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Until 2029. Huge signing and shores up our forward stocks. Roo-signed | Young Demon locked in

It was pick 13 + Mcadam. 13 pushed out to pick 19 on the night. Was not some monster offer that seems to be insinuated. Petty has already proven himself to be a fantastic backman, if he’s not a forward that’s where he will play for us for the rest of his career and he’ll be a brilliant Steven May replacement.

Not much love for Tom Fullarton, 21 touches, 4 marks, 7 hit outs and kicked 2.4 racked up 102 dream points and named in Casey’s Best but hasn’t garnered a mention? Will Verral is starting to show the class of football that his former coaches said that he was capable of, he is an exciting prospect for the future. As it stands we need Tom and Will to both keep improving and hopefully force their way into the side or be ready when needed. Sounds like Disco came back with a bang, Ollie stepped up along with Bill, Pup and Lachie Hunter. A great win considering we were 26 points down at one stage.

#Culture

I find this sort of reaction to our losses funny. Each time it's "we've been worked out", "this is the blueprint". Most of the time the result was brought about by something different anyway. We haven't been beaten this badly in the middle in 5+ years. At any rate, the idea that smashing us in the middle puts you in a good place to beat us is hardly earth-shattering, is it? It's almost akin to saying "the blueprint to beating Melbourne is to play really well".

Keep the faith, folks. Lisfranc injuries can be career ending. You don't come back at your best after a month. He needs patience.

Was worried about this game, said as much in prematch, in that I wouldn’t throw my toys out of the cot if we lost, still doesn’t mean I’m not very flat. Looking forward I am a bit worried, however clearly want to say the attitude of the team is OK and very proud of MFC, they do care and I think they will be motivated in the return bout. Fagan was like a school boy at the press conference he was so stoked they knocked us off. They had a pretty good game, are a good team and that useless basterd Hipwood suddenly found his mojo, and Hibberd was the Cameron specialist. But what worries me is I think we have three issues going forward, one is down to luck, one can be fixed, and the other worries me as it seems endemic to our style. The issues are: Injuries, Mids, and Conditions. The luck thing is injuries (and 3 games in two weeks) - we have a lot of niggles early, am sure Trac is carrying a leg injury, Petty is NQR, and that is not his attitude, Oliver was a mistake to play, we are missing Brayshaw and that hurts, Salem gone early, Bowey, Hore, Turner, Hunter (not that I’m that keen), McAdam, Melksham, Spargo, these injuries can change or not, but the reality is we are up against it early when we require collective effort to achieve the synergy our game plan requires. While noise is made about our stars, it is actually our team game that makes us awesome, I’m thinking we need freshening up because it is that team defense that allows us to transition back so well and we basically have too many midfield holes atm. In terms of just poor performers -JvR is in trouble, would love to know why, McVee had a bad game and is mortal. Howes ditto, Brown needs to be spelled regardless of what he says. The thing that needs fixing is the Midfield, we have had challenges all year and for a lot of last year, Kossie is basically our best speed through the middle, looking at Port/Sydney/GWS and today Brisbane, they all have higher top line speed (not necessarily effort). We work hard enough, it’s not a fitness issue, but we need more speed, Maybe we need Windsor on ball? Our pressure is ace in the middle, no bruise free players, but not sure how we are going to go with the best if we can’t get some speed. Contest alone is not enough anymore, we have been worked out there. I also think that is the worst you will see our stars play. The 3rd issue for me is conditions and we’ve had this challenge for awhile, have spoken on this before post Sydney, but with our manic style we need a very good 1st touch, one fumble and the other team has caught us. Because we are a great team, work ethic, and defensively minded etc, we get a lot of these booboos back. But the good teams are better with a slippery ball than us, if it is not a dry footy I am very nervous against the good teams. It seems like a long time since we were good in the wet, dew, humidity. I haven’t seen anything doe to address this. Love that Langdon, May, Lever, (a goal, wow) Tmac, Chandler, ANB and the Captain all had a go. I thought even though they looked likely to lose from early, the team still played with pride, and I would have clapped them off anyway. It is such small percentages between winning and losing, I hope we find those inches. Love the team and the staff.

It’s his 21st birthday today! 🥳🍻🍰💥🥳 Instead of receiving a gift, he’s given us a gift. Atta boy, Rooey!

Expect to see Maynard show up then.

How rude you are to question Clarry after 150 good games and he was not at or near his best (like about 5/6 others). Players are human and to see him do all that work and you openly ( or sarcastically) ask about a trade? please don’t contribute if you dishonour a champion so horrendously because you are in a shi..y mood. And the forwards were poor but again not necessarily as disinterested as you assert.

Getting back to yesterday's results, I see that Carlton fans were visibly rocked by that close loss.

Demonland after a loss is a special place

Throw a few years on top of McVee's existing deal while we're at

From the lovely guy that is Andrew Stafford in The Age "Spare a thought for Petracca and Oliver. Both were far below their best, with 38 possessions and just three clearances combined for the match. But the Dees were playing their third game in just 13 days, after backing up a narrow win over Port Adelaide on March 30 with a 15-point victory over the Crows on April 4 for Gather Round. Both games were Adelaide Oval. Is it any wonder they looked flatter than the Nullarbor? The early start to the season – with eight teams playing opening round and byes everywhere you look – has resulted in some deeply iniquitous scheduling. Collingwood also played three games in 13 days after a shortened pre-season. They will play another three in 13 after their bye this week. The fixture is contentious enough already without placing such insane demands on the athletes, who need adequate time to recover between half-marathons. Moreover, the staggered schedule means it won’t be until the end of round seven – when all 18 teams will have played the same amount of games for the first time this year – that we will truly know where clubs sit on the ladder. In an attempt to compete with the NRL’s Las Vegas adventure, the AFL has only succeeded in further distorting the fixture picture in a way that serves no one except broadcasters."

The writing was on the wall from the very first bounce of the football. The big men went up, Max Gawn more often than not, decisively won the ruck hit out and invariably a Brisbane Lions onballer either won the battle on the ground or halved the contest and they went at it repeatedly until they finally won out. Melbourne managed the first goal from Alex Neal-Bullen but after that the visitors shut out every area of Demon presence around the ground except in the ruck duels. It was a mauling. However, even Gawn’s herculean dominance throughout the night in that division worked to the advantage of the Lions. There, the numbers told the story of the game in stark detail. For the night, Melbourne won 58 hit outs to Brisbane’s 27, a figure that might at first brush indicate a thrashing in favour of the Demons. The clearance figures had them down by 35 to 44 (it would have been worse, but Brisbane released the pressure valve near the end). The Lions were so successful at brushing off the Dees and sharking Gawn’s hit outs that I found myself at times hoping that McInerney would win the tap out so that the rhythm of the game would be disrupted sufficiently to afford a clearance opportunity to Melbourne. The match had been dubbed as “season defining” for the Lions, one that could spell the end of their 2024 top four hopes even this early in the season. On the other hand, a win would have them in the frame to getting their season back on track. And given that it was dual Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale's 250th game, they had a further purpose in their plans to unseat the Demons and put to bed their Melbourne hoodoo after last year’s narrow defeat in the Grand Final and in the last encounter between the two sides in Round 18 2023 when they were monstered in the midfield late in the game in an epic come-from-behind thriller. This time, it would be different. Cam Rayner was on fire in the midfield from the very beginning. He dominated the game inside and out with 12 first quarter disposals, seven of them contested, six clearances and seven inside 50s. By the end of the game, his count was 25 disposals, 14 contested possessions, ten inside 50s, nine clearances, and seven score involvements. Josh Dunkley finished with 30 disposals and nine marks while Neale himself knocked up 24 disposals and eight clearances. To put it simply, they were first to the ball. I place emphasis of these numbers because Brisbane left Melbourne in their wake with the much-vaunted trio of Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, and Clayton Oliver notching up a mere 61 disposals and 10 clearances combined for the game – also improved late by the release of the Lions’ pressure. So dominant were the Brisbane mid-size brigade in the first half that Neale, who usually leads this group numerically, had the only sixth highest number of team possessions with 12 which equalled Melbourne’s best, namely Kade Chandler and Max Gawn. The latter’s figures were exemplary, he finished equal top in possessions with Jack Viney and accumulated 149 Dream Team points which was 57 points greater than Ed Langdon who was next in his side. The Demons were clearly flat after their successful trip to Adelaide where fans could have noticed that writing on the wall when they were goalless in final quarter against the Crows. This was their fourth match in 19 days, the third in 12 days but the fans were expecting so much more after the success of their business trip to the City of Churches. Before they left Adelaide, the team should have stepped into one of those churches and prayed for more strength and energy because the first three quarters of last night’s game were emblematic of a group that was perilously low on petrol tickets. It left them with an aggregate of three goals over their past four quarters, a figure they exceeded in the final term when the Lions had well and truly taken their feet off the pedal. At half time, the crowd was treated on the MCG screens with a magic act from Magic Mike, a Demon fan. The club would have done better employing him to work some magic and remove the wall that the team was about to hit because the mounting pressure on the field and on the scoreboard induced a sense of panic that left supporters frustrated. Two examples of the panic were Petracca’s attempt to goal from well outside range that was easily mopped up by a Brisbane defender and Caleb Windsor’s blistering run of three bounces which ended similarly. A more measured approach in both cases would almost certainly have resulted in a score, most likely a goal. Petracca should have done better in the circumstances; Windsor will learn from his experience. It was a bad night for the many young players in the team including first gamer, Koltyn Tholstrop who looked a little overawed but did show some good signs for the future. Like Windsor, he will also learn from the experience. The failure to win clearances clearly added pressure on the team and made it harder to score. Moreover, Melbourne struggled to move the ball from its defensive fifty throughout the game with 28 of 47 chains intercepted by Brisbane and only six going inside fifty for a single goal. All of this reflected in the embarrassing statistics in terms of possessions and marks for the likes of Ben Brown, Bayley Fritsch, Harrison Petty and Jacob van Rooyen (at least he was giving Max a chop out in the ruck) – again made to look better in the last half of that final stanza when the Lions went for a well-earned end of game nap. Of course, the Lions’ midfield dominance added to the pressure on the defence which did well in the circumstances to hold the opposition to 82 points for the night. At times, Brisbane was able to use pace to slice through Melbourne’s defences with ease, but credit should also go to Steven May, Jake Lever and Tom McDonald in holding them to that score, and in the end, the difference of 22 points, was enormously flattering to the club. Melbourne simply couldn’t take a trick. The loss of Christian Salem early to a hamstring injury was compounded by the injury to Jake Bowey and retirement of Angus Brayshaw. By way of contrast, the Lions so comfortably negotiated the evening that they didn’t bother employing the tactical sub, so James Tunstill sat on the bench for 100 minutes. The bye could not have come any sooner. MELBOURNE 2.0.12 2.4.16 3.7.25 8.12.60 BRISBANE LIONS 4.2.26 7.4.46 10.8.68 12.10.82 GOALS MELBOURNE Fritsch 2 Brown Chandler Gawn Lever Neal-Bullen van Rooyen BRISBANE LIONS Cameron 3 Daniher Hipwood McCluggage 2 Bailey Fletcher Lohmann BEST MELBOURNE Gawn Chandler Viney Rivers Langdon McDonald BRISBANE LIONS Rayner McCluggage Dunkley Neale Andrews Bailey INJURIES MELBOURNE Christian Salem (hamstring) BRISBANE LIONS Nil REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil BRISBANE LIONS Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Taj Woewodin (replaced Christian Salem in the first quarter) BRISBANE LIONS James Tunstill (unused) UMPIRES Findlay Gavine Nicholls Power CROWD 43,098 at the MCG

They will sack Bevo before they let the Bont walk out. Take that to the bank.

Corruption plain and simple, sub-conciously or not they have different outcomes for different people depending who they are. Any one who looks at what's going on can see that. Just not sure what anyone can do about it. It's really not on and very very unfair. That's all anyone wants, pure fairness across the board. Is that just too much to ask?

Wandered down today to sunny Franga, quickly inserting myself into the quarter time huddle and congratulating the Kolt on playing his first game. Max, JVR were there also. Very small crowd and found myself standing next to Alan Richardson, McWalter? and Goody. What I can say is that, through a little subtle eaves dropping, (I.e. reading a newspaper with two eye holes for visibility) the following definitely impressed Goody and Richo: Sestan Lachie Hunter - particularly second half. Verall Choco Williams is a great clubman. Gets around players. A master of instilling belief.

That's a huge overreaction unless you were born in 2015.

2023: 39 goals for the season, averaging 1.5 marks inside 50, both behind only King at the Suns (and ahead of any Demon) Took more contested marks than any of our forwards did, whether you split it by average or total. Led the suns for goal assists and was behind only Noah Anderson for inside 50s. I suspect he is in fact a key forward. Possibly even a textbook modern CHF. When the coach permits it!

He went further than that, too. He asked if the AFL is protecting the head, or the Brownlow. https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/david-king-launches-at-afl-with-inflammatory-brownlow-claim-after-zak-butters-cleared-by-mro-c-14314901.amp

He is a category B rookie, meaning he had not played Australian Rules football for at least 3 years before being signed. I think he only played until he was about 12 before following the bball pathway due to his height. This is now his second year on an AFL list, similar to Jefferson he's had one true preseason. So what are we trying to achieve? We are rolling the dice on a 206 cm athletic prospect to see if he can pick up AFL football as he develops his body. We know tall players take longer. At 206 cm it's fair to expect him to take a while if at all. Basically,given the rarity of height, it's a free hit to see if something comes of it. And if it doesn't we let him go. On current situation, it doesn't seem like he is coming on or that the footy department have much faith in him. If that's correct then he'll be gone year end.

Yes, Ollie Sestan was excellent and played a great second half. Sestan played in the centre at the start of the last quarter and played very well. I want Sestan to remain playing in the centre. That last quarter was great to watch. Hunter lifted in the second half as well. Daniel Turner went to the forward line at the start of the third quarter and took some great marks. Disco played well considering he was coming back from injury. But Will Verrall played his best game for the year and has a very bright AFL career.

Petty is clearly trying to make up for an interrupted pre season, which isn't helping his form. As he gets more match fitness across the year, providing he doesn't get injured again, I expect him to start owning the forward 50.

Dee-monic: knee-jerk minus “knee”

This is a [censored] post IMO. Even if you're thinking if, even if it's true, he's an 18-year old debutant playing in a side where his A-grade teammates were getting belted. More importantly, he clearly isn't ready for AFL level football. That's on the FD, not him. He simply should not have been picked. I want us supporting our kids, not throwing them under the bus.

Below are some of the better KPFs in the game today. Just players who were drafted in the last 6~ years, and the stat is goals kicked in their first four seasons (from debut). We all want, and need, JVR to be taking a leap this year - but patience is required. Season # 1 2 3 4 JVR 28 M. King 22 38 52 28 B. King 17 25 47 40 McDonald 9 15 32 Curnow 5 20 34 18 McKay 3 21 26 21 Daniher 3 28 34 43 Naughton 2 32 15 47 Larkey 0 26 14 42 Allen 0 20 18 28 Average 9 25 30 33 For reference, old mate Weideman kicked 3, 3, 10, 11....

Genuinely confused how any of our forwards should get any criticism this week. We had no connection or semblance of ball movement but we expect Petty to be the difference, makes no sense.

He wasn’t the only key forward for Melbourne who didn’t turn up this week. And probably contributed more to goals than others we had. I get the frustration that he’s not involved more and that he has a timid nature off the field. I also get the frustration from people who have seen his good games and go “far out, the ceiling is so high on this kid”. We have 44 spots on the list and his ceiling is as high as any of them. What does it matter that we are giving him a base wage, getting him up to speed with the game, and see what he can do. For those “draft bust” people, we did all we could in that draft to move up. Maybe you are Josh Weddle fans, but there is no one picked after Jeffo that screams we made a mistake. Even with revisionist history. Let’s enjoy the ride and see where we are in 2026. Till then, we should have enough key forwards that are meant to be in that spot.

Yes, the worst thing that ever happened to his career was helping us win a flag. Can’t believe he smashed his opponent on grand final day. Disgraceful behavior. He’s backed up every year since 2021, even last year with a badly injured foot. Fritsch would get a game in every forwardline in the league. I swear Demonland post loss is unhinged.

Hardly the end of the world. Brisbane are an excellent team, very unlucky not to be the reigning premiers. Their "poor" start to the season has been significantly overblown. They have won the inside 50 count in every game they've played. A couple of teams have kicked insanely accurately against them. They were never out of form as the media would have us believe. We got beaten where it matters most, and beaten easily. The limp performance of our mids was the reason we lost. Neale, Dunkley, Rayner and McCluggage (with Berry) absolutely smoked (to use a Steven May term) Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Sparrow. That is the game in a nutshell. The odds of our midfield being beaten that badly again, all on the same night, are slim indeed. For those criticizing anything at all about Gawn's game last night, have a good hard look at the replay and then yourselves. McInerney is a good AFL ruckman who is as honest as the day is long and Max tore him apart. Gawn's tap work is elite. We lost a lot of clearance from our mid's fumbles, overpossessing or simply actually losing contest. If Gawn didn't play last night, that's a 10 goal plus loss everyday of the week. 8 clearances to the big man was better than anything anyone else on our side could do. McDonald is looking like Tom of old (final year of his contract - he's done this before!) Kudos to him. Might have been worth a shift forward at half time, but in reality our defence held up well given the amount of ball they saw. Can understand why Goodwin didn't shift him. Pickett is a huge loss, as we all know. We can't afford for him to be missing games. We look completely different with him out there. Expecting a big bounce after the bye.

Post on the Kozzie thread saying Cameron fined in 2017 for striking and 2020 for rough conduct and striking in 2021. Tribunal said he had no prior suspensions. Didn't look at previous fines or incidents then. 3 previous incidents where he was found guilty and yet he is of such exceptional character, he is fined again, for medium impact which carries a suspension, when others would be suspended.

Never in doubt! by 2029 he's going to be some player!

I saw him on the tram after St.Kilda had beaten his Pies. He looked thoroughly miserable. This is of course completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but hopefully it puts a sparkle in your day.

Nice of the blues to make my point so soon by losing a home game against the winless and hapless Crows. But seriously, how many posters actually objectively think that loss is evidence the Blues are not contenders, won't make top 4 and can't win the flag? And the giants were very lucky to win at home against a middle of the road saints. Yes they won, but if the dees won a home game against the Saints in such an unconvincing fashion there would be plenty of DL posters saying it was evidence we are not contenders.

Further proof that the AFL protects high profile players and Brownlow hopefuls If this same action was done by a nobody, say I dunno Hunter, it would result in suspension. And has.

Petty’s played 2.5 very decent CHF games. Then one stinker against great opposition. Was ok but not great in his half a game down back. Got beat deep a couple of times. (One on one defending was always his weakness though, just like Lever, better when in position to intercept.) Honestly I think he just needs the freshen up from the bye and will come out and be very good. And he needs some sports psychology against Brisbane because he’s been awful the last 2 times he’s played them and clearly they are in his head. Needs to find a way to get through that.

This seems to be the development stage he is in currently: gaining enough fitness to be able to put those KMs in as a key forward. Until now he has played deep forward because he doesn't have the aerobic capacity to get all the way up the ground etc. I'm not sure it's a lack of effort/desire issue. From what I've seen Jefferson seems to have good attributes for a key forward: marking, kicking, and a knack for finding himself in goal scoring positions. I don't think anyone would be arguing he doesn't have a very high ceilings if he can realise his potential. We knew that he was a development project when we drafted him. Which is why I think a bit of patience around physical development, both strength and aerobic capacity, is probably required before any true assessment can be made regarding his likelihood of making it. He is in his second year (realistically has completed one full preseason), and is contracted until the end of 2026, meaning he has another 2 preseasons of development before his contract runs out.

Just checked Big Footy and this this my all time favourite If that gollum looking midget goal umpire campaigner doesn't call that an imaginary touched goal, we win. What a ******* disgraceful game by the men in fluoro. Disgrace.. Oh what short memories they have !!!

Interesting that Turner went forward and looked excellent until he then went behind the ball once we had the lead. He is too good for VFL, even after a stint off, is this the attempt to find him an AFL spot as the third tall forward if/when Brown wains? A good comeback against mature bodies on a skinny ground. There is something to work with, with Verrall, Pup and possibly Sestan.

He’s continued to kick goals though, as per his job description. He’s unfortunately our main forward and is up there with the best in the league at that job, despite his size. No he’s not necessarily tough and I have seen him take a few short steps over the years. I’ve also seen him show great courage in the air. I like that he shows a bit of arrogance at times. Sometimes our team seems to go out of its way to keep its head down a bit too often. He’s not a bull and there’s a certain element who seem to think if you aren’t jack Viney than you are lacking something but Fritschs strengths well and truly over power his weaknesses. A team needs balance. He has been one of the best forwards I’ve ever seen at the club.

Seriously? JVR, who only tuned 21 two days ago, is so obviously a gun i'm astounded any footy fan could not see it. Obviously the club do. And its not just potential. His first season provides evidence of his ability and a clear sense of his ceiling. His first year of senior footy matches or exceeds that of every gun forward for the last 30 years, in including the current crop (King brothers, Oscar Allen, JUH, Amiss, Logan McDonald).

Surely the AFL is playing a dangerous game of cynically relying on peoples loyalty to their Clubs for continued support while they insult the same people with their farcical management, zeal for woke agendas and contentment of allowing an uneven/unfair competition. The game is in disarray despite being told otherwise. Cameron, Butters,Pendlebury, score review farce, Goal umpires who appear to have no idea, COI crypto currency advertising, Concussion, the bump, standard of umpiring, Gather Round, Finlayson, pushing woke causes, and that’s just in the last couple of weeks. Similar rubbish has been going on back to the days of Demetriou. If it wasn’t for the MFC being a big part of my life for 6 decades, I wouldn’t have anything to do with the rotten AFL.

Doesn’t apply to those who the AFL believe will be in Brownlow contention. I’d suggest Nick Daicos would also be given the same treatment if he were to knock someone high. But that would also mean he’d have to actually go to a contest..

I feel like calling him a dog is incredibly offensive to dogs, who are after all, the most wonderful creatures on earth.

What I like about Turner is he crashes packs with force when going for a pack mark, he is also a good reader of the play and a good kick and mark.

Lachie Hunter has been terrific in the second half.

Wait, which one is it?

Amongst the dross Tom McDonald didn't do much wrong. One of the few bright lights in a disappointing performance.

Just got home. Won't be watching no replay tonight. The only positive from that woeful display was it gave me a chance to revisit a sledge from the dim past: 'you're going nowhere lions - a half decent team would have flogged us by 10 goals'