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This was us 10 years ago… couid be us again one day. We need to support the roos not dig their grave.

I couldn't see a thread on this topic, but by my calculations Steven May reaches 100 games for the MFC this weekend. He has truly been a colossus for the club over the past five years (let's not talk about 2019), and pretty clearly we don't win a premiership in 2021 without him. Add in a couple of All Australians, regular top 5 finishes in the B&F, and he is truly a great of the club. Congratulations Steve, and hopefully there are plenty more games and accolades still to come.

Im personally a big fan of the idea of folding Collingwood and calling the new team the Burnie Magpies

Great insight from Jake Lever on last night's on the couch. I love the way the afl Community talk of May and Lever as a unit. They are forever linked. And BTW. Notice how Buckley commented that Jake left the Crows to join "...a big Victorian club...". That's the Dee's I guess. Good one Bucks. Pert would have loved that. I did.

Steven and Rick have lead the No.1 defence in the AFL for the last four years, long May they reign.

There's some extraordinary disrespect and under estimation of Geelong in this thread. They've clearly been the most consistent team all year so far and been on their game mentally every week, as opposed to us when we've had 2 games when we were clearly "off" for one reason or another. I also can't buy into the "they haven't beaten anyone" notion. Sure they've had some easy games against North and Hawthorn, but they've just beaten Brisbane at home (who had just given us a bath) and then put 120 points on a genuine premiership contender in Carlton. They've also won 2 games in Adelaide which seems to have been lost on some. Geelong are top of the ladder for a good reason, and Saturday night is a massive audit for us.

That's a very small injury list. Maybe this Selwyn bloke knows what he's doing. Adelaide, by comparison, now has four players out for the season. I forget who their fitness guy is.

Forget the past, May is a superstar.

I'm interviewing Melbourne Football Club's small forward Kade Chandler tomorrow for the Demonland Podcast. I'll be asking him about his road from being overlooked in the draft to his rookie listing to his apprenticeship as a sub to VFL premiership to his breakout 2023 season to mainstay in the Forwadline and much more. If you have any further questions let me know below and I'll see if I can squeeze them in. I will release the podcast at some time tomorrow so stay tuned.

Giants and Suns aren't going anywhere.

fwiw, on the corben and ben afl podcast via the abc, one of them was saying that he's been told that kalani is tracking as a top pick in 2025 first i'd heard of him being rated that highly

A new training schedule has been posted. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times Gosch's Paddock Monday, April 29 11:45am - 1:00pm Friday, May 3 9:45am - 10:30am Wednesday, May 8 9:45am-10:30am Monday, May 13 11:45am-1:00pm Tuesday, May 21 11:45am-1:00pm Saturday, May 25 9:45am - 10:30am Tuesday, May 28 11:45am - 1:00pm

Bumping this thread as the content on the official MFC channel has improved significantly over the past few weeks - perhaps no coincidence that it’s been since the return of Mme Petits Fours to the fold? Well done, team!

The way they argue just shows how much they care. I don’t like May having a go at the younger players, but he and Lever lead that backline and their passion and perfectionism is what makes them the best defensive duo in the league. They always want to get better and bring everyone else with them. Our backline has saved our [censored] so many times in the last few years. They are absolutely the hallmark of our team.

If Steven May played full forward and influenced every game the way he does at full back he'd be celebrated as one of the greatest players to ever play. I always found it interesting that preventing goals isn't applauded anywhere near the degree kicking them is.

"I think the AFL should move North out of there, pay them the money and start bulking up those games in Tasmania and send some of the big clubs down once a year to get the Tasmania people lined up and excited (for their team in 2028) When McGuire was probed further on this comment and was asked if Collingwood should be one of those teams to play in Tasmania, McGuire answered: "I wouldn't have thought so"

Well we've lost by more than 40 pts once in the past 4 seasons and by 30 or more twice so I'd say you've done your dough.

My preference is to remove and disband both GWS Giants and GC Suns 😇

We are emulating Geelong's slingshot game from the back half, where centre stoppages are less important and an open forward line is generated by slingshot off turnover in D50. I like to use Round 2 2019 as a good example of this approach. I was at the game and we mauled them from first possession clearance and they beat us by 80 points. In the game, they lost inside 50 by -24 and clearance by -15, scoring 62% of the time they went inside 50. I'd argue this back half game has been Chris Scott's template for well over a decade. Meanwhile, that night, we played the same game we played between 2017-2023, which was an aggressive, gruelling forward half game. This saw us lay +2 tackles and lay 18 to 11 tackles inside 50 for the game. This week, I expect that we'll back our new defensive slingshot system in against theirs and whilst we'll be happy to take territory when it's on offer, we'll look to follow the same blue print we've followed the rest of the season. * -1 at stoppage * send only 1 to the ground ball at stoppage (the rest defending or blocking) * emphasise post clearance pressure (from the defensively positioned mids and the inside slider off the back or front of the stoppage) * be happy to soak up pressure with a deep lying defensive zone * and tempt Geelong's methodical kicking game from the back half and try and turn the ball over across the wing area and slingshot back in. I think we'll play Fritta on Stewart like we did Moore last year. Fritta did some good jobs as a defensive forward last year. It meant he was often where the ball was (by way of his opponent going for the intercept) or us directly playing through him. Alternatively, it could be a really good way of getting Petty into the game. Have him sit on Stewart. Interestingly enough though, Stewart didn't do all the damage last year (another game I was at). Although he had the 2nd most for Geelong on the night and 8 intercept possessions, I felt Jack Henry who had 9 intercept possessions was more damaging. In a game where they lost Cameron in the first quarter to injury mindyou. I think Geelong will manage to score with their very talented forwardline (notwithstanding Hawkins struggling this year and Cameron being kept goalless earlier in the year), but the nature of their slingshot game means it's their defenders that set up their game, less so their mids. Dangerfield is a big out, but if we can prevent Stewart, Henry, Kolodjashnij and De Koning from controlling the air and our A50, I think we'll win.

My take: General comment Under Goody, since the start of 2021 our method has been forward half (ie get it inside 50 as quickly and directly as possible and keep it there - hence the hated long bomb), territory first, brutal football with insane pressure and huge tackle numbers. Basically Hardwick's template with an improved defensive system and some other tweaks (eg one less at the stoppage). As @rpfc has noted, this year goody is trying to implement a game plan and system that has a focus on turnover and fast effective transition from the back half, ideally into an open forward line to help with 'efficiency'. Territory is still important of course. Switching just allows oppo defences to get set up. So if we can't go fast, we try and at least hit up leads that move us towards our goal. And we seem to be setting up really deep defensively - deeper than other team using a similar method ATM (Cats, Giants, Tigers and Swans - ironically one of the teams who really developed the method, the Pies, are playing our 2021-23 method, as is the blues). The point Turner kicked in the first q after a beautifully weighted kick from Fritter, who had pushed up to the wing (leaving our inside 50 all but empty) and marked after we turned the ball over was the perfect example of the method in action. Fritters and Turners first goals were other good examples. Key categories/indicators no longer as key/critical: Time in Forward Half Metres Gained Inside 50s The 2024 Red and Blue print: First and foremost, as has always been the case, and will always be a fundamental under goody: Defence Contest New in 2024 to reflect the changed method: Transition, back half football - scores from defensive half being the key indicator Scores from turnover (was important last year, but critical this year) Clearances (on watch in terms of relevance/importance)*: *Last season clearances were not key stats, or at least not in the way they once were. And because we have always given up a player at stoppages, even for us, a straight-line team, they were of limited value as key indicators. So i'm not sure how relevant clearances are. We are down on total clearances this season, but are number two for most scores (blues #1) from stoppages and number one for least oppo score when they win stoppages. So i'm starting to think it is pretty important, though again not as important as scores from turnover (which is aprox 60-70% of scoring now - or was last year). Here are some of the KPIs i think are relevant for our 2024 method (the list is obviously not exhaustive and the club would have a huge number of team and individual data points they measure to assess if we are the right track): Key Performance Indicators Defence Opposition score Intercepts Intercept marks Scores from turnover Marks inside 50 Contest Contested possessions Pressure Post clearance possessions Tackles Tackles inside 50 Ground Ball Gets Contested marks Clearances:* Centre Stoppage Scores from stoppages Hit outs Hitouts To Advantage Transition from back half Points from defensive half Inside 50 to score ratio Rebound 50s Score sources (from most to least relevant): Turnover Stoppage* Centre bounces* Kick in* Marks: Uncontested marks inside 50 Contested marks Marks inside forward 50 Marks inside forward 50 per inside 50 Intercept marks Marks on lead High performance program, fitness, and fatigue TBD

such a flippant thing people say. Would you have been happy to move to GC in 2015? No bloody way we would have been happy. You want your club to fight tooth and nail to remain

Takes a pretty bitter and asinine jerk to head into the MFC cheer squad area and pull something like that after a game?

Eddie's training adventures continue. In the club rooms last week. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C50LlZkxNfC/?igsh=bWxkZ3h5Mm1jMGox My favourite moments: How Melksham teaches Eddie to 'look me in the eye' when shaking hands.🤩 Jvr introduces himself as 'Jacob'. Eddie hesitates for a confused moment and says: 'Hi Roo'. 🥰 Ah, the joy of childhood. a big hug for Petracca 😍 And how Petracca invites him in to 'meet the boys' - I suspect a friendship forged on AFL 360. Very impressed he knows all the players by sight and remembers their names. Note: If the above link doesn't work go to instagrams on mfc site. Apologies if posted elsewhere

Firstly, happy to see this thread back in action as it’s one of my favourites. I was asked last night by a fellow fan this question: “Do you think our game style this year suits the list we have? I’m not sure if it does” Not a terrible question but one that definitely got me thinking about it. I think right now it’s an easy knee-jerk response to say that it doesn’t but looking at it week by week probably isn’t the way to go. It’s clearly a work in progress and in my opinion a tweak that needed to happen to go to the next step. These things take time and I’m sure the FD weren’t planning on losing two of our best distributors to injury so early on in the season. Yet we sit 5-2. As the others have said, our game under Goody will likely always be about defence and contest first. It’s the layers of a gameplan that make it what it is and can be hard to explain to people who feel that a contest game is purely about winning the ball in the middle and getting first use of it into the 50. This ‘Route 1’ style of football is what we all love but we need to give credit to AFL coaches and accept that the sport is indeed a much more complex and tactical one than many give it credit for and is the reason why the Sam Newmans of the world have no place commenting on the modern game these days. While many were unhappy with the performance last Wednesday I thought our defensive positioning and structure was spot on and in terms of scoring chances generated a lot by form of intercepts. I fully agree with Binman that score from turnover is the one we care about (although I was surprised to see us so high in scores from stoppage). This method in some ways puts much less importance on the personnel of our forward line whereas the previous one may have exacerbated any potential issues. When you see a stat like 26 scoring shots from 50 I50s you have to stand up and take notice. Taking the space when it’s there and taking any territory you can get when it’s not. Hitting up a lead when we can’t go fast is more often that not going to be better than blazing it into 50 and having to repeatedly work our rears off getting back to defend the rebound. I am hoping we can back this method for a period of time and embrace any imperfections that come with it. The likes of Collingwood in the last few years have challenged other teams to up their transition game and if you’re standing still with your game you’re going backwards (See Lions) so we just need to trust the process and see it through. I do feel Binman’s PA is onto something with Petty. I think we missed a trick not playing him up forward in a negating role last year on Stewart and this could give him a different focus other than marks, kicks, goals for a week. Providing that the fitness is there of course. We’ll see exactly where Melbourne are at in the next two weeks but I’ll be looking much more closely at the manner of performances than the results. Though it would be nice to nab a win out of the two.

Being non-profit doesn’t mean you don’t make a profit. It just means that the profits don’t go to shareholders or other private beneficiaries.

Yeah, it’s a balance. As @binmannotes - we are always going to be defence first and contest focussed. But that is brutal, and unless you are powering it out of centre - hard to score quickly in a final if you need 3 goals in 7 mins. I think Goodwin wants to see us slingshot when the space allows it, and compress and keep territory when it’s fruitful, but we can’t do that until we are mature in the slingshot. So i hope we lean into it the next two weeks and the team can see it up against some very good teams.

That kind of story just astounds and disappoints me. It was a night of unification, with remembrance of those who had given their lives and sacrificed much. How can others be so ignorant of the occasion, creating division and role modelling toxic masculinity. What an unhappy person.

The AFL should be told about this man, see if there is any vision, he needs a life time ban

Last year in our Tigers game , Dusty kicked the first goal in the 3rd quarter.As they we’re waiting for play to restart the camera went back on Dusty and our man McVee , who was on Him.Dusty’s arm was outstretched pointing, and speaking.l thought that he was telling McVee why he outplayed him and , how he could improve his game in the future. Nice touch.

Yes Geelong have been consistently contenders but Scott went 11 years until he won that second flag and Longmire is 11 years in and counting. We're 2 years in and counting. Oh yeah crazy Bevo 7 years in - but who's counting?

As we haven't seen a "What they are saying down at Kadinia Park" thread, I thought I would head over to big footy to check out whether there were any memorable quotes Conclusion they are in cocky mode and the comments bordering on back slapping vomit producing drivel. Boy how much fun will it be when we knock them off on Saturday night.. (rubs hands together)

Makes our backline and those around him stand tall. Never shirks a contest. Leaves everything on the park. Almost always in our top 5 to 10 rated players every week, bar when he's returning from injury or hindered by a niggle. Premiership immortal. What more can you say... it's Steven Stonewall May!

What would you say is the small forwards key role? Clearly it was originally as a crumbing option but it’s evolved to be so much more. When the coaches analyse your match performance what do they impress upon you the most…..goals, defence, 2 way running, finding space, crumbing??? What would you put down as the area you’ve improved in the most and also the area that needs most improvement? Also congratulations on working your butt off to make it and then clearly continuing to improve as the years go by. I take my hat off 👍

Run and carry and a couple of elite kicking options from back half is the key. Being able to hit darts on the 45 to open the corridor or 50m fat side transition on rebound changes everything with the new game style. Lever trying that corridor kick against Richmond in the first half is an example of how it doesn’t work

Easily the best defender I've seen play for us (started in 1994). He's a freak. Looked like he was slowing down a bit in 2023 but was then player of the finals for us and is dominating this year with cracked ribs and damage to his vertebrae for most of it. Hope he plays well into his 30s even if we have to rest him often (a la Hibberd last season). Despite some occasional off-field hiccups, he's also one of my favourites to listen to in the media. Just tells it the way it is with no cliches. Well done Steven!

Hope he has a lot of sons.

May and Gawn are 32 and Viney 30?. They are getting towards the end of their careers but the word 'soon' may be premature. If they were at Geelong would be considered youngsters.

If I remember correctly we spent more than 4 years down the bottom. 2007 to 2017 was absolute misery. Best finish was maybe 12th(?) and again, without counting, 3 times dead last? 6+ times bottom 3 or 4? North have resigned Larkey, have some decent kids and a wise old coach. 3 - 4 more top 30 draft picks at the end of this year and 2025 and 3-4 smart FA pick ups (the don't need to be superstars) and the wheel will turn. IMV, the long term viability of all the existing clubs would have been considered by the AFL before signing off on Tasmania and I'd be stunned if relocating an existing team wasn't considered as an option.

North will come good. I personally believe we are more likely to find a 20th team than see one disappear. The fixture is already a dog's breakfast, a 19th team for 4-5 years won't make a huge difference. The AFL is bringing in tons of cash and essentially increases in value as a product daily. In fact they choose how much money they wish to make, small tweaks to the pricing of tickets & peripherals can bring in millions with the punters not even noticing. Not to mention round zeros, gather rounds and whatver else. Another bright idea to creat $ is only a 2 hour worshop away. I'd hazard to say they are actively looking for places to invest to avoid taxes they'd otherwise be obliged to pay. Not unlike a government the AFL knows they can spend now and get it back later, they get credit at low rates, easily and the big end of business cue up to be involved. The Gold Coast, GWS and AFLW business cases would have predicted decades of red, but on they press with support from all sorts of sectors 'because it's the right thing to do. North will be ok...🤞

Pretty telling just how sore Clarrys hand is - wanted to shake with left not the right 😳

Apart from a couple of good defenders, North have a list with excellent promise. Clarko is a good coach. If the AFL support them as they did us with Jackson and Roos, I can't see why they cannot rise, if they can keep the list together We need to be careful assuming we are safe. The next 3 years with a bunch of key retirements could prove disastrous if not replenished. I heard at various times over the last 6 years that North, St Kilda and us have been in the firing line for folding or relocation. Our success has saved us... for now No home base, aging stars,, membership ok but not near matching the big clubs. It's a long road to the top, but a fast road back down Good god, I'm sounding like SWYL now! 🤔

This makes my blood boil and heart break at the same time. What a way to ruin a fantastic moment for the young kid and family. Antisocial morons like that are long past their expiry date. P.S. can that [censored] remind us when he last kicked 6 goals in a Premiership win...?

Until we're worried about the AFL going broke, why are we talking about killing teams? This is a sport with nearing 200 years of history. You don't rip that up in search of a dollar.

McGuire is an [censored] but I don’t disagree on most points. The league doesn’t need 19 teams. But just because Norf are a scraping the barrel at the moment isn’t fair game though.

A palate cleanser @Jaded No More

About 38 to 40 players down at training. BBB walking laps. Spargo still in rehab, doing short run throughs. Salem has full kit on and doing individual work with a trainer. He is is starting to get into some sprints. I cannot see Moniz-Wakefield out there. Viney and Chandler have broken away from the drills that have some contact and are doing run throughs. Melky, Bowser, McAdam, Hunter, doing main training without any indication that they are aren't fully participating. Three stations, all in a competitive handball game. Now four stations with a competitive kicking game. Some 3 on 3 , others 4 on 4. Goody has joined one of the stations with a bib. Calls for move the ball quick ring out. Bibs play defensive. The whistle goes and they all head off for some goal kicking. A short look at it, as they gather centrally and set for a full oval drill. Viney has rejoined the main group, but Chandler has returned to the sheds, The energy is great, many having a good time, calls are loud and plenty of support for their teamates. Two stations and doing stoppage simulations. McAdam playing out of the stoppage area, like a high half-forward would. Occasionally looking disinterested, though that may be his demeanour. I think he his a shy kinda fella. Chaplin was doing most of the talking when they gathered. They finished the session with some sprints along the boundary, and some runs down the middle, then off to individual stuff, goal kicking and low ball gets. Choco working with Petty on his goal kicking. Before the runs, McAdam was getting some work on his left hip. Completely the sprints, but not the runs down the middle. A trainer has continued to work on that hip now for the past 5 minutes.