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Jake Lever with the best defensive game by a Dee since Jake Lever in Round 1. What an absolute boss he was today.

Gotta give some love to Tmac. Nine marks on a wet day. Very nice. Hes back with 3 great games.

Have been pleading with demon supporters for couple of years to stick fat with this kid. What you're watching now is exactly what he was showing at TAC level and why he was highly rated by our recruiting and coaching staff. Imo he is by far our best tackler in the team, and he sets the tone with his insane pressure and manic attack. Don't think I've seen anyone an opponent slip his tackles as of yet this year. While Kozzie might be getting all the Hollywood attention and rightly so, it's Spargo who the coaches would be just as wrapt with his defensive efforts and form. Worked incredibly hard today and wish he got the reward on the scoreboard. He's best 22 as we speak.

My son is 4 weeks old tomorrow. He's seen 4 from 4. This run is all him.

A bag blew across the ground in the third quarter and it offered more than Dahlhaus did. ?

What’s better? Beating Geelong or going 4-0?

For those of you who wondered what Jake Lever adds - have a good look at that last quarter. ?

As some one that works in the Geelong area... Thank you Dees!!! Thank you!

Loved the moment in the last when Lever was by himself in the D50 with a wave of Geelong players on the way in. Had started chasing the player about to get out the back, but at the last second went towards the ball carrier instead. Got there just in the nick of time, with the help of dud bounce by the carrier, and held the ball up before the cavalry arrived. Saved an absolutely certain goal and got a massive cheer from the crowd, and me at home.

Kozzie standing over Selwood like Ali got my blood flowing to all sorts of areas.

Salem monstered that squib Guthrie beautiful to see..

Hey mate, we won and we’re 4-0. It’s not a dream, I know it’s hard to believe. There’s no way there was 6 droppable players. Out: May In: Petty

Unlikely as it sounds, Jobe Watson said it right towards the end. Something along the lines of “every Melbourne player could confidently say they contributed to that win”. A great team performance, especially without the ball.

Agree on both counts. Spargo is just being Spargo. Now he has friends helping him out up there. Hunt's game was exactly what we need from him. A couple of good runs finished with some quality disposal and some fantastic contest work.

Lever for president. Tackling was insane, haven’t seen that many holding the balls since the vasectomy clinic. That Jetta BS was some [censored] BS. Langdon ?

Best win by the club since the 2018 semi final. Loved the intensity and the repeat ferocious tackles throughout the whole game.

A huge team effort! Doubters and cynics be silent ! WE ARE BACK !!!!!!!

[censored] yes! Love beating up on those cheating sniping dogs. What an effort!! Jake lever is a star!!!

Not a lot to add, but currently sitting in the MCC on my 8th pint. Copped a spray from two attractive Geelong supporting girls as they left before the final siren. I’ve analysed the incident and cannot imagine what bought that sort of behaviour on towards myself and my Melbourne supporting friend aside from our verbal contempt for everything Geelong today. I feel so at ease...go Dees!!!

Best start since 1994. 27 years ago. 27 long years. I’m really happy for myself and every one of the die hard demons that have stuck with us. I know this doesn’t mean finals or a flag but we deserve to feel good tonight

Incredibly satisfying . Am I alone in thinking Hawkin's elbow wasn't accidental?

I know this one! Lock in b, "the player who will be overlooked for Harry Petty" please.

I'd have to say that Spargo doing a Selwood to Selwood is one of the best things I'll see in my lifetime. Hate that guy with a passion.

Ventured down to Casey along with a few others on here to observe a few players. Weather was pretty rainy when I got there for 1st quarter. Not too many spectators, I estimate around 400 max. Among them were Mark and Nicole Bradtke (Mark is huge), Choco Williams, Alan Richardson, Sean Smith. First observation I noticed was Ben Brown is BIG. Not overly solid, just very tall, towers above Majak and Weed. He had his left knee strapped. This bloke knows how and where to lead, he presents himself well and is a target. Nice mark and goal in first quarter, then a juggling one handed mark again, followed by an unlucky roving snap that hit the post. I asked Alan Richardson on the way in from quarter time huddle how the boys were looking for tomorrow, he said we're travelling well and will be a good test. I asked about Ben Brown and he said he'll be a great pick up for the club. Ben presented well again in the 2nd quarter, without adding to the scoreboard which was dominated by Williamstown. He then went in at half time with the team, came out to run a few laps, then ventured inside to pull up stumps. I managed to ask Ben how the knee was, he said it felt really good, and that he had fun out there. On this, once in the tracksuit, Ben went to the bench to sit with the team for the rest of the game, and was very vocal and supportive at the 3/4 time huddle with the forwards group. Love guys with input and support for your fellow teammates, reckon he will be a beauty. Other notes I observed:- Petty - Played down back, didn't notice anything amazing, did his job, yet didn't see any mistakes either. Played first half only. Joel Smith - Similar to Petty, did his job, looks comfortable down back. Fraser Rosman - Personally I think a project player, was quiet in my eyes. One instance in the second quarter was going in for a contest against opposition, think he should've gone harder, outcome was Williamstown player wanted the ball and got it. I like players with mongrel. Don't expect big things early, a lot to learn. Bowey - Was down back most of day, picking up a player. When using the ball by foot, majority of the time hit his target, looks like a footballer who knows what he is doing and what decision to make. I like him. Is small though, reminded me of Caleb Daniel hoping he can be as good. Laurie - Kicked a nice roving goal in the first quarter, as others said, second quarter unseen, then bits a bobs thereafter. Is a bit bigger than Bowey, and legs more solid. Daw - Built like a brick ****house, played mainly ruck, did pretty well, don't think he is a natural footballer, but presented well and took some nice marks around the ground. At times I thought he was plodding along and needed match fitness, but if you need a solid body I'd pick him as a good backup. Mitch Brown - Was up forward in tandem with BBB and Weed. Mainly playing CHF in first half. I like how he plays, leads well to the correct spots, took a few nice marks. He is more athletic than big, but think he is better than people give him credit for. Similar build to Petty. Weed - As other said, struggled. Was flying for marks, couldn't get onto anything, leads were not coming off. I'm hoping if he does get back in with BBB that he gets the 2nd best defender and the pressure will be a bit less for him. Comparing him and Ben Brown was like chalk and cheese. Has nice big legs now, just want him to have a bit more mongrel and aggression to take the big grabs. Bradtke - Not a natural footballer, yes obviously tall, worked in tandem with Daw in ruck. For me this is his last year, looks a bit lost out there. Number 11 from the opposition was too big and solid for Austin. Hibberd - Felt like I was watching an AFL game, got his possessions and with his lovely left foot used it pretty well. For me one of the best out there. Baker - Some players just know where to go to get the football, others don't. I feel Oscar is a solid VFL player, hoping he can prove us all wrong, but didn't do anything substantial in my eyes. VandenBerg - He is a solid unit and looks very comfortable out there, did some good things and quite vocal with the group. Overall think we got through unscathed, big positives for me were Ben Brown and Jake Bowey.

Nah. There are shinier things to occupy the media. Sydneys new kids on the block, the doggies silky midfield, Ports over-powering of the tiges, the saints come from the clouds win (remember all the experts who tipped them preseason, they’ll jump straight back on after yesterday) And remember we haven’t beaten anyone yet, we’ve been lucky to play teams when we did, they had injuries, the cats are short of danger and Cameron, they are old and past it anyways etc. etc. A hard fought, meat and potatoes win will do nicely. Keeps the focus off us for another week.

Good sign of maturity to put it to bed at the start of the last quarter. I’m still not used the team not folding when the heat is on! Lever was huge today. With May out injured, he showed why we got him to the club and was the general out there today organizing the troops. His defensive positioning was perfect.

Jack Viney 24 touches and 12 tackles.. was great last week too.. hes back.

Who doesn't love winning against the Cats!

What a game by Jake Lever

Sorry if posted already

Spargo was great. A 200IQ footballer.

I can’t agree with those thinking Hawkins meant that. That was accidental. Onto other things I think Tmac to FB, Brown or Weid to FF.

Poor umpirng when they pay such bad free kicks that they have to repeat it later for balance. Very trigger happy umps in the F50. Sack them,demote them,get them out of the game . on the bright side-Our best game in years.. The pressure applied was pure heat.

Should have been further up in front at 3/4 time but If the first 10 minutes of the last quarter isn’t a show of maturity and responding when things seem against you I don’t know what is. Enjoy it all, that was a brilliant team effort. Woooooo Hoooooooo!!!!

One of the best games I have seen him play. He was so aggressive

Spargo another great game. Hunt even better than last week (safer with ball in hand today).

Four and Oh, soak it up!!! My standout points for the game: Jake Lever is a legend. BOG by far, stood up when May went down and his leadership was absolutely exceptional. Without him there, likely we'd have crumbled and lost. The improvement of lower tier players like Hunt and Neal-Bullen is having a huge impact on how well we are playing. Credit to those guys to finding some great form and credit to Williams (I expect) for his impact in that regard. Great that the umpires are finally penalising the throwing in congestion, good to see. If we hadn't dropped all those marks and kicked for goal terribly we'd have won by about 50 goals, no doubt.

That's just about the best all round game I've seen by us in a long time. Intensity for 4 quarters, against quality opposition. We worked around the May loss, everyone put in, and bought in to the brand. Leadership around the ground. Very fast throughout the day. We're still missing two forwards, will be interesting when they return. Trac, Max, Viney, Fritter, Langdon, Lever great. Really enjoyed Hunt's run today as well.

Jake Lever is an elite defender and such a impressive leader. Hats off to Tomlinson too. Impressive team performance today...feeling proud!

I noticed during the Team song that Glen was there, wearing his Scarf, i do hope there is no bad blood. We don’t need it. We need everyone together to get the elusive 13th

Every opposition team is well aware that any 50/50 will go against us and play accordingly, the award goes to... Charlie Spargo. There isn't a team in the league that could carry as many passengers as we had today & still be a contender. Not the end of the world. We win most weeks. Needed some more Constable Let’s hope the topping up with pensioners is now finished. We aren’t a contender. Time to concentrate on bringing in quality youth The margin flattered us. Melbourne controlled the game all day and could have taken it away from us in the first quarter with better accuracy. We were never in it. Cant get my head around the fact Close and Selwood got pinged for clear handballs but Gawn frequently threw it and never got called. What I hated the most about today was the clear contempt Melbourne had for our physicality. They took on the tackler in close just about every time, and with great success, got handballs out or crashed through where we should have been able to lock it in.

may out petty in is the obvious change to make, but like others they may choose to 'go small' and bring hibberd in instead those calling for spargo to be dropped make me laugh

Langdon is a genuine star of our team. What he brought to our side is invaluable. Probably our most important recruit this decade. Also thought Gus did exceptionally well when thrown down back when May went down. We showed really maturity to turn the momentum in the last quarter and not let the horrid umpiring get to us. Some of the decisions today were baffling. My only let down today was Melksham. He did nothing offensively and defensively he is trash.

Spargo's not going anywhere, he's been fantastic this year.

Btw it’s great to beat those puzzie cat censored]. Selwood getting done holding the ball a couple of times was icing on the cake.

Lever is a hero. We lost May and he stepped up big. This is the win I wanted more than anything.. eat that Geelong hope you miss the finals and you and your relationship with the umpires is investigated. Cheats.

WE are FINALLY playing as a TEAM. Amazing what happens when you do that. GO DEES.

I’d like us to start repaying 187 today, with interest... and venom.

So was watching the Knicks play the Grizzlies this morning on the NBA app and were getting soundly beaten so I took to Demonland and saw that today's match was on. So at half time in the NBA, I turned it off and took the drive from the Golden Mile in Frankston to a cold, wet and windy Casey to watch a winning team. Thankfully we got there in the end, despite a few concerns along the way with certain elements (skill errors were a killer!). But here is my break down of what I thought of our players. 12. Toby Bedford: Showed a bit today, especially in the 2nd half and was a factor in us wrestling back control from Williamstown. Kicked a nice goal, provided plenty of forward pressure and also gave us some run when we were lacking it for a good quarter and a half in the middle part of the game. 14. Michael Hibberd: Probably our best and most consistent player across the 4 quarters. Used the ball well, spoilt strongly and was safe as houses one on one while generating drive from defense. I can't see anyway he can stay out of the seniors any longer. One of Jetta, Hunt or Rivers will have to make way. 16. Bailey Laurie: Started the game quite lively and also kicked the opening goal of the match. I also thought he showed a bit in the 3rd term when Willy were getting on top. But I barely noticed him in the 2nd or 4th terms. Maybe he got more of it on the other side of the field to where I was? But what I did see I thought looked promising. 17. Jake Bowey: Played in defense and early on I wasn't overly impressed. Fumbled a bit, ran over the ball a few times and got pushed off the contest a little too easily as well. However he was always cracking in and getting involved in the game. So much that after half time I thought he was arguably our best and a big part of why we won. The mistakes dried up and he looked a lot more assured of himself. After what was a nervous start, I thought Jake showed a lot of maturity in his performance. 19. Fraser Rosman: Couple of mistakes here and there, but overall I thought it was a pretty solid game from Fraser. He showed his running ability and used the ball pretty well. I thought he really lifted in the last term also. Probably only had about 14 touches, but I reckon at least half would have been in the final term. 22. Aaron Vandenberg: Classic Vanders game today. Tough in the contest, won plenty of the ball, but some coach killer skill errors also. I think when it comes to Vanders you just need to take the bad with the good, but there's a lot worse midfield depth options then this guy should we need him. 26. Sam Weideman: Had a shocker. Couldn't get near the ball, couldn't seem to time or fly for his Mark's and I think only had one kick which went nowhere. Got pulled halfwaythrough the 3rd and I think you can lock him in at FF for Round 1 of the VFL next week. 28. Majak Daw: He played a good game and got better as it went. Mainly shared ruck duties 50% with Bradtke, but also played sometime forward in the final term where he kicked a goal. Outside of the ruck contests early he seemed to struggle getting involved in general play, though at least his tap work was very good. However after halftime, he seemed to improve there and started taking more marks around the ground. Based on today's game, it wouldn't shock me to see him play seniors at some point this year. 33. Oskar Baker: I thought he was one of our best players in the first quarter and a half, but then he really seemed to drift out of the game and his early run disappeared. Not sure if Willy deployed a tagger (I didn't notice one) or if he only touched the ball on the other side of the ground? But that was just how I saw his game. 34. Deakyn Smith: First time I've seen him play and I really liked the look of this kid. Has some toe, spoils well and has a touch of class how he goes about it. Needs to tidy up a couple of little things, but I was really impressed. Between this kid, Bowey and Rivers we don't have anything to worry about with Jetta and Hibberd getting older. 35. Harrison Petty: Safe as houses in defense. Was looking strong and marking everything in the first half. Was then pulled, likely so he can be the sub. I really like Petty, but I fear whether we can hold onto him given our current tall stocks. Don't want another Matthew Bishop scenario! 37. Kade Chandler: Played a solid game without starring. Didn't trouble the scoreboard, but he seemed to rotate between half forward and midfield. I think his development is coming along pretty good. 38. Mitch Brown: Looked really good in the first quarter, then disappeared for two whole quarters, but then stood up in the final term with some telling marks and booting another 2 goals to finish with 3 for the game. Smoky to win the goal kicking award in the VFL this season maybe? 41. Jay Lockhart: After Hibberd, I thought Lockhart was our next best. Made a couple more mistakes, but he defended really well and provided plenty of run from our backline. No doubt he'll find his way back into the seniors at some point. 44. Joel Smith: Very solid game from Smith. Really had to Marshall the backline after Petty went off, but he did this without much issue. Don't recall him being beaten in a one on one and you can see there's plenty of talent there. Just don't know if he'll ever fully realize that talent? 46. Angus Bradtke: The good news is I think his ruck craft has come a long way. A lot of the taps he got I thought were very well directed. The bad news is he was physically bullied by the Williamstown ruck and he still doesn't do much around the ground. Not sure he'll make it? 50. Ben Brown: He'll play next week. Could have had 3 goals in the first term, but one hit the post and another that was online fell short (misread the breeze). Took some very good marks and got his hands to a lot of contests. Didn't get as much of it in the 2nd term, though Casey barely got it forward to center then. So a most encouraging performance. And a few Casey players. James Munro: As consistent as ever. Got plenty of it and was more than handy. Mitch White: Has turned into a very good VFL player. Kicked 2 goals, but spent time forward and back. Never realized how good his hands were when he was on our list. Zac Foot: The big signing coming from Sydney Swans. I didn't notice him once in the first half. But he worked his way into the game in the 2nd half playing in the forward line a nd kicked a goal. Freeman: Not 100% sure of his first name, but I thought this kid looked really good. Probably the most consistent for providing run through the middle (more than Baker or Rosman) and could be one to keep an eye on. So while there were concerns with basic skill errors, Weideman not getting near it, getting outmarked in the 2nd term despite having both Brown's, Weideman, Daw and Petty on the field and nearly losing to an ameature team despite us having 17 AFL players, there were certainly positive. Outside of what I've already listed above as individual positive, Williamstown are a very strong and well ran VFL club. Plus once again we were headed and got the game back on our terms. Winning when kicking into a strong breeze in the final quarter when only having a 2 point lead. Our brand seems to be an ability to absorb hits and then re-assert the way we want to play the game. And as far as brands go, I could think of a few worse... Edit: Oh and on a final note, I found out the Knicks ended up winning after all!? READ BAGHDAD BOB'S REPORT HERE READ PICKET FENCE'S REPORT HERE READ ROY BOY'S REPORT HERE