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I was there. Watched behind the perimeter fence on far wing. So good to see live action! observations: - 4x 25 min quarters no time on played -Lots of swapping of players between the two teams -Lever Pruess Petty KK and Nietscke only 5 who didn’t play - May starred, BOG easily -Bennell played all 4 quarters, 1st half on ball 2nd half on HFF -Spargo did some great things, I’m not always a fan but he looked at the level today -Fritsch was the best forward -J Smith will be close to selection, either if Lever doesn’t come up or instead of O Mac. - I rate Sparrow. HIGHLY!! Head to head with Viney all game and not a backward step taken. - No injuries during the game to anyone. Relief! - Rivers and Hibberd were in a showdown for the final HBF spot. Both played well today - Dont expect to see any of the two Wagners, or Baker early in season. They look like the last in line depth players to me - Actually think Bradtke showed he can play. 20% better than his Casey 2019 form - Goalkicking am issue, but expect it will be for all 18 clubs next weekend till the season gets into its rhythm - Hunt looks out of favour - My biggest take - get on Brayshaw for a return to form. Played with no helmet, and moved and hunted the ball like it was 2018 again. Happy to answer questions

First time on here in a long time, and good to see things haven’t changed. judging some of the comments, we have already lost the next 4 games, sacked Goodwin and are a rubbish club, While that may all be true, we haven’t even okayed the game yet! Replying to people questioning our small forward structure, I can tell you that we will have 2 tall forwards, I think tmac and wied, along with a stack of smalls this week. Someone said carltons defense is poor, that is half true. Their tall backs are very good, their small backs are very good at going forward, but crap at defending small forwards. If you look at their games recently (last season, praccy games and round 1) the oppositions smalls all kick goals, so we are planning on kozzie and others to kick 3 each. we also need to make sure our talls are separated as Jones and plowman are very good help defenders. bennell definitely in the mix, but they may play Jones as a HFF. rivers and Smith very much in line to play this week too.

I would have Harmes tag Cripps. IMO Harmes plays his best footy when tagging.

Wow, this brings back memories (the 8-2 ‘soccer’ match that is). Like you my Dad didn’t ‘get’ Aussie Rules and he took me to see any UK touring side that made it to Melbourne, so I was there that day too. We’d emigrated to Aus in ‘60 and, after a spell in Sydney, settled in Williamstown where I had my first taste of ‘footy’ in the school playground. Back then, you followed your local team so most of the kids were Footscray daft. One day, Dad’s workmates were on at him to choose a VFL team to and he was leaning towards South as they played in red & white like his beloved Sunderland back in England. One loudmouth though (Pies fan, no surprise there) was pestering him to follow them but, knowing that Sunderland’s bitter rival Newcastle played in black & white and were also the Magpies, he wasn’t interested. In fact, he told me he chose the Dees that day simply because they were Collingwood’s big rival. Thus started my love affair with the club and within days I had a brand new MFC guernsey and was soon pestering Dad to take me to games. Anyway, I was there in ‘64. Aged 8. Only a few memories but each as vivid as if it happened yesterday. The noise, the foul-mouthed Collingwood fans in front of us abusing the bald John Lord, Ray Gabelich lumbering from the left H-F flank right below me to all but break my heart, Froggy Crompton popping up with his goal, the final siren that I didn’t even hear such was the noise and my Dad ripping into the Pie fans as they skulked away. Returned to England in the seventies but still follow them - tv coverage is pretty good over here and I’ve been back twice with two wins each time. Just desperate for one more flag before I drop off my perch...

I wouldn't think that our football dept. is that dumb.

Agreed, it’s not stacked. West Coast midfields is an example of a stacked midfield. Our midfield had full personnel last year. Barely a game missed by Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Petracca, Jones etc. we finished 17th and were the least effective team in history at converting inside 50s into goals. We might have some talented names in there, but reality is our midfield rarely performs well outside of winning ball and bombing it to the opposition. Yes we’ve added Langdon and Tomlinson to the wings, but neither are classy outsiders and both just add running power, not smarts and clean disposal. Our midfield needs a shakeup. I’d be looking to trade one of Brayshaw, Petracca or Viney. There are clubs like Essendon crying out for ball winning midfielders. We’re crying out of classy disposers. Gotta give something to get something.

So based on Lever’s write up, Goodwin is backing the midget forward line to get the job done. He mentioned Weid and TMac playing high HF roles and relying on Melky Fritta and Kozzie. This may work on transition once in a while, but given that we often win the midfield battle and bomb forward, the disconnect will continue. Any coach, who had 3 months to review any of the tapes from rd 1, would be able to pick that up. Then you have McDonald’s interview, which was less than convincing. He suggests that supporters may still feel frustrated by the forward structure. That sounded more like he was frustrated. Probably because he is again being played out of position. hate to sound pessimistic, but the script seems written. Dominate the midfield, win clearances, have good defence but cannot convert inside 50s to goals. A losing formula. And when we get outnumbered on the rebound, sides cut ya up and score easily. happy to be proven wrong, but I don’t think this side is going anywhere under Goodwin. He seems stubborn and talks a lot, but we never see the action. A real salesman

May rarely played on T Mac. He and Weid pushing up the ground lots with Fritsch, Melky and Pickett at times isolated inside 50. Fritsch being best forward doesn’t mean TMac wasn’t performing The forward line looked much more dynamic than last year. Although keen to see goal kicking improve

like these ones?

Just a gentle reminder.....

The whole social club/function space idea was already at best 'risky', but in the current financial climate it's fraught with danger. I work for one of Australia's largest hospitality companies. We have (just) survived the current disaster only due to being backed by one of the largest financial companies in the world. Our business fell by 99%. We have had major stand downs and redundancies from the top level down to those who answer the phones and one of the biggest parts of the business hit was the functions team. My company has close to 180 venues between Australia and New Zealand with very specific resources aimed at the corporate, sporting and functions markets and we make it work. All our venues have functions capacity and can host them any time of the year. The hospitality industry in general is heading more and more towards companies like mine; larger groups with better buying power and supplier bargaining capacities. To think a Melbourne based football club, one of the smallest, who would attract customers at best 6 months of the year can all of a sudden enter that space and compete is just not realistic. There's far better options for us in aligning ourselves with existing businesses and utilizing those partnerships to benefit us. Not only does it benefit us in a cost/benefit way, but also in the very important database/touch points/customer pathways way where we can share it with companies with a greater reach than just our own supporters. I mean really, we struggle to get fans to games, it's farcical to think we would have enough business from our club's supporters to profit in any way from such an investment.

#WhatdoesETknow? #Notjustbreakingtradesdown. #Theselectionwhisperer. #Ihearwhispers. #Bennel2raisehell.

It's looking like they are trying to turn Harmes I to the Jack Crisp type player off the the half back with some run and dash. My issue is Harmes is also one of our best lock down midfielders. Harmes turning into a tagger in 2018 was one of the big reasons we played finals. He shut down some big names that really benefited the team heading into the back end of that year. I personally don't agree with him down back. But I am also not the coach.

Weid was strong, kicked a couple of snags and moved well. Jackson still a way off being selected by him for now I think, although the athletic attributes of Jacko is mouth watering.

Looks like they ‘took a knee’ in one of those pics in sympathy for Black lives matter. Good to show some solidarity for your mates.

Obviously Joel Smith is a defender again but I thought he looked good as a forward. No doubt will be thrown there ASAP if we're kicking 6.12.48 every week.

I really don't understand the virtiol towards Goodwin. All actual information and signs are positive: - He has a reputedly relationship with the players. - He has shown a real interest in tactical innovation (the "center the ball at all costs because high percentage shots are more valuable" morphed into the 8 man back line running off the square, which became the 4 man diamond defense) - He has rotated players through positions to try and find a fit (17 players lined up on the wing in 2019). - He has recruited to fill holes in list/structure (added Tomlinson and Langdon to fill the wings, added Preuss/Brown as forward/ruck depth), probably made the right call on Hogan and got us May, brought in small forwards to compete for spots). - Other than 2019, every year has been upwards while he has been involved. -2019 was documented to be horrible with pre season injuries, and then in season injuries. We sucked, but he regularly had 5-8 of or best 22 injured, it was a tough year. I understand that after the 2019 disastor we need to bounce back, but damn he gets a lot of hate for someone whose only fault seems to be not having answers during one injury interrupted season.

? LEVER08's Match Sim Report MELBOURNE defender Jake Lever didn't play in the club's final match simulation at Casey Fields on Saturday ahead of next week's clash with Carlton but will face the Blues. Lever emerged from the shutdown period as one of the Demons' fittest players but they opted to manage his loads and he instead trained on an adjacent oval with injured teammate Aaron Nietschke. The 24-year-old intercept specialist dominated Melbourne's 1km time trials when everyone returned to training in May and he looks primed to deliver on the Dees' big investment in him. Lever and another key defensive recruit from recent years, Steven May, played together only four times last season because of respective injuries. May was a strong performer in the four quarters of game practice, including taking a series of intercept marks, firstly playing in the royal blue side before swapping to the navy blue team. Most of the Demons' first-choice players started in navy blue, except for defenders such as May, Neville Jetta, James Harmes and Christian Salem – but they all switched during the half-time break. The player to watch could be athletic backman Joel Smith, who's always been a source of intrigue for the Melbourne coaching staff despite injuries restricting him to only 11 matches. The Demons think so highly of Smith they promoted him for their 2018 preliminary final at Bayley Fritsch's expense but he missed all of last season with a groin problem. The son of ex-Demon Shaun played in the same defensive set-up with May, Jetta, Harmes and Salem throughout the solid hitout. Melbourne looks to have a mostly healthy list, with Aaron vandenBerg (foot) – who also last played in that 2018 preliminary final – among those to play. Salem (glandular fever) and ex-skipper Nathan Jones (Achilles) are the likeliest additions to Melbourne's team for the contest with Carlton at Marvel Stadium next Saturday. Harley Bennell (calf) also looks in good nick and has given his new club something to think about with his track efforts in recent weeks. Bennell joined young midfielders Tom Sparrow and James Jordon as the royal blue side's most common centre-bounce combination, with either Sam Weideman or Category B rookie Austin Bradtke rucking. The former Docker and Sun also spent time up forward after switching into navy blue in the second half. Weideman has fallen out of favour for the time being but worked hard and presented well. He could yet be in calculations, given Mitch Brown, who played in round one, spent all of simulation in royal blue, while No.3 draft pick Luke Jackson and Weideman swapped teams at half-time. Back-up big man Braydon Preuss, who's been sidelined with a knee injury, did not play. The Demons rotated the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw and Jack Viney through the middle in the navy blue squad, with All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn. Recruits Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson won plenty of possession on opposite wings, while Fritsch, Tom McDonald and Kysaiah 'Kozzy' Pickett were all lively in attack. Small forwards Alex Neal-Bullen, Toby Bedford and Charlie Spargo appear to be locked in a battle for potentially one spot after all played in the season-opening loss to West Coast. The trio played for the royal blue team for the match's duration.

https://mobile.twitter.com/7NewsMelbourne/status/1269552789606158336

If you want to see him be Corey Maynarded

Yes, but what if there has been improvement in the midfielders honouring leading players and hitting targets (which is something Lever08 has mentioned)? A smaller forward line can work: look at Richmond. The key isn't necessarily the height of the forward line but making sure that, whatever forward line we go with, our ball movement suits it. So, if we're going to have TMac and Weid/Jackson leading up the ground out of the 50, their leads need to be solid, we need to honour those leads, and they need to hold their marks. If that frees up space for Fritsch (who is smaller but plays a marking forward role), Melksham, Petracca and Pickett, then that can work. My thought on TMac's comments in the video is that we're doing something new/different and it works some times, but not all the time. I didn't, at all, read into his comments that he's frustrated with his personal performance or where he's being played. I thought, instead, that he's concerned that we're going to stuff things up and the fans are going to get upset.

Total rot, Goodwin will at least see his contract out.

Midfield is stacked. Harmes is in the backline to break the lines. Which we don’t have anyone for. I think it’s a great idea. Especially if Petracca steps up.

Ball movement had lots of “plan on from a mark” and honour the leading player. Pickett and Bennell made it noticeably quicker

Chandler the best of this lot, interesting to see him play back pocket the whole game and it suited him. Hibberd over Rivers but this will change in 2021

Someone is obviously missing their footy. While Clarry probably should retain and kick a bit more it's easy to forget how good he is at clearing space with a handball.

duck hunting season ends this weekend, so i guess that's when the relief starts....at least for the ducks

Just got excited about footy for the first time in a long time (feels like years anyway). Bring on Saturday!

Below is a chart of the average kick to handball ratio of AFL players who have played over 100 games in recent times. (Thanks to the great work by Tony Corke @MatterofStats) Clarry has only played 83 games so does not appear on the original chart, but I have added him in to give us all a sense of his relative kick to handball ratio:

Channel 7 Sport Report strongly suggesting he is playing. Good times if so!!

Yes and no, how many times does he get a 2nd handball in a passage of play because he didn't kick it initially or did a 2 meter handball to a player under the pump? His disposals are inflated due to his over handballing.

career had to start after jan 1980 according to chart header

You'll get no argument from me in regards to that Grr-owl. Not when it comes at the price of the air we breathe and the water we drink. If the wish to bring China to heel is authentic then maybe it's time to stop the political posturing and start weaning ourselves off the container ships full of sh@t they produce but none of us really need.

So I need to comment before I comment? Interesting house rules.

Unfortunately there are no VFL games to “ease him back through”. Selection or promotion can only be based on training track form this year, although there was some talk of unofficial scratch matches between AFL listed players not selected. If Bennell gets a game at any time, it will likely only be off the back of the kind of work he’s already been doing. I’d personally rather take a risk on a potential match winner with untraceable natural talent (5% success rate in my mind that Bennell comes off even medium term due to his body) and then fall back onto a Spargo or ANB if it fails than vice versa.

What a horrendous article. Well done guys for drumming up something to talk about while nothing is happening... But this is pretty poor. “Melbourne need to see him, I think they’ve gotta see him,” “You’re either right or you’re not, aren’t you?" “They need to find out." Or... We could just ease him back through Casey for a week or two which would be more logical than "We gotta see him"

DJ Clearly Sam is our 2nd best ruck/forward/ around the ground option at this stage His 20 posies inc some good handballs and Contests. He gets far more marks and value when used as a Ruck backup and perhaps that his role !

First time I've seen someone consider chromosomes when choosing a team

It is easy for Carlton to “take risks” when they have already received $35M from state and federal governments for their redevelopment at Princes park!

Hudson and Robbo really dislike each other. That’s clear. but I agree with the sentiment. Play him... if Tomlinson says he’s been hassling Goodwin by saying he’s right go then he’s too much of a talent to not include in the team. I said earlier this year that it doesn’t take Noongar lads long to regain fitness so I have full confidence he can play and contribute right now. I don’t think Bennell would put his hand up and place the team at risk if he’s unsure of his body. The fitness staff are obliged to put him thru the wringer to find out anyway and if that’s been achieved then it’s a no-brainer. He plays.

It's been more than 15 years. Closer to 25. When we were about to merge with Hawthorn I used to email my opinion to Andy (Mr demonland) and he had to keep telling me to write on the forum. I think the software changed about 15 years ago and didn't keep track of your history.

Careful with the criticism of Goodwin. Apparently he’s untouchable according to a few around here, despite guiding us to second last and overseeing one of the worst seasons in modern day MFC history. I agree with you in that our forward line structure and personnel down there is probably going to hold us back from winning too many games this year. The club is now unrecognisable to the one that won 6 in a row in 2018 while scoring 100 points without fail.

Fritsch still being our best forward seems like a concern, for the forward dynamics. He plays on a 2nd tall from any club, or Lever/Petty and he'll be kept quiet. May blunts TMac, understandable. But then Brown, Weid, Jackson, any reports on forward work? Contesting? Marking? Goalkicking? A lot is riding on these boys. As well as Petty if we also plan to slot him forward

Clarkson and Dimma were both almost sacked and were hated by their supporters. In this thread I have read Goodwin is too innovative and he is also not good enough tactian. It just amazes me how negative some people are.

Would love to know if there were any interesting/surprising players lining up in the royal blue "seconds". Defenders aside, sounds like Bennell and Brown were royal blue and Weideman and Jackson played half-and-half. Edit: looks like lots of players spent time in both colours: from the TMac interview video, I can see Jones, AVB, Bennell and J Wagner all spent time in both royal and navy blue. I can also see ANB and Hunt in royal and Lockhart in navy.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/703083/tom-mcdonald-reviews-saturday-s-practice-match?videoId=703083&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1591422291001

Jeez tough crowd! I hope Goodwin sticks it up all you doubters just to see the Olympic level backpedalling on here by the so called "supporters" of this club. You're all damaged goods.