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Whoever gets the job will have big pants to fill.

Goody’s press conference today - ‘We are now back at our home ground, in front of our supporters who make a difference for us, when they come out in numbers and support and get loud, which we expect Friday night, it’s a tough place to play’ We as supporters have got one job to do- turn up and turn up the volume- we must also make the home ground advantage become a home crowd advantage. GO DEES

I think that's most unfair. Who knows how he would have gone if he'd come to the MFC? Different players, different recruiting set-up, different board, different supporters. For all we know (and we'll never know, of course), he might have coached us to three Premierships by now.

Continues to amaze me. I wrote him off as far back as 2021. I reckon he just about played his best footy this season. And he seems to have recovered his pace. I won't be writing him off any time soon

Mate he was running around with a lacerated kidney that night. His 2023 form before that game has been strong. Whether or not he gets back in depends on our current backline’s ongoing form but IMO he’s far from “cooked”.

This is all a timely reminder that it’s now been over 10 years since we sacked a coach. Our current coach has the best record of our last 17 coaches! I know we are dealing with the weight of expectation, but we should also appreciate that we are living through a great time to be a Melbourne supporter.

It's why it's a [censored] award. No player nominated after rd8 usually wins. Good players often don't get nominated because only 1 player per round can be nominated Its fluff. Don't worry about it. He's ours. Be happy about that

Petty scans clear. They expect him to play.

Hardwick right now ... probably

The oldest club in the land was born 165 years ago today. Club Timeline

Currently enjoying a bit of Nth QLD weather in Cairns for a week, fly back to dreary Melb on Saturday. 19 - 26 each day is hard to put up with, did Port Douglas Mon Palm Cove for brunch shortly. The weather is a bit cloudy but very good for the spirits. Watched the Mini and half the game last night on Kayo much to the annoyance of the two grandkids and looking forward to watching the game Friday night. go Dees.!!!

Doesn't need a rising star nomination to justify how much of an absolute gun he is.

This summarises the rest of the season: On paper we have the easiest run home and can't see us falling out of the top 4.. While any team can win on any given day if we beat the Lions and Crows we can start resting players through the last 5 rounds. It is unlikely that we go further up the top 4 and there is really no need so imv preparing the players for September is a greater priority. Geelong has a very hard draw (they play each team 1 to 7 except the dees) but they will probably stay in the top 8 for lack of competition around them. But crikey, I really hope they fall out of the 8 - they will be a real threat if they make it.

A little science fiction for Demonland on a Tuesday arvo: The year is 2050. It's late in the third quarter of the Grand Final. Schache Jnr., a number one draft pick who demanded a trade to powerhouse club Melbourne after not being eligible for drafting via the parent-child rule, is having a shocker. The skills are there, the footy IQ is there, he's just lacking that special something, that little bit of beast mode. And the Dees need their forward line firing, in what looks likely to be a close finish against the Tasmanian Pademelons, who are fresh off their first premiership (having entered the league in 2040 after the ribbon was finally cut on their floating stadium off the coast of Hobart). Melbourne has already used its injury sub, concussion sub and tactical sub. But never fear. Because the Demons are about to activate their IPATS (injured player asset transferal sub). Schache leaves the field and disappears into a chrome-plated structure at the back of the interchange area, what is colloquially known as the "phone box" by old-timers. When he emerges, the guessing game begins. Despite the answer being obvious, the commentators are, as usual, flummoxed. Which injured player's asset have the Demons transferred to Schache using their IPATS? There was never any doubt. After all, Melbourne lost three-time premiership hero and father-son steal Silton Oliver to concussion protocols in the lead-up to the finals. Schache re-enters the field of play. Beast-mode activated. Victory for Melbourne!

Titus O'Reily @TitusOReily · 16m Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans said just because they sacked Stuart Dew doesn't mean they're not backing him.

Hard to know from the outside but I actually think they are improving and he's a bit unlucky. Most developing sides struggle away from home but they have shown their best can mix it with the best (and they have lots of talent coming through). Surely they want to pounce on hardwick after regretting not being in the race for Clarkson last year. He'll need a break but if Dew is interested in being an assistant we should definitely look into it - surely we won't have the same coaching group next year. His close relationship with many of the suns players wouldn't go astray either!

It was a set up from months ago imo. Hardwick left the tigers because he knew he had that job up there. He didn’t want to quit the tiges and go straight to GC. Tge whole thing smells. Dew missed his chance with us big time.

Don't say I never do anything for you guys. Podcast is up. Who needs sleep anyway?

I think we have a few different styles of play in us now. A maturing, team and coaches, have made that possible to develop and execute. We haven't used a blitz for a while. Given the capacity of Brissy to blitz, I expect that we will open up the game and forward line on at least one stage Friday night. Used eiither to catch them or put it to bed. Just an opinion. Go Dees.

All the pressure on Brisbane in this one, Two of our top 5 players not on the paddock, bad vibes going back to the G. If they get their aholes handed to them it will cause irreversible psychological damage in many ways to their club and season. Our loading phase has finished, we should be up and about again the thought of having 5 of the next 6 weeks at the G would have the group in a good place. Back on the G to reinforce our mid-zone pressure systems and other nuisances within our Gameplan eg. Forward line.😂 Beware the team coming off 2 soft kills, fast start key to this game, hit them hard early catch them off guard and still in holiday mode. If we win this they know top 2 ain't happening for them, they can't play away from the Gabba. No Top 2 For Lions = Game Over They are doomed in the years to come the Gabba is being refurbished for the Olympics, they don't win this game they ain't winning a Premiership in the time it takes to refurbish the Gabba (years). All the pressure on them. Tear them a new one Demons, Give em Hell !!! Up the Dees.

I used to care about this stuff when we where perennial cellar dwellers. It was a sign of hope and that we had a bright future. Couldn't care less now, sure it's recognition of a good game by a young player but I would bet Mcvee is stoked being a regular in a top 4 team and a rising star nom is not a concern for him. Jordan gysberts got 2 noms & Lewis Taylor won the award so it's a bit of a nothing

From a death Riding perspective this is good for us. the players won't want to look like they are the problem so will lift their game for the rest of the season.

Huh, we dodged a bullet? Reading this forum, the jury is STILL out on Goodwin 🤷‍♂️

No chance Hibberd is cooked just yet. He was flying before copping a lacerated kidney. Sure we need to manage his body but he's in out best defensive mix come finals.

I wish Schache could borrow Clarry's beast mode while he's out injured. It would solve all our tall forward woes, well at least until he had to give it back.

We beat up on them by 10 goals at the Gabbitoir* in August and then we got done at the G when 1/3 of a team was significantly crocked in September. The beat us with our ruckman going down for what was feared an ACL in the first 10 mins of the match last time. Which one is the more accurate represenation of the teams? Don't buy into your anxiety @beelzebub We match up well... and without Fritsch and Oliver, we may lose it - and it's still not a 'true' reflection of our system vs theirs. *I back our capacity to beat them at the Gabba, Port in Adelaide, and clearly the Magpies at the 'G' in the finals.

Why would that be different to last time he played (and lost there) whether he 'sets up' or not, he externally has said, it's everyone else's concern and not internally within the club. Further, should he chose to, he can communicate as much as he wants to the players how important it is to win on the 'g' for a range of valid reasons, they've still got to beat our system, by using their system. If you're using external motivation (eg: it's Johnno's 200th, or 'we need to win at the 'g' to prove to ourselves that we can win at the 'g') to try to win, then it's problematic longterm psychologically, as it moves the focus (behaviours away) from your own system/method/philosophy. It's the same retrospective superficial analysis that says, a team wasn't 'up for it' or ' weren't switched on' - that fails to give credit to the other team.

I was sitting above the interchange area during the game. With less than 5 minutes to play, Goody spoke for a while with Woey when he was on the bench. There also appeared plenty of positive emotions towards him. My guess is, Goody gets around to everyone, in his time, and with a natural, authentic, and unforced manner

Should have gone to CrippsSavers

Serongs suspension has been upheld.

Giving platelets tonight so I'm hooked up to this machine with a needle for 90 mins. Give us something decent to read

Stuart Adieu

https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/a-six-pack-of-ipa-interesting-points-allegedly-fremantles-michael-walters-the-afls-best-set-shot-kick-c-11234211 "Melbourne and Brisbane will this week play each other for the fifth time since round 15 last year, a run which includes the Lions’ semifinal upset win last September. Thanks to the AFL’s unbalanced fixture, there are five different pairs of clubs that are yet to meet a single time during that span. The Western Bulldogs haven’t played West Coast or Essendon at any point in that time period, while there have also been no match-ups for Carlton against Port Adelaide, Collingwood against Hawthorn, and Gold Coast against GWS." Just shows how ridiculous the fixture for the number 1 sport in Australia is. Major sports around the world must laugh at AFL fixturing, if they even care what happens down here at the ars* end of the world. Why can't we have less games where teams play each other once (rotate the home match every second year) and supplement it with a state of origin tournament? Surely a fixture like that is less comprised and "unbalanced".

On a unrelated note, a deep fryer is being sold on Gumtree by the Gold Coast Suns, comes with 100kg of frozen chicken nuggets and dim sims.

Brisbane

I wonder how long this has been on the cards? It’s almost like Hardwick’s manager knew about this 6 weeks ago. 6 weeks ago it was all a bit ‘too’ much for Dimma. Now he’s ready to take a call about a new gig? Give me a spell.

Really feel for Dew. I reckon he has built a solid culture in the past couple of years and the Suns overall effort and team play is better than it's ever been. They are closer to finals than anytime in the past 10 years and are without their best player. Aside from the Pies loss they have been solid all year and are finally getting young players signed up. I predict this move will cause more issues than it solves. The players will be furious. At least let the man coach the rest of the season

Only if he brings Ben King with him

Here's the thing with the rising star award. Neither Dane Swan, Gary Ablett Jnr or Jonathon Brown ever received a nomination. That tells me all I need to know about it, and the people who judge it.

100%. Dew was in a very tough spot, trying to turn around a catastrophically poor club culture when any player who wanted to be professional had the ready option to move out of there without guilt because everyone knew the 'why' was legit. I wonder if even a coach the quality of Paul Roos would be able to turn that around without already having the authority of a premiership to contain the gripers.

Not sure I could move interstate and leave my 3 children behind.

I’d assume they already have their coach all but signed. Dimma will enjoy the Gold Coast Sun.

Cue Adem Yze is going to leave thread

It’s stupid that he hasn’t been nominated but it’s because nominations go to stand out performances and Judd’s been stunningly consistent without necessarily destroying a game. He deserves one before the year is out. Hopefully he can snag one.

My sense of the award is when an eligible player plays a great game, he gets nominated. When there are no outstanding candidates from the round, they'll award it to a player who has been consistently good over a few weeks or more. I think McVee's on the Mr Consistency list.

What does this kid have to do to win a Rising Star nomination? Hasn’t missed a game and has been a steady player all year. Yet some others are getting the nod after one good game. In this article Demon makes return, Roo drops: AFL Rookie Rankings – Round 17 McVee is ranked top 8 for players who played their first game this year.

Very heartening, so glad the Dockers decided to drop anchor on their season.

Fagan got lucky in last year's final. A third of our team was maimed. Had we kicked straight the game would have been over by half time. Lions' ladder position flatters them. Since the bye they had a significant (but not big margin loss) to Hawks, so so wins over Swans and Saints and training runs over Tigers and Eagles. I reckon we go into this game with better and more consistent performances. While we haven't kicked winning scores sometimes we have been the better team and played very good football. Anyway thier defence is average, not necessarily their back 6/7 but their overall ground defence. Even if we lose to the Lions we are effectively two games ahead of 5th. Teams below us need to win two more games than we do and given there are only 7 games left, I don't like anyone's chances of doing that.

Podcast won't be up until tomorrow morning (possibly mid morning) as I have to do a bit of post production work. Usually I am able to just take the mix recorded into my mixer from the audio over the internet but as i had some choppy internet connection at home my cohosts were breaking up every now and again and it would not be a good listen. Anyone who listened live would have heard what it sounded like. Luckily I have multiple recordings and one of those is the recordings of my cohosts that is recorded locally on their machines. I don't usually use that mix as it takes longer for me to put together and is only used in cases like this. I won't be able to work on that until the morning now so the final product won't be available until then. Apologies.