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Oliver isn't just a dime a dozen inside mid, he's a generational talent. Terrible call this. Go after Merrett by all means, but you don't sell your best player to get another good player. Shockingly counter intuitive.

Completely disagree. Oliver went past Cripps two years ago at 21 years of age and is just as good as Neale and Shuey. He doesn't have the influence of Dangerfield yet, because he doesn't hit the scoreboard, but Dangerfield didn't start influencing games until his 5th season. Oliver's been influencing games since his first season. He bossed Callan Ward in his first ever game at 65% TOG. He's incredibly durable and since coming into the game, the first time we've won a game without Oliver pulling the strings in our midfield was literally last Sunday night. It's mind-blowing how so many Melbourne supporters fail to see how good Oliver is.

They're working on it apparently. not sure how close it is to getting done etc, but the club is already onto it with Trac, they're not waiting until next year.

Jackson led Melbourne for ground ball gets on the weekend, along with Jack Viney (9 each). He also had 11 contested possessions, behind only Viney, Oliver and Gawn. Of all rising stars, he has the second most contested possessions (1 behind Chad Warner) this season. Given that he's a teenage second ruckman, the signs for him are ultra-promising.

All from his set shot routine probably

WOW! 3 rounds, 3 wins and 12 premiership points in the bank. It is so long since we have experienced such a high position on the ladder this early in the season it is giving me nose bleeds. As a matter of fact, I have experienced some Demon seasons where we have not realised 12 points for the whole 22 rounds. We played GWS last round and, it has to be said that they suffered three critical game ending injuries to leading players. This, of course, made it very difficult for them. So what? It happens. I will take the points and celebrate the win and I do not see anywhere an asterix besides the 4 points that explains the situation. Sing the song, celebrate the win, and move on the next round. And so, to the Round 4 encounter with the [censored] ( I had no idea that 'Puss ies" was censored) at the G on Sunday afternoon. Don’t be surprised if Geelong do not turn up on Sunday. I mean that literally, not metaphorically. Since records were first kept, when the [censored] supporters saw the Dees fixture on the season list they just assumed it was a home game at Kardy Park. Do not be surprised if, an hour before the game, a bunch of their supporters turn up at the ground from the pub only to realise that the game is being played elsewhere. A few of the dimmer players might also turn up there. The facts: We are coming off a win in Canberra and are full of confidence. Advantage us. We did not make the most of our good play last week. Advantage them. They had a hard-fought win against the hawks and have one less day to recover. Advantage us They have no Dangerfield and that other bloke that is the worst sort of sniper/king hitter I have seen for some time. Advantage us Problem areas of the game for us: Strange to think that we are 3-0 with a patched up forward structure and have not really put it all together in a game yet. Does that say more about us, or the teams we have played? Defence was a bit patchy on Sunday. It held together but did not look as confident as it has in the recent past. There were a few dropped marks that should have been taken and I was very nervous each time Jetta was called upon to step up. He started on Toby and was left standing and watching a few times before May moved to him. Nev had jut 67% game time for 9 disposals and zero tackles. Not what you want from a defender. On the plus side in defence Hunt had a blinder. In the past I have subscribed to the old maxim that it is all about the midfield but I might have to say that in this game it will be the defence that needs to perform against a mature, well structured attack. May has a big job to do on Hawkins. We had problems in the midfield against GWS. Oliver copped a heavy tag as was not able to work it out. The coaches moved him forward where he managed to get his hands on the ball but butchered the three set shots. Petracca had a reasonable game but I wondered after the game if the heavy tag on Oliver also affected Petracca’s game. I have noticed that the seems to feed off each other in games. Will be interesting to see how that situation develops. I like the way that we are developing the games of Sparrow and Jordon. Both had only 66% game time last week with Jordon really delivering. This week they will come up against a good midfield team but I believe we will come out on top of them. Smith against Langdon as a match up? Gutherie and Selwwood will need to be contained. Ah yes, now for the forwards……. The good; we kicked a winning score last week. Kossie with 4 The bad; that midfielder’s set shots for goal The ugly; TMac’s disappearance for a lot of the game Well, I have to say that Kossie is a great pickup. 4 goals taken with excitement and flare. And….. he is ours….. Fristch found his kicking boots and looked like he was having fun out there and giving the opposition players a bit as well. It is not the forward structure we thought we would be running with in the pre-season but we still manage to find avenues to goal each week. I hope we do the same this week. I predicted a 6 goal win last week and missed by a couple of points. This week I think it will be tighter than last week with the older more experienced [censored] pushing the whole way. 3 quarters of an arm wrestle with us winning out in the last by 3 goals. If we go to 4-0 I can imagine that there will be a few more heads turning our way in the media and the other teams. OK. I’ve dusted off the bandwagon, polished the fading paintwork, given it a tune up and topped up the fuel tank with premium bathwater. Another win and it will trundle out into public for the first time since the beginning of 2019 season.

Petracca talks are well underway. Sounds like an extension will get done this season. Likely it will be a decent deal, but not a one club kind of deal, so he’ll be a free agent again in a few years. Oliver’s contract is more about money than anything. Club has been in dialogue with his manager, but they’re still not close. Club wants to lock him in longer term, but he and manager are pushing for short contract on bigger dollars and then becoming a free agent after that. If he doesn’t get to play finals consistently in the coming years, he’ll chase free agency to a stronger club. This one will drag out a bit from what I heard. Hopefully it gets done. Clarry is a gun and it would be a disaster to see the best inside mid we’ve had in my lifetime walk out on the club.

No one is buying Finals Tickets yet. I think we all know it’s early days. but we have been challenged seriously and have responded. Sunday is a big game. I expect to win But it won’t be easy.

Weideman and Brown both playing VFL this week according to Gawn ?

With all the talk being Oliver and Petracca with their contracts, one that's not being mentioned is Salem who is currently uncontracted as we speak. Does anyone know where he is at with this? He's imo just as important in being re-signed and his ball use and class sets us up so well across half back. Only 25 years old and has just ticked over the 100 game mark. Plenty of good footy ahead of him and I really think he can really put his name up their as one of the best half backs in the game.

Whatever else is in the contract, I hope we get better control over his hairstyle.

We didn’t just turn up expecting to win. GWS came out all guns blazing, tackled like tigers and were dead eye in front of goal. Sometimes you have to credit the other team. They have quality players, their 0-3 start doesn’t reflect this. That’s a game we’ve lost in the past. Twice now against the saints and GWS we’ve been challenged and twice we’ve responded. The maturity we hoped this group would display is finally apparent. Very positive development and bodes well for our Top 4 chances.

Jackson, Kosi, Rivers, Langdon, Tomlinson. In 2020 can anyone recall a better recruitment in one year ?

So a media personality makes an unsolicited comment, and that means the team and/or Demonland members are now "getting ahead of ourselves" You are insufferable, honestly.

Salem's just about our most underrated player IMO. He's rarely in the votes, but almost never plays a bad game. We don't really have anyone else with his skillset on our list - behind Gawn and May, you could make a case that he is the hardest player to replace in the 22. I expect him to be signed up with minimal fuss.

My least favourite team. And in selwood my least favourite player.

Yes I have seen it first hand, previously worked in the Sex Crime area. Whats seen can't be unseen and what's read sometimes has a bigger impact. I became immersed in an investigation that consumed my life more than it should have a few years ago. It impacted me and my family to a point I never thought it would. It was tragic the victims ranged in age from late 30s to late 40s when they came forward and to see the effect it had on their lives and the destruction had a big impact. The offender was a Catholic priest who in the 70s and 80s preyed on vulnerable children and destroyed lives. The actions of the Catholic church we uncovered were deplorable. The bravery of those victims to relive some horrors of their childhood should not be underestimated. The day we knocked on the priest's door was gratifying to look him in the eye and acknowledge we knew what he'd done and they were no longer frightened children, who didn't speak up because they thought they wouldn't be believed. Many of the victims were substance abusers, suffered mental health and were severely effected to a point they will never recover from. The Rod Owen story unfortunately is not isolated

How is that defeatist? It’s the team thing to do. He put a block so his teammate can have a clear run at the ball while he was being heavily tagged? I thought that except for losing his cool once, he took it on the chin and actually played really well up forward, except for his goal conversion. If he kicks 3 goals is anyone even talking about his game?

getting way ahead of ourselves. we looked average against the dockers and average against gws until the last 15 mins.

I keep saying it, but we simply have to keep winning. Success will keep these boys together Nothing else matters

Interest in Petracca is real, and not just from the Pies, but i'd be staggered if he left, all i've heard on the matter is that Trac is in the same boat as Clarry, ongoing conversations with the club, no indication that he's wanting to wait and see how the clubs going at this stage, it's mostly, and justifiably from his end, about money, he obviously thinks he deserves big $$ and given he's in the best few players in the game i tend to agree. you just look at the way he celebrated goals and got around the boys on the weekend and you can see a bloke who's invested, loves the Melbourne football club and his team mates and given the team is off to a strong start, and the prospective chasing clubs are not, it'd be staggering if he left.

The secret to Pickett's evasiveness is that even he doesn't know what his legs are doing.

Jake Melksham, getting it done! :p it’s not even April 1

It must be a bit sad for you 'Dr'...all the talk of Goodwin's position being in jeopardy if we go 0 & 4, 0 & 5... It was almost like you and some of the others were hoping for us to start poorly. Getting rid of Goodwin seemed to be the narrative when we inevitably failed. Now it's the old we've had an easy draw story...preseason Freo were picked as big improvers, the Saints top 4 and GWS a solid final 8 aspirant after a disappointing 2020. It's still too early to say where any team sits this season, probably North are the only one that appear to be headed for the spoon. Well we're 3 and 0 sitting top 4. I'll take that, any win's a good win. Don't let your dislike of Goodwin and a need to be proven right sour a good start to the season. Enjoy!!!

A Melbourne player setting blocks and not just sulking. Would never happen in years gone by. This is a positive in my mind.

At the beginning of the season, I thought to myself, if we can just hang in their until BB and or Weid get back, claim back a decent fwd line. To have both our first choice keys out and be notching up wins has been beyond my expectation. We have though, had luck going our way with all three teams we've played having a fair injury list and previous week travel adversity. And this looks to continue with Geelongs key outs and I note Hawthorn are playing in the West next week ahead of our game. So I reckon we've had some fortune align our way. Not withstanding the umpiring was terrible last week and the opposition were decent, but certainly not at their best. We have definitely improved on last year, that's a fact - we've had our method right, and with another key fwd I think we could really punish some sides on the scoreboard and not just general play.

The Cats will definitely target him. Thats 100% going to happen. What they may not realize is that he has his uncle Byrons toughness and targeting him may only unleash a monster.

I'd pay him top dollar on a contract that takes him to free agency. Just get it over and done with. I prefer shorter contracts anyways. GWS and Collingwood have handicapped themselves because of ridiculous long term deals. If we are successful he'll re-sign thereafter. If we're not well he deserves a crack elsewhere.

Indeed - his time at MFC was covered in the article. My wife is a social worker and frequently sees this in childhood abuse victims who develop in to self-abusing adult; even when they try to set themselves on the right path, they come unstuck at every and any setback, because they don’t have the required resilience due to the trauma. Invariably they end up in trouble with the law, and from there the only mechanism society has to deal with them is punishment. At no stage is the root problem ever addressed. And society in general is just unforgiving and has no understanding of how a traumatised mind works. Often the person will be seen as a monster. I didn’t follow VFL in the 80s and I can’t remember Owen as a player, but this story was gutting. I truly hope he is finally on a path towards peace and surrounding himself with people who can help him. I hope the player’s association do everything they can to help. I also hope St Kilda investigate and rescind Albert Briggs life membership if they haven’t already. Contributing to the destruction of one life (that we know of) cancels out any good he did and then some.

Gawny said on the radio this morning that both Weid and Ben Brown are playing

Losing Salem would be on par with Petracca and Oliver.

Classing Oliver as a "dime a dozen" inside midfielder is a horrendously poor read on his talent. Oliver is the complete opposite of a "dime a dozen" midfielder. It disappoints me that MFC supporters don't appreciate just how good Oliver is. So to answer your question, no [censored] way. (PS before anyone says it, yes I believe Oliver has areas in which he can improve).

The other thing about Jackson is that he has bulked up enough to do some serious minutes in the ruck. And do well. Plenty of teams will resort to flooding back lines, like the giants did. Running Jackson as a ruck gives us terrific tactical flexibility at creates the opportunity to play Max at deep full forward, as was the case on Sunday night. This is a great option to combat the flood as we have three talls, who if they can't mark will bring it to ground, where kozzue the mozzie and his two comprades can go to work.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but I thought Hunts running game on Sunday was his best since his break out year under Roos. The speed he brings off half back is so great to watch and I thought he used it better than I’ve seen for a long time. I think as his confidence grows, he is going to be so important to our chances this year.

I don’t think the MFC turned up to the game lethargic at all. you underestimate GW$ having a serious red hot crack. 10.2 deadly accurate but only 12 shots We did ok in April

I suspect plenty of the school boys on here didn't see Jones when he couldn't kick straight but still managed to carry the team essentially on his own, for what seemed like decades. Best 23 should earn that fella a game every week for a while longer and give the spuds around here some time to do some historical MFC research after they've done their homework and chores for mum. At least he can slot a goal now and get in a chain instead of trying to do too much, even if its in the twilight ( smile )

Do you not think the fact we have been ordinary, as you put it, yet have still won our 3 games, is a big improvement in and of itself?

Especially his ability to extract a lightening quick handball out of a scrum. Way too underappreciated

Maxy was interviewed on radio today and Ben Brown and Sam Weideman both playing VFL this week.

Agreed on Brayshaw & Viney (and Hunt) Both Jack & Gus kept the team in the game early with their vigour & attack on the ball Without them we might have got run over or at least have been 5 or 6 goals down Brayshaw especially is playing well in a role that is unfamiliar to him (defensive wingman) ... he's often forced to kick to a contest as he is being asked to gain metres for the team So therefore the DE in relation to Brayshaw is another useless stat held up by those who don't watch the game closely enough. Metres gained with regards to the new attacking brand of footy is however a more apt stat But I choose to watch the game over what the stats say and Brayshaw had a very good game when considering he's not a natural wingman Viney was just Viney and he's a little champ Hunt is finally starting to find his feet ... I like what I see

Why all the hate for Tmac? I get that he had a down day, but I back him to bounce back - he's a hard worker and I think the coaching staff would be in his ear giving him some pointers. I'm going to back him to bounce back this week. P.S - Tmac is a way better option than Daw (can't believe some are calling for Daw over Tmac)

Obviously a great start to the season but more relieved we won against the Giants on the weekend than anything. Our game didn't inspire great confidence. And I think we got incredibly lucky that the Giants had three down most of the game. That's not to say there weren't things to like, I think we've addressed some of our issues. That can be seen from the first three weeks. Defence looks strong, setup behind the ball and we have a great blend back there. Max and Jacko look great in tandem. Our midfield are strong and we look hungry and our effort and intensity for the most part can't be questioned. Geelong is a huge test even without some of those names they'll be missing. Scott is a great tactical coach and I can tell you now that we will not kick a winning score if we enter inside 50 the way we did against the Giants. It will be a field day for the Geelong talls if so. Too many times I witnessed Tom Mac, Fritsch and either Gawn or Jackson all way too close together, competing for a kick coming in. Tmac in my eyes was back to his worst on Sunday night. I don't care that he managed to make a few tackles. His leading patterns were absolutely appaling which is why we moved him higher up the ground in the end. He and Fritsch were constantly in each others way and there was always space, usually on the fat-side that Tom should have been leading to. I think the addition of Pickett and the form and pressure of Spargo, ANB and Sparrow has helped bandaid some of this but this week against a tall, experienced and well drilled defence, we're going to need to either make some selection change or we simply must enter in a different fashion. It doesn't help that some of the ball use coming in was poor again. Hunt is killing us with his use which makes his run and carry less impressive and vital. We had many many opportunities to keep using short hit up targets when we were in possession say 80 metres out and we should have honoured those short hit ups to allow continued movement and allowing leading lanes to open up. We must get better at this if we're any chance to challenge the better sides. Yes we've had three wins on the trot but I believe change is necessary coming into this week. The G is a huge ground and against Geelong, our ability to to hit targets going forward simply has to be much better. I think Melksham needs a game this week and I think supporters have this weird fixed view that he simply won't chase, tackle or harass. Why? He is a natural forward who leads to the right spots, works well with T Mac in that space and adds polish to our side. Sparrow has been great defensively, but we need better offensive drive. We have enough defensive weaponry and pressure imo with ANB, Spargo and Pickett. And sure, if he is poor defensively then Sparrow comes back but this season is long and this is a horses for courses game at times. The other change I'd make is Hibberd for Jetta. Jetta's lack of pace scares me to end on the G and with Miers, Dahlhaus, Fogarty and perhaps one other small nippy forward, Hibberd is better suited. I think his drive and penetration with his kicking is necessary this weekend and I don't the Nev's form is amazing atm. Melkasham for Sparrow. (Sparrow very stiff). Hibberd for Jetta. T-Mac one more chance to redeem and Gawn to float more forward than back.

They will put Josh Bruce on the wing.

Ed Langdon would also have to be in some consideration. I'm sure when the time comes to pick the actual side we'll see a Joel Selwood or Lachie Neale on a wing instead...

Inside mids are a “dime a dozen” but Oliver is a one in a generation player. Merrett needs the ball fed out to him. Oliver is the player to do that. You can have all the outside skills in the world, but games, and finals, are won in contests. And nobody is a better ball getter in the contest than Oliver.

The opinion of Irish players travelling to Aus is looked upon more favourably for the women than it is for the men. In terms of a normal Ladies Football season ie. not 2020/21 due to Covid, there are two main county (Dublin) competitions. The National League that runs from January to March/April and then the All Ireland Championship which runs from July to September. It is the latter that is the pinnacle and Dublin will go for 5 in a row in 2021. The NL is of less importance and it’s what players miss out on when in Aus. The period between those competitions and after September is the club period. A players club is where they began playing as a child and will be a member of all their life, there is no transferring and there are club competitions when the county season is not on. The best club players get chosen to play inter county football and in this case for Dublin. So the Dublin team and every other is made up of players from different clubs. So the three girls over there now actually play against each other in club championship but represent Dublin together. Any big extension of the AFLW season would make it more challenging to compete for these girls as it would be frowned upon if they missed club action (Goldie did so to travel to Aus in 2019, which was very surprising). Similarly any change in the calendar here which isn’t out of the question would affect it too. ALFW is naturally a lot more physical than Ladies Football. A more natural skilled footballer here would not cut it over there as they don’t have the same strengths needed. It is very difficult to know what Dublin players if any would be interested. The McEvoy / Goldrick signing was kept completely quiet for months as not to distract from their county season with Dublin. Magee was less of a surprise as she had travelled in early 2020 and was reported to have been very successful at the combine held in Dublin. McEvoy and Goldie only had positive things to say when they returned last year and the fact they went again and brought Lauren says a lot. She’s done a few interviews and only had good things to say as well. So the relationship seems very strong but it’s too difficult to know what way the next few years will go of course. Hope that post isn’t too long and makes sense! I’ve inserted a photo of Sinead & Lauren playing in club championship final against each other. Lauren with Kilmacud Crokes and Sinead with Foxrock Cabinteely, both successful clubs located near each other on the south side of Dublin county. A few weeks later they played alongside each other to win an all Ireland with Dublin yet some will say club achievements trump all!

Woke up today and thought 'holy [censored] do we really have Pickett? Is he really this good already?" When you factor in that hes a teenager and has only played 17 games or so and that he lost his mother a few months ago and had to go back to S.A to mourn and while he was there he still trained his butt off, came back in supreme shape and is setting the AFL on fire.. this is a special kid!

He is speciallllll. Ha...Trac looks like hes expecting a handball.