Bang Bang Bang

Another 4 votes in the AFLCA. By count that's 8/11 games this year he's gotten votes. A teenager.

We're 6-2 with Lewis and 0-3 without. I dunno, he was poor today but I'd still do the trade.

I don't think that's true. I seem to remember Roos stating publicly that McCartin, Petracca and Brayshaw were the clear standouts and we were always going to take the two St. Kilda didn't. I think Emma Quayle quoted our recruiters as rating McCartin first in one of her books (I read that second hand so don't take it as gospel). Certainly, Lever was in the mix and would have been a better pick than Gus but that's hindsight for you. In fact if we had our time again I'd be taking Petracca and Peter Wright, not Lever. Hopefully Weid ends up being the goods because Charlie Curnow is well ahead of him at this point in time too. Taylor has done an excellent job but you can't get them all perfectly right. We also took Salem ahead of Cripps. Not a bad decision per se, just not the perfect one.

Demonland needs a dislike button.

His first half had me convinced he still had shares in the Hawks and we were in for a long three years. But he was very important after half time behind the ball. I think it was him that gave the boys a spray at half time before going off. Whatever he said worked! But I do agree with the general consensus, his 'elite kicking' is actually quite inconsistent.

It's funny because I shared your bemusement when Rohan Connolly left him out of his top 10 recruits earlier in the week. But the same Rohan Connolly made a snide remark about Hibberd missing All Australian in 2014 in article #1 and also included him in his 2013 midway AA squad for 2013 in article #2. So this would confirm that Hibberd indeed was a bloody good player at Essendon in the eyes of Essendon fans at least. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/allaustralians-a-team-brimming-with-new-faces-20140915-10hakg.html http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1570050/half-a-season-produces-team-full-of-talent/

And not just that, his poise, decision making and skill are all elite. A good interceptor too. When the McDonalds get it and even Frost, Hunt and Lewis, there's the occasional heart in mouth moment. But when Hibberd gets it you know you can relax. Gun.

I was happy to get him but didn't expect him to be this good. Our trading and drafting last October gets a big tick. Hibberd for a pick in the late 20s, Lewis for peanuts and Hannan in the 40s are all wins. Unfortunately the Melksham trade is n't looking quite as rosy.

He is LEADING the 3AW player of the year with Rory Sloane. Surely he'll slow down at some point, but if he doesn't, 'going to be elite' is wrong. He is elite.

How about the pack mark and quick thinking to set up Petracca in the second quarter. That was the only highlight of the half. Clarry resting forward should happen more often. Today was his worst game of the year and he still racked up 33 with high efficiency. The kid's a freak.

Was it you that reported on Oliver beating ANB 10 times out of 10, one-on-one, in one of his first ever training sessions? I remember being pretty impressed at the time but it's totally not surprising now. His height, smarts, contested work and strength would surely make him a difficult forward to match up on. Would like to see him down there more.

That's an oxymoron. People forget how bad a shape he was in prior to Christmas - summoned to the rehab group he was in such poor nick. Decided to take it seriously from that point and is producing elite numbers already. I shudder to think how good he'll be when he starts taking the off seasons seriously.

Originally I thought Hibberd was worth an early 20s pick, so to get him for pick 29 and an upgrade of a later pick is a good result. I know Paul Roos had little to do with it, but Hibberd is a Roos-type player. Fans won't flock to get his number on their back but you can be sure he'll be a very useful role player for us for a number of years. Also it's nice to see Petracca being so pro-Melbourne on his Twitter feed, even on his time off. Within minutes of the trade being completed he's on there welcoming Hibberd to the club. Dare I say it, 'bleeds red and blue' already.

Good article on Viney on the ESPN website, http://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/17269727/melbourne-football-club-jack-viney-ultimate-afl-athlete I remember just before we drafted him (in the bruise-free era), he was referred to as a 'culture changer'. He is certainly living up to that reputation.

Compare his horrid run up today to his debut against Gold Coast last year.

If Weideman turns out to be 75% as good as Hogan (and his early VFL form would suggest he might be) then we won't have a huge problem going forward, provided we can keep the rest of our young guns. One gun key forward, one gun ruckman and a shitload of gun smalls has been the recipe to success for years. Two gun forwards is better than one but not the be all and end all. Of course nobody wants him to go but he's just one part of the puzzle. For what it's worth he's barely fired a shot in our wins this year (last quarter against Giants aside).

What does it say? Herald Sun's paywell is very tight these days. Jay Clark correctly predicted Oscar McDonald would be picked ahead of Lynden Dunn several days out from Round 1 so I'm prepared to believe he's well connected with the club.

If you can find me evidence of the Tyson prediction I'd be much more inclined to believe you. I don't recall anyone, on here on in the media, coming close to predicting that one.

I remember Hawthorn fans stressing about Buddy leaving them back in 2013 and what went and happened? He did leave and they won another two flags without him (maybe more). I'm sure the fans miss him but his departure had no detriment to their overall success. I want Jessie to stay but we can experience future success whether he wants to be a part of it or not. For what it's worth has only kicked 10% of our goals this year., and we've kicked a shitload of them.

If he was truly unhappy in Melbourne then he would have asked for a trade last October. Yeah he's contracted but that doesn't stop players asking for trades. I'm not saying he's 100% certain to stay with us (we'll know a lot more in six months) but what Karl is claiming seems impossible to believe.

Putting off talks until the end of the season almost always spells trouble, although luckily this scenario is different to the previous examples of it. Whether it's smart for Jesse or not (and it probably is), this is NOT good news to be reading as a fan on the eve of another season. Let's be honest about that. I think he'll stay, he signed an extension not that long ago, but if his manager trots out the same line and he's unsigned 12 months from now I think we all know what's going to happen.

Born in 1997! I've never felt older.

The one - main - thing that separates Hogan and the other good key forwards from Watts is courage in the air. Hogan has it in spades, Watts has none. The fact JT has described Weideman as having 'elite courage in the air' is promising. Let's hope he has better hands than Dawes and kicks straighter than Ben Holland.

Just how fierce will a midfield of Viney, Brayshaw, vandenBerg, N. Jones and now Oliver be for opposition teams? That's not even factoring in Vince who doesn't mind a scrap and the raging bull Petracca who might end up in there. They will dead set crush the likes of Richmond in the wet. It won't necessarily lead to sustained success but at least the bruise-free era is long behind us!

Exactly.