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all this handwringing about jefferson is absurd 23 goals in his first vfl season is not bad give the kid a chance to develop

Wow, so much handwringing with Jefferson in a back pocket for a practise match in the VFL! It's common for forwards to play some time as backs to see leading patterns etc. Also consider: BBB and Fullerton are more likely to get a senior call up before Jefferson, possibly even this week against the dogs, they probably got priority as forwards for this match so we can see them as an option for round 1. Verral and KFW had the ruck duties, and TMac is playing as a back this year, that is where he trained all year, why would that be a surprise. Breathe people, you're gonna pop a blood vessel before round 4!!!

Given he is one of our best field kicks this is terrible news Courageous act with undeserved consequences - speedy recovery Jake

Nothing finer than watching Collingwood get belted. They were the second weakest premiers of this century behind Bulldogs 2016. A shame that neanderthal Maynard made it through the match unscathed. I wish nothing but ill upon him.

Yes, we bemoan losing Hogan, but without May we don’t win the ‘21 flag.

One of the best CHB we ever had became a great forward.Go Neita

Just one other thing about Clarry, just after 3/4 time a Port Melbourne player came over to Clayton and the joy, cameraderie,and passion was on display with bear hugs and plenty of backslapping and Bonhomie, clearly hadn't seen each other for a time but the obvious rapport was evident! The Port Melbourne player in question was..... Fraser Rosman a 1 time Dee Was great to see🤩

Collingwood losing...

Great to hear the crowd booing Maynard - you [censored]

I felt sorry for Jefferson at numerous points last year because that forward line he was trying to get a kick in was land of the giants and even with injuries this year, it’s still massive. He battled along side Tmac, BB, Joel Smith, Schache at numerous points last year and still kicked 20 odd goals. This year he’s still battling BB, Schache will be back there, Fullarton potentially + Verrall and Kyah Farris-White. Unfortunately I think this year will be another of development for Jeffo but the fact Melbourne extended his contract very quickly to the end of 26’ shows what the club know they have in my opinion. Next year, a lot of those older fringe talls will be gone, and Jeffo will be able to have some space to get to work. Big forwards take time. JVR was the anomaly of that in his second season last year, not normality.

We went out hard and failed to capitalize with our forward 50 entries - a single goal from the first 29 entries was poor reward for our hard work while the Swans crowded our forward line. And we completely misread the conditions which led to some costly turnovers, particularly in the first half. As a consequence, by the final break, we had used our petrol tickets and they overran us in the final quarter. Very un Melbourne like and the exact opposite of what we usually expect from the team. I think much the same happened last night to the Brisbane Lions except for the fact that they managed to kick accurately for goal in the first quarter. As to Grundy, the club completely mismanaged the situation by putting him completely off side when he was dropped, ostensibly to learn his forward craft. As a consequence, he wasn’t played in the finals and, as Thursday night showed, he would have been handy in the qualifying final and certainly, no worse than Josh Schache in the semi final. I get that the view inside the club was that he wasn’t selected because he had probably “checked out” but it should never have gotten to that stage. We lost a perfect opportunity to win a flag. Worse still was the fact that the public humiliation and alienation of a two time All Australian resulted in our trading him far more cheaply than had we managed things better. The consequence is that we have egg on our faces for the moment and potentially more embarrassment to come.

Shock no1 soo we are crying out for key forwards. So WHY is T Mac at Full Back and Jefferson im the Back Pocket? BROWN 1 from limited opps FULLARTON 2 great pack marks and rucking well BROWNDOG Busy JED ADAMS Very good THOLSRUUP AND SESTAN Lively MONiz WAKEFIELD Coposed WOEY OK ALSO; WHO IS THE ONLY SENIOR PLAYER WATCHING???????? CLARRY CHOO CHOO😇🤩😎

Hogan has been moved on from 2 clubs for a reason but I’m glad his attitude has changed and he’s doing well now with gws. Very talented player.

That animal Maynard showing his true colours again. Smacked Cadman in the face disguised as a spoil attempt. Love someone to hurt him, and badly.

I'd replace Bowey with Woewodin, who played multiple positions as a junior at East Fremantle, including as a running half-back. It's his third year and imo he's ready. Fullerton seems a no brainer for Schache, who hopefully never plays AFL again. Pickett replaces Laurie, who's not good enough at AFL level. I doubt they'll make more than 3 changes, but the sooner they deem Kynan Brown ready the better. He already looks better than all our smalls bar Pickett, even with a small sample size.

There are a number of good reasons for BBB's inclusion. His forward play nous and experience. His reliable kicking. The fact he will draw defenders and thus take the focus off JVR and frittata. However, given his age and wonky knees, the big question is whether he has the fitness and durability to run out a game at AFL level. Hopefully the coaching staff have and accurate and reliable take on this.

Credit to Carlton - those are the types of wins that Premiership teams look back on as season defining moments that show just how much belief they had in themselves And to be honest the last time I remember a Dees game like that was Round 23 2021 against Geelong Don’t get me wrong - I still think we can win a flag this year and could have won last year if not for our fwd line injuries But jeez sometimes teams just have that intangible aura around them that just propels them to victory - Collingwood had it last year and perhaps the Blues will have it this year

I've revised my expectations to 8 goals

There was much fanfare about the Demons featuring in Round Zero or whatever the AFL has deemed it. Plenty of exclusive TV coverage, a full house at the SCG, the anticipated Grundy v Gawn match up, what could possibly be a better build-up to Season 2024? Well after all the hype, all the Demons could manage was a whimper, as they were blown away by the Swans who had planned immaculately and utilise all their advantages, ground, weather & tactics superlatively. This was a game where the Demons were simply out-coached, by the old fox, John Longmire. Surely the Melbourne coaching panel (it’s not all down to the senior coach) would have realised the following:- • The SCG is small, so a style of play which employs fast running, open spaces, looking for outside run and carry simply does not work. The ground itself is conducive to contested, all bodies to the ball, flooding tactics. And this is exactly what Longmire employs, same as his predecessor, Paul Roos. • The weather was forecast to be humid, warm and even a chance of showers. The ball in those conditions is going to be slippery, so players must be instructed to play “wet weather” type football. Sydney did exactly that, but Melbourne just kept trying to string together handball chains which inevitably failed when the ball was fumbled or mis-directed. Similarly, just kick the ball … any kick will get substantial territory on such a small ground, and it just moves to the next contest, simply because there is no space without bodies nearby. • Why would they select Charlie Spargo who hadn’t been on the training track for the past month with an Achilles injury, and then get him to stand Blakey at 195cm while Spargo is a mere 172cm. Baffling to say the least. But Longmire was even smarter, as he knew Max Gawn would be a deciding factor, especially since he was missing three of his first choice mids in Mills, Parker and Adams. So nullify Max became the instruction. Bump, harass, block or simply belt him at every opportunity and from any player on the field. It worked brilliantly, as there wasn’t much defence of the captain from other Melbourne players, and by the final quarter he was truly battered and bruised. To top it off, Grundy adopted new tactics of blocking Max in the ruck once the ball was bounced, and there should be questions about whether it was legal, since it would attract a free kick in any other part of the ground. Frustratingly, the coaching staff couldn’t see the obvious effect until the final quarter by which time, the damage was done. As Grundy backed into Max, the ball was only ever going to go in one direction, no matter which ruckman hit it. And that was to the Sydney side of the circle. Surely, our mids would have been told to load up that side and shark the ball. But no - it continued virtually all night. Max cannot play the whole game. Grundy was given breaks throughout for long periods especially in the third, where as Max played 82% game time. Then Grundy was not used exclusively in the ruck, and certainly in the final quarter spent most of it a kick behind play. The Sydney style of play also guarantees no freedom for the opposition forwards as they flood the defensive 50m arc profusely. At one point there were 16 red and white players inside, so please give me relief from people who say “lower the eyes”. There is no space provided by the ground firstly and most of it is covered by Swans players. The result was Bayley Fritsch was the only forward to trouble the goal umpire more than once, and he recorded four goals from just six touches. That shows how hard it was for all forwards, but even the Sydney forwards in McDonald with eight touches for the game and Amartey with three (and then being subbed out) demonstrated it wasn’t a night for ANY forward. At least they competed, and Longmire again saw the disadvantage of having non performers up forward with his timely sub in Wicks who had 5 touches in a quarter and provided more input to their success. Any hope the Demons might have had, and they even got a point in front at one stage, was thrown away by fumbling, and even more sadly by a raft of individuals who provided little to nothing for the whole game. The backs held up particularly in the first half, but the constant onslaught eventually wore them down. New boy Blake Howes acquitted himself well in his first game and needed to after Bowey left the ground with a shoulder injury. That was another critical error for the coaching staff, who then took Salem from the middle to sit at HBF, when we needed to clear the ball from the middle and stop it getting there in the first place. On the wing Caleb Windsor – “the Duke” also impressed and while yet to adapt to the physicality of AFL level football, certainly showed plenty and will be called upon for a regular spot in the coming weeks. I won’t go through the individual failures since it was obvious to anyone who watched the game who was at fault. Unfortunately, there were a good number, and those who have been tried, tried and tried again. Give me a Kynan Brown or a Will Verrall fairly soon to replace them, as our circumstances would not have been any worse. We got nought from this game, and probably finished in negative territory. This despite the return of Clayton Oliver, who was obviously a bit underdone, but still managed 30 touches. If others had put in similar efforts to his, the balance sheet would definitely be in the positive. MELBOURNE 1.6.12 2.8.20 7.8.50 9.10.64 SYDNEY SWANS 3.3.21 4.3.27 7.12.54 12.14.86 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 4 Viney 2 Langdon Petracca van Rooyen SYDNEY SWANS Hayward McLean 2 Florent Fox Heeney McDonald McInerney Papley Warner Wicks BEST MELBOURNE Viney May Salem Petracca Oliver Gawn SYDNEY SWANS Heeney Grundy Blakey Warner Papley Florent Rampe INJURIES MELBOURNE Jake Bowey (shoulder) SYDNEY SWANS Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Jack Billings (replaced Bailey Laurie in the third quarter) SYDNEY SWANS Sam Wicks (replaced Joel Amartey in the third quarter) UMPIRES Donlon, Gavine, Findlay, Mollison CROWD 40,012 at the SCG

Disappointing start to the season but I am not one to write off the whole of 24 on such a small sample size. I want to see how we respond to this. Selection was baffling in my view as was he selection of Billings as Sub. I have wanted Bailey Laurie to succeed and have seen some good bits and pieces of ply from him. I have to say that I would not have him in the gameday 23 until he has absolutely battered the door down with a succession of dominating game at Casey. The forwards have been a problem for a number of seasons and I do not see any improvement in the situation. Delivery has been blamed but if you do not have movement or a dominating target to kick to then it does not matter how well it is delivered. Last night I saw a forward line group that did not look to have a clear plan to work too. Schache really did not give us anything worthwhile and I would look at playing anyone else and put Schache in the same basket as Laurie. Here are half a dozen doors marked Casey..... let me know when you have knocked them all down and then we can talk. Our small forwards were nowhere at the fall of the ball at contests. Chandler and Spargo have to be better than that to have any sort of influence on the season. Ben Brown is having a run at Casey today as is Fullerton. Bring in either of them or both. Bowey is out for a time by the looks of it and My was tentative in the second half. there may be a number of changes on all lines of the team for the next game. Howes looked good and not out of place. I hope he can bulk up a bit over the next few years. A lot to work with. Same with Windsor. He looks able and the more games we get into him, the better. A shoutout to Tomlinson..... he was very good and did his job. Petracca had a patchy game and Max was outplayed and out thought. sure he lacks protection from the umps, but that is par for the course for him and he usually sorts it out during the game. Clarry did what he could and was effective. Viney BOG. He was at his best. I liked the games of Salem and Sparrow but after that lot we had no grunt or cover from others that worked through there. Sydney picked us apart with quick accurate passing by foot and a load of pressure and running. We did not cover them and our pressure on the ball was very uneven. Now let us discuss the coaching.... I saw nothing from them during the game in response to the way Sydney were playing or in response to the situation in the game. With Yze gone, who is calling the game from on high with Goody on the boundary? it worked well the last couple of seasons but did not look to have the right level of understanding last night. The coaching group have a lot to work on. not just the team and the tactics, but also their own game time performance. So on to round 1 against the Bulldogs...... what to do?

Why does this thread always turn into MFC player and coach bashing? Some avoid the postgame threads after a loss and come on here to talk about other games specifically. You watching this Goody? That’s how you move the ball Goody. Why didn’t we recruit this tall bloke? Does my [censored] head in.

Tigers fans won't even need to microwave their season ticket. They can just leave it outside for an hour this weekend.

I hope when we walk down the race each player taps a carrot in honour of our fallen comrade.

A second year 19 year old key forwards make or break year is their second season in the AFL? What a load of rubbish😂 says all you need to know.

In Carlton’s last 5 games they haven’t kicked double figures in behinds. In our last 4 games we’ve kicked nothing but double figures in behinds. One club takes their opportunities and the other doesn’t.

The afl reddit match thread is full of neutrals slagging maynard off. Easily most hated in the comp, not just by us

That was a 50m penalty every day of the week! Takes Green head on and high then initiates a wrestle.

still think we need salem more in midfield than defensively we'll have to cobble a back 7 together out of may - lever - tomlinson - rivers - howes - mcvee - one other windsor to be a sheezel across half back? hore to resume his afl career? woewodin or pup brown to emulate their dads and kickstart careers as defenders?

Average? Are you joking? Look at the forward line he was trying to get a kick in at Casey? Smith, BB, Tmac, Schache. the kid barely had a chance. If you think delivery into the forward line is bad in the senior side, try watching Casey. Of course he needs to bulk up, he’s a kid. Not everyone is like Roo.

I love reading that we're giving Jeffo a go down back. He's a mile off AFL footy as a key forward. Years away. But he has great skills and will find more of the ball down back. And with May and Tomlinson in the best 22 (contrasted with Petty/JVR as the forwards) we need to bring young tall defenders through. Disco's out for a long time. So let's have a good look at Jeffo as well as Adams and see if one of them can work towards a debut sooner than later. I can definitely see the Mitch McGovern/Harry Himmelberg comparisons. Otherwise without stats and a proper report it's hard to know how the boys are going but Sestan seems to be hitting the score board consistently in practice games which is nice to see.

Poor bloke, that is awful.

Any loss for Brisbane, especially at the GABBA this year is a good thing; regardless of who it’s against. That place is a fortress and their list is very, very strong. Carlton wins can be pegged back as they share the G and their home ground advantage. Any loss for Lions at home is worth its weight in gold for any team that aspires to be top 4. (Which I’m hoping we still do!) Long, long season ahead and no one would be writing off the lions, just like no one should be writing off us either.

Schache will stay in to rub salt in the wounds of the bulldogs for letting him go….

I think he theory with Jefferson is he will learn the game better from the back half.

I’ll explain it to you. Grundy was the only ruckman picked for the 6 rounds Max didn’t play last year, and he was very average. He was dominated by Essendon, and it was embarrassing. He showed none of the agility or presence he showed last night. He then got annoyed by lack of rucking options when Gawn was available, and didn’t offer enough around the ground. I’ve heard he made himself unavailable for us in the finals, as he wanted out. He’s a good player, but he brought none of the necessary intensity required for us last year. That’s not the clubs fault. Trying to blame Gawn for it seems like an odd thing to do to our best player of the last decade.

Apart from the mullet Sestan looks a completely different player from last season. I reckon he's lost 10kg and is covering the ground a lot better. He's a natural footballer with clear talent.

I can't bring myself to watch the filth match. Still very very angry.

Huge isn't it. The halfback stocks are dwindling. I'd be tempted to play Spargo back there. Fast, can put pressure on opps, has a good kick, loves spreading to get away from the opps. Not kicking enough goals, and plenty of small forwards to choose from. Spargo for the big men's club!

In the before Christmas preseason, Jed was hammering it. Looked fit, put on more size, was getting plenty of plays in the sims, and generally showing good skills. He was looking like a Petty clone. After Christmas, not as much involvement as the others really started to ramp up their intensity, he tapered off. He will be given a chance in AfL, sometime this year, in my opinion.

I think Dermott nailed it when he described Schache as wanting to win contest in the least physical way possible.

@picket fence any more elaboration on how the guys went? specifically Sestan as I see the practice match he seemed to have really changed physically, and he has a lot of talent. Hopefully we have some fwds coming through to knock spargo etc out. Also I dont think Laurie is really afl level

Our final round v Sydney last year had similarities to the Geelong 2021 match. I think an objective position of our past 2 years is that we were good enough to win enough games to finish top 4 but had too many banged up players and limped into finals (2022) and injuries to key personnel (2023) which meant we were probably a 1 to 2 goal worse side than if we had Petty or Melksham and a fit Fritta going into finals. Sydney beat us on Thursday night because they are a very good disciplined side and we didn't handle the slippery ball well around stoppage and were able to take our strength away from us and then us it to their advantage. I also wouldn't be surprised if changes to our game style where we move the ball more aggressively take a bit of time to bed in and while we still win the majority of our games that our best form is through the second half of the season.

I'd play BBB for no other reason than to protect JVR

How does even a non MFC thread end up as peak MFCSS? Is there nowhere to go where it doesn't take over?

Agree on Hore call. Kate!

I seem to recall that we played Fritsch for at least half a season at HBF and it did not work out too badly for his forward work.

And for me too. Aside from a couple of entertaining wins over Brisbane, Adelaide and Richmond in July when we kicked straight, we’ve been playing an unattractive, sloppy and often soul destroying brand of footy since about round 10 last year.

A question that I am sure has been asked and answered before: what special skills as a forward does Greg Stafford bring to our club? Surely someone who has played and excelled as a forward would be worth calling on. Is Neita anywhere on the footy scene these days? Carey? To me it seems pretty obvious that either Brundy or Max spat the dummy - no glimpse of Brundy in the final 6 or so weeks of the season was unfathomable unless one said he couldn't work with the other. It is a sad fact that nobody could get this "dream combo" to work.

I can’t believe i waited so long for that game. it was so dull and disappointing skills were poor Im losing faith in the coaching unit

They've figured out that his natural kicking action works best at 120m.