stevethemanjordan

Not telling.

^ If all that happens, we play in a GF.

I think you'll find that many of those 27,000 have been back on board for the last two to three years. Sure there will still be a handful, but not 27,000. That would be silly to assume.

For all the improvements the club has made, I've got to say that this is still an issue for me (and other supporters). It's odd enough that there's been no word from the club regarding Gus given he's missed multiple weeks of full training. But what's even more baffling as big red pointed out is that the MFC publish a full article regarding Brayshaw's unique training program on Christmas day, only to end it by saying he won't be completing it this year with absolutely no word on why. Amazing that things go seemingly unnoticed by the MFC. [censored] me off to no end.

Ahh the old 'hasn't missed a kick at training'. V good.

Hogan may never reach his potential, you're right. But that'll have nothing to do with a 'laziness' or 'arrogance' as you suggested in your sentence below. "While I wish Hogan all the best and still think he will be an okay footballer, he screams of Watts and Sylvia 2.0. All young players oozing with talent (and taken at high picks) who drank their own cool aid before putting in the hard yards to become the champions they all had the potential to become. " No, it doesn't go without saying. It's at the very centre of this debate. Ones perspective on life changes dramatically after experiencing the death of a parent at the age of 22. I can't begin to explain how much you're underestimating that.

I agree with the premise of your post. May will be huge for us and is much more of a need going into next year in comparison to Jesse. However, I question a few points you've made. To compare Hogan to Watts and Sylvia is completely ridiculous given what Jesse achieved in his first year at AFL level and the fact that he came back to pre-season at our club in unbelievable condition on multiple occasions and was one of our strongest runners. Even this year, his start to the year was unbelievable and he was considered by many as being in AA form. Sylvia and Watts never came close to impacting games the way Jesse has. This is without mentioning the fact that Hogan missed a year with a back injury, lost his father at the age of 22 and was diagnosed with Cancer in the same year. Is it really a surprise that some of his behaviour has been a little erratic during the off-season? Should we make mention of the fact that Gawn used to smoke on the way to training, vomited on Tom Scully due to intoxication and [censored] about for a number of years before the penny dropped? Or that Harmes has publicly admitted that up until the 2018 pre-season, he was never in the condition he needed to be in? Or maybe that Jetta needed a wake-up call by being delisted and given a rookie lifeline to seize his opportunity and put the required work in? Hogan has experienced events that some of us don't experience until we're well into adulthood. He is 23 years old, think about that for minute.

In good hands.

None of that has any relevance to what you were pulled up on. That being; what it is that determines an 'interrupted pre-season'. I don't need to go and ask coaches at training to know that.

Don't get me started.

Still trying to make up for believing Salem was an ectomorph early days...

@Satyriconhome As someone who has grown up playing and watching this game from a young age, it is a plain ol' fact that if you miss any component of a pre-season training, it is deemed an interrupted one. The word 'fitness' is a broad one and you're referring strictly to a single component known as cardiovascular endurance. Off-seasons (aka pre-pre-seasons) and pre-seasons are the only times of the year in which a player can improve and make gains in every component of fitness required to play the game. These components consist not only of aerobic and anaerobic fitness but also components such as muscular strength and power, coordination, flexibility, agility and more. We have players who have had surgery on shoulders, knees, feet and more. All of which means they'll be restricted in what they can do. Harmes and Oliver as an example will be well behind in upper body strength and power and will not be able to make the same gains and improvements had they not had surgery. Thus, an interruption in their programs. Viney and Petracca with foot and and knee surgery have similarly not had the same head start in their running as those who have not had surgery. Thus, an interruption. It remains to be seen whether or not the number of players we have in rehab/missing parts of the program will have an impact come the start of the season. Whilst I agree that the majority are at least able to do most of the running part of pre-season, you've cast a blind eye over pretty much every other component of fitness which at this level, are all extremely important given how competitive the game is.

The only positive out of our lengthy rehab group is that 90% are able to run unhindered, which is clearly the most important part of pre-season. I think that's what the bearded man means when he says their pre-seasons are 'not interrupted'. Even if by definition of the word, they are.

Amazing. You've just defined the term 'interrupted pre-season'.

One time many years ago, @Satyriconhome made mention that Mark Neeld 'finally' had the right players at his disposal for us to play the was he wanted us to. Many others disagreed. Since then, he has said many, many other silly things. Things that have proved to me that his knowledge and attention to detail in all areas of this game is simply not there and that beneath all of this, he is really just a fierce supporter of all individuals that pull on an MFC guernsey and will defend them to the end. This is why when you hear him say, "an opinion is neither right nor wrong, it's just an opinion", you're allowed to laugh. Opinions can either hold weight, or little weight, depending on one's track record. And saty's is poor. For anyone who has doubts over a player at this time of year during the pre-season, just hold your tongue. I have no idea about how Bradtke is tracking... But I sure as hell know that if Satyriconhome's argument (against the poster suggesting that Bradtke looked out of his depth during training) was that the 'coaches didn't kick him out of a drill', then all you can do is laugh. I'm quite certain this post will be removed by the powers that be, but I'm pretty sick of Saty nitpicking an entire post due to this posters observations of Bradtke. It's quite ridiculous, it's the same every single year.

*facepalms*

Gary Buckenara has a write-up on how he thinks each club's list is shaping up going into next year. I can't get past the pay-wall though so a paraphrase would be great from someone who subscribes to the Sun... Anddddd go.

The AFL have to please 17 other clubs. When's the last time we travelled in round 1? Seriously, lol at demonland and some of the complaining posters.

Our backline has gone from a shambles three to four years ago to now being a strength. We've added Hibberd, Lewis, Lever and now May. It's unbelievable. Not in my time once as a supporter have felt confident in our back six as an entire unit. And now I will be. To my ears, it sounds as if many posters who have questioned the May trade haven't actually watched him play, or nearly enough of him. Let me elaborate. In May, we're getting pretty much exactly what Frost offered us in terms of speed and offensive play from our back-half. However, unlike Frost, May is an exceptional one-on-one defender and intercept player, he has elite foot-skills for a key defender, he is super smart and composed with ball in hand and he plays with a similar intensity to Viney both at the ball and man. He is similar to Rance in that he has the closing speed and awareness to leave his opponent and halve contests that otherwise would be pencilled in as a win for opposition sides. That trait is extremely special. He is a leader and former captain. His aggression and presence are going to change the entire look and feel of our defence. During the year, I am certain that opposition key forwards would have been strolling into our backline, seeing Oscar and Frost as our key defenders and thinking they'd have a day-out. Franklin, Riewoldt, Kennedy, Hawkins. All of them would have licked their lips. May's addition in that sense is enormous. Opposition sides know that May is aggressive and plays to hurt, and that advantage is significant. Opposition forwards second guessing at contests is exactly what you want as a defender. I can't remember ever having that in our backline save maybe for Jetta on smaller forwards, but never key forwards. They've always had something laugh at. Posters really do underestimate what he's going to provide and the onflow effect he'll have. His arrival is as big as any imo.

The 'mighty' dees eh eh eh?!

Don't ever post here again. Kind regards, Steve.

There's no doubt May would have taken notice of the way we play footy and part of the attraction in coming to us would be to play alongside some the other tough and uncompromising types we have on our list. Anyone watching us against Geelong and the way our youngsters made Selwood, Ablett and Dangerfield earn every touch would have been impressed. None of our young guys back away from heat. May and Pruess will not only make us walk even taller, but they'll walk taller themselves. We now have the toughest side in the comp. Of that I'm sure and oppo sides won't like it.

Definitely not elite. He is a neat kick generally. His awareness is very good, it's his execution that let's him down at times.

I know that we were into Duursma last year as an underaged player and he's projected to go around the 20's. I watched some of him last year, he's very untapped. But has some special talent. Wouldn't be surprised if we got him.

I love Simon Goodwin.