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HUGE milestone this week… OUR VC’s 200th MATCH! Yet another reason to tear Port apart, despite their frequent insistence on the futility of an attempt at it 😁 YEAH, JACK!!!

This week and next is actually christmas in March/April, two games in one week in Adelaide. For somebody who has not grown up with going to watch the Dees week in week out. I have become thoroughly appreciative of hearing all the stories of past tales and happenings of the club I love over the years reading demonland and demonology. I've actually never attended a traditional milestone game so for myself it's a pretty big deal and it so happens to be a player close to the heart. (Well if you include Neita's 273rd record breaking game in 2006 as a milestone game then I'm lying) This week no other man deserves the plaudits more than our very own blood and soul of the MFC. First to come last to leave when it comes to signing autographs smiling for photos with the kiddies and the big kiddies in all of us. Through thick and thin the man has stuck fat with this football club and no one hurt more when the club was down on its knees and 5 hit out of luck. Lead us to the promise land once again our midfield wrecking bull, we salute you for your never say die attitude and commitment to the MFC. Congratulations Jack Viney on 200 courageous games for the MFC. fitting its in SA where the bloodline made its start in the game. JV7#200 Carn the Dees, the charge to the flag starts in the city of churches⛪️ win both and we will be dreaming of Christmas in September once again.

I went to the game and just watched the replay. Very enjoyable game to watch from both perspectives. This is the most connected I've seen this team since 2021. The genuine care and joy they had for one another. Clarry especially going to team mates at every opportunity for encouragement was extremely pleasing to see. To see the buy in from him to the club and his team mates from where he was last year is just brilliant. He was also the first player to get stuck in to the Hawks when they'd done something to one of his players. Loved seeing him get into two players after they flattened Max in a marking contest and actually drag both off the mark (deliberately) to give Max a play on opportunity. Its a long season but if they keep backing each other and celebrating the little things like this, the spoils, the pressure acts, bodying the ball, the second/third efforts, the setting up for each other. If they can do this regardless of being up or down its going to resonate through the whole group to galvanise for a big season ahead.

Not winning the flag last year will haunt me for a long time. It was ours for the taking, but injuries, bad kicking and one POS who shall remain nameless, ruined it. Supporters will say we are no good because of our straight set exists, and that is definitely something we need to own. But we have been a dominant side for 3 years in a row now and we need to not lose sight of that.

Great pod again, boys. Your consistent level of detail is hugely impressive, across the podcast spectrum I reckon, not just footy. Perfect accompaniment to a Tuesday morning exercise session! Thanks @george_on_the_outer for the shout-out on medical/injury stuff. I am indeed a physiotherapist (not an orthopaedic surgeon….don’t have quite the ego for that 😉), of 35 years and counting in sports/orthopaedic work. Am basically the wallpaper at a Melbourne practice that specialises in knees, including a huge amount of post-surgical rehab. This includes long relationships with all those surgeons you hear about in the AFL media. As such, I’m happy to throw my expertise around Demonland FWIW, particularly if it helps to counter misinformation, panic and sheer speculation (all of which hardly ever crop up on Demonland of course).

Not giving Grundy or Gawn any of the blame for the way that partnership failed is a common mistake. Max was supposed to improve his forward craft and didn't. Grundy was supposed to improve his marking and didn't do that either. The failure of the combo was not entirely the club's fault - I blame the two individuals just as much if not more.

Apparently Horne-Francis will miss again.

Trying to find info on any evolution in the Port Adelaide gamestyle, Seems like Wines it taking more stoppages and spending less time forward which is hardly surprising or radical. Marshall is taking a ton of marks (10 and 9) and creating many more goal assists than previous seasons, but both Marshall and Dixon have barely 50/50 goal accuracy. Maybe playing further out and taking their marks and set shots from further out? Then again, maybe their forward stats are just skewed by the bizarre game against the Eagles. Finlayson 0.4, Dixon 3.3, Marshall 0.3, Bergman 0.3. Could and probably should have been a 100 point win despite letting West Coast score 70. Which brings up the next point - West Coast 70 and Richmond scoring 92 despite both games being dominated by Port suggests that Port are pretty leaky defensively, and all that despite no tall forward scoring more than one goal against them. Hard to get much of a read on them other than that, with just two games to look at and against what is basically the second-last and third-last teams (with only Collingwood below). Did I mention only Collingwood is below then. Because Collingwood is last - clearly 0-3 is lower than 0-2. Just recapping, Collingwood; the worst.

Howes development has been very interesting. Rumoured to be close to selection on many occasions and apparently earmarked for selection the week he broke his wrist last year he’s never really put in a huge game, or “breakout game” at Casey. And yet he’s clearly been highly rated by the club. He was considered at JvR’s pick in his draft year and we were genuinely chuffed when he was still available in the second round. He’s always been a clean player by hand and a good kick and decision maker but because he never did anything eye catching at Casey or even appeared to be under pressure the temptation was to think he wasn’t doing enough to be best 22. But he’s playing pretty much the same way this year as he did a Casey although he does appear to be more involved in his defensive work and he’s just stepped up to senior footy the same way Juddy did last year. He’s clean, makes good decisions, is calm and disposes well. But the high quality of his defensive work is what rounds out a really promising player. Looks like another JT special to me. Genuine quality at a later pick.

Hate to say it, but that is an excellent read. Hard to imagine there wasn't some coordination with the club. If so, credit where it is due, that's good comms.

Thought this was quite an interesting read from (believe it or not) Damien Barrett: BARRETT: No self-pity as under-fire Melbourne confronts its demons - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1095159

In the early part of 2021 we were good in the wet. We beat Richmond Anzac Eve and Swans a couple of weeks later in the wet. We beat the Cats and Blues also in partially wet games. And last year against Port one of our best quarters of the year was the 3rd where we piled on 7 goals and it was absolutely bucketing down.

They have a very high press, leaving heaps of space out the back if a midfield is capable of exploiting it on the turnover. Langdon, ANB, Chandler, Windsor, Petracca, Pickett should be able to give them a lot of trouble.

What whispers? The weekly medical report?

With 8.03 left in 2nd Quarter, Chol runs up behind Max and lifts his knee, hitting Max in the back. We know he hit May and he also got JVR high with a knee in a ruck contest. This knee first type of play is more than coincidence imo.

Ok, this is perfect, fits my very busy schedule of relaxing perfectly. I will definitely post a training report for both days.

Yup, I enjoyed watching it. BBB is a different cat to your average AFL footballer and it's refreshing to hear something other than the regular alpha male meathead banter that you tend to get on footy podcasts like American Aces, to name just one. Hester offers a really good insight into what the life of a partner is like too.

Not sure if you really wanted an answer bin, but I thought I’d run some numbers. Seasons 2021-2023. 21 losses for an average losing margin of 13.4 pts Average losing margins. 2021 - 11.75 pts 2022 - 19.5 pts 2023- 8.8 pts

This is the right decision, and is what Maynard should have gotten. If your action turns into a bump regardless of your intent, it's a bump - Maynard may have tried to smother but his ultimate action was a bump. Likewise with Wright - he initially wanted to contest the mark but instinctually moved to protect himself by adopting a bumping posture midair.

From where are these whispers emanating? Coz they’re not coming from our trainers, our physios, Goody, Shane himself, nor his uncle. And yes, I’ve asked all of them. 😄

It's actually quite fitting that he gets to play it against his childhood friend Ollie Wines. Let's hope we TEAR THEM A NEW ONE.

During a training session in January he said he’s hoping to return at the back end of the season. Yesterday he said the back half of the season. I said ‘So, maybe after our bye?’ He said, ‘yeah, but possibly before the bye.’

Have to say I liked Gary Lyon making that point on On the Couch, to get a title like "the Wizard" you gotta earn it through doing things that no one else in the comp can do. Right now he's no more of a wizard than Windsor. Lyon made the point softly saying, "he will be an exciting player to watch as he grows, but he is no wizard".

@binman loved the analysis of the stats guy (think is name is Daniel Hoyne?) speaking with Gerard Healy about our new plan to score more from the back half. I think the one thing that the media are sleeping on is just how good our half backs actually are. McVee, Rivers, Howes and Bowey are all elite kicks and are going to be so dangerous. I actually believe that is the best group of half back users in the competition

Fancy Nibbler getting 4 votes from the coaches when he got next to zero mention on Demonland! Shocked. 😳

You're right. He's not a Wizard. More like a goblin.

Many seem to like AMW. I am still on the fence. They have given him a run of half-back at Casey lately, where he wasn't great. Much better up forward. Can move well in tight areas, is a reasonable kick, can get in and under, he has some size for a small, and will fill out as he matures. Loves a goal. Not like Kolt or Chin, AMW at his best is more of a Farmer type player if he can continue to improve the skills. Also requires more confidence and aggression.

Another 4 points and I enjoyed watching the game over breakfast. Love the fact that we have a good long winning streak against The Hawks. May it go on for much longer. That first quarter was just bizarro. The last thing Sam Mitchell must have said to them before the bounce was "keep possession at all costs." What he forgot to add was "Try to get it inside 50 and score." ANB had a good game and was excellent in the first in particular. Overall the team stood up well and made the necessary adjustments a required when we lost May and then Lever. I was one that was baffled by the Petty selection but I have to say that given the injuries, it was inspired. I do wonder what sort of game Petty would have had if he had been left in the forward structure for the whole game. Leading and marking look ok but the kicking was not much chop. With 20/20 hindsight, giving him this game against the Hawks was the right thing to do. A soft game to bring him up to speed before the week and two games in Adelaide, The City that Time Forgot. Big, big game from Petracca and the pressure and support of the rest of the midfield was exactly what was required. Hard not to be impressed by the Melbourne team game throughout and in particular during the second half after losing may and Lever, our twin defensive pillars. shuffled the pack, made the adjustments and business as usual. very impressive even if we were playing a team that will be in the bottom 4 come the end of H&A. Good to see Fristch getting his kicking boots back on. Anyway... onwards and upwards Dees! I liked Petracca's comment after the game that the boys were enjoying their footy. during the Sydney game I recall thinking that they did not look like they were enjoying it. Not just because of the scores, the whole way through that game they seemed to be out of sorts. So we roll on to two Adelaide games with a 5 day break. It will be tough. I would like to think we have the team and the attitude to run out winners in both..... that is what the heart says. head is a little more realistic and would take 1 out of the two, Port the preferred win for me.

Yes he was, but he didn’t and got 2 weeks. That’s the very point. They are just so inconsistent. The MRO and Tribunal said Maynard did nothing wrong. He knocked an opponent out cold, ended a guy’s career and possibly cost us a flag, but the 2 bodies responsible for this said “nothing to see.” Yes the MRO and Tribunal trigger me.

Ta. I was looking for that. Judd went from aprox 6% of the kick outs in the first game, 60% second and 100% third game. He's super reliable and a better short kick than may. And better on the run and at changing the target late. He's playing a role similar to Nick daicos in his 2022, but more defensively accountable one on one. Kid's a jet.

Tough test against Port this Saturday. A big night at the selection table as well with the injuries we have. I have to say that I would bring Tomlinson in to replace May and keep Petty in the team as a swing player for either forward or back as required. The interesting part to that is that we also have TMac able to swing between the two ends of the ground depending on requirements. There might be some interesting mixes in the personnel making up defence and attack on Saturday evening. Looks likely that Lever will be available. this is good. What we do need to see is our midfield really turned on and bringing the defensive pressure and fast twitch turnover reactions. While I do not see us putting a hard tag on Butters I do see the coaches putting a bit of work into how to curb his game. Maybe Sparrow to run with him at some stage or maybe to utilise ANB to have a role with him around the ground. I am sure we will need a Plan A, B and C. I think we have the depth and well drilled structure in defence to cover the loss of may for a week or two. It is a critical time for May not to be available with the two games in Adelaide just with a 5 day break but it is what it is. I love the fact that the young players back there have stood up and slotted in so well over the past few seasons. It is a testament to the structures that are in place and the training and development that is going into the players. While Ben Brown just kicked a point last week I think he has been of great value to the forward group. the opposition just cannot afford to cover him and pay respect to the potential damage he is capable of. It gives a lot of freedom to the rest of the forwards and in particular the smaller forwards at the drop of the ball. I would look to the same personnel this week as long as there are no niggles. Chandler has been heavily strapped during the week but is not mentioned in the injury list so I assume he is good to go. Midfield is looking deep and strong. Petracca is on song, Oliver is getting there and Viney is in great form. We have variety and flexibility to rotate through there so I am confident we can play our game through the midfield and not theirs. I do want to see them putting the pressure on and hunting the ball and the ball carrier. Not give an inch. Just on the injury list, There are seven names on it at present including Lever and Mc Adam that I would say are first team 18 capable. That is a pretty long list and is set to test our depth and flexibility over the next three weeks. given we have a bye the week after that, we should have back 5 of them after the bye. I see the game this way. Port to dominate the first quarter with us taking the next two quarters to lead by 2 or 3 goals. A tight last quarter with us winning by 20 points. Go Dees!

I knew this would happen. Starving vultures is the best way to describe them, especially in the offseason. The media has a hard job in the offseason as there's not much for them to report on, so they go to town on whatever news (usually negative) is available. And there's no real right of reply from clubs or players because there's no games being played. However the media seems to think supporters don't keep receipts once the games roll around. Not true.

Anyone notice how ANB tackled Dylan Moore in the above clip? A very cautious soft sling and was rewarded with a holding the ball. Don’t think I’ve ever seen so much care in what usually ends up as a sling tackle.

Thoughts on our kick-ins so far this season? I really liked seeing Judd McVee take most of our kick-ins against Hawks. Most of our best ball users are at half-back - McVee, Bowey, Salem (when he's moved back), Rivers, and Howes if he keeps to the level he's been at so far. I hope we continue seeing McVee and co on kick-ins, less of May who can pretty much only go long and down the line.

I reckon the FD have Nibbler’s name written in permanent marker on the whiteboard. And rightly so.

Michael Hibberd was All Australian in 2017 after missing four games to start his first year at the club. It's a long season.

The fact that Lever could even jump should have been a strong hint that the injury wasn't too serious.

Exactly. And IMHO, McVee, Rivers, Howes and Bowey area all future A graders. For me this is another key thing thing the media is completely missing about the dees - how much scope for improvement we have because we have so many quality young players in our starting 23 that will develop into serious AFL footballers. On Saturday we had four players under the age of 21 - JVR, Windsor, McVee and Howes. And Koz and Rivers are both still only 22. Bowey will come back in when fit and he is only 21. All seven players are in our best 23, meaning almost a third of our best team are 22 or under. That's crazy given we won a flag in 2021 and were top 4 in 2022 and 2023. And Sparrow is only 23 and Chandler turned 24 in January (meaning nine of our best 23 are under 24 or under). So much upside. Upside that not other serious top 4 contender, with the possible exception of the Giants, can match. Compare and contrast to the Pies for instance.

...and The Walpiri Wizard? Jurraaaaahhhhhhh!

That is a fair assessment, but let's not forget they are 22, 20, 21 & 20.......

Come on PF these comments make no sense. It's actually quiet common & generally good for a young player's development to be moved around & played in different positions. There are hundreds of examples of this being a good development tool.

I suspect so. With time he’ll get stronger and more of his tackles will stick. His willingness to two-way run is fantastic though.

Was discugusted by listening to Gerard Wheatley carry on the other day on AFL 360 that politicians in this country should 'grow some spine and get behind these new stadium builds' with reference to the Gabba/Olympics and Hobart stadium funding. Geez Gerard not everyone can be gifted taxpayer gazillions like Geelong to rebuild thier boutique stadium. While I'm all for appropriate investment in stadiums such has occurred to the MCG over the years, in the current economic climate, I agree that it's not really appropriate. WA/Perth are rolling in mineral royalties, so thier recient upgrade isn't such an issue. The Gabba is still a great quality stadium, although possibly 10,000 seats too small at times. If there is really so much wrong with the Launceston and Hobat stadiums, the AFL should stop Hawthorn and North playing there imeediatley and give back the Tassie govenment all that sponsorship funding. What I think the new Tassie govenment really needs to do is get some gumshum and go to the AFL CEO bloke who replaced Gillam what's his name and say "Hey AFL we've got 100,000 members signed up her now give us the F@#*ing team we should have had 10 years ago when you poored millions into a team in Western Sydney that still only has 20,000 members. We'll play games at the existing stadiums in Hobart and Launceston until we're good and ready and maybe you can put in somd cash to upgrade them to persevere the game in a grass roots football state."

Have really liked Kossies games since he's been back. Hitting the scoreboard regularly, but also been really busy and impactful all around the ground. If we'd had him against Sydney, it might have got us over the line. Anyways, will be good to see if he can maintain this kind of form through the season - if so, I think he might have come of age and taken that next step up to being an elite of the comp, rather than soley a freakish talent who can turn a game, but perhaps not to be relied upon to do so every week. Have also been super impressed with Winsor who seems to be getting better and more confident every week. In particular, I noticed that against Hawthorn in particular, he was landing and sticking tackles alot better, where in some previous occations he was chasing players down, but being brushed asides too easily. Is great to have another nippy player to hassle, harass and put both real and implied pressure on the oppositions ball carier around the ground when we are not in possession. And just love the way he glides through and around traffic like opposition players are just standing still. And what a great get Billings has turned out to be so far. Wasn't really sure if he was going to be a find or a bust, but on the evidence to date, he's been a really schrude pickup.

Reading over this thread, jeez we're in a good mood collectively. The players' good vibes seem to be brushing off on the supporters?

Nathan Buckley said tonight On The Couch that he had a very similar injury to May, including the transverse issue and a broken rib, all from a marking incident. He said he missed a week, played the next (but was ordinary), and was right after that. Interesting insight.

I’ve now heard from three separate people that AMW is this far *holds thumb and forefinger half a millimeter apart* from getting a call -up. He’s working so hard and has been for ages. Really happy for him.

Steven May

The Gus “debacle” was a well planned faux prosecution designed to keep the assailant playing finals.