwiki.org/Peter+Maynard He also worked on the admin side of the club in the 2000s

It is a pick and choose situation now. This Tribunal appears to tailor the case to get to the desired outcome and I find that extremely troubling.

Not necessarily. A defender can have a great game simply by keeping a star forward opponent goalless.

What enraged me most is that it is such an ineffective approach. If players feel like they can get picked out for near-random occurrences, where is the inspiration to change? If the rule is wobbling all over the place, how to the train to meet the expectations? I mean, it is just basic criminology. Nobody in the $10m/year AFL executive bothered to google 'how to manage change to embed new standards?' As bad as the reserve bank thinking you solve a supplier-side under-capitalisation led inflation problem by increasing the costs of business investments. Do people's brains just switch off at about $700k+ a year?

Post match, uses his podcast to slight Trac and intimate he's been wronged. So much for what stays on the field. Isn't gaining much public support either. Batttling it out with Zorko for average bloke Brownlow.

If Grundy kicked the goal after the Hunter run through, it might have won moment of the season for me.

Maynard would have been the perfect heir to Hibbo. Pity that didn't come off. Oh yeah, and Cox is still a nuffy.

Somehow ended up in a bay full of Collingwood supporters who were surprisingly quiet and well-behaved all match, however one Magpie gent did comment to me upon leaving "You're why I hate Melbourne supporters". Took that as a compliment.

I thought so too. I was really worried about how he we go on Cox and Cameron, but he was fantastic. He really got on his bike too Fantastic to see how much more agile he is than last season. He hasn't had much love on DL for that mark he took on the member's wing. I thought he had no chance and it was so clever how, one he didn't give a free away and two that he was able to mark it. It was a critical point in the match, stopped a certain Pies forward entry and set one up for us. As i noted before the game, if Petty plays forward on his return, there is a permanent spot for Tomo in defence there for the taking. An on that performance he'll take it.

Just finished watching the replay. Savoured the live game memories. Great 3rd quater, the last 15 minutes and 4th quarter. Playing hard footy, causing turnovers, holding the lead, using tempo footy, our running when offence and defence, working well in small and closed areas. Thought ANB in that period (late 3rd and 4th) was almost best on the ground, hassle, run and disposals. Don't know what some are talking about. Smith's game, when it counted, gave us exit and scoring opportunities. Tomlinson and JJ also at "it". How's Sparrow's endurance, wow? How did we miss those set shots in the last, Smith, Pickett and Fritta. Got to fix that up, ice the game, and take the easy ones. Thought we had the Woods playing the man and not the ball. Vines in the last 30 seconds, has amazing will. Umpires nearly got them home. Trac needs Clayton back, I think the work load was getting to him. Loved our desperation and game plan. Interesting that a few of us left the replay watching till now.

He was sighted alright. The MRP saw it. Thankfully, just a fine for Salo.

Opposition fans absolutely hate him. Which makes me love him even more. Just keep reminding anyone who says he's a selfish [censored], that he kicked 6 goals in a grand final, and whoever plays for their team hasn't.

Odd little quirk - against Collingwood on monday Fritsch did not leave the ground - 100% game time. First time he has ever done that, with the usual figure being somewhere in the mid-80 range. Suspicion - we've been working on his tank, and noticeably using him more up the ground (17 inside-50s in the previous 4 weeks, which is easily double his usual) but the purpose of that is that also he can be pulled back closer to goal and play maximum game time there when it suits the tactical needs. The theory grows that the Demons are calmly using the whole season to sharpen their axe.

I have to say, I got really nervous when the Melbourne cheer, in the Collingwood style, started up. That was before the Mihocek goal and then after the Daicos one I thought to myself, if this goes pear shaped, the industry blow-back on us going early on the cheer only to lose will be enormous. Thank [censored] it didn't eventuate, because otherwise I thought our cheer squad (and our supporters generally) were the best we've ever been, other than perhaps the 2018 finals. The media has seized on how loud we were to drown out the boos when Grundy took that first mark and I thought that was so damn emblematic and made me so proud.

I have the inside word that Cox took umbrage with Trac's TikToks - namely calling cilantro 'coriander' and referring to bell peppers as 'capsicum'. And the restraint shown by Big Mase for not even bringing up the complete lack of ribs, brisket or mac & cheese recipes speaks volumes of his character. I assume an official joint apology from the club and on.trac5 is imminent.

Mooney was right, There is no onus on the player protecting themselves, Aish should have been aware of contact and also braced or turned his side more to the tigers player. Years ago you didn’t lead with your head into a contested situation or go in wide open cos if you did you got smashed. Now they do and yes the player gets suspended but the opponent still gets hurt. If Aish and that player Hunter hit both turned for the contact then neither get hit. Afl are causing more hits to the head by not putting onus on the players going to a contest protecting themselves.

Was sitting in the MCC top level about half way up on the wing fair way away, came across loud and clear all day, in fact the noise from all our supporters was very good.

I couldn't believe it. Right below me. 50 every day of the week. Text book. I wondered if I got it wrong live, bit on watching the replay when I got home it was even later than I thought live.

I just assumed from Tracc’s pointing that he was mimicking a famous moment in American history…

How did De Goey get the same punishment. Just how. The game is cooked.

When Maynard tells cox to leave it then shakes petraccas hand then it can't be all trac. I find it strange that trac would bother wasting his time with cox.

I’m going to save us all a lot of time by letting you know that ANB will not be dropped this week. Carry on.