titan_uranus

We haven't been interstate in Round 1 since the 90s, we've been incredibly fortunate on that front. Let's hope it continues with a big Round 1 game against Collingwood or Essendon or something like that. If we maintain the two NT home games we shouldn't get a Marvel Stadium home game, but if we are able to get out of Darwin I expect that will just get sent to Marvel. We should be seeing more Friday night games, including home Friday night game(s) against Victorian sides (i.e. not Sydney like 2017), and more Thursday/Saturday nights, too. But I still expect to see plenty of Sunday 1.10 and 3.20 games. A home game against Essendon would be nice. Our finishing position of 4th means we have to play a minimum of two repeat games against the top 6 (West Coast, Collingwood, Richmond, GWS, Hawthorn), and possibly three. And we can only get a maximum of one repeat game against a bottom 6 side (Carlton, GC, St Kilda, Brisbane, Fremantle, Bulldogs), and possibly zero. You'd like to think we'd get repeat games against at least one of Collingwood and Richmond, possibly both.

I like him, but not as much as others it seems. I am quite hopeful of being pleasantly surprised. Indeed - GC's highest ever crowd is 51,774 (this year, vs West Coast). Highest ever home crowd is actually the 33,388 they got to Perth vs Fremantle this year. Highest ever home crowd after that is their first ever game, 27,914 at the Gabba vs Carlton. Highest ever home crowd at Metricon is 24,032 vs Collingwood in 2014. It's actually kind of funny to think that a potential attraction to playing for Melbourne is crowds.

Losing Hogan sucks. But having accepted that he wanted to go home, I'm more than happy with the way things panned out for us in the end.

Seahawks, Panthers, Rams

This is classic AFL incompetence. They spend all year focusing on congestion and then they bring in a rule which will increase congestion (removing prior opportunity for ruckmen, who can now just grab it out of the ruck and be tackled, forcing repeat stoppages).

I don't really know how this all works, but Jake Niall says that they were happy to swap 13 for 26 and 28 because those two picks give them the points they need to get Blakey as a father/son. If that's true, then they might not be interested in trading them.

Jake Niall on The Age reporting that Carlton will be sending two second round picks to Sydney for pick 13, then on-trading pick 13 with their right to Shane McAdam to Adelaide for McGovern.

I find this whole situation quite intriguing. It started with unfounded rumours (e.g. Greg Denham), then progressed to the club itself failing to hose down the speculation, to everyone believing it was going to happen, to now there being question marks and even a "report" from Perth that he's staying. I suppose all it says is that no one actually knew anything and we're all still none the wiser. Oh, and Greg Denham remains a fool.

AFAIK this hasn't yet been approved? And reports I read a few weeks ago suggests that whilst the commission was likely to approve 6-6-6, the larger goalsquare was not necessarily a fait accompli?

The media shenanigans are a huge part of things. Hogan is consistently being talked about in the media. That undoubtedly has an impact on how he has been dealing with his life. The media attention on VDB is borderline non-existent, until he started playing again this year only Melbourne supporters would have known who he was. His personal story didn't even get revealed until a few weeks ago - everything that happened in Hogan's life was documented by the media in real time. Their positions are markedly different and drawing a comparison between the two, which seems only to have been a crack at Hogan, is pretty unfair IMO. Finally, as to "resilience and grit", how are you placed to comment on what "resilience" or "grit" Hogan has, or hasn't, shown?

Titans, Broncos, Rams

Cannot believe anyone is interested in Menzel. Even if he was free - as in we didn't have to give up anything and we didn't have to pay him and he didn't take up a spot on our list - I wouldn't want him.

IMO it is. I'm at peace with Hogan leaving, but I don't rate May nearly as much as others do and I do not necessarily see May coming into the side as being a net gain over Hogan leaving the side.

I'm not so sure this is guaranteed. We know we will get a harder draw based on 2018 finishing positions, but that doesn't necessarily translate to a tough draw based on 2019 form. As an example, we had Adelaide twice this year which, when the draw was released, looked to be our toughest match-up. Turns out it was two games against a bottom 10 side.

I was pleasantly surprised with his form in those last few games he played. That might be at least in part because my expectations for him were rock-bottom, but still, I think this is a good call.

Sums it up perfectly for me. Clearly many who've posted in this thread didn't read the article, as there are obvious non-MFC related reasons why he might be considering moving to Sydney. I'll be disappointed if he goes, particularly given we invested time into him this year in an effort to entrench him in the best 22, but will completely understand it if it happens.

What a shocking weekend. We lose the prelim, Casey chokes and loses the GF, then Garoppolo does his ACL, then Gawn/Brayshaw underpoll in the Brownlow, then Oliver needs two shoulder surgeries, then the Hogan-to-Fremantle rumours kick off. We've invested so much into Jimmy for 2018 (literally, given the price), to lose an entire season of him working with the offence is surely going to set us back significantly. I don't have much confidence in Beathard pushing us along like Foles did to Philly last year. I don't think our offence is good enough to make a sub-par QB look good. And with our defence...this is going to be a tough year I think.

At the moment we have Greg Denham who has added nothing to the situation (Fremantle want him is his article, in summary), and Jon Ralph saying Hogan is open to it. Ralph is a better journalist than Denham but I'm yet to see anything which actually adds up to a trade being considered by the club and/or by Hogan. I don't want to lose Hogan, I am firmly of the view that if he's not already a star of the competition he will absolutely become one. I don't buy into some of the stuff that people come on here and say about him not being friends with the boys at the club, the only evidence as to his connection to the club is positive every single time. But, if he is considering moving and the club considers that his price this year is worth something of value to us, then I can completely understand making a move now. The key here will be to ensure we get not just value, but something that we really need in our starting 22 for 2019. How useful is a draft pick, whether top 10 or otherwise, when we're a preliminary finalist and should be in flag contention as of next year, when we're losing an established key forward?

The only way this makes sense, if true, is that we're going to play two ruckmen next year. Whilst I like the idea, and neither McDonald nor Weideman are solid options if that's the road we want to go down, the balance of the side is going to be interesting. Can we have Gawn, Preuss, Hogan, TMac and Weideman all in the same 22 (along with Frost/OMac (or any two other key defenders) and Lever)? I'm assuming you were a big advocate for McInerney at the time?

Writing "bombshell" and that he is "set to play" at Fremantle is designed purely to be quoted on Twitter and forums and social media, but what he's actually saying is "Fremantle are interested in Hogan". Wow. Breaking news there. Complete click-bait rubbish, which is classic Greg Denham (a pathetic attempt at a journalist, IMO. Genuinely cannot stand the man).

On the one hand, for him to be playing at the level he was over the last month or two despite having bilateral shoulder issues is incredible. On the other hand, two surgeries which sound serious enough, delaying his start to the pre-season, is not good news at all.

1999 Carlton won five games against the 1999 finalists before the GF (three in the H&A, then two finals). Still better than 2018 Collingwood (one in the H&A, two finals).

Maybe Stretch fills this spot?

Just checking, we have to pick three road teams, right? Assuming so: Packers, Patriots, Bears

What an incredibly disappointing match. Dominant first half, terrible conversion, then disappeared in the second half, pretty much none of the Melbourne-listed players played well, and to top it off Hunt and Garlett were both terrible.