Leaderboard

Hmmm, Carlton you say?

Beware the Giants this week, they are absolutely copping it in the media, highlighting their players lack of run and accountability. Line in the sand game for them and we need to be very careful not to drink our own bath water this week and get caught up in a dog fight. Kelly, Hopper and Coniglio will come to play. Great opportunity to get a win and get a 2 game buffer on a few teams and set ourselves up. Big test of maturity and ruthlessness, we are favourites. Need to set the tone early that you’re going to run 2 ways, be hard at every contest and set the self preservation and self doubt in on the Giants

so, down at linton st they are all talking about why melbourne didn't take dusty martin in the draft good thread......?

Huge test this week. Going in favourites, playing a team who are being slammed left right and centre in the media and will bring heat from the start. Can we absorb it and match it? A lot of internal talk about us working on maturity and consistency over the off-season. What an occasion to test ourselves. If we bring the same attitude and intensity as last week, I think we've got them. Regardless of our questionable skills at times. GWS are not the team they once were and this will be about who is more desperate and whether or not we can match or beat the intensity they bring from the first bounce and maintain it. As far as looking forward goes, if we win this, think about the effect it will have on attendance at the G against Geelong the following week? For a team like ours who needs to win its supporters hearts back and get them wanting to come to watch every week, this game is huge. Melbourne supporters will come in droves if this train keeps moving. 3-0 with a blockbuster against a wobbly and ageing Geelong side. Nightmares of the 2018 elim final again for them. How much do you want it, dees? Get it done.

The review is up on the MFC site: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/893219/vfl-casey-wins-a-close-one-over-the-kangaroos

Sparrow is improving and stays in IMO.

Imagine every club not wanting him when he was on the market.

If you were Oliver would you rather play at the Dees with a solid chance of playing finals and a GF over the life of your contract. Or play with the bottom side who gets beaten 90% of the time for 15% more money? Easy choice for me.

Couldn't see him going there unless he really doesnt care about playing in finals for at least 3-5 more years

This is one of the old furphy's using statistics to form a conclusion after the event. Players don't get to play 150 games unless they are any good. They don't get to be 26 and still in the system for the same reason. The reason teams win premierships is because they have a sizable group of good players. It's as simple as that.

Negotiation in any job is all business. You find your allies, you explore the market, and you make sure you're never the first to offer a figure. It actually takes a lot for someone to change jobs/teams. Players that switch tend to do so for a combination of exposure, success, culture and pay. Tick enough of those boxes and it's hard to leave. As someone in the midst of a pay review now, and knowing I can earn more elsewhere, I have a lot of friends, in a great culture and I have great influence on the workplace. A figure close enough but not necessarily more than what I can get on the market will be enough for me to stay. But it's a waiting game. The media and fans hyperventilate when someone doesn't sign right away but anyone would be crazy not to do their due diligence. If Oliver leaves then it will be about more than money. It will be about his actual place in the team, how he's valued both financially and as a person and player. I'm confident he'll stay. If he doesn't then the questions will be more around what Melbourne couldn't offer beyond money.

Poor old Clayton...not doing any damage with his possessions say some on here. The coaches obviously don't agree...he picked up 9 votes for Saturday's game & sits 3rd on the leaderboard, pretty average player I think not. The best, most consistent pure mid in the game at the moment. LEADERBOARD 19 Dustin Martin RICH 18 Taylor Walker ADEL 16 Darcy Moore COLL 16 Clayton Oliver MEL

I know it's only 2 games in this year but after those 2 games he has 76 disposals (3rd in the league) and he is 60th in the comp in meters gained (4th for Melbourne), so that is not an unreasonable ratio. He is leading the comp in contested possessions (36 vs next best of 30), and also has the most ground ball gets in the competition (22), two stats which why he has such a high handball top kick ratio and also lower meter gained than some others. His disposal efficiency this year is 77.8% and his KE is 74%, so his kicking doesn't seem any worse than handballing. For comparison, Jack Mccrae who has 76 disposals this year has 881 m gained, DE 80% KE 63%, 20 ground ball gets. Oliver's performance is elite, there is no two ways about it.

I've loved everything I've seen from this guy thus far - I don't understand the criticism on this page. He's a 19 year old ruckman/midfielder/forward that contributes something positive every week while providing the flexibility we need to be able to try something different if we need to. He is so much further along than I expected him to be when he was drafted.

The strength of the AFL depends on football’s grass roots. The local suburban and country clubs that develop young footballers and turns them into stars. Those clubs are also important to their local communities for their sport and healthy recreation and for their togetherness and entertainment at weekends. This is a story of council greed that could kill off Fitzroy for a second time. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Council fee hikes threaten to wipe out community sports clubs

It's all a bit of good natured humour...don't take it too seriously crew.

The Greens. Enough said.

This is our classic danger game. Warning one: We've had a couple of wins, people are beginning to think 'Oh, we should maybe take the Demons seriously, let's all take a closer look at them this weekend.' Warning two: For the first time this season we are playing an opponent who is definitely rated below us. Warning three: We've begun to congratulate ourselves for our pressure and discipline. Warning four: The week after this game comes the 'real test' against an allegedly vulnerable allegedly top team. Quite frankly, anything other than a flat performance and disappointing loss would mean we have made serious steps up in maturity. Warning five: Just getting the job done could be seen as doing enough. My tip - Demons by eight goals and a little April in Canberra hypothermia. Come to think of it, a football game at Manuka Oval was where I first really appreciated the power of piercing wind and sleet.

Agree LH what we need is a competition that has 22 rounds and starts the same week as the AFL. Anything less has serious implications on players not selected in the senior team. Just poor.

I thought Ratten was pretty honest saying the Saints made a lot of forced and unforced errors on 360. Those unforced errors put team mates in terrible positions and lead to huge swings. We know that as much as anyone. The question we don’t know is whether our pressure caused the forced errors and the unforced errors by creating a perceived pressure on every kicker. The other thing Ratten said was Pickett changed the momentum of the game and then pretty much said the second half was a holding pattern. I hope we don’t have to rely on it but it’s nice to have both game changing talent and also a structure that makes it hard for teams to find easy answers.

Clayton seems to have a great report with his mates at the club He and Trac are both special talents who together should lead this team to both finals and a premiership/s Great players and great teams know the importance of sticking tight and enjoying success with those who have done the hard yards to get there - they will sacrifice a little on $’s to achieve that because it is worth I hope he signs soon and on terms that fairly reflect his value to this team

Can't stop watching Kozzie's goal. Mesmerising, and the footwork is almost impossible to break down in full speed. Reminds me of a surfer entering a barrel. They disappear for a second, emerge, tack, and then disappear again, before magically coming out the other side. Sublime stuff. Edit: plus sharks.

Give him what he wants.

St Kilda v Melbourne 9 Christian Salem (MELB) 9 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 5 Max Gawn (MELB) 3 Kysaiah Pickett (MELB) 2 Christian Petracca (MELB) 1 Jack Steele (STK) 1 Adam Tomlinson (MELB) Salem well-loved this week, as he ought to be. I'm kind of weird I think, in how much I enjoy picking apart the coaches votes. Curious that one coach gave Pickett 3 votes and the other gave none. Also kind of interesting that in a pretty competitive game there was just one vote in the 30 for a St Kilda player. Since this is a player rating kind of thread, I'll just throw in that our Mr Oliver is currently 3rd for disposals, 1st for contested possessions, 4th for clearances, and those above him in each category aren't the same. Other nice individual stats, some of which surprised me a little - James Jordon equal 4th for tackles inside 50 (and there are 5 Demons inside the top 30) AND equal 4th for tackles total. Steven May equal 4th for kicks, equal 9th rebound 50s, and 12th for meters gained, and is one of only 4 players who still have 100% time on ground. Jake Lever 2nd for contested marks! Bailey Fritsch is No. 1 for marks inside 50. (But probably way down the list for marks inside 45!) Ed Langdon has clocked on for 97% time on ground, the only non-key-position player even remotely up there. Kysaiah Pickett equal 6th for bounces.

Heading to this game. First game in person in nearly 5 years. We should be sniffing a wounded opponent and really go in for the kill. Not get ahead of ourselves and just assume it's going to happen; really get ruthless and grind them in to the dust. We'll see.

I always find it interesting how uncomfortable Demonlanders find it after a strong, injury free win to be able say “No Change”. We almost go hunting for one coming up with some great reasons why they are required. Teams with stability are always the teams with the best chance come years end. No one outside the team that is injury free is a guaranteed in. I would argue Benny Brown the only one once fit without question. No one inside the side did not play their part in our win. I will admit some like Jones and Jetta I believe may be passed by at some point this year and some like Hunt I dont have full faith in but they all deserve their spot. I will also admit that the good teams have roles that are not defined by Dream Team Points but what it means for the structure or intent see Brayshaw, Sparrow, Spargo and ANB I reckon. It’s no change for me bar the who you choose as medisub. And it should stay that way whilst we win playing team footy knowing there are some strong players and up and comers to take out away from you if you dont.

The last 20 years has seen a common thread amongst all premiers. Average age 26/27 average games 125 - 150 0-50 games - 3 players 0 - 100 games - 7 players 150+ games - 10 players As basic as this is, age and experience matter. bigger bodies, seasoned professionals and a continuaty amongst the core playing group. dees for the saints games average age 25 average games 95 0-5 games - 6 0 - 100 games 12 Over 150 games - 4 The formula for the dees this year is a little short in most categories however with brown, weid, melk and hibbo back the averages start looking a lot better. next week dees are likely to field the most experienced team in the last 15 years. It seems that finally the rebuild is coming to an end and the window has swung right open.

Be still my thundering heart. 2 Rounds done… 2 wins and 8 premiership points in the bank. So very strange. There were even some good coaching moves made during the game. I was not far off in my prediction last week. I predicted a 4 goal win – close, except that it could have been anywhere between a 3 and 10 goal margin. Big difference between Round 1 and Round 2 was that the midfield looked well organised and ran hard all day. So with Round 2 done and dusted we turn our attention to Round 3 and our game in Canberra on Sunday against the Great Waste of Space (GWS), The AFL’s version of the creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein. With this, the Waste of Space’s 10th year as a ‘club’, it should be settled and well structured. However, I do not think that is the case. It has been the poor cousin living next door to the Swans based in a wasteland of AFL fans. I can see constant messages being sent by the Captain of the good ship, Waste of Space, Reading “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money, the natives are restless”. I am sure from that paragraph you have picked up that I do not hold this ‘team’ in high regard. I do not even hate them, more that I am miffed at their existence. To hate them I would need to have some respect for them. Still, I have to put that aside and look at the actual footy. There are 4 premiership points to be won and lost….. this is serious. I want us to grab those points. The facts: We are playing them with an extra day’s rest. Advantage us. They are travelling back from a loss in Perth. Advantage us We play in Canberra. ? (well it is a fact) Our third string forward line still misses a lot. Advantage them. Problem areas of the game for us: After the performance last week, it is difficult to identify the major problems except for one. More on the later. Defence was again very good, and they were well organised to cover the main threats that the Saints presented. Himmelberg and Ninja Green look to be the main threats for the defence to look out for. Their kicking for gaol against Freo was just about as bad as ours was against the Saints. They had 9 players from the midfield that between them kicked 0.10. While May and Lever did not have an easy time of it last week as they had in Round 1, the rest of the defenders stepped up and worked as a unit. We need them to keep it up and look to improve against the Waste of Space. The midfield does not have too many problems given that level of performance across the board. The hard part will be maintaining that quality. This week we need to come out hard and fast in the middle, give the opposition no space and produce the repeat efforts in close that were a feature of last week’s performance. We need the midfield to dominate so they give us as many chances as possible to have scoring shots. (This bit is a cut and paste of my comments last week with a couple of minor adjustments – I know I am being lazy) Now let us turn our attention to our forwards. The good; we kicked a winning score last week. The bad; it was not that many goals (as it should have been). The ugly; the bad kicking for goal. Almost twice as many behinds as goals. In the forwards I like the structure and the players. It is functioning well. Kossie and Spargo together are a great double act and the talls are getting to the places they need to. When the goal kicking accuracy sorts itself out it will be a sight to behold. Freo kicked 11.21 against GWS’s defence with pretty much the same forward setup as played against us with a couple of changes. Perryman looks to be the best of that lot with Cumming getting a lot of possessions from half back and being their main carrier out of defence. Will be interesting to see who plays on him/who he plays on. The selection meeting this week will be simple. Shut the door, have a couple of beers, eat the cheese board, catch up on the news and announce ‘no changes’. The MFC ‘glass half empties’ are having a hard time of it at the moment and a few of them seem to have gone to ground. I am sure they will surface again the near future. If we keep winning, I await the first post criticising the players for wearing short socks and how it is a sign that Goodwin has lost them. The big question is; will Dr.Frank’s Creature run rampant and create fear and havoc or will the Demon hoards contain, restrict and then overrun the self-entitled love child of the AFL? (A thought; does this make Sheedy Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor?) I am going with the Demon hoard to bring home a good win making it a 3-0 start. 6 goal margin to the Dees.

Gary cops a lot of crap from people but you can't deny his passion for the Dees. He is Melbourne through and through.

I loved the quote from Goodwin's presser that Langdon had no idea that Goody coached from the bench because he'd never been there.

The council should butt out and leave it to Gil to do his job killing our game

If he leaves, it ain't to North. They're going to be overpaying players of the Chris Dawes ilk like we did for a while whilst they build their list. It took us years before we landed a big fish and that was only once we became decent. Money alone won't get people to North. It would be a very poor career choice for a player like Oliver to even contemplate North as they are today.

without wishing to get political it's a Greens dominated council who believe that their number 1 challenge is global warming. I believe in global warming but somehow I think the council's bigger challenges might be closer to home. Charging by reference to "inclusiveness" is a new concept. My son played his junior football finals at the Brunswick oval. A lovely set up

The Spargo/ANB pressure acts stat is great. But the other stat I took notice of in that article was the 100% TOG stat: Langdon, May and Tomlinson all played 100% of the game. Langdon, a winger, playing 100% of the game. That's insane. I'd love to know if any other mids/wingers are clocking 100% game time in 2021. Having players like them (and Lever I think did it in Round 1) who can stay out on the field all day without compromising their own performance, freeing up the limited rotations to use on those who need it, must surely be some sort of advantage for us (however small).

Agree with all this. However we need some balance. Oliver and his manager have the whip hand, and, if they want to, they can delay negotiations and put the club to the fire as they field offers from other clubs. You would imagine they will want to see the colour of the MFCs money first up as a starting point. We assume those discussions have already started. What we do know is that we don’t want this remaining an issue and become the basis of the normal media carry-on as we reach the finals (making an obvious assumption). This is going to be tough going for the club. The coaches will want to keep him, everyone will want to keep him. But if the season continues to develop favourably for the team, we are going to have a bunch of players who will need to be looked after. And there is one giant shadow looming with CP having a huge price on his head. How do we keep them all? Maybe the simple answer is that we can’t. Success on the field will help but we will still need to put dollars on the table for CP and others. And we will want to avoid the recent mess created by Collingwood with its player payments.

I had the red and blue pills a long time ago. I think my mistake was having both, as I thought they were supposed to make me see things as they were. But I start every season seeing a flag.

Because you want your guaranteed GF ticket and probably like me couldn't bare the thought of not being there when Max raises the cup.

That was Salems most complete game by far. Would be brilliant if he can put together a consistent season at that level, would go close to B&F.

A mate got out there and I got the following at various times through the morning. It is raining cats & dogs out here Cannot sight Baker - he must be 23rd Man for tonight Qtr time: Casey 4.4:28 v North 3.1:19 Half time. Casey lead by 10 points. 42 to 32. 3QT: we hold a 11pt lead going into the last Qtr (62v 51) Seeing plenty from Hibbo, Rosman, Chandler, Bedford, Bradtke, Melks, Vanders & Daw Majak has taken some very strong marks and kicked about 3 goals FT score: 12.9:81 v 11.7:73- well done Casey The feature of the game was some strong marking in terrible conditions early. Majak & Bradtke in particular! My 3,2,1 would go to Hibberd, Vanders & Daw with a special mention to Bedford

There was a dramatic shift in the vibe of the room pre-game to post game that's for sure. Going from "how are we going to fit Crouch and Hannebery into this awesome side" to "how are we going to replace the 10 players that need to be dropped after that performance"

Boy oh boy! Wowee! I almost spat out my cornflakes when I came across this news item in The Daily Bugle this morning. It's absolutely incredible! I can scarcely believe it... I hope it's OK by the mods if I reproduce the article in full. In what is believed to be a first in world sport, Melbourne Football Club is on the verge of sacking its entire coaching staff and replacing them with a group of fans from their website Demonland. This innovative and radical move would save Melbourne millions of dollars and shore up their financial position in perpetuity. An anonymous source from within the club says that they have long valued and admired the collective judgement and football wisdom of Demonland posters and that it would make sense to make use of their talents, particularly when it would cost nothing at all. CEO Gary Pert has refused to comment publicly, but insiders claim that he sees this move as a game changer that would put Melbourne ahead of the curve. When contacted for comment, under siege coach Simon Goodwin stared into the middle distance while absentmindedly scratching his left leg before saying in a flat voice "The reality bus is full of learnings and I've recognised for some time that Demonland posters know much more about this coaching caper than I ever will. I could see their involvement bringing about instant and ongoing success for the team." Our source can also reveal that List Manager Tim Lamb has conceded that his position was redundant given the collective expertise on tap and was looking forward to Melbourne cutting out all the deadwood on the list and winning every trade period in future. Recruiting guru Jason Taylor is said to be equally enthused and was overheard saying that he was looking forward to the parade of champions that would be drafted from here on and that the Demons would never pick another spud with the experts in charge. President Glen Bartlett has privately conceded that the entire football department is on notice, with the possible exception of the boot studder, the doorman and the bloke who cuts up the oranges at three quarter time. The Selection Committee is also expected to be given their marching orders and be replaced by a poster who has not been identified but is believed to live in the vicinity of Werribee and who has agreed to take on the task of weekly team selection on the proviso that the side is printed IN UPPER CASE. While this amazing news has been greeted with widespread enthusiasm from the Demonland faithful, a cautionary note has been sounded by one long-time fan who wished to remain anonymous but agreed that he was an Old Dee and said that he was pessimistic that these changes would help and predicted that Melbourne would never be any good. Melbourne Football Club remain tight-lipped about this visionary proposal with a formal announcement expected to be made at a supporters function to be held on 1st April at the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Club in King Street.

We have to do our very best to keep him. Not "give him what he wants", but something close to it. I agree that he has some parts of his game that need improving - like handballing to team mates who are too close and already under pressure, and trying to get around the tackle when he had a first option to give a releasing handball - but the rest of his game is simply a joy to watch. He plays at full pace, has amazing quick and accurate hands, his kicking has become a weapon, he runs all day, and racks up possessions bringing team mates into the game. He reminds me a bit of Stephen Tingay, although Tingay was more a kicking player. And there seems to be genuine camaraderie between him, Gawn, Trac and Brayshaw. Lots of reasons to fight hard to keep him.

Totally pennant. I think a change for the dees, that actually started in 2019, is how hard we are to score against when on. When teams open us up it usually because our all team defence and two way running has dropped off. This year we have been really strong in this regard. The other change that has contributed to our defensive strength is how well our back half is going. And how well they are working collectively to maintain their fluid zone. This really started last year. And has been on show this year. I'm confident we win if we get these two elements right, particularly the all team defence and two way running. The all team aspect is psychological, not physical, so a failure to bring it would me a massive fail. And inexcusable. This is where the coaches responsibility stops and the players begin. The coaches will get the ready and do all the talks and yadda yards. But if they lose because they drop off defensively, even a tiny bit, it is 100% on the players.

Might I suggest a camp?

This could be our angry game. In the past we couldn't trust. Give us something Dees to say, they have the supporters backs. Be ruthless, determined and courageous, play smart and please no unforced errors. There is plenty of room for improvement and I want an A grade hit at the GWS. I think it could be decided in the first quarter. If we jump them early, I doubt they have the belief and desire to fight. If they jump us, then they may believe they can resurrect their season. No change, be ruthless and sink their season. Go Dees.

Haha same here. Keep replaying it but just can’t see it. It was unbelievable! The only place I have seen a move like that was in the Matrix

Sorry his first two games have been "STELLAR" IRREPLACEABLE by any measure 850 -900 per season over 5 would seem to be right!!

Clearly we see things differently and thats fine - the last I'll say in this conversation on this is as follows. Club's can put out public goals on performance as much as they want - for mine, its lovely, and it's irrelevant- all clubs are vying for the same thing ultimately in a 5 year period anyway.... so I don't use them to guide my decision making on club hope's from the marketing brochure. I disagree that we get beaten, 'consistently in exactly the same way'. I also disagree that the other points are solely 'on Goodwin'. We made the top 8, we failed to make the top 8 2 other times, by the barest of margins. Sport is about the barest of margins - I see 'barest of margins' as a mitigating factor for any team. Take Brisbane last night...Take Stephen Milne, Take Tomlinson from last year. The comparison was not about Ross or Simon, I could have easily used Damian Hardwick or Alister Clarkson or Stewie Dew...it doesn't matter - the point was - all coaches/teams, have deficiencies - including the ones that win in any given season... Ultimately, you are I are debating who's responsibility is performance - I subscribe that there are two parties in this - the information giver (coach, football department) and the information receiver (player/athlete). I don't subscribe to a binary view that the buck stops with the coach. Finally, time frame's. Mine is clearly more elastic than your's. Enjoy the game today, I hope if we win (or when we win another game throughout the season), we can have another conversation about what benefit the coach and FD have had on the team and what role they had to set up the win.

Gawwd Jimmy did you count the number of times his "Deft"handballs opened up the game and resulted in goals?? Cmon Man, he is just a "Magic"player!!

35 touches at 80% and 7 clearances and Melbourne supporters still think he had just an average game. Name one other player on our list who would have these post game stats and not be considered to have had a phenomenal game? We are so spoilt by the quality of Oliver we don’t even get excited by these stats anymore. And he’s just starting to reach his peak at 100 games. Worth whatever he wants.