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Not sure if this has been put up and wasn't sure where to put it so just thought I'd make a thread. This is a great little video breakdown of the last two mins Vs North, how both teams went about trying to win/save game.

On Midweek Tackle last night, they referred to a bunch of Dees Players joining Huntingdale Golf Club, with an upfront $12000.00 signing on Membership fee and Petty was one of the players named. If that is the case, it might indicate he is not intending on leaving Melbourne anytime soon.

Session finished with some 'relaxed' shots on goal. My random thoughts on the youngsters: AMW - was looking forward to getting a look and not disappointed. Smooth mover and nice balance. Came across as a well put together young man when talking to the kids at the end. The thing that stood out for me was the definition of his legs, he doesn't miss leg day! Kynan Brown- odd body shape and looks a lot smaller than he is. Reminds me of a German Sheppard pup who has to grow Ito it's ears and paws. I can't wait to see what his body develops into. Looks as young as he is. Jefferson - a lot bigger than I expected. Moved well, good shot at goal. Will settle quickly when he gets his chance and I am glad we are not rushing him. Think his chest will fill out more and his strength will continue to improve. From a distance his body and movement reminded me of Charlie Curnow. Tholstrup - such a pup. So energetic and has a great swagger. He has a frame that says power and when he fills it out and develops he will be Tracc mk2. Interesting when he was having shots at goal from the boundary he really thumped the ball. Windsor - so smooth, so balanced, kicking is just so effortless for him. When he was having shots he just caressed the shots. Woey - was there but not enough in my view to see much. One of my favourites who I hold great hope for. Glad he made the team this week. Laurie - even at training I just can't see it with him. Turner - hearing him speak to the kids on the boundary he reminded me of every bloke I have ever met in Albury. (That's not a bad thing). Good strapping, wholesome country lad. He and Petty were both moving well. Happy to answer any questions, just remember that I text like a monkey on a typewriter, so be patient.

A lot of angst among MFC supporters about Kynan Brown getting left out this week. I'm just surmising here, but Pup has not really played for 3 weeks. (He was carry over emergency against Collingwood. Then we had a bye. Then he was the sub against North.) Maybe Goody thought it was better for him to have a full game at Casey instead of playing as sub again tomorrow night. Pup will be back.

It's not really stealth, we all know about it!

Probably a very short-lived thread, not being of great interest, and probably eliciting 'they're-only-in-it-for-themselves' reactions, but this was a nice story, about a sponsor that has attracted my loyalty (and also sponsors a nice weekly Club website piece - although it's a tad awkward when we lose and/or don't kick many goals!) It also made me reflect on the validation we get when entities want to align with us. So, anyway, thanks sponsors! https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/1585650/10-years-with-haymes-paint?videoId=1585650&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1719338400001 (p.s. Curious that Kate got the gig, rather than Daisy?)

Kynan dropped after 5 minutes of play, what a pointless selection then last week. Good coach we have 🤮[censored] joke. He will then have Woey as a sub again and give him no opportunity. You would look elsewhere if you had half a chance.

Hi all, as there is no thread on this I thought it was a good time to start my first one. I haven't seen a training session since we stopped going to Maroochydore, and never one in season or a captains run. To my novice eye it was a very light session with a bit of ball work and a few ball movement activities. No contact etc and intensity was low and most seemed to be enjoying themselves. All the usual squad from last week were there with the exception of Salem who was notably absent. Other additional were AMW (as announced), Lever (with his kids), Woey, Laurie, Jefferson and Melksham.

Ideally we wouldn't have so much youth in the 23 at once, but with Gus, Trac and other injuries, I think it's been inevitable. We don't need 23 stars, we need 5 or 6 stars (Trac, Clarry, May, Lever and Gawn) surrounded by good role players. Trac will be fine in 2025, Clarry will hopefully get a full pre season, Lever will enter 2025 29 years of age (enough time still on his side), it's really just May and Gawn we'll have to replace in the next 2-3 years. And it's possible Max lasts even longer. And JVR is trending in a star direction and Kozzy probably already is. If we can land a star FA like (for example) LDU to add to the midfield or even a Callaghan; and then when Max and May go, address the Max issue by trading in a competent mature aged ruckman (does not have to be a star) and hitting the FA market for a May replacement in 2027-2028, we're not a world away. Would be nice to add the likes of Bowey and McVee's ball use higher up the field, we also need Jefferson to take hold of the second key position spot next to JVR. Whilst it's been a disappointing season, we could bounce back quickly next year.

Overheard at training this week, but not previously reported: Max Gawn: "Can Demonland posters get any more rabid and over the top critical, Goody?" Simon Goodwin: (chuckles) "Wait until you see what I've done with Pup, Maxy! They'll really lose their minds".

Jefferson is traveling with the team as reward for good form. We do this often with the younger players who are on the cusp to show them what it’s like to travel for a game and get them really involved on game day. It’s great experience.

Little doggie man omitted- what a joke! Club is a mess!

I'd prefer to hear to somebody speaking in tongues while I'm strapped to the electric chair than BT.

Any chance Will Schofield can bring this stuff to special comments instead of cheerleading like he's head of the WA Football Commission? I know there's a difference between speaking off the cuff and being able to review footage first, but this is light years ahead of the dross he brings to TV games.

With AMW making his debut this week, we will have AMW, JVR, Knuckles McVee, Caleb, Jake Bowey, Blake Howes, Riv, Kolt, Taj, Doggie, Disco either playing or very close. 11 players 22y.o. and under and Matt Jefferson and Will Verrall yet to debut makes for a very youthful team profile. No guarantee that they will all become stars but to see them coming through in this way is heartening. I have not included #16 because he does not seem to be cutting the mustard. Healthy signs for the future and a possible reason we seem to not be running out games the way we were last year.

Debut Kynan in Melb near family Debut AMW in Bris, closer to Darwin and his family. Any kid would take 10 minutes in their first match, and to deliver a game saving tackle to boot! Neither AMW or Pup are of a Harley Reid level demanding a full run, so we should trust the club is using these moments to build lads on the edge of a career into having the best chance of having one. Long term development

Some really happiness in here. I'll be there and am fully expecting to sing It's a Grand Old Flag around 10:15 tomorrow night.

I'm still dark on us missing out on the big Mac Attack as I think this kid is a star of the future. For those to cheap to purchase a herald sun subscription (couldn't stand paying for anything that Robbo potentially writes) what does it have to say? Bit of a translation available?

By round 20 odd maybe it won't be 'stealth', but promising to see we've got a decent crop coming through Gonna be an interesting trade period

is he better than jvr now? comparative #s for 2024:

They’re billing the Brisbane Lions as a sleeping giant — the best team outside the top eight —and based on their form this month they’re a definite contender for September AFL action. Which is not exactly the best of news if you happen to be Melbourne, the visiting team this week up at the Gabba. Even though they are placed ahead of their opponent on the AFL table, and they managed to stave off defeat in their last round victory over North Melbourne, this week’s visitors to the Sunshine State are attracting odds of close to $5.00 to win on sportsbet (I’m not encouraging you to gamble here). This is because the Demons remain at their lowest ebb since the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic and, to make matters worse, they are still haunted by the memory of the most recent encounter between the teams which saw their confidence shattered, their midfield mauled mercilessly. Although the Lions enter the fray as strong fancies to win, it should not be forgotten that they have been flaky in 2024 and the fortress at the Gabba has not been as impregnable as it was in the past. In addition, recent experience also warns against backing the favourite in contests between these two clubs. Brisbane won the 2022 Semi Final at the MCG after they were smashed by the Dees in the final round at the Gabba. When they met in Round 2 of 2023, they were underdogs again, but Max Gawn went down early and the lights of the Gabba went out for the Demons. The Lions were heavily favoured to win the replay later that season but were crushed in the final term. When the teams met at the G this year in Round 5, the Lions were still reeling from an 0 - 3 start to the season while the in-form Demons were almost unbackable having just taken care of business in Adelaide and look what happened! Still, it’s quite a stretch to expect Melbourne to turn things around in its current situation. If the midfield debacle against Brisbane earlier in the season was problematic, then it looks grave now in the absence of Christian Petracca, the missing form of Clayton Oliver and the overall loss of a capacity to control the contest at stoppages and beyond. There has been a little made about the sudden youthful appearance of the Demons’ lineup and that trend continues tomorrow night with the inclusion of a fifth debutant for the season in the form of Andy Moniz-Wakefield. He seems to have the ball on a string at VFL level but will find things harder in this company. While the youthfulness of the team augurs well for the future and is reminiscent of how Collingwood made its way back from the wilderness after playing in a grand final in 2018, in the short term, it means there’s some pain coming. This doesn’t altogether rule out the prospect of a victory for the Demons this week. The team has badly missed the presence of Jake Lever in defence after he hurt his knee early in the game against the Eagles in Perth and his return will have a major effect on the way the team performs. We kept getting assured that Christian Salem was good to go despite being subbed off with knee soreness on Saturday night but he was left out because of the injury. Pity, had he played, the team would have had its best defensive lineup on the field in two months. It still looks solid enough to control the Lions’ big men in attack. While that’s only one of three lines on the ground, it’s a good start but there’s a lot of work to do and what coach Goodwin really needs is for his out of form stars to come out of their shells and perform for four quarters and not three as they did last week. If I recall, this is exactly what happened to such dramatic effect with a few of Brisbane’s stars in their round five meeting earlier this year. However, I must be realistic. A win seems to be a bridge too far the way things have been going lately. The odds of Melbourne overcoming the home team’s momentum of recent weeks are not great and while I think that the Demons can make a fist of things on the road, with a tinge of regret, I’m tipping Brisbane to win by 28 points. THE GAME Brisbane Lions v Melbourne at The Gabba, Friday 28 June 2024 at 7.40pm HEAD TO HEAD * Overall: Brisbane Lions 25 wins Melbourne 30 wins At The Gabba Brisbane Lions 15 wins Melbourne 9 wins Last Five Meetings: Brisbane Lions 3 wins Melbourne 2 wins The Coaches Fagan 5 wins Goodwin 8 wins * does not include Brisbane Bears or Fitzroy games LAST TIME THEY MET Brisbane Lions 12.10.82 defeated Melbourne 8.12.60 at The MCG, Round 5 2024 It was a disaster from very early in the game when the Demons lost Christian Salem through injury. The Demons missed Kozzie Pickett who was out suspended, and they lacked the spark to mount a comeback until the final quarter and, by then, it was too late. THE TEAMS BRISBANE LIONS B D. Zorko, D. Joyce, R. Lester HB C. McKenna, H. Andrews, B. Starcevich C Z. Bailey, C. Rayner, J. Berry HF C. Cameron, E. Hipwood, H. McCluggage F C. Ah Chee, J. Daniher, L. Morris FOLL O. McInerney, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C W. Ashcroft, K. Lohmann B. Reville, D. Wilmot SUB J. Fletcher EMG S. Brain, D. Fort, D. Robertson IN W. Ashcroft, D. Joyce OUT S. Brain (omitted), J. Payne (foot) MELBOURNE B J. Lever, S. May, J. McVee HB A. Moniz-Wakefield, A. Tomlinson, T. Rivers C A. Neal-Bullen, C. Windsor, K. Tholstrup HF K. Chandler, H. Petty, E. Langdon F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, J. Van Rooyen FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C T. McDonald, T. Sparrow, D. Turner, T. Woewodin SUB K. Brown EMG M. Jefferson, B. Laurie IN J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield, S. Woewodin OUT K. Brown (omitted), B. Howes (omitted), C. Salem (knee) Injury List: Round 16 Jake Lever — knee / available Lachie Hunter — calf / available Marty Hore — calf / 1 week Jake Melksham — knee / 1 - 2 weeks Will Verrall — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Ben Brown — knee / TBC Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

Despite his form issues so far this season, I’d love if Harry signed new contract. Be a nice little pick me up if both him and Langers signed on the dotted line sometime soon. @Dannyz any updates on either of them?

????

Just out of curiosity i saw on tv last night that Rowbottom from Swans has purchased a house in Prahran, also that about 6 MFC players have nominated to become members of Huntingdale golf club when it reopens late next year ,those players included Harry Petty.

Last night I dreamt the score at 3/4 time was 225-200 in our favour. I thought typical, we score this highly and still only 4 goals up. Also thought that would be a lot of time on.

Have been a long-time reader of this forum and I must say, it's become very vanilla, protected and increasingly PC over the years. I think it's okay for supporters to come to a sites like this and criticise aspects of the club, coach and even players if they're not performing. As long as it's done within reason. It seems if you don't display constant toxic positivity around anything Melbourne fc, you open yourself up to be ridiculed and/or banned, some posters I really enjoyed reading over the years seem to have left. The Clayton Oliver issue is one that should welcome honest criticism and feedback among supporters and I can't quite understand why posters feel the need to start a thread defending him when his form is cause for concern has been for months now? Are people really that precious? My opinion of Clayton's clear drop off is that he's not fit, powerful or mentally strong enough which one can accept given the interrupted pre-season he had. I don't buy that he had 'no pre-season', those calls make no sense as he wouldn't be playing if he had no pre-season. But clearly to the eye, his body shape has changed and that could be due to any number of things. Professionalism around diet, sleep, night time activity, medication and of course lack of physical conditioning. Its been a double-whammy for us because his undeniable strengths as a ferocious ball winner and clearance king have been enormously impacted by his broken pre-season which has led to him being even further exposed due to his weaknesses. Weaknesses being, ball use, decision making, scoreboard impact. Clayton is not a well-rounded mid. He's a mid that is elite in facets of the game and is average to weak in others. And now that he's strengths are not on display, his contribution is almost non-existent at times. Now, I think it's more than reasonable to make that observation/call without the need for posters to cry 'leave him alone'. The worry for me is more around a trait that Simon Godwin possesses. Desperation. For one, I was extremely surprised to see Clayton back playing in round 1 having barely played in match sim and or pre-season games at AFL level and lack of any meaningful form before he was played. That move just smells of Godwin's desperation. This is when we had an entire midfield brigade to choose from and there was absolutely no pressure to bring him in. Here we are, over halfway through the season and Clayton's clear lack of conditioning due to his broken pre-season and whatever else is going on behind the scenes has been on display week-in, week-out and is now even more in the spotlight given Trac's absence. Goody has done Clayton and the club no favours by declaring him 'fit' and 'ready to go' when it was clear to see he wasn't. His contribution is meaningless atm due to what I've outlined and this is simply another call made by Goodwin out of desperation and stubbornness.

Darcy is too good for that mob. Wish he was able to choose us when drafted.

It's a point I made before the season started ie how young our list is and how many best 22 are 22 and under. The idea we are suddenly 'playing the kids' because we have conceded the year and are looking toward 2025 is ridiculous. Yes the kolt ans brown came in. But apart from tracc who came out? Laurie, who is 22.

So if Dangerfield is innocent, shouldn’t Walsh be cited for ‘acting’ ?

Here is a summary for those who can’t get through the firewall: Melbourne has been "dudded" by AFL rule changes twice in recent years. First, the Next Generation Academy (NGA) rules were changed in 2020, preventing Melbourne from drafting Mac Andrew in 2021. The club had developed Andrew from age 13, but Gold Coast drafted him at No.5. It was Melbourne who moulded him into an AFL prospect, but the league pulled the rug from underneath the Demons, 12 months out from when they expected to draft him. Secondly, Melbourne missed out on drafting Harley Reid in 2023 due to limitations on trading future draft picks. The Demons made a strong offer for West Coast's No.1 pick: They put forward the most compelling offer – it trumped North Melbourne's best pitch – with picks 6, 11, 42 and this year's first-rounder (currently No.10) – on the table. However, they couldn't offer more due to rules at the time. The AFL is now set to allow trading of two years of future picks, which could have changed the outcome if implemented earlier. Melbourne recruiter Jason Taylor highly rated Reid: "If you look over the journey, players like Harley Reid are game changers," Taylor said. "We just felt that he's a really high-end talent, we love his character, the way he goes about his football." The article suggests Melbourne "definitely missed out on Andrew by one year and probably missed out n Reid by one year. Additionally, the AFL is expected to reform the bidding system for father-son and academy prospects: No longer will clubs be allowed to match bids with a pile of garbage picks. The new system may require clubs to use high-value picks to match bids for top talents, potentially including future first-round picks. Lastly, the article mentions potential changes to Melbourne's draft prospects, including father-son Kalani White, who might choose Gold Coast over Melbourne.

Our coach clearly deemed that Kynan didn’t have enough impact in his 3 minutes of game time (despite getting 3 less fantasy points than Fritsch’s in his 120 minutes)

Ugg Ugg Meh Ugg Ugg

Man, there is some pent up aggression on this site. its kinda wild. Go Demons!

Dropping the kid after a 10 minute cameo does seem quite extraordinary. I’d love to know the “reasoning “ behind it !

Needs to just work hard, the rest falls into place eventually if you have the talent which he does

If there is any upside to this whole calamity of a season, it is that we will see each players resilience. Most people know that our team without Trac - even under the best of times - would make it nigh impossible to win a flag. Take Daicos out of Collingwood, Heeney out of Sydney and their chances effectively dive off a cliff as well. However i want to see how each player responds to this, whether they 'give up' or rise to the occasion. Given our position we can continue to lose games or actually turn things around. And to do so without Trac, to me, will actually show/tell me something about the ruthlessness and culture of our team.

I was going to write a whole thing to respond but I worked 13 hours today and I’m stuffed. Dangerous tackles are a category for suspension as far as I know (could be wrong). I don’t reckon Danger has a case to answer to be honest, but I’d bet a lot of money, that if this was a no-name player from say, St Kilda, that this 1 week suspension would be upheld. If nothing else, to show as an example. It isn’t the rules I have a problem with, it’s the inconsistency of application.

This place when AMW is named as sub tomorrow..

Kynan dropped after 10 mins of play, a gamewinning tackle and a kick to advantage. Wtf mate honestly

Bears have already had a brain fade, Shadeau omitted.

Imagine being that young and having that much money to throw away on bloody golf

The only way we can win this game is to turn it into an absolute slog. If it is a shootout the Lions will easily outscore us. We need to be at our defensive best to have a chance. Not confident, but sometimes it's nice just watching the footy with no expectations!

FWIW Melskham should be a lock in the side after 1-2 games in the VFL provided he has adequate AFL standard fitness. I don't care if he's 35 or whatever, the club still needs to put out a competitive product week to week, and Melk will surely assist here. Our forward line is crying out for natural forwards. With all due respect to Petty and Turner, they are not natural forwards while our most natural forward is way off the boil atm. Hence we're battling to kick 70 points against the Norths and West Coasts of the league.

i agree with a lot of this except for the last paragraph he is fit and hot to go as evidenced by his best games, albeit not to his normal lofty standard, a standard which i would say he hasn't approached since his hamstring tendon injury against the pear last year he's had one shocking game against a super hard tag he's experienced that before; he'll experience that again the truth is he's still more valuable to the side being out there and copping a hard tag and 'losing' the battle' than not being out there at all

Maybe it's a sign that we've been a pretty good football team for a while? 🤪

We won't have to worry about it. He won't be coming to us. It will be the Bombers or another big club if he leaves WC. We already have a concussed retired player, a severely injured one and another with issues, all on long and large contracts to worry about.

1. Held him up in the first place. Danger swung his legs under Walsh and was lucky not to swing right through the back of his ankles and give him a 6 week high ankle sprain. But at that stage he put all his weight on to Walsh who was then buckled forward. Chris Scott even said a few weeks ago he's telling players not take guys to the ground, why did Danger not heed that warning? 2. Turned him. This is the big one. Any time you tackle a player from behind in a chase down scenario you try to turn them side on so they land on their hips and shoulders. 3. Released him when it became inevitable that Walsh was going to fall forward and land at least part of his body face first in to the ground. This was a very ordinary tackle that's been reframed by people in the media saying things like 'what else could he have done' and 'he held him up' when the actual biomechanics of the tackle aren't true at all. Meanwhile Jack Higgins got 3 weeks for a gentle pull on Aliir's arm.

Maybe listen to how Gawn explains what Clarrys role has been which (as I said) will now change as Trac is out. Not sure where I stated his possession count ..fitness .. etc . was not up to scratch. It’s not too hard to listen to Gawn …very enlightening actually. A lot more enlightening than what gets thrown around here,

Turn it up. Absolutely no case to answer. What else could he have done?