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A big thanks to the Melbourne Cheer squad for landing my daughter a flag to wave and gifting my 4 year old one. Made for a really enjoyable night.

I'm just going to contribute a quick observation on Tom McDonald. At the end of the game, with the camera lingering on him for what seemed like eternity, he looked seriously unhappy with his effort. That made perfect sense after the number of times he just didn't get it right tonight. BUT Many have cited that in the last couple of years we have been seriously deficient for tackles inside 50 and it was a key reason we we so keen on Pickett. Tom McDonald is the current AFL leader for tackles inside 50 after picking up 4 tonight. He made a contribution tonight even if he had a bad game. Most importantly he didn't drop his head and he kept working and working. You don't drop a player for one bad game when their attitude is still intact and team-first. Especially when they've shown some signs of regaining their better form in the previous couple of weeks.

How's the shephard from Sparrow?

My whipping boy ANB has played well so far this year and good on him and I hope it continues for him and us.

A week ago I posted the only thing to beat us vs GWS was ourselves and what was happening 'between the ears. Answer: Plenty good is happening - We came to play; we came to win. We didn't take our foot off the pedal. We played 120 mins of committed football We didn't let their early run of goals daunt us or to drop our heads. We fought back. We fought back in the last quarter again when they had a bit of a run. We know how to steady the ship. We are less likely to panic Three weeks of consistency and resilience. Great foundations on which to build the rest of the season. I'm guessing the belief by the players would be growing by the week; no matter what the opps throw at us we can deal with it and get over the line. That is the new Melbourne. Next step: Ruthless defeat of the opps! Yes, we have tougher opps over the next three weeks but there is untold benefit in the growth 'between the ears' of the last 3 weeks. We can easily be 6 - 0 or 5 - 1.

One thing I have noticed with Sparrow is his willingness to shepherd, block, tackle and do the one percenters. Any replacement in the midfield needs to do the same.

My biggest take out of the game, my 5 yr old watched the entire first half next to me, asked qs, said “wow that’s Max Gawn, he’s really big, we’re going to win for sure”, “it’s ok dad no need to tell yell, we’ll get one back... told You so” and “ok dad because o have to go to bed, but when we win you own me a chocolate Easter egg”... and was really engaged with it, hopefully he and his little bro get to see some fun times.

There's so much to like about the side right now. The fact that Rivers, Sparrow and Jordon are making the likes of Hibberd, Melksham and Vanders earn their recall with Jay Lockhart also close to a return. Luke Jackson is showing the versatility we were never going to get from Braydon Preuss. I also love how we've persisted with guys like Hunt, Spargo, Nibbler and T-Mac who have all played important parts in our three wins this year. All of this means that our three draftees have time to learn their craft down at Casey. Last but not least of course we have two key position forwards ready to pull the boots on again. Happy days!

But seriously, how good is Eddy Langdon? Absolutely love the guy.

Did you listen to Simon Goodwin' press conference - there is no way we're drinking the bathwater and he acknowledged we need to improve. It was obvious the Giants would come hard with their season and coach's future on the line and they did. But we were already back on even terms before Cogs went down. Sure they had injuries but we had 3x the scoring shots and double their score after quarter time. I agree with Goodwin we have a lot of room and scope for improvement but enjoy the win and the journey. PS: we brought in some outrageous talent last year - Langdon, Jackson, Pickett and Rivers. Great list management.

So proud of the team so far this season. In previous seasons we might have dropped these past two games. GWS came out of the blocks and looked like their classy best, and we managed to claw it back and overrun them. We just didn't have the resolve in previous seasons. And one of the best parts is we have different players standing up each time. T-Mac was down, Oliver got tagged out but others stood up. That's definitely the hallmark of a good team. We just look look more team oriented at the moment. Bring on the Cats!

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I was sitting behind the goals and what I noticed was Tmac didn't drop the ball, the opposition spoilt it. Importantly though was how often he got to the contest despite the kick advantaging GWS, bringing it to ground - without doing this this Kicket, Spargo, ANB wouldn't have been in the play anywhere near as much. It may not always lead to a crumbled goal but with the subsequent applied pressure a rushed kick out can lead to a repeat forward entry and an opposition backline that becomes more stressed and unstructured.

Jeez Nev, you give Gus a hard time. I thought he did his bit tonight. Manned his wing, tough in the contest and took his goal well. One of our better players.

What on earth are you talking about? They beat a potential finals rival, on the road by six goals. A team that played with great spirit and threw everything they had at us. A 50 point turnaround after quarter time. To win their third game in a row. To go 3-0. For the first time since 2005. You simply have to be trying to wind people up. Because you can't seriously suggest we shouldn't sing our song after that victory.

Love what he has added! Sprints and repeat sprints are so impressive!

Stoked to hear this clown has been kicked off permanently. On a more serious note, Jackson, Pickett and Rivers looking like they'll go on to be becoming solid players for the MFC. What's more exciting is that we are yet to see, and no rush in playing Bailey Laurie and Jake Bowey who I think we'll both add considerable skill level to our team.

Bit of a bump but I just wanted an appropriate place to note; I really, really liked Luke Jackson's game against GWS yesterday. What I found most interesting and pleasing was that after starting the season with a whole lot of moments that were 'almost amazing' Jackson had a very different game in Canberra. I kept seeing him just doing basic things, being involved, making a contribution in small ways. Calmer play. Much less spectacular but much better football and if he can settle those basics into his game it will take a lot of mental pressure off him and hopefully in future allow him to be both reliable and spectacular. I swear every champion player who has ever opened their mouth and made a sound has at some point said 'do the basics well'. If Luke Jackson is listening to that, then we've got ourselves a winner.

What's all this palava about TMAC being unhappy? FMD - some times it's a grind... he contributed with tackles in the forward 50, and took some telling marks. He's playing the big dog at the moment, when he is best suited for number 2 and 3 forward.... GWS flooded back, it's pretty hard to take marks in a pack of 5... Is there an expectation from some that he must jag 2 goals each game and dominate the forward 50?

Kozzy is unbelievable. I pity those still aren’t satisfied with a 3-0 start genuinely. Must suck to not be able to enjoy footy even when things are going our way!!

You won’t be seeing elegt again. Delisted.

I think we are much better this year. The balance of players is better at the foot of the ball. We’ve got some X factor in Kozzie and Trac, some in and under with Oliver and Viney, some outside pace with Hunt and Langdon, and Salem behind the ball with impeccable foot skills. It doesn’t have to be 100% manic anymore. It feels much more composed and controlled. I also think our back line has given us the confidence to maintain our shape around the ball more, even if we lose a few contests in a row. There’s more trust.

Protecting the ball carrier, love it! #FiredUp https://t.co/AfmuBZ0mxt

I'm going to start by saying that yes GWS had a tonne of injuries, problems, issues etc But there is quite a bit to take out of a win like this. Some of the performances from not only the usuals but guys like Spargo and Nibbler, I just love how these guys have this relentless pursuit and never give up on tackles. We had 17 tackles inside 50 tonight to GWS's 4 and it's these guys along with Pickett and who are setting the trend. Jayden Hunt had his best game for a long time. The difference on this game was the timing of his dashes and getting the hand off. We've been crying out to see this kind of stuff and it worked beautifully tonight. A friend was keen to use the sub to get Fritsch off and Melksham on. This would have been silly, it is well publicised how much Fritsch misses gettable shots and how he 'Needs to practice goal kicking' I've seen every lime to describe this possible. But he's smart and knows how to find the footy in the 50. Action Jackson kicked a very crucial goal when it was needed. Solid contributions from Salem, Viney and Tomlinson. I don't know about you but I'm starting to take Langdon's games for granted and just assume he's always gonna be out there patrolling that wing. Before I get laid into for thinking such a thing I think this guy alone has changed so much about the effectiveness of our game plan. We are both able to stifle coujter attacks and generate more scoring chances on a regular basis thanks to this guy. I'm in a good mood, no need to cover any negatives right now. Maybe during the week, not now. Go Dees! Love you all!

Neal - Bullen - important for us

Nobody will talk about Jackson given Kosi's genius, but seriously how good is he? Some of his pickups were akin to Pendlebury in his prime not a ruckman in his second year. Going to be very very good and allows us to use Gawn as we please.

While we are talking 'great pick-ups': The pick 2 (Josh Kelly) for Salem, Tyson and Hunt trade is looking pretty good right now. Even tho we lost Tyson for Preuss who was traded to GWS, their pick for him helped us get B.Brown and either Bowey or Laurie. (iirc, GWS pick 33 for Preuss went to North in the Brown deal and we got pick 28 back which we used for Bowey or Laurie). Kelly is a great player but I would say we have done very well from the trade. Desperately hoping Salem stays. And while doing a postmortem on recruiting - how many people wanted us to pick Cody Weightman instead of Kozzie? Weightman may yet become a very good player but Kozzie is a rare talent. Imagine if we took Weightman and Bulldogs got Kozzie.

Keep banking points. It is a crazy season, and will continue to be. Gotta keep getting the points in the bank every opportunity. Looking like a side that wants to win, and is prepared to work to make it happen. Well done Dees. Not champagne footy (yet).

Seriously? Have you been watching us this year? Even rhe boneheaded commentators pointed out how less crowded we were than the saints for example. As evidenced by our incredible inside 50 to scoring ratio in that game (almost double of the saints). Similarly we had an open forward line v the dockers and in both our practice games. Why was it so crowded against the giants? Because they played a spare back there and flooded back at every opportunity. Which was a big factor in their impotence after q time. And for what it's worth I thought we did a good job of scoring against that flood. Some smart leads and passes, 17 tackles inside 50, kossie and max pushing forward (smart move by goodies- something else to disrupt the anti goodies narrative). Sometimes I think people complain for the sake of complaining and are stuck in 12 month old preconceived critisms.

I was at the game, and the work that was put into Clarrie off the ball was unbelievable. His numbers were understandably down. The umps need to put a stop to this sort of crap.

Let's start with the main one: why were we wearing our clash jumper? We've never worn it against GWS if my memory serves me right. There's no clash with our home jumper. Anyway, moving on. Obviously GWS had fitness/injury issues which limited them in the fourth. But we started turning the tide midway through the first and into the second, before Coniglio went down (prior to which they had a full bench, given the medical sub). Like last week, we were turning the game back in our favour through workrate, fitness and our structures. We still make far too many fundamental skill errors and against better sides that is going to cost us. We drop too many marks, and we miss too many kicks, including easy set shots. We gave up so many goals today through simple errors. But whilst it might be hard to know how much to draw out of that game at a team level, there's plenty to draw at an individual level. Pickett backed up last week with another great game. I thought Hunt was excellent despite some turnovers. Langdon's run is integral to our success: it is insane how frequently he will be in a back pocket and a forward pocket in the same scoring chain for us. Gawn dominated, but obviously didn't have a decent opponent. I thought Salem was great too, and I thought Brayshaw really played his role well. Possibly one of the biggest wins we got today was the time Jackson spent in the ruck and on the ball. His touch is improving. He's fumbling less, he's nailing handpasses more, and he's getting more involved generally. His pace and mobility is insane for someone his size. The more he can ruck, the more we can throw Gawn back or forward. It's a major boon for us. And of course, we did this with Petracca putting in a stinker by his standards, Oliver being shut out of a half, and May and Lever making mistakes. Regrettably TMac returned to 2019/2020 form, losing that brief foray back to 2018 TMac. If Brown was ready next week that would be the first change we'd make. Jetta struggled too. But without Brown/Weideman or Lockhart fit, there's not much competition for their spots. Possibly Hibberd for Jetta. All in all, we're 3-0 with a percentage of 137% to start the season, including a win at Marvel and a road win. There are plenty of negative posters on here who I guarantee would have taken this start had it been offered to them pre-season. That's not to say all is well: we have much sterner tests to come than the three we've had, starting next week. But we've given ourselves a platform to have a real crack at the top 8 this year. Let's go.

I thought in the first 10-15 mins of the first quarter you could tell our pressure and work rate was a bit off and the Giants were playing some good stuff that we couldn't break up. I put this down to the fact that they brought the run and we didn't bring enough pressure. When the Giants had Davis go down, I thought as the game wore on we'd be a big shot, but then when Coniglio went down, I thought only a Melbourne side could lose it from there. Then De Boer went down as well and I thought Clarry would get off the chain. We really should have wiped them off the park after Coniglio went down and in terms of dominance we probably did, but didn't take our chances. The fundamentals like handballs and defensive marks let us down. Too much Hollywood from Petracca (cost us a goal and momentum at one stage). Oliver needs to convert basic set shots, because when he's being tagged, if he can't break the tag, he needs to be able to go forward and impact the game in another way. Thought McDonald was back to his 2019-2020 form for the majority of the game. Really struggled. Needs to pick it up next week or we're no chance. Unless Brown is ready to replace him. Kudos to Fritsch who nailed his early goals. Needs to do it consistently. Seemed to have a bit of swagger by the middle of the game. If he gets his kicking boots on, that's two goals a game for him easily. Max finished the game out strongly, probably to take the three votes after repeatedly dropping uncontested marks loose in defence in the first half. Like Lever and May, needs to be cleaner. Langdon and Brayshaw offered good outside run. Yze is doing some good work there with Gus. Seems like a good fit out there. If Hunt could kick he'd be an important cog, but he never hits targets - a worry for me out of defence. Kozzie superb for us. He's really found his level now. Brilliant stuff. Really liking out defensive shape, but we have to take those simple marks. Lever and May constantly guilty of dropping easy marks, and Max often spoiling one of them and then falling over himself. Tomlinson the best of our three defenders in terms of solidness. Sad to say Jetts is on his last legs too. Hope he proves me wrong, but he's lost that yard or two and he just can't cover the ground like he used to. I wonder if Hibberd gets the nod over him next week? Despite the hollowness of the win against a severely undermanned GWS (3 down on the bench makes it just about impossible to win in the modern game), to go 3-0 is excellent from our end. We can only beat who is out there, I'd just hoped we'd dispose of them more powerfully, but maybe that performance is coming? Geelong will give us a greater read on where we're at. My feeling at this stage is that we've improved on last year, but we still haven't quite clicked yet. We need that intensity up again like the St Kilda game or we're no chance next week.

3-zip, imagine when we start playing well... I love Langdon, anyone that mentions his minor flaws needs to shut the [censored] up. What a gem of a recruit. Pickett takes the [censored]. So fun to watch with and without the ball. Max ?

Geez, was I watching the same match as others? Playing away against a team which kicked unbelievably well for goal, got a good lead, and we buried them. This is a disappointing win?

We’re coming off 2 terrible seasons & we win our first 3 games by double digits each time & you’ve got people on this forum complaining lol

The opening round of the 2021 NAB League boys competition (this year Under 19s) was completed today with the clash between two of the best performed clubs of recent years with the Sandringham Dragons hosting the Oakleigh Chargers at RSEA Park, Moorabbin. The home side came from behind to record a 16 point win. Co-skipper Josh Sinn was among the Dragons’ best while Collingwood father/son prospect Nick Daicos impressed with three goals. However, for Demon fans, the interest this year is likely to be with the Dandenong Stingrays who selected three 2021 Melbourne Next Generation Academy members in their side for their opening round game against the Gippsland Power which they won comfortably by 39 points yesterday. According to this report from the Greater Dandenong Leader (NAB League Boys 2021: Dandenong Stingrays defeat Gippsland Power) 18-year-old 200cm ruckman/forward Mac Andrews from Berwick was in the best for the Stingrays with 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 12 hit-outs, 3 marks, 3 tackles on debut in the competition. Kobi George, who is also in the Melbourne NGA, paraded his pace off half back which fellow academy member Ryan Koo Kwet Kim was also in the side. We’ll certainly be following the fortunes of these players as the season unfolds.

Geelong are absolutely beatable next week. They haven't looked that good in any of their three games so far. They don't play a style that traditionally scares us (i.e. they play slow), and Hawkins aside they don't have a forward line that scares me. They set up well behind the ball but the way we have moved the ball so far this year, I think we're capable of scoring against them.

What I really like about those stats is Luke Jackson covering 15.4 kms! Astounding for , basically, a big kid!!!

Jeepers, just paraphrasing. From memory you described him last week as "filling space". Feels akin to "contributing nothing", but anyway, semantics. So he had our third most metres gained. He also had our sixth most defensive half pressure acts (Salem, Oliver, Rivers, Viney, Sparrow ahead). And our fourth most intercepts, including our second-highest intercept marks. He floated forward for a goal, too. Again, nothing spectacular, but a decent performance IMO, and a sign he's building into his role.

It's very nice to wake up after a win but to be 3 zip is is better no matter who they are.

Was at the game watching from the pocket. It was messy but it never really looked in doubt, even before they went two men down. We are setting up very nicely behind ball and there’s no sense of panic amongst the back 7 regardless of circumstance. Lots of communication which is great to see. Individuals: Thank god for Gawn. Hunt earned a few more weeks at least. He was excellent. Nibbler won’t be dropped for the rest of the year. When you talk pressure inside 50 he’s at the heart of it. Lever was hot and cold. His cold was awful. Oliver likely won’t play a worse game this year. Kozzie is going to give headaches to every side. Gus and Salem are now mature players. Composed every time with ball in hand. Langdon simply doesn’t stop running. A brilliant acquisition. Bank the four points. Far from perfect but we beat a team we should’ve beaten. Gotta take that.

And Kozzy trotting along beside them both. Be still my beating heart.

Gus was great

Brayshaw- very important early

Bloody hell it’s hard to play well when the ball is being bombed into our f50 with 2 or 3 opposition players around you and a very crowed 50. Tmac was important tonight to our structure and has been playing well in the first couple or games this season, let’s not forget that Also I think it was spargo who kicked a point when Tmac was only a handball over the top on his own in the goal square. Should have done the team thing rather than going for the individual glory thing. We still have things to learn as a team which will hopefully come as the season goes on. On a side note let’s hope we are better prepared for the cats keeping off style of game they played against us last season otherwise it will result in a loss again.

Also of note is the fact that in three rounds we have only looked like we weren't in control of the game for a few minutes. The start of this match was probably the worst we've seen for that, and it lasted maybe five to ten minutes. Aside from that, ugly or not, scoring or not, we've been in control of the games. The side is showing a lot of maturity in being able to keep that control, possess the ball when we need to and not panic like they used to.

Ridiculous Jones hit up Jackson for a textbook I50 and goal at the start of the 2nd Also had 7 score involvements and played well as an inside competitor in fwd half

The idea that some are suggesting we shouldn’t be celebrating a 3-0 start, without any game being in doubt in the last half of the last quarter, considering we have our two first choice tall forwards out and 5 players who’ve played less than 10 games, is frankly mind-boggling. Or incredible, I dunno. What did you honestly expect?!!!!!

Jones is NOT being dropped until he gets to 300, and nor should he. He’s so close and he deserves to get there. He’s more than holding his position in the team. Sparrow for me isn’t doing a lot, but I’m not sure what his role is. So hard to judge. For me, no changes.

Wow. You are a sad individual.