Forest Demon

I stayed off the footy sites all week because I was so bloody nervous. I don’t know why I was nervous, we looked the clearly the better team from the opening bounce. It feels amazing to not just beat those bunch of [censored], but to absolutely embarrass them.

Brayshaw is growing into the wing role. He was excellent tonight and is an underrated one on one player. May kept Daniher goalless for the first time this year. Sparrow was superb. Rivers did a lot of small scrappy things that broke up Brisbane attacks. TMac isn’t quite there atm, but will likely stay for structure rather than risk Weideman who has barely played and has been poor when he has. Smith had a tough job tonight and stuck at it well. He is borderline though for Hunt or Hibberd.

Easily the best Melbourne side of my lifetime. As much as I fondly remember some players from that early 2000s side, we currently have 3 of the top 10 players in the game, 2 of the best defenders in the game and a lot of young talent to round it out.

Selfishly, I hope they decide to play in Queensland, but I reckon our best shout is Adelaide in terms of our record there, the climate, the travel etc. Obviously that doesn't apply if we host a game against Port, although that would be a power move to beat them at the Adelaide Oval 🤔

I’ve got $1 in my Sportsbet account, but I do have a pending bet on Luke Jackson at $15. My account has a pulse.

I don't recall that Moloney incident, anyone got any footage? As for Viney, it all comes down to what Sam Collins has to say. It looked bad, but judging by his reactions, I'm not sure there was much pressure on there at all. Silly either way from Viney to put himself in trouble,

Bowey looked right at home, although the test will come when he actually has to defend as Gold Coast offered nothing today. Oliver’s 1st half was top shelf, even by his lofty standards.

The title on that MFC link says “Dees to head to the Gold Coast” even though it’s venue TBC?

Petracca needs some serious work on his disposal, which has been atrocious for most of the season. What happened to the bull last year that would use his strength to break tackles and give himself the time to compose before kicking? This year he is rushing it straight onto the boot and the results are not good.

You can have one bad performance against one of the poorer sides, it can happen, but the pattern of performances against good opposition vs bad opposition is damning. We are clearly a better football side than previous years, but there are still some serious issues between the ears. I don’t know why I hadn’t already, but I turned it off as soon Jack Viney mentioned “learnings” in the post game interview.

A draw is far from a disaster (the result that is, not the performance)

I know I'm in the minority and this won't be popular, but I believe the future is 16 a side with shorter quarters. The game was invented over 150 years ago, and it wasn't invented with 18 aerobic beasts in mind that can clog up every blade of grass on the ground. I'd rather a couple of drastic changes to "reset" things rather than all these confusing rules like zones coming and going every year. There you have it. Give me your best.

6 - Petracca 5 - McDonald 4 - Petty 3 - Gawn 2 - Oliver 1 - May That was tough, but I really feel like Petty deserved special praise. That was his best game in the seniors. Hibberd and Pickett were both fantastic as well.

Wines may have had 30, but every single one was under extreme pressure. I reckon Viney was very good tonight.

Speaking of tennis, it always [censored] me when they just toss their sweaty gross towel behind them after every point. Not sure how it’s become the norm for the ball kids to ferry them their towel after every point of a match.

Pressure and intensity way off in the first half, and got we deserved from a side outside the 8, yet again. Pisses me off, we are a better team than previous years, but the same old soft underbelly is still there.

Can’t buy a clean clearance. Getting what we deserve.

Can’t believe the comments about Jackson’s consistency. He has been super consistent, and has barely had a bad game. If anything, he’s lacking that massive break out game that would seal the deal. I have comfortably ahead of Jordon and Rivers, who have both also been very good this year.

One has, but sadly not for us.

I would have loved a more commanding performance. Failing that, a scrappy win with some dubious umpiring was my second choice, just so we could hear the sooking from the Essendon fans. Honestly, they complain every week. They are something else.

He was playing full time ruck from the Casey games I watched. I think he is a break glass in case of emergency for if Max goes down or needs a rest.

I still think South East Queensland has enough footy support for 2 teams. I would like to see them have a successful period for a couple of years before giving up on them completely. GWS are more concerning for me, they were up there competing but still couldn’t get any support. And I agree on the above point about transport to Metricon. It’s a mission unless you drive.

Like a Rocket Eade? Not sure it matters who is in charge tbh.

I had my heart set on Merrett, he would compliment our midfield perfectly. Fair play to him though for sticking it out at Essendon, although I still hope they fall in another hole soon enough.

It's been a crazy 18 months since they were drafted, and chances to get home would have been even more limited than usual. I'm not concerned as the club has been pretty good at handling this sort of stuff recently. If either decide to go home, so be it, we go hard at the trade table.