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A lot of Carlton supporters coming out of the woodwork at my workplace. Their uprising needs to be put down. Brutally if possible.

Hibbo subbed on. Goes back. Clarry "underdone" goes forward and the ball is locked inside our forward 50 because Carlton can't win a stoppage. Kosi kicks 3 as a result. Carlton cries. Happiness.

never wish an ACL on a player

Jeremy Howe’s outfit.

For ever and a day i lamented the dees lack of genuine A grade talent in the middle. I remember being ridiculously envious of the lions midfield of voss, black (one of my all time fav mon dees player) and akermanis. And i have had now had the joy of watching a midfield the equal of that group- better if you include maxy. But what's weird is how quickly I have come to taking it for granted. Clarry out has been a great reminder of how lucky we are and I can't wait to see him play again. Man oh man. A huge positive of clarry coming back in is Tracc can play forward as much as goody wants him too - rather than as a rescue mission like against the tigers. And there wont be the need to run the A team - maxy, tracc, oliver and viney - at centre clearances UNLESS goody wasn't to go all shock and awe at some point. Flex.

I haven't been this nervous since a minute in to the 2nd quarter last Sunday.

Wonder if the producer at channel 7 might tell BT it’s not a great week to make mushroom metaphors?

I like Moore. Seems like an intelligent, articulate, personable bloke. God only knows how he deals with the filth faithful. He's at the wrong club.

If we beat them they'll be back to struggling to hang on to make the 8. Do it Demons, for all the AFL.

Good thing Pies already won the flag in round 13 isn’t it?

had a rough time at the peptides - it's funny how much control over that club is still held by folks who have lead them into obscurity

No bye this week? that’s weird

Why is everyone so worried about Tasmania? I’m still skeptical that it happens within that timeframe. If we got 5 years out of them and they leave worth similar or even more, it’s a win/win. You know Tasmania will have a well stocked war chest to get the players they want. We can then use draft capital for ready made players via trade, don’t have to go after more kids.

I also suspect BG went back to do a mini preseason. Playing poorly at FF allowed him to rest. Notice each week at Casey his time in the ruck increased? He missed all of the 22 season. He will be stronger and faster for longer, cherry ripe for finals.

Love that we have an AA quality mid in Clarry, and AA quality ruck in Grundy coming into a midfield/clearance group that is already humming. We should be able to maintain the momentum for longer, and simply grind teams down with high quality intense contested footy for all four quarters. Feels like we’re very well positioned as the season turns toward the final straight. Clarry to have a monster game…

At the end of the year it seems. Actually reckon he's underrated in AFL circles. Did a pretty good job with our rebuild and list management and probably one of the good guys who deserved to be part of the grand final success. He'll get snapped up quickly you'd think. https://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/1400687/josh-mahoney-to-step-away-from-essendon

I’ll gamble responsibly and put your house on it

Good to see Kye Turner in the side. He's missed a hell of a lot of footy this year.

201 and a second medallion

I think there are rumours that he's going to join AFL HQ.

You know the answer to this EO. Right now it's a big test and we hope we are good enough to beat them. If we do win then Carlton weren't good enough anyway and we need to be 'a lot better'

Just really happy for Brodie & i wish for nothing more than him to show the footy world that he's not done just yet Get around him

This thread only needs one name, Toby Greene I’ve changed my mind about one name based on suggestions below. I think Sicily would aid us immensely too

Cmon cats. Season's over. Get clumsy. Sharpen up the elbows. Put some mayo on the tackle. Bump. Maul. Scrap.

Ffs BT. “They’re like mushrooms.”

@Deebauched seeing it on the big screen:

I'm going to go and will keep a close eye on tmac.

That's my take too. On Hibbo, i reckon part of the thinking is also trying to reduce the risk of impact injury, which given the way he plays is always a risk, because Goody is dead keen to have him fit and raring to go come finals - which makes perfect sense becuase he is built for finals, Very similar approach to how the Cats managed Danger last year (not dissimilar players in terms of their intensity and attack on the ball). And with Smith, in addition to managing his minutes and keeping him match fit, it is very likely he is going to be designated sub come finals so it also makes sense to give him some really sold minutes down back to get used the defensive systems, build synergy with the other defenders and get good touch because he may have to come on early in games.

He will be happy as well. All those laps he ran, mostly by himself. At times, it didn't appear easy for him. Occasionally joining the main group, then returning to full rehab at the next training run. The niggle just wouldn't go.

"In total, I’ve been involved at AFL club level for more than 25 years as a player, coach, and GM of Football for a decade at both Essendon and Melbourne. It has been a privilege and I look forward to what is next.” Sounds likely from that. Needs to get away from Dodoro too.

Incorrect, if Collingwood go 1-2 and Brisbane and MFC go 3-0 then top spot is decided on percentage and Collingwood's will fall, while Brisbane and Melbourne's will rise in that scenario.

MCG expecting 70,000 tomorrow night, let's get loud.

Dunno guys, think we're up against it against the might of Carlton. They've been unbelievable and never lost a game according to the media.

Think i might duck down to Lygon St before the game for a Lasagna Petracca with some Olivers..

In a very cliched Melbourne way… I’m going to miss this match because I’ll be on a truffle hunt. 🤫

I think we’ll get a glimpse of our finals game tomorrow night and I’m pumped.

I have a feeling they're managing his and Smith minutes. Smith needs game time to keep match fit while we want Hibbo in the 1sts in some way for the rest of the year.

Brisbane v Adelaide Percentage could well decide second spot. A high scoring close shoot out would be wonderful assuming we can't have a Crows win 120-118 is perfect

The team is nearly perfect. Injuries aside, it's just missing Fritta (and now Petty). Fingers crossed the list can stay relatively healthy as we lead into September. Go Dees!

I would have thought this was the idea all along... obviously not...as here we are. Quite possibly the idea of Grundy doing a mini apprenticeship was to become a bit more savvy with "positioning".. now for mine Brodie is quite a good reader if the ball...that tends to be a strength of many rucks. This is his "force". He ought use it to either offer an alternative option.. so not crowd the pack and break from his direct opponent...or use that tie to draw that defender out. Clever ball play doesn't actually mean YOU have the ball... it's about space ( suddenly mind flashed back over 50 years lol ...some might get it) ... Clever ball play doesn't mean you're going for the ball ( directly ) Id like to see Brodie linger around the square. You'd like to think Milky.. Roo and Grundy could provide quite interesting options. Divide and conquer....keep out of each others way... and with Kozzie Chandler.. Nibbler and the like waiting to pounce we ought to have the better of them (Carlton ) Our defence just needs to spin repeat the last meeting with them. I dont underestimate Carlton.. mor do i over rate them. They go better against teams that are well... simply not us. Dees by 5 goals

I think this is so important, particularly now that Petty is out. A huge part of pett's role was to create a contest and bring the ball to ground. But with his ability to find leading lanes, mark on the lead, contested marking skills and ability to take his chances, Petty looked a natural forward. Grundy doesn't bring the same natural forward skills, but i'm confident he can do the job creating contests and stopping oppo defenders marring the ball - and all the other donkey working up and down the ground, as well as giving Maxy a chop out in the ruck. Any goals he kicks are a bonus. But that makes JVR even more important that he would have been with Petty in the team as he is the now the key pure tall forward. And for him to thrive we don't want him spending all his petrol tickets working up and down the ground, rucking and getting smashed up on the half back in marking contests from the long ball from May. We need maximum Van Ruin impact close to goals

Hibbo being managed I reckon. Will be sub and assure the defense for the last qtr and a half. Where we'll likely be looking to protect a lead...

It staggers me how criminally underrated Oliver still is by opposition supporters.

My job today is to build up the expectations of any Carlton fan I see to immortal levels. "Great midfield" "Clearance game magnificent" "Unpredictable without McKay" "Great transition game now" "Good use of the indicator"

Happy with the team, coaches have shown selection nous all year, if they are trying Grundy, it's not out of bloody mindedness. I really feel for Grundy the media drivel around him has been verging on vicious, totally undeserved. The bruisefree jibe about us always annoyed me, I felt like we've always made Carlton pay for it ever since. I can see either a close win or a blow out, have fond memories of 2018 seeing Lever play and torching the Blues by a 100 points, feeling in my bones like we are going to be on pressure style like the KB game, hopefully with better kicking for goal. Watch all the mouth breathing journos jump on the band wagon if we win, and the stories will switch to something unfair favoring Melbourne. I really hope they play the game on the big screen for no other reason than it feels like a Cathy Freeman moment, will be watching here In Somalia. (Allthough I was policing Carlton the night Italy cheated against Australia in a World Cup game, and got rivers of abuse about Australia losing from the Carlton crowd, who were very Pro Italy, not sure how much they love the Matildas). I mean this in a jocular way and not too seriously, but did you ever consider by drafting Grundy we don't have to play against him? So while we might not be getting full advantage of his skills because he replicates what Max brings, He has more than held his own over the years against Max. But imagine Grundy at Port or Brisbane (i reckon he's better than Oscar), for one of the sides we are competing against. Would go a way towards nullifying one of our weapons. This might have been said elsewhere but haven't read everything. He is an expensive insurance policy but I see it working in more than one way Lastly +1, love the idea of the Melbourne Football club having a soccer team, I see synergies, always thought with our name we could be a much larger sporting organization (Aussie Rules always has primacy though).

I believed, like others here, that Brodie’s absence from the AFL team was as much to do with fitness as it was to do with ‘forward craft’. He looked like he was running in concrete against GWS and St Kilda. Coupled with the observations in pre-season about his fitness levels compared to Max and others (likely due to his long term injury in 2022) it’s not surprising he struggled during our loading period. My theory is that they’ve been using this four/five week period to build his endurance and/or power to get him primed for Finals. I’ll put my money on Brodie having a really strong six weeks 😊