Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Perfectly timed for our bye Rd. ...at least it's not September. Which coach was it again that had an unofficial rule agains babby making in Jan??

Would be like getting another new recruit for 2020 if he can make it back. Love the attitude expressed by AVB about how being unable to train, play, etc made him realise how much he valued being part of the greater group. It's this kind of team first thinking that will bring us the success we crave. Hopefully it's contagious.

Some Demonic match calling from beyond the grave would be quite appropriate I think.

I know it's hard to go past the two finals wins, but for the moment of pure elation, I still find it difficult to pip watching that 50m bomb from Dean Kent go through the middle against WC Rd22 2018. I'd like to think that we don't have so many of these types of wins going forward, because we have played the sort of solid H&A seasons that put us securely into the top 8 well before Rd22 in a steady controlled build that puts us into the best position to go all the way in September, but I'm not sure that's really the MFC...I live in hope.

Max Clarry Harmes/Viney Melksham

I know as the saying goes that you make your own, but surely we are due a bit of luck for something to turn out all right for once.

It was a big preseason makeover like this that transformed Max Gawn from just a player with potential into a genuine superstar of the comp. Given he is arguably starting off a better launching pad, let's hope it brings similar results for May.

Just what the doctor ordered to put us back on track. I have hear some question why we would use pick 11 / 12 or what ever it was on a small forward like Picket, but reading the above is music to my ears and along with his talent with the ball, to me provides more than enough justification that we have made a good selection at this point.

...I wasn't too bad at teeth extraction though! Should have been a dentist, not a garbo.

Seriously isn't fair that some people seem to get all the sporting genes. I would have been happy to be half decent at one sport, let alone 3!

...and actually much like @Pates, at times in the past few weeks my mind has wandered towards re-watching those finals games of last year. I think recalling 2018 gives me hope of rebounding to finals like competitiveness in 2020.

All those and I think I also even have the Geelong win at the Catery from a few years back when they had a Max Gawn superstar feature week. The break through win against the Hawks (back in 2016? was it) is still in there somewhere as well. I actually have troubles deciding which old ones to delete, though I don't think too many from 2019 have been retained, perhaps with the exception of the game against the GC, but probably only the last 40 seconds of that is worth actually watching!

Probably belongs in that other thread and I hope I don't jynx the young guy, but it's about time #17 got a good custodian. That bloke Sam what's his name was starting to establish some good tenure in the number, but then he [censored] off to the wees and poos. Number 17 hasn't really reestablished it's self as a well respected playing number since old Brett Lovett back in my day.

What a ripper of a thread. I wouldn't quite go along with the Buddy Franklin call made somewhere else, but all the above is pretty spot on assessment from @Yencks. Good find @Whispering_Jack

I note that Langdon and Tomlinson have both been given number 0 on the club website. I seem to recall a teammate I played local footy with requesting the jumper No. 00 just for the humor of it once!

I couldn't rate this draft an A+ until at least one or two of them have premiership medals around their neck for us. Sounds a bit hard on these individuals, but you recruit to achieve team success and not star individuals. That said, I'm quite happy with who and how we drafted. Jackson at 3 is quite OK with me as no one would have quipped drafting a ruckman in Nick Nat at 2 or even 1. I did like the look of Young in some respects, but also feel a bit burnt recruiting this type of player with a high pick from the Toumpas debacle. Picket looks like an absolute goer and I'm very glad we used out second pick on him. Rivers rounds out the bunch nicely with that common thead of compeditiveness. With Tom Sparrow having spent most of last year on the sidelines, it will almost be like we head into next season with two fresh first round and two second round draft picks developing away in the background.

I don't think Max would give up Jimmy's No. if he was offered to be captain or be the best paid player in the league. Loyalty and honour still matter to some people - Big Max and Big Jimmy were cut from the same cloth when it comes to that and I will revere them always for it.

Sorry would have to disagree with that one Dr. - IMHO all of Hannan, Fritta, Melksham, Trac, AVB (if he comes good) and possibly even I'd say T Mac have pretty decent goal sense. That goal that Oliver snapped from the boundary was it last year or a few back shows that he has it too. I do like the look of KKP though.

Are we there yet?

Out of curiosity, can anyone envisage GC doing a St Kilda and taking Jackson with pick 2 and letting Anderson slip through to 3?

Must say I'm getting a bit of national draft eve jitters myself (and no, I'm not in it - way too.old and too much of a hack for that). I completed understand the folly of placing premiership hopes and otherwise unrealistic expectations on a bunch of highly rated, but unproven kids, but with the year we have just had, it shows the kind of despation for something good to emerge from yet another season from hell.

...though it must be said that big man Gawn's goal kicking numbers are not horrible. I think frustrating is the right word to use with Max, because he is more than capable of roosting goal through the middle from 50m out and doing inside out checkside banana punts around the body on the boundary with total control, yet completely shanking them from 20m out dead in front. It's all in that rather different head of his.

Get him onto Max big time. If big Maxy can start putting away those sort of numbers goal kicking wise, then the MFC is 'cooking with gas' ...and Max wins the Brownlow.

Sorry, if we ate to become a great side, I'm not sure that makes much sense. It's not to say that players should never take a low percentage shot at goal, but that's quite different to giving them a license to do so more often. When we were up and firing and one of the highest scoring sides of competition in 2018, it was partly because we were creating and taking more high percentage shots on goal and that's where all the focus should be - creating easy shots on goal where we out play the opposition as a team and have players taking marks sitting on there own in space and walking into open goals. About the only time I can think of I'd give any of our players license to take low percentage shots is in junk time if we are 50 points up, but even then, I think it creates bad habits. That all said, I wouldn't hold it against any of our players to have a spur of the moment stab at an opertunist throw the boot at one near the goal square in congestion and I think Trac already does this kind of thing quite well as do numerous of our other forwards like Fritter, ABN, Gus, Clary and T Mac.

Is it Patracca doing the trash talking or others writing about him? Not having a wise crack, it just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of your comments and I'm a little confused.