Dante

We will beat Hawthorn next week whether we get Hogan back or not, our forward line with Hannan in it is mobile and unpredictable, we have several avenues to goal at last. Our backline is starting to gel and our midfield is better than theirs, but best of all, they are completely lacking in confidence and Alistair is now facing the reality of coaching a side without superstars. Today was a poor game but we won and that's all I care about, 4 points is the same for a good win or a bad win. I don't care if Daniher kicked poorly today because he usually does, we played them with a few of our better players out and on their dung heap. Goodwin has got the players believing that they can win any game with the team that gets picked and having missing players is irrelevant, there are no excuses and that can only be good long term for the MFC.

inAbsolutely stoked for him, he's a soldier alright, does what he can when asked to and doesn't complain when he doesn't get a game. Hope he plays a few more and not just when Max is out, he gives every game his best and it allows Jack to kick 4 goals instead of battling away in the ruck.

Does it really matter how many of ours were there and how many of theirs were there, really? We know they have a bigger support base than us, that's a given and if they turn up in those numbers next year, I'm sure the club will be over the moon. If they want to put their money up and support their team next year, PJ will be more than happy to bank the cheque It wasn't the crowd that beat us the other night it was injury and our inability to put them away early in the game, we dominated inside 50's in the first quarter but couldn't put scoreboard pressure on them. So the make up of the crowd only concerns those that are worried we are going to disappear from the scene if we don't double our support base in the next few years

So you base his excellence on a couple of good games, one against us where he kicked straight for the first and probably only time that year and yesterday. He will dominate some games when he has it all his way and the opposition is weak, like us last year and the pies yesterday. You"ve always liked your multi dimensional mobile talls but can't see the one directly in front of you, Hogan can play as a mid, back, forward, what does that say about his multi dimentionality.

Maybe it was when he said that Hogan had no skill when the ball hit the ground, that he was a lead up and mark player only, or words to that effect.

Just for the record here's the Lynch/ Hogan comparison, not a great deal in it and Lynch has a few seasons and 60 games on Jesse. Player Statistics Comparison Jesse Hogan Name Tom Lynch Melbourne Demons Team Gold Coast Suns Forward Position Forward 44 Career Games 107 Claremont Origin Dandenong Stingrays February 12, 1995 Date of Birth October 31, 1992 22yr 2mth Age 24yr 5mth 195cm Height 199cm 100kg Weight 98kg 2012 Mini Draft Last Drafted In 2010 National Draft Round 1, Pick #2 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #11 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Gold Coast Suns Career Stats for Season Career 44 Games 107 9.6 Kicks Per Game 9.0 4.6 Handballs Per Game 5.4 14.2 Disposals Per Game 14.4 6.9 Marks Per Game 6.0 2.1 Goals Per Game 1.9 1.3 Behinds Per Game 1.2 1.3 Tackles Per Game 1.7 0.1 Hitouts Per Game 0.8 2.3 Inside 50s Per Game 2.4 0.5 Goal Assists Per Game 0.8 0.9 Frees For Per Game 1.1 0.4 Frees Against Per Game 1.2 5.9 Contested Possessions Per Game 7.4 8.2 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 7.1 9.5 Effective Disposals Per Game 9.6 66.9% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 66.7% 1.5 Clangers Per Game 2.5 2.1 Contested Marks Per Game 2.2 2.8 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 2.4 0.2 Clearances Per Game 0.3 0.2 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.5 1.1 One Percenters Per Game 2.4 0.1 Bounces Per Game 0.1 90.1 Time On Ground % Per Game

Daniher was selected by a club where his family were royalty, Hogan was drafted as an underage player by a club on the other side of the country at a time where is father was extremely ill. Hogan is a year younger has played 31 less games than Daniher and is still ahead of him on all statistics. Daniher is kicking 2.4 goals a game this year, hardly a star, Jeffy is kicking that many. I'll buy as many Hogan shares you want to sell. These are the career averages. Jesse Hogan Name Joe Daniher Melbourne Demons Team Essendon Bombers Forward Position Forward 44 Career Games 75 Claremont Origin Calder Cannons February 12, 1995 Date of Birth March 4, 1994 22yr 2mth Age 23yr 1mth 195cm Height 200cm 100kg Weight 95kg 2012 Mini Draft Last Drafted In 2012 National Draft Round 1, Pick #2 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #10 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Essendon Bombers Career Stats for Season Career 44 Games 75 9.6 Kicks Per Game 7.9 4.6 Handballs Per Game 4.0 14.2 Disposals Per Game 11.9 6.9 Marks Per Game 5.7 2.1 Goals Per Game 1.6 1.3 Behinds Per Game 1.3 1.3 Tackles Per Game 1.2 0.1 Hitouts Per Game 2.1 2.3 Inside 50s Per Game 2.2 0.5 Goal Assists Per Game 0.4 0.9 Frees For Per Game 1.1 0.4 Frees Against Per Game 1.3 5.9 Contested Possessions Per Game 5.2 8.2 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 6.9 9.5 Effective Disposals Per Game 7.8 66.9% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 65.5% 1.5 Clangers Per Game 2.7 2.1 Contested Marks Per Game 1.7 2.8 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 2.2 0.2 Clearances Per Game 0.7 0.2 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.3 1.1 One Percenters Per Game 1.7 0.1 Bounces Per Game 0.2 90.1 Time On Ground % Per Game 85.1

Actually that was done in the hospital when they had their brain removed. Unlike some on here I'd like the Tigers to win their next few matches, it would show that our form is good and that we are competitive against the best around. Also I'd like to see both the Tigers and the Demons become powerhouse teams with a fierce and longstanding rivalry, that would take care of the problems around whether we keep the game and whether the crowd would come. If the Pies were in the frame for a flag tis year and we were playing good football you'd see a huge crowd at the G on the QB, it's not the charity aspect of the game that stops them going, it's been a case of either one team or the other being ordinary.

On 3AW today, one of the footy panel said something along the lines of, this kid Oliver is going to be a star and he's only 22. They really do their homework, don't they.

We will beat Richmond and it will give the boys a sample of what it's like to win a game, in front of a big audience, on the biggest stage around.

Pedo made one mistake, but since that time he's put his body on the line many times and taken some very courageous marks. I'm not sure why he's not picked but obviously the coach doesn't rate him, same with Trenners, guess they don't fit in to the plan, maybe they are both a bit slow.

Bernie said he'd go home to SA when his football days were over, he's a South Australian lad and that's fair enough. Personally I'd like to see him play again, at least next year, we still don't have a lot of experienced players and he's still one of our better players, we seem to want to write off players on here if they have a bad game or two. Put Bernie back in the action and he'll be ok, his kicking was one of his strengths when he crossed over to us and he doesn't have a problem finding the ball. Bern gets the ball to his foot faster than any player I've seen before and this may not suit the new game plan, perhaps that's why he's not playing midfield now, maybe the fast kick out of the centre doesn't suit. He played a sensational game against Dangerfield a few years ago and since that time he's crossed the line a bit more than he should, he just needs to get his discipline back.

I said in another thread that Kent escapes a lot of scrutiny on here, but obviously not in the eyes of the football department

I agree there, I think Chip was gently guided to the door with a "do you really want to leave, oh well then" and I doubt that they were really upset when Howe left either.

How could the Essendon football department be adamant no prohibited substances were given to players, when there are no records and they can't say what they were given. "Thompson never understood why Essendon self-reported on that fateful February day in 2013 because the key figures in the football department were adamant no prohibited substances were given to their players."

It's a shame that we as MFC supporters have to worry about membership numbers, sponsors and gate receipts, wouldn't it be nice to only have to worry about wins and where we will finish on the ladder at the end of the season.

And Joel Smith, IMO.

He played 20 games last year, that's a pretty fair block of games.

One who gets overlooked in all of this is Kent, I think he needs to do more and his lack of tackles and goals is a worry, he has pace but does he have the skills and does he do anywhere enough, he's played 54 games and averages 1 goal and 2 tackles a game. He's got speed and a certain toughness but I think he needs to do a lot more to keep his automatic place in the side. It was mentioned earlier that if he had a right foot he would have been able to get the ball to Jack for a goal, but his effort was abysmal, that was a gimmee and it was stuffed up. I'd just like to know what it is he adds that allows him to escape the criticism that ANB and a few others cop on here.

Correct, he had a shot, he was in range and he missed, simple as that. There were plenty of other reasons we lost that game, Jack had a shot on the fly from 30 mtrs out and for some reason he decided to kick round the corner instead of a straight forward drop punt, he missed and I think if he'd just kicked it with his normal action he would have nailed it. They played a fast game and we couldn't keep up with them, they got fed by Sandilands and we missed Gawn. They got numbers to the ball and strangled our game. We must look at our game plan for the last 2 to 3 minutes of each quarter, we get scored against far too often, we can't waste 25 minutes of good play with a few minutes of slacking off. Mainly we need to stop the backline from giving away too many soft goals, we are leaking like a sieve down back.

Roos was at the game today sitting just in front and to the left of where I sit, he had a hoodie on appeared to just wanted to be a spectator. Didnt see him at the end, so I'm not sure when he left, but it was good to see he still has an interest.

If I remember correctly, he had zero contested and 18 uncontested possessions last week, bit of a pattern there.

Hannah was good early but dropped out later in the game, he does some really good stuff but not enough of it at the moment. Milkshake simply isn't good enough under pressure. Weid needs to put on some weight and needs time in the two's. Tyson has got to spend some time with the kicking coach, his disposal is getting worse. Most importantly, the leadership group need to stand up and stop the capitulation we seem to face in at least one quarter a week.

Our current forward line is unsustainable if we are going to play Watts in the ruck, he is needed in the forward line for his creativity and ability to both kick goals and bring others in to the game. I like Weid a lot but I have to confess, after today, he's got to go back to Casey and develop his game. I understand that Pedo is out of fashion but he is needed to give Spence the chop out and allow Watts to do what he does best and that's not losing ruck contests in the middle against inferior players. Do we want to win games or risk losing them for the sake of an experiment? We can't keep the ball in the forward line at the moment and our backline can't stop the opposition from scoring easy goals. Something has to change and soon.

We have given up several goals in the last minutes of quarters this year and yet when they kicked a goal before half time, I think it was, we had 3 of our best players on the bench.