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Demon skipper Max Gawn is one big unit at 208cm and lately he’s been standing even taller. We already know that he’s unstoppable in the air when going for a mark but with three consecutive victories to open the season, you might say that he has his head in the clouds. And that is literally true thanks to a fan at Demonland.com who recently arranged for our big ruckman to go even further than the clouds but way beyond to the edge of space and into the stratosphere. And this photograph of Max at 35km above the Earth with the curve of the planet visible behind him is the proof of the new heights reached by Max. The background to this picture is a special programme from Earth to Sky Calculus which is about bringing real life science to students. https://www.earthtosky.store/free-lift They have a programme of measuring radiation levels, cosmic rays and other experiments on high altitude balloon flights over the Sierra Nevada mountains in the USA. You can see the results of some of their work at this site: https://www.spaceweather.com/ They also take “non-scientific” payloads, (ala Max) providing you pay for the helium to get the balloon up there. So we sent Max along for the ride and the result was that he reached an altitude of 35.1 km (115,158 feet) during a 2.5 hour flight to the stratosphere, and we got great footage of nearly the entire flight. As with the Melbourne Football Club it’s onwards and upwards from here and there’s lots more to come about the story of the high flying Demon captain ...

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.

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!!!

Like this a lot. Melbourne and Richmond will pay tribute to Australian Football Hall of Famer Frank ‘Checker’ Hughes on Anzac Day Eve. Foxfooty.com.au can reveal an annual best on ground medal will be awarded in his honour, starting with this year’s game on April 24 at the MCG. Hughes was a dual premiership player and one-time premiership coach for the Tigers before leading Melbourne to the 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1948 flags. Exclusive: New Anzac Eve medal to honour Hall of Famer Frank ‘Checker’ Hughes

Thought this was worth sharing, we have noticed how sound we are defensively, our set up is going really well and we are only conceding scores 31% of the time when teams enter there 50, a CD record (albeit only after 3 rounds) but its a great start. Check out the below for context. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/purefooty/pure-footy-david-king-and-daniel-hoyne-crunch-the-numbers-on-the-games-biggest-trends/news-story/9c70972651c6b56d2870be29f204af2b

Ban yourself!

What a debacle the VFL still doing pre-season pratice matches when we are up to round 4. Amateur hour

What is noticeable is that we are winning matches with our structure. Not with class of certain players. The beauty (and the evidence on exposed form) is that Oliver, or Petracca, or others, can have a quieter game, errors can (and will) be made by all players, yet the system holds up. We don't even have our 2 best available forwards...and the system still holds up. We are winning due to a system... and we have multiple plans A, B and C if you will... which the game day coaching staff switch on the fly, and the players respond... actually - word of mouth is, the players are enacting this stuff on the ground So the system may not allow you to win every week..., but it gives you best opportunity. This is what I am excited about...it's a [censored] system that works, with the demographic of our list....and like all systems and all new players... it takes time for there to be cohesion with it. It's all coming together very nicely... *From season one fully in charge - Goodwin has shown he is an innovator. He is a switched on cat, who has surrounded himself now with relevant expertise. Remember Yze was meant to come on board 2 years ago, not just the most recent off season. Change is a long drawn out process, so is recruitment of relevant personnel (players and fd staff). Go you fire trucking good things...

If anyone is talking us up then they aren’t true rusted on Melbourne fans. I’ve been happy with our wins, but they’ve been far from polished wins and they’ve been against average to decent opposition. Sydney beating the tigers at the G was a much bigger win to put a team in the frame than us beating an ego-bruised but wounded Giants in Canberra. I wouldn’t say we’ve beaten nobody, if our three wins were Kangaroos, Essendon, and Hawthorn then I’d be saying we haven’t beaten anyone of note. But Freo gave us trouble last year, Saints have always had something over us and played finals last year, while GWS have some absolutely guns and were copping a belting from the media. All three were both winnable and losable, but guess what, we won!

This won't please members of The Flat Earth Society. They have members all around the globe, you know.

I met the man on several occasion while watching the MFC preseason training he was the Chairman of selectors had a wonderful football brain

Always be wary of people with two first names.

This year a lot of goals are being scored by end-to-end ball movement from kick-ins after a point. One of the rule changes that hasn't had much attention is that the defender must 'stand' (ie not move) 10 mtrs from the top of the goal square; previously it was 5. This plus the 'stand' rule gives the kicker a lot more space and time to attack and he can get the ball to the center (the 'fat' part) where the width makes it harder for the opps to defend. If the ball is marked the 'stand' rule again makes it easier to attack. If it comes to ground there is less chance of a stoppage as players are spread and fast players (eg Langdon, Hunt) can turn on their jets. If the opp mark it is far less likely they will score than if the mark was taken at around the 50m line and it gives defenders time to set-up. Or the kicker can kick short (to eg Salem, Rivers) who can then kick over the pack and link up with Langdon or Brayshaw. Not many points have been scored in our last two games so not a good sample but it looked to me we weren't kicking to Max all the time at kick-ins and using our smaller defenders and wing men much more effectively after kick-ins. Without that extra 5mtrs at kick-ins I'm not sure the ground would be so open and end-to-end goals so frequent. Will be interesting to see how it pans out in the next few weeks as more teams wake up to the advantages of that extra 5mtrs. Sydney is a good example of making the most of this little rule change.

Absolutely. Max is next level marking threat up forward. If we play two talls and Jackson, they have the option of giving Tmac, Brown or Weed a rest when Max goes forward if they are worried about being too tall. The other thing have so many mobile talls in the teams is their ability to push up the ground and provide down the line marking options from long kicks out of defence or kicks from the half back to high half forward. West coast use their three tall forwards (Darling, Allen and Kennedy) for this all the time, and it is a huge weapon, particularly late in quarters and games. It also has the effect of pulling defenders out of the forward line, which creates space for the small, mediums and the other bigs to go to work. Think about how often it is one of Darling, Allen or Kennedy kicking it inside 50, often to one of the other bigs or setting up Ryan to take an unimpeded fly at a pack mark. They killed Port with this tactic. No doubt the kick from Viney to Max was a set play. Langdon did an almost identical kick, with much the same result.

The Jackson 6 wrote that in response to the idea of three talls - Weid, BBB, and Jacko - in the forward line. Responses to the response might be interesting... Its a fair question. I think part of the answer is that Jackson would almost directly replace the small/medium (eg sparrow), both up forward and for midfield rotations. For context (thanks AOB) Jackson led Melbourne for ground ball gets on the weekend, along with Jack Viney (9 each), had a career high 15 possessions, 11 contested possessions (behind only Viney, Oliver and Gawn) and ran close to 15 odd ks in the game. Jackson is phenomenal below his knees as evidenced by those ground ball gets and i'm convinced he'll do some mid field time with max rucking. And even when he takes the ruck solo he is almost another mid the way he plays. He might have to improve his tackling but my point is he can play as a small/medium. The other part of the answer is that which ever two players of Tmac, Brown and Weed are selected they have to make sure they are applying pressure and tackling. I'm on the record as saying weed was woeful at that last year, and i wouldn't lay him if doesn't improve this aspect of his game dramatically. Whereas Tmac as been terrific in this respect this year, and for this reason I have him ahead of Weed at this point in time. I don't know how Brown goes with forward half pressure, but he too has to pull his weight when he comes in. So, I think three tall forwards can work, assuming one of them is Jackson. If it doesn't - and maybe it is a week to week call - then i am 100% positive it won't be Jackson coming out. Jackson will play every game he is fit and available for. He is a star. And will become the dominant ruck man in the AFL within the next 4-5 years. In the meantime opposition coaches are going to have work out how to deal with him and Max tag teaming. And if he does play as a small/medium alongside two genuine talls, work out who the heck they are going to play on him (something they don't have to worry about with Sparrow).

In Trac's situation, unless he's made the decision or is about to re-sign, it would be remiss to declare his never leaving. Clubs winning, strong relationship with Goody, getting marquee opportunities (Afl360), in our unofficial leadership group, best mates with Clarry & Salem and now mentoring Kozzy & Spargo. The signs are great.

Three rounds in is too early to be making definitive calls on any teams form or finals chances But ..... FFS ...... I’ll celebrate a three zip start anytime!

From AFL Draft Central - Scouting Notes: 2021 NAB League – Round 1 “Dandenong Stingrays #22 Mac Andrew Another NGA prospect for Melbourne, he showed some really good signs as a forward that rotated through the ruck, where he displayed a good understanding of the role, timing his leaps and placing his taps well to the advantage of teammates around the ground, leading to Dandenong’s scoreboard pressure. He also positioned well in marking contests, being in spots just outside the forward 50 that he’d create a contest for Dandenong to get it back in. #27 Kobi George The Melbourne NGA prospect worked out of the backline, trusted with the kick-ins where he’d deliver to the advantage of teammates. He was a delight to watch when working through traffic, with Gippsland players just unable to get a hold of him. He could run through a pack and come out the other side without losing balance. His speed and precision with his handballing was top class, often getting a good amount of distance behind it to a teammate out on their own, allowing the Dandenong transition to continue quickly going forward. Had a few kicks on the run that didn’t quite come off as well as he’d like, but still managed penetration in them.”

Dare I say it ........ The first of quite a few "Season Defining" Games coming up this week. Geez I hope we seize the day! Went down to Casey twice today to check out training but No one there!! However, I will bring a comprehensive P.F report of the Casey/ Williamstown praccy Saturday. If anyone notices me, Please say Gday! Cheers PF

Not many people would know that, apart from his football achievements, Checker also inspired Johnny Rotten to write that famous chorus "No fuchsias, no fuchsias, no fuchsias for me".

I clicked on this thread and expected to see a video of Dangerfield and Selwood staging for frees.

You can vote for Kozzy this week too. https://www.afl.com.au/goal-of-the-year

not sure whats going on with all the Jetta hate, he did not lose a contest against Freo, lost 1 against the saints and then had that absolute pest kick a few on him which he would have done on anyone

The AFL have inadvertantly solved the kick in problem we have had for a decade or more...

Good post. Kick ins seem to have been a weakness of ours for decades. One aspect of the rule changes that has been underappreciated is the premium it has placed on having a gun key defender like Steven May. All the talk has been around the return of key forwards kicking bags, but obviously teams with a big, strong 1v1 defender (and there aren't many going around) are much better placed to curb their influence. The fact that he's also such a good ball user coming out of defense makes him close to our most important player. Brown and May at opposite ends of the ground makes for exciting times.

SEN has really dropped the ball lately. The young girl who reads the news sounds like a 16 year old work experience student with a bad cold and braces.

I've watched St Kilda in two games - against us and against Essendon. In both games the Saints persisted with short kick-ins (ie, 15-20 metres, usually to the pocket) as teams used to do regularly before this rule change. It seems that they haven't modified this part of their gameplan to suit the new rules. Conversely, we appear to have done so. It helps that Steven May is such a good kick. We appear to have been lucky with two recent rule changes which have matched with our recruiting: Steven May to full back with the aforesaid change to kick-ins; and Ben Brown just when the rules have made it easier for key position forwards.

from 3-0 we're pretty unlikely to miss finals, but the thing i can't work out is, have we just been not that great, and beaten bad opposition, or have we beaten okay opposition, pretty comortably without getting out of first gear. i have a feeling this team hasn't really had to dig deep yet this year, will be interested how we go against the Cats. I've got a feeling we might come out and smack them.

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 3 teams we have beaten aren't contenders but we still won all 3 And that's a big positive because previously we could have been expected to drop 1 or maybe 2 of the games We're definitely a better team in terms of how many players are being questioned on whether they should stay in the side... many here are saying no change (again) Sparrow is a good example ... from all accounts he's doing a lot of the team aspects (1%ers) but is not racking up the possessions. Previously, many would be calling for his absolute omission And we kicked 15 goals against GWS despite not having a meaningful contribution from T-Mac (who, to be fair was up against 2 or 3 defenders in a crowded forward line for most of the game) GWS shot themselves in the foot with those tactics as our backline ended up have an easy time of it (despite the Toby Greene cameos)

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.

Many on here will say we're getting ahead of ourselves. It's not like Max is on the moon or anything yet. Goody under real pressure

In addition, and perhaps Jackson’s biggest asset, is he frees up Max to rest forward... loved Jack Vineys low hard kick into the forward pack and Max. It was considered and I suspect practiced by the forward (plus Max) group.

Geelongs game plan is well known. Chip chip. We have to be patient, structured down back and pressure the ball carrier. It looks as though we have improved our maturity this year along with pressure acts and team efforts. we should be right. But we need to take our chances when we get a shot on goal...

Garry Lyon and Tim Watson are the only ones radio show worth listening to on SEN. The rest is a shambles. When they took Ox and Marko off I completely switched off.

Has Jetts ever been fast, evasive, explosive? A tough lock down defender who negates the smalls well. Just as he did in Rnds 1 & 2. Hibberd would of been the right match up for T.Greene but Jetta still has a role for mine.

I've stopped listening to SEN. Plenty of great footy podcasts out there. Demonland and Deebrief are all I need. The rest of my footy news I get from simply watching the games.

I watched him live on AFL360 and 2 things occurred to me: 1. Pettacca seems happy. 2. Mark Robinson is the least intelligent person to ever be on Television in Australia. It’s impossible for him to get through a sentence without saying 2 words incorrectly. He’s oafish, rude and unbearable. I can’t stand that show, and haven’t watched it in years because of him. We have some very smart, articulate people in the football community, and it’s mind boggling that he somehow ends up getting so much work. He offers nothing.

I think Port missed what Chris Scott called the 'paradigm shift'. "I think if you miss the paradigm shift, you can be left behind very, very quickly... we have got to find a way through and when we find our way through this little patch at the moment we have got to find a way to be a whole lot better." I believe he is referring to the impact of the new rules. And it looks to me that last year's Prelim finalists (Port, Lions, Cats and Tigers) have missed that impact. Perhaps believing their system/game plan was so good it didn't need much change. They are now playing 'catch-up'. Hardwick said something similar about needing to learn from their Sydney defeat and make changes to the way they go about it. It reminds me of us not adjusting to the impact of the 6-6-6 paradigm shift. Fortunately, this time we did anticipate the rules impact and have adjusted and practiced our game plan. I think it will take those teams 3-6 weeks to adjust but even then they will be experimenting with what works. Fortunately we play Cats and Tigers in the next few weeks so we may have a bit of an advantage which is why I believe we can be 6-0 or 5-1. By mid-year the best teams will have adjusted and the second half of the season will be more even. And as you say we will need to be better to match Eagles and other teams when they catch up.

Definitely not locking in anything, we're looking good but if we've learned anything from the first few rounds it's that being off your game by a little bit can catch you out big time. I live in the UK so let me say this to any Dees fan that can make it to the G, GET THERE AND MAKE SOME NOISE!!!! When I watch it this week I want to hear a noise level like what we had in the elimination final against the cats in 2018, be that extra element that gets the boys over the line like the cats have at KP.

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.

Agree Lucifee, however without Brown and Weid, the extents to which we’ve “caught up” has been muted. in addition to the rule changes we also seem primed to fully benefit from the return to the longer game length that suits our fitness and conditioning, the shorter format being a major headwind for us last year...

Good point Macca. If we didn't drop consecutive games to two average outfits in Sydney and Fremantle last season, we may have gone on to play finals. I think any fan of Melbourne at this stage (as well as those involved at the club, coaches and players alike) know not to get ahead of themselves, but that doesn't mean their shouldn't be an air of optimism about our 3-0 start. At the end of the day, talk or no talk, teams don't have any success without self-belief.

This is peak happy Demonland. If we lose to Geelong, there will be a thread next week about how lopsided our list is.

Trac has been very good this season without exploding. Hes received coaches votes in all 3 matches. Sunday , MCG vs Geelong..... the stage is yours Christian.

I do not expect too many changes to the team this week. After all, it is a winning team. I would like to see Jetta replaced in defence. 66% game time for 9 possessions and zero tackles is not what I want to see from him. I might be tempted to bring in Bowey. Give him a taste and see how he goes. There has also been talk about possibly Melksham for Sparrow. Not for me. Sparrow made more tackles and defensive efforts last week than Melky did the whole of last season.

who's getting ahead of ourselves? the media? Caro? clearly not us fans. we are happy with 3-0 and know we have only beaten decent opposition. When we play Port/Tigers/Lions/WC/Dogs we will see how good we are

Darcy Moore would be a lock for the AA team if it was selected now.

Does anyone know if he is ‘flighty’ or not?

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!