Leaderboard

Does that mean we need a precautionary whisky

I know someone on the inside, and she swears he’s fine.

Any defenders from the best defence in the league? I mean come on Hawks, Freo and Essendon with 3 players. Melbourne with 2. Tom Stuart ahead of Lever and May? FMD what a joke.

Please tell me they are inside his foot and have done a full structural integrity scan.

There's tough competition for him but I hope Nick Larkey gets a jacket. Some effort to kick 71 goals in a team as bad as North were this year.

I'll be a lot more succinct than 'binman' ... @binman that is a joke; still luv ya! Defence wins finals: In the last month we have been back to our 2021 stingiest best. Points against: North 71 pts Carlton 60 pts (lost due to dodgy umpiring) Hawks: 60 pts Sydney: 56 pts Coll defence has been leaking like a sieve even when they had Moor and Murphy in. Pts against for the last month: 105 (loss to Hawks), 101 (win on Geelong), 124 (loss) to Lions. The last game vs Ess doesn't count. Oliver and Fritsch will get better. Petracca will continue his last quarter rampages of the last 6 weeks. He has that determined look he had in the 2021 GF when he went wild... We are fitter Our system is a proven GF winner In 2021 Goodwin and our leaders had a steely look about them. They have it again. There is a determination there that will take our beloved Dees a long way. All the way!!! They are a one trick pony!!

Shows we are a very even side with team ethos trumping individual brilliance.

I'm glad that Viney has finally gained some recognition. One of the most underrated midfielders in the league.

Are we talking about Fritta's foot or Ralph's brain @WalkingCivilWar?

Absolutely gutted for both of them.

Live scenes of Fritta celebrating his 7th goal in the grand final

Tmac is moving bloody well, best he has for a long time. it'll be him that comes in

Shattered for Melk Had to work his way back into the team, injuries meant he got an opportunity - and ran with it. True testament of his character and love for the club. He saved us in some really important games. Won't be forgetting the big kick win against the Lions - huge for that game and setting the season right again. I've always enjoyed seeing him play. Super high footy IQ and an elite kick. Was looking forward to him getting the chance to take part in a premiership. Footy is cruel sometimes. Wishing Melk a speedy recovery, and hopefully a plot twist of some more footy in the red and blue next year.

Surely no one thinks they will be easy to beat. I certainly don't. But i think we will beat them. By the by, the Pies are currently 1.84 favorites and we are 2.00, with the line at 1.5 That is as good as even money, but i suspect we will in fact start close favorites. A genuine 50 50 game. That we will win.

What a weird day of footy watching. Went out for coffee this morning and didn't watch a second of the Port v Richmond game. As soon as the result came through and we knew it was a dead rubber, I knew I was just going to sit back with the game on in the background and not have a stressful Sunday for a change. And for the first half although we didn't look fantastic, it looked that way. We come out in the 3rd quarter looking as limp as a charity wristband as the Swans bang on 3 straight goals and are slicing us with clearances out of the centre. Coinciding with this is vision of Fritsch hobbling off and that familiar sick feeling we've been getting a lot as of late. Fritsch begins to jog up and down the boundary line but just to make sure the air continued to be suffocated out of us as fans, in form man Melksham has that ligament twinge looking injury. I said a few weeks ago that Petty felt like the most heartbreaking injury of the season but this could be right up there as well. I'm absolutely shattered for Jake who missed out in 21 and was in good form. I love what he can offer when the ball is in his hands and I felt like this could have been his finals series. It will take an absolute miracle for this is be anything other than a serious knee injury. Somehow Fritta comes back and the man who so many here hate for his kicking at goal ability comes out and snares one to get us going again. Laurie came on and had instant impact, that kick to Pickett absolutely sublime. We come out in the last quarter and bury those cockroaches. Fritta excellent, just hope the foot is OK. We could have wilted, we did not. We dug in and showed that winning is important. If we had a tanking culture once that taught us how to lose then let's give credit to a team that now wants to win at all costs. And make no mistake this was a great win with our backs to the wall. Winning for is good form and we will be there with good form. Thought Trac worked his way in to just about BOG, Viney relentless in the last, Brayshaw has been amazing lately, Mcvee, May all outstanding. But Alex Neal-Bullen take a bow. I used to think of Simon Godfrey as 'Mr Endeavour' I think ANB is the modern version of this. He just works so damn hard and I think his worth has shone through this last couple of weeks (obviously a better kick than Simon too haha). Bring on Collingwood, much prefer to play them in this final than later on. Make it a blessing to finish 4th? It's just a number. This one is for all the marbles, go out there and win. Another home and away season done, top 4 is no mean feat. It's been great being on here with all of you. There's people you get along with great, there's people who disagree with you but the one thing I love about DL is that if you're here it's because of one thing. You bloody love this footy club and regardless of anything else, that's good enough for me. Going to bed now, take it easy all GO DEES!

I'm sure it's already been said but this QF is possibly our make-or-break at the flag. Win it, we get a home prelim against Brisbane/Port/St Kilda/GWS. Lose it, we get Carlton/Sydney (likely Carlton) in a semi before having to travel to Brisbane/Port. The stakes are huge.

Of course he has been. It would be derelict not to after he came off with an issue. Let's just hope for the best.

well done Trac and Viney. well deserved. i'm more concerned with winning the flag to be honest

May not be the place to post this but do you think there AFL could have said and Luke Dunstan. · AFL 8m · Scans have confirmed Jake Melksham and a Melbourne teammate have both suffered ACL injuries.

Just not fair. Any success we have from here, we couldn't have done it without Milkshake.

We don't need to show them our whole hand. The middle finger would suffice.

I’ve rewatched that interaction a few times now and am pretty sure he said, “I need to pee.”

looked fine when he came back on. kicked 2 or 3 goals. I doubt there's any problem here.

You know what I like most about our 2023 year? The way that pretty much most of our players, all that we do and have done thus far seems to have gone under most commentators and opposition spectators radars….. all year long. I love it. The Sydney game in such a hostile environment was absolutely fantastic. We are serious contenders. Can’t wait for September.

Listening to David King on SEN this morning he was adamant that Collingwood should have 75% of the QF seat allocation because they finished on top. Apart from being codswollop it would not be a good look to have the MCG 75% empty after 3 quarter time.

And besides, the g is our bloody home ground. The johnny come lately squatters should [censored] off and get their own home ground.

Yeah he was robbed in 2020. Biggest demon robbery ever was 2005 when Robbo kicked 73 3rd in Coleman and love childs Shannon Grant and Brad Johnson took the medium forward slots with 40 odd goals each.

Journalistic invisibility.

That's why we have to take head knocks out of the game. Look what happens to you.

I get the sentiment entirely but there is a huge amount to take out of that game. Brisbane and Port won home games. Carlton lost. Collingwood beat an on form bottom 3 side. But we went on the road to a finalist on a 6-game win streak, farewelling Buddy, and with a home final to play for. We could have given up or not cared. But we treated it like a dress rehearsal for finals, we found the football we all want to see us play, and with 1.5 quarters of it we turned a 3 goal deficit into a 4 goal win. IMO, the confidence and belief this game gives us is enormous. Losing Melksham is terrible news, don’t get me wrong, but players get injured at training so nothing’s guaranteed.

I'd like to see a Brisbane win (and us obviously). That'd force the pies to have to go via a prelim vs Brisbane at the Gabba to make the GF. Outside that, my other preference is a 1 point Carlton loss by a kick after the siren that is touched on the goal line but incorrectly referred to video with the umpire's call as goal, where the video evidence is inconclusive because Charlie Curnow had run back into defence and did his lamo bicep curl fist pump blocking the camera's view.

Who would that be DD? Someone who would slot in nicely next to Daniel Tuna and Flake Howes?

ralph's scan came back all clear in fact they couldn't find anything ... except clearness

Like the NBA, I think every player on the list should get one, only the players on the day get them on the day. Many players probably wouldn’t want it or may not feel they have earned it, but I’m firmly of the belief that it is a list that wins a flag, not just 23 players. As mentioned, Melksham is a key reason we held on to top 4.

Maybe I'm on my own, but I don't mind this at all. He's a massive accumulator of the footy so we'd have no issues generating clearences and and getting first hands on the footy. Does this free up the likes of Oliver and Petracca to spend even more time up forward so they're not crashing and bashing their bodies? He comes free without giving up a draft pick up. He's an All Australian midfielder as well so there's certainly class and talent there.

A person I don’t like talking about a player I don’t care for, from a club I hate.

Getting the tickets is nearly as stressful as a final decided by a couple of goals

He’s clear of a broken wrist?

Um yes... the knee injury itself.

I have said it before but the other teams will be worried about meeting melbourne in finals. We have been to the big dance, we have won a flag, our defence is first class, we have talent to burn, we have multiple weapons and now seem to be able to switch gears or game plans during a match. we are building nicely and will mess with their heads.

Oh god not this again. Hunter's fine. He's one of the last players they'd drop.

I'm a fan. He was dynamic, very hard at it, took on some very aggressive kicks and executed. I think he could be a beauty. Only thing is (and the same problem for Thomlinson) is taking a ruck one on one. But he brings the pace we need. The future looks bright if he can hold down a key back spot, and be attacking with Petty up forward. I trust Goodwin to make the right choice.

The two biggest beneficiaries of dodgy goal umpiring decisions face off in an elimination final. Surely this game has to be decided by a goal review.

I can think of ten AFL clubs that desperately wish they were playing next Thursday night.

That is a very good point. Daicos would surely be touch and go to play. Six weeks was preliminary final i thought. Even if he plays, it's not a game he can ease into, and will get no time and space. Or peace. And for Moore every day matters given his history of hamstring issues. A chilly Melbourne Thursday night won't help his cause much either.

Don’t think the club has gotten plaudits for being able to make top four with a tough draw and arguably one of our worst years in terms of injuries. The ability to win 16 games despite having key stars out for key periods of the year including: Petty, TMac, Oliver, Fritsch, Brown, Salem, Gawn, Viney, Spargo, Smith and now Melksham is remarkable. Injuries play a huge factor in a successful season and despite the horror run we’ve had we’ve still found a way to put a good team on the field. Our high performance and rehab teams deserve a lot of praise in my opinion.

We just beat an in form, well coached, tough, contested ball team in Sydney on their home turf and people are wanting 4 people dropped... Goodwin and the selectors under his coaching reign rarely make sweeping changes, and our form of late (including getting ripped of for a win versus the Blues) will mean few changes again. There are considerations like Salem's poor form, Hunter's turnovers, Bowey's patchy form etc... but I don't reckon any of these rate a mention on Goodwin's radar. How will Turner go against the big bodies of Mihocek and McStay? Week 1 focus is rest and recover hard. Bowey, Fritsch and anyone else with a knock or problem. Melksham is unlikely to play, so that will be one change. Any other changes will be dependant on matching the Pies, and perhaps weather if it is a factor. We beat them on King's Birthday, with the only thing keeping them close being our poor goal kicking (which we have well and truly corrected). Our players like ANB, Brayshaw, Langdon, Max, and Sparrow are really important because of their defensive spread (which the Pies hate, relying on players like Daicos x 2, pendlebury and Sidebottom playing wide for the free ball). I both hate and love the pre-finals bye.

I don’t mean to be rude but I’m really starting to question the intelligence of a couple of you wanting Grundy back in the team. We literally went over this after the Carlton game, Max becomes half the player he is when he has to split ruck duty with Brodie & because Brodie is one dimensional you end having to play him more ruck than Max for him to be effective.

Bit tough on Bill Laurie who came on late in the third and had 9 touches (4 contested), 2 inside 50's and 4 score assists.