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One other point on the Kossie incident. I cannot fathom those who are saying " he needs to get that out of his game" after this incident. Pickett jumped in the air to smother the ball. He did not leave the ground intending to bump as he did against Smith and Cripps. Smothering is inherently dangerous but you don't win football matches without it. Those people criticising Pickett are probably also lauding Tom Sparrow, who leapt to smother the ball before the Petracca goal.

I think Selwyn deserves some credit after the Adelaide Sojourn He was able to prepare the side for 2 games in 5 days in hostile conditions. Burgess taught him well Well Played Mr Griffiths

My husband got offered free corporate box seats for the ANZAC game through a client, and was like “there’s not enough free alcohol in the world that will make me want to go to watch Essendon and Collingwood play on my day off” 😂

Max is heading towards AA number 7 - remarkable

Regardless of one's view on what penalty Kozie should get (and I haven't seen anyone say he should get off scot free), I cannot let that pass. Maynard's action was quite different. He lined Gus up pretending to smother, had plenty of time to not clobber him. Even if you take the most negative view of what Kossie did, it was nowhere near as bad as Maynard.

... reminded the boys that they're flat-track bullies.

Billings is worth persevering with. He’s coming off two years plagued with injury-setbacks, and is finding his feet at a new club. He was never going to play his best footy in the first few weeks. (Oh and, my phone seems pretty determined to spell his name as “Billing’s”, so I can understand the errors)

The Tasmanian round will be a double header.

The AFL need to understand that NEITHER the MRO or Tribunals are Courts of Law. Therefore, they cannot rely on precedent or "priors". Nor can they rely on a change of policy. Each incident can only be examined under CURRENT AFL rules and not ones the AFL want to bring in as a knee jerk reaction. The AFL needs to get its house in order and not be a 'law' unto itself.

Get your frozen dinners ready for tomorrow night.

What they are saying about Melbourne’s win over Crows Why does Tom Sparrow look more like Todd Viney than Jack Viney? Melbourne's clash jumper looks really nice I wish the media hadn't got stuck into Melbourne They're getting a bit of teamwork back into their game. Really wish van Rooyen had lasted one more pick in his draft After the dozens of throws Melbourne have got away with they ping an Adelaide player for that? Melbourne's game style often makes for ordinary games What they are saying about Max Gawn's marking around the game has returned after it became a bit inconsistent. Need to take that away from him Oscar needs to go with Gawn and neutralise him Would it make sense to bring Fort back in to double team Gawn? Just get both of them to rotate often and just smash into him I don’t know if Oscar has it in him to play mean and nasty Gawn is possibly the best ruckman of this century (I think I am starting to have him ahead of Cox) and Gawn is in good form again Oscar quite often starts really well against Gawn and Gawn has mentioned before that Oscar is one of the hardest Rucks for him to play against but Gawn usually wins the battle because he can lasts a whole game. And always finishes much stronger Reality is Gawn is a champion player and Oscar , for all that we love him, is an average one All I see is Gawn running in to attack the ball and Oscar trying to react to him, which is so not good with Melb. midfield I can see this game panning out anything from a big Demons win to a narrow Lions win, we need to bring the heat for all 4 quarters or we will get smashed Everything else Ben Brown serves as the Dees big tall forward and has posed problems for us in the past There is little point hoping Rayner can step up in the midfield this Thursday. The last time we played Melbourne in Rd.18, 2023, Rayner had a paltry 8 disposals, managing only 3 in the first half. That game he attended 4 centre bounces and managed 0 clearances for the game. He also failed to hold a mark. This sort of clutch, big occasion game in Melbourne is precisely the sort of game that Rayner goes missing in It's very satisfying beating Melbourne - they play a horrible style of football but are hard to win against I reckon Fritsch is a very smart player and would love to have him at the Lions. Despite everyone I speak to seeming to have some sort of dislike for him for a variety of reasons And my two favourites . . . But the big question I think every Lions fan is wondering...will the dees inject the deadly Schacheattack into the side to dominate us. We will have to wait and see Let’s hope Fagan isn’t playing the whale song and burning the relaxing aromatic oils at half time this week. His ability to put a team to sleep or not keep them on their toes is becoming legendary. Can’t afford the Traditional In-game Nap Time this week. #TINT

MFC to appeal Kozzies suspension: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1525732/mro-update-dees-challenge-pickett-sanction

Pretty respectful and decent comments that’s no fun

I hope it doesn't for our chances against Brisbane, but the week should stand and we as a fan base should be accepting of this. It's an action that was entirely unnecessary - that he could have 'laid out' Soligo but didn't is completely irrelevant and tbh a very silly thing to say. "I could have decked the guy but only elbowed him slightly in the head, I'm innocent". Ridiculous suggestion. Separately, the commentary around Koz and his nature has been disgusting. Even without the Roar article, Collingwood and Carlton fans have been into him for a long time. Carlton fans in particular despise Koz (because he's consistently pulled their pants down, Motlop is half as good only in their wettest of dreams) - their common name for him is 'the junkyard dog'. People will deny it but there is a particularly pernicious tone to these accusations when it's a player of certain colour. Seen it before in this sport all too many times.

As a young fella with Essendon supporting relos I remember being excited and happy for them when they won the flag in '84, was a huge party that night. Those same relos and essendon supporters in general then proceeded to rub their success in my face for the next 30yrs solidifying my hatred for the club. These days I work with a couple essendon supporters in their early 20s who don't remember being successful at all and I love to listen to the disappointment in their club. Showed me where their next generation of supporters are psychologically. Fair to say I bathe in their miserable tears.

I like the coaches award. Most accurate award in my books. AFLPA MVP is garbage. Brownlow is worse. It’s interesting that of the top 25 we are only represented by 2 players. Over the past few seasons we have been well over-represented. This year I think it’s reflective of a more evenly distributed team effort.

Stay strong. Eliminate these feelings resembling "sympathy". I don't recall anything but derision and contempt coming our way in our many years in the wilderness.

That evaluation is so unreasonable and personally vindictive is raises an eyebrow towards racism. The only other possibility is that he's still in a sulky about the Dog's getting annihilated in the grand final that he's still coming after Melbourne as if we must be bad people because we did something that made him feel the sads. EDIT: Here is the same person discussing Peter Wright's full-force impact on the back of the head of a player who was backing into a mark; To begin with, let’s call it what it was – a collision, and not a hit, nor a bump, and especially not a snipe. It’s the sort of incident that, up until recently, was seen as an occupational hazard of one of the world’s most brutal, fast-paced sports. Those times have changed, and it’s no longer safe to wave such collisions away without attempting to stamp them out of the game, especially when they result in a serious injury as Wright’s did, with Cunningham suffering a serious concussion. But it’s worth noting, if for nothing else than to defend Wright’s character, that the only thing he did wrong was, in the split second it took to make the decision, brace for contact rather than continuing to fly for the mark and risking his own wellbeing.

Would you say the same about those criticising Maynard? After all, he was attempting to smother the ball. Yes, I think he got off far too easy, but his action did bring about rule changes which unfortunately have seen Kossie receive a suspension. I think that if the player chooses to launch himself with both feet off the ground and the smother is successful without making contact with the opponent’s head, then fair enough…but if the player mis-times the smother and in bracing himself, makes contact with the head, then he’s in trouble.

It didn't take long for them to lose 'The Edge' Decided to check out bf! Thought I wold drop by and share their comments: Gather round sucks! This team is trash. Make a statement at selection. Embarrassing. I ******* hate being a fan of the most pathetic club in the competition. And now hopefully people see why Scott said it’s an 8 year plan and not 3 or whatever. Essendon Edge? More like Essendon lay down and die. Amazing example of an arrogant upstart team coming in and thinking ‘if we do what we do, we don’t have to worry about the opposition’, and the getting absolutely ****ing smashed for their hubris and naivety. absolutely owned. outworked and outclassed. Finally, it feels like a normal season again. Was feeling a bit weird there for a hot minute. Every year it's the same s**t. We knock off dawks, norf, etc Maybe have a "breakout" win against 'aints or whoever, have a chance to make a statement (even if we don't win) and what happens. We s**t the bed. No composure when we had the ball and no pressure when we didn’t. Is draper undroppable ? The hype around this bloke is ******* hysterical Parish … 6 years for a bloke we don’t need. Fair to say its the same stuff with this group - against the big clubs/games & adversity(interstate away games) we are soft, weak & unskillful. There are no positives to that game. None. Zero. … Need to burn the entire list and start again post Dodo. We have no speed, no skills, no grunt, no winners …Same s**t, different year. Kinda tempted to have an all time melt but don’t have the energy for this s**t anymore. We undid every positive from the first 3 rounds. Lots of work to even cement ourselves as a mid table team. Get someone from the Melbourne Storm to teach those soft pretty boys how to tackle for a start. Our style is flat track bullies. Calling it, season over. Huge% loss tonight. Now an uncompetitive 82%. i am essenDONE Need more AFL lifestyle The Understatement A bit s**t A hint of optimism: Need to put this behind us as quick as possible and use it as a reality check. My Favourite: Oh well, where was the Edge? They lied, we were on the Edge of a cliff! Can't agree with this comment: Cats V Power GF, calling it now. I had the Dees in the GF before the season even started. Stand by that. Don't care who we play, probably GWS. My wish for Ess is not to be stuck at the bottom of the ladder as they would reap early draft picks. My wish is for them to be forever stuck in the wilderness of a mid tier team. Hoping like hell that Collingwood join them there for a long time to come!! Enjoy the season D'landers. It will be a very good one.

CARRRYST U GUYS SERIOUS CMON SUPPORT OUR GUY!

Would love an explanation on how our game style is "horrible" I think we've been playing quite aesthetically pleasing footy this year.

I usually like a lot of the stuff The Roar publishes. This is purely disgusting. Calling Pickett a "sniper, it was a dog act, football's dirtiest player" I think I'll find a way to complain to the publishers about this. It's really disgraceful journalism. It will just stir up more unwarranted hatred for Koz. I hope the club stands up for him and appeals. https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/04/07/six-points-clutch-kings-do-it-again-footys-dirtiest-player-and-debunking-vic-centric-fixture-myth/

Thought I read somewhere that he attended the Casey scratch game on the weekend - if true it isn’t really something I’d expect from a player with one foot out the door I really hope he stays as I believe he is very important to our structure in the next 4 to 5 years

Browsed bomberblitz and bf. The outrage has settled and resignation at another lost season has set in. That aside, I found a few things that made me chuckle !!! grab another couple mid table players as FA. We’re all frustrated given the last 20 years however we need to be patient. watch the first quarter. We played really well. Who gives a toss what the senior players think? They dished up the 12 goal loss That performance left me feeling edgy. Haha. I could give them a piece of my mind but they'd probably just refer it to Dodoro. Also, worst song in the league. Keep drafting sh-t, keep trading sh-t, keep getting sh-t results Well finish 9th. No hard decisions will be made and on it goes. There’s an excellent team with $10 memberships and a bright future of draft concessions you could join. Port players just ran through us like turn styles all night. Is it acceptable to change AFL teams after 35 years? I expect a written apology from all the Essendon Happy Clappers. I do wonder what it’s like to support a successful team We need to actively bottom out … This fight for mid table has to end. Culture at Essendon has been [censored] for a long long time now Have not seen the score how did we go? Was it close and did we bring the edge? Praying one of my 4 kids gets drafted so I have a legit excuse to pack it in with this mob Time to start tanking. The smashing we had to have Poor bastards who went over for this. I’d suggest to them that they get on the wine tours and not to drink for pleasure but to drink to forget My Favourite Put $5 on WC beating us when we meet them

"Healy off, Ellingworth on . . . weak as p&#." RDB

We’ve played an extra game…

I’m convinced Shane McAdams is growing a new hamstring in a lab What sort of shocking condition did he come in from Adelaide where he was managed by Burgess?

the point i'm trying to make is that the grading is the key 1. careless vs accidental. forget it. that was the maynard defence and that has been removed for smothers 2. contact not high. forget it , was unambiguously high 3. impact. low vs medium. this is the only arguable grading category the defence needs to focus on this only and keep it simple. impact low is still guilty but attracts a fine not suspension.

i just hope dodoro stays as their recruiting guru, brad scott as their coach, sheedy on their board, and that their coterie mob keep interfering, for ever and ever. what bliss that would be.

Why can't some our supporters understand that it wasn't a smother attempt? It was unrealistic for him to try and smother the ball from 6 metres away. It was purely a thug act disguised as a "football act". Please stop making excuses for that piece of s***.

Clarrie was critically important in the second half. At 80% is better than most.

Being a Demon in South Australia it can be unbearable most of the time but these past two weeks have been an early Chrissie present. Apologies to any Victorians that had to put up with the Bogans of Port and the Booers of Adelaide. I'll be strutting into work this morning with my Dees scarf and beanie. I was going to ask about your thoughts on future double headers in Adelaide over the Gather Round but John has already posed that one. Instead I'll ask about our changes this week. Who do we replace Kozzy with? He's almost impossible to replace. There simply is no like for like. So who could possibly bring even a quarter of the dynamics that he brings. It might be a lot of pressure but could we see the Kolt finally get a call up? The past few weeks you've been touting resting Ben Brown but with the Bye coming up do we just roll the dice and play him?

It’s interesting that after five matches, a number of our supposed best 23 have hardly graced the field of play or not appeared at all. In addition, there are a few who have played in circumstances where they aren’t close to full fitness (eg May - ribs, Oliver - hand). And one or two of the younger brigade are getting closer to selection. Which means that there’s still a lot of improvement left in the coming months.

Reading the Gather Round commentary, it is almost universal praise for MFC, that and they like seeing Adelaide supporters implode. Praise for McVee, Trac, Kossie, Lever, May etc, our recruiting, that we were stiffed on frees And this gem as well “Nobody has mentioned that Melbourne are off a 5 day break in one the most bruising games of the season. The game against Port was next level tough… and close. If this was us the week after we would be about 50 points down by now. They are A+.“ https://discourse.bomberblitz.com/t/gather-round-2024-non-essendon-games/32013/73

I believe it is Selwyn Griffith’s…

Casey played a praccy match against Carlton at Princes Park on Friday evening. Lachie Hunter played and Taj got some more miles into his legs after his brief Adelaide cameo on Thursday night. Sestan not playing. Well done to Max, Rick and Petts for turning up in the cold gloom to support the lads in a “crowd” that was comfortably outnumbered by the players on the field. Kynan Brown was excellent, as too was the Kolt. Taj and Bill were also good.

Paying $800,000 for Ben McKay

I’ve never been so confident. We are winning this. Call the AFL doctor, the Adelaide doctor, a concussion specialist, compare the impact to Fogarty. Medium goes to light, Kozzie plays. Then I’d be tempted to sue the Roar for defamation on Kozzies behalf, “dirtiest player” seemed pretty defamatory to me. It’s time our club starts throwing some legal weight around, a main rumour for Maynard getting off was that Collingwood intended to challenge any ban in court. It’s time we start challenging the journos pedalling credibility less leaks and theories. Goody reportedly already threatened Kane with a defamation suit last year leading to an apology, time for more…

Excellent. It deserves a challenge

This Barrosa game has to be a MFC game. Package deals will include a picnic blanket and Charcuterie board, as well as a shuttle from your hotel in a Range Rover.

Surely we can organise a side deal with Ashley and Martin or Advanced Hair.

Alan Richardson said they will appeal - at training this morning r

Mine too until September last year.

I heard a funny story about when Scott was appointed. He was meeting one of the coterie groups and the head of the coterie asked for Scott's mobile number. Scott said "what for?" And the coterie guy said "oh i always have the coach's mobile number" "Not this f**ing coach you don't" came the reply Coterie man was shocked 😲 The coterie groups have always had way too much power at bomberland The club is hamstrung by their glory days, powerful supporters and an inbred mentality Long may it continue

Dodoro doesn't get enough credit for bringing the whole AFL world the joy of 7000 plus days of no Essendon success in September. Here's to another 500.

One of the ideas behind the Gather Round concept is to give life to the host city, which is something of a challenge for a town like Adelaide where the mid-week entertainment usually involves nothing more exciting than watching the traffic lights change their colour in Rundle Mall. Fortunately, the powers that be gave the Demons the opportunity to help open the show at the Adelaide Oval against the Crows and they duly responded by bringing some bright lights and brilliance to the place with another decisive win against the hometown side. With Melbourne coming off a five-day break from a game against the team from the less salubrious and desirable part of the city, and with Steven May returning from rib and back injuries, surely this was a chance for Adelaide to shine? However, it was not to be, and for a side that missed playing finals in 2022 courtesy of a dodgy AFL non score review, they were shown up by the benchmark side that Melbourne has become for the competition this year. The Dees now have four wins on the trot after playing three of their five games at interstate venues. With the parochial home crowd behind them, and umpires heavily under the influence of the same vociferous baying horde, the going was always going to be tough, and it turned out to be exactly that in the first quarter. The home team had to make a statement early to give themselves any sort of hope by getting in front of, and indeed on top of, the Demon juggernaut. The trouble was that the juggernaut’s defences simply kept denying the Crows thrusts forward. Led by the tough Steven May, with Tex Walker as an opponent, he just kept marking and intercepting the ball. Normal humans would have struggled to lift their arms above their heads with similar rib injuries. May did it with aplomb - nineteen disposals for the game, including an incredible five marks in the first quarter alone. Alongside May, young Judd McVee was the main man repelling Adelaide attacks, and with his eleven first quarter disposals, he also recorded an incredible seven intercepts in the same period at 100% efficiency. Amazingly, he has played just thirty games and is a mere 20 years of age. With the standards down back set by these two in the first stanza, it was a repeat of the scoreline for the Crows from their previous week, as they could only manage 2.5. A solitary goal conceded in the next quarter, reinforced the strength of the Melbourne defence, as others like Jake Lever, Tom McDonald, Blake Howes, Trent Rivers and Christian Salem chipped in to hold them at bay. There were no leading lights in the Crows forward line, and like their Rundle mall counterparts, the signs were flashing “caution” in the Adelaide coaching box by half time. What they failed to see was the “Go” sign that signified the Melbourne third term blitz, led by Bayley Fritsch, who despite having barely contacted the Sherrin in the first half, booted three majors in the third, to effectively put the game to bed. Little was left for the Crows to do, other than throw everything they had at the Dees in that final quarter, but despite closing the gap by two goals in the dying minutes, Melbourne had already put up the shutters to block out any light. In the end the scoreline of 63 - 78 was emblematic of two tired sides coming off five- and six-day breaks, respectively. Many players went for extended periods without any impact on the game, but the Melbourne players know what is required at the business end of the season. And it was interesting to hear Steven May at the end of the game, saying something like “ we came over here on a business trip.” In other words, this “Gather Round” was not a weekend celebration, but rather, part of the job description for a professional team with a strong culture. Another shining light for the Demons this week was a player in only his fifth game for the Club – Caleb “The Duke” Windsor. Normally a young player at the dawn of his career can be a little overwhelmed by the intensity and strength required at AFL level, but not so for Caleb. We all know that he is lightning fast, but he uses his speed, not only to break away, but also as a closing weapon as well. He fears not tackling or the in-and-under stuff. With 461 metres gained from sixteen touches in this match playing as a wingman, it is easy to see why comparisons are being drawn with the great Robbie Flower. Oh, and while we are mentioning the brilliance of others, then the skipper with an incredible eighty-six ruck contests attended, four contested marks and five clearances, simply outshone anyone who Adelaide could muster to compete against him. Equally, it is easy to not notice the standout supernova of Christian Petracca and the extraordinary ability he has to extract the ball, burst through tackles that would impede others and so strongly impact the game, both in possession and on the scoreboard. With the Demons’ shining lights showing the way to finals football, the broken-down Adelaide Crows Camry was left at the Rundle Mall lights with steam emitting from the bonnet, out of business and suddenly realizing it was in a dead-end street! It’s something that Melbourne does these days as part of its business plan. MELBOURNE 2.0.12 6.7.43 10.13.73 10.18.78 ADELAIDE 2.5.17 3.8.36 6.9.45 8.15.63 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 3 Pickett van Rooyen 2 Chandler Petracca Petty ADELAIDE Fogarty 2 Dawson Keays Laird Rachele Rankine Walker BEST MELBOURNE Petracca May Gawn McVee Sparrow Viney ADELAIDE Soligo Dawson Laird Keane Rankine INJURIES MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil ADELAIDE Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Taj Woewodin (replaced Ben Brown in the fourth quarter) ADELAIDE Sam Berry (replaced Chris Burgess in the third quarter) UMPIRES Simon Meredith Nathan Williamson Craig Fleer Martin Rodger CROWD 48,020 at the Adelaide Oval