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I just had a call from Wendy at AFL, good news, the ban is being overturned at Casey Fields. She told me she and Nicole Livingstone just got out of a meeting with MFC, who were true to their word to fight this ban on our behalf, and they're announcing overturning for Casey Fields at this stage only. I'd like to think I played a role in this!!

I think this was a con job. It has all been about what can you be expected to do, when you are off the ground, attempting a smother. The biomechanist was even wheeled in. The whole decision was centred around what can reasonably be expected of a player who is in the air, in the act of smothering. The con that I see, is that it was never a smother, it was a deliberate hit, to make a player earn it the hard way, with hands up at the start, to make it look like a legal act, a smother. I am not saying he meant to knock him out, but rather deliver a hard hit, making him earn it and that would affect him and rattle his team mates. Maynard said as much during the week, that he would make us earn it. We have been conned, they looked at it from the point of view of a smother in the air, instead of a deliberate hit. That is how he got off, when coupled with a pretty poor prosecution of the case. To me the whole thing has the look of being stage managed, which is borne out by the refusal to Appeal. That of course is probably my MFC bias speaking.

The knee is one thing but it's important to think about the bigger picture than just Melksham's age. His conditioning is elite. He has the lowest body fat percentage at the club and his ability to take care of his body, diet and recovery is second to only Clayton at the club. His role relies on smarts more than speed. There were no signs of him slowing down prior to Round 23, in fact it looked the opposite. I'm not advocating for a two year deal but I do believe if any players conditioning and physical attribute belies their age, it is Melksham.

Maynard left his man Tracc and ran 20 metres flat out and jumped into the air, as Gus was coming the other way. He put his hands in the air, to look like a smother and then braced for contact. He hit him with a shoulder to the head and knocked him out. A bump, absolutely no doubt. Only the result may have been unexpected. 100 years of footy and never happened before. As some Coaches and ex players have now said if it was his brother or team mate it doesn’t happen. We have been conned. Smother, my ar-e.

Spargypants in !!! Someone send the cardio ambulance around to picket fence's house !!!

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/i-was-pretty-much-stuck-on-the-couch-for-a-month-why-christian-salem-is-hell-bent-on-bouncing-back-20230913-p5e4g4.html Poor Salo really has been through the wringer. A lot of posts in recent weeks questioning his form. Have been more than surprised as to why some people are even wondering what’s up with him

Really reckon they should have picked Grundy for this one. Max resting at FF isn't a bad shout at all, he competes hard and would probably nullify their tall interceptors. At his best he can dominate the F50, remember 3rd quarter of the PF 2021? Anyway, not gonna happen now. They've picked a heck of a time to gamble so radically with the forward/ruck setup. Losing Jackson has absolutely put us backwards way worse than I ever anticipated.

I was just driving home from work when Andrew Jarman on radio suggested Harry Petty would be a fair trade. I almost killed my accelerator.

If recent trends are followed, penalties will be extreme for incidents occurring during preseason and the first few rounds of the home and away. From that point forward certain perpetrators will be given special treatment to allow the AFL to push whatever agenda they have cooking for the second half of the year. By this stage Brownlow fancies and finals contenders will have emerged. AFL will orchestrate verdicts to showcase their big clubs and big stars to keep interest piqued among the masses and maximise gate, merchandise and, most important of all these days, gambling revenue. By the last third of the season the application of the penalties will be completely inconsistent and will depend entirely on the players and teams involved and what the impact will be on the clubs that the AFL will want to see in finals contention, again to maximise revenues. During finals, anything goes, unless you are a no name, rookie from one of the interstate or smaller Victorian clubs, in which case you will be pilloried and made an example of. If the Maynard incident had occurred in round one this year, he would have been suspended, of this I have absolutely no doubt.

I disagree with this. Marchbank’s ‘touch’ being disallowed means we finish top 2. Every single AFL ready key forward we have on our list has been injured for massive chunks of the season. Every time we find a solution it got taken away. We’ve had back to back finals against the only 2 teams still in the race that could drown us out at the G. One of our favourite sons gets knocked out in a thug move and everyone pretends it’s not, purely for their job security and ratings. Yet still Friday night, undermanned and exhausted by all of this we will be there in droves to support our team. Our supporters are so much more resilient than we get credit for, and the crowd numbers this year prove it. Go Dees. Make some [censored] noise. The whole worlds against us, but that can’t stop us.

Good lord, if that's how inaccurate he is, AF will be beside himself 🤷

People here tend to have a negative attitude about JJ but a lot of that comes from him trying to play wing; as a proper running mid he is underrated.

Thinking about this a bit more, Carlton are poor once the ball gets on the outside. My thinking is that we’ll try and get the ball into space and run in and behind their defenders. The Carlton defence plays back shoulder, you need to beat them with a bit of speed and mobility. Maybe Goody was inspired by Longmire’s decision to sub Amarti and go small which led to the Swans almost running over the top? Either way, I think Schache needs to be sub to give us some insurance in case Gawn goes down or if we’re getting out marked badly down in our forward 50.

Geez, the prophets of doom are out in full force - we'll win this!

Makes sense. We get crucified by the umpires every week.

McVee will be busy 😂

Thanks @Mel Bourne, but not a great time to bump the thread 😂

I have my own reasons for hating that man. My uncle was chair of the Olympic Park Trust at the time of Collingwood trying to name Olympic Park the Bob Rose Oval, and it was my uncle that told him he couldn't do it. That man went after my uncle professionally and personally, and for that I think of him as nothing more than scum of the earth.

Gus did nothing wrong. He passed the ball and did exactly what he was supposed to do. I see that as nothing more then victim blaming. Like the sham of that tribunal hearing.

Someone told me the biomechanics guys was a professor from the 35th ranked university in the country. I wouldn't call him an expert btw. I am an Engineer so I have a fair understanding of physics, so his condescending rethoric was pure rubbish.

1 . Max has a broken toe, who knows what happens if stepped on in 1st Qrt 2. Carlton have a decent 2x Ruck combo anyway 3. Carlton play tall 4. Other Fwd options are a lottery BBB (fit?) or Schache (skills?) 5. Releases Smith to sub who's strength is 1.5 Qrts pinch hitting as a fit/fast Sub (3rd back or 3rd fwd) 6. The Gawndy fairytale is due for a happy ending...

Actually I was genuinely concerned about this so I made some discreet enquiries. Picket has apparently survived the selection shock but the paramedics had to cook two defibrillators and blackout the neighbourhood to keep him gasping.

All this selection palaver neglects consideration of one thing Viney to spend the first quarter committing football acts and wipe out their whole team .

I would prefer Lauren Pearce in the ruck before T-Mac

We're 1-2 this year when Tommo plays and either May or Lever is injured. We're 5-0 this year when Tommo/Lever/May all play. I'm sure we'll eventually lose a game when all these 3 play, but the facts are we haven't lost a game when these three are in the same side since 2020. In actual fact, our defence was brilliant in the early rounds of 2021 with Tomlinson taking a key forward each week before his knee reco. Petty took over his role successfully.

I just love that you have family up there, but you'll only go see them if Melbourne is playing.

Quite to the contrary, Messiah – your “simple“ analysis is spot on. In my view, the relevant decision the tribunal should’ve been focused on was that by Maynard when he launched himself forcefully into the air in such a way that contact between the lower part of his body, and the upper part of Brayshaw‘s body walls at the very least likely, if not probable. At this point, he effectively loses control of his trajectory towards Brayshaw and, at the last instant, alters, his own posture (not his trajectory), in order to minimise the impact to himself of the violent collision his voluntary action has brought about. Apropos his duty of care either you decide not to launch yourself in this manner, or it is incumbent upon you to minimise the likely forceful contact your action has caused. The frisbee analogy (i.e. becoming an uncontrolled missile) should’ve been used in cross-examination of the Collingwood expert as evidence against Maynard. The notion that Maynard, who is undisputed objective is to impede the progress of the ball, did not align himself with the undeviating trajectory of Brayshaw‘s progress, is nonsensical. How else would he have impeded the progress of the ball, given that Brayshaw gives every indication of kicking in the direction his body is travelling (i.e. as opposed to, for example , where his back is to the goal, and he is trying to kick around his body, in which case the kicking leg and the other parts of the body would present distinguishable targets to the potential spoiler ).The proposition that any deviation by Brayshaw at the instant before contact was the reason the two players came into violent collision, defies the logic of what Maynard was attempting to do. In my view, the league’s election not to challenge this contentious, and I believe flawed, decisionis highly dubious. The fact that this situation will be reviewed postseason indicates that it was not an acceptable “football action” and should have drawn a sanction, even under the present understanding of what constitutes a “careless“ action.

No way Goody makes that many changes. I imagine only the two certain outs will be replaced. Perhaps the sub too.

Tracc did run back to create the option. Maynard let him go and charged at Gus. This was always a bump disguised as an attempt to smother. Don’t be fooled.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

I must be the only one here who didn’t rate Hibbos game last week, Elliott showed Hibbo was lacking in pace and as a result we had to adjust our defence to stop pies exploiting it. I don’t think we will be seeing him again regardless of if we win this week

Point 7 of why it’s the wrong decision I believe the biomechanist's whole argument is wrong. He's isolated the half second after Maynard left the ground, but he’s forgetting the entire leadup and leap forward by X Metres Brayshaw barely deviates half a metre , he's essentially run in a straight line for 20m before kicking the ball. That entire run constitutes the time that is Maynard's decision making time. Not sure the AFL Prosecutor Woods has ever argued a case. He failed to land a point.

Lots of people predicting our demise and looking for someone to blame to cushion the blow if we lose I'd rather be positive

I like this move to go smaller and not do a straight swap for JVR. It's something different and changes up our forward line. Plus maybe it'll force us to stop bombing into fwd 50. I really hope I don't regret this comment. I'll keep this open in a tab so I can delete it later.

The chat about no tall forwards when McDonald in the ruck ignores the fact that Smith, Petracca and Fritsch are not exactly small and all play as marking forwards PLUS can beat their opponents when the ball hits the deck

Petracca to play as genuine CHF and to tear the game apart

We look a lot better when Tommo plays, and think we have a high Win% with him this year.....

I'm going to be sitting on this, just to stick it up the AFL.

This should help cheer everyone up (report from The Age): Petracca said a neurologist gave Brayshaw the “all clear” after the Melbourne midfielder’s brother Hamish Brayshaw, an ex-Eagle, told reporters this week he would undergo brain scans. “He is going better. I saw him the day after [the incident happened], and he obviously got concussed 12 hours before that, so, of course, he was going to be feeling sore,” Petracca told KIIS FM. “I think [his concussion history] was more so worrying him, but he saw the neurologist and [he received the] all clear. Apparently, the concussion – the way he pulled up compared to the last one – was much better, which is good.” That must be a huge relief to Gus, families and team mates!

I could not disagree more. The crowds that go to AFLW are a very different crowd to AFL. Many fans attend AFLW over AFL because it is a totally different crowd. Last Thursday's behaviour by Collingwood supporters is a clear cut example of the kind of behaviour that AFLW fans seek to avoid. The players also don't want to play second fiddle to the men, they certainly do not want to be regarded as "the reserves" competition. There are a lot of AFL supporters who treat AFLW as second rate, and still mock, degrade, etc the competition, fans and players. Why would you want to subject AFLW players and fans to that?

I'm hearing the name Schache waaaay to much for a finals thread he hasnt played a game for 3 weeks and in that game he was poor As much as I don't think Grundy fits our structure if its a call between him and Schache, thats an easy call. One is an AFL player, the other is not

Spot on. The AFL are a joke. What's happened here is way worse than Cripps last season. Eddy is a bloody half back flanker. I'd love nothing more than for GWS to win this weekend and then go on to smash Collingwood and knock them out (metaphorically speaking) in a prelim.

Yes you are. Every time you or @Bring-Back-Powell or anyone else post about "it was at the Adelaide Oval/Optus Stadium" or "neutral crowds" or "rent-a-crowds" or "not at the MCG", you are diminishing our efforts in 2021. I don't get why any MFC supporter would want to do that. You talk in your OP about how Collingwood approach things. Do you think Collingwood supporters would take the same view if they were the 2021 premiers? No [censored] way. They'd own it proudly and loudly.

Surely, in terms of accessibility, the club legally has to provide seating for people who can’t stand?

1. I'm not concerned about the 'outs' from last week's teams and injuries. Outs: Carlton: Martin, McKay Melbourne: Brayshaw, JvR Rumoured Injuries: Carlton: Cripps (Ribs) Pitttonet (Knee) Acres (Shoulder) Melbourne: Oliver: Knee Gawn: Foot Petracca: (ankle?) Both teams missing key players and both teams have key players battered and bruised (who will play) so will match up fairly evenly. As the missing and battered are in the same part of the ground it evens up the field a bit more. So imv we can relax about our depleted resources disadvantaging us in this game. 2. Carlton's 'one wood' is winning centre clearances. We beat them at the coal face we will be half way home. They seem to not be able to play out four quarters whereas we finish well. We should win. 3, My major reservation is their potential physicality. I'm not sure they have any 'attack dogs' like Coll do. but they are coached by one of the toughest players of all time. Having seen what Coll did to us early last week Voss may bring out their aggression and play in 'beast mode' early. I doubt they can sustain it for a whole game. To counter that we need our aggressive players (May, Viney, Salem, Sparrow, Kozzie) to be (legally) aggressive from the get go. A repeat of the first 5 minutes of the 2021 GF will do very nicely. 4. Dees by 2-3 goals.

Draft Central’s Coates Talent Team of the Year announced with Kynan Brown named on the half forward flank.

Ross Lyon thought it was unacceptable and Chris Scott thought it was unacceptable. Very experienced footy men with no skin in the outcome. Whole thing stinks.

I'm quite comfortable with how we carry ourselves on the big stage - and the respect we've earned from the football world in return. Yes we went out in straight sets last year, but you don't finish top 4 three years in a row without 'stepping up' multiple times. I saw the OP made a similar post in another thread, implying that the flag was diminished because it was played at a neutral venue away from a hostile crowd; if you want to put an asterisk next to one of our greatest premiership wins, that's your call. Not me. We were on the precipice of one of football's biggest ever chokes in 2021. We were easily the best team of the H&A season, and the finals, and we'd let a dominant four-goal GF lead turn into a 19-point deficit midway through the third term. Our decades-long reputation as a soft club that couldn't deliver when the heat is on was about to be signed and sealed forever in front of the entire nation. But we didn't fold. We produced 45 minutes of the most devastating football in finals history - close to perfection. When it counted most. With a heavy 57-year old monkey on our back. To pretend there wasn't scrutiny or pressure is just plain wrong - there will never be more pressure than there was in 2021 when we were trying to break the curse.